“Maybe,” Vulpecula admitted, turning the glass of alcohol upside down for no reason in-particular, “But maybe I don't want them to. Because I'm like them.”
“No, you aren't,” Bartender Red assured a second time. Vulpecula knew for certain the bar was meant to be closed by now, which meant for certain that Red allowed him to stay entirely for his sake.
“I don't do the bad thing, but I cheer the bad thing on, because it's the only thing I have. Only thing I wake up for, only thing I must live for. Apus and Lacerta, they don't have the same stake in this.” Vulpecula said, his eyes making contact with Bartender Red. A rarity for him. “Aren't a lot of guarantees in this world. Only death, constant irritation, and a glimpse of happiness a single blink can miss.”
“Your father's a smart man,” Red said.
“My father didn't say that. I did,” Vulpecula confessed dryly, “My father gave nothing to me. My father wanted to save the world and he let it kill him, at the expense of everyone else in his wake. And I always liked to tell myself he did it to make the world safer for me, because it was a sacrifice that needed to be made. But if sons become their fathers, I know Hensley Noel did what he did because he wanted to run away from responsibility and escape reality.”
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying I won't become my father. I won't escape reality. And that I'll live, in the world as we know it, without distractions. I think it's time I move on from this. To live.” Vulpecula arose to his feet, though, watched as Bartender Red poured him a final drink. The coup de grace to a wounded detective. And as Vulpecula looked in his eyes, he felt a loving affection he had never left for another individual. It was so nice of him to pour more alcohol.
“To The Giving!” Bartender Red said, holding his own glass of alcohol in his hands.
Vulpecula bowed his head, the curtain call, the show has finished. The Fox Civilian clinked his glass of alcohol against Red's, “To The Gave.”
The Life and Crimes of Detective Barker
Episode Six
The Canes Vinitici
1.
It was a horrible taste. The pressing need to show flattery. He hated the gratuitous words he was expected to speak. He hated them more than he hated coming to these events. The Mayor had requested his presence at an election dinner. A request was usually just that and, nine times out of ten, Barker would ignore it. A request from the Mayor was the one time in ten he would go, or be forced to go.
“I know we all know, Detective Barker. He has solved many cases. Got me out of a couple binds myself,” the Mayor paused for the nervous laughter of those there to flatter him, “most recently, he solved the case of the group previously known as The Shock. Now, he is here tonight to be awarded his own division of Urgway Detectives.” The Mayor stopped and let his flashy grin spread across his face.
Barker had indeed put an end to The Shock. Not quite the way the Mayor here thought Barker had. Barker had lined up the pins and knocked them down, at least nine of the pins. The last pin, the front pin, he kept standing. The Hacker, who he later learned was named Buntly, was still swiveling around Urgway. He was now under the complete control of Barker, but this crowd didn’t know that.
Barker put his fork down on the table. He hadn’t actually been eating. He was just using it to keep his hands busy. He hadn’t prepared for anyone to call him out this evening. He had assumed this was another story of come pat the Mayor on the back with useless drivel. He pushed out his chair and stood to his feet. His shoes were much nicer than they had been a month ago. They were so black and shiny he could almost see his reflection. This wasn’t the benefit of being a detective. This was the advantage of having a hacker in your back pocket.
Barker passed old bird face, Pssitticus, as he moved towards the Mayor and the podium. His boss, or is it, former boss, now, didn’t look too pleased with the announcement. That meant he hadn’t been informed either. Was Barker ahead of Pssitticus now? It didn’t matter to him, he had bigger fish to fry than bird brain.
Barker felt several palms flat on his back, “congratulations! some of them said. None of them actually cared, they were here for self-glory, this announcement didn’t affect them. It just meant that now Barker was on the favor train. These rich snobs would come to him with outlandish request. Follow my cheating wife, find my missing runaway daughter, yadda yadda.
“Congratulations, Barker, I bet you didn’t see this coming did you,” said the Mayor, flashing his corny smile. He grasped Barker’s hands and turned to the well-placed newspaper cameras. The bulbs flashed, blinding Barker. He supposed his distorted scowl would be front and center on the paper the following morning. He hated the attention.
The Mayor sidestepped and allowed Barker the microphone with a flamboyant gesture. Barker stepped forward and cleared his throat. He suddenly wished he had brought his glass of water. It would give him a mere moment to connect his thoughts. He didn’t want his first words as a new lead detective to be rubbish. He straightened his tie and fixed his collar.
“I appreciate the gesture of consideration,” he started, this drew applause. He waited for the buffoons to simmer down. “It is with great regard that I stand here before you. Honestly, I just thought I had to come say nice things about the Mayor tonight,” Barker turned to the Mayor and gave a wink. This drew laughter from the crowd. The Mayor showed his humor by clapping. “As it turns out, I get to hear nice things about me and that’s always a nice turn of events.” Barker actually hated flattery. Not that he didn’t like for people to know he was better than them, on the contrary, he loved that, but what he hated was… well, people.
“As the Mayor eluded to, I had no prior knowledge of this honor. I still don’t even know what it entitles, but I am privileged and honored to have the respect of such an esteemed crowd and city.” Urgway was a dustbin of cities. It was a cesspit and it was decrepit. These people were much the same. Barker was a good liar, you had to be to do what he did.
“I have every intention to live up to the expectations and standards that this city has come to expect. I will lay my gratitude at your esteemed feet this evening. Then, tomorrow, I will put back on my detective coat and make sure that this city is safe.” This drew the biggest applause of the evening. The Mayor stepped forward and grasped Barker’s hand again. The flashes went off and Barker gave his cheesiest smile for the reporters.
2.
It had already been established to the remainder of The Shock, be it a very small remainder, that this was Barker’s show. This wasn’t a scenic walk where everyone held hands and enjoyed a merry time. This was a very strict one-man show, with side characters that were allowed to operate at the whims of Barker.
Barker had done the whims of others. He had been on the detective force under Pssitticus for over ten years. He had grown up being ridiculed for being a hound. He had watched dogs everywhere being sequestered to nothing. That was a time after the Canes. A time when everything started to become bleak. His father lost his livelihood and quite possibly his mind during that time. Barker wasn’t going to let someone ruin what he had worked for.
That was why he reminded the men he had left behind of The Shock that this was a transition. They were no longer The Shock. They no longer diddled in money scams. They would stay off the Rescues’ watch list. They would hunker down and become ghosts. Ghosts to be used when Barker needed a haunting. That was it, nothing else. They lived for Barker and they were free because of Barker.
After watching their comrades marched off to police cars and then to prison, very few of them spoke against their lucky predicament. Even the former leader, Buntly, relented his seat of power and groveled at Barker’s feet. For this, Barker made sure Buntly was still able to live very nicely for himself. Barker needed henchmen and brutes, but he would also need to keep men with brains at his side. Buntly, for the all the stupid acts he had done, was a very smart man.
3.
With the promotion to his own detective branch, Barker hadn�
�t expected too much. This was why he was surprised when the Mayor handed him the address to his new office. It was in the Mayor’s own building. Actually, if Barker had read right, and he had, then, it was an entire floor to his own unit.
The dinner had been on a Friday evening. That meant Barker wasn’t exactly expected in office until Monday, but Saturday morning he had hailed a taxi to take him to the building. The taxi smelled like dirty gym shoes. Barker had to hover his feet to avoid the gum embedded into the floorboards. The driver had an accent that said he was probably from somewhere around Maharris.
“I want to get to 4th and Hester,” Barker said. The taxi driver nodded and started to try to make small talk with Barker. “Actually, if you could just turn up the music that would be great,” Barker interrupted. The taxi driver didn’t seem pleased, but he would be counting on a tip at the end of the drive. A tip he wouldn’t be getting, but Barker wouldn’t tell him that until the ride was over.
Barker thumbed through his pocketbook. He had to focus a lot of his attention on the gum, however. It seemed the driver didn’t have an admonition against potholes. It was hard to do, Barker would give him that, in Urgway the roads were potholes, but it still annoyed Barker.
“We are here 4th and Hester, as requested.” The taxi driver seemed overly proud of himself. The way the words rolled off his tongue was as if he had won something. Barker fished in his front pocket for his wallet. The driver turned back towards Barker. He was cross-eyed and had a gap in his front teeth. “Fourteen eighty-three,” he said, opening the barrier window of the taxi.
Barker grabbed fifteen from his wallet and handed it to the driver. The driver took the money and turned. He noticed Barker wasn’t moving to exit the taxi.
“Not the right place?” he asked.
Barker hated the expectations of people. It was only seventeen cents, but it was the principle of it, not the sum.
“Change,” he said.
The driver’s eyes grew wide, which really defined his lazy eye. He waited a moment more, waiting to see if maybe Barker was joking. Barker was not joking. Then, he rummaged in his ashtray compartment and drew out a quarter.
“Umm, I have a quarter,” Barker grabbed it and exited without fishing for a dime, it was the interest he owed.
The taxi sped off down the street. Barker stood under the towering office of the Mayor. The front of the building was mostly made up of tinted glass. It was the tallest building in Urgway and housed all the divisions of the city. It also housed an executive suite for a large stockbroking company. It left an imposing impression on those who stopped to look at it.
Barker walked through the revolving doors. The building was never locked. The ground floor was a museum of Urgway’s history. Not many people cared about Urgway’s history on a Saturday it seemed. Barker made his way to the elevators. His office would now be on the twenty-second floor.
Barker found himself thinking of the tiny police department twenty minutes away from this building. He saw the two small desks in the detective department. Both of which would be sitting empty now. Lucky having bit the bucket, so to speak, and Barker having moved up in the world. It would now be just Pssitticus. Old feather head would be opening that door on Monday morning, banging the filing cabinet, and then, slunking off to his cupboard sized office. Barker almost felt bad for the parrot. He had nothing now. No subordinates, no connections to the outside world, and nothing to show for his life. The feeling faded fast from Barker, he didn’t have time to care about the old bird.
The elevator dinged and Barker stepped out onto wooden floors. Not the cheap, generic wood, but the real hardwood. The kind that was professionally stained by someone who knew what they were doing. Nothing like the old carpet down at the police station. Barker walked by two cubicles, larger than Pssittcus’s office. This would be where his team would work. Outside each cubicle was a desk, where assistance would type up notes in every case. Barker had never had an assistant.
Barker moved down the aisle way, which was bigger than the entire detective headquarters down at the PD. He stopped in front of a glass door. Already printed, in bold black letters was his name: Detective Senac Barker. Under it was his new title, head of Urgway’s detective units.
Barker opened the door and looked at the room. The only defining feature was the oak desk in the middle of the floor. It was large and sturdy. Behind it was a large cushioned, swivel chair; like the one from Rescue. Barker stepped into the office and shut the door behind him.
4.
After taking down The Shock, things had changed for Barker. He was rallied as a hero. One news publication even went as far as putting a cape on a stock photo of Barker. Pssitticus had a really good time making a joke of that one.
Barker didn’t have a lot of time to worry about the jokes. He was invited to interview, after interview. He didn’t want to do them, but breathing down his neck was the Mayor. He told Barker this was a career launching pad. After helping him with the drug outbreak and now conquering The Shock, his words, not Barker’s, he was a money detective now.
Barker had just wanted to be left alone. He had his own plans. Things he needed to get done. Things that the publications couldn’t know. Things that the Mayor of Urgway could definitely never know.
Barker had just enough time to shore up The Shock during the first hectic week. He had sent Buntly off to a penthouse somewhere in Acera. He had instructed him to start building a new system, something much better firewalled than the last system. He had kept the brutes of the group back in Urgway. With them, he started to secure some of the small gangs of the city.
He wanted the cutthroats to know they had a new boss. Even if they didn’t know the face of the boss. He had high instructions that any gangs, not of the canine variety, be shut down immediately.
Those were his first street orders. These gangs would see what it felt like to be hunkered down. They would see what it felt like to be scared and in the world alone. Although, they were criminals. Barker wouldn’t stop with the criminals, however. They were just the easiest place to start. You had to get your foot in somewhere. Then, you wedged the door open and the possibilities would become endless.
5.
Barker put his paw out and touched the mahogany walls. Much more delightful than the cold concrete of the PD. He imagined the warmth in the winter surrounded by proper insulation. Barker used the back of his knuckles to tap on the well placed wooden desk. Real oak, he had suspected as much on his first visit. This desk alone was probably more than his previous salary. It was also properly dusted. He wasn’t sure that a cleaner had been through the PD since it was first opened fifty some odd years prior.
Barker noticed that a picture of him and the Mayor was now hanging on the wall. He looked at his own cheesy smile. He adjusted his tie. It was his second Saturday on the job and his second visit to the office. It wasn’t an official work day for him. Technically, this office didn’t even open until Monday. All he had done so far was interviews and smiles. Yet, he felt the pressing need to be seen as he saw himself.
“I had it added as a welcoming gift,” Barker turned. Standing behind him, in a suit of his own, was the Mayor. The difference was that the Mayor's suit was a little snug at the shoulders. It had to be a pressing job to find a suit big enough for a primate of his size. “It is the first step to making this place a little more homey for you,” he said. The Mayor stepped in to join Barker. He looked around and smiled. “I hope it meets your imaginative standards?” Barker doubted he cared.
“It is perfect,” Barker said. Best to keep the flattery running at all times, Barker thought. This man may not be his favorite person, but he was a very important figure, with lots of important friends.
“It isn’t finished, of course,” the primate swung his meaty arm through the air in a show of emptiness. “Still needs a few amenities, but it will be ready for you Monday morning.” The Mayor turned and headed back towards the door. “Until then, why don’t you join me in my office f
or a drink, Detective,” it wasn’t a question and Barker knew that.
Barker would have sighed, he would have refused, but he didn’t do either. No matter how much he had just wanted to sit in that cushioned chair and look out the window, he couldn’t now. Now, he would have to go make banter with the Mayor of Urgway. He was sure there was a ploy in it somewhere. There was always a ploy with people like the Mayor.
6.
The Canes hadn’t formed overnight. It had been a process. Barker couldn’t pinpoint all of the nuances of development. He was sure there were many back alley deals. He was sure there were nights when things didn’t look like they would ever come to fruition.
That was why on his nights of struggle, he chalked them up to labor for the prize. He had taken many cases that meant nothing. As a rookie, he was so green that he messed up more cases than he solved. It wasn’t anything to do with smarts, it was learning how to manipulate the scenery. It was easy to connect A to B. The hard part was taking A and connecting it to K and then back to B.
That is what set him apart from different detectives; not only his will to right a wrong but also his ability to manipulate without sticking his own hands in the mud. There were many detectives who went in on the wrong side of the case. Too many crooked detectives and cops actually; especially here in Urgway. The difference, Barker used them to do his deeds and they were willing to do them.
When things had gone south, Barker was always upwind of the debacle. He had benefited and rowed up the stream. Those who still stood were those he had planned to stay.
That would be the way of the new force of Urgway, as well. He would put into place what he wanted to put into place. Those surrounding him would be there out of necessity. Those who fell would fall under his accord. He was the ultimate. He was the end all be all.
The Canes Files Page 22
