#10

“Tennessee!”

With a sweet voice, a woman threw herself into his arms.

“You’re always punctual to a fault.”

The woman left a greeting-like kiss on Tennessee’s right cheek without hesitation. Though he didn’t hug her back, Tennessee didn’t go out of his way to push her away.

“It’s been a while, Megan.”

Returning the greeting, Tennessee followed Megan inside. The place Megan operated was a strip club. The bouncer tried to stop Tennessee upon seeing him, but after catching Megan’s gaze, he opened the door.

“Megan, …good grief.”

Tennessee expressed irritation at the naked bodies pouring out alongside the dazzling lights. Megan spoke teasingly.

“I told you it was a club, Tennessee.”

“Yes, but you didn’t say it was a male strip club for women.”

I must have forgotten. Megan spoke as if it were a mistake, but he knew she had intentionally omitted it to play a prank on him.

“When else would I get to see you flustered?”

“I don’t have time for this, just give me the job.”

Tennessee waved his hand, thinking of the child’s conflicted expression. Megan handed him a cocktail, telling him not to be like that. It was a pink Cosmopolitan.

“What’s the job?”

“My gut feeling is off. I asked Rick, but I want you to look into it separately. Rick has a soft side.”

Tennessee then handed over a memo.

“Who is this?”

“William Hurston. Forty-three. Lives in Oregon and runs a foster facility.”

“What do I need to find out?”

Megan folded the memo and put it in her pocket.

“He has no criminal record, but he’s not an honest man. Find out if there are any other dirty secrets and who the people he mainly associates with are.”

The child had mentioned Mr. Hurston and Mr. Hurston’s friends.

“And there’s a kid named Derek. He’s likely a boy at the foster facility Hurston runs.”

“Can I ask why you’re curious about this?”

“No.”

Having said only what needed to be said, Tennessee stood up immediately.

“Leaving already? We have gay strippers among our staff. They handle women too.”

“Not interested.”

“I’ll give you a discount.”

He was about to tell her to get lost when he heard a shriek from behind. If this hadn’t been Megan’s club, Tennessee would have drawn his gun instantly.

The one screaming was a woman who looked, at most, like a college student. To be precise, she was twenty-one. He couldn’t have missed it since she was wearing a sash that read [21st Birthday] and a tiara. The woman was pointing at Tennessee.

He couldn’t hear her over the noise, but the woman was saying something in a state of high excitement.

“I’m sorry, but Tennessee isn’t a stripper working here,” Megan said, but the woman, celebrating her historic 21st birthday, was blinded by excitement.

“Take it off! Ahhh! Strip!”

Good god.

Tennessee stood up as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“I’ll give you a discount if you come back!”

“Not interested.”

As soon as he stepped out of the club, Tennessee immediately lit a cigarette.

He felt as though he were soaked in the scent of perfume. Not just women’s perfume, but the colognes and deodorants used by male strippers, and the smell of alcohol—he felt as if every kind of scent had seeped into him.

It might have been different if there had been a woman he liked, but of all things, a women-only strip club. In a short amount of time, he felt he had seen every kind of obscene performance and explicit sight.

He should have known the moment she said she was quitting her mercenary work to open a club.

With a sigh, Tennessee set off down the street. Normally, he would have taken the car straight back to the hotel, but perhaps because the air from a moment ago had been so stifling, he wanted to walk.

Since it was night, it was even chillier. While walking along the main road, he remembered that the child hadn’t mentioned Mountain Dew for a long time. Since it was a nice hotel, they would bring whatever he ordered, but because the child was the type to secretly walk on eggshells despite appearing brazen, he probably wouldn’t order it even if he wanted it.

Just as he was about to enter a clean-looking shop, his shoulder was jolted.

Look at this.

“Excuse me.”

Tennessee let out a hollow laugh as he watched the man disappear after giving a cursory apology. The man had intentionally bumped into him, and he had definitely slipped a hand into Tennessee’s pocket.

5 – Chapter

He probably took the cash. Tennessee reached into his pocket and, as expected, confirmed that the cash was gone. The man was still within sight.

Normally, he would have let it go, but Tennessee needed money to buy a drink. That said, there were too many people around to grab him and deal with him right then and there.

Tennessee quietly trailed the man.

The Asian man, who looked to be in his early twenties, hummed a tune as he ventured further into a secluded area. He was brimming with confidence, unaware that Tennessee was following him.

“Tan!”

Having finally reached his destination, the man called Tan turned around. Tan pulled out Tennessee’s money and waved it.

“You bastards, you see this?”

“Impressive. But is that even necessary? We’ve got goods here too.”

Out of their line of sight, Tennessee checked his magazine.

“We’ll get a good price if we sell this. It’s the age range the Latin Emperadores like.”

Tennessee’s hand faltered at the familiar name.

“What do we do? Kill him before we go? Or just hand him over?”

“I think we have to hand him over alive for now.”

A dull thud was heard. Hey, hold him steady. They moved fussily. Tennessee heard a faint scream. It must have been a scream let out with all one’s might, with the mouth blocked by duct tape.

When Tennessee finally stepped out from the alley, he saw something he shouldn’t have.

It was the child who should have been resting at the hotel or eating a missed meal by now.

Bound with zip ties, the child was resisting violently. However, there wasn’t much a restrained child could do while surrounded by adult men. Instead, they laughed, finding the child’s resistance amusing.

As if catching Tennessee’s scent, the child suddenly froze and looked up.

Tennessee let out a hollow laugh.

Because they were laughing and chatting, the others had not yet noticed Tennessee’s presence.

He had clearly told the child to stay put. He thought he had made it absolutely clear.

With a cigarette in his mouth, Tennessee attached the silencer. While he was steadily preparing to kill, he was seriously contemplating whether to just turn around and leave. Should he pretend not to notice?

Seeing the child’s confusion and conflict, he had thought the child might run away. But he hadn’t expected the child to sneak out only to be caught by a gang like this.

If the child cared for themselves more, they should have at least made a full plan, prepared, and waited for the guard to drop before escaping.

They must have been anxious.

Even while feeling irritated, Tennessee struggled with his own heart, which tried to understand the child. It wasn’t that Tennessee didn’t understand. Not knowing who to trust, the child had chosen to trust no one, and thus was always unstable and unable to even breathe comfortably.

He tried to understand the helpless and fragile child. That an eleven-year-old wouldn’t have known what to do.

Regardless, in a dangerous city like this, late at night, a homeless child is easy prey. While they were snickering among themselves, the men caught the scent of cigarettes and turned around one by one.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

He was speaking to the child.

The one furthest away collapsed lifelessly. A suppressed sound of rushing air came from the silenced pistol.

If he was going to kill, he had to strike first before the opponent’s gun could fire. If more than two or three shots were heard, there was a high possibility that the police would swarm in later. Once bodies were discovered, an investigation would begin.

“What?!”

As the man who had been fine a moment ago collapsed haphazardly, the others looked up in shock. They hurriedly pulled out their guns after spotting Tennessee, but they weren’t even given a single chance to pull the trigger.

The limp bodies collapsed vainly, like a house made of cards. It was a wretched and empty end. Though, in Tennessee’s experience, no death had ever been anything but empty.

Everything ended quickly. Tennessee took one last look around. He walked toward the child, who was shivering on the blood-soaked dirt.

The terror cast over the child seemed so deep that it felt as though it would never fade. Tennessee thought that this might be the first time the child had witnessed a killing. Perhaps they would remember this moment, have nightmares, and be unable to forget this fear even as an adult.

While it was a natural reaction for a child, Tennessee felt a slight spark of resentment. He felt the child should be grateful that he had dirtied his hands for them; if the child didn’t know their place and cried that it was dirty or scary, the muzzle might just point toward the child next.

Tennessee brushed back his forehead. The irritation that had surged since finding the child would not subside.

With an ungentle touch, Tennessee ripped the tape off the child’s mouth. The fragile body, under extreme tension, was still trembling slightly. How would they react? Just as Tennessee’s eyes were turning cold, the zip ties binding the hands were easily cut, and the child lunged forward to hug him.

A hug. It was an unexpected reaction.

“Tennessee… Tennessee…”

The warmth of the body pressing into his chest. Tennessee sighed, looking at the three corpses. As he stood there without reacting, the child hesitated and lowered their hands. The marks where they had been bound were vivid on the thin wrists. The child’s legs gave out, and they slowly sank to the ground. The child’s eyes were full of regret and self-reproach.

“Where is it, the magic scissors.”

The child, who had been biting their lip to keep from crying and to avoid irritating Tennessee further, looked up.

“I… I don’t have them.”

“What happened to them?”

“…In the car.”

Tennessee rubbed his head.

“The gun?”

“…Still at the hotel.”

“The money?”

“…The money too.”

“Why.”

He put a second cigarette in his mouth.

“Because it’s Tennessee’s… If I took it, that would be stealing…”

“I asked why you didn’t take it!”

The child froze at the roar that shook the air like a thunderbolt. With a shivering body, the child shook their head.

“I didn’t want to… be remembered as a thief…”

I have to answer properly, don’t cry like an idiot. The child repeated this to themselves, struggling to stay lucid.

“Follow me.”

With that single phrase, Tennessee left the scene.