Introducing Thaddeus Black Ch. 04

Thaddeus was having a hard time steeling his mind from the eerie desire his body was giving him. For some reason his erection was having a hard time dying down inside his pants. Each time he changed gear and floored his engine, he felt his cock nod its head surreptitiously up and down as if he had a lizard struck in his crotch. His mind conjured up weird pictures, things he reckoned would kill the sex urge his body was responding to ... but one image kept breaking through the fabric of his other assorted mind pictures.

Constance Loftus.

His thoughts conjured a vivid picture of her standing at her bedroom window gazing out towards the driveway that snaked across the compound from the main gate down to the front driveway. She had on a silk evening dress and nothing else, parted to reveal her nakedness. The look on her face was that of a longing desire. It made him step on his gas pedal harder though still obeying the speed limit as he headed in the direction of her home.

He got there a little past eight-thirty. He didn't need to say anything to the security this time for the gate came open even before he slowed down for it. Bright lamps lit the driveway as he approached the majestic abode. It was the sight of Nigel again standing like a stiff brick in his butler outfit wearing white hand gloves that shrunk his penis back to its hiding place. He stepped out of his car and he and the butler eyed each other for a moment, neither of them liking what the other saw.

"You always stand outside to greet her lady's house guests, Nigel, or is it that your ass can't think of anything else better to do?"

Nigel took the snide comment with a perfunctory smile, but it did little to dim the baleful look in his eyes that seemed to want to stab Thaddeus like a pair of daggers.

"It appears to be my esteemed duty not just for Madame Constance but even for her departed husband as well. Please follow me, she has been expecting you."

They walked up the stairs with neither person saying a word. In the foyer another servant appeared to take his jacket from him while Nigel led Thaddeus to the large dining room.

"The Madame will be with you shortly," he said. "For the sake of myself and everyone else, I hope you do nothing stupid that might jeopardize the life of young master Johnny. You will have more to answer to if you do."

"Really? And whatever makes you think I would want to jeopardize the life of a little kid?"

"Because I know your type," Nigel's voice grated at him, his eyes didn't appear to smile while he spoke. "You're either leading the Madame down a false track to nowhere, wanting to swindle money off from her. You're nothing but a pathetic excuse for a private detective. One of these days, you're definitely going to get your comeuppance, I assure you."

"That's a pretty harsh tone of voice you've got there, Nigel. I never suspected you had such in you. How about you clue me into something," Thad had his arms behind his back, though his body was ready for whatever. "The morning the kid ran away, where was your butlery ass at?"

Nigel glared at him, startled at first by his question and he seemed to stutter for a moment while he fought back his temper. "Really, detective, you do indeed have a nerve to ask me such an insipid question. But if you insist, then I'll tell you. I was attending pressing matters that involved taking care of and over-looking the working staff of Loftus Garden, as well as every intimate detail regarding its upkeep. Ask anyone around and they'll tell you."

"You use a lot of fancy words there, Nigel. You must really come from a long lost pedigree of snobbery."

Nigel left the doorway and came to a stop before Thaddeus, his features flush with anger. "My life and my resume is every bit as impeccable than you would ever thing. I will not be insulted, not will I ever be denigrated by your sarcasm and deplorable wit, detective. Mark my words, you will someday get what's coming to you."

"Oh really," Thaddeus's voice remained calm, though his body tensed under his clothes. "Why the long wait for that day to come. Why not go ahead and give it to me right now."

Three seconds of eternity passed between them before the dining room door opened and in walked Constance Loftus, looking casual yet elegant for the evening in jeans and a white turtleneck sweater. The lights in the room seemed to add brilliant colour to her hair. Nigel turned to see her entrance and in an instant the anger on his face melted away and back came the plain outlook that attached to his workplace.

"Good evening, Madame Loftus," he gave her a deferential bow. "Dinner will be served in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Nigel. We'll be here," she said to him.

Nigel approached the room's door and stepped out leaving them alone. Constance drew herself a seat and indicated Thad to take one beside her which he did, dropping his hat on the table.

"I kept the money in a bag upstairs. Once you're ready, I'll give it to you. I'm glad you called before you got here," she said. "I was upstairs in my son's room, trying to think of reasons for me not to cry anymore. I'm sorry, I just can't stop worrying."

"Nothing wrong being a mother who worries," said Thad. "Tell me something, this butler you have here, Nigel. How well do you know him?"

"I've known Nigel for as long as I've been ... I'm sorry, was married to my husband. He's been his chief butler for as long as I can remember. He's very efficient and really knows how to run things. I doubt if I would be able to keep this mansion going if it weren't for him."

"Do you trust him?" he asked the question with a straight face.

"I probably should, shouldn't I? Or is there something you're thinking?"

He shook his head. "Not really, just wanting to get a feel about how well you know him that's all."

"I can say I know him well enough to know of him. He keeps to himself a lot; even most of the servants find him impenetrable. I guess I find him that way too sometimes."

"Did he get along with your boy?"

"Oh yes, everyone got along fine with Johnny, same with him. I'm still finding it hard believing that anyone close to me might be the same person that's holding him."

The door came open and several servants walked into the room carrying trays and plates which they laid on the table before both of them.

------

An hour later Thad sat in the living room waiting for Constance to return. He checked his watch. It was a little past nine. He reckoned he could make it to the site where the kidnapper wanted to meet give or take thirty minutes or thereabouts. He was weighing his options of how he figured the exchange might go down when Constance returned carrying a bag with her. She came and dropped it on the couch and sat beside it.

"It's all in there," she pushed a lock of hair from her face. "A million and three. I don't even want to think about where it's going and to whom."

Thad unzipped the mouth of the bag and looked inside. He took out a bundle and looked at it before dropping it back and zipping the bag. "I'd best be off now, Constance." He made to get up, putting his hat back on his head and so too did she.

"I'm coming with you," she said.

Thaddeus looked at her, saw the determined look in her face and knew there was nothing he would say that would dissuade her from such. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Yes, I do." She said it with such force as if he was going to talk her out of it.

"No problem. But first, you're going to need a black jacket to wear."

She smiled; her eyes seemed to say 'thank you' to him. "I won't be a minute."

"I'll be outside waiting."

Thaddeus passed Nigel along the way as he stepped out of the house and went down the steps to his car. He threw the bag into the backseat and stood by the passenger door waiting. Constance came down the steps some minutes later wearing a jacket over her white turtleneck. Thad felt the stirring return to his groin but it went away as she approached him. He opened the door for her and after she had settled in went around to his side of the vehicle, started the car and drove off. Nigel stood there by the door and watched them drive off. His thoughts were as cold as the night's wind.

------------

The drive towards Southbound Pier was a long one. Neither of them spoke along the way; they were too wired for that. They made sideways glances at each other, as if to reassure that they were attempting such together. The night moved past them like a dream.

The city outlook took a change for the worse as they drove into Southbound Pier. It was a seedy section of the city. Decades ago it had been one of the city's thriving ports, but a lot of government cutbacks and labour union strikes had forced much of the businesses that once had thrived around it to close up and move elsewhere, leaving hundreds of abandoned and crumbled real-estate the city was yet to do anything about. Lots of warehouses and empty cinderblock buildings. Along the nightmarish streets walked the homeless and destitute. On every street corner, brooding eyes turned to glance their way and Thaddeus told Constance to wound up her glass while his eyes scanned the streets for any lurking predators, here of which he knew they were many.

They got lost twice because much of the road signs had long been knocked down before they came upon Piedmont Drive. The street was littered with filth and there were broken bits of concrete everywhere. There was a nameless street leading off it at the northern end. Thaddeus slowed his car as he came upon it; he noticed that its street sign had long been trampled down. The street bore a collection of warehouses, empty from the looks of it and all foreboding, looking like something out of a gravedigger's worse nightmare. Even Constance was nervous about the whole thing. Thaddeus was able to make out Warehouse 15 which had its number etched above its wide open doorway the inside of which was dark as hell. The windows on the top floor were all broken and they seemed to stare down at them like empty eye sockets. Thaddeus too was unsettled about everything and reckoned they were being watched by the kidnapper already. There was no turning back now. He drove into the warehouse and killed his engine and switched off the lights. He turned on the inner light and took out his 45. semi-auto, did a quick check on it once more before returning it to its holster. He reached into the glove compartment and took out first a torch and then a small black case that he opened, in which lay a Beretta Bobcat 21A pocket pistol. He slid the cartridges on it, did a cursory check on the slide, then undid the button of his shirt sleeve and slid the gun in till it hid from view. She looked at him stunned and surprised by his actions but too numb to say anything. He reached behind for the bag of money, unzipped it and scooped out bundles of the money and dropped them on Constance's lap.

"What're you doing?" she said to him quietly. He put a finger to his lips. "Later I'll explain," he said.

He looked at the remainder inside the bag, satisfied with it, he zipped it back the opened his door.

"Stay here," he said to her in a tight, low voice. "Keep the doors locked and don't ever come out no matter what you hear. I'll be back soon."

He made to get out the door. She reached for him arm; he turned to look at her, saw the scared look on her face. "Be careful," she whispered. He nodded then jumped out the car and closed his door and locked it. The AC unit was on to cool the inside. Constance threw the bundles of leftover money in the backseat and then turned off the inner light, plunging the car and everything else around her into darkness and watched Thaddeus make his way with the torch in his hand up a flight of stairs at the left wall section of the warehouse. Her eyes remained on him till his light disappeared from view. The tremor in her heart was aching her; she thought she could even hear her heart skipping beats.

------

The stairwell was strewn with all sorts of dirty and the walls ... Thaddeus didn't even want to trust his clothes coming in contact with the grimness that coated the walls. He held the bag up to prevent the little pistol hidden in his shirt from falling out. The stairs creaked under his feet as he made his way up to the top floor. There was a door at the end of the stairwell. The handle was covered with rust as he pushed it open and the door gave a loud creaking sound like something opening to a catacomb as it hit the opposite end of the wall.

Thaddeus stepped into a wide, dark and empty room. To the far left and right of him broken glass windows looked out the front and back of the complex. There was a similar door at the opposite end of the room. He took a couple of steps inside then the room, shinning his torch everywhere.

"That's close enough," a voice in the dark said to him. Thaddeus drew to a halt. The owner of the voice stepped out of the shadow for him to see. The man wore leather outfit and a fetish-leather head mask over his face. He wore hand gloves and his right hand carried a torch aimed at Thaddeus while he left held a pistol also aimed at him. He dropped the bag on the floor and raised his hands inches from his body, pointing his torch at the ceiling. His was bent at an angle so the Beretta now rested at his elbow. He only prayed the man didn't shine the light at him to notice the apparent bulge in his wrist.

"I was expecting the woman," the man spoke in a curt manner. "You her delivery man?"

Thaddeus nodded. "You could say that."

"My, my, she must really find you interesting enough to make you her errand boy."

Thaddeus didn't know if the man was being serious or sarcastic. He decided to file it away for later. "I've got money. All I want is the kid."

"How much is in the bag, errand boy?"

"A million."

"I don't like that. I told her two, not one."

"She mentioned that, but it's going to take a while for her to get that amount from the bank. This was all she could get at the moment."

"Are you speaking for her, errand boy?"

"No. I'm just telling you the way it is. Look, she's in a lot of distress right now and she really wants her son back. She's too scared to come to a place like this or else you'd be hearing it from her yourself."

The kidnapper looked at him, not saying anything. Then: "Are you packing, errand boy?"

Thaddeus nodded.

"Let's see it then. Take it out slowly," he aimed his gun directly at his forehead. "Wouldn't want for this to go off."

Thaddeus transferred the torch to his right hand which contained the hidden pistol and reached his hand into his jacket, took his gun out its holster slowly and presented it by the handle for the man to see.

"Throw it towards me," he said.

Thaddeus did as told and threw the gun towards his feet. The man picked up his gun and slid it into his leather pants.

"Now for the bag, kick it over here as well."

"First let me see the kid," said Thaddeus.

"Don't play fucking games with me, errand boy. I ain't here playing and I ain't got time to waste. I'm gonna say this one last time, kick the bag over here. I won't ask again."

"Okay, man, no need for us to get any hostile in here." Thaddeus sighed as if in resignation. He already knew it would come to this. He did as the man ordered and kicked the money bag towards him. The man fell to his knee and placed the torch on the floor beside his feet. Still aiming his gun at Thad, he unzipped the bag and reached inside. The way his hand felt around the bundle of money Thaddeus could tell he wasn't happy.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" the kidnapper yelled at him, getting to his feet and pointing his gun at his head. "That don't look like no million in there!"

Thaddeus pretended to be apologetic. "Well, look, I'm sorry, pal. I took out the rest of the money before I came up here. If you want it, I can run downstairs and get it for you, no sweat. Just show me the kid first, let me see that you've got him and then I'll go back and get the rest of your money. What do you say?"

The kidnapper advanced towards him still pointing the gun at his head. Thaddeus noticed the anger behind the man's mask and knew his finger was only an inch from pulling on the trigger. "You stupid shit! The fuck type of game do you think you're playing with me."

The man yanked at his shirt collar and pressed the mouth of his gun at Thad's cheek. Thaddeus caught the air that came off the man's lips; it smelled of onions.

"Listen here you fucking black bastard, fucking errand boy" the man yelled at him. "You're one second away from me blowing off your dumb motherfucking nigger skull. I ain't here playing with your fucking ass. I ask the question again, where's the rest of the money?" the man screamed the last line at him.

Thad fought to keep calm even though his heart was racing, knowing it won't be long before something drastic happened. "Hey, look, mister, I've already done told you. I'll go downstairs right now and get you your fucking money, alright. Just let me see the kid first, let me know he's still alive, and then the whole money's yours. I won't even need to split it with you." The kidnapper screamed and then slammed the butt of his gun on Thaddeus. Thad was expecting something but the blow took him unawares and he fell to his knee. Still he was lucky he felt his gun at the base of his wrist; his torch was still in his hand. The kidnapper was gasping heavily, stood beside him and pressed his gun against his forehead.

"You want to see the kid? No problem, I'll let you see the kid," there came the sound of the gun click. "In hell."

Thaddeus felt the kidnapper's finger pressed against the trigger. He held his breath.

------

The sound of the gun shot was loud and deafening and Constance heard it loud and clear even with the car's windows blocking everything else from her. The sound of the gunshot made her jump in her seat and she gasped from the sound. Fear gripped her like a shroud. In her mind's eye she saw the bullet from the gun piercing Thaddeus's skin and the fear automatically doubled in her chest. She fumbled for the door's handle with shaky pair of hands in the dark. Her hands searched for a moment before they unlocked the door's mechanism and she wanted to jump out the car but something forcefully held her back and she was scared that someone was hidden in the backseat choking her. Fighting a wave of panic, she realised she was still glued to the seat by the car's safety belt. Her hands fought with the clapse and when it came off she nearly stumbled out the car and fell to the ground. She stood there in the dark looking here and there, her lips gasped with fear but she couldn't dare herself to move. Then came multiple gun shots and she jumped this time for real. Using the light of the car for a guide, she left the door open and went in the direction of the staircase where Thaddeus had disappeared from her earlier.

Oh my God, I pray he's not dead!

------

The kidnapper said to him as he clicked his gun to his head, "You want to see the kid? No problem, I'll let you see the kid. In hell."

"That's just too bad then," Thaddeus muttered. Tightening his grip on his torch he swung it from the ground and two things happened. The metal of the torch hit the kidnapper's gun from his head at the same time he shone the torch's light direct to his face.

The man wasn't prepared for Thad's reflex and he cried out from the pain as the torch almost knocked his gun out his hand. His finger depressed the trigger and his gun went off, firing into the far wall behind the detective.

Thad didn't wait for him to recover. He threw the torch aside and shook his wrist and felt his pocket pistol slip halfway out his shirt to his hand. He saw the kidnapper getting back to firing his gun again. Thaddeus lunged himself at him and together they hit the pane of broken windows, breaking some shards of glass that were still there. Both men struggled with each other like combatants at a tug-of-war bout. Each man held the other's gun hand while they fought each other for space. The kidnapper shoved his shoulder at Thaddeus. He caught the blow but was grateful the hurt was mild compared to the former. Growling at him, Thaddeus let go of the man's gun-held arm for only an instant, enough for him to swing at fist at him. He boxed the side of the kidnapper's ear, heard the man yell from the pain. He was about taking another swing at him when the man shifted backward and drove his knee into the side of his abdomen. It caught Thaddeus off balance and he skidded to the floor, landing on his torch. His gun fell from his hand and clattered a short distance from him. The kidnapper made a break for it. Thaddeus heard the sound of the man's footsteps running away from him and he was at first afraid, thinking that maybe the man was going for another hidden weapon he stashed somewhere. He scrambled for his Beretta and took aim in the direction he was running and fired once, then twice. The sound of the gun shot echoed like a thunderclap in the room and the brief flash of light lit the room enough for him to see the man vanish behind the door at the far end of the room. Picking up his torch, he gave chase.