The OT was busy when Key arrived. The Spurs were just starting their first set when he got to the bar. He could feel eyes on him. His mohawk was combed back, but he was still a tall punk with facial tattoos, heavily patched black Dickies, and a leather jacket with the robot from Metropolis painted on the back. He was given a wide birth making it impossible to disappear into the crowd.
The bartender was ignoring him. He made eye contact twice but the man was clearly avoiding him. The younger female bartender on the other side was similarly looking anywhere but at Key. He moved to the back of the bar near the restrooms. He found a table and watched the band. The set was in full swing and the crowd was getting into the music and finally ignoring Key. He relaxed a little and watched the bar looking for anything that caught his eye. The students might be good to question, but most of them wouldn't know Morgan. If her mother was correct she barely spoke to anyone at school. The set came and went without anything unusual happening.
Darius jumped off the stage and was immediately surrounded by college girls. He smiled and basked in the attention he was getting. "You need to buy something if you want to stay," The bouncer appeared next to Key and grabbed him by the coat.
Key swatted his hand away and stood. "I'm here to speak to the owner," He said with some annoyance.
"He ain't here," The bouncer was a big guy solid hands and a nose that looked to have been broken a few times.
"I'll wait."
"I can't let you do that man."
The lead singer stepped up and tapped the bouncer on the shoulder. "He's with me Ben."
Key looked at the Jim Morrison wannabe then back to Ben and nodded. The bouncer backed down and turned to Darius, "You need to let me know when you have guests."
"It slipped my mind. My bad," Darius grabbed Key by the shoulder and ushered him through a doorway into the green room. "Beer?" He pulled a PBR from a tub filled with them.
Key took the offered beer and looked at it suspiciously, "Why did you do that?"
"You been looking for Morgan right?" Key nodded, "Yeah, I was asked by the owner to have sit down with you. So, we're gonna talk and when we're done talking I'll take you to her. You can see she's all good and safe and then you can be done with all this, cool?"
The guitarist on the couch strummed his instrument working through chords with practiced ease. "Cool," Key repeated as he popped the beer and took a swig. "He's throwing some hard punches."
"I don't know anything about that. I'm just a musician man. This is like a personal favor." Darius flopped on the couch next to his guitarist.
"What are you getting out of this?"
"Shit man, dude's got some serious methods and I get my rewards as they come."
"That didn't really tell me anything."
Darius laughed. The guitarist increased his speed, "I'm a simple man with simple needs. I get paid once a week, free beer, and loose women. Shit, for a townie band we get a taste of rock stardom least I can do is talk to a dude for that. I got a call that said if a punk with a black mohawk comes in I should absolutely lay this out for him," Darius explained
"Alright, talk," Key took another slug of beer then set it down on the coffee table in front of Darius.
"We need you to back off, it's clear you're a tough hombre and Collodi gets that."
"Collodi?" Key asked.
"Yeah, he doesn't want to compete with you and I'm sure you know you're not the first PI to come sniffing around and frankly Morgan and Collodi are tired of the exposure. He's a very private man, you understand? So, if you back off he's willing to do a couple of things. Number one, he'll have Morgan talk to her mother and alleviate her suspicions. You can drive her to her mom's front door, happy reunion and all this goes away."
"Number Two?"
Darius laughed again, "He'll let Noami go."
Key took another swig from the beer and hoped that it covered his surprise. "He has Noami," Darius nodded. "I feel like I'm missing something here, where's the catch?"
"No catch, dude. Like I said, my boss is a private man and would prefer a little less scrutiny."
"Did you meet Henry Goddard?" Key followed up.
"Nah, doesn't ring a bell," then he snapped his fingers and said, "oh wait, you're talking about that fag," he shook his head, "I never got his name, but yeah he was here. Bouncer caught him sucking a guy off in the john."
Key considered what was happening and could keep going but the looming threat of Hotspur kept ringing in his head. He knew the demon wouldn't stop and Key needed to focus on eliminating that threat, the one that was in his wheel house. "What can I say to that?"
Darius shrugged and continued, "There aren't a lot of options for you right now, there is, however, a car waiting for you outside." Darius raised his hand to shake and in response Key handed him the half drank beer and moved for the door.
Outside he wasn't surprised to see the biker standing in front of a black mustang holding the door open. Key stepped inside the vehicle. Not a word was spoken between them. The drive was a short distance from the bar. It was a complex of nondescript warehouses. He could see two late model vehicles outside gleaming yellow from the sulfur lights that illuminated the central lot. The Biker pulled the mustang up to a security door turned the vehicle off and got out. He rubbed the amulet beneath his shirt and took a deep breath before following the brute into the complex. He didn't have his flask on him and quietly mourned the lack of the chocolate liqueur as he was led down a series of corridors. The lighting was warm, the floor was covered in a ornate burgundy carpet. There were few doors but he could hear music and laughter somewhere nearby. Finally the biker stopped at a door and opened it ushering Key inside.
Collodi's back was to him when he entered. The door closed behind him and he heard the biker's heavy boots walk away. "I was going to quote a poet or something, but I'm certain that will be lost on you," He finally turned and looked Key over. "Martin Tyrone Key. Nice name."
"Where's Noami?" He said through pursed lips. His anger rising to a boil.
"We'll get to that."
"We'll get to it now. That was what your little rocker boy told me, I back off. We go to our separate corners the world turns on. So before you subject me to yet another utter fucking clichΓ© and monologue at me let's get our business done now. Don't get me wrong seeing your back first and then the reveal. I got chills. There's a reason it gets used but I have miles to go before I sleep. So now, pretty please with sugar on top, bring me Noami and Morgan."
Collodi clapped, "Frost, nice! Not really a stretch, but nice." He moved to the front of his desk. "Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am? What I can do to you?"
"I have an idea," Key pushed every piece of anger he could find in his memory to the forefront of his mind. He saw Noami naked in the hallway covered in blood. He saw the biker, Darius, Mario, Henry, and the pleading mother in his thoughts and let the rage fill him. The smirk on Collodi's face also helped in his quest.