Edward
The car stood directly across from The Little Night.
I jumped out of the car.
A few long strides were enough to get me to the bar's entrance.
I shoved the door open and immediately spotted Kazuo.
He was on the phone, too.
The moment he heard the door, he turned sharply towards it.
Hope flashed across his face.
Then he saw me.
The hope vanished instantly, replaced by anger.
He stormed across the room, grabbed me by the collar, and started shaking me.
"You fucking bastard!" he shouted. "This is your fault! All of this is your fucking fault!"
My head snapped back and forth with each shake.
"If it wasn't for your fucking articles, if it wasn't for all this useless attention, if you'd just stayed the fuck away from us, everything would've been fine!"
Part of his words dissolved into a growl.
He looked less like a man and more like a furious animal.
"Do something! Do something, you bastard!"
At that point, Michael finally came in behind me.
He took one look at the situation and immediately moved towards us.
"Hey, hey, calm down, fluffy. That's enough."
His hand landed on Kazuo's bright Hawaiian shirt.
I expected Kazuo to shout at him as well.
Instead, he froze.
For reasons I couldn't understand, Kazuo calmed down. Not completely. His lips were still trembling, exposing a set of large canine teeth. But his grip loosened.
A moment later, he let go of me entirely and stepped back.
He turned his head aside, avoiding looking at us.
"This is all your fault," he said again, though far more quietly this time.
It was clear that he was struggling to contain his anger.
"Everyone calmed down now," Michael said, still watching Kazuo. "Okay. Now explain to me what happened. How exactly did he disappear? And are you even sure he's actually missing? Couldn't he have gone out somewhere? To the shop or something?"
Kazuo shot him an angry look, then turned away again.
After a few seconds, he gave Michael the same brief explanation he'd already given me over the phone.
"So you're not actually sure something happened to him, right?" Michael said. There was a note of doubt in his voice. "The guy's just not home. And it's been what? A few hours?"
Kazuo's expression darkened immediately.
"Don't you think you might be panicking for nothing?"
"I've known Luka for years," Kazuo said through clenched teeth. "I practically raised him. I know him. He wouldn't just disappear. He's never done that." His voice grew rougher with each word. "If he's not home, then something happened." His gaze shifted towards me. "Especially after all this shit… Especially after your fucking articles."
The last part came out as a growl.
"Alright, alright, calm down," Michael said, making a placating gesture with both hands, trying to settle him. "Let's calm down for a second. Right now we-"
Bzzzz!!!
The sudden vibration of a phone cut him off.
All of us tensed immediately.
Michael shoved a hand into his pocket.
"It's mine. Relax," he said, pulling out his phone and answering the call. "Yeah?"
A pause.
"Mm. Hang on a second."
He switched the phone to speaker and placed it on top of a nearby box in front of us.
"Go on. You're on speaker," Michael warned whoever was on the other end of the call.
"Mmm... mrrr." A strange voice answered.
It seemed to vibrate with every word.
"So I've got an audience today?"
"What did you find out?" Michael asked.
"Honestly, not that much. I'm quite certain it wasn't Mr Monclair. Though I must admit, he's been acting strangely lately. A few days ago, he said he was going to a meeting, but he didn't take us with him and told us we weren't needed. The interesting part is that several days have passed, and the old man still hasn't come back. He hasn't contacted us either.
"I'm surprised by his disappearance myself, but there's no way he could've pulled anything off without us knowing about it. So… I think you should be looking at other suspects. You might even want to spare a bit of worry for the old man himself. Who knows where he's disappeared to?" The voice purred through the phone.
James, who happened to be standing closest to the crate where Michael's phone had been placed, visibly tensed. A slight shiver ran through his entire body.
It was strange, but I had more important things to worry about than paying much attention to it.
"Alright, then who could've taken our blondie?" Michael asked.
"Hmm." The voice hummed thoughtfully. "Hard to say. I imagine that boy has quite a lot of enemies. A lot, a lot, a lot of enemies. If you'd like, I could help find out."
"Then find out," Kazuo growled.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." The voice laughed softly. "I'm not a charity, sweetheart. Don't confuse me with someone generous. Information costs money. Your boy's famous, and there may be dangerous people involved. That means the price won't be small."
"For fuck's sake, who cares how much it costs?" I barked, stepping towards the phone. "Just get on with it. This is urgent! I don't care what it costs. Find him!"
"Now that's a much better answer." The voice sounded delighted. "Young master, you're a pleasure to do business with. Michael, tell him where to send the money, and I'll tell my people to start looking for your blondy."
Michael sighed. "Fine. Send me how much you want for the job."
"Of course. And now, I must be off. Goodbye, darlings." The strange voice purred one last time.
Then the line went dead.
Silence settled over the room.
My thoughts were a complete mess.
None of it made sense.
My father was gone.
The most likely suspect had been crossed off the list.
Some stranger was now hunting for Luka on my behalf.
And Luka himself was still nowhere to be found.
Who the fuck had taken him?
And why this time?