“Get what?” Baikal asked softly. He was staring down at him with concern written across his handsome face.
Rabbit smiled sadly. “Why you wanted to kill him so badly.”
The second Oli had aimed that gun at Baikal, Rabbit had wanted Oli dead, too.
Chapter 33:
“These are his medical files.” Flix handed a printed document over to Rabbit. Usually in this day and age things were sent digitally, but it looked like the file had been taken from an actual hospital.
He skimmed the forms, most of them confirming what he’d already assumed after meeting with Oli again.
Traumatic brain injury. Mood swings, extreme personality changes, quick to anger, and impulsive decisions.
Oli had seen a doctor the first couple of months after he’d woken in the middle of almost being buried alive, but he hadn’t told the doctor the cause of his accident. She’d written in her notes that he’d gotten into a car crash which was a lie.
“His career had only just started making traction, so it seems like, after the first couple of months where he’d fallen off the grid, people not in the know stopped wondering where he’d gone to. He contacted his old manager and told them he couldn’t play anymore, so that’s why no one on that end ever came looking. He also abandoned his apartment and moved into a new building across the street under a false name,” Flix told Rabbit next, handing him a different file, one that included pictures. When Rabbit gave him a questioning look he sheepishly shrugged. “I didn’t have your contact details and I wasn’t sure if I should send them to you or present them so this was the best bet.”
“Overachiever,” Kazimir masked the insult with a fake cough. He was sitting in the corner of the dining room in the main home on Void estate.
Rabbit had insisted on being there when the police arrived to deal with Oli’s body. They’d been cops all in the Brumal’s pocket, who’d agreed to close the case quickly. He hadn’t wanted it covered up because Oli deserved to have a proper death certificate this time. He deserved to be acknowledged.
Possibly due to paranoia, Rabbit had also refused to allow the body to travel to the hospital without him. He’d stuck by Oli all the way, through the quick check from the doctor and then down to the morgue where they’d placed him on a slab and shoved him into the incinerator.
He wondered, vaguely, what it said about him that he only felt mildly bad. The guilt was still there, going as strong as ever because it was his mother that had made Oli this way. But he didn’t regret shooting him. Not when it meant protecting Void.
If Rabbit had known it would have led to that, that there’d even been a slight chance Baikal would be put in danger, he would have found a way to kill Oli on his own sooner.
“I bet his brain was fascinating,” the one called Berga, who Rabbit had realized all on his own was most likely set to become the next butcher, said. He was sitting on Rabbit’s left and bowed his head with a smile when he saw Rabbit was looking at him. “Sorry. He was your friend. That was in poor taste of me to say.”
“He was running out of money,” Flix picked up the conversation again. “Hadn’t paid his rent in over four months. My guess is, he got all excited when he saw December had come back, and then seeing her turn around and leave so soon unhinged him. He was desperate.”
“Desperate people do foolish things,” Rabbit said, thinking about how he’d agreed to sleep with Baikal in the beginning all because he’d been desperate to keep his mother away. “It works out for some people, but not all.”
Baikal, who was standing behind him, planted a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Would you like the report on that now?” Kazimir asked, and it took Rabbit a moment to realize he was speaking to him and not asking his Dominus.
He nodded, knowing what was coming.
“December Trace stepped off the ship and was bombarded by reporters. She at first denied the allegations, until she realized that the video evidence had been released. She had some choice words for you, Rabbit.”
“He doesn’t need to hear them,” Baikal stated warningly.
“I do,” Rabbit disagreed, reaching up to cover his hand with his own appreciatively. “But not right now.” Later, when he was on his own and wouldn’t be too embarrassed if he cried. “What else?”
“The local police were contacted, and they’ve informed the press of what just happened. How Oli came after you as some form of revenge for what your mother had done to him. They left out the part about her having thought she’d killed him. Best not to overcomplicate things,” Kazimir said.
“They also can’t do anything about the video,” another man stepped into the dining room, this one older than the rest and in a crisp suit, “the police are unable to file charges against her. She’ll basically be allowed to continue as she has been, only now her career is unquestionably over.”
“This is Chesh,” Baikal leaned down and said. “He’s my Counselor.”
“Nice to meet you,” Rabbit greeted.
Chesh bowed. “The Underboss is needed elsewhere.”
“Since her whole image was built on sophistication and kindness, this will definitely destroy her career,” Kazimir continued first. “We’ve also spoken with the authorities and have placed her on the banned list. December Trace will never be allowed back on planet.”
It’s what Rabbit had requested, but it still stung a bit. A part of him would always feel bad since she was his mother, even though it was her own damn fault it had come to this.
