AN: Enjoy the chapter
The Friends & Disappointments
I soon reach my destination, a large nightclub sitting in the middle of a darkened street, thugs of all sorts doing various activities in the darkness beyond my sight. I'm not concerned with them right now, focusing on talking with the leader of the Dragons. I step up to the door where a large burly man stands guard.
"ID?" I show him my non police driver's license. "You know cops ain't welcome here Schnee." He growls. Damn he must have recognized my name.
"I'm not here on police business. I wish to talk to the owner." He looks me up and down, before sighing and stepping aside. Stepping in I'm immediately assaulted by loud music and bright lights. A large dancefloor filled with patrons takes up a good chunk of space, with a DJ on a raised platform to the north opposite the door. Along the eastern wall is private rooms for 'meetings' while the west wall holds the massive bar, being manned by several bartenders, and an Asian man in a nice looking suit and tie, who appeared to be polishing the glass. For those out of the know he was Hei 'Junior' Xiong, the owner of the bar. Of course those who knew the workings of the bar knew the true owner was the Queen of the Dragons herself, Yang Xiao Long, a Chinese American woman who was known for both her ruthlessness and playful natures. Sighing I slowly approach the bar, right in front of Junior.
"How can I help you miss?" He asks.
"I wish to talk to the owner." I state.
"I am him. How can I help you?" he repeats.
I flash him my ID, enough to let him see my name. "I suggest you try that again Junior."
"Look lady I don't know what you're talking about. This is my bar." I give him a look. He eventually leans in and whispers "You've got some nerve asking for her cop."
"She knows who I am. Tell her I just wish to talk to her." I whisper back. He steps back out of sight from behind the bar and is gone for several minutes. Eventually he comes back out and leans in again.
"Go to meeting room 3. She'll meet you there. But first you are to give me your gun."
"With all due respect sir given how I don't know your intentions I'd rather not."
"It's your head." He sighs before going back to the bar while I make my way through the crowded dancefloor into one of the meeting rooms. The rooms were soundproofed and only consisted of a couple couches, a small glass coffee table between the couches, and a small bed stained with god knows what. Taking a seat on one of the beaten couches I wait patiently for her to arrive.
"She's in here milady." I hear a guard say from the opposite wall. Soon a hidden door opens revealing a tall Chinese woman with bright blonde hair, multiple tattoos covering a good chunk of her body, and a robotic right arm.
"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard a cop had come in straight up asking to see me." She sarcastically says so both the guard and I can hear. "Leave us for now." she orders the guard.
"But Boss."
"Did I stutter? Did I speak some language you don't understand? I said leave us and close the door behind you." The guard steps back, stuttering something along the lines of 'no, sorry Boss' before closing the door. As soon as the door is closed the woman turns to me, a massive smile on her face.
"Can't believe the Ice Queen herself has come to pay me a visit. It's good to see you again." she embraces me in a tight hug before pulling back "You're not wearing a wire are you?"
"Yes Yang I just walked into your bar run by your gang with a wire. I'm not that stupid, nor am I suicidal." I roll my eyes.
"Good. Now take a seat take a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"
"I'm still on duty Yang." I state
"You're no fun. Anyways to what do I owe the pleasure? You finally get that piece of evidence you need to put me behind bars?" She holds up her arms like their handcuffed "Lock me up and throw away the key."
I roll my eyes again, even as a crime boss Yang can't help but be a jokester. "No we haven't yet Yang. I was actually hoping you'd give me some information on a Jane Doe"
"You need info on a deer? That'll cost you a buck." She says with a cheeky grin, laughing at her own pun.
"God damn it Yang, you know what that means." I say rolling my eyes, before reaching into my pocket, accidentally revealing my gun. Yang tenses up, reaching for the gun at her hip too.
"Don't pull anything Weiss. I thought I told Junior to take your gun."
"I won't I promise." I say pulling out the photos I have, Yang slightly relaxing once I do. "I need to know if you've seen this girl. We found her in a drug house on your turf this morning."
"I'm telling you we're a legit business Weiss. We don't do no drug dealing."
"I didn't say it was yours only it was on your turf. Please tell me if you know anything about her." Yang takes the first picture, the one of R, and stares at it for several minutes before speaking up.
"What's in it for me? Immunity? An inside scoop on your investigation?"
"You know I can't promise any of that."
"Well then I can't help you cop."
"I'm not asking as a cop Yang I'm asking as a friend."
"You just said you were on duty."
"I know but… look I don't care if you're involved in whatever happened to her I just want to reunite her with her family. Please tell me anything you know."
"It doesn't matter anyways. I haven't seen her before in my life." Yang puts the picture down on the table. "I'm telling the truth here. I'd remember a face that cute. Plus those eyes weird me out something fierce. I can ask around but I doubt my men have seen anything. You mind if I take a picture?" I sigh and nod, allowing her to get a picture of the picture on her phone. "Thanks. You said she was found at a drug ring on our turf?"
"Yes but she didn't appear to be involved. She was unconscious on the second floor."
"Where was this?"
"You know I can't tell you that. I'm already breaking about a million different rules by just being here."
"Look tell me and I'll make sure any of their buddies don't come back. Plus you've got another picture in your hand." Damn she knows how this works too well. I sigh and give her the address. "Alright what about the other picture? Is it just another shot of our little Red here?"
"No. it's… a tattoo she has on her back." I hand her the picture of the tattoo. "Do you know anything about it?" Yang stares at the picture for a while before putting it down.
"I don't recognize it but I can tell you this much, that ain't no tattoo."
"What do you mean?"
"It's too clean."
"What do you mean?"
"It's too perfect. There doesn't appear to be any stroke or splotches. So unless someone is doing tattoo work on really young kids and has godly precision that ain't the work of any tattoo artist."
"Then what is it? A birthmark?"
"Hell if I know. But it ain't something the Dragons or Red Fang use. And last I checked Torchwick isn't into marking Candlejack members, so unless he or Blake changed up their logos…"
"It's not theirs?"
"Exactly. You talk to Blake about this?"
"I was hoping to be able to find her after talking to you. You have any idea where she might be?"
"I might. But don't tell her I told you. She'll have my head."
"I won't. I don't want to start a gang war between you two."
"Look the Red Fang are having a meeting at the old grain mill in the south side of town, near the docks. Tonight at midnight. I was going to send someone there to spy on them, unless…"
"I'm not being your spy Yang."
"Damn worth a shot. Look I'll let you know if I get anything on either of these things. If Blake tells you anything I bet Torchwick knows something. He missed the last meeting and I don't know where he's at. His men seemed to have abandoned most of his turf which is concerning. Anyways I do suggest you leave the bar though. You rustled some jimmies coming in."
"I will. Thank you Yang." I begin to approach the door "And please consider my offer. I don't want you or Blake imprisoned for years."
"I'm still thinking it over Weiss. You're going to need to hurry if you want to catch that meeting." I nod and make my way out of the bar.
I arrive at the old mill about quarter to midnight, and park my car a block or so away, to not give away my position. The area of town is mostly vacant, a few stragglers wandering about, most wearing red masks that look like some sort of beast. I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb here. I wait nearby till closer to midnight and slip inside the mill, following the trail of voices until I come upon the meeting, which is set on the main production floor. A makeshift stage has the Red Fang's second in command, a blonde boy, talking in a language I don't understand. I'm about to slip into the crowd when I feel a gun pushed up against the back of my head and I'm slammed against the nearby wall.
"I suggest you don't move pig." I hear a female voice say from behind me. "What are you doing here? How'd you even know this was going on?"
"Look I'm not here to cause trouble I just need to…"
"Likely story." I feel a sharp pain in my side as she punches me in the ribs hard. "No cops sneaks into a meeting without…"
"Ilya!" I hear a familiar voice say "That's quite enough. Let her go." I feel the gun and pressure keeping me against the wall stop and I turn around to face my savior. While her face is covered by a mask, fancier than most but still similar enough to tell they're from the same gang. She's wearing a long white trench coat, with a black undershirt, and black pants, heavy combat boots completing her look. She has a long katana strapped to her back and a pistol at her hip. "Continue patrols. I'll deal with our intruder."
"Yes Boss." Ilya slips away as quickly as she appeared. The woman turns to me.
"Weiss what are you doing here? You're lucky I showed up or else Ilya would have had you lynched."
"I… I need your help."
"If it's about your offer I've told you several times I can't betray these people."
"I know but it's something different. Is there somewhere private we can talk?" the woman sighs and leads me into one of the side offices. Once there she takes off her mask revealing a young Hispanic woman with bright amber eyes.
"What do you need?"
"Blake I was wondering if you knew anything about this woman." I say handing her a picture of R. "We found her unconscious in a drug house downtown this afternoon."
"Downtown? That's Dragon turf. You talk to Yang?" I nod. "Let me guess she told you where this meeting was?" I hesitate for a moment and Blake merely shakes her head "I knew she knew. Don't bother hiding it." I slowly nod. "She had no clue who this girl was?"
"No. Never seen her before." Blake turns the picture over, eyes widening as she does.
"Wow… I…" Blake is rendered speechless for a moment before returning the picture "Nope. Never seen her before in my life either. Trust me a face like that with those eyes wouldn't be easily forgotten. Sorry I can't be much help."
I sigh. "That's what I feared."
"She unable to tell you who she is?"
I shake my head "No. Not just because she appears to have some form of amnesia but she's also blind and mute. All we got were what possibly might be initials."
Blake bites the side of her lip, thinking "Yea sorry I'm racking my brain and I've got nothing. What about the other picture." I hand her the picture of the tattoo. "Interesting tat."
"According to Yang it's not a tattoo, but given how we have no clue what it is or how she got it it might as well be a tattoo. You recognize the symbol?"
Blake shakes her head "No. It's nothing we or the Dragons use. Torchwick might have an idea but good luck finding him. He missed the last Trinity meeting and we have no clue where he might be. His men are tight lipped about it too, even the ones…"
"I don't need to hear about your methods Blake. Remember I'm still a cop. I can only play willful ignorance when you don't tell me these things." I say cutting her off. "Weird Torchwick missed the meeting. He's usually so punctual from what I've heard."
"Either that or that pint sized psychopath he has." Blake adds. "Yang and her still refuse to get along. But there was no Candlejack presence at the meeting at all. The druggies say who they worked for?"
"Of course not. They claim to be an independent group but I somewhat doubt that. If Torchwick missed a meeting he might be trying to break from the Trinity, and if he does that's a gang war this town doesn't need."
"Yea. But if he does act I can't promise I won't retaliate Weiss. I've got my men to worry about."
I sigh for what feels like the millionth time tonight. "I know Blake. Look keep an eye out for anything about the girl or the symbol. I'm sorry I caused such a ruckus tonight." She merely nods and I take my leave, dialing Neptune once I return to my car.
"What's up Weiss?" he asks "Any luck?"
"No but I've got some concerning information about the Trinity that the Chief might want to hear. Seems like Torchwick and the Candlejacks might be planning on leaving the Trinity. They missed the last meeting. Blake nor Yang knew where he's at or what he's up to. Many of his men seemed to have abandoned their part of Trinity turf, which is concerning."
"That is a problem. You off for the night?"
"Yea. Catch you tomorrow Neptune." Hanging up the phone I drive to my small 2 bedroom apartment and crash.
The Next Morning, Atlas Park
A bright orange haired woman was running around the park early in the morning. She was wearing gym shorts and a tight tank top, with a nice looking pair of tennis shoes strapped to her feet. As she approached the small bridge in the middle of the park she noticed something odd, some sort of person sleeping. The hell? No one should be sleeping outside in this weather. The woman approaches slowly stopping once she notices the blood. He ain't sleeping. Stepping closer she sees that it's in fact only half a body, the other half ripped off. With a scream she quickly pulls out her phone and calls the police, a strange symbol that appeared to be of a bunch of intersecting stars within a circle, some sort of glyph in the middle glowing slightly on the nearby wall.
AN: OOH! A murder? And a symbol similar to what's on R's back? What does it all mean? Find out next time on Mystery of the Silver Eyes Ch. 03: The Body & Connections.
Also before I forget yes I know Blake isn't a Hispanic name but that's just what she goes by, her actual name is something else. Also the Red Fang are supposed to be like the White Fang with a slightly different name (I completely forgot why I changed it of course).