Marcus wanted to give Kevin a thumbs up, but only once the man proved that he would not be trying to run away again.

“Mathis. ” The middle aged man responded, his head held low and his voice softened, defeated. The previously obvious cynical and stubborn attitude was but all gone. Just as Kevin suspected, he was Brooklyn Payne, the infamous PI and occasional fixer for rich but unsavory people of the city.

“You look horrible. What happened?” Captain Ko’s voice sounded concerned, Marcus took a quick peek at Kevin’s screen, he looked concerned as well.

“Just a bad business day. Nothing you should be concerned about.” Brooklyn Payne shook his head: “What do you want? Why are you sending your men to this neighborhood?”

“That’s police business, and you are not on the need-to-know list.” Captain Ko sighed: “And why ARE YOU there? Why are you interfering with the investigation of my detectives?”

“That’s none of your business as well. You are not going to scare me like that - ” Brooklyn Payne coughed and wheezed, this time, Marcus could see blood on the corner of his mouth.

“You got into something you shouldn’t have.” Captain Ko’s voice and face turned stern: “Marcus, Kevin, can you confirm this? He’s caught something.”

Kevin turned his eyes to Marcus, and Marcus responded with a simple answer: “Yes. Foul energy surrounded his entire body, it’s growing and eating him up. I don’t know how long he still has.”

Brooklyn Payne growled and shot at Kevin, his arm swung at the phone. But Marcus’ left arm got in the way and stopped this attack at the midpoint of its trajectory. Marcus’ right hand pushed at Brooklyn Payne’s chest and sent him backwards.

“You do that again, I’ll go all ‘resisting arrest’ and ‘assaulting an officer’ on you.” Marcus raised a finger at Brooklyn Payne.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“So - what THE FUCK, do you want? Ko?” Brooklyn Payne coughed again: “You want to say ‘I told you so’? You want to gloat about how good of a mission and goal you have?”

“No. I’m simply proposing that you comply with my detectives answer a few questions, then maybe they can let you go. Or else I can okay them on the arrest, and you should handle the paperwork.” Captain Ko nodded: “Your choice.”

“What a fucking low demand.” Brooklyn Payne responded with a contemptful scoff.

“And come to my place when you have fulfilled your end of the deal. You KNOW I know someone who can help.” Captain Ko sighed, then hung up the video call.

“So - what do you say?” Marcus stood between Brooklyn Payne and Kevin: “You want another round? Or do you wanna answer some questions?”

Brooklyn Payne’s entire face was red, and veins almost popped out of his forehead as he tried his best to raise his voice without alerting the neighborhood: “I don’t know who you think you are or what you think you know about the situation, or the things happening around the city. But one thing you can be FUCKING SURE, is that your dear captain is no simple captain. He’s not trustworthy. He’s not who you think he is!”

“I don’t care. How about you answer our questions first?” Marcus shook his head.

“Exactly, like, for starters, the reason you are here.” Kevin popped his head out behind Marcus.

“Yes. Let’s start with that, won’t you?” Marcus crossed his arms.

“I am here to find someone. But it turned out they’re not here.” Brookly Payne grunted, then coughed again. His spit dripped onto the ground, leaving red spots everywhere.

“How can he help you? The captain, I mean.” Kevin popped his head out again.

“Like I said. He knows much more than he lets on. He DOES more than he lets on. And I think you know that, right? Because up until recently, investigation with the paranormal as a factor for consideration had not been a thing for years.” Brooklyn Payne let out an ugly grin, with his teeth covered in blood mixed with saliva.

“And what is the person’s name? This person you’re looking for.” Marcus asked.

“Luo Zhuge. The same one you’re asking about. I’ve also been tracking him for a while.” Brooklyn Payne wiped the corners of his mouth, then his forehead.

“If that’s even his real name.” Kevin scoffed: “What’s his real name? Tell us what you know!”

“I don’t know anything. The man’s good. He’s got a ton of aliases. ” The disgruntled PI groaned.

“You must know something.” Marcus narrowed his eyes: “Tell us more about him. Whatever you have. Give us everything you have on him, then we’ll tell our captain that you’ve been cooperative. And of course, he would gladly see that you’ve been a great help to our investigation.”

“Then you’d have to pay for it. Let me know, what’s it worth to you?” Brooklyn Payne grinned once more, his teeth slightly cleaned up: “Tell your captain, I am willing to give you this information. But I’m gonna need something in return. I want what he knows. I want to know how. I want to know the ins and outs. Tell him I ask this, he’ll understand.”

“That’s not enough.” Marcus did not change his tone or his posture.

“And you don’t have a choice. If you really believe that I don’t have very long, then you know the information’s got an expiration date.” Brooklyn Payne laughed out loud: “Tell me, do you really want to drag this one out, with the food festival coming back into the schedule somewhere else?”