Ember's Eve

Royal Gardner

Royal gardener
Holbrook Daunthill
23rd December 2020.

Dimitri sat on a step midway through the flight of stairs that led to the upper floor of the duplex. The black teenager stared into thin air with his arms folded. His thought floated in diverse directions as he tried to do away with what was left of the anger he had just expressed. That special anger was fuelled by grief. Kenneth and Jacob emerged from the basement door. The two murmured to each other but he couldn't hear a word. Jayla and Kayden came out after them. Kayden walked out through the front door, but Jayla joined Kenneth and Jacob's conversation. Kenneth turned to look at the boy for a second, he returned his gaze to Jacob and mumbled some words before walking up the stairs to meet Dimitri. "Hiya kid," Kenneth leaned over and softly bumped his fist on the teenager's arm. The boy looked at Kenneth, his straight expression was slowly turning into a frown. "Okay my bad, that wasn't the best intro" Kenneth admitted "Look I understand that you're hurting regardless of how much you attempt to hide it. But look on the bright side, we just got a huge lead. We'll intercept the weapons shipment coming in by midnight and save the day.""How does that bring me any closer to finding out who murdered my family?" Dimitri asked "We caught the man in the Santa suit, and now it turns out there's more than one killer. So, my family could've been butchered by some random crackhead who's supposed to be rotting in jail on the other side of the world. Tell me, detective, am I the only one who can't make any sense of this situation?""No kid, I'm a detective, and trust me things barely make any sense in my line of work." explained Kenneth "But if there's anything I've learned over the years, is to never disregard any leads because there's always a connection. Your family's murder, the missing prisoners, a lady no good, and even the boy who's been stalking me. We're gonna connect the dots eventually."Kenneth smiled and gave the boy a pat on the shoulder. "I've been chasing Takiboshi for years and I'm not giving up. I know he has something to do with all of this.""You sure about that?" "Yup, it's the only thing I've ever been so sure of in my life." Said Kenneth "Now judging from your reaction in the basement I'm guessing everything Jaward said was true."Dimitri nodded."Well then, no random crack head attacked your family. Judging from the forensics given on the attack that night, the hit on your house was special like Jaward said.""Yeah detective, I feel better now I know they reserved a psychopath for my family" "I understand it's nothing solid yet but like I said, everything counts." Kenneth patted him on the shoulder again. "Now I'm about to have a little interrogation with Jacob. Would you mind being there to use your thing?"Dimitri sighed as he stood up and descended the stairs behind Kenneth. Jacob and Jayla cut their conversation short and focused on the two as they came down the stairs. "Um, Jayla can you give us a moment?" Kenneth said. Jayla gazed for a while before nodding her head and making her way to the front door. "What's the issue?" Jacob elevated an eyebrow at Kenneth."What are you talking about?" Kenneth rubbed his finger on the edge of his eyelid."uh... you just sent Jayla out of the room to speak to me" Replied Jacob "That's a first, I thought we were working on this mission as a team.""We are" agreed Kenneth "I just need to clear some stuff up.""Okay, well I got bad news for you, my friend. The twins worked their magic and it turns out Nina's phone has been out since last night.""She wouldn't let her phone stay flat for that long.""Exactly, I got a friend from the police to check out the apartment. He said the door was left open and no one was around. I asked him to open an investigation but that's the best I can do for now.""Shit!!" Kenneth yelled "I should've taken that damn call""Look we don't know if she's in danger or this has anything to do with Takiboshi." Jacob scratched his neck "Might just be a bad hangover."Kenneth frowned, he turned to look at Dimitri who was still focused on Jacob. "We'll focus on the main problem for now," Kenneth spoke "I trust your police friend would be capable of handling the issue.""For sure," assured Jacob"How about Nkibo, still no news?""Nope" Dimitri scrubbed his flip-flops across the ground making a suspicious sound. Jacob turned his attention to the teenager. He studied the boy for a while before turning back to Kenneth whose frown had now worsened. "But yeah some good news, the twins got an address for the gardener at the royal garden whom you suspected." "And?" Kenneth inquired "I'll text it to you immediately" Jacob looked down at his phone "I can come with you on this one so you don't get your ass whooped again.""That won't be necessary Jacob," opposed Kenneth "You, Jayla, and Kayden should stay and finish up with Jaward. You can tell the team what we found out. I and the kid would handle this one."Dimitri and Jacob exchanged looks before Kenneth walked up the stairs. It looked as though they were communicating telepathically. Kenneth's voice broke the tension between them. "Kid put on some shoes we're leaving ASAP."The Den Fellwalk, Daunthill.23rd December 2020.The den was Daunthill's definition of a slum. Although it was officially considered to be a part of Fellwalk, the Den was more like its own neighbourhood and was devoid of the activities taking place in Fellwalk. The buildings lacked all aesthetic qualities. Green stained walls, peeling paint and broken windows seemed to be commonplace. Not to forget the poor attempts at graffiti scattered around the area. Kenneth drove the Avalon into the parking area of a tall apartment building. The lack of parking space irritated him. A good number of the cars looked dusty with flat tires. Kenneth parked behind them. A skinny shirtless man spotted the new car in the parking area. He espied the well-dressed occupants inside as he puffed his last smoke and tossed his cigarette stub. Kenneth and Dimitri watched the skinny dude hold his pants up with both hands as he made his way back into the building. "I suggest we follow that guy" Kenneth turned to Dimitri"Agreed" Kenneth slipped his shades on and fastened his revolver as he opened the door before getting out of the car. Even the air in the area felt different. The soft wind blew trash particles, from the overflowing trashcans at the edge of the building, into the parking area. "You know most tourists don't get to see this side of Daunthill." Dimitri approached the entrance."Well, I'm not your everyday tourist." Kenneth picked up his speed "Hurry before we lose our guy"They walked through the entrance to find the man poking at the elevator button. His other hand still gripped the waistline of his pants. The man spotted them coming at him and turned to make his way for the stairs. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" Kenneth pulled his revolver. The main froze on seeing the gun. He lifted both hands to surrender and expanded his legs to keeps his pants from descending any further. "I'll pay all the rent I swear," he begged "I got a job now.""Rent?" wondered Kenneth "Who said anything about rent? We're the police.""Police?" asked the man "Tv says fake police is on the loose.""Well, I hope tv can save you now," Kenneth said "what floor do we find apartment 23""Third floor" "Thank you for your service and try getting a belt after your first paycheck." The elevator door opened, the man frowned as Kenneth and Dimitri got inside. Kenneth slapped the number three on the elevator keypad. Dimitri turned to steal a look at the detective. "So, why do you think Jacob lied about Nkibo?" "I don't know," said Kenneth "But maybe this address would tell us something."The elevator came to a rough stop causing its occupants to lose balance. Dimitri caught hold of the handle to balance himself. He shrieked and squeezed his face as his hand made contact with a slimly fluid on the handle. Kenneth saw the whole thing and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. They emerged from the elevator. The third floor was nothing special, Kenneth gripped hard on the handle of his gun as they moved down the hallway. Dimitri tossed the soiled handkerchief aside and followed Kenneth. It was nice to know that there was some order in this building. The door numbers have a pattern so it was easy to find the 23rd apartment. Kenneth knocked on the door and closed in on the peephole. An eye appeared soon enough "Who is it?" "A friend from work" Kenneth replied, "We met at the royal garden remember?""Wait a minute" the man unlocked the door Kenneth forced his way into the apartment and aimed the gun at the man. The man retreated and dropped to the couch in the living room with his hands up. Kenneth's eyes widened as he got a good view of the man's face. He lowered his gun trying to make sense of the situation. Dimitri stood there switching his gaze between the two men. "John Nkibo?" said Kenneth"Please, I'm on your side detective""What in the freaking world is going on!" yelled Kenneth "Seems like he's telling the truth" Dimitri cut in "Kid, I don't give a shit about the truth right now." Kenneth retorted "Why the hell is John Nkibo harvesting poisons from the royal capital of Daunthill?""I will explain everything, I swear."Kenneth was about to start yelling again when a cold feeling at the back of his head caused him to freeze. "That's enough, detective," a voice from behind said "You're a sneaky fox Nymond.""I swear I know that voice" Kenneth responded "Lower your weapon detective" the unknown man nudged Kenneth's head with the nozzle of the gun "The chase is over""I'm guessing you're one of the anonymous hotel attackers?""The boss gave an order," another voice unknown voice said. Kenneth lowered his gun slowly, from the corner of his eye he could see Dimitri with his hands up. They were outnumbered on this one. The detective cursed himself, he should've known that they'd be vulnerable to attack coming here. He let his emotions get the best of him. He couldn't make any funny movements, he wasn't sure how many armed men stood behind him. Where is Jacob when you need him?"Please," a young boy appeared from the door connecting to the living room "Don't kill them please". Kenneth was stunned, the young lad from the train station seemed to have arrived just in time to give to make the perfect distraction. He ignored the presence of the mysterious boy and grabbed his gun from the ground. In a quick spin, Kenneth used the handle of his firearm to knock the gun off the handoff of the man who held him hostage. The detective supplemented his recovery move by throwing a jab at the nose of the man wearing the bandanna. The two goons who came with the man readied their guns to face Kenneth when three armed individuals barged into the room. "Weapons down" Jacob aimed his revolver at one of the goons. The trainer who had been with Iva at the fitness centre aimed his beretta at the second goon. The third lady was a stranger, she didn't bother using her firearm for anything. "Okay boys" She adjusted her shades "That's enough, we don't need the neighbours filing a noise complaint.""Lemme guess," said Kenneth "Lady No Good?" "In the flesh" she reached out to give Kenneth a handshake. Kenneth responded by aiming his gun at the mystery boy standing at the other side of the room. "Who's the hell is this kid, he's the only one I don't know here." The little boy seemed unbothered regardless of the weapon which was aimed at him. "Really, aiming your weapon at the kid?" the lady no good retracted her hand "wouldn't you love to know who the man with the bandanna is?""Detective Jefferey Priss, no one else has that raspy chain-smoker voice of his."Dimitri watched the whole scene as he dropped his hands slowly. If he wasn't so pissed this would've been quite an amusing thing to witness. Detective Priss leaned onto the wall with a hand on his nose. The white skeleton design on his bandanna seemed to be turning red slowly. In a split second, the injured detective pulled a concealed gun from his waistline and fired randomly. The shots startled everyone in the room. Priss rammed into the lady no good who went on to collide the Jacob to break her fall. With his other hand still latched onto his nose, Priss quickly made his way out of the flat and took to his heels. Kenneth pursued the man. A woman attempting to get into her flat noticed the two men speeding in her direction. She calmly moved out of their path."Wow," she sighed "good thing my lease is almost done."Priss darted down the stairs, his heart roared with life beneath his rib cage. The blood from his nose seemed to have slightly impaired his breathing. He fired a few blind shots back at Kenneth. Kenneth paused and crouched with his hands placed before his eyes as bullets flew past him in quick succession. He got back into form to aim at Priss, but the man seemed to have taken proper advantage of the situation. Kenneth raced his way down the stairs he caught sight of Priss making his way towards the door as he reached the ground floor. A few seconds after Priss dashed out of the door a car intercepted him. Kenneth aimed his gun expecting Priss to hop into the ride, but the detective lifted his hands to surrender. Kenneth caught a glimpse of someone at the front passenger seat of the car aiming at Priss, who was still murmuring. The detective closed in on the scene only to hear Priss yell his final words."Wait!!" A loud sound echoed through the environment cutting Priss' yell short. The sound was followed by a few droplets of blood settling on Kenneth's face. Priss' body crash-landed and the vehicle which intercepted him was already on its merry way. Kenneth walked towards the lifeless body. Fresh red oozed from the head wound down spreading to the ground. "Oh Jefferey," Kenneth crouched "What the hell did you get yourself into."The elevator opened, Dimitri and the mystery boy emerged first followed by Nkibo and then lady no good and Ryan with Priss' goons. Kenneth stood up and turned to the crew which had just arrived at the scene. "Priss is dead" Kenneth pointed at the corpse "But I guess you saw this coming lady know all""Actually not" she responded"Well, normal people express shock when they see a dead body in front of the building" Kenneth blabbed "The only people who seem touched here are these goons""I think everyone here has had their fill of gunshots and bloodshed Detective" the lady rubbed the blood on Kenneth's face "I'm guessing from the blood on your face, you didn't take the shot.""Sadly no, but I make a fair guess of who our shooter was.""Well, we'll handle that later but right now we need to out of this building before we end up like Priss.""Agreed."