Relentless

20- Unknown

The sun peeked over the edge of the building, the ray of sunlight directly hitting my eyes. I squinted huffing in annoyance pulling down the blinds beside me. I hated this, this has turned into one giant mess, and I'm the one stuck cleaning it up. If he had just listened to me, it would have been done and over with by now and life would be dandy, but the boy's too stubborn, now the situation is ten times worse. I shook my head, sipping my coffee patiently waiting for the old drunk to show himself. He's late, as expected.

"Can I get you a refill, Sir?"

I looked over to the young waitress giving her a polite smile, mentally calculating how much money she would make me with those long legs, "Sure, thank you." I handed her the mug, scanning the doorway as she poured the black liquid. I continued to scan my surroundings after she left sighing heavily. If this turns out to be a waste of time, I'll hunt her down myself.

The door suddenly slammed against the wall of the restaurant, an older man stumbled inside with much difficulty of keeping it open muttering nonsense under his breath. His bloodshot eyes darted around the room while his body sluggishly tried to catch up. He raised a bottle covered in a paper bag to his lips, the liquid slid down his chin slowly, crashing onto his stained T-shirt before wiping it away with the back of his dirt covered hand. His stank, stale stench wafted across the whole room making even me grimace in disgust. After a full minute, he realized everyone was looking at him, his chapped lips curved into a mocking smile showing off his slightly rotting teeth, "Pardon me." He tripped over his own feet almost sending him sprawling, but he caught himself on one of the bar stools before he hit the ground.

I ran a hand across my face groaning quietly already knowing the answer, "Nolan Murphy?"

His head whipped in my direction, "Who said that?" I raised an eyebrow folding my hands in front of me on the table. "Oh, you must be that mysterious feller," he slurred, falling into the booth across from me, "What'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't."

"Riiiight, listen, you got yourself five minutes to explain why I'm here, after that I'm leaving."

I slid a glass of water towards him, "How about you drink some of this first, to sober up a little."

He narrowed his honey eyes, flicking his salt and pepper hair and purposely taking another gulp, "Why would I want that?"

"Because I have the information you've been searching for, ever since you got out of jail."

He froze, then slowly lowered the bottle to the table already looking a bit more clear headed, "You know where my family is?"

I internally smirked, the bait is on the hook. "I know where your wife and youngest daughter are."

He scoffed, "I don't believe you."

I expected this, so I took a phone out of my pocket and placed it in front of him, "See for yourself."

He rolled his eyes, slinging his hand down sloppily grasping it. I waited patiently as he scrolled, a minute, three, at four he reached forward and chugged the entire glass. "She's really grown up," he mumbled softly, fondly.

"You don't have to put on an act with me." He glanced up raising an eyebrow, I let a small smirk slip. "We both know what you really want with them."

He stared blankly, "You're a cop."

"Far from it."

"Yeah, okay. What are you supposed to be then?"

"Worse."

He continued to stare for a few more seconds, then stood abruptly, "Have a good day, whoever you are," he spun on his heels losing his footing a little.

I waited until he made it out the door, placing money on the table and sending the young waitress a wink before following him. He tripped his way up the sidewalk still uttering things under his breath I couldn't make out. I stayed a good distance behind, trailing silently. He downed the rest of the bottle tossing it to the side with a crash, unaware of my presence. He strode to a part of town where there were fewer people, grunting, clenching his fists, running his hands through his hair and repeating the process. The drunk halted kicking a trashcan over violently, his grunting turning into growls which then morphed into shouts. He traveled a few more feet down the sidewalk before abruptly whirling around facing me, a befuddled expression crossed his face, switching to anger in a heartbeat.

I pounced before he had time to process what was happening, shoving him into the shadows of an ally and pinning him face first against the wall. Swiftly, I pulled out my gun and pressed it firmly to his head, "Do anything stupid and I won't hesitate to blow your brains out."

He spat, slightly hacking, "What do you want?"

"Your name is Nolan Murphy, ex-husband to Hannah Murphy and father of Lacey and Sophie Murphy."

"What's that to you?"

"You attacked them in your home when your daughters were young."

"I wouldn't-,"

"You were drunk, as usual, and your youngest came down the stairs to check on you."

"You don't-,"

I pushed the barrel further into his scalp, effectively shutting him up, "You smashed a beer bottle and used it as a weapon as you grabbed her, slowly slicing her flesh, enjoying her pain, her screams. And then your oldest came running trying to get you off of her. You knocked her to the side and continued, but you underestimated your oldest. She grabbed a lamp and hit you over the head, it gave them enough time to make a run for it. Little did they know you had your buddies outside guarding the exits so they couldn't escape. So, you held your daughters hostage until your wife came home, that's when the real fun began right?"

His graying eyebrows scrunched, trying to make sense of my words, "You talk as if you were there."

I grinned; hook, line, and sinker. "You beat your wife in front of your children, she took it all like a good mother so you wouldn't touch her girls. But you didn't stop there, did you? What else did you do, Murphy?"

"Humph, why don't you tell me."

"Well," I taunted lowly, "You tied up your daughters and dragged your wife into your bedroom."

"She's my wife," he snapped. "I can do whatever I want with her."

"I'm not arguing, I'm simply stating the facts."

"How do you know all this? Who are you?"

I chuckled lowly, "We are many, unknown, unseen. If you want to see them," I pushed a flash drive into his pocket, "You'll find her under the name Hannah Addison. Go finish what you started." I stepped back releasing him. By the time the blubbering idiot turned around, I was gone, vanished without a trace. Leaving my pawn exactly how I wanted him, confused, but eager for his search to come to an end.

***
Any thoughts? Theories or predictions? Who do you think this was?