Chapter 7: Mercy

Tim sat up straight in his bed at the sound of his phone ringing. He leaned to his right and patted the top of his night stand until he found the receiver and picked it up. Through a yawn he said, “Tim’s Place, I don’t want any visitations, well-wishers or distant relations. . .”

On the other end, Kate sniffed and then gave a little laugh. She cleared her throat and impersonating an old man she replied, “And what about very old friends?”

Tim rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, well that only applies if you’re as old as me or Dutch McManus.” He squinted in the dark at the clock on his wall but there wasn’t enough light to see it.

Kate didn’t have the regular mischievousness in her voice. “I’m sorry about that Tim. I don’t think you’re that old.” She paused. “And sorry for calling so late. You know what? I’ll just talk to you tomorrow-”

“Hold on!” he said before she could hang up. “Just wait a sec.”

Hearing the tone in her voice, he turned on the lamp next to his bed, and spun his feet over the side so he was in a sitting position.

The last time he remembered her talking like this was about a month after she’d left her home in California.

Tim hadn’t forgotten about the demi-god who showed up in town. “Are you okay? Is this about Thane?” He stood up. “I can be over there in-”

“No, no. I mean yes, it’s about him, but no you don’t need to come over.” She sighed. “I can’t stop thinking of him, is very strange.”

Tim waited for her to expound.

She continued. “And I can see how he behaves around me. The way he looks at me Tim, I know it. He’s been watching me when he doesn’t think I’ll notice, and at dinner? After what he said to Sallie, whenever I’d talk to him he’d smile. He is a strange person and is very intriguing, but I say stupid things around him.”

From what Tim could remember, Thane smiled at everyone he talked to. “I dunno Kate. The guy is pretty hard to read. I thought he might have been some kind of con-man, but with the way he is, it actually makes sense that he negotiates for a living.”

Kate drew in a shaky breath. “About that,” she swallowed. “I guess he met up with one of his clients tonight and things didn’t go well.”

“How so?” Tim asked.

“We got back to my apartment and I was thinking about failing another relationship and what everyone’s going to say and how Thane keeps hinting that we can’t get involved with each other. You know,” she was quiet briefly. “None of it would matter if it didn’t mean anything.”

“Kate,” Tim said, making sure he wasn’t sounding patronizing in any way. “You’ve only known him for a day and he seems to be fairly reserved about who he is. Are you sure-”

“It’s not just his looks, Tim.” Kate said flatly. “Every time I’ve said anything he listens. I know if I asked him about anything we talked about, he’d remember every detail.

“There’s been a few times he’s been a bit… condescending in response to some of the things I asked and talked about, but he’d apologize almost immediately after. He understands the impact of his words, because he’s always kind to me after he realizes what he said.”

When Tim was younger he might have interjected, asking why she was defending the man who was a total stranger.

Now that Kate labeled him a senior citizen at the age of forty-eight, experience taught him to be supportive and let her finish.

Her voice sounded frustrated. “It’s like part of him is trapped.”

Tim nodded. “So what happened tonight?”

“He left the apartment. I didn’t even know he was gone until I saw his overcoat thing missing from the couch. I went outside and there was one set of footprints leading into the forest and so I followed them.” Kate’s voice became shaky again. “Thane came out of nowhere and grabbed me, demanding to know what I was doing out there. He said it was dangerous and then,” her eyes were watering and her nose started to run again.

She sniffled. “He said… he said I was a foolish little girl and to stay away from him. He said my interference almost cost him everything,” She started crying, but it was a quiet controlled one. “I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much.”

Between breaths she said, “I didn’t mean to do it Tim! Had I known I would have never left my apartment!”

“I know, Kate.” Tim said softly. “In the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you purposely do anything spiteful to anyone. Except maybe me, when you're especially nice to the customers I don’t get along with and so they keep coming back.” he spoke with a smile, hoping to lift her spirits. “Seriously Kate, you are one of the kindest people I’ve met. And,”

Tim hesitated in what he was going to say as he wasn’t sure at first whether he wanted to say it. He didn’t know Thane at all, but Tim didn’t peg him for the verbally abusive type. Of course, that could be the English accent playing tricks on him.

He would give him the benefit of the doubt, for Kate.

“Kate, he shouldn’t have lost his temper, but guys get kinda freaked out when someone they care about is put in danger. Remember you telling me about how furious your dad got when you jumped into the deep end of a pool when you were a kid?”

She stopped crying. “Oh. Yeah.”

“It sounds like something similar happened,” Tim reasoned. “I don’t know Thane, but he doesn’t seem the type to lose control of his emotions. So if he did, it’s because he cares about you. You, after all, kinda saved his life, didn’t you?”

Kate was quiet on the other end. “Then why did he tell me to stay away? Why did he have to call me a ‘foolish little girl’?”

Tim knew how much Kate hated being treated like or compared to, a child. “On that part, I’m not so sure.”

On the first floor of Tim’s shop, the doorbell rang.

“Hey Kate, someone’s at the door. It may be that shipment of boots that was supposed to be here yesterday.”

Kate swallowed. “Okay. Well, thanks for listening Tim. I really appreciate it.”

“Anything for the niece I never had,” he said as he pulled on his shoes.

Kate smiled. As a side thought she asked, “Hey Tim, do you normally answer the phone like you did earlier?”

“Normally, I don’t answer the phone. You do. But at these hours?” he chuckled. “You’re the only one who calls me this late. I took a gamble.” He finished putting on his jacket and headed to the door. “You coming in tomorrow?”

In a slight creole accent she replied, “You bet bosman.”

Tim paused before descending the stairs. “I haven’t seen whatever you're referencing.”

Kate laughed. “I’ll be there. Goodnight, Tim.”

“Night Kate.”

***

Tim did a double take when he pulled the blinds apart to see who was standing outside.

Thane stood there, rubbing his hands together, occasionally blowing hot air into fingers to keep them warm. When he saw Tim peek through the glass he smiled and gave him a tiny wave.

Tim opened the blinds and gave Thane a menacing stare. “I told you not to hurt her. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”

Thane’s smile faded. He nodded and could no longer look at Tim.

Tim flicked on the outside light. Immediately he saw how puffy Thane’s eyes were and knew there was another side to the story.

Opening the door, Tim said, “You might have hurt her, but she wouldn’t want you spending the night outside. Go take a seat next to the fire.” Tim picked a poker up from beside the fireplace, jabbed at the dim red coals and then tossed a log into the rising flames.

Thane shook his head. “How can I have hurt her? We’ve barely known each other a day.”

Tim smiled as he rotated the log in the fire. “You know, I told her the exact same thing, but then you showed up and turns out,” he turned and gave Thane a look of mock surprise. “You seem to be affected just as much as she was over someone you just met.”

Thane closed his eyes. “That’s not-”

“About her?” Tim asked. “Yeah probably not. You're sad.”

Thane didn’t say anything.

Tim sat in the chair next to his. “Look. It’s none of my business what happens between you two, but I care about Kate. Most people in this town care about her, even if they don’t show it. If anything happened to her, they’d run you out of town so fast your head would spin.

“Seeing as you have zero percent body fat on that body and therefore no insulation, all that man meat is likely to freeze. You won’t survive the journey to the next town. Not this late in the year.”

“That’s uh, very,” Thane searched for the right word. “Descriptive.” He rubbed his forehead. “It isn’t just Kate I can’t get involved with, it’s everyone in Caribou Falls.”

Tim looked at him in confusion. “I don’t understand Thane, what is it you do that is so incredibly dangerous? I mean, when Kate explained things over the phone, I get you reacted the way you did because you were worried about her. What I don’t understand is why, exactly. Who are these people you work with?” His eyes narrowed. “Is it drugs? Sex trafficing?”

Thane shook his head. He measured his next words carefully. “I work with some of the oldest families in existence, some of them their legacies dating back several centuries. All of them have vast amounts of money and own more of, well everything than most of us realize.”

Again, he carefully said what he revealed to Tim. “They are so heavily interwoven into the world’s power structure, there is always one of them holding a position who can issue a command for their existence to remain unknown.”

Tim looked at him suspiciously. “This is sounding heavy on the conspiracy side.”

Thane sighed. “I knew you’d think it was a load of tosh, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

The shorter, heavy set balding man raised his hands in defense. “Whoa, hold up. I never said anything about not believing you. Continue.”

Thane’s gaze went to the fire. “These families, every one of them, are beautiful. They’re highly intelligent and tend to view those around them as lesser beings. They see themselves above laws and governments. Their secrets are more important than human life and so, entering into their borders is treason, punishable by death.”

Tim stroked the little bit of facial hair he had on his face. “Seems like a lot of hunters around here would go missing and someone would hear about it if that were the case.”

Thane raised an eyebrow. “It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?” he leaned back in the chair. “Between fences, game trails, fallen logs and densely placed forest, they’ve done a proper job at directing outsiders away from their land before they even get near it.”

A look of realization appeared on Tim’s face for a second and then disappeared.

Thane noticed the look and asked, “What is it?”

Lost in thought, Tim said more to himself than to Thane, “There’s something about all this that seems familiar, I just can’t place it.”

After a minute the shop owner shrugged and asked another question. “If these families control governments worldwide, how do you know they aren’t controlling who you work for?”

Thane shook his head. “I don’t work for any government. I am part of an entity who knows everything about these families and is ready at a moment’s notice to go to war with them if need be.”

Thane rolled his massive shoulders.

“My job is to ensure that never happens. I make sure they remain in their lands and keep things civil between rival families and regular people.”

Pinching a piece of his surcoat with his thumb and index finger he lifted it and said, “This clothing and how I look? It’s for what I do. In order to even qualify for this job, you have to be a certain degree of attractiveness, physical strength, intelligence and mental fortitude to exude power. Those chosen for this work have no family or friends of their own, as they could be used to threaten the individual or organization.”

Tim whistled. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.” he looked at Thane.

“You’re right. Kate probably shouldn’t be around you,” after a second he added, “I probably shouldn’t be around you. Why didn’t you mention any of this to Kate?”

It was Thane’s turn to give Tim a skeptical look. “You know Kate better than I, so correct me if I’m wrong.

“I’m willing to guess a woman who's spent at least half her life watching movies filled with adventure and romance is not going to be afraid or discouraged by anything I’ve shared with you.”

Tim couldn’t disagree; he was fairly certain Kate made some of her life decisions based on a chance her life might one day be on screen.

In response, he nodded. “That’d be a pretty good guess.”

“Tim, I shouldn’t have even told you any of this, but someone else should know just how serious this all is and why I need to distance myself from her.”

Tim stifled a yawn. “She’s not going to let this go as long as you’re here. I’ll try to do what I can to make you less appealing though I may have already fouled that up,” he scoffed.

Thane slammed his fist on the arm of the chair. “This is serious Tim!”

Tims eyes popped open and he sat up straight, his body felt like it had jump started with the amount of adrenaline flowing through it.

Thane apologized and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. “You don’t understand, after what happened tonight, they know she knows about me, and that she has been close to me for the last 24 hours.”

Thane’s head dipped down. “Kate’s life is in danger.”