The Forgetful Man: The Government Rain Mysteries Read online

  ‘Excuse me. Who the hell are you?’ demanded Nathan’s wife, now turned protector.

  ‘Ah. Apologies miss, where are my manners. I’m Detective Farrow.’ He handed her an official-looking card, and he quickly flashed a badge beneath a black leather jacket.

  ‘Okay, but what do you want? I’ve already spoken to your lot.’ She laced the word ‘your’ with venom. Mrs Fisher wasn’t a fan of the inept NHPD.

  ‘Can’t you see my husband has just woken up from a very traumatic experience?’ Nathan’s wife was in full lioness mode, and she’d locked her sights on Detective Farrow.

  The detective seemed accustomed to dealing with hostile women. ‘My apologies again, Mrs Fisher, I appreciate this is tough. My intrusion certainly isn’t helping the plight you find yourselves in, but I must ask about what my colleague says your boy told him.’ His eyes didn’t leave Nathan’s wife until the last moment, then he turned a pair of dark-brown eyes on Nathan. What the hell is going on?

  Nathan’s anger was starting to rise, as was his state of consciousness. ‘I don’t understand. What do you mean? What’s Louie been saying? Is he okay? Where are my children? I want to see my kids!’

  ‘Darling, they’re fine,’ his wife answered. ‘Don’t worry. They’re back at the house with my mother. Louie’s a little spooked, that’s all. Talk of monsters, nothing. It must have been a scary experience for him seeing you pass out.’ There was a hint of nervousness in her voice. She’s hiding something from us.

  The puzzled looks his wife and this detective character were giving him didn’t reassure him one bit. Something’s not right here. We need to recharge.

  ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Nathan muttered to himself.

  ‘What was that, darling?’ His wife faked a smile at the inquisitive detective.

  Nathan didn’t realise he’d spoken aloud. ‘Oh nothing, don’t worry.’

  The detective sighed deeply and gave a knowing look. He offered his apologies once more and then made to leave. At the curtain he turned.

  ‘Nathan, I’m going to need to talk to you, and soon. Good day to you both.’

  Nathan stared at the detective, hoping never to see him again.

  ‘It’s okay, dear. I’ll talk to the detective outside. Honestly, I’m all right.’ Nathan had become an incredibly good liar of late, especially with his wife and children.

  It wasn’t okay. The detective had been true to his word and had arrived at Nathan’s house the day after the hospital had discharged him. Nathan didn’t want to talk to Detective Farrow, and he was most certainly not fine. Far from it, you keep holding us back.

  ‘Quiet,’ Nathan barked at himself, this time aloud. He imagined his wife and Detective Farrow sharing another troubled look at the front door.

  ‘Okay dear, don’t be too long. Dinner’s nearly ready.’

  ‘I won’t forget, my love. This won’t take long.’ Nathan hoped he was right.

  The pair walked in near silence for the first five minutes, which seemed odd to Nathan. Why isn’t he questioning me?

  The detective seemed to decide it was interrogation time. ‘Look, you’re not in trouble. I just need to know more about what your boy said happened the other day. What do you remember of the accident?’ He was direct and got straight to the point; Nathan decided he liked him.

  In truth, the answer was nothing; Nathan’s mind was drawing more and more blanks these days.

  ‘Not much. We burst a tyre, and I went to change it, fainted and woke up in the hospital. The doctor found nothing wrong with me, and I came home. I don’t understand why that’s a matter for the police.’

  The part Nathan left out was the vivid dream he had of a man standing all in black on the hilltop, a giant man, just staring at him. Why was he staring at us?

  The other part was that since the accident, Louie hadn’t come anywhere near him. He was standoffish and scared of his father. That part devastated Nathan. Louie had seen something—but what, Nathan couldn’t remember. Perhaps he saw the man on the hill too?

  ‘I know this is troubling, but there’s got to be more to it than that. For starters, all the glass in your car shattered. How did that happen? Why was your boy insisting he saw a monster? It doesn’t add up. Something scared that little boy and I’d like to know what.’

  ‘Like I said, I don’t remember. Now if you’ve got nothing else to ask me, can I please go home to my family? It’s about to rain.’ Nathan was going to get soaked on the walk back to the house.

  Detective Farrow wasn’t happy but seemed to accept that he had nothing to go on. He had no choice but to leave Nathan alone, for now.

  ‘Of course, Nathan, I may have more questions for you in future. I’ll be in touch.’ He didn’t wait for a response. He walked away without looking back.

  We should follow him.

  It was a strange impulse from deep within Nathan.

  ‘Why?’ he questioned himself. ‘What’s the point? He’s leaving, and he can’t help. I’ve got to figure this out on my own.’

  No, we’ve got to figure this out!

  More and more he’d been battling with the voice in his head as if it were an entirely separate entity from him.

  ‘What’s with all this we crap?’

  In spite of himself, the urge to follow the detective was overwhelming. Detective Farrow was tenacious, and he’d already told Nathan he may have more questions in the future. He struck Nathan as an extremely obsessive man that wouldn’t rest until he considered a matter settled.

  A sharp gust of wind roused Nathan from his daydream debate, yet the air didn’t chill him at all. It was cold and he was only wearing a T-shirt. The inclement weather that had been plaguing New Hampton of late simply didn’t affect him these days. He hoped whatever was happening to him would pass, and soon.

  Follow him. He’s leaving.

  ‘Fine, okay.’ Nathan reluctantly agreed with the voice in his head.

  Following the detective was easy. He seemed distracted and was seemingly unaware of Nathan tailing him. Nathan had told his wife he’d be home for dinner. She’d be starting to worry, but somehow that didn’t matter. The driving force to pursue and discover clouded all of his thoughts.

  The detective walked in silence. The very streets of New Hampton seemed intimidated by his presence. The people of New Hampton were scared, and almost all moved out of his way. Some even crossed the busy streets to avoid walking past him. This morbid respect only heightened as Detective Farrow headed towards the docks.

  Be careful around here.

  ‘No shit,’ Nathan rebuked himself.

  He had never ventured to this part of the city before. The docks had a terrible reputation. It struck Nathan that the detective was either very naïve or very brave heading into this section of town on his own, given his profession.

  In spite of the blatant conflict of interests between law enforcement and organised crime, the detective wandered up to a phone box, unchallenged and unscathed.

  Even these people fear him.

  The thought made Nathan’s stomach lurch. To have spiked the interest of such a fearsome man didn’t bode well. It was at that point the man’s steely exterior crumbled away, just a little.

  ‘Hi Aurora, it’s Farrow. Listen, I know it’s been a while since we’ve talked, and I know we didn’t necessarily leave it on the best of terms, but I’m looking into something that I think might be of interest to you. Especially given your career change, at least I think your new job covers this? You never really told me. Anyway, call me. My mobile number’s still the same. Hope you’ve still kept it, partner.’

  From his secluded alleyway five yards away, it was obvious to Nathan that Detective Farrow cared deeply for whoever was at the end of that phone.

  He was talking about us.

  Nathan’s stomach lurched again. Not only had he caught the attention of a tenacious New Hampton detective, but he had also just heard said detective call for help. A man like that needing help di
dn’t seem plausible.

  ‘He’s coming this way.’ Nathan was startled and sank further back into the darkness.

  Fortunately for Nathan, Detective Farrow still seemed oblivious to his presence and marched straight past the alleyway without even glancing along it. Yet another sign of the man’s steely disposition. Most in New Hampton were smart enough or scared enough to be wary of dark, ominous alleyways.

  Nathan was just considering following the detective when the heavens opened. It had been threatening to rain for some time but here, closer to the centre of the city, it had finally come to pass. The rain poured down and pounded into the streets.

  ‘Great. Just great. Miles from home and not even a sodding umbrella,’ Nathan moaned.

  As it turned out, being wet was the least of his troubles.

  ‘And now you’ve got no wallet either!’ smirked the tattooed thug that towered over Nathan. He’d snuck up in the rain. He brandished a thick knife in Nathan’s direction, the twisting of his wrist making iridescent light bounce from the blade.

  ‘Hey wait, I don’t want any trouble,’ Nathan stammered as he backed away, trying to move the few yards towards the light outside of the alleyway.

  ‘And where do you think you’re going, mate!’ demanded a second tattooed thug as he shoved Nathan from behind, back into the alleyway.

  ‘Hey, c’mon. You can have my wallet. Here, take it...’

  Nathan’s pleading trailed off when he noticed the skin on his hand was changing colour. The two thugs gave each other a nervous glance.

  ‘Hey, what’s the matter with you? You some kind of creep? What’s with all the makeup?’ asked the shorter, bald thug anxiously.

  ‘Hand over the wallet and stop messing around. We ain’t got all day, freak,’ announced the taller, long-haired attacker.

  Nathan stood bewildered at the whole scene. He was being mugged. It was cold and hammering with rain, and yet he felt warm and his skin—his skin was changing a glaucous shade. He should be terrified, but he was not.

  ‘Wait, what did you say? Who are you?’ Nathan was puzzled. Who were these men in front of him? ‘How did I get here? Where am I?’

  The questions tumbled out of him as his entire body turned the alien colour. His skin shimmered with steam as the rain touched it.

  ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ stammered the bald man. He went to turn and run, only to be blocked by his partner in crime.

  ‘What are you doing? Look at him. He’s some whacked out druggie raver. Why are you scared of him?’ the man mocked, all the while staring at the forgetful, strange coloured man before him.

  ‘But his skin! Look at it, that ain’t normal. It’s just changed colour. Let’s get out of here,’ begged the little coward.

  ‘Look, shut your mouth. You wanna join the Watchroom or not? Never mind his skin. There’s all sorts of freaks on the streets these days. This must be some weird new drug. We’ll find it, peddle it, and make a fortune. Hey freak, where’d you get the drugs? What have you taken, man? You have no idea where you are?’

  The whole time the pair had been bickering, the forgetful man, the voice in Nathan’s head, had been eyeing them up and had established what was required.

  He didn’t speak. He didn’t respond.

  He quietly moved forward and with lightning speed kicked the taller man’s knee backwards, which induced a spine-tingling scream that only stopped when a blue, scaled fist slammed hard into his cheekbone. The crack of bone was audible, and the long-haired man hit the deck and stayed down in a broken heap.

  The second, cowardly man attempted to run; he wasn’t fast enough. His speed was embarrassing in comparison to the forgetful man, who vaulted himself a full ten feet in the air before crashing down on the man’s back. The coward’s head slammed into the concrete and split like a ripe melon, juice spilt everywhere, and the rain disseminated it with gruesome alacrity.

  From the far end of the alleyway, a giant of a man was observing the whole scene. He wore head-to-toe black camouflage gear. He didn’t look afraid in the slightest. If anything, his body language exuded calm. Strange, given that he’d just witnessed a man morphing into a scaled, blue-grey creature and murder two people with its bare hands.

  The forgetful man looked up at the man in black, one hundred yards away, and sniffed the air and cocking his head slightly. He didn’t like what he smelt and darted away from the alleyway, heading out of the alleyway and down towards the docks.

  The enormous man remained composed and began walking down the alleyway, he began to chuckle as he strolled. His laugh was deep and guttural. It reverberated off the brickwork and echoed menacingly as the sound competed with the rain.

  It always amazed and reassured Detective Farrow, in equal measure, how easy it was to tell when he was being followed. He always knew years on the force had given him incredible perception and today was no different. It was hard to surprise him these days.

  Although he was stunned to discover, when turning a corner and glancing back, that his mystery follower was none other than Nathan Fisher, the man he’d been talking with five minutes prior.

  ‘Something’s not right here,’ he muttered to himself as a chill wind made him shiver.

  The key to letting someone follow you is to act aloof even while you lead them where you want. Aurora had told him as much a dozen times during their time as partners. He missed working with her as she was an excellent policewoman. Though that wasn’t the only reason he missed her. Don’t; there’s no point.

  He hadn’t spoken with her since she left New Hampton Police Department to go off and join some mystery government task force. It had irked him that she’d been asked and he hadn’t. They were partners, and both had exemplary records. As a result, he left things on a bad note and quashed any other long-term plans he may have had.

  ‘Snap out of it,’ he ordered of himself as he realised he was taking his aloof manner far too literally.

  ‘Phone her,’ he pleaded. ‘She can help us with this.’

  A quick scan behind told him that Nathan Fisher was still following him and had ducked into a dark alleyway by the payphone where he’d stopped to phone Aurora.

  Now leaving that message hurt his pride on many levels, but it needed doing. The city had become a strange place in the last six months, and Aurora might have the answers to questions that were going unanswered on the streets or, more worryingly, within the NHPD. Farrow was convinced that the force was rife with corruption. He’d heard countless rumours about Mayor Dash. However, all of Farrow’s off-book investigations had drawn blanks.

  With the message left, he needed to turn the tables and track Nathan Fisher once more. He walked back past the alleyway, making sure not to glance in, and carried straight down the middle of the road leading away from the docks. That would force Nathan Fisher to wait, as he wouldn’t be able to hide out here.

  Farrow stopped in the middle of the street and spun three hundred and sixty degrees, noting the four or five tattooed thugs steering well clear of him and ducking into various seedy buildings that stained the docks. He stood still, waiting, expecting Nathan Fisher to come back out of the alleyway and reveal himself, giving up any hopes the man had of following Farrow. Nathan Fisher didn’t leave the alley. Instead, an agonised scream blasted out from the darkness.

  Farrow vaulted forwards, 9mm pistol already out and pointed at the alleyway.

  ‘What the hell?’

  He stopped on the spot five yards short of the alley, frozen with confusion and a hint of fear.

  ‘What is that?’

  A scaled creature ran straight past him and down to the docks.

  The creature moved with lightning speed and was by the water in seconds. It didn’t stop to glance at anyone and certainly didn’t care about the strange looks it was getting from the vagrants occupying the boardwalk. Instead, it leapt into the air, ten feet over the railing, down into the water with a huge splash that chucked back up an incredible amount of water.
/>   Farrow’s moment of indecision was only brief, and he reached the waterfront a dozen or so paces behind the creature, just far enough behind to see the ripples in the water as the creature sped off, underwater, at an inhuman speed.

  ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I’m in over my head. He knew it was true.

  ‘Hey, you there in the alleyway! Wait there, NHPD!’ he screamed at the enormous man as he charged back towards the alley. He’s massive.

  The man was seven foot plus and easily one of the biggest men, if not the biggest man, Farrow had ever seen before in his life. Unfortunately for Farrow, of late, he’d been seeing a lot of things for the first time. No shit! A giant fucking reptile for one!

  ‘Hey! I said wait! NHPD!’ These were the moments he wished he still had a partner, where he wished he still had Aurora.

  The tall man was either deaf or simply chose to ignore him. He turned back into the alleyway calmly and moved into the black shadows.

  ‘Oh come on!’ Farrow exclaimed in annoyance. Nothing was ever simple in New Hampton.

  ‘What the hell?’ Upon reaching the long, dark alleyway, the giant man was gone. He’d vanished into thin air. The alleyway was a good hundred yards and didn’t have any apparent exits down either side. He was gone.

  ‘That’s impossible.’

  Farrow was struggling to keep a grip on things. He noticed two bodies sprawled out on the floor, fully expecting one of them to be Nathan Fisher.

  ‘Poor guy,’ Farrow muttered as he went to inspect the bodies.

  Neither of them was Nathan Fisher. They were two low-level criminals Farrow recognised from the Watchroom gang; another corrupt element of the city that was going unpunished.

  Farrow scanned the entire alley for signs of Nathan or the mysterious giant. Nothing.

  ‘This is madness.’ He pulled out his mobile phone. ‘Yeah, this is Farrow. I’ve got two dead bodies down by the docks. Send a unit asap.’ He stood, walked to the end of the alleyway by the docks, and looked up and down as the seedy underbelly of New Hampton continued about its day, seemingly oblivious or uncaring to the two dead bodies yards away.