Chapter 27 The Yard
Astor’s hands trembled so badly his fingers left wet prints on the doorknob of the battered wooden gate they were about to get in. Julian watched him closely. He could read fear or any other emotion the way other people read weather. It made the man predictable.
“You will call the person in charge, and you will speak to him now.” Julian asserted. Astor nodded with fright.
He picked his phone up and dialed a number. “On speaker” Julian commanded. He did as told. Vincent’s eyes traveled around calmly for security purposes. “This place stinks, boss. Can’t wait to be out of here.”
Julian almost smiled. “You’ve smelt worse, this got nothing on you.”
Vincent’s lips curved. “I guess I’m just not in the mood for dirty people tonight.”
On the second ring, the person finally picked. “Astor?”
“Chris, I forgot my backpack here earlier, help open the back door.”
“Okay. Come on in, " The person named Chris said over the phone.
Julian helped him end the call just then. “Now,” he instructed and Astor led them to the back door. Immediately Chris opened the tall door and Astor was let in, Julian and Vincent entered accordingly with their guns pointed forward. Chris, who wasn’t harmed, raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t keep money here, but I can transfer it to you.” He rasped fearfully.
Vincent almost chuckled out of disgust. “Shut the fuck up and bring out the kid you are keeping.”
Chris’ eyes flicked to Astor in disappointment.
“I swear I didn’t betray you, they were going to kill me. I have no idea how…how they found me.”
Julian watched the exchange between them with bored eyes.
“You should give them the child. They are dangerous.” Astor urged, his tone desperate.
Chris’ Jaw clenched hard. “Come in” He led them to a door, then brought a key out of his pocket and unlocked it. It revealed an almost dark room, a dim bulb glowing faintly against the ceiling.
“The kid is in the other room.” Chris said, using the tilting of his head to give direction.
Julian’s eyes swept the space. Crates stacked against the wall. A blanket thrown over something that looked like a mattress. A small pair of shoes by the doorway. The environment smelt of oil and abandoned stuff.
In a strange way, Julian’s heart started to thud hard in his chest as he neared the second room. He could feel it—the kid.
Vincent had two guns pointed- one at Astor, the other at Chris.
When Julian reached the second door, his jaw clenched on its own accord. “Phoenix?” He whispered sharply, readying his ear for a response but got nothing. Just before he could turn and question Chris, a tiny voice responded from the other side of the room. “Go away, please.” Julian’s breath stuttered.
The small voice that he was hearing for the first time tugged hard at his heart.
He turned the doorknob without wasting time and made slow calculated moves towards the inner room. A boy sat on dirty a chair, knees pulled up, hugging a small toy plane like it was a life preserver. His eyes were wide and raw. He looked scared and he looked six.
Julian’s chest tightened in a way he didn’t expect. He stepped forward slowly, palms open, voice low and measured. “Hey, kid. You okay?”
Phoenix flinched. He clutched the plane tighter.
“Are you one of those bad men? My mum will hurt you.” Julian almost smiled at that. The kid was brave. Sharp-mouthed like his mother.
“I am not. I am here to take you to mummy.”
Phoenix slowly looked up then, and Julian staggered back. The gray in the boy’s eyes was bright even in the almost-dark room. “You know mummy?”
Julian didn’t answer in time, his focus was on the kid’s face. He couldn’t tell if he looked like him, or like Damien. Was he…Damien’s kid? Did Seraphina have him for Damien?
If that was the case, Damien would surely know it was his, and wouldn’t have told him that Seraphina was carrying a baggage. He tried to remember the year she told him she met Damien,
A cold chill settled on him as the second option surfaced. “It couldn’t be.” He responded to the voice in his head, heart beating fast.
“Couldn’t be what?” Phoenix asked and that was when Julian blinked himself back to the present.
“Come here, kid. Let’s go to mummy.” He extended his hand to him but Phoenix hesitated.
“Someone took Maris,” he said in a small rush. “They said no crying. They said I should read. I read.”
Julian crouched to be level with him. He lowered his hands and touched the plane lightly. “You did great,” he said. “You did really great.”
Behind him, Vincent kept watch at the door. Astor hovered by the wall, like he wanted to disappear. Chris shifted his weight every now and then on his feet.
“Let’s go now, shall we?”
Phoenix gray eyes steadied on Julian’s gray ones- their eye-color matching. “I trust you.” The boy muttered. Julian had never felt the kind of emotion that pressed in his chest at that moment in years.
He gave the kid a small innocent smile as he took his hand in his.
Just then, Julian sensed a presence beside him.
“Not so easy as you think.” A voice pierced the air. Julian grabbed the kid and lifted him, then veered his head sharply and saw a man in mask approaching from a part that looked like a wall. It was another door.
He pointed his gun at him at the same time Phoenix buried his small head in his broad chest in fear, his little arms wrapped around Julian’s neck tightly. Julian’s hold around the kid tightened as he threatened the man, his voice calm, detached, and intimidating. “If you don’t want your brains splattered on the floor, stay where you are.” The person froze immediately.
“Julian?”
Julian stilled. He knew that voice. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in two years. His body folded.
There wasn’t a soul in the world he feared, except the man behind that voice.
The man whose shadow in the underworld was darker than his own.
The last time they met, there had been blood, fire, and a promise never to cross paths again.
“Keith.”