Fire & Flame

Chapter 3 : Seeking the Hidden

“Damn it!” 

A man slams both his hands on the mahogany table in front of him. His face was fuming with anger. 

“Sir, we-”

“Don’t give anymore excuses! You’re all just a bunch of useless bastards. We almost had him!” The man barked at his underdogs. 

“We’re sorry sir.” Five men said, synchronized. They were trembling, afraid of what their boss would do if they went beyond the line and ruffled his feathers.

The man rubbed his temple. So far, he has not been having a good day. First, the stock market dropped. Then, he had a call from the big boss, threatening to put his job on the line if he failed to catch the one and only Konnor Fumiko.

“Do you all understand how important it is for that pain in the ass to be in jail? My job is on the line! If I am unemployed, all of you would be too! Then what? Do you want to spend your life on the streets, begging for money?” The man yells again.

The other five men in the room remained silent. Although they didn’t like how their boss was treating them, they preferred to walk out of the room alive.

The boss picked up his cigar from the table and lit it. After taking a puff, his muscles relaxed a little. After the second puff, his bubbling anger diminished.

“We have one week to prove ourselves worthy to be part of this team. Do you understand me?” The man asked as he placed his cigar into his mouth once more to take another puff.

“Yes, sir. We will make sure the job is done in 7, no, 5 days.”

The man nodded in satisfaction. “Please, make sure this time, he won’t get away.”

The five men nodded and scurried out of their boss’s office. 

After a moment, a mobile phone rang. The man casually took it out from his pocket and answered the call.

“Officer Louis speaking.”

“Ah, Louis. It’s been a while, good friend.” A familiar voice said.

Louis’s eyes darkened. Why was he calling?

“It surely has. May I ask why you’re calling such an insignificant person like me?”

The voice chuckled in amusement. “Insignificant? No, you are part of the big plan I have in mind.”

Louis raised his eyebrows. Plan?

“Now, sir, you’ll need to elaborate on that aforementioned big plan if you require my assistance. And must I remind you, I have a pretty hefty price tag on my service.” Louis replied cautiously.

“Calm down, Louis. I know you are expensive. Don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed by the benefits I’ll offer and I might just slip in your own request if I’m satisfied. You are only required to do a simple task.”

Louis smiled crookedly. “Now, we’re talking. Please explain the task. I’ll do my very best to help you, as long as I don’t get into trouble.”

“You’re in charge of capturing the criminal, Konnor Fumiko, right?”

“Yes, you are indeed correct. How did you know?”

“How and where did I get this intel is none of your business. All you have to do is to send him to me when you succeed.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows, forming a crease in between. “He needs to be in jail, sir.”

“Oh, I know. Don’t worry, just tell me when he is in your hands. I’ll make all the arrangements after. Do we have a deal?” 

Louis pondered. Will this cause him to lose his job? Well, the man did say he would satisfy all his requests. Perhaps, he could trust him?

“Fine, I will. Just remember what you promised me. Or I will expose your plan to the world.”

“Good choice, Louis. I look forward to our cooperation. Don’t let me down.”

~

Konnor was back at his shabby house. Well, at least for him, this house is lovely. All he had was a lousy mattress, a barely working bathroom, a few expired biscuits and a bag full of items he stole over the years.

His house was never permanent. He had to look for a new place to stay every few months because of his occupation. That way, the police have little to no chance in finding him.

“Finally! Home at last!” Konnor screamed at the top of his lungs. Which proved to be a horrible decision since his neighbour yelled back, “Shut up!”

Oh well, nothing will make him fall into a bad mood today. Once again, he managed to run away from those pesky police officers. What’s there not to celebrate?

Just then, there was a knock on his door.

Tok tok tok

Konnor immediately grabbed his knife. Normally, after his neighbour yells at him, he would leave him alone as long as Konnor doesn’t make a peep sound.

Who’s at the door? Konnor thought to himself.

Slowly, Konnor creeped towards the door. The person on the other side is clearly an impatient person as the door was knocked on again.

Tok tok tok

This time, Konnor leaned against the door, with one hand holding his knife and another holding the doorknob.

It’s okay, Konnor. We escaped the police today, and made sure no one was following us. Konnor mentally prepped himself. 

As Konnor opened the door, he pointed his knife towards the unwelcome guest. 

“Konnor, is that you?” A soothing voice called out.

Konnor’s jaw dropped in shock. His eyes travelled up and down the person’s body before letting go of his knife.

CLANG! 

“Rachel? What are you doing here?”

Rachel looked at him with mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy to see Konnor again. On another, she wanted to throw him down the building for all he did in the past few years.

“Konnor, it really is you!”

Konnor reached out his right arm and grabbed Rachel, before pulling her into his rundown apartment. After looking left and right, he shut the door at the speed of light.

“Rachel, what are you doing here?”

“What? Are you not excited to see your twin?”