Enter the Hound: The Origin of Inu

Chapter 22: Get Back

 

            Detective Matthews dropped a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets in a glass of water and grimaced as he watched it fizz.  He knew he shouldn’t have had Thai for lunch.  Curry did not like his stomach at all.  For all the problems it caused it, he would’ve been better off ordering Mexican.  Sure, Mexican food wasn’t too friendly to him either, but at least that was a burn he could deal with.

            His cell phone rang just as he started to reach for the glass.

            “Perfect timing,” he grumbled.  He took a gulp of the fizzy water and answered.  “Matthews here.”

             “Hey, Uncle Jim!”

            The detective smiled.  “Jack,” he chuckled.  “How’s it going?”

            On the other end of the line, Jack was pulling on his coat.  “I’m not sure,” he answered.  “I think something’s up.  Nadine just left, and she was acting weird.”

            “How weird?” Detective Matthews asked.

            “She kept saying stuff about hurting ‘Ashley-chan’ if ‘Nadine’ didn’t behave,” Jack answered.  “I don’t think she’s in her right mind, Unc.”

            Detective Matthews heard keys jingling.  “Jack, you’re not going after her, are you?”

            “That’s a negative.  I’m going after Austin.  He’s not answering his phone, and he needs to know what’s going on.”

            “Good man,” said the detective, breathing a sigh of relief and swallowing another gulp of Alka-Seltzer water.  “Where was Miss Blackwell going, do you know?”

            “Something about meeting Ashley for coffee,” Jack replied.  “Across from a sushi bar, I think.  That’s another reason why I need to find Austin.  He’d know where they’d go.”

            “Alright then, keep me posted,” Detect Matthew said.  “And be careful.”

            “Noted.”

            Detective Matthews closed his cell phone and gulped down that last of the Alka-Seltzer water.  Coffee across from a sushi bar, huh?  There was only one sushi bar in town that was popular with the college crowd, and there was indeed a coffee shop across the street from it.  Actually, he was pretty sure he passed the place on his way to lunch.

            “Maybe Thai wasn’t such a bad idea after all,” he mused as he donned his jacket and grabbed his keys.  He decided to head out that way to check it out.  It was worth a shot anyway.

 

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            Frostfire cursed as he drove back to his apartment.  His last class had run over, and his cell phone battery was dying.  It was turned off to conserve what little charge was left, but he wasn’t expecting anyone to call.  He needed to plug it in while he showered and dressed for his dinner date with Inu, but he was going to be late.  Nothing he could do until he plugged it in, though.

            It wasn’t until after he showered, shaved, and dressed in his best suit that he received Inu’s voicemail message about meeting Nadine for coffee just across from the sushi bar.  He frowned as he listened to the message.  On the one hand, he was glad that he wouldn’t have to worry about being late.  On the other hand, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea for Inu to meet with Nadine after what Austin had said about Nadine’s odd behavior.  They were meeting in a public place, but Frostfire still had misgivings.

            The simple fact was this: Nadine was Inu’s friend, and Inu cared a great deal about her.  Inu would never turn her back on her friends, especially if she thought she could help somehow.  She hadn’t left him and the others behind at Genome, and she wasn’t going to turn her back of Nadine now.  Frostfire knew this, and he loved her loyalty, but something about just wasn’t right here.

            He called Inu’s cell phone, but she did not answer.  He called Austin, but met with similar results.  Cursing, Frostfire grabbed his coat and ran out to his car.

 

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            No sooner had Jack reached his truck than Austin came running up the driveway.  He was bundled up in his winter running gear, minus his favorite running shoes.  Jack smiled and shook his head.  No wonder Austin hadn’t answered his phone; he always turned it off when he went running.

            “Behold the Mighty Minotaur!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms out in a grand gesture.  Austin laughed and slowed to greet Jack in the driveway.

            “You’re timing couldn’t be better,” Jack said as he opened up the passenger door.  “Get in, I’ll explain on the way.”

            “‘Explain on the way,’ huh?” said Austin.  “Why, what’s up?”

            “It’s Nadine,” Jack answered, climbing in on the driver’s side.  “She’s not right, man, and I think she’s going to hurt puppy-girl.”

 

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            By the time Frostfire made it to the coffee shop, it was too late.  Nadine and Inu were nowhere to be seen inside or outside of the coffee shop, nor was Inu waiting for him at the sushi bar.  He was about to try calling Inu again when Detective Matthews flagged him down.  The detective, it seemed, had been told about the meeting and had been showing Nadine’s picture around to see if she’d been in the area.  Only a couple of people reported having seen her, and one said she had been helping a young woman in a black dress to her car.

            Frostfire bit his tongue to keep from cursing.  He had already done enough of that today, and he really didn’t want to do it in front of Detective Matthews.  He half-listened as the detective told him what he knew and what was going to happen to get “Miss Boyce” back and bring “Miss Blackwell” to justice, not really absorbing anything that was being said.  The arrival of Jack and Austin barely registered with him.  All he could think about was Inu and the plans he made for that evening.  He thought about what Detective Matthews had said about Nadine helping a woman in a black dress, and he could imagine how Inu must have looked when she met with Nadine.  It took Austin waving a hand in front of his face to bring Frostfire back to the present.

            The detective went back to the police station, there being little else he could do.  Jack and Austin stayed with Frostfire outside of the coffee shop.  Jack arched an eye brow as every visible hair on Frostfire’s body frosted over.  Austin frowned and cracked his knuckles.  Though neither of them said a word, Jack could tell they were thinking the same thing.

            He pulled his keys out of his pocket and jingled them.  “Where to?” he asked.

            Austin looked up at Jack and shook his head.  “You don’t wanna get dragged into this, Jack,” he said.

            Jack shrugged.  “Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least play taxi.”

            Austin turned his gaze back to Frostfire.  “What do you think, Cori-O?  Where would Nadine have taken Ash?”

            “I’m not sure,” said Frostfire.  “I can’t even begin to imagine what would make Nadine kidnap her in the first place.”

            “Not ‘what,’ but ‘who,’” Jack corrected.  “She had a long conversation with herself earlier about how her ‘Master’ wanted puppy-girl alive.  I’d say Nadine took her to him.”

            “Dude, you do know that Ash will seriously thump you if she hears you call her that,” Austin warned.  Jack just grinned and shrugged.

            “What’s that theory?” Frostfire asked.  “That sometimes people who have been seriously abused go back to their abuser and try to protect them?  Is that how it goes?”

            “Search me, man,” Austin answered.  “I barely passed Psyc 101.  Do you really expect me to remember it now?”

            “I think that’s how it went,” Frostfire continued.  “Maybe Nadine went back to Moreau.  He created her, after all.  It’s not impossible that he would be her ‘Master’ now.”

            “Then means going back to where it all started,” said Austin.