Gemstone Ring
Prologue
The warehouse was dark, and the pier, deserted. From the two AM fog came the distinct sound of an approaching vehicle, followed by the black Lincoln itself, appearing out of the mist like in the movies. It stopped, and three men, wearing almost identical microfiber London Fog trench coats over Armani suits, stepped out. Two figures detached themselves from the shadows of he warehouse and silently patted them down for weapons. Satisfied that they were unarmed, the three were led into the warehouse.
"Welcome, welcome. Nephrite, what a pleasure it is to see you again. Kunzite, Zoisite, my you all are looking excellent." Nephrite scowled for a fleeting second at the redhead's lack of formality with them, but let it pass. After all, Beryl was one of their top suppliers, despite her appearances. The inside of the warehouse was unlit – only the moonlight shone in through the windows near the ceiling. It was enough light to bath half of the warehouse in an unearthly glow. It didn't match Beryl, he thought. She belonged in the dark, so as to not dirty any light.
"Beryl," the blond Zoisite greeted, charming as always. "To see such a beautiful woman as you, the pleasure is all mine."
"Indeed, but can we see the new shipment? You promised some good stuff this time," Nephrite interrupted just as Zoisite was lifting the woman's hand for a kiss.
"Of course; that's what we're all here for, right? Follow me." Beryl smiled, her too-red lips drawing taunt over her white teeth, two of which had been filed into fangs. Nephrite resisted the urge to gag; instead, the group of six walked towards the opposite corner of the warehouse, where a large number of items seemed to be covered by white cloth. Beryl lifted one to reveal a rack of framed paintings. Working quickly and silently, Zoisite whipped out a scanner and ran it over everything in the pile of goods – after showing it to Beryl's two bodyguards who checked to make sure it wasn't dangerous. Nodding an OK to Nephrite, the dark haired man stepped forward and unclipped his pen-flashlight from his shirt pocket. Shining it across the paintings and taking some out to inspect more closely, he called upon everything he knew about the impressionist period of art to judge if these were real.
An hour and a half later, they had systematically gone over almost all the art in the new shipment, all of which passed Nephrite's meticulous examination. Nodding to the others, they moved back to the door. Zoisite went to the car they came in and spoke briefly to the driver, who then handed him a briefcase. He returned to the group and passed the briefcase to one of the bodyguards, who opened and inspected the money inside. Nodding to his companion and Beryl, he closed the briefcase and held on tightly to it. "Well, gentlemen, as always, pleasure doing with you. I'll call when I get another shipment. Ta ta." Beryl granted them another revolting smile before turning and heading towards a parked car a stone's throw from the warehouse entrance.
By then, the truck Jadeite, the driver, had radioed for arrived. Silently, three men jumped out from the back, and along with Nephrite, Kunzite and Zoisite, began loading the smuggled art onto the back of the truck. An hour later, everything was transferred, and the two cars drove away, leaving the warehouse evidence-free of any criminal activities.
Evidence-free, that is, except for the small turquoise earring on the floor.
Early the next morning, the warehouse was police taped off. The evidence gathering forensics team was everywhere, dusting the floor and looking for DNA samples. A stunning brunette with a Division II detective's insignia on her uniform was standing at the back of a patrol car, muttering to herself as she stared at the turquoise earring she had bagged an hour ago.
A young officer ran up to her and paused, obviously intimidated. "Detective Kino," he ventured. She turned and raised an eyebrow in question. "There's nothing else to be found. Whoever these people are, they were very careful."
The detective swore under her breath, then smiled at the officer. "All right then. I'll bring this to the lab. You guys clean up here."
"Yes ma'am!" In a slight daze after seeing her smile, the officer moved back and started calling orders to clean up. The detective's smile lingered on her lips a few seconds longer – he was obviously newly promoted and transferred, which at his age was probably still quite a big event. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she climbed in her own gray-green Lexus and drove off for the criminal investigation lab. Pressing a speed dial on her car phone and clipping the microphone to her shirt, she waited to hear the soft greeting at the other end. "Ami, hi it's me," she said just as she stopped at a red light. "I have an earring here; we think the owner belongs to a group of art smugglers. D'ya think you could run some tests on it?"
"Of course. I might be able to find a skin cell or two I can extract DNA from. When will you be here?"
"In ten minutes. I just left the pier."
"OK then, I'll be sure to be in the lab then. I need to finish this checkup right now, so I'll see you then."
"Bye then." Hanging up, Makoto navigated her small car through traffic, heading for the hospital/lab that her friend worked at.
Six hours later, Beryl, real name Hanamura Besu, was apprehended and arrested on charges of illegal art smuggling. Makoto was leading the suspect interrogation until her friend and senior, Division I detective Aino Minako called her out. "We're stopping for the night. Chief wants to see you – I think it's about your promotion. Go; I'll take care of things here." Grinning, the blonde gave her friend a gentle push to the door.
Makoto smiled to herself as she got into the elevator and pushed twenty-three. Minako always had that kind of happy-go-lucky air about her, and could make anyone around her smile. Plus, the chief had been talking with her about a promotion for two months now; hopefully today's success had been enough to convince the board that she was competent. Knocking, she pushed open the door to Chief Yagyuu's office. The chief was a businessman-like character, who had risen to the rank of chief in under a decade – record-breaking time. He was quite handsome, single, rich, and completely impervious to flirtation. "Chief, Minako said you wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes Makoto. Come in, have a seat." Yagyuu pushed his glasses up with his right hand and a folder of papers across the table with the other. "I want you to continue on this case and find as many of the smugglers and their buyers as possible – we need to retrieve those pieces of art." Makoto's mood visibly fell. That was all – he just wanted her to continue on this case. Yagyuu took in her dismay and chuckled inwardly – playing with people always was so much fun. "Oh, but I talked to the board about it. We want you to continue on the case as a Division I detective." He opened the folder, and inside was a new badge, patches for her uniform, and some paperwork.
Makoto gasped, filled to the brim with happiness. "Chief! Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, picking up the new badge and reading the title over and over.
"No need to thank me. You're the one doing all the good work. Now go and celebrate," Yagyuu held out a hand, which she grasped and shook warmly.
"I will, oh thank you so much!" Practically glowing, Makoto all but danced her way out of the office, right into the congratulatory hug of Minako.
"We need to celebrate," the blonde declared. "We should have a party tonight. I'll cook."
Makoto looked at her friend, more than a little wary. Minako was definitely not the best cook in the world – far from it, in fact. "How about we just go out for dinner? I haven't eaten out in a long time. Maybe do some clubbing."
"OK! I'll call the others then. See you tonight!" Waving, Minako headed off for her own cubicle.
Endnotes: Well, this is the other plot. It's short, I know - just a prologue, after all. Please review and let me know what you think? Also, please let me know if you'd prefer I continue this or Forbidden. I'll finish both eventually, but focus more on one than the other.