Corpse in the Cupboard

**** CHAPTER 16*****


Dealing with Squall Lionheart left Kiros thanking the gods that he never had children of his own. Kiros had been sure that whatever had made the commander angry enough to hurt his father would be forgotten as soon as Laguna’s hospitalization was known to him. The fact that everyone in Esthar was talking about the President’s heart attack since the news had broken this morning, and all of the television channels were constantly advertising what had happened, meant that his son must have heard by now. When it had passed 7pm and Squall had still not shown up at the hospital or called to ask about his father’s condition, Kiros had started to re-evaluate his earlier assumptions.

At first, he reasoned that the Commander must be too ashamed to make contact. The fact that the man was a trained mercenary with the ability to disappear without a trace would mean that it would take them weeks to track him down. That idea was blown away when Kiros discovered that Squall had booked a room under his own name, as if he had nothing to hide from. He couldn’t understand what the Commander was trying to prove.

Kiros paused in front of Squall’s hotel room door, glancing back at Vincent who stood behind him, silent and unreadable. The past forty eight hours had seen his relationship with the mysterious gunman go through so many changes that it made his head spin. They were still far from being friends, but their common goal meant that they were, for the time being, working together on friendly terms. Kiros had to knock four times before the door swung open to reveal a half naked Squall Lionheart with his hair tussled, looking as if he had just gotten out of bed.

“Fucking typical,” Squall muttered, leaving the front door open and disappearing into the bathroom. Kiros walked into the room, followed by Vincent who shut the door and took his place beside him.

“Is he always this friendly?” the gunman asked.

“He’s usually worse, actually,” Kiros responded. “He must have been expecting us.” Any response that Vincent may have made was cut off by the return of the Commander, this time fully dressed. Squall froze mid step and stared, finally noticing who had accompanied his father’s assistant on this visit.

“I think you know why we are here,” Kiros stated, breaking the staring contest the other two men had been locked in. Squall’s eyes flicked over to Kiros.

“If Laguna wants answers, he can come and ask for them himself,” Squall said flatly. Kiros hid the surprise that washed over him. The Commander must have been sleeping all day and was completely unaware of his father’s condition. Kiros was a little angry at himself for not considering that possibility but decided to withhold the news for the time being, hoping that he would be able to get some clarity to Squall’s motives first.

“The President is unavailable at the moment but I can assure you, he will want to speak to you in the near future. In the meantime, I have some questions for you,” Kiros said. He was relieved when Vincent remained quiet and didn’t question his omission.

“Whatever,” Squall muttered, as he sat down, crossing his arms.

“Firstly, I want you to tell me what you hoped to achieve with your actions last night,” Kiros demanded. Squall glanced at Vincent before settling his eyes back on Kiros.

“What actions are you particularly referring too?” Squall stated evasively. Kiros took a deep breath. He wasn’t in the mood for games and his day had already been far too long, so he decided to abandon tact.

“I am referring to the fact that you took advantage of you father’s drunk boyfriend, filmed yourself fucking him and then delivered it to his office,” Kiros responded. Vincent flinched beside him and Squall smirked at the gunman’s reaction.

“For the record, it was him who fucked me and I’d like to know what makes you believe that I seduced him? He did, after all, manage to seduce my father in under a week,” the Commander responded, deflecting the question without the slightest worry while smirking at Vincent, who was visibly tensing. Kiros was starting to doubt the wisdom of letting the gunman come here with him. It was quickly becoming clear that while Vincent was usually unreadable and near impossible to upset with words, when it came to Laguna the gunman couldn’t control his reactions. Everything that had happened in the past day had left the gunman’s emotions far too raw to hide.

“Firstly, Vincent had nothing to gain and a lot to lose by having sex with you. Secondly, I know that you are the one who delivered the tape to Laguna’s office which leads me to believe you were behind the recording of it as well. The security cameras in the hallway outside of the President’s office recorded you, stumbling down the hallway with the parcel that contained the camera. These facts lead me to the logical conclusion that you instigated the whole scenario after consuming too much alcohol to have more sense. What I want to know is why you would do this to your father?” Kiros answered.

“If the guy is so easily seduced, maybe he shouldn’t be allowed to roam the streets without an escort,” Squall answered smugly, still smiling at the gunman despite the fact it was Kiros that he was speaking to. “Why didn’t you just ask Vincent what happened? Don’t you trust him?” The gunman’s eyes were beginning to shine a disturbing yellow colour and Kiros had a bad feeling that the confrontation was about to turn ugly.

“I have no memory of last night,” Vincent growled.

“Well, that’s very convenient for you. Isn’t ‘I don’t remember’ a classic excuse of the guilty? Maybe you should watch the video. It might jog your memory,” Squall sneered back at the gunman. Kiros opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a word Vincent was suddenly in front of Squall with his gun in the young man’s face.

“Vincent!” Kiros yelled. The gunman didn’t move. “Vincent, stand down now!” Vincent slowly lowered his gun, taking a step back while glaring at Squall. Kiros took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to Squall. The Commander hadn’t even flinched and instead of fear it was anger that burned in his eyes.

“You are far too dangerous to be anywhere near my father!” he hissed at Vincent before turning his anger on Kiros. “As for you, I have some questions of my own I want you to answer. Why are you here, instead of Laguna? Has he completely disowned me now or is he just too busy to deal with his own son?”

Kiros realized that he was never going to get the answers he wanted this way. The Commander wasn’t going to co-operate and would continue to bait Vincent until one of them ended up hurt or worse. Finding out the real reasons for Squall’s actions was going to take time and a completely different approach. For now, the Commander needed to be told about his father.

“Squall, Laguna is not here because he is in the hospital. He collapsed early this morning after watching the video and the doctors believe that he had a heart attack.” Kiros saw the anger drain away from the commander’s face to be replaced by shock. Vincent suddenly turned and strode out of the room, giving no explanation of where he was going.

“What? He’s.…is he going to be ok?” Squall asked, standing up and walking towards Kiros, ignoring the gunman’s departure.

“We don’t know. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet and the doctors have said that it is too early to tell what damage has been done.” Squall’s usual stone cold face had taken on a look of fear.

“Can I see him?” Squall asked Kiros.

“Of course. It would be easier if you stayed at the Presidential Palace for now,” Kiros added, hoping that the Commander would agree so he would be easier to question in the future. Squall nodded, gathering his belongings.