Baby Burnett Part Two

No 2 of 💯/Fiction

“Do you have to take your gun everywhere?” Darius asked as I parked the car at the gas pump. I had just picked him up from his house so we could start the drive to North Carolina.

“You never know who you will run into. There are some interesting people who aren’t safe and I’d rather be prepared.”

“Dallas, It’s seldom that someone is going to come to the gas station in this small town and try and hurt people. You should have more trust in people.”

“Yea, my line of work says otherwise,” I got out paid for the gas, pumped it and got back in, and turned my GPS on. We drove in silence for a while.

“Where did you say you grew up?” Darius asked.

“No, It’s okay that we don’t get too personal. You’re a client, not a friend.”

“Sorry, we’re going to be in this car for a while. I just thought we could talk about something other than the case.”

“I have books in my back seat if you like to read. I’ve learned you never get personal or you will miss something while working a case.” He blew out a huge breath and reached to grab a book. He and his family were nice but they were very friendly and that wasn’t the way I worked. Over the past three weeks, his wife had baked me cookies. It was kind of her but it also made me feel weird as I usually try and keep my clients at a distance.

After a few hours, we finally got to North Caroline and checked into the hotel. I had just unpacked my suitcase when I heard a knock at my door. I grabbed my gun and looked through the peep and saw Darius.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Are we driving over today?”

“No, we will go tomorrow. We are only going to drive to a certain point and then walk the rest of the way. I don’t want to risk him figuring it out before we get there and then not answer the door.”

“Okay, are you going to go get some dinner?”

“I’m just going to do room service.”

“Oh, okay cool well get some rest.” His eyes held sadness but he tried to pretend he was okay. He turned and traipse down the hall back to his room. I shut the door and locked it. I wasn’t trying to be cruel but this was a work trip. This is the reason I don’t usually bring my clients because it makes them think we can be friends and then I’m the one in the wrong when I shut down any sort of friendship. Once I showered I skipped ordering food because I was too tired to eat. I turned the lamp off and went to bed.

“Oh my gosh, I thought it’d be cooler here but it’s not,” Darius said as we rounded the sidewalk toward Gast’s house. He lived on a street where it was impossible to street park without him noticing from his home so we had to go one street over and it was a walk to get back.

“It’s still the south and August in the south is the hottest month. Look, that’s the house. you ready?” I asked. We stood only a few steps away from the tiny brick home.

“Let’s do this,” He said and we started walking again. We opened the gate and walked up the small path and up the stairs to the door. Before we knocked the door opened and there stood a tall salt and peppered-haired man. He looked us up and down grunted then opened the door wider for us to step inside.

“Pulled the whole park on another street and walk move. Slick thinking but I’m a professional. You can’t pull one on me. What are you here for?” When he spoke his voice was raspy.

“I’m Darius Burnett, do you remember me?” He jumped in before I could speak.

“Wow, you’re a grown man now. How did you find me?”

“I found you, I’m Dallas Harvey, PI. We have some questions about his family’s case. Do you have time?”

“Fine, come sit down.” He led us through the hallway to the kitchen. We sat at the round table that wobbled every time pressure was applied.

“What do you want to know?” He asked.

“What really happened to my mom and sister?” Darius asked. I should have talked to him ahead of time to just be there and let me ask questions. Gast cleared his throat.

“Pastone Inc took them. For a long time I never knew what happened just knew something felt off. I was asked to resign by my supervisor because I was looking too deeply into the case that was an “easy and close” case. I didn’t find out the truth until a few years ago and it was too late. Thought I’d have to take that to my grave.

“Pastone Inc is a paper company. That makes no sense,” Darius said. At this point, my stomach was doing flips.

“No, they front as one but are a secret agency that trains their agents from a young age. They take children around the age of 2 which is before they have any real memories. Your mom happened to walk in on the abduction and so they took her too and brainwashed her and put her on the streets on the other side of the world.”

“Gast, do you know any more information? Like where they placed his mother or where his sister might be now?” I finally was able to speak.

“No, but you both have to go now. I’ve built a life here to keep me safe and you can’t be here any longer.” He got up and walked us to the front door. When we got outside I could barely hear what Darius was saying I was so deep in thought.

Darius could never know that my employer was Pastone. I needed to find out if what Gast said was true.

To be continued.

Thank you Christine Graves for your prompts and how this prompt has taken on a story. You’ll see I added another prompt to this story.