Early the next morning, he headed to the animal shelter where Rodney was collaborating, expecting to find some answers. Brigitte had still been asleep when he left, but he had left a note on her bed asking her not to come out until his return.

The shelter was a bit away from the city center, and didn't seem to be very busy. Shawn approached the entrance gates where he was greeted by a guy with a somewhat ungainly and sinister appearance. He must have been in his late fifties, and his scarred face betrayed a life that must not have been a bed of roses. On his chest, he wore a small name tag: Eddie.

 

“Can I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Shawn, I´m a private detective and I was wondering if I could speak with someone in charge here.”

“Now is only me here.”

“You´re in charge?”

“I´m just a worker. What can I help you?” -He insisted, looking at the way of sending away as soon as possible.

“I would like to make you some questions about Rodney.”

The man's face seemed to change when he heard the name.

“The vlogger.”

 “So, you know him?”

“Yeah, he used to come very often.”

“He´s been missing for some days.”

“No wonder, he was stepping his feet in very dangerous matters. I warned him, but never listened.”

“That´s interesting. Was he involved in something fishy?”

“Didn´t you read his blog?”

“Not everything, but I´ve read some.”

“Look at it carefully, he was exposing people for animal smuggling.”

“You think his disappearance could be related with that?”

“Is not obvious?”

Shawn thought about it, realizing that Rodney might have some sensitive information for those traffickers. The answers about the case were starting to become clear in his head.

“Any idea who could be behind his disappearance?”

“Want a good advice, kid? Forget about it. Move on with your life and don´t mention it again.”

“I got paid to bring that guy back.”

“Follow my advice, give the money back.” -The guy sentenced before turning around and walking away, leaving the detective with the word in his mouth.

 

 

 

 

On the subway ride home, Shawn pored over Rodney's articles on animal trafficking, looking for clues. Rodney often urged his readers not to buy exotic animals, and gave all kinds of explanations of how all this illegal trafficking took place in North America, emphasizing New York City, but he never gave names. He was rather cautious in that regard. However, there was one small entry where between the lines, one could discern that Rodney gave clues as to where the epicenter of animal trafficking in the city was concentrated. No specific directions were given, but Rodney skillfully used his words to tell the reader where the place was, implying that it was a pet store in a certain suburb of the city. How had he not seen it before? he said to himself.

But that moment of inspiration was cut short when two young, thug-like guys sat down next to him in a somewhat threatening tone. Shawn could sense danger and went on alert. He hated fighting and was never a good fighter. He had had some boxing and self-defense lessons when he joined the force. But he hated getting hit, and he never excelled in that field. Violence was never his forte.

“You´ve been making some uncomfortable questions.” -One of the thugs told him in a threatening tone.

“Who´s sending you, guys?” -Shawn asked them, trying to keep his cool.

“Listen to me, if you want to spend Christmas with your family, you better stop making questions.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“No, I´m giving you a good advice.”

 “I don´t like receiving advices from people that I don´t know.”

“Don´t you play smart with us!”

“Who´s sending you?!

“Drop the investigation, and you won´t need to know.” -One of them warned him while grabbing the lapel of his jacket, annoyed by the offense, and merely instinctively, Shawn got rid of the bully, knocking out his front teeth with a brutal elbow, which inevitably caused the spiral of violence in which he would never have wanted to be involved.

The other thug came to his partner's defense, grabbing Shawn by the collar of his jacket forcing him to stand up and begin to hit him with hard blows to the face and body. Again by instinct, Shawn managed to get rid of him, kicking him in the crotch, however, he didn't have time to catch his breath when the other thug, after spitting out the teeth that Shawn had knocked out of him, used his belt to strangle him, making him fall and crawl on the ground. Shawn didn't usually go armed, and at that moment he was beginning to regret it. Fortunately, the belt broke, freeing Shawn from his violent siege. Without wasting time, he reached into his jacket pocket, and from it he pulled out a pen that he used to stab the thug on the knee, making him fall to the ground in pain. Shawn was about to kick him in the face, when the other thug intervened again, grabbing him by the back with the intention of taking him down. He had learned something from all the Saturday nights he had spent alone at home eating pizza and watching UFC fights, that he found the way to reverse the position, making the thug stumble and fall on his back on the ground where Shawn unloaded a brutal series of blows that left the felon unconscious.

Afterwards, Shawn, badly bruised, got on his feet facing the other thug who was trying to get on his feet after being stabbed with a pen in the knee.

“Get your friend out of here.” -Shawn asked him, trying to catch his breath. “there´s no need for more violence.”

Hesitant, the thug looked at him and looked at his buddy motionless on the floor. Shawn knuckles were all bloody as well.

When the train reached the station, the thug proceeded to obey, grabbing his buddy he dragged him out to the platform while leaving the place limping.

Relieved, but sore all over, Shawn sat back down in his seat hoping he wouldn't faint before he got home.