Chapter 4

"Here's the information you requested sir." Jeffery said, tossing the manila envelope onto my desk.

I reached forward and grabbed the envelope, pulling its contents out and setting them on the desk.

"Why did this take so long?" I said, giving him a cold stare.

"Our informant decided on his own to stalk the target and take pictures so he could bring you some more recent photos."

"These better be good, or else we'll be needing a new informant."

I inspected the contents of the envelope. There was a sheet with information on it, and there were also several photos included. I chose to look at the information sheet first.

Name: Lily Celestia

Gender: Female

Height: 5' 5"

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Green

Occupation: Nurse for the Military's police office branch

Father: David Winchester

Occupation: General in the Military, Detective

Mother: Crystal Celestia-Winchester (Deceased)

Occupation: House Wife, Mage

So, her name is Lily Celestia, I knew that name sounded familiar. The Celestia name is very well know among the mage community and anyone who knew anything about the history of magic.

I picked up the pictures next. Her drivers license photo didn't do her appearance justice. She was smiling, but she somehow looked duller in the photo than in real life. There were a few photos of her walking with that old woman from earlier, some of a man helping her walk to what seemed like her home. There were several more of her walking again, and then some with a little girl that she eventually put up on her shoulders.

I wondered what had happened to her after we parted ways for her to look so exhausted. And she still seemed tired in all of the photos after she walked with the older woman. There was still one more photo left, so I picked it up. It was a picture of the man who was with her, it was clear shot of his face, and as soon as I saw who it was, I froze.

"What is it Joseph… er I mean sir."

"Why the hell is he not dead?! He should be dead, I killed him myself!"

"Who is it sir?"

"It's that traitor, the one that I thought I killed earlier today, the one who was a spy for the military." I growled, clenching the photo in my fist.

"No wonder his body was gone when we went to pick it up later. The military must have found him before we got there. Should we go after him again sir?"

"No, that isn't a good idea."

"But sir, he knows too much."

"And he's under her protection now Jeffery."

"Why is this girl so important?"

"Because I owe a debt to her, as much as I hate to admit it she saved my life. So naturally I asked for information on her, because I'd like to know about the person I owe a debt to. I also placed her on the no harm list, so I can't just send someone to kill him while he's in her house."

"What about once he leaves her care?"

"We kill him."

"What are we going to do if he doesn't leave any time soon?"

"Well then, we'll just give him a little warning so that he doesn't think he can just spill information without consequences. I rather like this city and would prefer not to move anytime soon."

"Maybe you should you should pay a visit to the girls house since you know her."

"That sounds like a good idea, care to join me, Jeffery?"

"I would love to sir." He said, a sly grin on his face that matched my own.

The door opened and a woman scurried in, going to Jeffery and whispering in his ear.

"Lord Death wishes to see you sir." He said.

********

I stood in front of the heavy wooden desk, the back of the large leather chair was facing towards me. It slowly spun towards me, revealing my father sitting in the chair, smoking a cigar. He blew a puff of smoke at me.

"You wanted to see me father?" I said, waving the smoke away with one hand.

"Yes. I heard what happened with the traitor, I believe he was one of your subordinates."

"Yes, he was in my organization. But he only got away because the Military found him before he died after we tortured him.

"Well, you see son." He said, blowing another puff of smoke. "That man called for backup while you were torturing him, and you're lucky that they didn't come while you were still there. I really am quite disappointed in you. I should have given the execution job to your younger brother."

"No, you were right to give me the job and not to that idiot. I'm taking care of my mistake father, and I swear it won't happen again. If you had given it to that dumbass, then the same mistake would have happened, but he would flounder trying to clean it up. But I swear to you father that his body was shredded beyond repair, beyond survival when we left him. I don't know how his body is in tact again, but if you had given him the job, that traitor would have escaped with just a mere bullet wound."

"You say his body was shredded, and yet now it's in tact. So tell me, how can than that be if what you say is true."

"There was a little trouble earlier during one of my deals and I got cut after a woman tried to play hero and shouted at them to leave me alone. Surprisingly she ended up healing me, and gave me her card for some reason. She works as a nurse for the militaries police branch, so I believe that she was forced by them to save him. I looked into her more, and some of the photos the informant gave me showed signs of her suffering from mana exhaustion, which would most likely come from her healing such dire wounds."

"This girl you speak of, she is the one you requested to be added to the no harm list, correct."

"Yes, that is correct."

"And all she is to you is a debt to be paid, and then you'll be done with her?"

"Yes."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No father."

"Then explain to me what this is." He said, sliding a picture across the desk.

It was a picture from when Lily gave me a kiss to heal me.

"That was just how she healed me. I told you, she means nothing to me."

"Then why are you blushing in this photo?"

"Because I was surprised, she forced the kiss on me. What man wouldn't be flustered when a cute woman suddenly kisses him, it's a natural reaction."

"You say there's no attraction, yet you just said she was cute, and you seemed to be rather enjoying that kiss."

"Why do you care?"

"Because she belongs to the military, I don't need you getting involved with her, you could ruin our whole operation."

"She isn't an officer, she's just a nurse. I don't get why you suddenly care about what I do so much."

"I never said that she worked for the military, I said that she belonged to them."

"What's that supposed to mean? How do you know more about her than what I was given?"

"It's none of your concern and nothing you need to know."

"Why can't I know?"

"I thought you didn't care about her, so why do you want to know so badly?"

"Dick." I spat under my breath.

He blew another puff of smoke at me. "Watch that language young man. Speak to me like that again and I might have your tongue cut out."

"Tsk. I apologize father, it won't happen again." I said, glaring at him.

********

I slammed the door to my office shut behind me.

"I take it that your meeting didn't go well." Jeffery said.

"Damn him, he's always trying to belittle me! I'm his eldest son yet he's always comparing me to that little shit. He can't even do anything, yet father is always spoiling him."

I sat down with a huff in my chair, wanting to punch something. Jeffery started massaging my shoulders, trying to relieve some of my stress.

"Tsk. Why do I get treated like shit when I'm his legitimate son. I'm glad that stupid mistress is dead."

"Perhaps your father is still mad that you killed her."

"That bitch had it coming when she killed my mother."

"Why have you never told uncle that she killed auntie, and that was why you killed her."

"Because he wouldn't believe me anyways. I'm still his heir, so as long as I don't cause any more trouble, I'm not his concern."

"I suppose so, but some day you should tell him."

"You're one to talk about telling your parents things. I do believe that you still haven't told your parents that your married, or that you're gay."

"Hey mine is harmless, your secret involves murder."

"How is your partner doing these days anyways?"

"He's doing okay for now, he's still really sick, but he's getting better."

"That's good. Now I think we should go pay our good friend Tom a visit." I said, standing up.

********

I knocked on the front door three times, then stepped back and waited. Tom opened the door, then immediately tried to slam it shut. I caught the door before it could shut, forcing it open.

"Hello friend, long time no see." I said, a forced smile on my face.

"W-what are you doing here? H-how did you find me?"

"I happen to know the girl who lives here, so you made a big mistake in coming here."

"Daddy, who's at the door?" A little girl said, walking over to him. It was the same little girl I saw in the picture with Lily.

"Sweetheart, how about you go back and make sure the food doesn't burn. Derick will be back soon with Lily, so he can help you when he comes back." He said to the little girl, he turned back to me. "I don't care what you do to me, but I won't let you lay a hand on my daughter." He said, glaring at me.

"Relax." I said, walking past him and patting his shoulder. "I'm not here to hurt you, just to give you a little warning. You spill anything that you know and I'll torture you and I'll torture you both so much that you'd wish that I'd just kill you." I whispered to him. "So just keep that mouth of yours shut and we won't have any problems."