Chapter V

Carver

Probably should go to bed soon. Already tired, next day would be even more stressful. But Carver couldn't get himself ready to sleep, so he found himself in a sports bar just outside Balkanville that he occasionally went to. Enough people there for his presence not to register. Shame they only had shitty matches on this time of night. Not that he particularly cared about soccer, but even he could tell these clubs sucked.

Yet it seemed this day trouble just kept finding him. Three familiar faces entered and looked around, searching for someone. They recognised him and promptly came over, extinguishing any hope he had held that they hadn't been there looking for him.

They sat down around him, leading to a grumpy glare from the bartender. He briefly shrugged at the man, trying to convey his thought of 'I'm the victim here'. Not that the man was paid enough to care.

The one that spoke sounded Albanian. He vaguely recalled the man as one with a superiority complex. Sure thing, the man grinned at him. "Carver. Boss wants to meet. Come with us, don't make it harder on yourself."

He sighed. "The Reverend knows my business hours and phone numbers. If he wants to make an appointment, he's welcome to do so."

They shook their heads. "You're not listening, Carver. Boss wants a word. And he ain't the type to be kept waiting." 

Really didn't enjoy being used as a bloody meeple in some worker placement game. "Look, I told Sartori and I'm telling the Reverend. I'm a customer, not an active party in your fucked up conflict. Just keep that mess away from me."

The man grinned and gave a signal to his compatriots, who grabbed Carver's shoulders and dragged him to his feet. Ah, so they were even dumber than he thought. He offered up a last warning. "This won't go the way you think." 

Just as the man opened his mouth for more sneers, one of the regulars popped up behind him and used a pool cue to hit the man over the head just right. Out he went. Carver sighed at the sudden event, then quickly used his own elbows against the folks holding him. A quick few joint attacks later, and one stumbled off while the other two were on the ground. Carver sighed once more, then handed a few twenties to the regular. "Thanks for that."

He reached into the first guy's pockets and came out with a phone. A burner which wasn't even locked. A few taps later and the phone called out.

A familiar voice picked up. "You got it done?"

"Nope. Come pick up your buddies, Thoma. And don't pull that kind of stunt again. Pisses me off."

Without awaiting the response, he hung up, then threw the phone in his beer glass. Time to find a different place to hang out at.

Katya

It was already late and Katya couldn't help but feel exhausted. No surprise, given how she had been up for over thirty hours at this point. She had wanted to take a nap after lunch, but that had been when the call came in that the Carver was spotted near the docks. After that, the momentum had kept her going, but now she was paying the price.

A knock on her door drew her attention. Sem stuck his head in. "Hey boss, just checking if you're okay after that earthquake?" She blinked in confusion and he grinned. "You know, that yawn of yours just now, which made the windows shake." She laughed way too hard at that. Okay, she was too exhausted.

"Alright." She got up and nodded. "Tell everyone to take a long rest, we'll see each other again tomorrow for the evening shift. If I hear anyone made it to the office before four, they're going to have to pay the next round of pizzas."

"We both know that's gonna be you, boss. Did anyone ever tell you you're a workaholic?" She rolled her eyes at that, even if he had a point. Her work-life balance was utterly off the charts right now. Her vacation had barely recharged her, and here she was, flatlining her battery already.

She walked into the big room, where three whiteboards stood side by side, already mostly filled. The next shift was studying them, checking what had been added since they last saw them. On the left, a board for the Albanian Fares. The right, Italian Mafia. And in the middle, there was all the supernatural stuff going on. Missing people cases, weird sightings, Carver's business. It included a blurry picture of him holding a Mafia Soldato by the throat earlier that day.

She stopped and looked at that. "Hey, everyone? Do me a favour. Look into chatter on supernatural weaponry for the rest of the city. Hell, ask for updates from the rest of the country."

They all looked at her. Frowning, wondering where she wanted to go with this. A few flashed eyes at the board and recognition hit their faces. "On it, Inspector!"

It took Sem a bit longer to realise. No wonder, given how he too had been up too long. "You think Carver's supply problems will impact the rest of the country?"

She shook yes. "Absolutely. Remember how most anti-Fae weapons have striking similarities. We always assumed he simply received his from the same source. What if he's the hatch instead? Supplying the rest of the country. That would explain why both parties care so much about his involvement."

That made an awful lot of sense. But all of them needed rest bad, so the next shift could look into that hypothesis. Time to arrange a ride back home, as none of them should be trusted on the road right now.

The ride home was rather quiet, just enough small talk to keep her from falling asleep. Once she reached her bed, she fell asleep within seconds.

Carver

He felt tired. Normally, he'd have called it a day, but he had to wait. To verify, he played a puzzle game on his phone. Yup, he was struggling a bit too much. He was going to give it another thirty minutes before finding a place to sleep.

Just as he received another drink, one of his burner phones rang. When he grabbed it, he instantly recognised the number as one of the Reverend's numbers. He let it ring a third time, then answered. "Carver."

"Good evening, Carver. You left one of my men collared. It's a weak one, but you put it too tight to cut loose without injuring him. Do you mind giving me the lock code for it?" The man sounded polite and a bit annoyed. Good. The Reverend was a problem when he played too nice.

"Sure. The code is I, D, Ten, T. It's a one-time pass, so you'll have to buy the collar from me if you want to re-use it. Usual price." He paused as the Reverend passed on the code, sharpening his ear to overheard mild groaning in the background.

"Done, thank you. I'll have the money transferred the usual way. Not entirely happy with what you did, but I'm guessing they decided to use force. I did tell them to ask politely. Guess I'll have to get them a dictionary."

Carver shrugged at that. "Eh, comes with the territory of being a hotheaded fae. They get caught up in their story and don't listen to reason. What's with that anyway? You and Sartori both actually thought to send Fae after me? I'd expect that from her, but from you it came as a surprise."

He could practically hear the eye blinking through the phone. "We're short on manpower, so Thoma simply sent what he had at hand. Well, at least I have a new collar now. Any idea when I can buy more goods?"

"You tell me. My shipment was supposed to tag along yours, remember? Yet the cops never got their hands on it. Speaking of, what kind of stunt are you pulling there? Why does everyone know you're playing me? The cops, the streets, the people, they all caught on way too fast."

A moment of silence, then a mild growl. "None of your concern, Carver. Just get me whatever you have at hand. I'm in need of more weapons, and I'm not happy with you playing coy with me."

"And I'm not happy with you calling me with a tapped phone. Good night, Rev."

"Hol-" He ended the call and rose with a grumble, leaving enough cash behind to cover the bill and then some. So the Reverend wasn't the leak. He'd have denied messing with the shipment otherwise. Something was rotten in the state of Rotterdam, and Carver was far from happy about it. But investigating would have to wait until after he had a good night's rest.

There was a cheap hotel just around the corner, which accepted cash without complaint. The only downside was having to pay a late checkout fee in advance. But that was worth the price.