Sui Generis – 7

 

They spent the rest of the night moving from alley to alley with no luck. If Fedor was out there, he didn't appear where they were.

Brand began to wonder if it had been his imagination when he though he saw Fedor. Or, perhaps, he was there and saw I wasn't alone. Not that that would have fazed him in the least under normal circumstances. Still… He smiled wryly. These aren't normal circumstances. Not in the grand scheme of things.

Saturday night they tried again, with no success, leaving Brand tense and jumpy. After getting some sleep, again filled with dreams bordering on nightmares, he appeared downstairs mid-afternoon to find the ground floor empty. He knew, because he'd checked, that Mag was up and moving.

"So where the hell are you?" he growled. Taking one of his drinks from the fridge, he tossed it back and washed the container to be used again. Then he opened the back door, wondering if Mag was out in the small yard for some reason. 

He was, and he didn't seem happy when he whirled around to look at Brand. "If I get my hands on whoever did this," he said, pointing to his tiny but productive garden.

Brand could see why he was upset. Someone had torn up every vegetable. Not the way a dog would, by digging them out, but they were literally torn out and scattered around the area.

"Well that sucks. If they wanted something to eat, why didn't they take it with them?"

"They didn't even try eating. It's vandalism, pure and simple," Mag replied in exasperation, picking up a carrot, waving it in front of Brand's face. "See?"

Brand grabbed his wrist, trying not to laugh, even though it wasn't a laughing matter. "I see. The question is who would do such a thing. We barely know our neighbors, and we don't play loud music when they're trying to sleep, so I'd say they're out."

"Anyone dumpster-diving would have taken the veggies with them." Mag smiled tightly. "The way we did a time or three."

"True." Brand paced to the fence, checking the lock. Not that it really would have kept anyone out. The fence was only a deterrent to dogs prowling the alley, low enough to climb over unless one was small kid. He suspected even a determined five-year-old could get over it—or through the gate.

As he turned back to look at Mag, he saw a frown, followed a panicked expression, cross his face.

"You don't suppose…" Mag said hesitantly.

Brand knew what he was asking and shook his head. "Why would Fedor do something so infantile?"

"To let you know that he knows where you're living?"

"I suppose that's a possibility, but it's hardly a terrifying way to go about it. Blood poured on the porch or a dead animal dropped in front of the door, would have sent a stronger message."

"He's toying with you. Maybe tomorrow it will be the animal."

"And maybe it's just vandalism, pure and simple, by punks with nothing better to do with their time."

"No." Mag pointed to the neighbor's yard where there was a much bigger, and untouched, garden. "If that were the case, they'd have done the same thing there, don't you think?"

Brand had to agree. "Probably."

Sighing, Mag started to pick up the vegetables that were salvageable. "Now what do we do?"

"You go to work tomorrow and we both go to school, as if nothing was wrong. Then I keep on hunting for him. Sooner or later, our paths will cross again, his and mine. Only this time I'm going to be much more careful."

"Meaning what?" Mag asked, as he started toward the house with an armload of vegetables.

"Meaning I'll do everything possible to stay off his radar so I can follow him without his knowing. As you pointed out a couple of nights ago, staking out his… his lair… and catching him alone when he least expects it, would probably be a better option than trying to attack him in an alley with other people around."

"Would he be alone there?" Mag suddenly grumbled 'damn' under his breath when he couldn't get the back door open because his hands were too full.

Brand hurried over to help him and when they were inside, Mag dumped the vegetables into the sink, turning on the water to rinse off the dirt.

"I presume there are other people there," Brand said in reply to Mag's question of a moment ago. "I never saw them, though, other than… than the men…" He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "If he has cohorts, they paid no attention to me. He was the only one who did. He and…"

"You don't have to talk about it right now," Mag said quietly.

Brand managed to smile a bit. "But later on?"

"Sometime, Brand, you have to. You've been carrying around what happened to you deep inside. If you don't let it out…"

"Yes, Nurse Larsson," Brand said acerbically. "I think you're taking your studies too much to heart. I'm fine. I'm dealing. As soon as I catch him, it'll be over and I can move on." He knew he was overreacting and whirled around, striding out of the kitchen before he said something he shouldn't, or worse yet, took his anger out on Mag.

It's not his fault. He had nothing to do with it. And now—maybe—he's drawn Fedor's attention because I let him come with me the last two nights. So what do I do now? He grimaced, throwing himself down on the sofa. If I knew the answer to that, this would be over.