26: Burned Bridges

The office of Bjorn Services was deserted at the early hours of the morning and not a soul wandered about it. Mr. Lawson, compelled by the lifelong habit, was the first one to arrive. He greeted the guard at the entrance barrier as his black sedan entered the parking. The car was significantly cheaper than what he could afford. There were only a handful of cars scattered around the first level of the parking. Every one of the higher ups of the office insisted that he hired a chauffeur. He always refused. He leisurely drove to a spot nearest to the elevator and parked it. He whistled melodiously as he stepped out of the car and walked to elevator. He called the elevator. In the middle of the tune, he caught a head of a wolf scratched on the elevator door. It took him a while to acknowledge it. The door opened. The elevator was empty. He paced along the wall beside the elevator, trying to find any clues. He walked across the level and found nothing. A car stood right under the camera. Its door was open. Mr. Lawson hesitantly walked to it from behind the camera. A silhouette of a hooded man appeared at the back seat. Mr. Lawson was wondering if he should enter when a hushed “Get in!” was heard. He entered. He was half sure who the man in the back seat was.
“Aaron?”, he inquired hesitantly. The question was responded to with silence. Lawson took it as a yes. He had got the gist of what had happened but needed some explanation. The people using him were keeping him in the dark and the lack of disclosure had just backfired.

“What happened?”, he asked with empathy, expecting an explanation. Aaron sighed.
“Hudson is the one trying to hunt me down”, Aaron revealed and Lawson’s fears had just turned into reality. He had known the man from up close. The two had met several times in business meetings and Lawson caught the gossips that never leaked from the elite circle. Rick was known to cross any line to achieve his goals. He had once won a government tender and it was later revealed that one competitor who was the favorite in the bidding, had had his only son missing a day before the bidding. As soon as Rick won the contract, the competitor’s son was found at his doorstep. People had tried to dig into the story but he didn’t leave a loose end. Other than the contract episode, there were several cases of unknown men roughing people up who had coincidentally looked at Hudson the wrong way. The bottom line was simple yet grim, he was a man not to be trifled with but still, the magnitude of destruction caused, looked unlike Rick to Mr. Lawson.
“How can you be so sure?”, he tried to make Aaron rethink. Aaron shook his head. “I know you have a lot of enemies, but he has nothing to gain from it. Don’t you think?”, he added. At this point, Aaron was struggling to make up what he should tell and should be kept. But too much secrecy wasn’t helping them so far. He needed to know how much Mr. Lawson already knew.
“What did the elders tell you about me?”, he asked. Mr. Lawson looked to the back-view mirror and found him still hooded. Aaron looked to be genuinely curious. Lawson deliberated for a few seconds.
“Well, I was told that you were in danger and urgently needed a safehouse and an alias. I was able to provide both of them”, Mr. Lawson softly explained.
“And I was in danger because?”, Aaron pushed further.
“You’re a Lycan. An Alpha at that. The balance of the world of the immortals and beasts depends on your well-being”, he answered, much to Aaron’s surprise. Aaron was astonished to see Lawson know that much. “But why would a businessman cum gangster try to hurt you?”, Lawson added. Aaron decided to let him in.
“He wants revenge”, he spoke in a hushed tone. Lawson eyed him for elaboration. “I killed his only son”, he added. Mr. Lawson was more sad than shocked.
“And I escorted him right to you”, he said and shook his head. Aaron wanted to comfort him and tell him that it wasn’t his mistake but he knew that Lawson wouldn’t listen. The elders always kept secrets. The secrecy was often too much and caused trouble.
“Does Sophie know?”, Lawson asked.
“Rick’s men saw her with me once or twice and tried to hurt her. I had to tell her”
“How did she react?”
“She doesn’t believe me … yet”
“What the hell are you planning to do?”, Lawson inquired.
“I am gonna meet her tonight in the grave yard”, Aaron said. It took him a while to realize but he did.
“But tonight’s full moon!”, Mr. Lawson almost shouted. “You’ll kill her!”, he added.
“I have got it covered. She won’t be hurt if she does what I’ve told her to do”, Aaron tried to calm him down. Lawson didn’t want to know the details but he wasn’t satisfied.
“What if she forgets something?”, he pleaded. “There must be another way”, he added. Aaron was silent for a few moments. He was also reconsidering his plans and was trying to look for any other plan of action. He couldn’t think of anything.
“I have got no choice. If I don’t prove it to her, she’ll leave me. The moment she does, Rick will have his hands on her. I can’t risk that”, he explained. Mr. Lawson still wasn’t satisfied but he understood. A few cars were heard running around in the parking level. Mr. Lawson knew it was his cue to disappear.
“What’ll you do now?”, Lawson asked. Aaron wasn’t sure how to answer that. He was living one day at a time.
“I’ll see what happens tonight. It’ll hurt like hell but just might do the job”, he said. Mr. Lawson was limbering up to get out of the car.
“What’ll you do?”, Aaron asked back. Lawson had his own problems to be worried about.
“Rick came into your safehouse and you had to vanish abruptly. His doubts are definitely removed now. He now knows for a fact that you work here. He already did about Sophie. I am sure he will return”, he said and exited the car. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it”, he added and walked away.