Chapter 34

Chapter 34
THE MAN-DOG

Mike felt a shift in his emotions. He was suddenly no longer scared but pissed off. He knew who he was. He knew Mike was a detective, yet he dragged him out here cold!
"You know who I am, yet you had the audacity of restraining me in here!" Mike snapped. The fact that Kyle knew who he was and still went ahead to bound him up like some common criminal, showed the level at which people no longer feared the police. The country was going into destruction!
Psychopath or not, everyone has something they feared and most criminals feared Jail
"Listen to me! Release me at once or I am going to take you to jail! I'll make sure you serve for many years!" Mike threatened and Kyle fell silent.
Mike smiled, patting himself on the back, he had successfully scared his kidnapper. He anticipated an apology. He waited for what seemed like ten long minutes and Kyle didn't say a word. Had he left again?
When the apology didn't come, Mike realized that he had made a quick conclusion and a mistake. This man wasn't concerned with anything except his agenda. He was a real-time psychopath and he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.
"Mike Galefield, you have nothing to return to. Your name is all over the news. You are a wanted man," Kyle explained to him. "The police force has denied you. You are on your own."
Mike wondered how Kyle knew all of those. That information was classified, only he and his direct boss, Captain Carter, knew about it. So how did this guy know about it? Who was this guy?
"Who exactly are you?" Mike asked unable to keep the question to himself.
"Who I am, doesn't matter," Kyle responded in a sing-song manner. "Your options are very limited, Mike. What's it going to be?" He added after a while.
At this point, Mike felt so stupid. His stubbornness had finally caught up with him. He shouldn't have left Jimmy. He shouldn't have pointed a gun at that damned receptionist. He should have been more patient. At least he wouldn't have gotten lost in some isolated road moving without direction. If he was with Jimmy, he would have told him to stay clear of strangers. Especially since he wasn't in a police vehicle. Because Jimmy was a more patient police officer and a good friend. Mike was selfish and had let his stubbornness plus pride get in the way. He left Jimmy and went on his own, breaking all the rules in the book. No,w look at the mess he had brought to his career and himself! How was he going to get past this?
What was he going to tell this Kyle of a man now? How was he going to ever get past this alive?
Before Mike could respond, there was a clicking sound above him, he turned briskly around and a blinding light engulfed the space. Mike closed his eyes due to the brightness. It was too much for his eyes to accommodate at once. He had to shut it for some time and let the yellowish light shadow disappear gradually from his vision. He then squinted his eyes open, slowly, and this time it didn't hurt so much to see.
He turned around checking his surrounding. The bright light was above him and there was a window behind him indeed. It was a small cell sort of place and right in front of him where he had seen Kyle's glowing eyes stood the devil and Mike finally saw why he was unmoving.
There was a sort of bar attached to a section of the wall, which Mike was guessing was also the entrance. Kyle stood on the other side, watching him like a predator watches its prey.
"I am still waiting for your answer Galefield!" Kyle said watching him like an evil lord watches his slaves. Mike knew at that instant that there was no way out for him.
Mike stared at him and then dropped his eyes to the floor. He needed to be very wise in his dealings. Every average man would jump at the opportunity but he couldn't just do that. He took agreements very seriously and he would rather not create one than make one only to break it in the end.
But for this situation, he couldn't just turn his back and reject the agreement, Kyle was offering him. Mike knew that once he did that, Kyle would open that door and kill him in cold blood. Placing his bets on their body sizes would be a mistake because as much as they were both built, Mike knew he wouldn't stand a chance. The man didn't even behave normally. He was a strange creature that Mike would never consider dueling with. A fight with Kyle would be too dangerous, Mike would not be able to survive. But what could he do?
Accept the agreement to protect his life? Or fight till his last breath like a foolish hero?
But, then again, if he agrees to whatever Kyle wants, what if he couldn't even complete the task, what would happen then? In his opinion, Kyle would kill him. He didn't look like a man who kept friends. Kyle would kill him.
Mike was in a dilemma. He didn't know what to do.
"What I am offering you is going to help you in reclaiming your lost glory amongst your people. They will understand why you did what you did, " Kyle's voice boomed in the small space.
Mike raised his eyes and stared at him. He had a lot of things to say but he didn't know where to start. He wanted to tell Kyle that he could reclaim everything he had lost if only he gets out of there and finds Laila Danvers. So she could testify that whoever made that interview about the case being a suicide was wrong. He needed her to counter that statement. To do that, he needed to be alive.
"I see you are troubled. You humans have trouble thinking under pressure, I will let you think in peace. I'll be back in a few minutes for an answer. Mind you, if I return and you still have no answer for me, I will consider you useless and end you!" His last sentence echoed in the walls and Mike felt a chill crawl up his spine. This was bad news.
Kyle turned around and a clicking sound filled the space again, then immediately after the sound, darkness filled the cell. Not wanting to give in to panic, Mike lowered himself to the ground once more and thought it through.
Agreeing to Kyle was like signing a contract with the devil, there was bound to be a clause to end him at the end. Rejecting the contract also meant he wouldn't be able to leave with his life. Either way, he was going to lose his life. One only gave him more time to prepare for his death than the other. That first option also gave him enough time to find a way out. But what if he couldn't do what he was asked to do? He would have to find a way around it. He was a detective, he was smarter than the criminal. He would find a way around it and save himself or die trying.
Heaving a sigh, Mike remained on the floor for a good thirty minutes before the lights came back on and Kyle returned to the space outside.
"Are you doing it?" Kyle demanded the moment the lights returned.
Mike slowly got up from the floor, ignoring the protests his restrained hands were making. "Let's assume I accept to do this, what are the conditions?" Mike asked instead.
"You are smart. I like you." Kyle said, his lips curving slightly into a quarter of a smile. The man looked like he never smiled. For him to move his lips like that even slightly, meant that Mike was getting somewhere.
"Here is the deal, I need to find Laila Danvers and I want your help," Kyle said without breaking eye contact.
Mike gulped. So all the trouble was because of Laila Danvers, — he thought to himself. This was good. He needed to find Laila too and if Kyle wanted him to work for him instead, it would be easy the moment he found Laila Danvers, he would call the police first before calling him. He would not only arrest Laila Denver, but he would also have this Kyle Mathews apprehended. But he needed to play along so that Kyle wouldn't begin to suspect him.
"What's in it for me?" Mike asked instead.
"Your forgiveness, your job, a medal, and many more, you just name it!" Kyle said in a bored tone. "The list is endless, just make sure you find her, bring her to me and all your wishes shall be fulfilled."