Truth and Consequences Part III
All he wanted to do was have a hot shower, lay down and sleep. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Austin stepped through the door, being careful not to make too much noise as he closed the door and moved through the front of the house and the kitchen. He knew his kids were asleep upstairs, he knew Amy had already gone to her room. It was a quiet and peaceful early spring night.
Austin placed his gym bag down and walked over to the fridge, pulling out two beers and opening one before taking a sip, placing the other behind him on the kitchen bench. He chuckled and shook his head before breaking the silence with his deep voice. ”I’m not sure if you’re on the clock, but if you’re not…there’s a beer…”. After a few moments a hand reaches out from the darkness taking it, Austin shakes his head and turns the small downlights of the kitchen on.
Detective Solomon stands across the kitchen bench from Austin, his large frame casting a shadow across the floor as the lights hit him from above.
”You knew?..”
Austin laughs to himself and turns back to Solomon, leaning against the opposite counter, folding his arms over his chest while grasping the beer bottle in his hand. ”I could smell you a mile off. But, the question is, why are you sitting in my house at 1130 at night in the dark?” Austin tried to play it off, but he knew exactly why Solomon was there. Solomon, for his part tried to play it just as cool as Austin before clearing his throat and stepping back.
The two men stared at one another for a few moments before Solomon pulled out a file, placing it on the kitchen counter and looking up at Austin. ”Well, I’m investigating a murder. One that, truth be told, I thought was only connected to you in passing….” He paused, letting the silence hang in the air for a moment, Austin however, stayed stoic. ”A friend of yours has a husband that goes missing and is found dead in a hotel room, coincidence that you have both gone through your significant other being murdered. But I’ve seen stranger things…” Hew steps around the counter, standing next to Austin, placing his beer down before pulling the file across to him.
”What’s this?”
Solomon just stared ahead before darting his eyes down to the file. Austin grabbed it, opening it and smirked as he looked at various photos. ”You want to explain to me, why the night Michael Reynolds was murdered traffic cameras found you heading north along the freeway? And why cameras in the lobby of that flea ridden motel caught you moving toward the room?” He paused, Austin smirked and shook his head.
”So, I’m going to guess that, I don’t need a lawyer…” Solomon raised an eyebrow. Austin stepped back and folded his arms over his chest. ”You broke into my home, without a warrant, to show me evidence that implicates me in a murder….so my question is…why?”
Solomon stared for a moment before giving Austin a nod, moving around and grabbing another file, sliding it toward him, Austin opened it, his eyes darting across the pages before Solomon sighed. ”Those emails were deleted from a private server, but we were able to restore them, and we found that the replies were from Lisa….” Solomon paused again and sighed heavily. ”She found out Michael had been embezzling from Wolfslair, and stealing from his wife. She confronted him….and he had her…”
”Murdered…”
”...Yeah…”
Silence between them, not awkward or forced. They both needed a moment. Austin swallowed hard and shook his head before looking over at Solomon. ”I know what you’re thinking….and…no…I didn’t kill him.”
Solomon chuckled and gave a nod. ”I know…” Austin looked confused, Solomon grabbed the files and moved toward the door. ”You didn’t pull the trigger, you just let the loan sharks who he was in debt to know where to find him…..I already dumped your phone records Austin….and don’t worry…as far as I’m concerned the cases are closed…” Solomon opened the door before stopping and looking over his shoulder. ”But…you still have to live with all that happened….and try and regain the humanity you lost…”
As the door closed behind him Austin thought about his words, taking a drink of his beer and finishing it. And closing the chapter.
Oliver
”Five years.”
Austins eyes open, he stares ahead and chuckles to himself.
”Five years I have been in SCW in one form or another. Only taking time away when I was injured or a personal tragedy hit. And even then, I never really stayed away too long. When my father died, I came back, when my mother died, I came back. Why would this time have been any different? Maybe I have come back too soon from all the loss. I can’t say I haven’t changed in the last five years can I? Think about it, are you the same person you were five years ago? So much has happened. Personally and professionally.”
“But the last five years in SCW have been nothing if not interesting. And if you look at what I’ve done, who I have beaten and the moments I’ve had? Well I can’t say I haven’t been successful either.”
“However, last time I was in an SCW ring, I wasn’t successful.”
“In the beginning it was all about going after Miles, teaching him a valuable lesson. But as Michael Harris and the SCW title got involved. Well. I can’t lie, the thought of regaining that championship and being the world champion again, my eyes started wandering away from Miles and to that title. But, I still wanted to keep my mind where it needed to be. And in the end, while I didn’t get pinned, nor did I submit, I also failed to stop Harris from retaining. So, it was a loss, a loss on the biggest stage of them all. A world championship match.”
“It turns my stomach.”
He lets out a sigh and stands up, pacing back and forth in his leather jacket, black jeans and a white button up shirt underneath.
”Not just the loss, but my failure. And to sit here and acknowledge that in front of you all and say the words. Well. I failed. I failed to teach Miles the lessons he needed to succeed. I failed to force him to step up and realize his goddamn potential. Miles failed, and his failure is mine, as a teacher and a student should share the blame. So, where do I go from here? I deliberately stayed away from that joke of a tournament because I didn’t want the fate of my success to be in the hands of another person, only to have a championship match where my destiny was in the hands of a person I don’t know or trust…”
“Strange how these things work out isn’t it? But what now? Where do I go? What do I do? Well, there are rumours that I’m not done with Miles. And for the most part, that’s true. But, another match for a world title and another failure.”
“Those mixed tag titles though…Tempest and I always wanted them to come back…”
“Before I get there though, I have to face someone that has never been in the ring with me. A new piece of meat. Or so it would seem.”
Austin reaches down, picking up a well worn and read copy opf the wizard of OZ with a smirk before putting it down.
”Oliver Zahn, The miracle of OZ. a young man from the “prestigious” training facility known as Jet city. Is that supposed to impress me? Let me explain something to you. Jet City, Hero Academy, Go gym, none of you and I mean NONE of you are the same level of star power as Wolfslair. So, I see the name “Jet city” on someones information and my mind is never drawn to it in a way that people might consider positive. I don’t look at it and give any type of respect or fear.”
“No, when I see Jet City, all I can say is…That’s cute.”
“You have so much to focus on with me Oliver, former world champion, Internet champion, Mixed tag team champion. But, what have I done lately? I have attacked, physically and verbally some of the most beloved stars on the SCW roster. I have also attacked some of the most reprehensible. So, I have been an equal opp[ortunity asshole. But, as far as wins and championships, well, I can’t say I have been too successful there lately. But, what can I say about you?
“Aside from the obvious.”
“Aside from seeing you walk around this place with an air of unearned arrogance that follows you. Aside from your failure to win the blast from the past. Aside from your stupid comments that you somehow “arrived” at the top of the mountain. What mountain was that Oliver? You get a few wins in that tournament and then your skinny little ass believes he’s somehow a name here? How unbelievably childish.”
He dismissively moves his hand before clearing his throat and sitting forward.
”I have seen a million of you come and go. If you stick around you might show me something, but right now, you’re just a wet behind the ears kind, fresh out of training who has gotten a small smell of what it is like to be a star and thinks he belongs at the top. And why? Because you say so? This isn’t some magical little fairy filled kingdom from a bedtime story where you can think it and dream it and have it appear Oliver.”
“This is the real world. This is what it’s like when you face a real champion. An angry champion. A man who has done and seen things that would, in all honesty, destroy you.”
“You can do everything you can to escape me, to disagree with me and somehow, someway beat me.”
“But saying it won’t make it happen. Going down to that ring and taking everything in your life that hasd ever harmed you, taking all your pain and fears and all your insecurities, putting them in front of the world and lying them bare, that is the only way to beat someone like me. Cause only when you have faced your greatest fears and realized they can’t hurt you like I can, well, only then are you ready for this business and what it does to you.”
“All I see is a kid with a dream, I see kids like you at Wolfslair all the time.”
“This business takes from you, it takes and takes and takes and even when your personal life is falling apart, when you lose everything, this business still wants more and more until you have nothing left. So, I’m going to test you, I’m going to hurt you and put you through things that no man should ever feel, and if you survive, if you thrive? Well, not only will I know you can be a part of this business, but I’ll also know I taught you something that Jet city never could…”
