Fatal Jeopardy

Chapter 5: Interrogation

Carlos stood in the middle of the street wondering why the hell Cyrus would be waiting at his front door. Once again the ring inside his pocket became warm. He instinctively put his hand inside to feel the warmth of the ring, and a strange sense of comfort wafted over him.

Carlos took a deep breath, and walked toward his house. At the sounds of his footsteps Cyrus turned around swiftly. Back at the school Carlos had felt completely safe around this guy, but now that he was alone with the guy he couldn’t be sure how Cyrus was going to act.

He could tell by the look of his eyes that Cyrus was here to settle business. Standing straight, just a bit taller than Carlos, Cyrus looked down at him with a seemingly emotionless stare.

“Can I help you Mr. Archer?” Carlos asked in a monotone voice. Cyrus kept his eyes on him as he stepped in between the front door and Cyrus.

Cyrus motioned his hands toward the door, “Why don’t we talk inside where it’s nice and warm.” A faint breeze blew in the air making goose bumps appear on his arm.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think my mom would approve me bringing strangers into her house.” A thin smile appeared on his face at the thought of the excuse.

“I doubt that’ll be an issue there’s no one home yet from what I can tell, and this won’t take long at all” He gave off a hint of demand. The amused look in Cyrus’ eyes made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

Somehow Carlos knew that Cyrus was the type of man that got what he wanted when he wanted it. With no other choice he slowly opened the door, and allowed Cyrus into his house. He felt a bit unnerved having Cyrus inside his house looking around so the faster he could get him out the better.

“This is a nice place you’ve got” Cyrus said with false politeness.

“Like I said is there something I can help you with?” Carlos said with false bravado.

“Straight to the point huh?” his eyes leapt with excitement. Carlos took a nervous step backward. “Such a boy like yourself I can’t help but wonder why you insist on playing games with me.” Cyrus sat down on the couch leaning his elbows on his knees.

The ring inside his pocket burned even more intense than before, but he kept his face straight as he met Cyrus’ stare.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, really” He pleaded unconvincingly.

Cyrus clucked his tongue like a mother would to a child that has been acting up. “Oh Carlos, this is the last time I’m going to ask you, and if you don’t answer me truthfully this time…well, we’ll see what happens from there won’t we?”

His legs were now shaking so bad that he was forced to take a seat on the couch adjacent to Cyrus. The tattoo on Cyrus’ face didn’t ease the anxiety any bit.  

“Do you know where the ring is?” He said it as if he were trying to emphasis every word. Carlos somehow managed not to flinch away from his accusing stare.

“No I-“A sharp stinging sensation erupted from his right cheek. He touched his face and was surprised to see the blood on his finger. The massive hunting knife lodged into the couch, and inches away from his face was hard to miss. With impressive speed Cyrus was on him in seconds. He promptly pulled the knife and pressed it against Carlos’ throat, and with his other hand Cyrus roughly grabbed a fist full of his hair.

He gasped, but the sharp edge of the knife kept him from screaming or squirming away from Cyrus’ grip.

“I told you not to lie to me didn’t I? How stupid do you think I am? I know it’s around here somewhere.”