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The fire roared behind the oak desk, which had been freshly coated in a dark varnish, caused the room to become full of shadows and hiding places. The bookshelves loomed in the large, spacious office making it almost impossible to see the cardinal red wall above the mantelpiece, combining that with the rich red carpet, there was a strong indication of power, and prominent power at that. However, out of the two people in the room, the one illuminated by the flames looked the least in control; even though the unnecessarily grand chair he sat in indicated that he always had the power in this room. He anxiously fumbled with the silk red tie around his neck as he stared nervously at a small device being twirled around in the fingers of the other man hiding in the shadows. The dark, almost golden, yellow glove being the only thing revealed. The fire crackled softly as a deafening silence fell between the two of them, it was time to negotiate, and this was something that could make or break a man… a country.“One Million.” The hidden man stated in a monotone voice, the device was placed on the table, just out of reach. The man tugged his tie slightly away from the top of his collar as his eyes widened, realising just what the device was. A smartphone, the most valuable asset to the British government. It had been stolen six months ago and was never to be seen again. An elusive criminal managed to worm his way into the mind of the police officer who was in charge of looking after it. He found out the officer’s darkest secrets and used them against him, he was a good officer… lost his career over that indiscretion. Now, that criminal was sitting mere feet away from him, demanding a ludicrous amount of money in order to convince him that it should be returned to its rightful place.“Are you out of your mind, Hyde?” The man uttered through gritted teeth. The outrage was noticeable as his fist clenched around his tie. Such a ransom demand had never been made before in the five years that he had been holding this position, and he had dealt with some volatile people. People that he didn’t particularly want to think about again, that would be back some incredibly painful memories. He couldn’t see it, but he could practically feel the smirk on Hyde’s face from the shadows.“Oh please, ‘Mister British Government Official’ Roman… We’re past formalities. Call me Janus.” The mocking tone of Janus’ voice caused Roman to feel even more full of rage. The illusion was broken now that names were declared. Janus had always been hiding in the shadows, getting his boys in The Pyrite Syndicate to commit the brawn part of his crimes for him. To say that Janus keeps his hands as clean as possible would be an understatement. He knew how to manipulate people, expose parts of their lives that they would rather keep buried deep, there was no knowing just how much money Janus Hyde had stolen from others over the ten years he had been active. Janus knew how to talk, how to make someone feel helpless… like they had no choice. Roman gulped. The unfortunate part of this entire negotiation was that Janus did have the upper hand, and Roman knew that he was most likely going to be forced into giving Janus what he wanted. However, he could delay the inevitable for as long as possible. He remained silent and glared into the shadows as a quiet chuckle rang out above the crackle of the fire.Roman was usually the cat in a cat and mouse game, but he was at a loss as to what to do. He had never faced anyone like Janus before. He needed to get that phone back, and he was told to do whatever was necessary by his advisors… but giving in to blackmail? If certain people within the government found out, there was an absolute guarantee that he would become a laughing stock. Roman realised that there was a far more serious problem at hand. If the wrong people found out that someone had got away with this kind of demand, that could undoubtedly put the whole country… and himself, in jeopardy.“I just don’t think that one phone is worth one million pounds. In the grand scheme of things, there wasn’t a substantial amount of information on it. Merely some compromising photographs. If those supposedly compromising photos that were originally used to threaten the monarchy were to be leaked, we can easily cover it up as a hoax.” Roman regained his composure and spoke with the air of confidence he was commended for by his fellow colleagues. However, to say he wasn’t confident would be an understatement, but he had already lost so much, gaining the upper hand was of the utmost importance. Janus chuckled once again, louder and more victorious. Roman felt his heart sink, and he dreaded what Janus was about to say.“My God. It has been a while since you’ve seen this, hasn’t it?” Janus holds the phone into the light and points at it. Roman’s eyes widened anxiously; he can’t mean… “There’s more on here now. So. Much. More. On this phone, I have secrets, pictures and scandals that could topple your whole world. You have no idea just how much havoc I could cause… and there’s only one way to stop me. Since it’s locked with a password that only I know.” Janus gasped and dramatically covered his mouth with the other gloved hand. “Oh goodness me, I shouldn’t have let that slip.” The confidence was all-consuming, Roman began to feel claustrophobic in his office. He thought that the fire might be extinguished by the arrogance coming from Janus. He could see his teeth glimmer in the light from the flame. The rest of Janus’ face and eyes were still hidden in shadows, but the fire exposed a large grin on his face painted in orange and amber light. Despite how helpless he felt, Roman knew that he couldn’t give up. Not until he had exhausted every resource.“I do have people who can, and will, get into this phone. With or without the password.” Roman could feel his hands shake so he hid them, that way the tremor wouldn’t be obvious. He could feel the confidence in his voice drain away, but the façade thankfully remained in his expression. Janus tutted slowly before a quick retort, his voice boomed over Roman.“Oh Roman, Roman, Roman. I’m afraid it’s not quite as simple as that anymore. I added a little series of… accessories, shall we say. Four additional units are wired to the inside of the casing. There’s a small quantity of acid in each one, any attempt to open the phone’s casing by force will burn the hard drive. Don’t believe me?” Janus paused for a brief moment and waited for Roman to say something. He sighed when Roman just raised an eyebrow back at him, he grabbed an envelope by his feet and tossed it carelessly onto the desk separating the two of them.Roman took the envelope cautiously and opened it up slowly; he was confused when all he found were a series of photographs. No, not photographs; x-rays to be precise, depicting the inside of a phone with unexpected units encompassing the battery pack. He was no technology expert, but this was an unprecedented development. Roman huffed in irritation and fought the urge to bury his head in his hands in defeat, that was one bargaining chip out of the window.“Some data is always recoverab-”“Take that risk. I can guarantee that you will probably lose everything.” Janus cut in, stopping Roman in his tracks.He leant back in his chair and sighed. This was almost impossible to handle. It became increasingly difficult to remain composed when he knew that this entire negotiation was something he couldn’t win. If he carried this on until the last possible moment, at least he can tell his advisors that he did everything he could, they would be annoyed about the money exchanging hands, but national security was something that couldn’t be risked.“This password, that only you know. I deeply regret to say, we have people who can… extract… it from you.” The words felt bitter as they left Roman’s mouth, he was never one to threaten another person. Even someone like Janus Hyde, but it was necessary. It must have not been a convincing statement because Janus didn’t flinch, still unfazed by Roman’s attempts to win; he clasped his hands together almost in excitement.“Oooh… now don’t get my hopes up there, Roman. Unfortunately, there’s a tiny problem with that plan as well.” The mocking tone of disappointment from Janus made Roman’s frustration increase to unrealistic proportions. He couldn’t think of a conclusive thing to say, let alone a retort that would have an impact, so he stared Janus down, silently demanding Janus to explain himself.“There are two passwords… One to unlock the phone, one to burn the hard drive. Even under the duress you teased me with, you can’t know which one I’ve given you and there would be no point in a second attempt if you got it wrong.” The fire roared, encouraged by a harsh wind blowing outside and Janus’ eyes briefly flickered through the darkness. The excitement danced in his eyes like the flames behind him. Roman had to admit, Janus was a good adversary, and he was running out of stalling tactics. He threw his hands up in the air in irritation.“We’ll destroy the phone then, right here and now! No one will have the information.” Roman leant back in his chair, that must get his attention. He hoped that Janus would think that Roman would smash the phone up in front of him, causing no money to come his way, but Janus just wagged his finger at Roman. There must be yet another counterargument coming his way.“Fine! Good, good idea… unless there are lives of British citizens that depend entirely on the information you’re about to burn…” Janus’ tone turned cold and sinister as he leant forward ever so slightly in his seat. Roman froze to the spot in concern, he had to admit that was his primary concern. It was almost as if Janus could read his mind and picked out the thing he worried about the most. Now he knew exactly how Hyde worked, and just how good he was at what he did. Roman leant forward across the desk as well, causing the gap between them to decrease. The tension could easily be cut with a knife.“Are there?” Roman asked sincerely, impossible to hide the concern in his voice.“Sorry Roman. Telling you would be playing fair… I’m not playing anymore.” The joking tone in Janus’ voice had definitely disappeared and Roman had finally realised, this was the end of the line. There was nothing left to play, he would have to pay up. He had a good run, and even if Hyde’s last statement about the lives of citizen’s was a complete and utter bluff, he knew that his advisors would be even angrier if they knew that he had considered taking that risk. He sighed and reluctantly turned in his chair towards his waiting computer.Janus flicked a small business card towards Roman’s desk with the bank details that he needed to make the inevitable transfer. Once Roman took the card, Janus leaned back in the chair and got out his phone, waiting for the notification that he had received the money he had worked hard for. Roman slowly entered the information, periodically looking at Janus with irritation dancing in his eyes. Janus was careful to make sure his phone brightness was turned all the way down, so Roman couldn’t identify his face. He must have been aware of the security camera hidden in the corner of the room, which was frustrating, he could have used that to his advantage. With one final push of a button, Janus’ phone rang out. The smirk reappearing as Janus checked his phone.“A blackmailer and a thief who brought a nation to its knees… Nicely played.” Roman remarked quietly as Janus handed over the phone without a word, which Roman took gratefully.“56426. Pleasure doing business with you.” Janus stood up and made his way out the door, still concealing himself in the shadows. Roman watched Janus walk out, and when he was sure that he had left the room, he took the phone and carefully entered the password.The phone sprung into life but as Roman tried to look through its contents, he couldn’t find anything. The phone was completely blank, he looked in every possible file and turned the phone in his hand to check for a memory card or anything but there was nothing at all. All of those things that were promised, they weren’t there… he gave away one million pounds for an empty phone. Suddenly, he felt the back of the phone begin to swell. It became incredibly hot to the touch, and he heard snapping from inside the phone casing. It was destroying itself, as Janus promised would happen if the wrong password was entered. He ran to the window and opened it frantically, he put the phone on the windowsill and watched as it began to burn.Roman leapt out of the chair and ran into the corridor, only to be greeted by yet another deafening silence and the echo of victorious cackling running through the building. He decided not to bother with chasing Janus down, there would be no point in that. He stumbled back into his office and collapsed into the chair, putting his head in his hands.There’s only one person he could contact now, it was an apprehensive choice… and he wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t get too personally involved, but he needed to get the real phone back into his possession. It was a risk he was going to have to take and hope that the odds remained on his side. He entered the all too familiar number into his phone and waited for the other end to answer.
“It’s me… Yes, you were right… I know, I know… You can gloat all you want tomorrow... Can we meet in the morning? I’m going to need your expertise… Okay… Bye.”
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The crime scene was almost like a nightclub rave. Endless red and blue lights flooded every surface, making it impossible to hide anything from the several officers searching the area. The buildings of Fritz Street were all abandoned, and access was forbidden by blue police tape, the people had all scattered except for a few that were witnesses, asked to remain nearby. A man in a long, dark coat with a striped, blue tie only just visible waited at the edge of the ‘do not cross’ tape blocking entry to the area around the ‘On Cloud Nine Jazz Club’, scanning the scene until a uniformed officer verified his identity.“Detective Logan Phoenix” before flashing a warrant card and ducking under the tape hurriedly, he looked at every surface outside of the building. Drops of blood were visible next to his feet where the killer had made his escape. Before he could get any closer, he saw a Sergeant turn around and take off his plastic gloves in an extremely passive-aggressive motion, all while staring a hole directly into Logan’s soul. He smirked subtly, he had only been here for all of five minutes, and he was going to piss off someone… no, two people off. The murder was interesting enough, but this just made it an even greater evening. Logan took a step closer to the officer.“Ahh Robinson! Here we are yet again.” Logan called out loudly in a fake, cheery tone. He could feel the irritation radiating off Robinson as he clenched his jaw, trying not to lash out at Logan.“Look here, Phoenix. This is a crime scene. I don’t want it contaminated. Are we clear on that?” Logan’s smirk became slightly more apparent as he thought about how funny it was that Robinson believed he had some kind of power in this sort of situation. Logan nodded and gave a small sarcastic salute in response.“Oh, we are quite clear. And is your partner away for long?” Logan questioned innocently enough, and he watched as the colour slowly drained from Robinson’s face. His deduction was right, as it almost always is. He glanced to the side as he watched another officer, Sergeant Watts, who also hated Logan freeze at the question. Perfect. He wasn’t expecting to find out the answer so quickly, so he carried on his interrogation.Robinson scoffed and tried to brush Logan’s question off. “Don’t act you like you worked that out, somebody told you that.” He waved a hand in a dismissive fashion before going to turn away. Normally Logan would savour the thrill of the chase, but he couldn’t resist a good opportunity to bring these two particular police officers down a peg or two. Ever since he joined the police force officially, Watts and Robinson had made it clear that they despised him… more because he was solving cases before they even got a foot in the door. He pushed that thinking to the side and carried on with his game.“Your deodorant told me that.” Logan said bluntly, without any form of expression, and watched as the fear now turned to confusion. Robinson was some kind of emotional chameleon, he seemed to blend into different emotions perfectly.“My deodorant?” Robinson asked with an eyebrow raised sceptically.“It’s the new Lyx one! It was only released, what? A week ago?” Logan remarked sarcastically, his eyes lighting up as he was getting ready to deliver to final blow. Watts then stood up and attempted to walk away, but it appears that he was curious about the answer that Robinson was about to give.“So what? I only wear it when my partner isn’t around because they hate the smell. That doesn’t prove anything.” Robinson began to get flustered and stammered his way through his poor excuse of a lie.“Sergeant Watts is wearing the exact same one too.” Logan looked at Watts who was fiddling nervously with the bracelet on his wrist, and his head snapped up towards Logan, who raised an eyebrow in return. Watts and Robinson stared at each other helplessly, they were cornered, and eyes were starting to look in their direction. Watts stepped forward to try and reason with Logan.“Woah. Don’t get me involved in this weird dispute thing you’ve got going on with him. Whatever you’re trying to imply Phoenix.” He pointed a finger at Logan and poked his shoulder in attempt to move Logan away. Logan shook his head frantically before strolling past the two of them, making his voice much more audible to the other idling officers.“I’m not implying anything! I’m sure you went over the Sergeant Robinson’s house came over to discuss some paperwork and just happened to stay over…” Watts and Robinson turned a dark shade of pink, and Logan watched as the other officers started whispering to one another. Logan had one final blow left to deliver, and he waited until he got to the door of the actual crime scene before his declaration.“I assumed he scrubbed your floors going by the state of the knees on his trousers!” Logan shouted loudly, watching many jaws across the crime scene drop. Watts looked down at his trousers before stuttering then eventually falling silent. Logan smirked before entering the room with the victim inside.The scene was dimly lit, the remnants of smoke clouded the room from a significant number of cigarettes and there was still soft music playing around them. The lush velvet chairs all empty, and booths still contained uneaten food and drinks left in a hurry. Remnants of shattered plates and unused silverware were on the floor where people knocked them over as they ran away screaming. This murder was pre-meditated, but it was done very publicly, almost as if the murderer had a point to prove but nothing to lose. The witnesses outside were clearly shaken up, trembling under blankets. Logan would read their statements later; sentiment wasn’t his forte and he would only upset them more if he attempted to question them. He scanned the scene more, ideas and theories already popping into his head. Another man in a scene of crime uniform wandered over to Logan, apparently too shy to make eye contact with him.“H- Hey Logan. I didn’t think you were going to come to this one. Is it a seven on your interest scale?” Logan looked at the other man, a faint smile graced his features. He continued to look around the room, the body was directly in the middle of it. Quite gruesome in its way, an axe planted deep into the victim’s shoulder towards the neck. He wouldn’t have lasted long, but he would have died terrified. He could see words and ideas appear in his vision.
‘Married unhappily. Writer of some description, ink blots on his sleeves and shirt. Crime fuelled by rage. No passion. Note in his left hand, hasn’t been looked at yet.’
Logan turned his attention back to the man who was waiting awkwardly but patiently for a response. “Hello Virgil. Have you done something with your hair? It looks nice. I must admit, I thought this one was going to be boring… but I’m intrigued now.” Logan had to admit that he did always admire Virgil, he spotted things that many others didn’t, even if it was by accident. Virgil would always work as hard as he could to get answers to any and all crimes that they came across. The dark eyeshadow under his eyes made him look intimidating and unapproachable, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Logan had already turned away, so he missed the blush spreading across Virgil’s cheeks from the compliment about his hair. Logan approached the body cautiously, trying to not get in the way of the other SoCO’s who were carefully combing the scene.“This amount of rage and the weapon means that the killer has to be male. There’s no overkill though, so he must know what he’s doing.” One of the officers remarks as they finally got to the note in the victim’s hand and delicately into an evidence bag. It was handed to Virgil who immediately handed it to Logan. The words were written deliberately, and the rage was clear because of the ink dots where the pen was almost broken while writing.‘Those who play jazz will live.’ Logan tutted as he read, how crude. He turned the paper over and saw the remains of a newspaper article. It was a few days old, and it appeared to be a scathing review of the jazz club from the fragment he could make out and a very old photograph that accompanied it. So the murderer was someone who had a lot to lose from the review coming out, things were starting to make a lot more sense. Logan had to admit that it wasn’t quite as interesting anymore, but there was one question that still plagued his mind.“Virgil? How did this murder take place when the club was at its busiest… but no one can identify the murderer?” Virgil looked at Logan confused; it was a puzzle to say the least, and one that Virgil certainly wasn’t capable of solving. He dealt with evidence and things after-the-fact.“Maybe it was someone that people aren’t familiar with… but you’re going to have to ask Cake those kinds of questions.” They walked back to the front door of the club, and he pointed to a loud, bubbly Sergeant who was talking to witnesses outside. Logan could see the witnesses feel at ease immediately as they were reassured fondly. He fiddled with the cardigan around his neck, which was completely against Police uniform, but everyone made an exception for him because of all the baked goods he made for as much of the force as possible. The man glanced over before noticing Logan and waved frantically while rushing over.“Logan! I didn’t see you come in. My ears must have been burning, I could have sworn you were talking about me. Are you ready for me to walk you through everything?” He beamed as Logan rolled his eyes softly.“Patton, your ears are not burning… That’s not physically possible… but yes, I need to know all the details, please.” Patton smirked as a retort before taking out his notebook and gathering all the information he had collected so far.“Okaaay. So the club opened at around 8:30pm. So, according to the ID in his jacket pocket, the victim is Robert King; 35, he entered the club at 8:45pm according to the bartender. He’s apparently a big critic in the jazz world and he was coming to redo his rather harsh review of the club because a popular trio were playing tonight. Through a variety of witnesses, I’ve managed to piece together a timeline. He got a drink, sat at a table right in the middle of the room and pulled out a notebook to make notes before the show started. At around 9pm, someone in a cloak entered the club, no one got a good look at their face, some say they were wearing a mask… and then y’know… They crept up behind the victim and…” Patton copied the axe swinging motion as Logan followed the footsteps of the victim in his mind.“During the commotion, the suspect calmly walked out of the club while the panic and chaos began. Everyone was so busy trying to run away or call the police that the suspect got out more or less undetected.” Logan’s brow furrowed as more pieces started to come together. The suspect was careful and didn’t leave any trace behind, so it appears that they know the club and the surrounding area extremely well. Someone who could blend in, and no one would bat an eyelid. There was only one person who would have justifiable cause to murder this man.“Virgil? Can you hand me the axe for a minute? Got a hunch that I need to check out.” Virgil nodded and went to get the large evidence bag containing the weapon. Logan examined it carefully, there was nothing out of the ordinary except for one thing that he almost missed. ‘On the handle, there were traces of a red substance in straight lines, but it wasn’t blood… nail varnish. It was a woman.’ Logan clicked the final pieces together and handed the axe back to Virgil.“Who’s the owner?” Logan questioned; Patton scrambled through his notes before finding the page he was looking for.“Skye Mercury. Her office is the one in the corner. She hasn’t been seen since she opened the club up at 7pm.” Patton recalled back from his notes, and Logan smirked at the realisation that his final theory was correct.“Skye Mercury is your killer. If you look at this note, the one that was crudely shoved into the victim’s hand, there’s the review of the club yes? But take a closer look at this picture… The man on the right is the victim when he was younger, and the woman in the middle who is singing, I’m going to hazard a guess and assume that it’s Skye; you can very faintly see a name badge and the first letter is an ‘S’. They must have performed together back in the day when this club was still new. I’m going to make another assumption that the victim made a comment about how the club wasn’t as good as it used to be and used this photo in his review intentionally which became a stressor to Skye… insulting the club, her, and making a mockery of everything they did together before they split ways. So Skye begs for a second chance, the victim comes… and she kills him.” Virgil and Patton stare at him dumbfounded as Logan humbly shrugged. Another case solved.“I’ll go and get Detective Inspector Gomez and some officers. We’ll find her. Thank you once again Detective Phoenix!” Patton remarked with an emphasis on his full title. Logan rolled his eyes once again as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, indicating a phone call.“You’re welcome, Sergeant Brigh. I have to take this. Thank you boys; Virgil, brilliant work as always.” Logan turned away before he saw the blush spread across Virgil’s cheeks once again, and Patton gave Virgil a sad smile before dashing off to find the Detective Inspector.Logan waited until he was away from the crime scene before taking the call from an all too familiar number.
“Logan Phoenix… Yes, I’m fully aware that it’s you, cousin. I take it I was correct about how your little meeting would go?... I did tell you… Excellent… Of course… 9am? Your office?... Okay… Bye.”
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Roman began to pace up and down the office impatiently. It was only 8:45am but he hoped with every fibre of his being that Logan would be early, he always was irritatingly punctual. Despite their little disagreements, Roman did care about his little cousin, and had to admit that his knowledge has saved his ass on a few matters in the past. He heard the door handle twist and Roman’s head snapped up; he held his breath until he recognised that it was Logan who walked in causing him to breathe out heavily.He watched as Logan took a look around the office, he stared at the vast amount of red with a look of disapproval painted on his face. He walked over to the bookshelves and flicked through the titles and pulled out one that interested him. After examining the first few pages, he put the book back and turned his attention back to Roman.“Good to see this place is still as pompous as I remember it. How is a day in the life of the British Government, dear cousin?” Logan smiled as he shook Roman’s hand which Roman happily returned. This was a typical routine of theirs, they always mocked each other in jest. They have ever since they were children, and that was why Logan was much more like a brother rather than a cousin. He playfully glared at Logan as he spoke.“I occupy a minor position, Logan. You know that.” Roman retorted as Logan scoffed at the statement, he had heard so many times in the past, it was Roman’s attempt at being humble, but it was never truly successful.“Oh please. You ARE the British Government when you’re not being the British Secret Service, or the CIA on a freelance basis.” Roman glared at Logan before a comfortable silence fell between them, and then both laughed quietly. It was a nice respite from the stress and the sleepless night Roman just had. The laughter fell away quickly and Roman walked over to his desk falling into the chair dramatically. He huffed in frustration and covered his eyes with one hand. As he looked away, almost in sheer embarrassment, Logan walked over to the other unoccupied chair and examined the scene in front of him.
‘Shoulders tensed. Decanter empty. Desk in disarray. Emails unanswered, most of them being marked as urgent. Conclusion: frustrated.’
“So, will you now tell me what you called me here for?” Logan enquired, he tried to keep the impatience out of his voice. Roman sighed and handed Logan an incredibly thin file marked ‘confidential.’ The hesitation in the handing over of the file showed that there was more that Roman was hiding from him. He flipped through the few pages and gathered most of the information he needed.“I trust that you are well aware of Janus Hyde. Head of the Pyrite Syndicate. He’s an elusive, but notorious criminal whose reputation comes from his ability to steal anything and his ability to blackmail people for incredible sums of money. Hyde has never been violent; he has made that clear.” Logan studied Roman’s features and noticed that he was still apprehensive. Logan had heard of Hyde and his syndicate in the ether but hadn’t really taken them into consideration, he never found them particularly interesting. There was one case several years ago that he thought Hyde was a part of, where a Jade pin worth nine million pounds was stolen from the National Gallery, but he had to remove him from the suspect list because there were no lines of enquiry. He looked at Roman, the last part of his statement seemed awfully personal.“You’re hiding something from me. Come on Roman, I’ve helped you with so many cases over the years. Nothing you say will make me unwilling to help you… We are family after all.” Roman rubbed his hand across his forehead, hoping that the applied pressure would alleviate the pounding headache he was experiencing. The stress of this entire situation had started to take its toll on him.“Unfortunately, as you know I had a meeting yesterday… I didn’t tell you that it was him and he managed to con me out of a million pounds in exchange for the phone that contains elicit photographs and so much more he didn’t show me… I didn’t have a choice. And now I-”“You need me to find him, to get it back.” Logan interrupted, and Roman only nodded in response. Logan nodded his head in understanding, but he couldn’t believe that Hyde would do something so bold. It was an incredibly arrogant ac“Roman, this isn’t very much to go on. There’s no photograph of this guy, there’s no idea of where they are based… I’m going to have a hard time putting anything together.” Logan never admitted hardships when it came to cases, but given everything was on the line, he had to admit the truth to Roman. Roman nodded, but there was a silent agreement between them.If anyone could solve this case, and restore security to the nation, it was Logan. He had solved multiple cases which involved threats to powerful people, and even though he despised those cases… Roman knew that Logan still enjoyed them. It gave him power over the people he thought didn’t deserve as much power as they had.“Well, the police work has dried up. You know I need to be kept busy or I will drive Patton mad with how irritating I can be. So it will certainly keep me focused.” Logan smirked as he re-read the information in the file. Roman felt a wave of concern wash over him.“Logan. Please. I don’t want you to get too involved, we don’t know just how dangerous he can be… He is extremely manipulative after all.” Logan waved a hand at Roman, dismissing his concern. They all knew that Logan could sometimes get too invested in cases, but he wasn’t stupid… he knew his limits. No one will ever break his personal boundaries.Roman stood up and Logan shook Roman’s hand one more time before leaving. Roman breathed a sigh of relief that he was no longer alone on this, but he was still concerned for Logan… and he was going to make sure he was monitored very closely. Thankfully for him, he had someone on the inside that would never let him down.As the door closed, Logan heard the familiar sound of his phone notifying him of a text message. He took out the phone and frowned at the unknown number on his screen, when he unlocked his phone, his eyes widened at the text that stared back at him. Things were getting interesting already.‘Detective Phoenix. I look forward to working with you.’ Logan replied almost immediately, very bold of Hyde to get in contact already… how did he know he was even going to start investigating him? More importantly, how did Hyde get his phone number?‘I will stop you, Hyde. And I will get that phone back.’ He watched as the three bubbles popped up indicating that Janus was typing. The final message arrived before the phone number became uncontactable.‘Oh, my dear Detective… I simply can’t wait to see you try.’ Logan put his phone back into his pocket and quickly strode out of the building, signalling to the first taxi he saw. As he climbed into the cab, stating his address to the driver, there was only one thought in his mind.He had to get to work as soon as possible, immediately. He started his research as soon as he got home, and he knew he wasn’t going to stop.
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It had only been two days since Logan agreed to take on this job for Roman, and it was safe to say that Logan’s large penthouse apartment ‘looked like a bomb site’ according to Patton. Logan thought that was a bit of an exaggeration since no actual bomb had hit the property, but he had to admit that he was getting carried away with breaking down this case to its foundations. The clean, white walls that were usually baron were now covered in documents and string pinpointing to different places and people. He had case files with any possible connections to The Pyrite Syndicate littered on every possible surface. Whenever Virgil came over to help, which was uncharacteristically frequent, he found himself cleaning up chairs and tables in order to at least sit down. Patton and Virgil found themselves popping in on a rotation. Patton during the day, Virgil at night but they hadn’t been making any form of significant progress.As Logan stared at the files in front of him, he ruffled his hair in irritation. How could someone be this elusive? He found himself glancing at his phone far too many times for his liking, almost hoping for any kind of communication… something he can use. So far, all he had from his investigations by his own network and the police force were a few blurry photographs of people who could potentially be Hyde, but it was extremely unclear. He had to maintain his usual smug optimism, Hyde will either come out of the shadows again to get Logan’s attention, or he will make a mistake that will give Logan an advantage… hopefully both.Little did Logan know at this moment, Janus Hyde had been organising a plot to get Logan’s attention with the help of his right-hand man Remus, he had cased out the Tower the day before and put everything into motion. That was how he knew this was going to be spectacular.While Logan was searching through files, Janus was stood outside The Tower of London. He looked around and observed all the hustle and bustle of the tourists, their typical behaviour of gawping at the Tower baffled him. It wasn’t that amazing. He tutted as he had to forego his usual black outfit, the capelet and gloves in order to blend in. Janus obnoxiously chewed a piece of gum and reluctantly got out his phone to take some pictures of the Tower before adjusting his Union Jack cap. He sent a quick text before walking into the building, he knew exactly what room he would be ending up in.He took his time, looking at artefacts that didn’t interest him in the slightest, he knew that he would raise suspicion if he beelined straight to the room in question. He silently thanked Remus in his head for doing all of this research for him the day before. He always sent the right-hand man out first, he had an eye for accuracy, and he had every possible flaw covered, no one else in the Syndicate worked quite as hard as Remus, and no one else was quite so loyal. So thanks to him, this plan was going to go without a hitch. One set of artefacts caught his eye and he snickered as he looked at the golden vase on display. ‘That’s a fake, I should know… The real one is with me… has been for three years now... very nice guy who gave it to me... Not that he had much of a choice.’ He adjusted his cap once more and glanced around making sure his face didn’t appear on any security cameras as he continued to wander around the rooms, until he reached the one he needed.He entered the pride and joy of the Tower, the room where the Crown Jewels were kept. The tourists stared in bewilderment and Janus always found it bemusing that they left items this valuable so exposed, they are more or less impossible to steal… but clearly they underestimated someone like him. As the announcement blared out that the Tower was closing in ten minutes. It was Janus’ cue as he made one final lap of the room, checking behind the glass cabinet in the corner and was relieved that Remus was able to drop his bag of supplies there, more relieved that it hadn’t been noticed by anyone. He walked back into the center of the room and took a deep breath; he removed the mask that he kept in the pocket of his jeans then slipped it on his face so only his birthmark would be visible if his face was caught on a camera. It was time for the opening curtain.Janus slowly rotated his head in a circle, scrolling through a playlist on his phone looking for the perfect song. He didn’t notice the security guard walking up behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.“I’m sorry, Sir. The Tower is clo-” Janus turned around and quickly incapacitated the guard with a spray from the pocket sized can of chemical solvent that Remus created for him. As soon as he was sure that the guard was unconscious, he dragged him to the main entrance to the room and propped him up just outside, he wasn’t heartless. He sighed at the interruption and continued to scroll until the perfect song came up in the playlist. 1812 Overture. Perfect. He pressed play and listened as the music began to belt out of his speaker in his phone. He typed out a message sent it, smirking as the doors immediately fell closed behind him. Janus had five minutes, and he was going to make them as dramatic as possible.Following the tempo of the music, he grabbed the bag from the corner and brought it next to the cabinet containing the Crown and the Scepter. He dug into the bag and got out a white marker pen, he began to write backwards on the glass so it would show the correct way on the security footage.
‘HELLO DETECTIVE.’
Janus snickered as he drew a smiley face in the ‘O’ and drew a bowler hat on the top of it. He had never really used a signature before, but now would be the perfect time to start. He took the chewing gum out of his mouth and placed it on the glass, he grimaced briefly in disgust before rummaging in the bag for the final item he needed while softly humming along to the music blaring from his phone next to him. He took out the tiny object and slowly but deliberately placed it in the middle of the chewing gum, aiming for the center of it.The music was reaching its climatic part, so he had to make this quick. He raced behind him and took hold of the fire extinguisher and gripped it firmly. Following the tempo of the music once again, he paced forward towards to cabinet aiming for the gum. As the canons crashed in the music, Janus rammed the fire extinguisher through the glass watching it shatter around him. He grinned as he watched it fall like snow and smashed the remaining fragments so he could walk through unharmed. He smirked as the alarms finally began to blare out and he sat down on the mock throne holding the crown in his hands, impressed by how heavy it was. Janus placed it on his head while holding the Scepter and then looked directly into the nearest security camera with a wave. He then watched as the cameras switched off one by one. As he put the Crown with the scepter into the bag, he heard the police sirens wailing from outside getting closer by the minute… five minutes exactly, not bad.He left his on the throne and escaped through an already planned exit. As he ran back out onto the street while the police stormed the building, he smiled as he celebrated his victory. He called Remus with a spring in his step.
“Hey buddy. Yeah, it all went without a hitch… Haha of course, all thanks to your brilliant work might I add… Do you want me to order takeout for everyone tonight? My treat… Excellent… Do me a favour? Have someone pick me up from Fenchurch Street will you? I don’t really want to be wandering around with the most valuable artefacts in London in a rucksack… Thank you.”
He could still see the spectacle around the Tower of London as he waited for one of his men to arrive. It was all so excessive, six police cars obstructed the entrance, multiple armed officers scoured the surrounding area and one unmarked car pulled up. A tall, large man in a plain beige suit got out of the driver’s seat. He was clearly stressed from the way he tugged at his hair and aggressively paced around shouting out orders. One officer ran up to the man and relayed something back to him, as the man sighs in frustration tugging his phone out of the pocket of his trousers. Janus tried to make out what he was saying, but it was impossible with the typical London hustle and bustle coming past him. The phone call ended, and the man sighed before making his way into the Tower.A black car pulled up beside him a few minutes later and he tutted in disappointment that he couldn’t have waited around longer, but he climbed into the car and glanced over at the taxi heading towards the Tower. Janus smirked, that blue scarf could only belong to one person.While Janus was driving away, Logan was going over the words from his phone call with DI Gomez in his head. The crown was stolen, all the doors were shut tight because of the security measures, impenetrable glass shattered by a fire extinguisher… How?He was snapped out of his thoughts by the taxi driver calling out the fare price, and he quickly paid before practically leaping out of the taxi. He flashed his warrant card once again as he was allowed under the blue tape. He examined the floor on his way through, but there were no obvious clues or anything he could use to his advantage. He walked into the Tower and was directed to the security office by a very sheepish Sergeant Robinson, Logan just smirked in response. He glanced over at the scene and saw Virgil working hard to gather the evidence. Virgil noticed Logan watching and gave him a timid wave which Logan nodded at in response. He finally made his way into the security office to be met by a stressed DI Gomez, Logan could tell immediately from the state of his hair, how tousled and tugged it was. That along with the broken buttons on his beige suit, and Logan could see an entire dynamic shift when he realised that Logan had arrived. He held his hand out which was shaken vigorously.“DI Gomez? You sounded very frustrated on the phone. I need you to explain everything again, I need every detail.” Logan insisted, and DI Gomez pointed over to where Patton was waiting by the series of computers containing security footage.“It would be easier just to show you. Cake will show you all the footage we’ve got… You’ll see why I insisted you came.” Gomez’s rough voice was filled with exhaustion instead of its commanding but respectful tone. Logan nodded and walked over to Patton, concerned when the usual smile he was greeted with didn’t quite reach Patton’s eyes.“Hey Detective. I’ll just play it… there’s a lot to look at.” The level of worry in Patton’s voice was something Logan had never heard before. So he stared at the computer, watching the scene unfold before him.As he looked at the events that occurred, analysing every detail, he had to admit that this was bold. Although the face was obscured, there were other things that would help identify him. Logan began to make notes in his mind.
‘Male. 5ft10. Birthmark on his face. Someone who attempted to blend in with the tourists. Confidence in his actions. This was planned in advanced, it’s too smooth to be an off-the-cuff burglary.’
His eyes widened as he saw the message being written on the glass, and the drawing which must be becoming a signature for him. It was Hyde, no question. Which also means that Logan was right, he is being incredibly bold, and he planned this whole spectacle to get his attention. That was fast, Hyde must be keen to make some kind of deal.Logan could practically feel Patton tense up next to him as the next set of events unfurled. He leaned closer to the screen as the gum was pressed on the glass, but he couldn’t make out what else he put on there. As the glass smashed once again in the footage causing Patton to flinch, Logan knew that it must have been something strong to break impenetrable glass. As Hyde then sat on the display and waved at the camera before the footage cut out, Logan had to hide the smirk trying to break through as he looked at Patton. Patton was busy scribbling furiously in his notebook, the pen was practically digging through the paper.“Sergeant Brigh, is something the matter?” Logan used his authoritative voice to bring Patton back around, and Patton smiled sadly.“Logan… This is bad. The Palace are going to be on everyone’s back, especially Ro…man’s.” Patton caught himself before he continued with that nickname, Logan glanced at Patton suspiciously but that was a deduction for another time. There was a timid knock at the door which caused everyone to turn and face the sound. Virgil stood apprehensively in the doorway, his blue gloved hands pressed firmly on the door looking only at Logan, his face was a little paler than usual.“S-sorry. Detective Phoenix? You’re going to want to look at this.” Virgil pointed out into the main room and Logan immediately rushed to the door following Virgil into the crime scene. Looking at all the blaring lights, the thousands of pieces of shattered glass, no breaches of security and no obvious escape routes. He watched while putting on his own blue gloves took a piece of paper shaped like a crown off of the edge of the display throne and handed it to Logan slowly.“T-there’s writing on it.” Virgil’s worried tone caused a wave of apprehension to flow through Logan as well. He carefully unfolded the paper because it still needed to be analysed for prints, even though Logan knew they weren’t going to find any because Hyde definitely wore gloves. He read the note carefully, fascinated by the cursive handwriting.
My Dear Detective Phoenix,
Since you’re ‘oh-so-clever’. Tell me… How did I manage to both steal and escape with one of the most prized possessions in London? How did I find a way to break through that glass? We’re much alike, Detective… We’re both clever.
You have three days to work it out, and I’ll be in touch… Rest assured, I’ll be keeping an eye on you.
J.H
Patton came out of the security office and caught a glimpse of the writing, he glanced at Logan who was almost beaming at the words; being set a puzzle was Logan’s weakness. Patton then glanced at Virgil who instinctively looked at him too. They shared a silent look, one of concern and sincerity that they would stop Logan from diving too deep into this case. Logan handed the paper back to Virgil with a flourish.“This is going to be fun.”Meanwhile, Janus was sitting in his room back at The Syndicate office celebrating how he had managed to pull everything off without a hitch. He took note of Logan’s mobile number before handing Remus his phone for him to destroy. As he opened up a new phone container and set up the new SIM card, he smirked at how he had initiated a cat and mouse game between himself and the most notorious detective in London. He logged only two contacts: Remus and Logan. As he entered the last digits of Logan’s number, he smirked once again at Remus.“This is going to be so much fun.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was the day after the robbery at the Tower of London. Logan’s apartment was now covered in new information, his bin was overflowing with the data he had previously compiled, all irrelevant now. However, thankfully for Patton, Logan had been much more organised this time and everything was piled up neatly, so he didn’t have to clean anything up when he came over that morning.Patton asked for a day off to help Logan, and DI Gomez allowed it with no questions asked. As they sat around the table in Logan’s kitchen surrounded by empty coffee cups. They both stared at different files looking at the robbery as closely as possible. Logan analysed every photograph but wasn’t building any new data in his mind. He huffed in frustration and Patton rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. They had been going over everything for over three hours, but no progress had been made.“Patton, I just don’t understand. We know absolutely nothing new! We only know what Hyde has given us!” Logan exclaimed, trying to not tear his hair out.“I know, Lo. It’s frustrating, especially since we have exhausted all of the security camera footage. Whatever he put in the chewing gum must be something strong and I dunno… Maybe he had someone help him get out?” Patton threw ideas into the air, and Logan looked at him with gratitude. Logan knew just how much Patton underestimated himself, of course he wasn’t at the same level as Logan when it came to intellect, and he was far too sentimental for Logan’s liking sometimes… but he tolerated Logan and would always help him at the drop of a hat. He was also the only person that was allowed to get away with calling him ‘Lo’. They fell back into a comfortable silence before the buzzer rang causing both of them to jump slightly. Logan walked to the door and looked at the camera, he immediately pushed the button to open the door and left it ajar before heading back to his chair.They listened as the heavy footsteps came up the stairs; it was the sound of large, chunky boots that only one person ever wore. As the door opened, they were greeted by Virgil who was holding two new case files and was beaming proudly at the evidence bag in his hand.“Hey guys! Logan, you’re gonna be very proud of me! And Cake, here are those case files you requested with all the evidence I catalogued from the Tower!” Logan glanced up and noticed that Virgil had been a lot more precise with his eyeshadow, it was also a different shade of dark colours, and he had clearly brought new clothes.“Greetings, Virgil. You’ve changed your eyeshadow, it suits you.” Logan concluded before holding out his hand for the evidence bag. He once again missed the blush on Virgil’s cheeks, and the sad look from Patton. Virgil cleared his throat before explaining what was in the evidence bag.“There was a diamond in the chewing gum, when Hyde hit the glass in the correct spot, the diamond made contact with the glass and that’s what caused it to break… I also checked the gum, there was DNA but nothing in the database, so that’s a dead end, I’m sorry.” Virgil looked away slightly, but Logan stood up and patted him on the shoulder.“Oh please, don’t be Virgil. You’ve cracked one of our biggest problems! You’ve done a good job as always.” Logan walked off after providing the reassurance, and Virgil put his hand on his own shoulder when Logan walked away to analyse the diamond. Patton sighed and stood up, putting himself in front of Virgil.“Virge. I know how feel about him but trust me. The only person that’s going to get hurt here is you.” Patton remarked sadly, Virgil tilted his head in response.“What? What do you mean, Cake? I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Virgil rubbed the back on his neck and looked away again in an attempt to feign ignorance, but they both knew what Patton meant.“Virgil… I know you have feelings for Logan. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing… I’m just saying that he doesn’t reciprocate that kind of attention. He values you as a friend, and he values me too. I just don’t want you to have your heart broken… Like I did. So trust me, I’m talking from experience.” Virgil’s eyes widened slightly as Patton smiled sympathetically, he had always wondered why Patton requested to be transferred and to stop being Logan’s Police Liaison, but he could never pinpoint the reason since neither of them would discuss it. He nodded at Patton and quickly ruffled his hair causing a gentle laugh from Patton. Virgil knew that he should listen to Patton’s words… but he was drawn to Logan, he couldn’t let go. He smiled softly before making his way over to Logan who was still observing the diamond under a magnifying glass, standing just a little closer than usual.Patton sighed heavily at the sight and shook his head as his phone ringed out with a text notification. He took his phone out of his pocket and knew that Logan couldn’t know about this. On cue, Logan looked up silently asking who it was from.“It’s just Gomez, he’s letting me know what leads I’m following up tomorrow.” Patton smiled as convincingly as he could while Logan raised an eyebrow incredulously at him.“On your day off?” Logan asked, apparently unconvinced by Patton’s statement. Patton laughed his usual laugh.“You know the DI. Police work doesn’t stop because I have a day off… I’ll take this over there.” He pointed at the next room over, and although Logan was suspicious, he left it alone and went back to the evidence in front of him. Patton finally unlocked his phone and hid his smile at the text.
Patton. I heard that Janus actively dragged Logan into a case. What’s going on? xx
His breath hitched slightly as he looked at the ending of it. Roman had been asking Patton for details on Logan’s cases ever since he became the Police Liaison. He would hide his true intentions by asking if there was anything he could do to help and showing a dramatic concern for Logan’s wellbeing. There was always a hint of guilt in Patton’s mind whenever he fed small bits of information to Roman, especially when Roman then turned up to crime scenes or Logan’s apartment uninvited, but it wasn’t always just business. Roman had been texting more frequently and Patton was enjoying his company which always washed the guilt away, so he texted back immediately.
Hey Roman! DI Gomez had to call Logan in. Since the Crown was stolen, and Janus did call out Logan by name. It shouldn’t take too long to wrap up! xx
Patton bit his lip; it wasn’t a complete lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth. The reply came through promptly, and he looked over at Logan and Virgil to make sure they weren’t watching him as he smiled at Roman’s response.
Great, keep me updated… Please? I’m only looking out for Logan, just like you. I promised you coffee after the last case you kept me up to date with. Let’s get that soon, Cake xx
He felt a faint blush spread across his face as Roman called him by the nickname for the first time, and he began to type straight away that he would keep him informed, but then he deleted his words. This case would be closed in a couple of days, there’s nothing else to say. Logan will work out the last piece of the puzzle, the Crown will come back, and everything will go back to normal. Patton was sure of it.
Let me know when you’re free, Ro xx
He turned back and went back over to the table where Virgil had left the case files for Patton to look at. He opened up the first one and they all worked on different parts of the robbery. As night fell, Patton and Virgil left to go back to their homes leaving Logan with his thoughts. He eventually managed to shut his mind down and get some rest… his sleeping moments consumed by the security footage playing on repeat.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been one day since the heist had taken place, and Janus was already tapping his fingers on his office chair in irritation. He was supposed to be sorting out Syndicate business and keeping up with another ‘project’ he was leading, but his thoughts were consumed by the Detective and the game. How was it only the start of the second day? He shouldn’t have given the Detective quite so much time, he wanted to get this show on the road! It was fun to watch the police and the Detective squirm, desperately trying to find the answers. He sighed as he looked at the Crown that was pride of place on the mantelpiece, it was boring now, the only thrill left was the game.He looked at his new phone, the activity was endless with plans he was carrying out and check ins from the other members of the Syndicate… but he wasn’t interested. He knew that Remus was right, and he needed to wait until the time was up, but he was getting impatient, and he opened up Logan’s contact information. He smirked as he typed out a text, there was nothing wrong with opening a line of communication. He sent the text and leant back in the chair, eagerly awaiting a response.Meanwhile, Logan was getting equally as frustrated. Everything else was in place, but the escape was the one part of the puzzle that couldn’t be cracked. Logan had solved some of the most difficult cases in London, against some of the most formidable criminals… why was it so hard to figure out how someone escaped a locked room?!Logan huffed as his phone pinged twice, indicating a text notification. An ‘unknown number’ appeared on his lock screen, he swiped the phone and his eyes widened slightly.
Do you give up yet, Detective?
He stared at the text multiple times in confusion. Hyde? Why was Hyde texting him? That seemed very out of character, he must be bored or something. His forehead furrowed as he realised that the number could be contacted. He was even more curious now, why has he left the number open? Logan’s fingers hovered over the keyboard, deciding whether or not to reply. He quickly closed the text, that wasn’t happening. It would only give Hyde the satisfaction, and he wanted… no, needed to keep the upper hand if he had any chance of solving this case. He turned his phone face down and pulled up a file instead, already partially distracted. He kept glancing at his phone every few minutes, waiting for another text to come through.Janus growled in annoyance as the minutes of the last hour passed by incredibly slowly, no new notifications. Was the Detective ignoring him? This was the perfect bait! He created a way in, a way which would send the detective on a wild goose chase because he’ll be too eager to track down Janus’ location instead of solving the case, meaning he would win. Just like he always does. The detective may be smart, but Janus is smarter in ways the detective could only dream of. He sent yet another text and waited, his fingers now tapping the oak table in front of him as he stared at the computer unable to complete any of his business, the sound got increasingly louder with each tap. Just one more text, then he’d be patient. He could do that.Logan’s phone pinged once again; a familiar unknown number danced across his screen. Two texts in the space of an hour, this was indeed highly unorthodox. He opened it quickly, hoping that Hyde will provide something of use.
Why would the security footage cut out so neatly without me tampering with the cameras, Detective?
It was now undeniable that Hyde was bored. That was the only explanation unless he was wanting to show off as well. Logan rolled his eyes, he thought Roman was dramatic, but this was a whole new level. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t impressed with Hyde, his talent and skill were something that surpassed his expectations… He shook his head, what was he doing? He needed to solve this case, not compliment the criminal. It was an interesting question; how did he manage to cut off the security footage? Did Logan miss something? There must be some clue.Logan closed his eyes and began to remember the footage once again. It wasn’t hard, it had been playing in his mind repetitively the previous night, but he wasn’t concentrating then. He watched as the events unfurl once again. He checked for any possible accomplice but there was no way someone could hide in there; the cameras made sure that there were no blind spots. That was how he was able to pinpoint every other action precisely because it was handed to him on a plate. He reached the part just before the security camera cut out and slowed it down in his mind.He watched yet again as Hyde put the Crown on his head, putting the scepter in his lap. He beamed proudly into the camera, like he was waiting for it to take a photograph. The look in his eyes showed his pride and arrogance that he had successfully completed his mission, that he had created a case which would turn out to be increasingly difficult to solve. Logan wanted to feel anger and he did, no question about it… but he also felt a modicum of respect for Hyde too. Logan’s closed eyes moved rapidly, like he was in a REM sleep cycle, he scanned Hyde’s movements, and something finally clicked.What if that ‘wave’ wasn’t all that it seemed? What if it wasn’t just a symbol of victory, but a signal to someone else? Logan smirked, he was right about a second man, just not about where they were. As he opened his eyes, another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.‘There was an accomplice, but they weren’t in the room with Hyde. They were watching the security cameras… but who was it?’ He needed to think, who could Hyde exploit for his own personal gain?It had been two hours since Janus had sent his previous text, and the lack of response from the detective was infuriating. He underestimated his resolve, his determination to solve the case. That was a price to pay, but it also meant that the anticipation lasted longer… as eager as he was for the detective to prove that he could solve this case, he didn’t want it to end too early. He jumped as his office door opened and another man walked in. The green band on his arm made Janus relax immediately.“Ah Remus. God, you scared me!” Remus smirked at the response.“Sorry boss, just wanted to see how everything’s going. Pretty fuckin’ proud of myself to be honest.” Janus rolled his eyes at the smug tone. He had to admit that Remus was one of the best in the business, and that he had managed to poach him from the British government post all those years ago.“We seem to be on schedule… the detective is ignoring me though which I find very rude.” Remus tutted in jest and Janus nodded in mutual agreement before the two of them began laughing. They eventually stopped and Remus sighed after realising something.“Boss? Isn’t it dangerous to leave the number open? He could find us, right?” There was a trace amount of concern in that gruff voice which took Janus by surprise, but he waved his hand in dismissal.“Oh please. This phone is literally untraceable, it signal is bouncing off multiple phone towers and it’s set up to show its location in Scotland if someone were ever to trace its entire route… so that would be an entertaining sight. We’ll be alright, my friend. Trust me.” He hit Remus’ arm in reassurance and Remus nodded, running his hand through his short, spiked hair. Janus typed out a text and then showed it to Remus who smirked as he read.“You’re really being a fucking tease to this detective, aren’t you, boss?” Janus chuckled at Remus’ remark and shrugged is response. He sent the text and then dropped the phone onto the table.“Damn right. C’mon, that’s enough work for today.” They both walk out of the office and grabbed the rest of the Syndicate for a night out, intending to forget about everything for the rest of the day.Logan was busy making notes of everything that they knew so far, and how everything had transpired. He reached the final unsolved part, and he drew a question mark, tracing it repeatedly in an attempt to come out with a solution. Then his phone pinged yet again, and Logan grabbed it immediately. His eyes widened at the text from Hyde.
The man with the key is King, and honey, I made sure that you knew I look damn good in a crown.
In that one moment, everything began to fall into place. The missing pieces of the puzzle were being filled and Logan was increasingly confident that he had solved this whole case now. Logan began to ask questions to himself; who do we trust even though we don’t really know them? Who do we go to when we get lost, especially at an attraction? Who can open a locked door in one of the most secure buildings in London without anyone batting an eyelid?He closed the text and rang Patton. He fiddled with his free hand as he impatiently waited for the phone to be answered. Luckily for him, Patton was very prompt when it came to answering phone calls.
“Logan! What a surprise. Everything o-”
“Patton. Get to the Tower, grab Virgil as well. Oh, and call DI Gomez, ask him to bring an extra police car over as well.”
“Sure… but why? What’s going on?”
“We have an accomplice to arrest Sergeant… and the Tower of London closes in an hour.” Logan explained and he heard Patton gasp in realisation.
“We’ll be there in 15.”
Logan hung up the phone, immediately ran out of the front door and down the stairs onto the street. He signaled out for a taxi and was relieved when the first one stopped for him. He clambered in rather inelegantly and asked to go to the Tower, saying he would pay double if he went as fast as legally possible.The drive was a comfortably silent one, luckily for Logan, the driver was too focused on driving as quickly as he could to make the usual small talk he had to muddle his way through. He replayed everything in his mind a few more times, just to make sure he wouldn’t be caught off guard when they went to confront the accomplice. He was also hoping this would give Hyde a surprise of his own, solving the case with one day left to spare. As the taxi pulled up and Logan hurriedly handed over far too much cash, he got out of the back and sighed in relief as he saw Patton park up in his marked police car. He just hoped that it wouldn’t give the accomplice too much of a spook. He walked over to it as they got out, and saw a look of anticipation on Patton’s face, followed by a look of confusion on Virgil’s face.“Umm… Logan? As much as I appreciate being included here, why am I here? I have quite literally no sway or use.” Virgil asked apprehensively, which was followed by a shrug from Logan.“You’re always useful. You’re an incredibly fast runner for a start, if this accomplice does decide to run, you’re the one with the best chance of apprehending him.” Even though it was said as a matter of fact, Virgil’s breath still hitched at the first three words, but he ignored at and smiled at Patton who was nodding in agreement. The three of them then walked into the Tower, Patton and Virgil stayed behind Logan so they missed the smirk on his face.The game was on.Logan knew exactly where he needed to go, he ignored all the artefacts and the history that was usually entice him to linger, there was something far more important to do. As they walked through the room that originally contained the Crown and Logan examined it one more time. He looked at the cameras, the corners, the small fragments of glass. He was right, he knew he was. They paced over to the corner room marked ‘Security. Authorised Personnel Only.’“Patton? We’re authorised personnel, right? Given we’re police and all.” Logan spoke in a loud, sarcastic tone. He was going into the room regardless, but he thought he would make a show of it slightly. Patton nodded and gave an equally sarcastic thumbs up while Virgil shuffled awkwardly behind them, unsure what he should do. Logan then opened up the door causing it to crash into the wall on the other side.A man in a traditional security guard uniform jumped out of his chair and turned away from the security camera screens, dropping his coffee in the process. It was clear that he hadn’t actually been watching the cameras, otherwise he would have made some kind of move… surely.“Barry Goldman. Head of Security. Just the man we’ve been looking for. Detective Logan Phoenix, Sergeant Patton Brigh, Doctor Virgil Salvare.” Logan watched as the man slumped down in his chair, and it definitely confirmed that this was the man they were after. He nodded at Virgil who stood in front of the door to ensure the guard couldn’t escape. Barry began to sweat and fidget with his hands almost uncontrollably.“I-I-I don’t know what y-you mean.” Barry stammered out, he couldn’t even try to stay calm, the nerves were overwhelming, and Logan glanced over at Patton. This wasn’t going to take very long to get a confession. Logan tutted and rolled his eyes, and Patton stepped closer to increase the level on intimidation. The guard started to look around frantically, this room was already quite small, but it must have felt like the dark grey walls were closing in on him now.“Oh please. Don’t give me that. You let Janus Hye escape from here with the most valuable piece of British History. You disabled the security cameras, and you let him out of the Tower unlocking the doors with your security pass.” His voice began to raise with every statement, Logan stepped closer and leant over Barry, watching as the guard sank even lower in his chair.“So unless you want to be charged with treason as well as theft. I suggest that you just stop stalling and admit it.” Logan’s voice turned menacing, and Barry’s grip on the chair tightened until his knuckles were pure white, then the tears began to fall causing Logan to be thrown off guard. He stepped back as he looked at Patton and Virgil, unsure what he’s supposed to do in this scenario.“Okay! Okay! I admit it. I did everything he asked… but you, you don’t understand… I d-didn’t have a choice!” Barry wailed and sobbed as he confessed, making it difficult to actually hear the words. However, as soon as he finished talking and began to calm down, Patton stepped out of the room to make a call to DI Gomez who was still on the way with another patrol. Logan crouched down to Barry’s level and remembered how Patton always told him to speak in a softer voice whenever a victim or suspect is in distress.“What did he have on you?” Logan asked, softly but with a tone that made it clear that the question had to be answered. Barry wiped his face and took some deep breaths before finally answering.“That guy. Janus Hyde. He somehow knew that I had been stealing profits from the Tower. He threatened to expose me, to shop me to the police… but if I helped, he promised that he would get rid of all of the evidence that he had. He also said that he would make sure that no one knew that I was involved in this.” Logan thought the urge to roll his eyes as he looked at Virgil, both of them thinking the exact same thing. You should never trust a criminal.As Patton returned with DI Gomez and two other officers, Logan knew it was time to leave. He thanked Patton and Virgil who got back in the car to go to the station, then gave a nod to the DI before taking his leave so they could arrest the guard. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened up the one-sided text conversation with Hyde. He hovered once again over the reply button, whether he should tell him personally or keep the upper hand and let the news tell Hyde for him. Logan put the phone back in his pocket, he promised Roman that he wouldn’t get too involved. The walk home would do him good, and he was going to reward himself with some chips from the shop close to the apartment.Meanwhile, Janus had set up a rare movie night with everyone in the Syndicate. It was nice to see the boys happy and relaxed for a change, especially Remus. He found a bunch of old black and white silent films, and they surprisingly went down a treat. Even though Janus knew he wasn’t paying attention in any capacity because he was too busy thinking about whether the detective had made any more progress with the case. He was getting bored now, and he wanted to move into the next phase. He snapped out of his thoughts when a hand tapped his shoulder unexpectantly. When he looked over at Remus, he was shown a phone with a news article that made Janus smile.
‘Head of Security at the Tower of London arrested as suspected accomplice to Crown theft.’
The detective had solved the case after all. So that meant only one thing starting from tomorrow.The game was well and truly on.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
As the third day moved from morning into the afternoon, Janus knew that he had made a good choice to let everything stew for a while before making his inevitable contact with the Detective. He sat in his office once again and had news channels playing constantly, watching as the press made up their own little stories while interpreting the facts incorrectly. He monitored the internet articles closely, and he printed off all of the ones that he came across, especially the ones that focused on the Detective. As he pinned more news articles to the cork board opposite the desk, it made him chuckle that they still hadn’t named him as the one behind the robbery, not even an implication… which meant the police had forced a blackout on certain pieces of information. They were more concerned about getting that precious crown back. He hadn’t decided yet, maybe he would return it into the Detective’s capable hands as a reward for solving the case.In that moment, Janus was hit with an idea. He didn’t want this little cat-and-mouse game to end, it had been far too interesting, and it been the most exciting thing to happen to him for months. What if he could come up with more puzzles to keep the Detective playing? It would mean that he would have to part with more of his treasures as a result, but all of those artefacts that they had stolen over the years were just gathering dust in the trophy room. He couldn’t even remember the last time they had actually put anything in there… apart from the crown and the scepter of course. Janus grabbed some paper and a pen as he began to think of some ideas for these puzzles. They had to be difficult, more than that if he was going to even get the Detective’s attention. There was an ongoing case of his that would do very nicely.However, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as he looked at all of the other paperwork on the desk. The boys had been bringing him different deals that he could easily had made but he had rejected them, and he had forgotten a deadline for a blackmailing scheme over these three days that he had been working on for months. He had never got so consumed by a game before, Janus always kept his distance so he could never be compromised. There was something about this though; playing against someone of his wit, his level… it was too captivating, and he couldn’t give it up.There was a knock at the door, and he didn’t even get to respond before it opened to show an angry but concerned Remus. The look in his eyes showed that he had something to say but was nervous to actually say it. There was an uncomfortable silence before Janus finally spoke in an attempt to shatter the ice that had suddenly formed around them.“Do come in, why don’t you?” Janus remarked with sarcasm, enough to get a small smile out of Remus. For someone who was never afraid to speak his mind, this was uncharacteristically weird. He took a deep breath and Janus listened intently.“Boss. I’ve heard some of the boys talking. They think you’re getting too involved. They’re concerned that if you keep playing around with that Detective, he’s gonna find us and shop us to the cops! I don’t wanna get fucking arrested, Boss. None of us do!” Janus looked over in shock. In all the years he has no Remus, he has never seen or heard desperation, and it was a shock to the system. Remus was the tough one after all, the brawn to Janus’ brains.Janus walked over and placed a hand on Remus’ shoulder. Time to do what he did best, talk.“Hey, hey. That’s not going to happen okay? This whole game, the only people that will come out winning will be us. I’ve been watching the Detective for a long time now… I want to take him down several pegs, he needs to get off the pedestal the police force have put him on as their golden boy. If we keep playing him, make him feel like he’s winning… the victory at the end will be far sweeter. Trust me, I have everything worked out.” Remus looked up at him skeptically and Janus just smiled in response.“Now, I’ve got a meeting to arrange. Do me a favour? Put that crown and scepter in a box… it’s about time we give it back… just so the news has something else to talk about because it’s irritating me… and tell the boys that we’re safe.” Remus nodded and turned to leave the room. He glanced at Janus once more with concern, Remus was sure that Janus was right, but he couldn’t just ignore that doubt dancing away in his mind. There was nothing he could do now; he would just have to make sure that the doubting thoughts didn’t interfere with his work. After Remus closed the door behind him, Janus breathed a sigh of relief before taking his phone out of his pocket and text the Detective yet again. It didn’t matter if there was no reply to it this time, he was getting something better. As he grabbed his capelet from the back of his chair before getting ready to leave, he smiled as the excitement kicked in.They were going to meet face to face, in one hour.Logan spent the third day in the lab with Virgil, he found that being the lab was the best place for him to concentrate on paperwork. That was the only downside when it came to closing a case, all of the reports he had to write. He glanced at his phone as the time lit up, how was it already 5:55pm? It felt like he had only been there for five minutes, not five hours. It was calm here though, the sterile white walls and clean smell made it a much more productive work environment with no distractions. Virgil was busy diligently marking up the remaining evidence and not making any small talk, something that Logan greatly appreciated. Virgil understood that small talk was not a strong suit, it was why he valued him as a colleague, as a friend.Virgil kept looking at Logan whenever he was looking down at the paperwork. He always looked so peaceful when he was concentrating, it was hard not to stare. Virgil kept taking deep breaths, building up the courage to do something he was meaning to do for months now. Today was the day that he was going to ask if he wanted to go for coffee. As he catalogued the final bag of evidence he rationalised everything one more time in his mind. ‘Remember Vee, don’t make a big deal out of it… If he says yes, then great. If he says no, pretend that it’s totally cool and brush it off like it was nothing… Just hurry up and do it!’He put the final evidence bag away before heading over the Logan, he hated disturbing him, but if not now. When would he ask?“Logan?” He asked timidly, almost too quietly. Logan did thankfully hear him though and he smiled politely.“Yes, Virgil? Is there something you need? I’m nearly done with these. You can head home if it’s the end of your shift.” Virgil smiled at how concerned he was, it was sweet. He shook his head as he felt the nerves consume him once again.“No, no. It’s my break actually. I was wondering if, maybe, you’d like to t-take a break and go get…” Logan’s phone notification rang loudly, the noise reverberated around every wall. Part of Virgil was disappointed, but another part was extremely relieved that he probably wouldn’t need to finish his question.Logan immediately snatched his phone from the counter and eagerly read the text waiting for him.
Congratulations on solving my little puzzle, Detective Phoenix. How about you give me some feedback on how I did? Come the address below in an hour. Don’t keep me waiting… I promise I’ll play fair.
Logan practically beamed like Christmas had come early for him. He leapt off his seat, stacked all the finished paperwork in a neat pile before throwing on his coat and scarf. Logan nodded at Virgil before pacing quickly out the door, letting it slam behind him. Virgil waited for a moment before the anxiety became too much. Who sent him that text? Why would he leave so quickly without saying a word? He had a nagging thought that Janus Hyde was somehow involved… but he couldn’t see the text, so it was impossible to know. Then the anxiety kicked up another gear, so many more questions flooded Virgil’s mind. What if it was a trap? What if Logan got hurt? He would never forgive himself if something happened and he could have been there to help. Virgil went to call Patton but remembered that he was questioning the security guard all day then completing paperwork late into the evening.There was no choice. Virgil ran out of the lab and followed Logan onto the street. When he saw him get into a taxi, he raced to his own car parked a little further down the road. He waited until the taxi began to move before setting off behind them at a distance. He gripped the steering wheel tight, watching the taxi diligently, with one thought in his mind.Whatever was going on, he would keep Logan safe, that was a promise.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Logan’s leg bounced with anticipation as the taxi moved far too slowly for his liking. He checked the time on his few every few moments. There was no rush, he could take the precaution of scanning the vicinity to check for any obvious ambushes. He knew that Hyde wasn’t that kind of criminal, but you could never be careful when dealing with the head of an unpredictable Syndicate.The taxi pulled up outside the decommissioned Brass Avenue Community Centre, and the taxi driver raised an eyebrow almost questioning whether this was the right address. Logan silently pulled out the money and handed it to the driver, once again paying far more than the fare. He got out and did his coat up a little tighter, tugging the scarf around his neck as well. He shuddered as he looked at just how neglected the building had become. The walls were crumbling, the brickwork had several holes where bricks had collectively been removed and thrown carelessly at the windows. The shattered remnants of glass crunched under Logan’s shoes, and he couldn’t help but stare at how the jagged remaining glass in the window panels made it seem almost more threatening. He tutted at the crude graffiti all over the walls, he wished people were more imaginative with how they vandalised these places.Logan paused for a moment, taking in the sounds around him. It was eerily silent. The occasional tree rustle, the traffic from the main road and the sound of chatter from surrounding houses. There were no footsteps and there were no sounds of controlled breathing, he deduced that he was safe… outside at least. He took a deep breath before placing his hand on the battered wooden door and stepping inside, just missing the car that pulled up without its lights on behind him and it parked round the side of the building trying to avoid suspicion.The building was eerily quiet, Logan was used to there being so much life and vibrancy here. Despite his closed off demeanor, he used to like coming here with Patton and DI Gomez to do workshops for the children, he was a storyteller at heart although it would have to be seen to be believed. He walked cautiously down the corridor, scanning every room for the possibility of an ambush but all he could hear was the sound of two muffled voices coming from the room straight ahead. Logan stopped and closed his eyes focusing on the sound, he needed to be sure of what he was walking into.
“I still don’t like this boss.”
“There’s nothing to this, Remus! We talk to the Detective, that’s all.”
“What if he’s not on his own?! What if we’re surrounded, we’re fucking sitting ducks!”
“No, the Detective is alone. Stop doubting me, buddy… Concern is not a good look on you.”
That was enough to reassure Logan that this wasn’t any form of attack. He was confused as to why Hyde had set up this civilized discussion, but he couldn’t control the anticipation any longer. He needed to find out what all of this was about. Was he probably going to regret getting involved just like Roman was concerned about? Probably. The adrenaline rush was too great, he opened the final door and cautiously walked in the room.Virgil tried to control his heartrate as he waited for Logan to go inside the building. This didn’t feel good, there were no other cars around, but he had no idea who was waiting for Logan inside. Virgil felt his breathing become increasingly more rapid, there was no chance of backup. He wouldn’t be able to protect him is something happened… but he needed to brave. Virgil counted to four, then seven, then eight before creeping his way into the building. He walked as slowly as possible to not draw attention to himself, and when he saw Logan enter the final room, he moved closer and hid in the shadows. Despite how guilty he felt about spying in Logan, his safety was paramount to Virgil. It always had been.Logan let the door close behind him with a thud that caused the remaining wall structures to tremor. His eyes adjusted to the darkened room and only a sliver of neon green, and bright yellow gloves were visible. He pulled his coat collar up and stepped into the light, the only thing between him and Hyde was a table and a large box.“I knew you wouldn’t keep me waiting, Detective.” Logan turned his head towards the voice, the smirk dancing through the tones of the voice. It must be Hyde talking. He did expect his voice to sound like that, but there was still an air of mystery to it. He needed to keep his composure though, despite his reluctant admiration for Hyde, he couldn’t give in to any tricks Hyde might send his way. He looked around the room appearing to be disinterested.“This seems like an odd choice of meeting place, Hyde.” He brushed the cuff of his coat against the table and grimaced in disgust when his black coat turned grey with dust. He wiped the dust away as he saw Hyde’s silhouette shrug nonchalantly, Hyde’s hands laced together as he leaned forward ever so slightly.“I couldn’t have you working out where I’m really based could I? You’re clever, Detective… but I have to keep you at an arm’s length.” The sincerity of the statement caught Logan off guard. He knew he was clever, everyone told him that and he wasn’t shy to agree with them. To hear it from someone at the same intelligence level caused his heartrate to elevate ever so slightly. He tilted his head to the side and tried to identify some of his other features, but because of where Remus was standing, he was just obscured even more. The darkness did make his eyes visible though, and Logan couldn’t help but be captivated by them. He had never seen many instances of heterochromia, but Hyde’s one brown eye, and one blue eye with a golden coloured ring in the middle was stunning to look at.“Is that why you won’t show your face?” Logan asked with a genuine amount of curiosity, causing Hyde to chuckle in response, almost as it that was a question he was waiting for.“Come now, Detective. If you see my face, you’ll use that powerful eidetic memory of yours to remember it and track me down.” Janus beamed as he spoke, and Logan began to realise just how much Hyde had dug up on him, how much information he knew. This must be how he gets the advantage on anyone he crosses, all those people he blackmailed in the past. Logan was at a huge disadvantage, and it was worrying. He shook the concern away and stood firm.“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, especially not with me. Considering how meticulous you have been with your research and that heist, I thought you would have realised that.” There was a silence between them, a steady but uncomfortable silence before Hyde began to chuckle softly before getting louder. Logan stood still and raised an eyebrow waiting for Hyde to calm down. Hyde wiped his eyes with his gloves before addressing Logan once more.“Apologies, it’s just a force of habit, Detective. Flattery has always gotten me everywhere with everyone else. Remus here can tell you that.” Hyde pointed at Remus who then growled in response, a non-verbal threat to not get him involved. It was blatantly ignored by Hyde who had leant forward even more, almost being exposed by one of the pools of light from a hole in the roof. Logan could hear the tone change in Hyde’s voice, there was almost a… playfulness to it. Logan couldn’t quite decipher what was happening, it was clear that he was starting to get distracted.“I’m not everyone else.” Logan stated adamantly. They both knew that it was a banal statement. However, Logan needed to remind Hyde just who he was standing up against. Hyde didn’t even flinch before giving his response.“Oh believe me, Detective. I am well aware.” The arrogance in Hyde’s voice became overwhelming and Logan began to feel irritated. If Hyde was only going to play games, why would he bother with meeting? There must be something more to this, he was growing tired of playing along. In this moment, he just couldn’t get rid of the feeling that he was being watched, not by Remus, by someone else.Virgil couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He never expected Janus Hyde would make direct contact and meet someone in the police. He didn’t know much about the crime underworld, but surely being talking to a police detective wasn’t exactly a good idea… unless… no, Logan wouldn’t ever get involved with Janus. Would he? He couldn’t ignore that niggling doubt, considering that Logan hadn’t walked away yet and seemed to almost be enjoying the conversation. He had to keep quiet for that little bit longer and hoped that Logan wouldn’t do anything he would later regret. Virgil snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Logan’s voice ring out and reverberate around the remaining walls of the building.“What is this all about?” Logan enquired, his tone changing to impatient and commanding. If Hyde had something to offer him, it had to be something good. Janus clasped his hands together, bringing them under his chin as he thought carefully about his proposal.“I want to offer you the chance to show how clever you are. All these little police cases are far too inferior for someone of your intellect…” Logan instinctively tensed up, and Janus sensed it immediately, so he knew that he would have to backtrack on his statement.“Nothing rash, come on my dear Detective Phoenix. You should know me better than that. I don’t harm anyone… not physically anyway. Consider it a series of puzzles, maybe cold cases if I can get my hands on any.” Janus spoke softer to make the sincerity more prominent. Logan had to admit, it would be interesting to see what Hyde had to offer. He shouldn’t be interested, but the police work wouldn’t be coming for a while, and he needed to be occupied… he didn’t want a repeat of three years ago.“If I am to accept. What’s in it for me?” Logan could feel Hyde beaming as he snickered in the darkness. He clapped his hands twice before Logan could see something glimmering in between Remus and Hyde.Janus smirked and slowly brought the dazzling crown into the light; it was completely encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds. He kept it. Logan was surprised that it hadn’t been sold to the highest bidder in the criminal underworld… there must be more to this game than Hyde was letting on. He stepped forward towards the crown, but it was taken away while Janus tutted almost playfully at him. He wagged his finger at Logan with gloved hand.“Now, now Detective. I need something in return. Tell me exactly how I pulled off the heist, and you’ll get this little trinket back… plus a little extra something in the box.” Logan sighed in realisation. That was what this was about. Hyde wanted Logan to acknowledge just how clever he had been, just how clever he was. Someone who could match Logan at exactly every turn, and at least for now had the upper hand. Logan would normally not stoop to something so low but getting the crown back would be highly satisfying. So, if Hyde wanted to play, Logan was going to play.“You planned it a day in advanced. You sent Remus into the Tower to find all of the blind spots, and he deposited the bag in the corner of the room with all the things you would need. You had obviously been blackmailing Barry Goldman for a while since he was so compliant. When you got in here, you text Goldman ensuring that he would be ready to shut down the security measures when you needed them. You incapacitated the security guard with a quick spray of Tetradodetous Tritide and then you wrote an invitation to me. The chewing gum and the diamond was a nice touch, you knew that was the only way you could break the glass. Then finally, you waved at the security camera given your cue to Goldman who then shut off the cameras, and then opened the door for you to escape.” Janus listened patiently and gave noises of affirmation as Logan spoke. He raised his hands and began to slow clap to which Logan raised an eyebrow in response once again.“Oh you are good, Detective. I’m looking forward to seeing how this game plays out. May the best man win.” Logan could make out a smirk on Hyde’s face, and he was still entranced by his eyes. The crown emerged from the darkness once more, the jewels gleaming in the light. Hyde held it in a loose grip, a silent promise that Logan could take it this time. Logan slowly walked forward and held his hand out towards the crown.As Logan clasped the delicate velvet at the bottom of the crown, he felt the fingertips of Hyde’s glove connect with his. He knew he needed to just take the crown and leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. Janus couldn’t pull himself away from Logan either, he was mesmerized by the Detective. After a minute of steady silence, Janus allowed the crown to be taken from his hands, missing that miniscule amount of contact already. As the crown sat firmly in Logan’s hand, a faint gasp rang out from behind them.All three of them turned their heads, Hyde and Remus both sat bolt upright before immediately launching out of the room. Logan could only get a glimpse of his black capelet laced with gold as they disappeared into the night. He was curious as to what that noise was, but he had something much more important in front of him first. Logan walked back to the box on the table and tentatively opened it. He sighed in relief as only the scepter sat at the bottom of it along with a neatly folded piece of paper. Logan carefully placed the crown inside the box and began to read the message on the paper.
‘My Dear Detective Phoenix.
I will be in touch soon with the first case in our game. As you can see, I have played fair by returning these little trinkets since you solved the heist. If you continue to solve cases and puzzles, I will return more artefacts that I have stolen over the span of my career.
I’m looking forward to this Battle of Wits, my Detective.
J.H’
Logan smirked; he was definitely looking forward to seeing what Hyde was going to create for him. He understood what it took to make something truly interesting. Hyde was something else. He took out his phone and text Patton notifying him that the crown and scepter were in his possession, then told him to come and collect them from his apartment whenever was convenient. He was so consumed with everything that had just happened, he failed to hear soft footsteps exit the building.Virgil crept out of the community center and then ran out to his car. He clutched the steering wheel and pressed his head against it. He couldn’t believe that Logan was really going to go through with this, it seemed so dangerous. However, it could also work to their advantage, so Virgil began to count in his head and waited for his breathing to calm down. He had to make sure Logan never knew that Virgil was spying on him, he already felt guilty enough about that violation of trust, but he needed to keep Logan safe.Logan and Janus Hyde. Virgil had to admit that they were definitely something.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Patton knew that his role as Police Liaison wasn’t supposed to a babysitter, but after a week of no cases, he sure as heck felt like one. It was his sixth day of heading to Logan’s apartment with a series of riddles and puzzle books in an attempt to keep him busy. As he opened the door with the spare key Logan had given him a few months ago and saw the absolute chaos in front of him, he sighed in defeat. This was not going to be a good day. He walked up the stairs heavily and pushed the off-the-latch apartment door open, unsurprised at the sight that greeted him.Logan was pacing around continuously. He constantly ruffled his hair every time he completed another loop of the room. He sat down in a chair before his leg started bouncing, so he moved to the sofa and collapsed onto it in a dramatic heap. Patton leant against the doorway and enjoyed the peace for a brief moment, knowing it wouldn’t be for long. He sighed at all of the paper that had been tossed around the room, as well as the dirty dishes covering the kitchen surfaces. Patton hated when Logan was bored… because he made sure it was everyone’s problem.Patton tossed the puzzle books onto the floor in front of the sofa and continued to look around at how badly Logan had decimated his apartment. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice the cushion being thrown at him until it hit him in the head. After the shock wore off, Patton slowly turned and looked at Logan with an eyebrow raised, only to be greeted back with a hooded stare.“I need a case, Brigh.” Logan spoke deliberately, in a way that almost intimidated Patton. Thankfully he knew Logan well enough to know that he wasn’t being completely serious.“All I can offer you are these puzzle books. I can’t help that there isn’t a nice murder to cheer you up.” Patton spoke with an overly sweet tone, dripping with a passive aggressive undertone. Logan stood up once again and began to pace once more. He glanced at the books on the table before he screamed in frustration.“Brigh. Phone DI Gomez NOW. Tell him I’ll take any case… even ones under a seven.” Patton stared up in surprise. Logan never took on cases he didn’t find interesting anymore. Patton couldn’t do that to the officers in charge, when he found crimes too easy, Logan could be brutal with his words. Patton snickered as he thought back to the time Logan poked investigating officers in the forehead and told them to ‘use their funny little brains for a change.’ He remained silent, not giving into Logan’s demand. Logan then scowled before an idea came to his mind.“It’s this or Cluedo.” Logan stated as a matter of fact. Patton’s eyes widened as he had flashback to the last time that game was brought out at a Christmas party.“Nope! We are never playing that again!” Patton retorted, he started to scan through the riddle and puzzle books, bookmarking any that seemed remotely interesting, or at least would keep Logan entertained for more than two minutes. Logan looked at Patton in confusion.“What? Why not?” His tone was genuine, as if he had forgotten what happened. Patton sighed trying to keep a level head.“Because it isn’t actually possible for the victim to have done it, Logan. That’s why!” Patton’s voice rose as he spoke, almost as if he was talking to a child. So Logan responded in kind by throwing his arms to the side in frustration.“It was the only possible solution!” Logan sounded almost offended by the statement, as if it was obvious that he could play the board game how he wanted to without any consideration for how it works. There weren’t many things that frustrated Patton, but this was one of them.“It’s not in the rules!” Patton shouted, collapsing back into the chair in defeat.“Well then the RULES are WRONG!” Logan bellowed back before copying the action. Patton took revenge for the cushion Logan threw by throwing a pack of ‘Sherlock Holmes Inspired Riddles’ at Logan along with a notebook and a pen. Logan looked up and smirked causing Patton to smirk back, he then took the notepad and read through the riddles just to give Patton a break. They sat in a peaceful, comfortable silence apart from the occasional tut and comment from Logan about how easy the puzzles were causing Patton to playfully roll his eyes while looking at his phone.Out of nowhere, Logan’s phone pinged loudly. The notification tone bouncing off the walls and Logan scrambled for the device, he couldn’t stop himself from beaming when he read that a text had come through from Hyde. He didn’t even notice Patton looking at him curiously, it would be best to be this a secret for now, he didn’t want Patton to worry for no reason.
Good afternoon, dear Detective Phoenix. Someone should be coming over with a present very shortly. Enjoy! You have two days.
“Gomez must have heard your plea huh?” Patton asked genuinely, and Logan just nodded in response before looking out of the window to see an all too familiar purple car pull up outside. He smirked before turning back round to Patton, his mood suddenly turning from irritated to like a child in a sweet shop.“Indeed he has.” Logan stated with a large grin on his face. Patton chuckled, completely unaware of the true sender of the text. Logan did feel a pang of guilt, he hated lying to Patton, but it was better if only he knew about this. At least, he was sure that he was the only person that knew. They both waited at the door as they heard a familiar set of timid but loud footsteps come towards them. Logan flung open the door and ushered Virgil in quickly.“Good morning, Virgil! Isn’t it just a splendid day?” Logan exclaimed. Virgil turned to look between him and Patton, extremely confused by Logan’s chipper tone, especially after hearing how he had been acting for the rest of the week. Patton shrugged making Virgil even more confused.“Urmm… Hi. This came to the station for you and the DI told me to come give it straight to you. I did check it just to make sure, it’s not booby trapped.” Virgil remarked and he giggled a little causing Logan to take the package with a little more apprehension. ‘What a reassuring remark.’ Logan thought to himself. He took a deep breath and slowly broke the package open, careful to keep it still… Just in case. He sighed heavily when all that fell into his hands were a series of photographs, he turned away and made sure neither Patton nor Virgil could see what he was looking at. As Logan looked closer, his brow furrowed, this didn’t feel right.An abandoned sports car, which must be somewhere near the River Thames because you could see Tower Bridge very faintly in the background. As Logan moved to the next photo, he shuddered as he stared at the inside of the car… blood. Blood splattered all over the seats, a ludicrous amount of it. Hyde promised… he promised that no-one would be hurt. Did he lie all this time, just a ruse to lure him into a twisted little game? He moved on from that photograph and started at the next one, a man dressed in a business suit, this was a profile picture of some description. Where had he seen this man before? He recognised him, there was no doubt about that. He scoured his memory until he remembered a magazine he glanced at about businesses in London, this man was definitely on the cover… what was his name?‘Sebastian Jameson.’ That was it! Logan felt a sense of disbelief. Hyde really wouldn’t kill someone just to make Logan play a game… that wasn’t how all of this was supposed to work. If he really did something to this man, Logan couldn’t be a part of it. He snapped out of his memory bank and realised that the next object wasn’t a photograph. It was a letter, dignified cursive writing filled the paper. Logan hoped there was a good explanation.
‘My Dear, Detective Phoenix,
I know what you are thinking right now. I can assure you that no harm has actually come to Mr. Jameson, I vowed that I would never go against my principles. Your puzzle is to work out exactly what has happened to him. He is perfectly safe, Detective.
You have twelve hours.
Are you up to the challenge, Detective?
J.H’
Logan smirked as a wave of relief washed over him. Hyde had kept his word after all, and he couldn’t help but feel like he almost trusted Hyde. He did also feel confused, was Hyde expecting him to solve this purely from photographs? That wasn’t exactly fair because he could view all the immaculate details surrounding the scene. Roman’s words about not getting too involved rushed back into his mind at alarming speed, but it’s not as if anyone knew that Hyde was involved here. It was just between them after all; he would tell Virgil, Patton and Roman eventually… just not yet.A phone rang out in the silence and Patton rushed out of the room to take it. Logan looked up and saw Virgil looking at him with a concerned smile on his face. He was used to Virgil looking concerned, he was just that much of a caring person, he always wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Virgil always wanted to solve everyone’s problems, it’s what made him a good friend to have on Logan’s side.“What are the photographs, Logan? Is everything okay?” Virgil asked, trying to keep his voice calm, and controlled showing no form of concern. Logan hastily put the photographs back into the package and slotted it away in a drawer before turning back to Virgil.“Everything’s okay. Apologies, I just asked DI Gomez to print out some photos of an old case for me. Nothing to be worried about… I like your shirt… Suits you.” Logan commented, trying to ensure that Virgil believed his lie. Virgil smiled and looked away after the compliment. They fell into a slightly awkward silence as Patton walked back into the room, slightly paler than before.“That… that was DI Gomez. An abandoned car has been found. It- it’s not pretty.” Patton stammered as he talked, and Logan had to hide the smirk of excitement that threatened to appear on his face. Hyde was providing an actual scene to work with, how generous. He really is pulling out all of the stops to make this game intriguing enough so Logan will play. Logan looked at Patton who nodded to show that he was okay before the three of them made their way out of the apartment. Virgil immediately offered to drive because Patton was still slightly shaken. It was time to step up to the challenge.They arrived at the crime scene greeted by the all too familiar sight of bright flashing lights and police tape desperately trying to mask everything around them from any prying eyes. All three of them walked towards Watts and Robinson who were taking pictures of the scene. They both leapt when Logan walked towards them like two rabbits in the headlights before putting everything down and walking away claiming they had to look at another part of the scene. Patton looked at Logan curiously who just shrugged in response.Virgil immediately got to work, he took the camera that Watts left behind and took photographs of every part of the scene. Logan had always admired just how diligent Virgil was when it came to documenting evidence, there was never any stone unturned. It also helped Logan document all of the scenes in his mind, it was integral to his process. After Virgil took all of the photographs that he could, he stepped aside and allowed Logan to look inside the car while Patton was making notes of all the observations that had been made so far. Something didn’t seem right about this entire scene to Logan. He already had a head start because he knew that Hyde hadn’t harmed Jameson… could he rule out that someone else in the Syndicate did it instead? He didn’t trust Hyde that completely, it was clear that he doesn’t harm people, but someone else could if they were ordered to. He examined the blood, that was the most peculiar part of the scene so far, it seemed too accurate, too precise. It was made to look like some brutal attack, but it couldn’t have been.“Virgil? How much blood would you say was on these seats?” Logan asked, hoping that his assumption was going to turn out to be right. Virgil stopped going through the photos and walked back over to the car. He examined it closely before he looked confused as well.“I’d say… about a pint?” Virgil said hesitantly, feeling both confident but unsure of his answer. Logan nodded his head as he examined it again.“Not about a pint… It’s exactly a pint. This blood was frozen, kept in storage and then brought back out later when it was needed.” He looked over Patton who began to write down everything Logan was saying frantically. As Logan walked around to the passenger side of the car, he noticed a miniscule piece of yellow paper sticking out of the glove compartment. He removed it carefully and read the business card.
‘Janus Cars Rentals’
Logan chuckled softly, that was a little on the nose by Hyde, but he definitely had a flare for the dramatics. Hyde had to put a little stamp on this scene that would make sense to Logan and only him. This car company must have something to do with Sebastian Jameson, but Logan couldn’t quite put the pieces together. He glanced at his phone, there were nine hours left for him to solve the case. So he needed to keep going, at least he knew for certain that man was definitely alive.“Brigh. I need you and your police badge. I found this in the glove compartment. We’re going to Janus Cars Headquarters… I’m sure Robinson would be happy to drive and wait in the car. We’ll see you later, Virgil. Keep up the good work.” Virgil waved as he continued his examination of the scene. Logan held the business card out to Patton who took it when he walked over and put his notebook away. Robinson froze when Logan said his name before sighing and reluctantly walking to his patrol car. Logan smirked at got into the back while waiting for Patton to explain the situation to DI Gomez. As soon as Patton clambered into the back of the car, Robinson immediately started up the ignition and drove unreasonably fast across London in complete and utter silence.The car pulled up to an aggressive stop outside of the tall, glass building. A large, golden JC stood prominently above the glass doors. Robinson sat quietly as Patton and Logan got out the back. Patton made sure his warrant card was out ready, as they made their way to the reception desk. Logan stood by the doors and let Patton do his work. If anyone could persuade their way into a room, it was Patton. He was so friendly and likeable; it was hard for anyone to say no to him. He thanked the young girl behind the reception desk, and he sauntered back over to Logan.“We have a meeting in 5 minutes.” Patton declared with a large smirk on his face. Logan rolled his eyes as they went to sit down on the black leather sofa to the right of the doors.“Oh c’mon… You’ve got your brains, and your… cheekbones. I’ve got my friendliness. Let me have that!” Patton whined in a playful manner while Logan chuckled in response. They made small talk as they waited until the elevator pinged open, and a very arrogant man walked out. Logan knew immediately that this was the person they were looking for.‘Brand new haircut. Diamond cufflinks. Freshly pressed suit. Rolex Watch. Golden tie pin.’ Logan made a mental note of all the important physical aspects as the man apprehensively walked towards them. He tugged at the collar of his shirt causing Patton and Logan to look at one another. This man was obviously nervous about something. They both took out their warrant cards and stood up.“Gentleman. Mason Drew. CEO of Janus Cars. I am curious as to the nature of your visit; I can assure you that we’re well up to date on our taxes and everything.” Mason laughed in an exaggerated manner, trying to divert attention from how much he was sweating and how determined he was to get rid of the two of them. Logan decided he was going to use that to his advantage.“Mr. Drew. I’m Detective Logan Phoenix and this is Sergeant Patton Brigh. We need to talk to you in connection to Sebastian Jameson… I’m sure that name must ring a bell to you.” Logan spoke in a louder voice, ensuring that other people in the vicinity could hear the conversation if Mason refused to co-operate. Mason looked around frantically before ushering the two of them through a series of doors into his office.“Who is Sebastian Jameson? And why did we find a car rented from you abandoned by the River Thames with his blood all over the seats?” Patton asked firmly, making it clear that he had to answer the questions. Mason shrugged, trying to fob them off.“We have many clients here, it’s hard to keep a track on every single one that comes in desperately in need of a posh car.” Mason was still talking, but Logan had stopped listening. He had noticed some more crucial details about Mr Drew that he needed to mentally take note of.‘Tan lines around his neck and wrists. Watch is one hour ahead, hasn’t set it back yet. So he’s been out of the country. Need to find the location.’ Logan immediately interrupted Mason and Patton, something he normally didn’t do but he needed to solve this sooner rather than later.“Do you have any change for the cigarette machine?” He asked and pulled a crisp ten pound note out of his pocket before holding it towards Mason. Mason looked towards him confused and Patton tried his best to not look mortified and Logan’s question.“I beg your pardon?” Mason asked, caught completely off guard by Logan’s question.“Oh, I saw the machine on the way up to your office, and I haven’t got any coins… I’m gasping.” Logan lied through his teeth, still holding the note towards Mason.Thankfully, he got what he wanted though as Mason pulled out his wallet to check for coins. Logan scanned the contents and notice it was full to the brim with Swiss Franc banknotes. All the pieces suddenly fell together like a well-crafted jigsaw puzzle. He took out a small notepad he keeps in his coat pocket and scribbled a note furiously which he finished writing when Mason put his wallet away, apologising. Logan turned and gave the note to Patton whose eyes widened when he read it.
‘Sebastian Jameson is definitely alive! He has escaped the country and has travelled to Switzerland. Go outside and call the DI, this case is closed. We don’t need to investigate this any further.’
Patton nodded and fled the office quickly causing Mason to become nervous and fidgety once again. Logan made sure Patton was definitely gone before leaning over the desk ensuring that his posture was intimidating. Mason shrank back instinctively, desperately trying not to be cornered.“What did Janus Hyde have on Jameson? And why did you help him flee the country?” Logan asked in a hushed voice, making sure that Mason understood that he knew exactly who was really behind all of this. Mason gasped as Logan mentioned Hyde’s name, he looked at his hands almost as if he was debating talking. It must mean that Mason and Sebastian were close. He sighed before finally looking Logan in the eyes and confessing the truth.“Seb had a side business… He would write business papers and studies for people and charge them overwhelming amounts of money for them. Someone in the Pyrite Syndicate found out and Janus Hyde began to blackmail him, but not to keep him quiet initially… but to join him. When it was clear that Hyde wasn’t going to take no for an answer, Seb got scared and wanted to flee the country. So, I helped him... He was my friend. I couldn’t say no to him.” Logan listened intently and was surprised at the genuine amounts of sadness in Mason’s voice. They must have been good friends, and Logan could emphasise with the need to do anything for his friends. He nodded and walked out of the room without a word.As soon as he left the room, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. There were still six hours on the clock, but he wanted to stop the timer now… almost prove to Hyde that he was committed to this, especially since Hyde kept his word. He called the number Hyde had been texting from and waited for it to be answered, tapping the back of the phone impatiently. Logan heard it pick up and soft breathing on the other end of the line.“Sebastian Jameson was being pressured to join your Syndicate. When he broke under the pressure, he went to his friend who by design I assume worked for Janus Cars. So they came up with a plan together to fake Sebastian’s death, and then Mason set him up in Switzerland with a new identity. Security for a lifetime, that’s why you set up this case for me… and I’ve solved it.”He heard the phone move and muffled voices that he couldn’t make out on the other end before a gruff, irritated voice responded.“Roland Education College. 6pm. Come alone.” The phone hung up immediately and Logan dashed out to the car where Robinson and Patton were waiting rather impatiently for him. He nodded apologetically before getting in the back of the car. He needed to get to the police station to fully explain the conclusion of the case to DI Gomez before heading out again for his next meeting with Hyde.All the way back to Police Headquarters, Logan stared out of the car window, wondering what would happen at this next meeting… and why he felt far too eager for it to be 6pm already.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Janus smirked as he heard the phone ring. Six hours on the clock, Janus was impressed with how dedicated the Detective appeared to be to this game. He would probably never admit it, but the Detective must be having more fun than he could ever let on. He listened silently as the Detective relayed exactly what happened on the phone to Remus and smirked with pride. He was very good with details, one of the many things he was growing to admire about the Detective.“Boss? What now?” Janus looked up to see Remus pressing the phone into his shoulder, the irritation that they were still continuing this little game was evident in his voice.“Tell him to go to the Roland Education College at 6pm, and he needs to come alone.” Janus beamed as Remus relayed the instruction before almost missing his phone being thrown back at him quite aggressively. He looked over at Remus who appeared to be extremely agitated.“Oh no, please. Do speak your mind, Remus.” Janus spoke with his sarcastic tone that always made Remus smile, but it didn’t work this time causing Janus to be concerned. He thought that the doubt in Remus’ mind had gone away, it was clear that he needed to nip this in the bud in order to keep Remus on side. He couldn’t lose him; they had been through far too much together. Remus was the only person that Janus could genuinely call a friend.“Boss. You know how I feel about this… We’re losing business over a risky game to fuel your ego. The boys are getting fucking twitchy.” Janus had to pause for a moment, he couldn’t deny that he had been ignoring the Syndicate and everything they stood for… but the game was too good. There was no way he was going to stop this game, but he needed to appease his friend.“Hey, hey. Listen to me. Look, I do admit that I’ve definitely been neglecting the Syndicate and I’m sorry about that. I’ve got all the ongoing work in my office; I’ll allocate jobs out to the boys to keep them busy. About the Detective, this is just playing around… I thought you’d enjoy watching him dance with me. We have the high ground here, that’s all this is. There’s nothing else.” Janus clasped Remus’ shoulders as he spoke. There wasn’t much of a reaction, just a grunt and a pat on his hand. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something for now.Janus sighed as Remus walked out before heading out of the room himself. He needed to shower and get ready for the next meeting. He wanted to look presentable for the Detective after all.Logan walked out of the meeting with DI Gomez, just to clarify the final details of the case and why despite the lack of arrest, this wasn’t a waste of time. He had filed his report but didn’t mention Hyde anywhere in it, it wasn’t necessary, and it would just ruin the game. The DI accepted Logan’s reasoning and the case was dropped. He sighed in relief, but then jumped as Virgil appeared in front of him.“Oh! Virgil. My God, you scared me.” Logan chuckled as Virgil blushed and help his hands up as an apology. He tilted his head and looked Virgil carefully. He had an apprehensive look in his eyes, as if he was holding back from saying something.“Logan? Is… Is everything okay? You’ve seemed very fixated on this last case, and you’ve kinda been acting suspiciously lately… Is there something going on?” Logan’s eyes widened; he didn’t realise just how observant Virgil could be sometimes. Logan did realise that he had become quite elusive ever since the heist at the Tower, and he definite showed an excessive amount of excitement when it came to this most recent case. He was going to have to regulate his emotions from here on out, or at least he would need to make sure he doesn’t deviate from how he usually acts. He placed his hand on Virgil’s shoulder, causing Virgil’s breath to hitch ever so slightly.“Virgil. I assure you; everything is fine. You know me… The Heist was just a new type of case… and you know how I get after I haven’t had a case after a while, far too excited.” Logan joked, and Virgil nodded with a smile. He missed to disappointment dancing in Virgil’s eyes as he had already turned away after squeezing Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil hoped that Logan might open up a little, maybe he will after a bit more time. His watch pinged notifying him that his shift was over, so he walked away to clear up the lab before heading home.As he finished putting his equipment away, Virgil sighed. Should he tell Logan that he knows about his meeting with Hyde? That could give him someone to talk to. He could finally be useful to Logan… maybe Logan would finally trust him. That’s all Virgil wanted, for Logan to see him as someone he could go to outside of work. Maybe that was a lot to hope for, Logan was brilliant and outstandingly clever… he could never truly value someone like Virgil.‘I can dream though.’ He thought sadly as he turned off the lights and walked out of the lab.Virgil walked morosely to his car about 35 minutes after his shift actually ended. He scrolled through Spotify to his driving playlist, he needed to sing his heart out to feel better. As he unlocked the car and headed out onto the street, he noticed Logan standing on the edge of the pavement looking incredibly stressed. He was almost tearing his hair out, so Virgil pulled over immediately and rolled the window down.“Logan? What’s wrong?” Logan relaxed instantly when he saw it was Virgil that had stopped. He leant against the window trying to calm himself down.“Virgil! Seems luck is on my side. I have to get to the Roland Education college by 6 and I can’t seem to get a taxi… I’m… giving a talk there for an old friend of mine. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you be able to drive me there? I’ll pay you for fuel and everything.” He had never heard Logan sound so stressed, and they had worked some intense cases in the past. Virgil nodded immediately, thanking his lucky stars that he knew where that was, and Logan clambered in frantically. Virgil drove off, forgetting to turn on his music but thankfully Logan did that for him, it helped him concentrate.Logan sat in silence, exchanging the occasional grateful glance to Virgil. He kept his phone unlocked and stared intently at the time, watching the minutes slow tick away. He didn’t want to know what the repercussions would be if he were to be late, he might know Hyde a bit better now through the puzzles and the first meeting. It didn’t mean he could trust him implicitly though; Hyde could become unpredictable, and unpredictable is something that Logan could never tolerate. He jerked back into the present moment when he felt his arm being nudged by Virgil.“Hey. We’re here.” Virgil said gently. Logan thanked Virgil before hurrying out the car and pacing towards the main entrance of the college. Virgil watched Logan, the realisation hit him that Logan must be meeting Hyde once again, all of Logan’s university friends don’t live in London and they definitely don’t teach in a place like this. He had to make sure Logan was safe, and although that overwhelming guilt about spying on him, Virgil took his car into the car park then waited for Logan to enter the building. The doubt hit him as he waited, he hoped that he was just making one big assumption this whole time.Janus sat in the empty classroom, leaning his head on a gloved hand bored out of his mind. The time was creeping ever closer to 6pm and there was no sign of the Detective anywhere. Remus was pacing the room, worried that the Detective wasn’t coming. He was more concerned with the unrealistic notion that they could be being shopped to the police right in this moment, even though Janus knew that nothing like that was going to happen. As the time moved ever closer to 5:55pm, Janus was starting to get worried, it wasn’t like the Detective to be late. At least, that was the assumption he had gathered from their first meeting and how he turned up ten minutes early. He almost started to feel worried until he heard a car door slam and he rushed to look out the window, smiling when it was an all-too familiar person dashing out of the car. He watched as the Detective adjusted his scarf and ruffled his hair before he read Janus’ little note stuck to the door and entered the building without hesitation.Janus could hear tentative footprints reverberate down the corridor as Remus dragged himself back into the shadows. There was a part of him that wanted to walk out into the light, to let the Detective see him but he knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. Remus could be right after all; the Detective may well be biding his time and he might bring more officers to arrest him one of these days. He hoped it would never come to that, but he had to keep the Detective at arm’s length even though he didn’t really want to, more for the Syndicate’s sake rather than his own.The door creaked open carefully and the Detective peered his head around it, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw only the two of them standing in the shadows of the room. Janus began to slow clap as his wristwatch beeped indicating it was 6pm, causing the Detective to look at him apprehensively.“Congratulations, Detective. You took your time.” He remarked sarcastically as the Detective walked into the middle of the room, hands firmly pressed into his pockets.“I’m here, aren’t I?” The Detective retorted with the same level of sarcasm. Janus gasped in an overdramatic manner and pulled his gloved hands out of the light in fake shock. The Detective rolled his eyes and Remus growled defensively, almost stepping forward which would have made him visible. Janus clapped his hands once indicating for Remus to stop. Remus looked at him and he looked back mouthing the word ‘behave’ at him.Janus noticed Logan’s tension and apprehension, he was still cautiously looking around the room, almost examining it for traps on anything incriminating. He tutted and leant forward, being careful to stay in the shadows.“Come now, Detective. I knew you would turn up; you’re just as invested in this game as I am. I can tell you’re still suspicious of me… Look. If I was going to hurt you, or go against my principles and do something drastic against you… I would have done it by now, wouldn’t I?” Janus made sure that his tone had softened and that it was genuine. He looked the Detective in the eyes, even though he was sure that they couldn’t be seen. He watched as the Detective thought about it carefully and took his hands out of his pockets in response.“I still can’t get my head around something. Why me, Hyde? Why create these puzzles in the first place? Why are you handing back all of these things that you worked so hard to get?” Janus smirked; he knew that the Detective would ask that question. Despite all of his confidence and bravado, the Detective had a tiny hint of insecurity… just like he did. Something that Janus would usually take advantage of, but not in this case. He shrugged and felt the clip of his capelet jangle at the movement before fiddling with his gloves.“What can I say, my Dear Detective Phoenix? You’re interesting, you’re smart… and I know you can’t resist a good puzzle. The artefacts were great for a while, but they just sit on a shelf nowadays. Besides, I’ve got what I want anyw-“ Janus stopped himself before he could finish that sentence in its entirety. He couldn’t let the Detective understand what he was implying. He totally didn’t just admit that he only did all of this because he wanted the Detective… no… absolutely not. The Detective raised an eyebrow, and he could see him trying to fight a smirk forming on his face.Janus waved his hands dismissively in the darkness, making sure the action was visible in the light. He glanced over at Remus and realised that he wasn’t paying attention. He was very distracted. Janus ignored it and got back to the task at hand, he coughed and swiftly moved the conversation forward.“Anyhow! I promised you a reward because you solved my puzzle. It’s clear that you deserve a fine reward. Here.” He bent down and picked up a small box from under his chair. He held it out into the light, making it clear that it was safe to take and there is nothing wrong with the box. The Detective slowly walked forward and reached for the box.As he put his hands around it, they rested on top of Janus’ gloved ones. He could feel the Detective’s eyes searching for his in the darkness, and he glanced into the Detective’s brown eyes as well. They were mesmorising, different shades of brown swirled together, he had never seen eyes like the Detective’s, and he knew that his own were unique enough. He couldn’t help but feel his heart swell at the contact of their hands. It was a crazy thought, but Janus didn’t want the Detective to let go. Judging by how much the Detective was lingering too, maybe there was a potential mutual feeling there. He realised what he was just thinking and shut that thought down immediately. That was not happening, it couldn’t possibly happen. They were two very different people… criminal and Detective, that was a pairing that could never work… not that he wanted it to.They both finally let go, much to Janus’ disappointment. The Detective slowly walked backwards and opened the box carefully. He stared at the contents before smiling widely and taking it out of the box to examine it. He knew that the Detective would be pleasantly surprised by this reward, considering the Detective was on the original case to recover that stolen artefact.“The Jade Pin, stolen from the National Gallery in 2008… I never suspected it was you, and your Syndicate was very notorious at the time.” The Detective admitted as he continued to smile widely at the pin, almost in awe that it still existed. Janus chuckled as the Detective put the pin away.“Well, it wasn’t exactly our forte… but your reaction is worth it.” Janus cursed himself mentally, why did he say that?The Detective was about to say something in return, but his phone rang out cutting the obvious tension with a knife. He sighed and took his phone out of his pocket before looking at Janus.“My apologies, I probably have to take this.” He stated and Janus chuckled again, it was the next puzzle incoming.“Oh no, please do. I think it’s very important indeed. Until next time, Detective.” Janus made sure his voice was full of heavy implication, so the Detective didn’t miss the phone call. He nodded before he put the box under his arm and headed out of the room and Janus could hear the Detective’s voice getting further away, he sighed and collapsed back into the chair he was sitting on. Remus scoffed causing Janus to look up at him.“You’re getting too involved. You didn’t even notice that someone was watching us from the opposite building.” Remus stated bluntly, Janus’ eyes widened but then dismissed it. It was probably a cleaner or something, the Detective wouldn’t have brought reinforcements, that’s not his style. They waited until they saw the Detective leave the college grounds, before heading out themselves to the car waiting around the back of the building.Logan walked out of the room, answering the call from an unknown number.“Logan Phoenix.” He answered curtly, slightly disappointed that his meeting was cut short. He heard someone coughing in an attempt to clear their throat before a voice finally spoke.“Ah. Yes. Good evening. I would like to remain anonymous for now, but I do need your assistance with a personal matter. I have a missing cat… and it is a very precious commodity of mine. I would like to hire you to investigate this.” Logan listened intently, and he recognised the voice immediately. He smirked, that’s why Hyde was so eager for him to answer the phone, this was the next puzzle.“I know exactly who you are, Duke Olivers. I’ll arrive at the estate at 10am tomorrow to investigate.” He hung up the phone as the Duke spluttered about anonymity, but it didn’t matter. Logan got to spend more time with Hyde, and he received a valuable asset in return. This game was definitely afoot, and he had to admit that he was enjoying it more than he expected he would. He walked out of the grounds and flagged down an idle taxi. When he got in and stated his address, his phone notified him of a text notification which he opened immediately.‘You have two days to find the precious feline, my dear Detective Phoenix.’ Logan smirked as he put the phone away, he would get it done much quicker than that, he was certain of it. He sat in the taxi in silence all the way back to his apartment, thinking about the meeting over and over again.Meanwhile, Virgil was reeling over everything he just saw. He got lost and ended up in a different building. Luckily enough, it gave him a clear view of Logan. He couldn’t believe that he was meeting with Hyde once again, he thought that was all over and done with. After a while, he realised that someone else in the room was watching him, so he snuck back out and sat in the car, trying to process everything he saw. He was going to have to do even more to keep Logan safe. Whatever Logan had got himself into, Virgil was definitely going to keep tabs on it. He needed to put Logan first, just like he always did. As he finally started up his car, only one thought remained his mind.He was not going to lose Logan. That was not an option.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
To say that Logan had an unusual night would have been an understatement. As soon as he got back from the meeting with Hyde, he stumbled into bed and immediately fell asleep, something he never did. That wasn’t the only unusual thing… he dreamt as well. His mind was usually so busy being filled with facts or relaying case notes that dreaming was almost impossible for him. He couldn’t get it out of his head either.In the dream, all he could see was an elusive figure under a spotlight, shrouded by the shadows of a bowler hat, a mask covering half of his face, the gold trimmed capelet… and the yellow leather gloves. They were the most important part. A hand reached out to him, holding it out patiently. Logan hesitated before taking the hand gently, he felt himself being pulled closer and before he knew it, they were slow dancing in the middle of the Brass Avenue Community College where they first met. Dance music filled the space around them, and Logan felt himself pulling even closer to the figure, looking into the eyes that had always captivated him, not wanting to let go. That was how they stayed until Logan’s alarm blared out, shattering the illusion.He looked at his phone with bleary eyes trying to turn off the cacophony of noise. He had almost forgotten why he had set his alarm in the first place, until the conversation he had last night hit him like a freight train. Logan got dressed and , before he called an all too familiar number. He chuckled softly as the phone was answered with a groan.“This had better be good, Phoenix.” A low voice rumbled, clearly grumpy about being woken up.“And good morning to you too, Sergeant Brigh.” Logan teased and Patton continued to grumble as he clearly attempted to get up. That was something that always make Logan laugh. Despite Patton’s bright and peppy demeanor, he was not an early morning person in any capacity. He chuckled as he could hear Patton fumble around as he put the phone on loudspeaker.“So what’s going on? Did Gomez tell you about a case before me?” Logan could hear Patton’s footsteps clearly heading to the kitchen to make coffee, that man ‘couldn’t be spoken to until he had his coffee.’ So this was quite an exception to that rule. Logan had to think carefully about what he was going to say, he couldn’t have Patton getting suspicious like Virgil. He wouldn’t want him going to the DI, he still couldn’t take that risk of Patton being in harms way… if this game ever did go south.“No. It’s not Gomez. I was approached privately to handle a case that someone didn’t want to go public. I’m going to give you an address, can you meet me there at 10am? Plain clothes though, I don’t want this man flying off the handles at an obvious police presence.” Patton hummed in response mumbling about clearing it with Gomez first as he sipped his coffee and hung up the phone.Logan immediately sent the text through and then proceeded to do some research on the Duke before he had to leave. There was a lot of information on him freely accessible on the internet, and despite his standoffish demeanor, he was actually a pillar of the community. Lots of money being donated to animal charities, profits from tours of his large estate and gardens were usually split being charities in general. He did seem to care quite a lot about helping as many people as he could, something Logan could relate to. He made a note that the cat was plastered all over the information of the Duke. He glanced at the phone while scrolling through pictures and then realised it was time to leave.He put on his coat and scarf as he made his way without a care down the stairs. Logan paused and remembered the Jade Pin, he raced back up the stairs, grabbed the box and put it in his pocket before heading to the door once again He checked that he had everything he needed in the coat pockets before closing the door and looking down the street for an available taxi. A car horn beeped, and he looked around confused until he noticed a familiar car, with a familiar person behind the wheel. Logan smiled and walked towards Patton who waved as he got into the car.“Patton. This is a surprise. I have something for you to give to Gomez when you get the chance.” He pulled the box out of his pocket and handed it to Patton who gasped in shock at the Jade Pin, even he knew that this had been missing for many years and was still a case in a department of the police force, before carefully placing it in the glove box. There was a tension that Logan couldn’t quite understand, but Patton headed off- the sat nav occasionally blaring out instructions.“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Patton asked, a wave of worry emerged in his voice. Logan looked at Patton with a furrowed brow, but he was too busy concentrating on the road. Logan had to admit that he was talking about the case, he was a bit too vague, and he didn’t blame Patton for being a bit apprehensive of diving in.“Last night at about 9pm, I got a phone call. He wanted to remain anonymous, but I could immediately recognised the voice as that of Duke Olivers. His cat has gone missing, and I’m going to assume th-”“That’s not what I meant, Lo.” Patton interrupted causing Logan to stop in his tracks surprised. The sadness and concern in Patton’s voice was almost overwhelming. Logan didn’t understand, did he do something wrong? Did Gomez say something, and Patton was now in trouble?“Then… what do you mean, Patton?” Logan asked tentatively, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing so Patton didn’t get overwhelmed. Thankfully, Patton quickly pulled over so he could collect himself and say what he needed to say.“You… you were really invested in that case with Janus Hyde. It felt like you knew more about the Jameson case than you let on… Now you’re taking on private cases, mundane ones at that… You’re retrieving artefacts that have been lost for years. What is going on?” Patton looked over, his hands clenched ove the steering wheel. Logan sighed and gently prised Patton’s hands off of it, he placed them onto Patton’s lap before he spoke.“Patton. I am a consulting detective still. I do have private clients… that’s all that’s going on. I promise. I wouldn’t lie to you. You’re a dear friend of mine. If something was going on… You know I would tell you. We’ve been through far too much for me to hide things from you.” He looked Patton in the eye and smiled gently. Patton scoured his eyes, almost like he was staring into his soul and appeared to believe him because he smiled widely and began driving once again.Logan swallowed back the bitter feeling he felt in his mouth, he hated that he was having to lie to the people he cared about. It was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? It keeps them out of danger. At least Roman is keeping his distance for a change, it was actually quite unusual since how closely Roman was typically monitoring him. He always had an inside line on each case, masking it as concern. If Roman found out about this game, Logan would never hear the end of it, and he knew that he would attempt to stop it.They pulled up to large, iron gates that obstructed entrance to the estate. As soon as Logan rolled down the window of the car, the security camera immediately flashed green, and the gates opened with an almost dramatic flourish. Patton drove down the long stretch of dirt road, and both of them couldn’t help but stare at the building in front of them.Even from the outside, the estate house looked very elegant. It had been built cypress wood and had spruce wooden decorations. It was clear that the foundations had been supported by brickwork inside to keep the woodwork supported. Short, wide windows add to the overall look of the house, and it was clear that they had been added to the house in a very symmetric way. The roof was high, triangular, but one side is longer than the other and was covered in dark brown ceramic tiles. The house was surrounded by a gorgeous garden and an outdoor eating area. It included various trees of many different sizes; eucalyptus, confiers, oak, elm and a redwood that must have imported into the country. There were green bushes cut into a variety of shapes and sizes. Then finally, the flowers were beautiful to see as they got closer to the house: chrysanthemums, roses, pansies, forget me nots, orchids, tulips and many others that Logan couldn’t identify.They were too busy staring at the estate house that they almost didn’t notice the distinguished man pacing up and down on the front porch outside the large wooden doors. He wore a green tweed suit with a plain white button up shirt. His black shoes were getting scuffed by the sheer amount of pacing he was doing. He smoked a pipe aggressively and was constantly having to replace the tobacco in it. The monocle over his right eye made it absolutely clear that this man was Duke Olivers. As Patton parked up the car, the man jumped and then relaxed in relief as he saw them get out of the car. He walked down the stairs to a waiting Logan and Patton, then shook their hands vigorously , the anxiety coming off the man in waves.“Good morning, Duke. I’m Detective Logan Phoenix, we spoke on the phone. This is my trusted colleague, Sergeant Patton Brigh. Would you care to explain exactly what has happened, and why you needed my help so urgently?” Logan kept his tone polite and professional, even though he was bored of this case already and wondered why Hyde gave it to him in the first place. Patton got his notebook out ready to take notes of anything necessary.“Yes, of course. As you know, I open my estate up to the public during the spring and summer months. My cat, The Major, is one of the star attractions I must admit. He adores people, and likes to join the guests on their tours, or lie in the sun to get their attention. Obviously, he is allowed to come and go as he pleases but I know he never leaves the estate grounds.” Logan nodded at appropriate intervals, already looking around the immediate vicinity for any clues. Patton finished writing that set of notes and then looked down at what he had written, confused.“So, Duke. Why have you called Detective Phoenix? Has something happened?” Patton asked gently, and the Duke sighed in response.“The Major does come and go, but he always comes back for tours. He can always hear when people have arrived… and he never misses a meal. I haven’t seen him in two days. He’s a Kurilian Bobtail, an extremely rare breed, and I’m concerned that… that…” He had tears in his eyes as he couldn’t finish his sentence, but Logan knew what he was implying. He glanced over at Patton and saw him hesitate as he wrote ‘potential kidnapping’ in his notes. ‘How banal’ Logan thought, but he had to see this through because it was all part of the game. Hyde was teasing him, clearly.“We will get to the bottom of this, sir. Can we have a look around the outside of the estate? Also, can I have any and all documents you have relating to the Major?” Logan enquired. The Duke nodded and headed inside, meanwhile, Patton started to go down the stairs and began to wander around the outside of the house.Patton was still in awe and just how grand, vast this estate was. It would be difficult to find evidence that they could use because of how much land there was. He looked around the trees, in the flower beds and walked around the outside of the house. He sighed as he reached the back. Patton couldn’t shake the feeling that Logan didn’t quite tell him everything, but there was a cat potentially in danger, he had to focus on the task at hand. He glanced over to the bush behind him, he could have sworn that something glimmered when the sun caught the bush. Patton walked over to it cautiously and crouched down when the object shone in the sunlight once again.He pulled it out from under the bush and knew straight away that it was a cat collar. He moved the silver leather collar between his fingers, there were white hairs on the inside that he took care not to touch, but it was clear that the collar was removed carefully as there were no tears in the material, the Duke’s details on the silver information tag proved that The Major had been taken. As he clutched the collar and walked back towards the front of the house, he noticed something else rather interesting. There was a footprint, one that definitely didn’t belong to the Duke because of how small it was, so someone had definitely been snooping around the house.Clutching the collar in his hand, Patton continued to walk back to the front of the house. Logan was so busy reading through a stack of papers that he didn’t notice Patton coming. He threw the cat collar onto the top piece of paper, causing Logan to jump and scowl at Patton. Logan quickly glanced over the collar before nodding in approval.“Did you see the footprint by the side window?” Logan smirked as he carried on reading from the papers. Patton’s jaw dropped.“How on earth did you-“ He was cut off before he could finish the rest of the sentence.“I saw it while you were busy making those very important notes of yours… have you got your cast kit?” Logan asked politely, and Patton gave a mock bow in response as Logan rolled his eyes. He continued to read as Patton went to the car. He had found a pivotal clue to the location of the previous feline. The Duke had kept an advertisement he had placed online for a rare breed cat nine months ago, and the comments were a vital clue.DukeO: Is there anyone who is looking to have a rare breed cat rehomed? I own a large estate for them to roam and will live a life of luxury.JekyllandHyde: I do in fact know someone who can help you out here. There is a Kurilian Bobtail that needs a new home, there will be a fee however.DukeO: Name your price, I will pay whatever needs to be paid in order to give the feline a new home.JekyllandHyde: Let’s continue this conversation over private messages.Everything began to piece together in Logan’s mind once again. Hyde was involved from the start; he managed to find this cat and give him to the Duke… but where did the cat come from? Hyde didn’t seem like the kind of person to have those sorts of contacts, and he certainly wouldn’t have gone to Russia simply to acquire a cat… unless the Duke paid a seven-figure fee. There was only one other plausible option in Logan’s mind.“Duke?” Logan called out causing Patton to turn his head from finishing the cast of the footprint as well. The Duke made his way back to the front steps, trying to pour some more tobacco into his pipe, the stress evident on his face. He gave Logan a look that screamed ‘get to the point.’“The person who got you this cat, did they give you any details about where it came from?” Patton left the cast to set and paced over, he knew that tone of voice. Logan was onto something, that was a certainty. The Duke shook his head.“The only thing they said in a private message was something about it was the only one in the country.” With that one revelation, another piece of the puzzle fell into the place. He got out his phone and searched for missing Kurilian Bobtails in the UK, but he reluctantly had to admit that he needed help.“Sergeant Brigh? Can you search for missing Kurilian Bobtails in the UK? There are so many results, I can’t filter them out on my own. Patton looked over then stood up after he check whether the cast of the footprint was dry yet. He took out his phone as well and began his search while walking over to Logan. The Duke walked solemnly back into the house and Logan could see him sit by the phone. There would be no ransom calls coming in.Logan saw the look of sadness on Patton’s face as he scrolled through all of the missing posters for cats across the country, despite the fact that he was allergic to them, Patton still had a very soft spot for them. Logan paused on a poster with a cat that looked very much like the Major. He enlarged it and it became clear why the cat hadn’t been missed. The poster described the cat as a regular tabby, he tapped Patton’s shoulder and showed him the image, he compared it with the photo in the case file and nodded enthusiastically. Logan took note of the address and ducked his head in the door to notify the Duke.“Sir, we have a lead. I’ll call you with any news.” The Duke nodded gratefully as Patton loaded the dried footprint case in the boot and started up the car while waiting for Logan. He got in and they headed off to the house located a mere half an hour away from the Duke’s mansion.They stayed in a comfortable silence for the majority of the trip as Logan was thinking through all the details, a smirk appeared on his face. Patton sighed playfully making Logan turn and look.“Come on then, spill the details to us mere mortals. You clearly know what happened.” Logan chuckled and began to explain.“So, Nex Week was the original owner of the cat. They clearly didn’t know what breed he was but someone else did. I believe that the cat was then stolen from them so they could claim money from the Duke, and because they didn’t know the breed, they put a tabby on the poster meaning that it didn’t ring any alarm bells. Then to continue playing games, the person who stole the cat then told Nex where he was… so they didn’t feel like they had a choice but to steal him back.” Logan spoke hurriedly, desperate to tell Patton everything while they sat at a red light. Patton stared at him with a dropped jaw, dumbfounded by his ability to put things together in a way that no one else could.They reached the rather quaint house, a typical house on a suburban street. The Major immediately noticeable as he was lying on the windowsill in a sun trap. Patton breathed a sigh of relief that at least the cat was safe, they walked down the driveway and watched as someone waited apprehensively behind the door. It flung open taking both of them by surprise.“Okay! I did it! I confess!” The person exclaimed, their body shook and the badge that read ‘they/them’ on their t-shirt trembled. Patton and Logan got their police badges out causing more fear to radiate off the person. Logan held his hands up to show that no harm was going to occur.“Nex? It’s okay, we’re not here to do anything. We know what happened to Mr. Snuffles… We just want to hear your side of the story.” Logan explained slowly and calmly, Patton nodded in a reassuring manner ensuring Nex had plenty of time to calm down. They ushered Logan and Patton inside, closing the door aggressively behind them. Nex began to sniffle as they tried to explain everything that happened.“My uncle in Russia passed away three years ago, and I went over there to bring Mr Snuffles home when he was just a kitten. T-then nine months ago, he just disappeared, we searched everywhere for him, but it was like he vanished… I got a phone call three days ago. This man said that Duke Olivers had someone steal him from us… I was going to leave it alone and just accept it… but my kids… my kids kept saying how much they missed him. The man on the phone called again, giving me detailed instructions on how I could take him back. I don’t know who it was… Please don’t take him away.” Nex trembled their way through the explanation, their tone becoming more and more desperate until they were almost on their knees begging.Logan nodded his head in sympathy. This seemed like a rather cruel puzzle on Hyde’s part, he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to Nex and their situation. It was also rather anti-climactic, there was no chase, there was no intimidation… nothing thrilling about it at all. What was Hyde playing at?“It’s okay. He’s going to be staying right here.” Patton said confidently while looking at Logan. Logan knew immediately what he was being asked to do, so he walked out of the house and dialed a number that was newly ingrained into his memory. It was picked up after two short rings.
“Any news Detective?”
“We have found The Major.”
“Oh thank God. Is he okay? Is he safe?”
“He is very safe. He’s back with his original family. The person who sold him to you stole him from this family, then instructed them on how to get him back… He played a game with both of you.”
“My God. I had absolutely no idea, Detective! You have to believe me!”
“I do, I do. Neither of you are at fault here. I hope you do realise though… I can’t bring him back.”
“That’s okay. I want him to be happy with people that love him. Besides, there are plenty of shelters that are looking for cats to be adopted.”
“… You really are a kind, wise man Duke.”
“It takes kind and wise to know kind and wise, Detective.”
Logan hung up the call as Patton walked out. He nodded gently as Patton breathed a sigh of relief, they both got into the car and returned to the station without a word. Only the radio playing cheesy pop songs for Patton to hum along to stop a deafening silence from occurring. As they pulled up into the police station for Patton to start his late shift, they got out of the car and Patton pulled Logan into a quick hug. Logan reassured him that he would get a taxi home.As soon as they parted ways; a car that looked like an embassy car pulled up beside him and the driver wound the window down in a swift flourish. Logan rolled his eyes, he wished Roman would just call him like he did last time. He bent down and frowned when he didn’t recognise the driver.“Detective Phoenix? Someone wants to see you. Please, get in.” The man spoke in a soft but commanding voice, and Logan knew immediately that it was Hyde. He got into the back of the car immediately.Him and Hyde needed to talk.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Logan could feel the irritation build up inside him as the drive got increasingly longer. The audacity of Hyde to give him a ‘case’ that was practically child’s play after the heist was extraordinary. Is that really what he felt of him? In a way, he thought Hyde saw him as some kind of equal in the intellectual department, but clearly Logan was wrong.At the same time, he still couldn’t figure out why he cared. It shouldn’t matter to him; they were on two very opposite teams and yet he wanted them to be on the same side. He felt an almost emptiness between each meeting, and Logan wanted to actually see Hyde, just to level the playing field a bit more. As the car came to a steady stop, he quickly sent a text to Patton so he wouldn’t worry. A lie about Roman picking him up would be enough to appease his friend, given how close Roman and Patton appeared to be, Patton would believe it instantly. The car door was held open, and Logan got out skeptically. The driver waited until the door closed before escorting Logan inside to the musty, abandoned warehouse. Meanwhile, Virgil was worried. He was walking up the outer stairs into the lab and noticed Logan get collared by a black car. He knew it wasn’t a taxi, but the way Logan got in without any form of fight, it made Virgil anxious. He searched the precinct until he found Patton hunched over a pile of paperwork and case files. Virgil tentatively walked up to him and was greeted with a warm smile.“Hey Virgil! Thanks for you evidence reports, I’m just uploading them into the system now!” Virgil could never fault how much Patton loved his job, regardless of how menial it could be sometimes. He waved his hand in a dismissive fashion with a smile.“No worries Patt. Hey, do you know where Logan was going? He got into an unmarked black car, not a taxi. I can’t help but worry, y’know, since Janus Hyde has become more active. What if… what if?” He couldn’t even bring himself to finish the sentence.“Hey, hey. Virge, it’s okay. Logan texted me. Roman picked Logan up, he needed to talk to him about something.” Patton spoke softly and Virgil could feel himself calm down. He nodded and thanked Patton before turning away. He couldn’t shake that something was wrong, but there was nothing he could do. So he had to trust that Logan was safe, and with Roman.The driver opened the door into a large room covered in scaffolding and tarp. Logan could see the silhouette of Hyde at the end of the room, the usual set up. That irritation and anger he felt when the car arrived at the police station rose through him again like a rocket. He stormed up to the barrier between them and Hyde chuckled.“What the hell was that ‘case’, Hyde?!” Logan seethed as Hyde laughed even louder. Logan couldn’t tell if he wanted to laugh or wanted to punch something, so he stood with his arms crossed waiting for Hyde for collect himself. He watched as Hyde wiped his eyes from laughter before finally speaking.“Oh, Detective. I couldn’t help myself. You know I was just teasing. It is a game after all.” Hyde replied while adjusting his gloves, his tone almost dismissive. Logan knew he could be equally as nonchalant in return.“Well, you just screwed me around, so if you’re going to mess me around… why should I keep playing along with the game?” Logan asked, keeping his tone genuine. Hyde sat stock still in response for a few minutes. Logan filled with pride internally while keeping a façade of not caring externally. Hyde stood up, he turned off the light illuminating him behind the cover. Logan heard he stand up and walked a little closer.“Because you want that phone back, don’t you, Detective? Or have you forgotten all about that?” This was the first time that there was an intimidating tone behind Hyde’s voice, and Logan fought the urge to shiver. A gloved hand made its way around the cover, holding out another USB drive. Logan was confused but took it, anyway, was this his reward. Hyde took hold of his hand, encapsulating the USB drive within both of them. Logan relaxed into the touch and they both lingered there, even longer than before. Hyde eventually let go leaving Logan with that niggling empty feeling once again.“As sign of good faith. Those compromising photographs that were initially on the phone, they’re here now. I swear to you they’re deleted from the phone. I want to prove that I’m serious about this, like I want you to be, Detective.” Hyde’s voice had never been filled with such sincerity and softness. Logan wanted to pull the cover back and see the sincerity in Hyde’s eyes as well, he knew it would make them even more mesmerizing. It was almost like Hyde was thinking the same thing, the way he gripped the cover with his gloved hand.Hyde moved away and Logan took a step back too. He grasped the USB drive and put it in his pocket. He turned to walk away, but Hyde coughed causing Logan to turn back.“Your next puzzle is waiting at home, Detective. I can assure you that the reward for this one will be well worth the wait.” The driver appeared at the entrance, declaring that the meeting was over. Logan followed him out in silence, and as he sat in the car, he only just realised something. Hyde was on his own today. So, where was Remus? He knew he would have to hypervigilant when he was returned home. A text rang out in the silent car, Logan knew immediately that it was Hyde giving him a deadline.
I’m a bit too eager to give you your reward, my dear Detective Phoenix. You’ll solve this little puzzle quickly. So I’m going to give you until midnight.
Logan looked at the clock, it was already 8pm. He hoped that Hyde was right, and that he could solve it in time. As much as he hated to admit it, he was looking forward to what Hyde had in store as well. The car pulled up outside his apartment, Logan noticed that he never calculated how far they had travelled. It didn’t matter, there was a new game afoot.He apprehensively unlocked the front door and listened around with bated breath. No footsteps, no breathing, just the gentle hum of electricity. That was new, he rushed up the stairs and froze in the doorway, struggling to comprehend the scene in front of him. The doors to different rooms had small labels on them, but he was more concerned with the slumped over figure in the chair right in front of him.Logan’s head began to spin. Hyde gave his word that no one would be harmed. Could someone in the Pyrite Syndicate go against his orders? Why would Hyde hurt… kill… someone who had done nothing wrong? If he was forced to stop the game and report this to the police, then so be it. He couldn’t let Hyde get away with something so brutal. Logan hesitated before slowly approaching the figure and breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that it was just a mannequin with a stick protruding from its chest. A small banner reading ‘BANG’ unfurled from the stick. A letter was crudely stuck to the mannequin’s head with a large sticker, Logan unstuck it and began to read his instructions.
‘Uh oh! Who killed poor ol’ Martha? There are five suspects: Can you work it out, Dear Detective Phoenix?’
Logan then read the five names out loud. “Benny, Lisa, Catherine, Marcus, Elijah.”He finally looked around at the labels in more detail. It was impressive that Hyde and the Syndicate managed to get everything prepared in a day. It would explain the car that picked him up to stop him from going home, they must have needed more time. Each room in Logan’s apartment was given a new name, and as he tried one of the door handles, he noticed that each door was locked. There must be a key or something in each room. He noticed something glimmer in the low light of his living room, there was a silver key strapped to the leg of the mannequin. He took it and slowly made his way around the different doors, trying the key in each lock.“Underwater Room, Art Room, Makeup Room, Restroom, Smoking Room, Compound.” The key finally clicked when he reached the final room marked ‘Compound’. He smirked as he entered room. After observing the scene, he deduced that nothing was particularly different, a few things had been moved around, but there was a note very obviously placed under the succulent plant on the bookshelf. It was the only plant he had ever been successful in keeping alive. He lifted the pot and opened the next letter in one quick flourish.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all.’
Logan chuckled; this was a cute little puzzle. He had an idea on the solution, but he would play it out until the end because he was curious as to what lengths Hyde went to with the set up. He was getting much more personal with these puzzles, not that Logan was complaining.He began looking for the next key when his phone pinged loudly causing him to jump. It can’t be Hyde; it was not even close to midnight. He huffed as Roman’s name appeared on his screen.
I heard you had a private case. Did everything go okay?
He sent back a one-word reply, there was no time for this. Logan shuffled around the room until he found the next key sitting in between some papers on a chair. He walked out of the ‘compound’ and went around each room again, the monotonous routine of trying the key in each lock added another sense of excitement. Next up was the ‘Art Room’ and Logan was impressed by how incredible it looked inside.The room had been completely overturned into a small art gallery. There were paintings on easels, some were mounted on the walls in frames. The most impressive piece was a large painting made by Moran, a village scene with a meteor shower in the background. It was such a unique piece; Logan took a bit of time to just stare at it. The colours reminded him of Hyde, he shook that thought from his mind because this wasn’t the time to get distracted. He found the note very quickly attached to the back of one of the easels. Logan was disappointed when the note was exactly the same as the previous one.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all.’
Thankfully for him, the next key was hidden in plain sight, camouflaged in one of the golden frames of a painting. He trudged back to the three remaining doors, luckily, the first door marked ‘Restroom’ opened with a dramatic squeak. Of course it was the bathroom, there was no other logical explanation. Logan scanned the scene and nothing had been moved in any way, that must been a way of demonstrating that his privacy wouldn’t be invaded. The note was far too easy to find, he saw it immediately, floating on a piece of plastic in the sink which was full of water. Once again, it was the exact same message.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all.’
Logan was now absolutely certain who the ‘murderer’ was. It was obvious because of the bold letters in the clues. When Hyde said he was going to make this easy, and was eager to give Logan his next reward, he wasn’t joking. He could feel the next key under the bathroom mat, and he had a hunch as to which room he would be taken into next. The key clicked into the lock of the door marked ‘Underwater Room’. Logan took a deep breath, praying that this room wasn’t flooded.Just like the ‘Art Room’, Logan was astonished by the sight in front of him. The room had two large aquarium style tanks against the wall. The array of tropical fish inside the crystal clear water was too mesmerising, Logan had to take a seat and just watch them. He quickly checked the time, 10:30pm, he could take a break. He sighed as he watched the fish swim and eat the food in the tank, this was the first real break he had taken. Everything cleared from his mind just for a few moments. He forgot about Hyde, about the puzzles, about his overwhelming array of feelings.He saw the note being magnified behind the first fish tank, and he read it from a distanced, making a note of which letter was highlighted this time.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all.’
His phone pinged at 11pm, an ironic notification telling him he should get some rest now. He scanned the other fish tank and saw the key floating on a string, he delicately removed it when he saw a fish bumping into it. Logan also noticed the supplies of food and fish tank maintenance equipment tucked into the corner, was this Hyde’s gift? It was very extravagant, but Logan did appreciate the gesture.Logan knew that he needed to pick up the pace, so he unlocked the second to last door marked ‘Makeup Room’. He took a guess and was correct. His bedroom looked even more pristine than usual, the only addition were the lights shining from his mirror, like the backstage of a theatre. The note was left in the middle of the bed and Logan opened it, sighing when the note was exactly the same.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all.’
The final key was stuck in the middle of the mirror and Logan removed it with very little care or consideration, he just wanted to get this done now so he would find out Hyde’s next plan.Last, but not least, he unlocked the room labelled ‘Smoking Room’ and headed in. He had to bat away all the smoke caused by a machine in the corner and coughed while searching frantically for the last note. He heard soft jazz music playing faintly in the background from a record player in another corner of the room. ‘La Vie en Rose’, one of Logan’s favourite songs. He continued to search until he eventually found the final note under the record player just as the song ended. The final note, exactly the same as the others but with an additional piece of writing.
‘The answer can be found in the notes, make sure you keep them all. The fish and the art are now yours, Dear Detective Phoenix.’
Logan smiled brought all of the notes into the living room and placed them on the table, laying them out in front of him.“C, A, R, U, M, S.” He wrote the letters on a spare piece of paper and very easily rearranged the anagram. ‘Carums’ turned into ‘Marcus’. Logan sighed in relief as he sent a hurried text to Hyde’s number, half an hour before midnight. A text came back almost immediately.
The Great Impasta. Mayfair. 7pm tomorrow. Reservation made under Janus Sanders.
Logan’s eyes widened at the address. This was a public place, so it would be an extremely bold move on Hyde’s part. Logan yawned loudly and went into his bedroom collapsing onto the bed. He would process the meaning behind this meeting place tomorrow.Right now, he needed to sleep, and dream about dancing.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Logan had been apprehensive all day. He tried to settle himself down by watching crap daytime TV; but he could only last a maximum of fifteen minutes before he had to pace the room. The curiosity and nerves were becoming overwhelming. Why did Hyde pick such a public location? Was it going to be a set up? The time ticked away so slowly causing questions and emotions to flood his brain.His phone rang unexpectedly, and he had never been more grateful for a phone call to snap himself out of his thoughts. He glanced at the screen before answering immediately, of course it was Roman.“Very unlike you to respond with a single word, cousin mine.” Roman remarked playfully. Logan rolled his eyes before responding in kind.“Is the British Government bored today? Or did you just miss me too much?” Logan retorted causing them both to laugh. A silence sat between them; Logan waited patiently for Roman to explain what this phone call was really about.
“Since when did you take on a private case about a cat?”
“How did you even know about that?”
“Oh I’m good friends with the Duke. We meet up every Friday for fish and chips… I’m the British Government, Logan. I know these things.” Logan chuckled at Roman’s extremely sarcastic reply.“Police work is very slow these days… I’m taking anything and everything I can get, no matter how demeaning it is.” Roman hummed in agreement, he knew that feeling.“How’s our… other matter going? You got a bit too invested in the Heist that Janus Hyde pulled off.” The concern in Roman’s voice was noticeable.“It’s a working progress. I’ve learnt bits and pieces, you will get that phone back, I promise. Now, I have to get ready… I’m going out tonight.” Roman gasped and then cheered making Logan bring the phone away from his ear.“Is my little cousin finally going on a date?!” Logan chuckled, if only Roman knew.“Goodbye, cousin mine.” Logan said playfully before hanging up the phone.His phone flashed into life again, this time with an alarm blaring at him. 6pm, it was time to get ready.It only took ten minutes to put the suit together, he stared at himself in the mirror for ten minutes debating whether or not to wear the silk blue tie that he kept for special occasions. After deciding he should, he tied it in a delicate knot before grabbing his trench coat and scarf before heading out the door. The restaurant was a twenty-minute walk away, and he didn’t feel like he could handle being cramped up in a taxi when his thoughts were still racing. He started off down the street and hoped that his mind would clear with some fresh air.As he approached the restaurant, it was extremely busy. It was bustling with people; families with children, couples, friends, and parties. It became an absolute certainty that this wasn’t a set-up… did this mean what Logan thought it did? He took a deep breath and headed in. The scent of food made Logan realise just how little he had been eating recently, he smiled widely as a young girl came to ask for the reservation. As he gave Hyde’s alias, he sighed in relief when she found it immediately and took him around to a booth cosied up in the corner. Logan ordered two glasses of the most expensive red wine on the menu and twiddled his thumbs as he waited.More and more time passed until it hit 7:!5pm, as the wine glasses were placed on the table, the waitress asked if he was ready to order and he shook his head stating that he was still waiting for someone. The waitress nodded and said there was no rush as the table was reserved until they closed for the night. Then just like that, almost on cue, someone entered the restaurant in a hurry. Someone that seemed strangely familiar.Janus raced to the restaurant, phone to his ear. He adjusted his tie, capelet and hat one more time. If Remus hadn’t had been on his case for the last hour demanding to know who Janus was dressing up for, he wouldn’t have been late. He just had to hope that the Detective was patient and would wait around for just a bit longer.“Remus. Will you just stop? You’re my best friend as well as my right-hand man, but to be frank, it’s none of your business what I do in my free time anyway. I don’t know what time I’ll be back, so don’t hang around. Just take the night off.” He hung up before there could be any retaliation from Remus and rammed the phone back into his pocket. He opened the door and smiled sweetly at the waitress who waved back enthusiastically before pointing to the corner.He sauntered over to the table and watched as the Detective raised his head. He tilted his head, trying to decipher who he was. Janus almost forgot that he obstructed his face in the past, no wonder the Detective was confused. He smirked as he raised a gloved hand out to the Detective who stood up in response raising his hand to meet in the middle.“Well, my Dear Detective Phoenix… at last we meet.” Logan’s breath hitched subtly as he nods. Hyde was certainly even more captivating in person, and he couldn’t help but stare into his eyes, gazing at the birthmark he knew very well from the security footage. They finally sat down, and Hyde took the glass of wine gratefully. The two of them finally settled down and relaxed into the setting. Logan was grateful that he waited when all he wanted to do was leave out of embarrassment.The silence between them was filled by the small talk in the restaurant. Logan saw Hyde’s eyes flit between Logan and the door, deciding whether he should say something he was clearly determined to say.“I assume you have realised that this is your reward, Detective. I trust you’re not too disappointed.” Hyde smirked, but there was a look of hurt in his eyes. He should know by now that the artefacts were only a small part of the reason that Logan continued to play the game. He shook his head vigorously, and Hyde looked at him in surprise.“Not disappointed at all. I assure you.” Logan smiles softly and he was relieved when Hyde smiled back. The waitress came back, and they could finally order their meals forty-five minutes after they had both arrived. Hyde began to make small talk, and for the first time in his life, Logan found it easier to respond. It felt like they were old friends, that they had known each other forever. As the food was settled down in front of them, they initially ate in silence, just enjoying the atmosphere around them, and the company. However, Logan couldn’t eat anymore about halfway through his meal, the question he wanted to ask was too much.“I don’t understand, you’ve always sworn I will never find out who you are… and yet, out of seemingly nowhere, you have exposed your identity… why?” Logan watched as Hyde hesitated, thinking of answer. He took one more bite of his food before pushing his plate away. Hyde leant closer, and Logan felt himself doing the same.“Well… You’re the world’s only consulting detective. Why don’t you tell me?” Hyde smirked, and Logan began to make his analysis.The closer he leant to Hyde, the more his beautiful eyes, well his pupils dilated. Logan slowly placed his hand on top of Hyde’s, slowly twisted it around. Hyde followed his movement until Logan got under Hyde’s glove and gently placed his fingers on Hyde’s wrist, measuring as his pulse began to increase steadily. The lingering touch between both of them made it an absolute conclusion, the only possible conclusion.“Judging by all the factors at my disposal… It appears that you’ve grown fond of me, Hyde.”With that one statement, Janus felt all of his feelings fall into place. He had been trying to deny since their first meeting, he assumed that everything he was feeling was because of the puzzles, the thrill of dancing with getting caught. He had tried to push it all aside, but Janus couldn’t deny that it was all about the Detective… about Logan. He smirked and pulled his hand back to applaud Logan’s deduction but missed the contact too much so he interlocked their hands once again. He smirked as he watched Logan freeze for a moment before he relaxed into the touch and squeezed his hand back. Janus wondered what was going on in that genius brain.“I knew you were a good detective, Logan.” Logan’s breath hitched once again, hearing his first name on Hyde’s… no, Janus’ lips sounded like music. This almost felt like a brand-new beginning for them, like maybe, they could be on the same side one day. That was a pipe dream, but Logan was enjoying the moment.“I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting anything like this, Janus.” He watched as Janus froze this time, before beaming at hearing his name. He couldn’t believe that this was panning out the way he secretly wanted, even if he didn’t realise it initially. He kept hold of Janus’ hand, enjoying the touch. Janus began to laugh, and Logan leaned his head on his free hand, he liked how musical his laugh now sounded too.“Well, the puzzles were created for a reason.” Janus commented playfully.“Enlighten me, my criminal mastermind.” Logan teased, and he shivered when Janus tugged him a little closer and spoke in a softer voice.“Simply, My brilliant Detective… I know how much you love solving puzzles, and this-” Logan waited patiently as Janus stopped talking, as if he was holding back on something. He gave Janus’ hand a quick squeeze, and Janus then finished his sentence. “This was also an excuse to get close to you. I’ve been entranced by you from the start.”“Your puzzles have been my favourite.” Logan admitted as he realised just how close the two of them were. A waiter came to top up their wine glasses and take away their plates, causing the two of them to jump apart immediately. Logan raised his wine glass, and Janus clinked his glass in return before connecting their hands once again.They continued to make small talk over different comments. Logan was compelled to avoid anything that was related to work, and Janus did the same. It was almost a silent trust that they weren’t here to gain the upper hand on one another, just to enjoy each other’s company. They were too busy wrapped up in their own little bubble, they didn’t realise that they were being watched by two extremely close parties.Remus glared from the menu he had been handed by a very nice girl. He had a perfect view of his boss, and his enemy being all lovey-dovey. He felt so angry, Janus told him that there was never going the fuck on… then what the fuck was this?! Janus lied to the world, lied to literally anyone who would listen… anyone but him. Janus was always truthful to him, and the rage he felt at being betrayed this entire time was extremely hard to repress. He took out his phone and snapped a quick photograph of the scene, there was someone he needed to talk to and fast. Remus went to stand up but stopped when the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen entered the restaurant.Virgil entered his usual guilty pleasure place. He waited patiently as he noticed a cute guy staring at him out of the corner of his eye, he tried to ignore that. No one ever stared at him like that, he must be looking at someone else. He smiled as Robert, the head waiter saw him at the door and rushed over.“Hey Virgil. Just finishing your order up now, will be with you in two minutes!” Virgil smiled and gave a thumbs up. He scanned around the restaurant and smiled at how busy it was. He stopped when he recognised someone extremely familiar. Virgil knew it was Logan immediately, and he went to walk over towards the table… until he noticed that Logan was holding someone’s hand and his entire world shattered. Logan was seeing someone? Is that why he was blowing him off all the time? He wanted to cry but he couldn’t… not in public. Virgil hadn’t felt this devastated for years, but he shouldn’t have been surprised, no one would ever want to be with him. Robert came back with his food, and Virgil gave a soft thank you before heading towards the door, colliding with the cute guy that was staring in his direction.Remus watched until the guy had collected his food before he made his move. He stood up as the guy headed towards the door, making sure they bumped into one another. Remus chuckled as the guy tried to apologise profusely, insisting that he was at fault.“Gorgeous and kind… You’re quite a catch, emo.” Remus teased fondly, causing Virgil to blush bright red.“Y-you must be talking about yourself.” Virgil retorted before he even realised it. He gasped and rushed out; he couldn’t believe that he just said that. Remus’ eyes widened and he rushed out after Virgil.“Wait! Wait! Who are you?” Remus looked up and down the street, but Virgil had already gone. He sighed, hopefully he would meet that guy again. He certainly wasn’t going to get his beautiful face out of his mind. Remus slapped his cheek, he needed to get back down to business, so he pulled up his phone contacts and rang the number he loathed most. His brother. Remus moaned as the call was answered almost straight away.“Good lord Brother Mine. Is it a birthday or something? I didn’t think we were seeing mother again until Christmas.” A sarcastic voice called out over the line.“For once, Ro, I need you to cut the shit and listen to me. This is bad. Very bad, and I think we can come to a mutual agreement.” There was hesitation before Roman spoke.
“This sounds serious… what’s the problem? Has your boss finally done something stupid? I don’t think I can cover for him, especially not after what he did to me.”
“He has done something stupid, but he’s not the only one. Your Detective is being tempted by the dark side.” Remus’ voice got increasingly irritated, and he sent the photograph he took to Roman. The silence returned, followed by a long string of swear words coming from Roman. It made Remus laugh despite the serious phone call.
“Oooh Brother. Such colourful language. I hope your fellow members of the government don’t hear you!”
“We need to stop this. Now.”
“Couldn’t agree more! So, I’ll warn Janus off with a few threats about Logan… and you do the same with those little puppies that follow Logan around. That should stop it.”
“Alright. I’ll get on it, and, Remus?”
“Yes, brother?”
“Those ‘threats’ you mentioned. They had better be empty ones.”
“Remus: Oh course, Roman. Scouts honour!”
They hung up the line at the same time. Remus started texting and calling the necessary parties while Roman did the same from his office.This was ending, and it was ending today.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Okay. So what’s your biggest fear?” Janus asked as their wine glasses were filled for the final time before the restaurant began to quieten down, the staff slowly packing things up around them. Logan gulped, should he really be exposing this to Janus? He squeezed Janus’ hand briefly, silently asking him to go first.“Alright. I have a fear of hospitals… can’t stand the places.” Janus admitted softly and Logan then felt at ease to admit his.“I guess my family being hurt, my trust being broken.” Logan said, he had never really thought about that before. He hoped that he would never have to find out whether this was genuinely his fear or not. He looked up at Janus who nodded sympathetically, he could understand given the Syndicate must be like a family to him in some capacity.As their wine glasses emptied, the bill was placed down in front of them, and Janus got up to pay for it immediately before Logan could even read it. So in retaliation, Logan left an excessive tip and put his coat on. He tugged his coat collar up so his scarf could sit in its usual place and Janus smirked as he watched him. Was this really happening? Logan subtly pinched himself to make sure that this wasn’t some elaborate dream, he winced and confirmed that this was undeniably real.Janus walked back over and held his hand out to Logan who accepted instantly. Their grip even tighter than before as their hands intertwined. The walk out was unbearably slow, and both of them lingered outside the building, neither of them wanting to leave yet, the reluctancy was powerful. Slowly, they let go of their hands and Logan shoved his into his coat pockets because the wind was blowing bitterly cold around them.“When will I hear from you again?” Logan asked tentatively while looking down at the floor. Janus stepped forward and placed his hand under Logan’s chin to make him look into his eyes.“Soon. I promise. I have one more puzzle to create and set up. I need to make our final game worth your while… but you have my number.” He teased playfully causing Logan to laugh.“I think this is more than enough.” Logan gestured between the two of them and Janus nodded. Janus leant forward and kissed Logan’s cheek, both of them holding onto each other, not wanting to let go. Logan sighed as his phone began to ping constantly, the number of notifications indicated a sense of urgency. Janus chuckled and rubbed Logan’s cheek with his thumb.“It seems like you’re needed, Detective Logan Phoenix. Stay safe.” Janus sighed before finally pulling away and taking a step back. Logan sighed at the loss of contact before nodding back.“You too, Janus Hyde.” Logan stepped away and they both turned away from one another, a smile never leaving their faces.Janus felt his heart race, he couldn’t believe that he had sone something so reckless, but it was worth it to finally spend the time that he wanted to with Logan. He got to get to know him properly, and he handed his heart over on a silver platter too by exposing his identity. He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice the alley coming up, and the arm reading out towards him. Janus yelped as he was dragged into the darkness and pinned against the damp brick wall. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he realised instantly that he had recognised all of the faces staring back at him, they were his boys. His Syndicate. He tutted and addressed the angry of expressions of everyone crowding around him.“Boys, boys, boys. If you wanted to discuss something, we could have easily done it at the headquarters where it’s safe. Not in PUBLIC where ANYONE can see us!” Janus’ voice began to raise as he was in disbelief of their stupidity. He watched as Remus stepped forward and growled before holding his phone up with a photograph of him and Logan.“Have you lost your FUCKING mind, boss?” Janus couldn’t believe what he was seeing, his friend… betraying him? Betraying his trust?“You were spying on me? I’m allowed to have a life outside of the Syndicate!” Janus seethed, his teeth grinding as he fought against the tight grip, but it only caused them to push him harder into the wall.“We are NOT going to jail because of your stupid game! He is going to bring. us. down. The point is, we want this to end, boss. If you don’t cut ties with Detective Phoenix, we WILL do it for you. You can count on us, boss. That connection would be severed, permanently.” Remus’ gruff voice sounded even more intimidating, and Janus shuddered by how serious his friend was. As he looked around, the other boy’s eyes showed the exact same thing.That was not just a threat. That was a promise.“Alright, alright! Look, I’ll do it, but I’ll need all of you to help. There’s one more puzzle on the cards, and it will destroy L- Detective Phoenix. Let’s go back to headquarters and plan this.”He felt the grip loosen on his wrists, and everyone appeared to be satisfied with the reasoning Janus gave. Remus patted his shoulder before he walked away, and Janus gave him a fake smile indicating that he needed a minute. Remus pulled the boys out of the alley and Janus sank to the floor. He buried his head in his hands, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. It needed to be done so the boys had no reason to go through with their threat.This final puzzle. Janus was going to have to use Logan’s fear against him.Logan was about halfway home, he smiled at his feet as he thought about everything that happened. It was the most illogical thing he had ever done, but he didn’t care. It was the happiest he had ever been. So happy in fact that he had forgotten about his phone continuously buzzing and pinging in his pocket. As he took his phone out of his pocket, his eyes widened as he saw the messages from Roman.The black car pulled up next to him, and as he recognised the usual driver, he got in without a word.The car ride was silent, Logan stared out the window and watched as London passed him by. The building containing Roman’s office approached too quickly, and he felt his stomach fill with dread. The car came to a rough stop and Logan hesitated before getting out, the only light left on in the entire building was the room belonging to Roman. He shuddered before making his way inside, he took his time with the walk he had completed excessively over the years. He could hear raised voices coming from the room, and he was worried about who was inside. Logan placed his hand on the door handle and slowly opened the door.Inside, he was greeted by three disappointed expressions on the faces of Roman, Virgil and Patton. He stepped in and watched as Virgil stepped away, almost protecting himself. Patton looked like he was trying not to cry and Roman looked like he was trying not to explode with rage. Roman slammed a photograph on his desk causing everybody else in the room to jump.“What’s this all about?” Logan asked, attempting to feign ignorance. He watched as Roman’s fists clenched instinctively. He took a closer look at the image and tried to hide his shock at the fact that it was taken at the restaurant.“Thank you, C- Patton and Virgil, you can go now. We’ll discuss this when it’s just you and me, cousin.” Roman’s voice boomed throughout the room, and he watched as the others hesitated before making their way towards the door.“Patton and Virgil stay.” Logan insisted, watching Roman’s eyebrows furrow.“This is a family matter, Logan!” Roman growled.“That’s WHY they stay!” Logan growled back and he could hear Patton gasp. It was a statement that Logan had never made before, but it was true. He trusted the two of them implicitly and considering everything they had worked through over the years, they were definitely family to him.Logan watched as Roman collapsed back into his chair, massaging his apparently throbbing head. He was definitely anger, understandably so. Logan wasn’t going to apologise.“What in the name of sanity were you thinking? I told you not to get involved.” Roman’s tone was defeated, but there was an interesting mix of disappointment and guilt. Disappointment that Logan had got himself completely and utterly involved when all Roman wanted was the phone back. Guilt that he allowed all of this to happen in the first place, that he let all of this happen in the first place.“I don’t see how else I was supposed to get back the phone that you carelessly lost.” Logan crossed his arms and fought the urge to pout like he used to as a teenager. Roman hit his hand on the desk, making sure that it was clear that this was no laughing matter.“You didn’t have to set up secret meetings with Hyde! The Brass Street Community Centre, The Roland Education College, then the restaurant… You took on a case about a cat for God’s sake! How much time have you been devoting to him?”Logan listened intently to Roman’s interrogation, and only one thought came to his mind.“How did you know about the meetings?” Logan’s eyes narrowed as he asked the question. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Virgil tugging at his shirt collar but ignored it. His attention was purely focused on Roman. He watched as Roman’s hands relaxed, and he gathered himself in a calm demeanour.“I told you. I just know these things.” Roman insisted while keeping incredibly strong eye contact. Logan stepped closer to the desk, he scrunched the photograph up in his hands and threw it behind him. He could hear Virgil’s breathing become increasingly ragged, what was causing him to panic so much?He turned in concern as Virgil had to sit down, clutching his shirt in a desperate attempt to calm his breathing down. Logan went to walk over but Patton had it covered, so Logan stayed out of the way. The last thing he wanted was to make anything worse. Logan just wanted to know the truth. After a few minutes, Virgil was able to calm down, and he took a few collective breaths before standing up and walking closer.“Logan… It was me. I-I told Roman about the meetings. It was only just before you turned up, I p-promise.” Virgil stuttered his way through the confession and Logan felt a pain in his heart. Of all the people that he break his trust, he never thought that Virgil could do that to him.“No… No, no. How did you know? I never told you… Were you spying on me?” Logan questioned, his voice breaking with every word causing Virgil’s tears to fall once again. Virgil was one of the most important people in his life, and he could feel his faith in others begin to dwindle as his heart tightened. Virgil took a heavy, shaky breath before he spoke once again.“You were being so secretive ever since the Heist. You were dashing off without a word. I followed you the first time, and I stuck around that time I gave you a ride to the college. I just… I just wanted you to be safe.” Virgil replied sadly, dropping his head in shame.Logan stood in shock. A pressure built in his head that he tried to contain by pressing his fingers to his temples. His body began to shake, his hands were trembling with significant force. His mind was overwhelmed by feelings of sadness, rage, confusion. It was impossible to contain, and the pressure threatened to spill. He didn’t want a repeat of three years ago… He wanted it to stop, why couldn’t he make it stop. Logan scoffed and stared at Virgil with pure venom in his eyes.“I’m not allowed to have a life that doesn’t concern you?! Is that really what you’re telling me right now? Well, I’m sorry, Virgil. I let you follow me around like some little puppy dog all the at work. Forgive me, Virgil! Forgive me for wanting a break from you!” The room fell silent apart from Logan’s heavy breathing. He felt the poison in his mouth, how much of an impact he had on Virgil. It was Virgil who was now shaking. He was eerily quiet before he shook his head and laughed bitterly, he bit the inside of his cheek before staring at Logan.“You say the most horrible things. You have no idea that I-” Virgil’s voice broke, and he ran to the door. He slammed it behind him, and the sobs reverberated down the corridor. Logan stared sadly at the door; he should go after him… but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He turned back to Roman who looked at him in pure disappointment and the shame consumed Logan, until another question sprung to mind.“Roman. How did you know about the cat?” The revelation hit Logan like a brick. There was someone else on the inside. Roman sighed and threw his hands up in the air.“For God’s sake, Logan. We’ve been through this before. Just drop it!” Logan noted that Roman’s tone had become defensive, and Patton was being eerily quiet. Understandably so, it was going to be hard for him to find out that someone in his police division was acting like a mole for Roman.“Oh cut the bullshit! I’ve been ignoring the fact that you’ve been spying on me for years now. You were always a bit too close… but the fact that you knew about the cat, and the Duke. Who’s been feeding you information?” Logan put on his interrogation voice and watched as Roman gulped. His forehead began to start forming beads of sweat and his eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape.“Who was it?! Robinson? Watts? Gomez?” Logan’s voice got increasingly louder with every name he listed, Roman stayed still so he wouldn’t give away anything. When a voice rang out, it caused the room to practically shake.“ME! It was ME, Logan!” Patton’s voice trembled as he shouted. Logan stared at him with his mouth agape and Roman looked over at Patton apologetically. He began to cry as Logan turned numb. He couldn’t feel anything anymore; no pain, no anger, no frustration… just emptiness, nothing mattered anymore. It was a cruel sense of irony that the only person he thought he could trust now was a criminal. He scoffed and looked Patton in the eyes.“No, it can’t have been… I would have kno-” He was cut off by Patton’s sad nod as he covered his mouth. It was true. He couldn’t take this, he had to leave. Logan trudged heavily to the door, looking between them both.“I don’t have any family left… do I?” He stood for a moment and sighed before opening the door and shut it gently, trying to desperately ignore the tears stinging his own eyes. He walked home in silence; he didn’t even look at his phone. Just wiped his eyes dry whenever the painful thoughts entered his mind. Logan almost missed his apartment, but he walked up the stairs, ran straight into his room and screamed into the pillow.Meanwhile, Roman watched as Patton’s legs trembled in the office when he thought about everything that had just happened. He covered his mouth as his whole body trembled with guilt and anxiety.“What have I done? What have, what have I done?!” Patton repeated, muffled into his hand. Roman looked over, concerned. He tried to keep a reassuring tone in his voice.“Patton, it’s okay… Everything’s oka-” He was cut off by Patton’s anguished cry.“What have I DONE?!” Patton collapsed onto the floor and screamed. He sobbed into the carpet, all of his pain and sadness being pooled onto the dark red carpet."I DO EVERYTHING WRONG."Roman couldn’t stand to see Patton in so much pain, he got out of his chair and rushed over so he was crouched down in front of Patton. He put a hand gently on Patton’s shaking back. “Hey, hey, hey. Shh... That's not true.” He continued to make soothing noises as Patton continued to sob.“Logan HATES me, you'll get tired of me too... I can't do it! I can't do it!!” Patton spoke between sobs, but it was almost incomprehensible. Roman had to listen extremely carefully but regardless, he pulled Patton gently towards him and held him close. Patton tried to push Roman away, but it only made Roman hold him tighter. Patton eventually gave him and held onto Roman tight, making his shirt damp with tears, but Roman didn’t care, he just wanted to take away the pain. He stroked Patton’s hair and ignored the tremble in his own voice.“I've got you, Cake. I've got you. Everything will be okay.”Four people, usually close and held together with a special bond… torn apart in an instant over one man.Logan was too overwhelmed to realise that his phone had received a text.
‘I’ll be in touch in a week. One last epic puzzle… Logan.’
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It had been a week, and today was the day. Janus sat in front of the boys as they went through their plan one more time. He had to keep swallowing away the guilt he felt at the thought of hurting Logan, but he had to keep reminding himself that there were no other choices. He watched as some of them smirked and snickered, reminding him how cruel and devious he was. He smiled back but he didn’t want to be those things… not anymore. He had to push all of those feelings aside, this had to be done.It was all in place. The boys who were to complete the main part of the plan hurried off to their cars to get themselves into position, and Remus stuck to his side like glue, almost like he knew his doubts. Remus put his hand on Janus’ shoulder and guided him towards the car that was waiting for him. They headed to the final destination, dread filling Janus to the brim.Patton and Virgil headed to Logan’s apartment for the seventh time. They both visited together once a day ever since the meeting, every time they were met with a locked door and silence. They left gifts and cards, as well as apology notes and texts on Logan’s phone. Today they weren’t going to leave until they knew categorically that Logan was okay, being left in the dark like that was not okay.They followed the usual routine; Patton used his spare key to open the front door that led to the stairs. They reached the top and saw their gifts untouched. Virgil knocked on the door tentatively, neither of them surprised when they heard silence on the other side. Patton sighed and leant his head against the door.“Lo? Look, I know you’re angry and upset. Trust me, I’m upset too… but you can’t keep yourself cooped up in there. We still love you.” Patton spoke loudly but with a gentle tone, it was soothing and genuine, he hoped that Logan could hear that. He ushered Virgil to come closer as well.“Can you knock on the door twice if you’re conscious? Just so we know that at least…” Patton frowned at Virgil, who gave a gesture symbolizing ‘what?’. They fell silent, hoping they would hear something. After a few moments, there were two gentle knocks on the door and both of them sighed in relief. Virgil bent down and left their latest gift of puzzle books by the door; they then uttered their goodbyes to Logan and headed down the stairs once again.They closed the front door and sighed; Patton squeezed Virgil’s shoulder before they went to part ways, but what happened next was a blur.Virgil didn’t notice the men surrounding the two of them until it was too late. They were all wearing black with a gold trim in their cuffs, and they chuckled while they entrapped Virgil and Patton in a tight circle. Patton looked at him with a terrified look on his face, and Virgil was stuck to the spot. Fight or flight had kicked in, and unfortunately flight had won this time. Virgil couldn’t move or speak, no matter how much he wanted to. He heard Patton yelp as his eyes were covered and his hands were tied before being placed inside one car. The car drove off as the same procedure happened to Virgil. The bag smelt of chocolate, but it got too hot from how much Virgil was hyperventilating. His hands were bound, and he was put into the back of a different car in a rough manner. As he sat trying to desperately keep himself calm, only one thought sat in his mind.Logan will save us, he will.Logan could have sworn that he heard a yelp from the street below, but when he went to look after the window, there was nothing there. The only unusual thing that he noticed were two black cars waiting outside but they drove off before they could raise suspicion. He felt guilty for ignoring Patton and Virgil again, but he wasn’t quite ready to forgive them just yet, no matter how much he missed their company… missed them.His phone rang out with a text notification, he picked it up for the first time in a week and he noticed that there were two unread texts from Janus that he didn’t even notice. The first one assured him that it would only be a week until they saw each other again, but the second text… something about it was worrying.
As promised, our final puzzle, my Dear Detective Phoenix. Something that you recently acquired in your apartment is fake, it is has been fake all along, but you were too busy playing the game to notice. There are three things are wrong with it. Find them. You’re playing for the biggest prize of them all… and I’m not talking about the phone.
Logan read the text over multiple times, he deduced that something was wrong. For one, he had returned to calling Logan ‘Detective’, and what else could he be playing for that wasn’t the phone? His question was quickly answered when a photo image was sent to his phone, his blood boiled when it loaded. It was Patton. Blindfolded, tied up and had tear tracks down his face… This was truly personal now.
Apologies Dear Detective Phoenix. You’re definitely playing for more than just the government’s pride. You’re also playing for Patton’s life. You only have one hour, Phoenix. Tick Tock.
His hands gripped his phone dangerously tight. He tried to call Patton just in case this was just some practical joke, but it immediately went to voicemail. He hung up and attempted to call Virgil too, but the voicemail message came up immediately almost made him throw his phone. He understood why Virgil was ignoring his calls, but he wished he could hear his voice to stop him from spiraling into a panic.
Three mistakes. Three rewards. Impress me, Detective.
A puzzle? How could he concentrate on a puzzle when his… friend’s life was on the line? More importantly, why was Janus doing this to him? They had something, he had never felt that close to someone, he had never trusted a complete stranger so quickly. It wasn’t love, not yet… but it was certainly on the way to that. The key word being was, he wouldn’t be able to forgive Ja- Hyde after this. He took a few breaths and thought about Patton before he got to work. He would do whatever it takes to save him, bring Hyde down and get that phone back.He looked around the apartment, and the Moran painting came to his mind immediately. He walked into the room he was storing Hyde’s gifts in and examined it closely. It was off of its hook by a few degrees, so this must be the fake item in question. He took it off the wall and stumbled as he took it into the living room to place on the floor. He stared at every little detail, but nothing stood out to him as fake initially. He screamed in frustration and threw whatever he can grab all around the living room. After all of his frustration left his body, he fell to the floor and started laughing, if only Patton and Virgil could see him now… Patton would told him to calm down, Virgil would have started to panic, telling him to stop or he’ll hurt himself. He closed his eyes and stared at the painting once again, and suddenly, things began to stand out to him.The painting had a date written on it ‘1885’. Logan knew that wasn’t possible, Moran was painting between 1738 and 1799… so that was the first mistake. He frantically grabbed a pen and paper to write down his findings. He scanned the skyline that mesmerised him when he first saw the painting, and he couldn’t quite remember what was so wrong about the painted stars in the sky, so he searched on his phone, and smirked when answer came up. The Beta Capella Supernova. That happened in 1803, and Moran died in 1801. He wrote it down in a flourish and took a deep breath before he continued his search. Two down, one more thing to find. The time caused his eyes to widen, he only had ten minutes left. He scoured the entire painting; there was something generally wrong with it. The paint seemed smooth, essentially, it was too smooth. A realisation hit him. A painting this old, the paint should have begun to crack, it should have been turning into a cobweb like pattern… that was it. All three things. He was going to get Patton back.Logan’s phone suddenly rang which caused him to jump, but he picked it up without hesitation. Anger bubbled under his skin as a familiar guff voice began to speak.“Time’s up.” Logan growled in response.
“Let my friend go, you bastard.”
“Come to the Vermilion Avenue Swimming Centre, and it will be discussed.”
The phone call ended, and Logan ran out the door onto the street without picking up his coat. He did pick up the one thing he had refused during his time on the force… He hoped it wouldn’t come down to that. The pool was only ten minutes away on foot, so much quicker than waiting for a taxi. He ran with reckless abandon. He let his anger, betrayal, fear race through his veins, to overtake him completely.Before he knew it, he was standing outside the swimming pool.This was going to end, and it was going to end today.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Logan took a moment to gather his thoughts and slow his breathing down from running before he opened the heavy doors into the pool. He scanned the surrounding area realising that he heard and saw nothing. It was quiet, calm… too calm. The water rippled and moved around softly, it created a variety of patterns on the ceiling and the smell of chlorine powerfully hit his nostrils. It would have been beautiful if there wasn’t so much at stake. Logan wandered around the outside edge of the pool, looking to see if anyone was watching him, to see if he was at any form of disadvantage most importantly, he wanted Patton to be safe.“Come on then!” Logan called out, listening to his voice echo in the empty pool. “You wanted me here!” He looked around and despised the silence that greeted him. After keeping a hypervigilance for a few moments, the opposing door swung opened. Two very familiar people strolled towards him. Remus stood a bit in front of hand, categorically acting like a shield and Hyde chuckled as he got closer.“Well, Detective Phoenix. Here we are at last. The Great Game.” Hyde spread his arms, gesturing to the space around them. Logan shivered and stared at Hyde in confusion. It was scary to see him acting this cold, calculated. This wasn’t the man he had spent that night with at the restaurant. This wasn’t right. He had to push his once again conflicted feelings aside and get back to the task at hand. His fists clenched as he remembered exactly what… who he was here for. He kept one hand by his leg, ensuring he was close to his defense, the action caused Remus to smirk.“Is that a Lowry A9A1 in your pocket? Or are you just pleased to see us?” Remus wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Logan pulled the gun out of his pocket, pointing it squarely at the two of them.“Both.” He pulled the gun out of his pocket, both Hyde and Remus raised a single eyebrow, both of them impressed that Logan had gone through with this. He hated how cold the metal felt in his hand, but he needed to show that he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Where’s Patton? If you have done anything to him, I swear to God, Hyde.” Logan’s expression hooded and his eyes clouded with seething anger, his grip on the gun tightening as he pointed it more at Hyde. Hyde winced ever so slightly at the name before he tutted and wagged his finger, the confidence oozing off of him was like a thick yellow smoke, and Logan turned his head slightly in disgust. He shook the feelings of how it felt to hold that gloved hand; the happiness and security it provided.“So eager for this to end, huh, Detective? Very well then.” Hyde snapped his fingers and Logan heard a whimpering coming from his left. A man he didn’t recognise was holding Patton in a tight grip. His legs were immobile as there were weights tied to his ankles, there were no injuries on him, but it couldn’t stop the panic from consuming Logan’s logical mind. The gun trembled in his hands, but he managed to calm himself enough to not make it visible. He looked at Patton who was staring back with pleading eyes, begging for help. Logan nodded while keeping the gun locked on his target, he would save him.“Oh, hang on.” Hyde looked at Remus like he had forgotten something, and Remus pretended to look just as concerned. “I said three, didn’t I? There’s only two here… why don’t we bring out contestant number three?” Hyde clapped twice and Logan heard another dragging motion coming from the right. As the light cleared, Logan’s eyes widened as he saw Virgil. He was being restrained in the same way, the same bounds on his wrists, the same weights on his ankles. Virgil was trying to be brave even though his body was trembling, and Logan felt the gun fall to his side. He glanced at both Hyde and Remus, he couldn’t help but notice that Remus was staring at Virgil, worry painted all over his face.Remus was sure he had seen this guy before. He was so familiar, yet he couldn’t place it. Then the realisation hit him, it was the guy from the restaurant. The gorgeous guy who ran away before he could get his number. Remus shuffled with his hands and tried not to look too worried, he had no idea that gorgeous emo was associated with Detective Shitface… if he had known, he would have made sure that he wasn’t taken, because there was no way in hell that he was getting implicated in a kidnapping. He watched as the guy began to cry and he trembled like a leaf. Remus wanted to run over and let him go, but he restrained himself… all he could do was watch as this played out.“Be a good boy and drop that nasty thing into the water would you?” Hyde smirked once again, and Logan complied immediately without a word or hesitation. He watched as the gun fell effortlessly in the water before settling on the bottom. There was no turning back now. As a malicious grin emerged on Hyde’s face, Logan feels even more conflicted.“What… what’s going on, Jan- Hyde? I don’t understand. This isn’t you. What happened to you?” Logan pleaded desperately, his voice cracking as he spoke. He watched as Hyde stared back at him with a blank expression, but Logan missed his eyes dancing with guilt and shame. Hyde coughed lightly before he spoke, regaining control once again.“Sweetie. I’m the villain, I’m the bad guy… this is what we do!” Hyde responded, the sarcasm dripping from that overly sweet tone. Logan bit his lip; he couldn’t deny that because Hyde had done bad things… but he knew a different man. One who knew more about him than most other people, and Logan couldn’t let that go.“But... What about everything we said? The night at the restau-” Logan timidly spoke and then stopped himself sharply.This… this was all a set up. Hyde had planned for it to end this way. He let Logan slowly break down all of his walls and barricades, to let him in. Only to then destroy him when he was at his most vulnerable, when his guard was completely and utterly gone. Everything he said, it wasn’t real… he was only playing the game. In the grand scheme of things, Logan had lost. Hyde began to laugh softly at first, then it turned more manic and more uncontrollable. The others followed suit clutching onto Patton and Virgil even tighter which made Logan wince.“Oh my god. Look at you, you poor man… I was leading you on! I think you’ve just realised that. Did you really think that I would ever want to be with you?" Hyde’s voice was sharp and bitter, almost making it clear that Logan was so stupid for even thinking that any of this was real.He scoffed internally, he really had been lonely and desperate. Someone showed a little bit of interest in him, they gave him a puzzle, and they watched him dance. Desperate for attention, desperate for company, easy to manipulate and burn down to the ground. Logan followed Hyde’s tone of voice; how could he have been so stupid? He was the epitome of logic, he had to make sure that everything was precise and accurate… that it had a reason.Logan had always assumed that love was nothing more than a dangerous disadvantage, and he had to thank Hyde for giving him the final proof. There was an eery silence, aside from grunts and chains jangling. He glanced over as both Patton and Virgil attempted to try and break free, but they had no success. Hyde stared at Logan, his smile was twisted, almost like it wasn’t genuine. Hyde was now sending Logan so many mixed messages, he couldn’t process his microexpressions… he couldn’t process anything. He was reeling in how much pain he was feeling, how much embarrassment he was feeling too. Emotions were always something he could never truly come to terms with, but he would have given anything to know what Hyde was actually thinking.Janus hated every second of this encounter. He could see the pain and torment in Logan’s face, the anguish he was causing to someone he had grown to care about. All he wanted was to run up to Logan, hug him and tell him that this wasn’t real, beg him to play along. He couldn’t, he had to keep up the pretence of being ‘evil’. He usually felt good whenever he lied, but this time, it was tearing him to pieces one word at a time. He looked down at the floor before tensing up his body as tight as he could before putting on his best façade. He needed to do this for Logan, for both of them.“Answers. Now. What was the fake artefact inside your apartment?” He asked, and he watched as Logan’s eyes narrowed before answering.“The Moran Painting. It was a copy.” Logan answered in a monotone voice.“Very good! Now what were the three mistakes?” Janus rolled straight onto the next question; he was eager to get this done so he would stop hurting Logan.“The date, The Beta Capella Supernova, the paint.” Logan stated bluntly as he made his answers clear and concise. Janus was proud of him, and he wished more than anything that he could say that, but he had to keep up the act, so he began to clap slow and sarcastically. He watched Logan’s fist clench his shirt tight, almost as if he was trying to control the rage that was most likely bubbling up instead him.“Of course, I knew I couldn’t get it past you Detective.” Janus tried to add a tone of sincerity to his voice, as a hint to Logan, but as he gazed at Logan more, he knew that their connection was almost completely severed now. If there was any other way, he would have taken it in a heartbeat. He sighed as Logan growled once more, it was very intimidating to see him this enraged.“Let Patton and Virgil go and give me the phone. We’re done, Hyde. I’ve played your game.” Janus watched as Logan snarled when he talked. He wanted to let them go, he wanted to leave now and forget everything he was just forced to do… but it wasn’t enough to make sure Logan was safe, not yet. He grimaced as he mentally prepared himself for the final part of the game, the part where he would use everything he knew about Logan against him. There was one thought in his mind before he spoke.
‘I’m so sorry, my dear Logan.’
Logan stood exactly in front of Hyde, only twenty-five meters of water stood between them. This was the final stand-off, as soon as Patton and Virgil were free and safe, he never wanted to see or hear form Hyde ever again. He stared directly at him, their eye contact never fading. Logan tried to forget how captivating he found Hyde’s eyes, they were cold and grey to him now. Hyde clicked and the men holding Patton and Virgil released them.Remus and Hyde turned to walk away, so did his other goons. Logan wasn’t stupid, he needed to wait until they had completely gone before he went to check on Virgil, on Patton. He heard the doors swing closed, and he began to walk over at a hurried pace. He heard Patton’s ragged breaths, and he saw Virgil nod from the other side, but just before he got there, the men rushed back into the room. They clutched Virgil and Patton even tighter than before, the back door opened with a flourish and Hyde sauntered back in. He chuckled with such menace and Logan’s eyes widened in shock.“Sorry, Detective… I changed my mind! There is a part two to the game after all!” Hyde spoke with glee, delighted that he managed to catch Logan off guard. Logan held his breath; he was dreading whatever Hyde was going to say next. He couldn’t take much more of this. Hyde had destroyed him, wasn’t that enough?“You may have found three mistakes. However, there are only two rewards now… so, you’re going to have to choose. You’ve won the phone… but who will you save? Patton? Or Virgil?”Everything collapsed around Logan, everything he knew about the world figuratively and literally crashed down around him. The next few moments felt like they were moving in slow motion, he watched helplessly as Patton and Virgil were dragged closer to the water. They yelled as they were being held over the edge. Logan was mortified, Remus looked apprehensive, and Hyde was beaming… but it wasn’t quite reaching his eyes.“Thirty seconds to decide.” Hyde’s voice teased.Logan felt like he was being crushed into the ground. Why was this happening? He did what Hyde wanted… He completed his game. Hyde had never gone against his word this entire time; he swore he would never hurt anyone. So why was he hurting the two people that Logan cared about most? This wasn’t fair! None of this was fair. He clutched his chest tight, his heart in agony as he was failing to take in enough air to regulate his breathing. He had been so awful to Patton and Virgil when all they were doing was looking out for him. He can’t let anything happen to them. He refused. Logan tucked his head into his chest, collected his breathing as best as he could as he heard the countdown come to an end.“Five, four, thr-”“No.” Logan declared across the pool, determined to be heard. It felt like that word caused a ripple in the water. Hyde looked at him confused, unsure of what to say.Janus was concerned, Logan looked a bit too collected when he declared that answer. He should have caved, this was his biggest fear, to lose the people he loved. Why did he look so certain? They didn’t plan for this. He watched as all eyes fell on him, except for Patton and Virgil’s obviously. Janus hesitated before he finally spoke.“No?” Janus questioned sincerely. He waited impatiently for Logan to explain himself.“I said no. Very close… but no. I’m not choosing, Hyde. If you’re so determined to go against your principles and kill someone… It’s going to have to be me.” Logan said calmly. Every word was genuine, and just like that, Logan had ripped the higher ground right from under Janus’ feet. He was extremely concerned, and it hurt like hell that Logan thought that all of this was real, that he was this cruel monster who had been lurking in the shadows the entire time. Why couldn’t he use that brilliant, powerful, clever brain of his to see right through this show?“Come on, Hyde! You want to be the big man? Prove it. Kill me!” Janus’ eyes widened as Logan stepped closer to the edge of the pool, his arms spread wide, attempting to force Janus to play his hand. He felt a pain in his head, and his heart. He knew that Logan was not going to take this way, he had destroyed his trust by exploiting Logan’s deep, dark secrets… but he couldn’t let this happen. The pain and panic began to rise through him, the feeling was so strong, he have never experienced it before. All he needed to know was that this needed to stop. Right now.He took his phone out of his pocket and stared at it with fake concern. Remus looked over and coughed at Janus. He looked up at the chaotic scene in front of him. It was clear that he had taken things too far, he wished he had never initiated this plan at all.“We have to go. The police are on their way.” The boys turned their heads in surprise but continued to dangle Patton and Virgil over the water.“Move. NOW!” The boys dragged Patton and Virgil away from the edge, and Logan fell to the floor in relief. Remus and the boys had already scarpered leaving Janus to take the smartphone out of his pocket and gently placed it on the floor. Janus’ eyes caught eye contact with Logan’s, and he winced at the pain dancing through them.“I’m so sorry.” He mouthed to Logan before running through the back door and diving into the already running car immediately outside. He leant his head against the glass as a tear began to run down his cheek. He did what he had to so he could save Logan… but it killed him inside.When Logan was certain that everyone was definitely gone. He ran over to Patton and removed the restraints from his wrists and mouth. Patton gasped in relief and leant against Logan, Logan ran a hand through Patton’s hair, reassuring him that everything was okay and that he was safe now. As he initially struggled with the ankle weights, he was surprised when they just fell off his legs. Fake? Why were they fake?“That was scary, Lo.” Patton admitted in a trembling voice. Logan nodded calmly.“You know I would never let anything happen to you. Patton... I'm so sorry for being so harsh to you. You're my best friend, please know that I didn't mean it. I never want to lose you.” He remarked truthfully and Patton quickly squeezed Logan's hand in reassurance. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hid things from you... You're my best friend too. Now go help Virgil, we can fix things later." Patton smiled softly as Logan dashed round to Virgil.He completed the same ritual of removing the restraints and checking he was okay. He reassured Virgil that he was safe now and smoothed his hair down gently. Virgil apprehensively leant into the touch and Logan felt guilt overwhelm him once again.“Virgil. I am so sorry for everything I said last week. I was a bastard, and I hurt you.” He looked away in shame, and Virgil took a breath before speaking.“It’s okay, Logan. I promise. I’m grateful that you saved us… I knew you would.”He patted Virgil’s shoulder and shakily got up. When they all had a good amount of time to recover from the shock, Logan swallowed his pride and called Roman’s number, asking for a lift. He briefly explained what happened, and as soon as Patton’s name was mentioned, Roman appeared in ten minutes. It was clear that he was going to demand a full explanation, but as soon as he saw the looks on all of their faces, Roman knew to not push it today.They all got into Roman’s car, clinging onto each other for comfort. The only thought in Logan’s mind before he fell asleep to the gentle sounds of London in the background…He was never going to open up to anyone ever again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Two weeks passed by without incident. The smartphone was back in its rightful place, but the atmosphere was still turbulent on occasions. Patton had never been more grateful for Roman, despite how busy they both were, Roman always checked in every day. He would drop anything if Patton was struggling and long story short, he just enjoyed Roman’s company. Roman might seem cold in demeanour when he was in his professional capacity, but he was genuinely a compassionate and kind man, it was no wonder Patton had begun to fall for him.He sat in the small coffee shop that had become their token meeting place, a text appeared on Patton’s phone with the promise that Roman was just five minutes away. It was the perfect way to spend his lunch break. He sipped his large hot chocolate and smiled as he saw Roman rush through to door, the smile was returned, and he thanked the barista warmly when he was handed his drink immediately from behind the counter. He walked over to their usual booth and sat opposite Patton before greeting him happily.“Patt! Thank you for ordering ahead of time, means I get to spend more time with you.” Roman winked making Patton blush in return. They made small talk for a while and danced around the subject they both knew they needed to talk about. Eventually, Patton bit the inside of his cheek before opening up to Roman.“Ro? I’m worried about Logan.” Patton admitted, his tone a strong mix of worry and sadness. As he ducked his head, Roman lowered his so their eyes met, silently asking him to go on.“He’s writing sad music, Ro. Doesn’t really eat. Barely talks unless he’s correcting something on the television. I’d say he was heartbroken, but he’s Logan... I think we both know what needs to happen.” Roman’s eyes widened a little, he had no idea that Logan was behaving like that, he was convinced that Logan was okay through their phone conversations. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt that he hadn’t insisted on more meetings in person. They had one a few days after the swimming pool event happened, because Roman insisted that Logan explained everything that had been going on in as much detail as possible. However, there was no way he could do what Patton was suggesting, Logan had been hurt enough. As the coffee shop door shut with a bang in the wind, Patton flinched, and that concerned Roman more.“I’ll check in on Logan, I promise it’ll be alright. Right now, I’m more concerned about you.” Roman pressed softly. Patton’s eye contact dropped, and he shifted his gaze across the room, he took a long drink of his hot chocolate before finally speaking.“I’m not sure he’ll let you… Aww, c’mon Ro. I’m okay! Logan saved me, turns out we weren’t in real danger… I’m okay.” Patton spoke in his peppy tone that he usually saved for witnesses and kids, a tone that usually worked for everyone else, but not Roman. He reached across the table and gently took Patton’s hand in his.“Cake. Please don’t lie to me. If you’re not okay… that’s okay. You can be honest with me.” Roman spoke in a hush tone, a promise that he would always look after Patton, no matter what. Roman knew he was falling for Patton, but he needed to push that aside for now. Patton bit his lip before squeezing Roman’s hand“I mean… It was terrifying, Ro. That guy held onto me so tight… I’ve never seen Logan look so helpless, so out of control. That look Janus gave him before he left… that was real remorse. I’m just glad we were all okay.” Patton’s voice trembled but he wasn’t going to cry, he had cried so much, there was nothing left. He just wished the niggling feeling of fear would go away.He watched as Roman got up and ushered for Patton to shuffle down the booth so Roman could sit next to him. Patton giggled and moved, as soon as Roman sat down, he wrapped his arms around Patton tightly. Patton sighed and relaxed into the touch, he rested his head on Roman’s shoulder and felt safe once again for the first time in two weeks. They sat in a comfortable silence and Patton smiled when Roman kissed his forehead softly before pulling him in even closer.“Everything will work out just fine.” Roman promised.“I know. I have you.” Patton replied with the same sincerity.As they stayed sat together, Logan was continuing his frantic search Hyde. He had somehow managed to disappear into the ether, but Logan needed answers. He couldn’t understand everything that took place two weeks ago. Why did he threaten the lives of his friends, after never being violent in any way during his career? Why did he let them go when he evidently had an endgame? Why did Hyde feel the need to tear him apart and break him so meticulously? Most important, despite it all, why did Hyde look so sad when he gave up the phone and apologised? Something didn’t add up, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got his answers. Logan was so consumed by his search that he missed the doorbell ringing the first time.Virgil waited nervously for Logan to come and answer the door. He knew what he needed to say, but whether he could bring himself to admit everything was another matter. It would help him feel more at ease if the air between them was crystal clear again. His phone rang out and he smiled at the text, he was glad he kept going back to that restaurant every day. He found the person he was looking for by chance, but the best chance possible. As he was finally let into Logan’s apartment, he walked up the stairs and was immediately worried by Logan’s appearance. His eyes had dark circles under them, and he had clearly lost weight. Virgil knew how determined Logan was to find Hyde, but he needed to look after himself too.“Hey Logan. I brought you a sandwich from that place you like. Come on, please sit down. You need a break.” Logan hesitated before he sat down on the sofa, evidently exhausted. Virgil put the sandwich down in front of him, and Logan opened the packaging carefully, watching Virgil to see if he was going to eat too. Luckily, he brought himself a sandwich too and that made Logan relax instantly.They settled into a comfortable silence, and Virgil waited until Logan was finished before he built up the courage to talk once again, it was quite literally now or never.“Logan? There’s something I need to talk to you about… just for closure’s sake more than anything else.” Virgil spoke slowly and deliberately to stop his voice from showing how nervous he was. Logan leant back against the chair, looking evidently better after eating a decent amount. He smiled softly at Virgil, giving him the courage to continue.“Of course. You can always talk about anything, Virgil.”“I need to confess, how I’ve been feeling about you… I’ve liked you for a long time now. I kind of want to apologise? Maybe? I know it’s impacted my work sometimes; I’ve been so desperate for your attention; it’s probably got in the way. The times you would compliment me, or how I’ve been working, it just made me want more. Patton warned me, but I’m sorry if I ever pushed you or came on too strong. I don’t want things to change.”All of a sudden, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He never thought he would feel such relief at finally being open about how he felt, he could finally let go, and start over. Logan’s eyes widened, and he walked over, crouching down in front of Virgil.“Virgil, Virgil. You’ve got nothing to apologise for! You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. If anything, I should be apologising to you. I’m a smart guy, but when it comes to personal matters… I have no clue. I’m sorry… I realise I must have led you on, on multiple occasions, please believe me when I say that it wasn’t intention. You’ve always meant a lot to me Virgil. You’re more brilliant that you realise, but you know how I feel about h- Hyde. Of course nothing is going to change, we’re friends aren’t we?”The air around them suddenly felt so much clearer, nothing but transparency between the two of them. All cards were placed on the table with no anxiety or hard feelings. Virgil finally felt free, and Logan looked even better now that he confirmed that he still had feelings for Hyde. Virgil knew how hard that was for Logan, and despite what Hyde did, you can’t help who you fall for. Virgil saw just how strong those feelings appeared to be when he spotted Logan at the restaurant, and it made so much more sense when he realised that it was Hyde he was with.“We definitely are. I don’t want you to apologise either, you can’t help your feelings. It’s okay, I’ve taken the time since… that incident… and I’ve worked on moving on.” He was cut off by his phone ringing out, he quickly looked at it and smiled fondly once again before looking back at Logan. “I think I’m nearly there.”“I’m proud of you.” Logan remarked, sincerity in his eyes.Without thinking, Virgil launched himself at Logan into a tight hug. Logan froze for a moment before hugging Virgil back just as tight. This closure was liberating, and Virgil knew what he needed to do now.“Well… we need to find your Janus, don’t we? You need to get some rest, we can start tomorrow, okay?”The small smile on Logan’s face as he nodded, even though the hurt shone in his eyes was enough to convince Virgil. Logan walked away to text Patton and ask if he would help them tomorrow. Virgil walked out of the apartment and sent off his own text that would be pivotal to bring everything together nicely.
Darling? I’m gonna need a big favour from you x
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A day had past and Roman sat in his office conflicted. He had been adamant that Logan would never be associated with Janus Hyde ever again. The entire Pyrite Syndicate had been put under surveillance, yet somehow, Hyde managed to get away. He was the British Government after all, he shouldn’t have been able to lose him, but it made Roman more determined to find Janus. Patton’s words raced around in his head; he was going to have to let Logan see Janus again, he just wished he had an idea as to where he could have gone to. He continued to twirl the smartphone around in his hand… what all of this was for. He was relieved when it was returned to him and it was the genuine, but also guilty about how much Logan had been through to retrieve it.It had only just dawned on him just how significant the code was. How the numbers were used to spell out 'LOGAN' made Roman internally applaud Janus' prediction skills. He must have known that Roman would immediately call Logan, he must have been counting on it.That being said, there must have been some form of good in Janus, until the swimming pool debacle that was completely out of character, Janus had kept his word the entire time. He does when Logan is concerned anyway. When Logan described the whole rollercoaster of events, Roman had to admit that seeing him happy whenever he talked about the meeting with Janus, and the restaurant ‘date’ with him… seeing him genuinely happy, it was hard for Roman to ignore. He had been longing to see for so long now. It was good that Logan had experience a happiness that wasn’t just after solving a case. It would have been better if it wasn’t because of the head of a criminal syndicate that had caused a lot of strife… but, beggars can’t be choosers.He knew that Patton and Virgil would be with Logan right now, trying to piece together all the information they could to find Janus, and he wished he had some way to help.He was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud, unforgiving knock on his door. Before he could grant permission, the door was barged open causing Roman to physically jump. He was worried for a brief moment, until he recognised his brother almost immediately. Remus snickered and then locked the door behind him.“… Do you have an appointment?” Roman asked sarcastically as Remus landed in the empty chair opposite him with a loud thud.“Remus, what the hell are you doing here? Your Syndicate are under surveillance! If anyone sees you…” Remus gestured for Roman to hurry up with the lecture, and Roman stopped himself from talking abruptly.“Yeah, yeah, yeah… You act like I haven’t been doing this for many years, Brother Dear.” Remus retorted sarcastically; a smirk painted on his features. That still wasn’t the explanation that Roman was after.“So, why are you here then?” Roman asked sincerely. Remus’ smirk dropped and he sighed, running a hand through his spiked-up hair and grimacing at the hair gel residue that clung to his hand. He proceeded to explain, nonetheless.“Look. I never thought I would say this… but… the Detective, Logan, is good for Jan. He’s been an absolute wreck since that whole thing at the pool. It wasn’t his doing, we forced him into it. It wasn’t supposed to go down how it did.” Roman nodded along, he could understand something not going to plan. It was unusual to have a civil conversation with his brother, but it was even more unusual when he realised that he was actually enjoying spending time with Remus.“I have to admit, it seemed awfully out of character for the man who only resorts to blackmail and theft.” Remus bit his lip at Roman’s comment, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before speaking.“Yeah… we were spooked by a detective being that close to Jan… He really cares about him, y’know… and I want the boss to be happy, that’s all I ever want.” Before Roman could reply, Remus hands over a piece of paper and goes to stand up. Roman’s eyes widened when he understood that it was a location for Janus, he could help make Logan happy again. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy, it was going to be hard for Logan to forgive him, let alone him being able to forgive Janus after everything he had to do. Remus lingered by the door and turned back to Roman.“I think you know who needs that. By the way, tell that guy… Patton is it? The one that you’re seeing. Tell him I’m sorry. I regret any kind of harm that came to him.” Roman nodded, Patton had already forgiven everyone involved, because that’s how sweet he is, but it was nice to hear an apology. He sighed and pulled up Remus’ file on the computer, he went through the security procedures and Remus turned at the loud beep while staring at the computer. He noticed that the surveillance status had been removed from him.Roman smiled at him and Remus found himself smiling back.“Come and visit more often.”“I’d like that, Brother Dear.” Remus beamed and finally walked out the door. He quickly put his phone to his ear to make an important phone call.
“Hi Gorgeous! Just wanted to let you know that I’ve done that favour of yours… You’re very welcome… Haha, I’ll hold you to that… See you tonight? Alright, bye.”
Similarly, Roman made a phone call of his own. He instinctively smiled when he heard the bright, peppy voice answer.
“Cake! Darling… you wouldn’t happen to be with my brilliant cousin, would you?”
“I think you know I am!”
Roman tried not to laugh as he heard the grumpy voice of Logan in the background. “If that’s Roman, what the hell does he want?” Roman heard shuffling as Patton put the phone onto loudspeaker.
“Now, now. Calm it down. I’ve got some information that you want. Can I come and bring it in person?” There was a brief moment of hesitation before Roman got the reply he was hoping for.
“…Fine. Door’s unlocked.”
“I’ll be there in ten.” The phone hung up immediatelyThe atmosphere in the apartment was tense to say the least. Logan was pacing around, and it took five of those minutes for Patton and Virgil to convince him to sit down in a chair. They kept themselves busy by clearing the floor of paper and maps… it reminded Patton of the very start of this whole affair. Logan sat in the chair in total silence, his fingers tapped in an intricate pattern following the Fibonacci Sequence. They all jumped when Logan’s front door slammed open and closed, listening for Roman’s light footsteps approaching them.Logan rushed to the doorway and Roman yelped as Logan held his hand out.“Well, this is quite the greeting.”Logan kept his hand outstretched but Roman walked in and beelined to the chair closest to Patton, which then forced Logan to sit down too.“Look, cousin. I know you haven’t quite forgiven me for everything that has come to light recently.” Logan scoffed before he continued. “BUT… Despite how unsure I was about this initially, I can see how miserable you are without Hyde, and my brother tells me that Janus is miserable without you… so here, this is where he is. Go get him.”Roman leant forward with the piece of paper with Janus’ address in his hand. Logan leant forward and accepted it, a dumbfounded expression on his face. He read it carefully, but then dropped it unexpectedly. Everyone stared at Logan, unsure what was going on.“Remus… Ja- Hyde’s right-hand man, the one who always hid in the shadows until the pool… He’s your brother?! How did I never know about this?!” Logan questioned aggressively, not in anger, more in annoyance that he had never deduced this now obvious connection. Patton was surprised as well, it was curious that Virgil wasn’t, but that was something he would need to work out another time.“We both went down different career paths; it was before we re-connected so you never got to meet him. That’s not what’s important here. In the end, I think we can agree that we’ve all had some misguided judgements, but we all agree that this is what’s best for you.”Logan was still slightly apprehensive but accepted that explanation. There was no reason for Roman to lie He went and shook Roman’s hand, a silent agreement between them that everything would be explained later. There was no more time to lose, it was take some travelling to reach the address in Norfolk. He looked at Patton who both smiled gently with approval.“Go, Logan.” Virgil encouraged gently.“Yeah! We’ll be here when you get back, and we’re a phone call away if something happens.” Patton added, with that encouraging tone he always appreciated.Logan hesitated before smiling back.“Thank you… Roman, Virgil… Cake.”Logan looked on his phone at train times, as Patton squealed at the fact that Logan finally called him by the nickname. A train was leaving in half an hour, so he waved before he grabbed his coat, wallet and scarf before he headed out of the apartment and signalled for a taxi.He was going to fight, for him, for them.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Logan stared out of the window as the train moved incredibly slowly, only in his opinion. As the train pulled into stop after stop, he felt apprehensive. What exactly does he say? He was angry, no, furious about what Hy- Janus did… to put it plainly, he was hurt. It felt like all the promises that Janus made Logan while he was following the game were a lie. He seemed so genuine, and that night at the restaurant was perfect. Janus felt like a normal guy then, not a criminal… someone who he could trust. Trust was something that Logan doesn’t allow so willingly, and his heart shattered when he saw Patton and Virgil had been kidnapped. Despite it all, he could only think about seeing Janus and falling into his arms immediately, but he needed to expel the rage first. He sighed and leant his head against the window, daydreaming about their reunion. Was Janus going to be happy to see him? Scared? Angry that he had been found? He hoped that Janus would be happy to see him, to feel the same way he did because despite it all, Logan did have extremely strong feelings for Janus, and he was terrified of them. He hoped that Janus would accept them and reciprocate them. His hands began to sweat as he thought about it, it would be a new experience for him, one he had never wanted to experience before… but Janus was the only person he wanted to go through this illogical ride with. Logan’s mind was made up, and nothing was going to change it.The train finally called out his stop and he headed to the doors without hesitation. He was practically bounced on his feet as he waited for the train to come to a dramatically slow stop so the doors could drag open. Logan rushed his way out of the station, and he knew that he wasn’t thinking clearly because he managed to get lost twice. He realised that he never been to Norfolk before, so he didn’t know how to get around. Thankfully, there was a line of waiting taxis and the first man waved Logan over, seeming more than happy to take his fare. Logan clambered into the back of the car and nodded politely at the driver as he tried to remember which coat pocket he had put the address in.“Can you take me to 73 Ebon Boulevard, please?” Logan’s voice shook a little as he spoke, the apprehension built to incomprehensible levels as the driver nodded and began to drive off. Logan ran the tassels of his scarf through his fingers continuously, trying to calm his nerves. The taxi driver chuckled, and Logan looked up curiously.“I’m going to take a guess, and assume that your new to the area? I’m Roger by the way.” He asked cheerfully and gave his name, glancing in the mirror from time to time while continuing to drive. His soothing voice made Logan want to partake small talk for a change.“Sure. You could say that I am in a way... I’m Logan.” He looked down at the address once again, and then smiled while looking out the window again. The view was beautiful, there were endless rows of small houses all covered in pebble stone. Many well-kept gardens full of bright, colourful flowers sat outside the houses and the sea stretched out behind them. His thoughts turned into a daydream that he could settle down in a place like this one day in the future, maybe with Janus if everything worked out how he hoped it would.Roger chuckled once again and hummed in realisation. Logan looked in the mirror and saw Roger smiling back which caused Logan to wonder what he was thinking.“I know that look. You’re on your way to meet someone special. Am I right?” He waved his hand in between them in excitement, which made Logan notice a very unique engagement ring on his finger. Logan hesitated, then smiled as he had to admit that it was true.“You are very correct.” Roger beamed with pride at Logan’s answer and looked at his own ring fondly as they waited at a red light.“Ahh, that brings back memories. I was in love with my best friend, but I was too shy and scared of people’s reactions to actually admit it to him… until he was moving away. So I sat at work, but I couldn’t let him leave. I did the exact same thing you are. I raced to the airport in the back of a taxi, and caught him just before he got on the plane… Now he’s my fiancée.” Logan smiled warmly throughout the whole story and the light turned green just as Roger finished talking. He hoped he would be able to tell a story like that one day, but he would have to wait and see. “Go on then. What’s her name? Or is it his name? Their name?” Logan liked Roger, he was extremely polite, and he was so easy to talk to. It was nice to be so open about this with someone who didn’t really know him.“Janus. His name is Janus. We haven’t known each other very long, and we went on a bit of an adventure together, but then we… we went through a bit of a rough patch. I know that he’s the one for me. I need to make sure he feels the same way.” Logan smiled as he spoke, he felt a wave of hope and happiness wash over him as he talked about Janus. It made this whole journey seem much more worthwhile. Roger beamed in the mirror and turned to Logan as they stopped at yet another red light.“Good for you, kid. Good for you.” Roger remarked sincerely as they then fell into a comfortable silence. Logan felt the car start to move, and he continued to look out the window, he watched people going about their lives. The sea looked even more beautiful as the sun broke out causing it to dazzle like diamonds in the distance.Fifteen minutes pass, and the taxi pulled up outside a small maisonette. It was oddly comforting but out of character for Janus, there was no time to think about that now, he had more important things to do. Logan pulled out his wallet to pay, but Roger held his hand out and shook his head with a smile.“Put your money away, Logan. This trip is on the house.”“Roger, I have to pay you!” Logan stated as a matter of fact, holding his wallet closer to Roger. He lowered it gently until it was resting in his lap. Roger looked at him, the smile not leaving his face.“Kid, my driver didn’t take my money. I’m not going to do the same to you… now go get your man!” He replied with sassy tone in his voice which made Logan laugh. He held out his hand for Roger to shake before he took a deep breath and got out the car. He stared at the piece of paper and the house number, just to make sure it was definitely correct as Roger took off down the road.Logan tightened his fists and shook away the nerves that were slowly building once again. As he walked down the driveway, he had one initial thought in his head. If this was all some kind of trick by the brothers, he was going to kill both Roman and Remus personally.He stood by the front door, frozen to the spot. Maybe he should just turn around and go home, spare himself the embarrassment if Janus doesn’t answer the door. He shook his head. No, enough stalling now. He stood on the step and rang the bell next to the front door. He could see movement inside, so at least it wasn’t an abandoned house, but did it belong to the person he wanted it to? He saw the figure slowly approach, almost in a slumber. A voice called out in irritation.“Remus, if this is you again, I swear to-” The door swung open, and Janus’ eyes widened when he looked at Logan. Logan’s breath hitched when he looked back. Janus looked so different. His hair was dishevelled, no gloves on his hands, it was almost like he was a completely different person. At least Remus was right about more than one thing, it seemed that this whole series of events took its toll on both of them… At least he hadn’t been tricked. All the things that he wanted to say disappeared from his mind as an overwhelming sense of worry took over. Janus looked awful.Janus tried to frantically smooth down his hair and regain his composure before leaning against the doorframe, coughing lightly, trying to maintain the smooth façade he always puts on.“Detective? Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you… but how in the name of sanity did you find me?” Janus asked curiously. Logan was so busy staring into Janus’ eyes, but he shrugged back, almost as if this was nothing special.“Roman and Remus appeared to have a change of heart.” Janus looked at the piece of paper trembling slightly in Logan’s hand in surprise. He recognised the handwriting immediately, he couldn’t fathom the fact that Remus contributed to Logan and Janus being brought together again, especially after everything that happened. Although it didn’t make sense, he was delighted to see Logan again. His heart skipped a beat as he discreetly pinched himself just to make sure that it wasn’t a dream.After remembering that they were just standing on the front porch, so Janus stepped to the side and allowed Logan to come in. He watched with a small smile as Logan stared at the inside of the building, it was so domestic, and it was a guarantee that it was something that he wasn’t expecting. He watched as Logan’s breathing became heavy, and he clenched his fists in frustration. Janus stayed behind Logan; he gave him space but remained close by so Logan could hear him as he spoke in a soft voice.“Now… Phoenix. I understand that you’re angry at me… I wouldn’t blame you.” Logan snapped his head around, so he was facing Janus, he gripped the banister of the stairs next to him until his knuckles turned white.“You… bastard! You absolute bastard!” Logan’s voice was loud, loaded with a complex mix of emotions. Janus could identify the main ones being rage and sadness. He could practically feel the rage from here and he knew it was going to explode. He was going to let Logan say whatever he needed to say, Janus deserved it after all.“Do you have ANY idea how much you BROKE me?! I was destroyed in every single way…. You knew everything about me, things I had never shared with anyone else. I shared my fears with you, and- and you took that to your advantage. I- I just don’t understand.” Logan’s voice trembled and cracked as he shouted, everything he had been bottling up for weeks exploding all at once. He felt tears sting the corners of his eyes, and he looked up to see Janus’ reflecting the same amount of pain.Logan wiped his cheeks aggressively as the tears broke free and streamed down his face. Janus stepped closer tentatively, and he gently placed a hand on Logan’s cheek. As much as he didn’t want to, Logan relaxed into the touch, looking down at the floor, unsure what he would see if he looked up. After a few seconds, Janus coaxed Logan to look at him, and Logan got to gaze into Janus’ heterochromia eyes once again. They were even more beautiful now. His anger turned to sadness, his voice growing softer now that the anger had been released.“Why… Janus? Tell me the truth, that’s all I need.”Janus sighed and smiled sadly. He could feel tears sting the corners of his eyes once again. Hearing the pain in Logan’s voice just reminded him how much he hated everything that he did, and how he didn’t deserve forgiveness. He delicately rubbed his thumb across Logan’s cheek"I’m so sorry, Logan. I didn’t have a choice. The Syndicate, well Remus and the boys, they were getting suspicious about you, they thought the game was going to end in them behind bars. They cornered me after our evening at the restaurant. I couldn’t talk them out of their threats. They would have killed you, Logan. I know they would have." Logan gasped softly, he never realised just how much was at stake. He couldn’t believe that Janus would put everything on the line for him. However, he couldn’t shake the residual pain of the betrayal."So you thought that tearing me to pieces and breaking my heart was a better option instead?" Logan murmured as Janus winced before he gently replied."... Better to break your heart, than live knowing that it isn't beating anymore."Logan’s eyes widened in realisation, and Janus smiled sadly back. With no hesitation, Logan interlocked his free hand with Janus’ and tugged him closer. They paused as the tension built before they finally colliding together. Logan closed the gap between them and kissed Janus passionately which felt like fireworks in his mind. Janus kissed him back with a fire and passion that caused Logan’s head to spin. This was right, and this was everything that Logan wanted. He kissed Janus one more time before pulling away, his breathing was heavy, and Janus rested his head against Logan’s.“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Janus teased as he tried to get his breath back, and Logan chuckled in response.They walked into the living room and fell backwards onto the sofa by the door. They wrapped their arms around each other, one holding the other as close as possible not wanting to let go, not even for a moment. Logan played with the hair on Janus’ neck and looked up into Janus’ eyes.“So, what do we do now?” Logan asked sincerely, and Janus had to admit that he had never thought that far ahead. He never thought he would see Logan again.“I need to get some things sorted. I want to prove to you that I have changed, that I’m not that person you saw at the swimming pool. I’m leaving all of that behind me. Just… give me some time to do it all. I’ll come to you, just wait for me. Please, Logan?”“… I’ll wait for you.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It took six months for Janus to leave the past behind him and was then able to start a completely new life. There were a lot of secrets he had to keep from Logan but knew that his partner would understand. Thankfully, there was no radio silence between them like Janus initially thought there would have to be. Logan spoke to him every day, and they managed to meet up once a month which Janus enjoyed immensely every time like he knew he would, because every minute with Logan was perfect. They would go for coffee, or out for walks, or snuggle up watching movies and pointing out the inconsistencies. Every time, it was hard to let Logan leave too, but Janus needed to make sure that no danger would come to him, now or ever.First, he needed to leave the Pyrite Syndicate which took three months to finally do. It was the most agonizing thing he had ever done, these boys were his family, they looked out for him when no one else would. Janus had to stay firm when the boys begged him not to leave, but he wanted to. He wanted to live on the right side for a change, the side that didn’t mean looking over his shoulder every five minutes for the police. Handing over the leadership was another significantly hard task because not many people stepped forward. Janus tried to give the Syndicate to Remus, because he was effectively the line in line to take over, but he categorically refused.“Sorry boss, I can’t do it. Somehow, I’ve met someone. Someone who makes me want to stay on the right side of the law now.” Remus took out his phone and showed Janus a photo of him and Virgil together, it took a moment to remember who he was, but when it clicked it made Janus smile even though he was a little confused. Remus laughed and explained. “Yeah. I didn’t think it would happen either. I literally bumped in Virgil at the restaurant the night I was spying on you, completely by chance. Then the swimming pool happened… but I couldn’t quit him. I went back to that restaurant every day, and we somehow met again. I talked about everything, I apologised like crazy… and with time… he forgave me. He makes me so fucking happy, Jan.”Janus smiled fondly as he watched Remus’ face when he talked about Virgil. He was happy for Remus; it was nice that he found someone who could make him smile and want to change his life as well. They were both doing the right thing.“I was going to hand in my resignation anyway, but I would honored if I could leave with you.” Janus nodded before they decided together than Jonathan would take over the Syndicate. The man was surprised but he took the position, and the other boys welcomes the decision with other arms. Janus and Remus started by taking all of the remaining artefacts out the headquarters, and they stored them in Janus’ house. They spent as much time as was needed to teach Jonathan the ropes, specifically their procedures and ground rules. He needed to make it clear that no one was ever to be harmed in any way, he didn’t want to hear anything like the pool incident happening ever again. Fortunately, he knew rather quickly that it wasn’t going to happen. Janus was impressed at how professional Jonathan was. He was going to do the Pyrite Syndicate proud, and now Janus could walk away to start the next chapter after three long months.Next, Janus had to move out of his little place in Norfolk and find somewhere to live in London, somewhere relatively close to Logan. ‘Who knew that trying to rent a property in Central London would be difficult?’ He thought to himself with a scoff. Eventually, after a month of searching, he managed to find a nice little place ‘221B Baker Street’ which was only two roads away from Logan. He knew the landlady by chance as he managed to get her out of a rather nasty marriage, so the rent was heavily discounted, in exchange for him doing dd jobs for her which he didn’t mind at all. Logan was a little confused as to why they weren’t travelling up to Norfolk anymore, but Janus fobbed it off by saying that he wanted to get to know London better and see the places that Logan enjoyed, which made him suspicious but happy.Finally, Janus had to get a job. This would be the most difficult part of all because he assumed that many places wouldn’t exactly consider ‘Head of a Criminal Syndicate for a multitude of years’ would exactly make him a great candidate for a job. He still applied for a couple, and unsurprisingly heard back from neither of them due to the emptiness in his CV. Then he had an idea, he asked Remus to get in touch with Roman, and ask to set up a meeting.The meeting took place rather quickly, Janus and Remus brought in the two boxes containing the remaining artefacts that had to be found, and Roman stared at them dumbfounded.“Not that I’m not pleased to see these, but why now Janus?” Roman asked, genuinely intrigued to know the answer.“It’s not just Logan I need to prove I’ve changed to.” Janus replied just as sincerely. Roman nodded in response.“Since you’ve done something of a national service by returning these, I’m allowed to grant you a favour according to my advisors.” Roman smirked, as if he knew what Janus was going to ask, he looked at Remus as he silently asked if he was sure. Remus nodded and Janus turned back to Roman.“Get us a job? Please?” Janus asked timidly, he had to admit that he wasn’t used to asking for help like this before.“I thought you’d never ask! Luckily, the three people standing outside can help.” Roman chuckled as he let in Patton, Virgil and DI Gomez. Patton held Roman’s hand and stood by him as Roman sat down again, Virgil kissed Remus’ cheek then sat in the chair behind him. DI Gomez looked confused before he clocked who Janus was, the confusion and suspicion apparent on his face. He looked back at Roman who winked, this was effectively a job interview, and he would have to impress on the spot.“Sir. I understand entirely why you are suspicious of me right now. I can’t say I blame you; I don’t have a clean past and I have eluded you multiple times. I can assure you; the Pyrite Syndicate is long behind me. I quit last month, and I am no longer affiliated with them. My skill set could be quite valuable to you and your team, I understand how the Criminal Underworld works, I know how criminals think and how they plan their crimes, I still have contacts for you to exploit. There’s a lot for you to take advantage of here. Besides, I know that Detective Phoenix and Sergeant Brigh here would keep me in line.” He watched as DI Gomez relaxed a little when he spoke, understanding the sincerity in everything he said.“If you train for the next two months and pass the initial test. Roman can give you your favour. That’s only if you pass.” DI Gomez held his hand out to shake, and Janus happily accepted. Patton squealed and everyone else cheered a little. Before Janus could say anything more, Virgil stood up and coughed which gained the rooms attention.“Sir? There’s that position on my lab team that still hasn’t been filled yet for four months. I think your candidate is standing in front of you.” Virgil pushed Remus forward and DI Gomez waited patiently, Remus took a deep breath before he pleaded his case too.“I mean. I know my way around collecting evidence, I know how to analyse a crime scene. I would need some help with police procedures, but Virgil’s job is similar to what mine was and I’ll follow whatever I’m told.” DI Gomez looked at Remus, and then looked at Janus who nodded. Then he looked at Roman who also nodded. DI Gomez sighed and held his hand out for Remus to shake as well, luckily for him, he could be taken on as a trainee which Remus was happy with.After two long months of basic training, revising, and preparing for the exam. Janus walked into Roman’s office with pride as he held his certificate in his hand. Roman shook his hand a made some calls, pushing Janus though the system. They all knew that this wasn’t how it worked for everyone, but this was how the favour worked. He would be able to surprise Logan going, and he would be able to stay for good. He left Roman’s office and travelled to the police station. He waited until Logan’s mandatory shift was over before sneaking in and picking up his badge and credentials. He returned home to sleep, he quickly replied to a text from Patton asking if he wanted to come out on a triple date tomorrow after they all finished work. Janus immediately accepted and text Logan goodnight before falling asleep immediately. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.Today was the day, and to say he was excited was an understatement. He wanted his official reunion to be special and he knew this was the perfect way to do it. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Logan’s face in about ten minutes as he waited outside the briefing room. He glanced inside and made sure that Logan was there, just as expected, he was sitting at the back looking bored and just a little bit unsure as to what was going on because Patton and Virgil were in the meeting which must have been unusual. He was still as beautiful as ever, and then he heard his cue;“We have a new member of the team joining us today. Janus Hyde will be taking over as Detective Phoenix’s partner.”Logan’s head shot up at Janus’ name, and his eyes widened when he walked through the door. A silent look between them with soft smiles. There was a round of applause and cheering, mainly coming from Patton. Many people came up to Janus to introduce themselves, and it was nice how quickly he felt like he belonged. A scoff emerged from the raucous and Janus stared at the man waiting for an explanation.“Oh great, got another freak in here then.” Robinson remarked with a roll of the eyes. Janus walked over to him and shook his hand while pulling him closer. He watched as Logan shook his head, but he just winked back in response.“I would play nicely if I were you. Logan might have exposed your extra-curricular activities… but I know about your gambling habit.” He spoke into Robinson’s ear with a harsh whisper, watching as Robinson turned pale. Janus patted him sarcastically on the shoulder.DI Gomez called everyone out of the room, he left a case file on the desk at the front before he winked and headed out, closing the door behind him. Logan and Janus laughed as they both walked towards each other, embracing each other with a soft kiss.“You really got me; I wasn’t expecting something like this to happen when you asked me to wait for you… How can you even be on the police force anyway?” Logan wrapped his arms around Janus’ neck as he spoke, and Janus wrapped his arms around Logan’s waist in return. He smirked as he answered.“Let’s just say, a certain member of the British Government was eternally grateful for all of the stolen items that were mysteriously returned… so I was allowed one favour.”“And The Syndicate?”“That was the bit that took the longest to sort out. I tried to hand it over to Remus, but he refused to take over for the sake of his boyfriend. He wants to stay ‘on the right side of the law’ from now on. Just like I do.”Logan smiled and tugged Janus into one more kiss, which caused Janus to remember what was happening that evening and he pulled away abruptly.“Oh, I almost forgot. We’re going on a triple date tonight, I agreed to it yesterday, so I hope you don’t mind.” Logan tilted his head in confusion.“Who are the others?”“Well; it’s you and me, Patton and Roman, Remus and Virgil. We’re going to go to the restaurant that started all of this.” Logan then stepped back even more confused, and Janus couldn’t help but chuckle at how adorable he looked.“What? What did that happen?!” Logan demanded, and Janus pulled Logan close, playing with his hair gently.“My love, you are the smartest man in London… but you miss what’s happening right in front of you sometimes. You can interrogate them all tonight.” Logan laughed and blushed a bright shade of pink, moving his arms around the back of Janus’ neck.“You’re here? You’re here for good?” Logan asked tentatively, and Janus secured his arms around Logan’s waist.“I’m not going anywhere ever again.”“Do you promise?”“I’m yours and only yours, forever and always my dear.”They kissed one more time before finally picking up the case file and getting to work. One thought in both of their minds.This was their forever and always.