Killer Inspiration
“It’s time for some drastic action, old man.”
“I wish you would stop call me that,” the old man replied, “besides, you aren’t any younger.”
“You carry your age more,” the first voice said wryly, “so what are we doing to do? Same as always?”
“I’m getting to old for this, brother,” the old man sighed heavily, “find me a worthy mortal”
—<<<>>>—–
Cannon blearily opened his eyes to greet the feeble dawn, peeking through the curtains.
“Damn,” he thought, “even with a day off I can’t sleep in.” Without getting out of bed he grabbed his phone off the night stand to check his voicemail.
“Ah ha,” he said out loud as the Station number was read out.
“No need to hurry,” said the familiar voice of his Boss, “but I’ve got a case that needs a, well…unique approach.” The message ended and Cannon flipped the phone closed. “The man knows me too well,” he thought, already calculating the time it would take to get to the station. He decided to head out quickly and jog in, taking the time to enjoy the quiet part of the morning before traffic peaked for morning rush hour.
—<<<>>>—
Isn’t it your day off? I said you didn’t need to hurry,” The Captain smirked when Cannon entered his office.
“Yeah, yeah,” he slouched down into his usual chair and smiled, ready to hear what the Captain had to offer.
“So there’s this case,” Captain Stewart started.
“There always is, conveniently timed for whenever I have a day off.”
“This is…slightly unusual,” Stewart’s eyes looked a bit distant.
“How unusual?” Cannon asked, sitting forward getting a closer look at his Captain.
“It’s a murder.”
“That’s not unusual,” Cannon thought. He had been in homicide for the last five years.
“I can’t give you the details here. Someone will come over tonight and brief you. It comes from high up.” The Captain shook his head and seemed to refocus on Cannon. “It’s still your day off. Get out of here, you look like hell.”
“Always do!” Cannon said brightly. He never felt more awake than when an interesting case was given to him. This one had all the earmarks of being very interesting indeed. “But come on Captain, you have to give me a hint, what’s this all about.”
“Like I said,” replied Stewart, “it comes from up high.”
“How high?” Cannon prodded.
“The Highest.”
Since the Captain wasn’t budging on any details, other than he’d be contacted later that evening to discuss the case, Cannon decided to enjoy the day. It wasn’t often that he was awake on his day off. Usually finishing a case meant sleeping for 48 hours straight to recover from the abuse he put his body through and the accumulated lack of sleep. He ran around town, happy with the accommodating weather, running errands that had been weeks or months overdue. His willow thin frame, darting in between sauntering pedestrians on the high street, he made his way over to his favourite diner to await his phone call.
“Hey Cannon,” greeted Sammy, his favourite waitress, “what can I get you tonight?”
“The usual, please.” Sammy smiled in response; all the girls liked waiting on Cannon, he tipped well and was always polite and easy to talk to. His walk could be seen a mile off as he would saunter in with hands in jean pockets, cloaked in a hoodie, with a paper under his arms. Cannon’s dark brown hair, which was almost certainly messy, would appear after the hood was pulled down and his green eyes would echo the smile on his face.
“Bit busy tonight, Cannon, holler if you need anything!” Sammy smiled and rushed off to seat a family of five while, Cannon settled into his coffee and paper. After skimming the news and checking the NHL scores, he’d take out a well worn pencil and attack the crossword with enthusiasm but not much hope.
His dinner came and went, the sun set and most of the diners cleared out. Cannon was on his third coffee and nearly completed the puzzle, yet no call came.
“Sammy, I don’t suppose you know the brother of Zeus?” Cannon asked the waitress as she came over to take away some plates from the last diner.
“Sorry hon,” Sally smiled, “but knowing mythology it was brother his son or father or something!” She whisked the plates off the kitchen and continued cleaning at an impressive pace as the restaurant was soon to close.
“It happens to be Poseidon,” said a voice from behind Cannon. The detective turned on his stool to thank the stranger.
“Great!” Cannon beamed, “I’ve just matched my best effort yet. Can I grab you a coffee before they close?” Cannon offered.
“That’s alright Detective Cross, we have somewhere else to be at the moment.” The man replied, handing over a letter of introduction from Cannon’s precinct. The detective quickly read it over and saw Stewart’s scrawl at the bottom, confirming that this was the contact he had been waiting for.
“Wait a minute,” Cannon picked up his phone from the counter, “how did you know I would be here. The Captain said to wait for a call.” Cannon had expected something like this, when Stewart said the call came from up high, he was expecting CIA, FBI or Secret Service. It was a career making case, he could feel it.
“We have ways of finding people,” the man replied. They stepped out into the darkening street, the man scanning the empty sidewalks and road for someone or something. Cannon took a moment to look at the figure before him. Even in the deepening twilight, he could see that the man could have been a model or movie star; he had that whole tall, dark and handsome thing going on. He was casually dressed, black trousers and dark green shirt, open at the collar and his full length trench coat was undone. He didn’t look like secret service, Cannon thought to himself. Maybe it was something else, money, he pondered. The man had the look of someone who could buy whatever he wanted. The figure turned to face him and Cannon looked into his eyes. He almost fell into them; they were deep, dark and seemed to reflect an ancient almost impossible age.
“Good, the street is empty,” the man turned to him. “I hope your Captain has informed of the unique situation.”
“He said something about it, but…” suddenly the world shifted and fell away in darkness. Cannon tried to scream but there was a pull in his stomach, the feeling that you get at that first drop in a particularly high roller coaster. After a few agonizing moments, dazzling light appeared and he felt his feet on solid ground once more and he promptly fell to his knees.
“Oh brother,” said a voice above Cannon. A hand reached down to pull him to his feet. “I’m sorry for that rude trip.” This man, who had the same eyes as the figure who had brought him, looked at him kindly and smiled. “It is really the only way to get here for your kind.”
“What?” Cannon was dizzy and the light was still slightly blinding. He knew for one thing he was no where near his favourite diner. “I’m sorry, what is going on?!”
“Detective Cannon Cross, we will be eternally in your debt if you will be able to help us…”
“And that’s not just a turn of phrase, either,” said the man in the green shirt.
“Where…” Cannon looked around him. The sun streamed down, illuminating what was already a pristine cityscape. “Are those…columns?”
“Yes, Detective,” replied Zeus, “but welcome to my home. Welcome to Mount Olympus. We have a lot to discuss.”
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yay! new serial. not sure how long this one will run, longer than Babbage methinks. let me know what you think!
