Murina was concerned.

Phone calls from Alfie were usually unwanted, that much was to be expected. Whenever she saw the name Alphonse on her screen, it meant either he was calling to complain about some decision the Kahunas’ management had made (if it was earlier in the day) or he was drunk and about to say something incredibly vulgar (if it was later). For him to call and then immediately hang back up was abnormal. It was worrisome.

With her brow furrowed, still looking at her phone as though it would explain itself to her, Murina didn’t notice her assistant peeking into her office.

“Ms Beaubonique?”

The black rat looked up, “Mm? I mean, yes, Anna? Something you need help with?”

The cheetah shook her head. “No, no, nothing like that. I just…” she paused, thinking over her words.

If there was one thing Murina Beaubonique was not a fan of, it was mincing words. She coughed once to let the feline know to stop trying to be diplomatic and just say what was on her mind.

Anna perked right to attention. “I just saw that phone call looked like it wasn’t good. Is everything okay?”

Murina let out a dry chuckle. “Yes. Everything is fine, thank you,” she said simply, quickly hunting down a paper on her desk that she could busy herself with rather than continuing the conversation. A moment passed and the rat looked up again, seeing Anna standing in the doorway still, awkwardly, like she wasn’t sure if she should go on not.

“…I said thank you,” Murina repeated, prompting the feline to turn and leave.

Talking with others was not Muri’s strong suit. As much as she protested it and claimed otherwise, her circle of friends was on the anemic side. In fact, it was empty. Aside from her work connections, her idea of a relaxing evening was an hour of cardio, a glass of wine, and then an early bedtime. Which wasn’t to say she had no opportunities to socialize; Harris and others in the field frequently called her up and invited her out to have a few drinks and unwind.

Murina’s answer? Too much work to do.

At that moment, though, what Muri needed most was someone to talk to, and the only person available she had just told, in more diplomatic terms, to piss off.

Sighing, Murina set her pen down and leaned to look out into the main area of her office. “Anna?” she called, trying to pick the minimum volume in her voice to be audible.

“Yes, Ms Beaubonique?”

This time it was the rat’s turn to hem and haw over words, before waving a hand to invite the cheetah back into her office. “Um, if you have a moment, Anna?”

The chipper feline was taken briefly aback. The two of them had done the dance of Anna offering to be a friendly ear only to get shot down dozens of times, to the point of it being a usual routine. She never expected to be taken up on it. So Anna did her best not to outright skip into Murina’s office and took a seat on the chair in front of the black rat’s desk.

“So… who was it?”

Murina took a breath. Talking out her problems with a friend, which was what Anna was functioning as that day, took some effort. “That was Alfie.”

Anna pulled a face. “Ooh. What happened? He get drunk and spit in another bartender’s face? Or get found passed out in some bushes again?”

Despite herself, Murina chuckled. “No no, nothing like that. Nothing quite so serious.” She stopped, then, and thought it over again. “Actually, it was nothing at all.”

The feline’s head tilted. “Nothing at all?”

Muri shrugged, not understanding the answer much more than her peer. “He didn’t say anything. As soon as I said hello he apologized and hung up again.”

The cheetah remained confused. “So… what’s the problem?” she asked. “So he misdialed. Doesn’t that happen all the time? I mean, that guy with a phone is like…”

A sharp glance from Murina silenced that barb. She shook her head. “No, that’s just it. He hates using the phone, so the only time it comes out is when he has something in mind. He’s never misdialed me. I don’t even think he calls anyone else on it. For him to shut down the call so quickly… something isn’t right.”

Anna’s face scrunched up in deep thought. Murina couldn’t suppress a little grin as she watched the wheels turning in her assistant’s head. Anna was a young girl, barely out of college, hired to be a sort of buffer zone between Murina and whoever was trying to get in touch with her. In a lot of ways, Anna was the yang to Muri’s yin: perky, approachable, friendly and always happy to talk, but not the management type. Perfect liaison, not always the best when it came to problem solving. Still, she wanted to help, and Muri needed it.

“Well,” Anna began, “couldn’t you just call him back.”

Murina shook her head. “No, he’d never answer. Unfortunately, this is a one-way communication. He calls me when he needs help, I call him when I feel like listening to the default voicemail message.”

Anna snickered, and it lifted Murina’s spirits slightly.

She continued, “So, right now… I’m stuck!” the rat said simply, leaning back in her plush chair. “He doesn’t have any friends in Hawaii, his family doesn’t have a phone I can call. I can’t send a note parcel post, like ‘excuse me, Norwich family, something may be wrong with Alphonse, please try and get a hold of him and then let me know within the next five weeks,’ so I’m in a bind.”

The feline scratched at her jawline lightly. “But… doesn’t he have those two big guys that follow him around? He can’t be in any trouble, right?”

Muri let out another faint chuckle. “Vesk and Roon, right. They’re not tagging him 24/7, their job is to be with him at games and practices, and he’s SUPPOSED to let them know whenever he’s heading out so they can be his entourage or let him head off on his own if the situation warrants it. I think his little stunt over Christmas says how reliable Mr Norwich is when it comes to following instructions.”

Anna snorted. “Oh yeah, whatever happened with that?”

The rat spread her hands out. “Damned if I know. Last I heard he managed to dodge a fine thanks to Zack Tate vouching what he’d been doing back in England, but they slapped another policy on him that if he’s ever out without at least letting his ‘posse’ know about it he’ll get hit with a fine or worse.”

Anna whistled. “Dang. Poor guy’s on lock and key.”

Murina nodded, “Well, it’s not as bad as it sounds. They’re not babysitters, it’s not like he has to let them know if he’s going to the store or to check his mail. From what I understand he’s hit it off somewhat with one of them, anyway. That could be a good or bad thing.” She shook her head. “Anyway, that’s just a chaperone arrangement. They aren’t close to him, and they don’t live with him, so unless I want to have one of them pounding on his door they aren’t going to help me.”

The rat looked up at the feline, and read her face immediately. “The answer is NO, I don’t want that.”

“Well, why not?” Anna asked.

Murina shot her a look. “Because if he’s in trouble somehow, the last thing I want to do is set him off by sending one of them at him. He’ll know it was me that did it, and then I’ll never get hold of him.”

Anna got a small grin on his face. “Well then, it sounds like you need to have someone who can check in on Alfie without him KNOWING they’re checking in on him.”

The black rat lifted a brow. “You’re… suggesting I send a spy to Hawaii.”

Proud of herself for her ingenuity, Anna nodded. “Mm-hm! I mean, think about it. You need someone to check on him, you have no contact with anyone close to him, and your only other option is someone working for the team. So why not hire a freelancer?”

Rolling her eyes, Murina leaned forward on her elbows a moment. “…Okay, let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that I wanted to do that. Who in the world am I going to hire, and how? I don’t think spies are in the yellow pages. Am I supposed to hire a private investigator to tail my client? I can’t do that.”

Anna’s enthusiasm sunk slightly. She knew Muri was right. Alphonse might not have been the brightest, but having a PI poking around was asking for trouble if he got caught.

Then, suddenly, Anna got an idea. She grinned, ear to ear, which was never a good sign.

“…How about Bynch?”

Murina’s brows went straight up. “Ohhhhh no. I am not gambling on Bynch the Finch.”

Bynch the Finch, as his name suggested, was a freelance photojournalist known for being incredibly inventive in his methods, able to snag photographs of athletes and celebrities that others couldn’t, finding them in disguise at bars, on vacation halfway around the world, or living in incognito homes other than their official addresses when they wanted to get away from… people like him.

Unfortunately, Bynch was also known to be easily distracted, sometimes taking longer than others to deliver because his artistic side got the better of him and he spent an afternoon framing the perfect shot of a trash can instead of tailing who he was hired to get the scoop on. He could either have the pictures ready the same day, or a week later, depending. In short, he was birdbrained.

Additionally, he was of the belief that part of being so good at his job was anonymity. He only took cash, a fee up front and then the rest of it upon delivery, always in person. No one actually knew his last name, or even if he was actually called Bynch. The bird avoided a paper trail like the plague, explaining that with as many sensitive (and damning) pictures as he’s gotten over the years, the last thing he’d want is for anyone to be able to find him.

It basically meant that there was a chance of handing cash over to him and just hoping for the best. She wouldn’t have a receipt to speak of and he didn’t have a boss she could call.

Anna shrugged and stood up. “Well, he’s good, and he works under the table so it’s not like Alfie would find out. I think that’s your best bet. I have his latest number, so if you want, I can get hold of him. I do have to make a lot of phone calls though, and you’re going to have a lot of meetings coming up!”

Murina nodded, “Yes, well. Thank you. I’ll think of something. You’ve been a big help, Anna.”

The cheetah slipped back to her desk and back to work, while Murina Beaubonique stared down at the papers in front of her. The text on them blurred and blended into unintelligible scribblings. There was no way she could deal with any of them until she knew what to do about Alphonse. He wasn’t like her other clients. She couldn’t put him on the backburner while she dealt with the others. Whenever a problem came up, Alfie became priority number one. She wasn’t even sure who she was angrier with: him for putting her in that position, or herself for thinking it would be any different.

“…Anna?” Muri called out.

“Yes, Muri?”

The rat took a long breath. “Get Bynch on the phone. Let him know I want to meet with him.”

“No problem!”

Murina rubbed at her forehead. Deep down, she just knew this is what had to be done. She had no choice. Alphonse was in trouble, and the only alternative was to drop everything and fly down to Hawaii herself. Besides, maybe he could get in there, find Alfie, snap some pictures, and be back with the big oaf being none the wiser and it would turn out to be nothing too serious. And if Alfie saw him, so what? He was just the media. Alfie was used to that by now, right?

---

A knock at the doorframe.

“Ms Beaubonique?” came a sharp, rapid voice.

“Ah, Mr… Bynch, is it?”

The bird laughed, still in that double-speed cadence. “Bynch is enough.”

Murina nodded at the chair in front of her, still in its position where Anna had sat in it the previous morning. It had been less than twenty four hours between the phone call and the meeting. Honestly, Muri was impressed with the response time and the promptness. Then again, it was always easy to get a rush job when it meant money was on the line.

Bynch, however, chose to remain standing. He was dressed plainly, tan khakis and a button shirt, camera bag slung over his shoulder and a fedora. Murina was a bit underwhelmed, as though he should have been more… mysterious somehow. Instead, the bird looked like any other freelancer she’d met over the years.

Murina stood as well, and paced lightly behind her desk. “Yes, well. I’m sure my assistant gave you the rundown, which is that my client, Alphonse Norwich IV, may or may not be in a bit… of… trouble…”

Muri snapped her fingers. “Bynch!”

The bird’s head whipped upwards again, and he stood back upright, having been kneeling at her desk with the camera in front of his face. “Oh! Sorry, Ms Beaubonique, you just have one of those… those things…” he said, indicating the Newton’s Cradle on her desk.

“Yes, I do. Your point?” the rat asked, unamused.

“They’re just so… kitsch! You never actually see them any more in real executive offices, and with the window there, plus you pacing, it just made the PERFECT shot.”

“…Yes, that’s wonderful, Bynch, but we have actual business, remember?”

The bird nodded. “Right, right. Continue!”

Murina closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath through her nose. She was already regretting this meeting. “So then, Mr Norwich has been showing some… troubling behavior lately. Simply put, I need you to check on him at home, see if he’s having any problems I should know about. I’m not worried about him on the road, he has his… people. But I think something’s going on.”

Bynch’s head tilted in both directions quickly, unsure. “That’s all? Just… watch the guy at home? And the pictures are just for… you?”

Murina nodded. “Basically.”

Similar to the rat’s disappointment at his appearance, Bynch was less than excited about his assignment. “Muri, this sounds like a job for any chump with a cell phone. He’s not hiding? He’s not missing? You know where he is, why don’t you just call the guy?”

“Because,” Muri responded sharply, “he won’t answer my calls and I don’t want to send some chump. I think he’s getting into trouble and the LAST thing I need is for him to know I’m spying on him. Now I’ve HEARD you’re good at getting a scoop on stories without being seen, but if y… BYNCH!!”

The bird stood up again. “Sorry! The way you were leaning on the desk there, it was just so… TV miniseries! Like the poster of some political drama!”

The black rat’s jaw tightened. “Look, can you get what I need or not??”

Bynch puffed up his feathers. “How much do you need?”

“Well, that depends on how suspicious he seems. If it looks like nothing, then not much. If it looks like he’s hiding something or sneaking off into trouble, stay on him until you know.”

“Then that changes my fee.”

The fee, of course. That was encouraging, at least. It meant he was taking the job. Murina pulled out her wallet and unzipped it, fingers leafing through the bills. “And let’s say, in that case, that we’ll give you the fee for the longer engagement, but if you don’t need it, then the remainder will cover the delivery fee.”

Bynch’s eyes flickered about, weighing his options. Murina couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to think the same way Anna did, only sped up. “That works! Now just up front, I hope you realize this isn’t quite my usual manner of business. Normally it’s a magazine or TV station that gets a scoop about someone so they tap me to get the pictures first so they aren’t stuck trying to bid on them. This is more like… PI work.”

It was true, one of Bynch’s strengths was that he enjoyed the work more than he enjoyed the money he got from it, and tabloids loved hiring him to get the scoop on stories others couldn’t because they could land salacious photographs without paying out the nose for them. But that was par for the course for the media. Murina was asking for his help for private reasons.

“I’m aware of that,” she replied. “And part of it is that I’m not aiming to go full investigator here. I’m not asking for his emails, for you to GPS his car or for you to start canvassing the city asking questions. I just need you to… you know, let me know what he’s up to.”

Muri knew she was asking a lot out of the finch, but she didn’t want to go to a private investigating firm, and it was true that having it all be more under the table helped her out in case things went sour.

Bynch, meanwhile, seemed contemplative. “And you’re pretty sure I’m not just gonna fly down and find out he’s been sitting at home doing nothing?”

“I don’t think that will be the case, although I honestly hope so,” Murina said simply. “Now can we talk fee?”

Bynch tapped his chin. “Of course. Well, I can get a flight for about five hundred, I charge the press around ten grand a shot when it comes to high profile celebrities and the number goes up from there depending on just how high profile. Now usually that’s because I’m out to get a specific shot, someone on vacation, linking two celebrities together, baby bump, that sort of thing. You’re talking hiring me as a tail, not to get one golden shot, so that changes things a little. I’d be charging you daily.”

Murina’s expression soured. She looked heavily unsure of herself. This was turning out to be a lot more expensive than she had anticipated, and her eyes dropped into her wallet, the money she’d taken out of the bank in preparation. The rat had withdrawn more than she thought she would need, but now it was sounding like it was going to be not enough.

In front of her, the finch chuckled quietly. “I’ll tell you what. Since you’re not the press and it doesn’t sound like I’m racing a hundred other photogs for the first snap of the guy, we’ll call it two and a half up front. Fair?”

Murina looked skeptical. “Two thousand five hundred.”

Bynch nodded. “Yes, ma’am. That’ll get me there, give me a day or two of work, and a flight back. If it turns out there’s more going on and I need to stay longer, I’ll get a hold of you and let you know.”

“…Two and a half,” Muri repeated. That seemed lower than she was expecting. Too low.

Bynch put his hands up. “That’s all! I don’t have anything else on my plate right now and I could use the vacation, and this sounds pretty low pressure. So two and a half for a few day’s work feels fair.”

Murina hummed and pulled the bills out, handing them over. “When will you be able to get hold of me?”

The bird shrugged. “Not long after I arrive. Shouldn’t be hard to find his house, I’ll head down the day before he’s getting back from an away game, I’ll let you know if it seems fishy. If not, then I’ll tell you that and I’ll just head home and we’ll call it a day. Sound fair?”

Murina nodded, and Bynch the Finch went on his way. After he left, Muri took a deep breath. There was no backing out now. No refunds. She couldn’t call him up and call it off because she had a change of heart. At this point, she almost hoped that there was something Alfie needed help with, because at least that would justify what she was doing. Otherwise, she was hiring that flighty bird to spy on him for no reason.

It all left a bad taste in Muri’s mouth, but it was too late now. Bynch the Finch was heading to Hawaii.