Thaddeus

Chapter 22

                   (One day after last chapter)

Thaddeus moved in a hurry, well, he usually always did.

After throwing a change of clothes into an old duffel bag, Thaddeus began stuffing as many of his journals and papers in as he could. Thaddeus had completely underestimated how many notebooks he kept, he truly did look like a stalker.

"Where the hell did I get all of these from?" Thaddeus quietly mumbled as he managed to fit one more in before he had to zip up the bag. Ashur, meanwhile, was asleep on the bed and considering it was five in the morning, Thaddeus couldn't blame him. Thaddeus had already been awake an hour, when sleep came for him, it never lasted long.

During the hour he was awake, Thaddeus got a message from Fernec, Eros's son. Apparently, Fernec found out about Brooklyn's murder and decided to invite Thaddeus to stay with him to make sure Thaddeus wouldn't end up dead next.

Initially, Thaddeus wanted to refuse, he didn't want to risk putting Fernec and his family in danger, but then he thought about Ashur. So, and after a lot of back and forth between the two, Thaddeus agreed.

Suddenly, Thaddeus's phone began buzzing and to Thaddeus's surprise, it was Fernec calling. Thaddeus and Fernec never met face to face, they only talked through emails and texts. Thaddeus wasn't even sure how Fernec got a hold of his real phone number, up until now, Thaddeus had been speaking with Fernec through burner phones, there were even a few stuffed in the duffel bag.

Warily, Thaddeus took the call, bringing the phone up to his ear as he looked at Ashur to make sure he was still sleeping.

"Hello?" Thaddeus spoke quietly as he went back to packing, now doing so with one hand.

"We've been talking for at least a year and this is the first time we're using our voices? I don't know if that's sad or smart."  A calm man's voice said, then he chuckled a little.

"Why are you calling?" Thaddeus roughly asked, being a little more harsh than intended.

"Right down to business, huh? Alright, well, I wanted to make sure you have the right address. And I wanted to see if I had the right number, which I now know I do." Fernec said.

"How'd you get the number anyway?" Thaddeus questioned, still keeping his voice low as he looked over to his desk, realizing he'd have to leave a few notebooks behind.

Fernec began laughing. "You used Bernard, your middle name, and Barlowe, your father's last name, to get a phone. Come on, you couldn't have been more obvious! I'm a police captain, remember? It's easy for me to find that shit out."

Thaddeus rolled his eyes, lightly scoffing. "Just- Alright, do you have someone who can pick up me and Ashur? I sort of lost my car."

"Yeah, yeah, I do." Fernec said, "my daughter agreed to meet you two at your old high school. She needs to practice her driving anyway."

"You're sending a sixteen year old?"

"I can't get you myself, I'm a busy man and it's all the way across the city."

"Speaking of kids..." Thaddeus said as he took a small breath, "can you get information on Ashur? His last name is Solace."

"You're already in the system for murder, I'm risking a lot by letting you stay with me. Of course I already did a background check on your little friend. And, well, you're gonna want to talk in person for what I found." Fernec said

After a little more talking, Thaddeus hung up and shoved his phone into another pocket of the bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, Thaddeus walked over to the bed, staring at Ashur.  "Oi, get up, we have to go." He said, thwacking Ashur's shoulder.