Henri – 30

 

"You realize Upton might not be here," Allyn pointed out as they stood in the parking lot beside the bar.

 

"Only one way to find out," Ransom said. "Henri, you're the only one who knows what he looks like. You and Taegan go in. Allyn, Miranda, watch the back door."

 

"Describe him," Allyn said to Henri. "I'd hate to take out the wrong guy."

 

"Medium height with blond, military-cut hair and a deep tan." Henri chuckled dryly. "As the guy said, like a surfer. That's how I remember him, from the brief time I saw him. All that could have changed since then."

 

"It's a start. If he is in there, let us know," Allyn replied before he and Miranda walked around to the back of the bar.

 

"I'll wait out here," Ransom told Henri when they were in front of the bar. "The same thing Allyn said goes for me. If Upton is here, let me know."

 

With a nod, Henri, with Taegan right beside him, entered. It was an ill-lit place, smelling of beer and cheap pine-scented cleaner. A long bar filled one wall, with tables scattered around the room. Most of the men looked like punks and thugs. The women were, in Henri's opinion, sleazy and probably hookers, from what they were wearing—or not wearing.

 

::Do you see him?:: Taegan asked.

 

Henri shook his head, walking to the bar.

 

"What'll it be, gents?" the bartender asked.

 

"Beer," Henri replied. "In the bottle." He turned, leaning back against the bar as he scanned the patrons at the tables. None of them were Upton and he wasn't seated at the bar. The bartender returned with their beers, banging them down on the bar. Henri paid him, asking, "Norm been in tonight?"

 

The bartender snorted. "When ain't he in? The guy thinks this is his second home." He pointed to a table far back in a dark—or darker—corner. "He was there ten minutes ago. Check the john."

 

"As if," Henri muttered, earning a dry, knowing smile from the bartender. He took a drink of his beer, letting the others know, ::Upton might be here.::

 

::Might?:: Ransom asked, so Henri told him what the bartender had said.

 

Just then, a man staggered from the short hall leading, Henri presumed, to the johns. It took Henri a moment to recognize him as Upton. His hair was now long and scraggly, and his complexion was pasty.

 

Upton managed to make it back to his table without falling. He picked up an obviously empty beer bottle, put it to his mouth and tipped his head back, as if wanting the final drops, then slammed it down on the table.

 

"Wait here," Henri said to Taegan, picking up Taegan's untouched beer. Going over to Upton's table, Henri sat, handing the bottle to the man.

 

Upton looked blearily at him. "Do I know you?" he muttered, grabbing the bottle.

 

"Yeah. We met maybe six, seven months ago. You were hanging with a dude named Xavier."

 

"Fuck Xavier! The bastard."

 

Grabbing Upton's shirt to pull him closer, Henri said in a deathly quiet voice, "You didn't seem to think so when you were helping him kill an innocent family."

 

"Oh, shit. He wanted their dog. Said we'd make a fortune off him. Only it wasn't really dog. It was some kind of mutant. I saw it in the lab before it escaped." Upton shuddered. "The woman, she tried to stop us taking it. It got away and Xavier said we had to kill them or they'd go to the cops."

 

"Innocent kids," Henri spat out angrily.

 

"Yeah, well, it was them or us." Upton yanked away. "Still, I decided I'd better do something before Xavier decided to lay the blame for the killings on my doorstep—and told him so. We argued. I walked." He looked cagily at Henri. "I can tell you where to find him, if that's why you're here."

 

Henri smiled darkly. "I already have. He's dead."

 

"Fuck!" Upton staggered to his feet just as Taegan appeared beside him, gripping his arm to keep him from running. "Get your damned hands off me," Upton shouted.

 

Several of the bar patrons looked over, as if they were considering whether to help Upton. They quickly decided not to when Ransom walked to the table, saying loudly enough to be heard, "Norman Upton, you're under arrest for murder," while he snapped a pair of cuffs on Upton's wrists.

 

Upton sagged in defeat as Ransom and Taegan walked him out the back door of the bar with Henri right behind them.

 

"Back to the lab?" Ransom asked once everyone was in the car, with Upton slumped in the rear seat.

 

"Yep," Henri replied tiredly. "But first we need to get rid of something."

 

"Me?" Upton asked in panic.

 

"Not yet," Taegan told him with a malicious grin.

 

Ransom tapped his lip. "I know the perfect place."

 

Ten minutes later, following Ransom's directions, Taegan pulled the SUV to the curb by a small park. Leaving Allyn and Miranda to watch Upton, Ransom waited while Henri retrieved the bin holding all of Xavier's files. Then he led Henri and Taegan to a picnic area nestled in the center of a stand of trees.

 

Henri set the bin on one of the tables, took out two files, dumping the papers they contained into the grill next to table. "Lighter?"

 

Ransom had one, which he handed to Henri. After setting the papers afire, Henri fed the contents of the rest of the files into the grill.

 

"If we had some hotdogs," Taegan joked.

 

"Cooking them over this would probably poison us," Henri replied sourly, although he did smile.

 

When every last paper had turned to ash, the three men returned to the SUV and they went back to the lab.