Reynard

Aithley had stayed up too late; she always did after all. That night she’d written everything that had happened to her in her notebook; on another page, in bullet points, she made a list of the things she thought were important. Her head was spinning but that might have had more to do with her injury than trying to figure out the scattered pieces of something she didn’t understand. She’d nodded off thinking that she should just drop this entire thing, when she’d woken up suddenly. The house was silent and it was night outside. There was a dull thudding in her head, her throat was parched, and there was a crick in her neck that ached. Aithley had fallen asleep in her jeans and shirt, her laptop still open on her bed though the screen had gone black. She shut it closed and laid it down on her dresser bureau. She turned, ready to go downstairs and get a glass of water, when something caught the corner of her eye.

“What the-” Aithley vigorously rubbed her eyes. She was still sleepy, her head achy. It was possible she was- but Aithley looked again and sure enough, it really was there. “Why, you- what are you doing here?!” she hissed. The tiny pink fur ball just stared at her with indiscernible eyes. It was still munching away at something like when she’d first seen it, though what it was chewing Aithley had no idea. And, honestly, it was only a fleeting thought that was easily forgotten with much bigger and bewildering ones such as- “How did you get in here?”

Her window was open but Aithley’s room was on the third floor. She went to the window anyway and looked out. Unless it had the amazing ability to jump over twenty feet in the air in one leap (which, admittedly, might be a possibility), there was nothing around that could have allowed it to climb up her window. Aithley turned around. The rabbit was sitting rather comfortably on her desk, right on top of the Ciarailiad.

“So what, you’re a figment of my imagination after all?” she said, carefully walking around the desk. Its eyes followed her, unnerving her further. “I mean, if you are then you should be able to talk. Right?” She sat on the edge of her bed. “So, talk.”

Nothing.

“Of course, if you really were something from my head, you wouldn’t be a pink rabbit,” Aithley continued thoughtfully. “I don’t even like rabbits.” She frowned at it. “So are you haunting me? Are you some sort of spirit or something? What do you want from me? And what are you eating?” she said in frustration as nothing happened.

The rabbit moved, turning around and jumping off the desk onto the floor. Aithley watched with bated breath as it hopped off towards the window. It stopped right under it and turned, looking at her in a familiar manner. “Yeah right,” Aithley flared up. “After the last time, I’m not following you anywhere. Especially this late at night.”

The memory of her encounter with those men struck a sharp chord of fear in her and she swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. “Yeah, definitely not,” she said resolutely.

The pink bunny continued to stare at her, still munching away.

~~~  

“You stayed up late, didn’t you.” Rufus said with a knowing smile as Aithley let out a yawn. They were sitting down at the table, waiting for breakfast.

You don’t know the half of it, she thought, smothering another yawn. This was the second night in a row that she had gone without a good night’s rest, but it was hard to sleep when you had a pink fur ball staring at you the entire night. Or was it the whole night? Aithley didn’t know. She’d somehow managed to doze off and when she’d woken up, dawn had already broken and it had disappeared. Aithley’s nerves were already stretched tight but as her father came into the room, dressed impeccably in his suit as always, and took his place at the head of the table, she felt them get tighter.

“Morning Herschel,” Rufus greeted his brother-in-law solicitously.

“Good morning, Rufus.” A rare smile made its way to Herschel’s face. “Raquel told me you were here. It’s been a while.”

“You’re telling me,” the other man laughed.

Herschel Rhyerson and Rufus Babbitt were as complete opposites as could be imagined. Where Rufus was blond, muscular, and tanned, clearly an outdoors man used to strenuous activity, Herschel was pale, dark-haired, an average-sized man with an average build. Rufus was easy-going, and people were charmed by his charisma and ease; Herschel had a quiet composure, and though his charm wasn’t as loud as his brother-in-law’s, it had a force of its own that could be just as effective.

As everyone settled down as breakfast was brought in, Herschel shot a glance at his firstborn. Aithley squirmed in her seat and shoved a big piece of pancake in her mouth. “So I heard you had a little mishap yesterday, Aithley,” he said. She took her time chewing.

“I fell off my skates,” she said after swallowing. “That’s not a mishap, it’s an accident.”

“Hmm.”

Aithley avoided looking at her father. His piercing gaze always made her feel as if he could see straight through her and while she didn’t believe that he could tell she was lying, she didn’t have the energy to meet his look.

“So how long will you be with us?” Herschel asked Rufus.

“I honestly don’t know. Why? Looking to boot me out already?” Rufus teased.

“If I did, I’d have four angry females on my back,” he joked.

“Uncle Rufus is going to take a picture of Ahura Mazda for a magazine. Isn’t that cool, Dad?” Aubryn piped in eagerly.

Herschel’s demeanor changed. His smile disappeared and with it his lighthearted behavior. “Ah, him. He’s been getting very popular.”

“A thorn in your side from what I hear.” Rufus said casually.

A tight smile crossed Herschel’s face. “Five dead city officials, numerous masked copycats, a growing hostility that’ll explode with the right spark. He’s a thorn in everyone’s side.”

“Things are really that bad?” Rufus frowned.

“They were never really good to begin with, but with this Ahura Mazda they’ve gone downhill very fast.”

“Does anyone want some syrup?” Raquel said, a little to loudly, and everyone knew by her tone that this conversation was at an end, to the disappointment of both Aithley and Aubryn. The rest of breakfast fell into a terse silence.

Near the end, as Herschel got ready to head out for work, he said suddenly, “I’ve got a lot of work this morning but I’m open for a late lunch. Just you and me, Aithley.”

She was surprised at this. “Why?” It wasn’t what she said but how she said it that made both her parents frown at her.

“Because you and I need to have a talk. Your mother will bring you. Do us all a favor and try not to wander off,” he added with an acerbic bite to his tone.

Won’t make any promises, she thought rebelliously.

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t,” Rufus said with a wink at his niece. “In fact, I’ll bring her myself.”

~~~

Lunch with her father was hours away and it was driving Aithley crazy. Her mother refused to let her out of the house because, as she was reminded rather strongly, she was still grounded. She was restless, anxious, and needed to talk to someone about what had happened yesterday.  The only person she could think of was Fane but she didn’t want to tell him everything over the phone. She had to see him face to face, get his perspective on what was going on because she didn’t trust herself.

She went in search of her uncle Rufus and found him in the guest room, cleaning his camera. “Let me guess,” he said, before she could even open her mouth. “You want to go outside but you’re grounded, so you want me to help you convince your mother to leave the house. Am I right?”

“No,” she said. “I was hoping you’d accompany me to the park for a little bit. I have to meet Fane. Some stuff with one of my films I have to talk to him about.”

“Fane, huh? You two still good friends?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we be?” Aithley wondered with genuine puzzlement at the question.

“Eh, no reason. Just figured, since your family moved to this neighborhood, and with all the differences between you two- you know what, never mind.”

“Soooo, you’ll take me to the park than? Great, just tell Mom and we’ll be on our way.”

“Hold on a minute,” Rufus began.

“Thanks, Uncle Babs. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.” Aithley said hurriedly. “I’ll text Fane now.”

“But I didn’t-” he called out after her already departing back.

~~~

“So how’d you convince Mom to let me go out?” Aithley asked curiously as they reached the park.

Rufus smiled sheepishly. “I sent her a text message ten minutes after we left the house,” he confessed. Aithley laughed.

“This is why you’re my favorite uncle,” she told him.

Aithley spotted Fane, playing with his soccer ball. “Um, Uncle Babs, can you get us some frozen yogurt? There’s a cart right there. Chocolate for me and Fane, thanks.” She quickly ran off in Fane’s direction, backpack bouncing against her back. Rufus stared with a bemused look.

“As if that wasn’t suspicious,” he observed to himself. “I just know there’s something she doesn’t want me to hear. Ah well,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Kids will be kids.”

~~~

“Was that your uncle Rufus?” Fane asked curiously as she reached him. “I didn’t know he was back in the country. Hey, what happened to your head?” he said, noticing the band-aid.

“No time,” Aithley told him urgently. “Listen, I have to talk to you so and I’ve gotta do it quick before Uncle Babs comes back.” She launched into her story at once, beginning with her second trip back to Alba’s house, meeting Iselle, and the books she had taken to cover her lie. Fane listened to everything, mouth slightly open as he looked at Aithley. It took her all of eight minutes to recount the last two days. When she finished, she waited for Fane’s response. She’d been watching his face, observing the expressions he made. He turned, rolling the soccer ball with his foot, than without warning kicked it hard. The soccer ball hit the trunk of a tree with such force it flew back straight to Fane without bouncing back. “I can’t believe you were so stupid,” he said disgruntledly. “No, wait. I can.” He hit the ball again and again it struck the center of the tree. He clearly wasn’t happy.

“Why are you so upset?” she wanted to know.

“Oh gee, my best friend nearly gets killed after stupidly following a pink rabbit into a bad part of the neighborhood, gets attacked, and is only somehow miraculously saved by another gang that didn’t murder you. I guess I should be ecstatic.”

She frowned. “I guess I should take that as a good reaction.” He snorted, started bouncing the ball on his knee. “So…you believe me about seeing the pink rabbit? You don’t think I’m crazy?” Aithley asked hesitantly.

Fane frowned at her. “You’re  a lot of things Aithley. Crazy is one of them but not that kind of crazy.”

She sighed with relief. “Good, because I saw it again in my room last night.”

He looked at her in surprise but before either of them could say anything, Rufus came along. “Boy, that was a long line,” he said. “Chocolate for the two of you, and I got myself a strawberry one.”

“Thanks, Uncle Babs.” Aithley took the proffered cup but she had no appetite for any of it.

“Hello, Mr. Babbitt,” Fane said, taking his own cup.

“So how’s the world of amateur movies?”

“Alright, I guess,” he said awkwardly. Throughout all her movies, Fane was the only constant. Sometimes he even played two different parts if she couldn’t find enough people to participate. Though Fane wasn’t an aspiring movie star (he was more interested in sports and engineering), he nonetheless helped Aithley in her movies. They’d known each other for as far back as either of them could remember so it seemed only natural that Fane would help out and that usually meant starring in them.

“I have to meet my dad for lunch in a few hours,” Aithley told Fane, poking the yogurt with her spoon. “He wants to talk.”

A smile flickered across Fane’s features. “That usually means a lot of yelling from you,” he remarked, and laughed when she glared at him.

~~~  

It was Aithley’s uncle who took her to the restaurant where she was supposed to meet her father. Aithley had been to the Burnett Restaurant before; after all, it was close to where her father worked and easier for him to go when he went to lunch, which seemed to be very rare these days. It was lit low with plenty of reds, oranges, and yellows and though it wasn’t very spooky, she always felt a sense of eeriness whenever she entered the restaurant. Domenico, the maitre’d, recognized her and gave her a warm smile.

“Hello, young miss. It’s been a while.”

Aithley shrugged. “I’m supposed to meet my dad,” she told him.

“He’s already here. Follow me.”

They followed him to the back of the room where, sitting at one of the tables, was her father and he wasn’t alone. There was another man with him, someone she didn’t recognize. Aithley eyed him curiously as they approached.

“I wasn’t expecting you, Rufus,” Herschel said mildly as they sat down. “Raquel couldn’t make it?”

“I, uh,” Rufus glanced sheepishly at his niece. “I took Aithley outside for a few things, so Raquel told me to bring her here.”

“Uh huh.” Now it was Rufus’s turn to squirm and avoid his brother-in-law’s eyes. “So is, uh, is the food here any good?” he asked, picking up a menu.

“It’s quite excellent, despite the decorum.”

“Hey now. I quite like the decor.” The other man protested with a smile.

“Rufus, Aithley, this is a friend of mine. He’s a detective in the police force, Reynard Pettybone. Reynard, this is my brother-in-law Rufus, my daughter Aithley.”

“Nice to meet you.” The two men shook hands.

A detective? What is this about? Aithley wondered. As Pettybone’s eyes met hers, she felt a sense of apprehension.

“As I’m sure Raquel has already told you, a classmate of Aithley’s disappeared a few weeks ago,” Herschel began to explain to Rufus.

“It’s been over a month now,” Aithley interrupted, frowning at him. “Almost two months actually.”

“She told me,” Rufus assured him.

“Since Aithley has been so concerned, I decided to ask Reynard to look into the case as a favor for me.” Herschel continued.

Aithley was surprised by this. The last thing she’d expected from her father was to be worried enough about her that he would bring in a detective to look into Alba’s case. She didn’t know what to say.

“I’m a homicide detective but I know a few people in the missing persons department, so I managed to get a copy of Alba Hayes’ case file.”

“And?” Aithley asked eagerly, literally sitting at the edge of her seat as she stared at the detective.

Reynard scratched his head thoughtfully. “And…nothing. There wasn’t much the detectives on the case could find. No leads, no clues, nothing but dead ends.”

It felt as if something inside her had been suddenly deflated and in the wake of her anticipation and hope, there was now anger and bitter disappointment. “So that’s it?” she said, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice. “You bring me here to tell me that Alba’s case is a dead end?”

“Watch your tone,” her father said sternly but Aithley wasn’t in the mood for reprimands.

“I will not!” she snapped at him. “I’m angry, I’m frustrated. Everything has been such a-such a-” she struggled with the word that would most aptly describe what she was feeling.

“Pain in the ass?” Reynard suggested with a sardonic smile. Aithley stared at him for a long moment and all she could think of was how this so-called detective was making jokes at a time like this. She felt something touch her hand and she glanced down to see her uncle’s hand on her own.

“Rein it in, kiddo,” Rufus said gently. “You’re feeling upset but you don’t want to lose control of your emotions. Alright?”

It was not alright but Aithley couldn’t explain it to any of them. She stood up abruptly, feeling hot tears burning at the backs of her eyes. “Bathroom,” she managed to say tersely and turned around sharply. She didn’t want any of them to see her cry.

~~~

“What was that about?” Rufus demanded, glaring at Reynard. The detective glanced at him with a smile.

“She looked like she needed help,” was his baffling reply. Rufus looked at Herschel.

“Don’t take it personally, Rufus,” he said in explanation. “Reynard here is a pain in the ass himself. I’m afraid his manners leave a lot to be desired, but he really is one of the best detectives in the city. That’s why I called him.”

“To do what exactly? Relieve Aithley’s worries about her friend’s disappearance? Do you really think that knowing the investigation is at a dead end will make her feel better?”

“Actually,” Reynard began. He took out a crumbled pack of cigarettes, shook out a cigarette. “If she had been a little more patient, I would have told her a few things that I uncovered that the original detectives overlooked.”

“Such as what?”

Reynard lit his cigarette and took a long puff. “For one thing, Alba’s brother-in-law. Dax Pengelly. He’s got- associations with certain criminal elements even though he himself has no criminal record.”

“And the original detectives didn’t realize this? Didn’t they do a background check?” Rufus demanded, glancing at Herschel. He was calm, as always.

“Like I said, he doesn’t have a criminal record, only a reputation in certain circles. Also, communication between departments can be a bit trying at times. Either no one paid any attention when Pengelly’s name came up, or it didn’t connect to the right people.”

“So what crimes is this Pengelly associated with?”

“He’s been connected to drug-trafficking, human trafficking, gun-running, possible espionage, assassination-”

“Human trafficking? Assassination” Rufus interrupted. The thought that someone like that could be so close to his own family made him sick. He glanced at Herschel. He was listening intently, watching Reynard as he spoke.

“So there really is a chance that he could be behind Alba’s disappearance?” Rufus said.

Reynard shrugged. “There is a good chance, yes.”

Something in his tone made him wary. “You said there were a few other things you uncovered?”

“Yes.”

“And they are…?”

Reynard gave another little smile and Rufus felt annoyed at it. “I’m afraid, at the moment, I’m not at liberty to tell.”

Rufus turned his glare at Herschel. “So what the hell was this whole setup for exactly?”

“I just wanted Aithley to know that her friend’s case has not been forgotten, or overlooked. Then maybe she won’t be as reckless as she’s been lately.”

Rufus stared at him with a look of incredulity. “If you actually believe that this’ll stop Aithley from pursuing her own investigation, then you clearly don’t know your daughter as well as you should.”

This elicited a snort of mirth from Reynard.