I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 54: The King Rat

Alisha sat with phone in hand.

“I have to make a call,” she told me when I went to ask something.

I shut my mouth and waited as she dialed on her work phone.

Tye glanced back at us as he backed out, an entirely unnecessary gesture as the Escapade had a backup camera, and a good one, too.

Alisha put the phone up to her ear, the scowl on her face more than a little displeased.

There was a muffled voice on the other line finally and Alisha took a quick breath.

“Yes, I'm sorry I have to call you again so soon,” she told the person on the other line.

There was more muffled voice I couldn't make out.

“Mm. Yes it is unfortunate. I have been made aware you have a pig somewhere in the department.” She let the other person ask about something. “Yes. The information was about Ms. Bauer. Only one of my people know her birth name and they're not about to divulge that information.”

I blinked. What did she mean by pig? That usually was a degrading term for police officers… Was she talking to the Chief of Police? It must be. But why was my information the clue-in to this?

“I’m not asking you to do anything. I just thought you’d like me to tell you. Police shouldn't be able to get paid off, you know…. Yes. Thank you.”

She pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up.

I waited for her to fully put it away before speaking up.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded, though there was a lack of emotion behind it.

“Was that… the police?” I asked.

She nodded again and checked her nails briefly. “Yes,” she said simply.

“Alisha,” I stated. “I know… maybe it's not my place but… ordering Nico to execute your mother… that must hurt.”

She shrugged. “I expected it.”

I caught Tye’s glance in the mirror again. There was concern there, too, and he was more familiar with her mood swings than I was.

What should I do in this situation?

I decided to simply scoot over and lean against her, letting her arm pull me closer. She might not show it, but she wouldn’t be okay and if my being here might help soften that blow, I’d be here, even if my spine was bent a bit out of shape and ached by the time Tye stopped outside of Sergei’s bodega. She let go of me and gathered her purse, shouldering it before running a hand across my cheek.

And then we were back to business mode. I kept a pace behind Alisha, starting to feel comfortable in her day to day dealings, even when they were with difficult people like Sergei.

All I had to do was stay close and let Alisha and whoever was her guard that day do their thing.

Sergei neither looked at nor spoke to me as we entered. Alisha stared at him with her usual distrustful and, perhaps even a bit hostile, glare. Tye came down those rickety wooden steps behind us, surveying the room immediately.

“Sergei,” Alisha greeted with little pleasure. “How has the search been going?” she asked.

Sergei shrugged. “Nothing came loose,” he said and leaned forward on his couch, though it was in a strange lopsided kind of way.

“You checked your entire roster?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. But there is only so much time I could devote to this kind of thing.”

Alisha nodded, agreeingly.

I tried not to let my presence intrude at all. Sergei refused to look at me but this place still made me feel dirty. The smell alone tended to cling to people after they left, but Sergei also had a stash of dried leafy bits I knew were more than likely weed, and another pile of mysterious white powder I didn’t know enough about hard drugs to identify. On top of that, the dim lighting and bits of trash hanging out in the corners and on the side table where his guards lingered did not make me feel at all clean. It did not help that his guards’ favorite place to put their sidearms seemed to be shoved in the front of their pants as visibly as possible.

“Have you found the King Rat?” Sergei asked carefully. He was watching her every move with an intensity I didn’t like. It wasn’t sexual but it was still threatening.

At her continued silence, I saw the smile start to stretch on his face. She did know who the so-called King Rat was. But that was confusing. She had implied she hadn’t made any progress this morning and then we just saw Nico– oh. Nico, who somehow knew my birth name without Alisha telling him and who had a very touchy relationship with her to begin with. That must’ve been why Alisha was so displeased I had mentioned my father. She hadn’t given him any details about the incident and was simply waiting to confirm he was the one she was looking for. But that meant she had to weed out the man that was functioning as her advisor and sometimes underboss. That was not going to be a simple matter, and probably a very dangerous one.

Sergei continued, “if I knew who might be pulling the strings, it would make my job of finding the rats a lot easier.”

“I will not tell you,” Alisha said shortly. “And you ought to know why. I don’t even know if you’re not involved. Typically a captain can find the displeased members of his ranks without that much trouble and pull them aside for some… gentle questioning.”

Sergei nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately I have a lot of people. It can be hard to keep track of everybody.”

“Maybe you need a downgrade then, to make things more manageable,” Alisha threatened.

Tye was watching them both carefully. I wasn’t sure if he was looking for something specific or just watching for danger. I tended to stay a bit closer to him than usual since Alisha was getting in Sergei’s face and if there was more hostility I’d rather not be in the way.

“Let’s not be hasty,” Sergei said. “It’s difficult. Because, you see, plenty of my people like me and are content working under me but about you…” he made a so-so hand gesture. “It makes it difficult to see who is simply whining for the sake of whining and who is actually discontent with the situation enough to risk going behind our backs.”

“Hm.” Alisha thought for a long moment. There was a visible skittering in her gaze as the thoughts churned in her head. “If I get you the north block back, would you turn over anyone that continued to bad mouth me after you spread the word of the generous deed.”

“Would I get to keep the north block?” he asked. His eyes had flashed at the mention of that place.

“It would not be a cheap endeavor for me to bargain for it, you have to understand. It would be a gift to secure your loyalty. Should I find out that you’re involved with the rats, there is nowhere on this planet you could hide from me. Do I make myself clear on this?”

“Yes, Alisha, darling.” Sergei leaned his face against his hand, looking thoughtful. “It would be most appreciated to have that territory back. I would gladly cull my entire flock for it.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Alisha sighed. “Alright, then. I’ll see to that. Keep me informed if you hear anything suspicious.”

Sergei nodded. There was a bit of a smile on his face now as Alisha got ready to leave.

I scooted closer to the stairs as she turned around. It was a big relief to get out of that smelly basement. I had yet to see Sergei smoke or snort up some of that white powder he had lying around but I was sure once Alisha was out of there, he was having his fun. Alisha felt like the type that would berate him for smoking in her presence. Perhaps she was a very ‘keep it in your own lungs’ kind of person, and I kind of appreciated that. I didn't really like the smell of cigarettes or weed. The fact that her house smelled so clean and clear was very relieving to me.

Once back in the car, Alisha sighed and rubbed her temples for a good long while.

I leaned against her once she was finished. There was tension in her body I could feel against me. 

“Are we going home?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Unless there’s something you wanted to do while we were out.”

I shook my head and then settled against her. “I’m good,” I said.

She shifted to let me get closer to her and held my shoulder as Tye pulled away from the curb again.

There was a lot of silence as he drove.

I needed to help Alisha relax when we got home. At least so she’d sleep okay later on, and could think clearly as she was making some of these more difficult decisions. For now, she was on her phone messaging someone named Dinis Santos, and the name Santos at least poked at my memory, but I didn’t know from what. I didn’t pry and tried not to read the messages, instead closing my eyes.

When we got home I should do what I could. It wasn’t late enough for dinner, so I couldn’t make dinner yet, but maybe I could make her some tea? Or a hot bath?

She’d probably like a hot back. I’d like a hot bath, the bodega smell was still in my nose and would probably cling to my skin for a while.

I’d draw her a hot bath when we got back. Maybe I’d convince her to settle down and read with me for a bit. Anything that wasn’t this business… or her mom and Nico or the past and the future.