It became quiet inside the large office and Javier was alone on his desk, puffing on a stogie cigar.
All the while, he was waiting patiently for one of his associates to return with the report on the dispatchment while he passed the time puffing on the cigar.
As he blew smoke from his mouth, the double door opened and one of his associates, who appear as a panther in a trench suit, approached towards his desk while the double door closed on its own.
Javier sat up in his seat and took the cigar from his mouth before placing it on the ashtray. Afterwards, he crossed his hands together and waited in silence for the report.
The associate halted his approach in front of the desk before speaking.
"Sir, a report just came onto the news. The dispatchment is done."
Javier issued a smile and stayed silence.
It was only a few hours later since Bugs Bunny entered his apartment building. As he sat comfortably on the couch, his thoughts were racing with questions pertaining to what happened hours ago.
But each question became unanswered at this point.
Sighing deeply, he reached for his cordless phone on the side of the couch and started dialing the recommended number.
In an office, Javier was placing some new photographs, which he received moments ago from one of his associates, into his drawer.
Suddenly, the phone ranged before he answered it.
"Yes."
Bugs hesitated for a second before speaking.
"It's me."
"Ah, Mr. Bugs Bunny, so nice of you to call. I hear that dispatchment has gone along as planned."
Again, Bugs grew hesitant to respond. At first, he grew confused on how he knew of the dispatchment, but then anticipated that it was possibly on the news. That predicament got him into a brief train of thought. He could lie and tell him that the dispatch went well in order to get off the job and retire, but his conscience told him otherwise.
Exhaling a bit, he spoke.
"No. It didn't. I was, um...compromised."
Javier grimaced a bit in anger, but subdued the expression due to a sudden anticipation before speaking.
"Really?"
Bugs nodded and spoke.
"Yeah, I was going for da shot, but, uh..." He stopped and rubbed his forehead a bit with his other hand before resuming. "...da guy was dead before I could pull it."
After two seconds of silence, Javier spoke from the phone.
"Could he have been shot from the inside?"
Shaking his head, Bugs spoke.
"No. I saw somebody on a far rooftop before I was compromised. So it was an outside job."
Bugs could hear Javier release a deep sigh from his breath before his boss spoke.
"Well, since you were compromised, I cannot allow the retirement."
Closing his eyes in disappointment, Bugs sighed deeply before Javier spoke.
"Look, I know you are upset. But be lucky that you are not identified by the police."
Bugs slightly nodded.
"Yeah, I know."
"Compromising situations like this are considered as a loose shred to our organization. But in your case, I will give you the benefit of a doubt, but you should know that each time you are compromised; your retirement will be voided. You will receive your next objective tomorrow afternoon. And if you spot the unknown assailant, deal with it."
Bugs nodded.
"Undastood."
As the other line clicks to a dial tone, Bugs hung up the phone and laid his head back on the couch in hopes to fall into a deep sleep.
In the same hour, the Los Angeles Police Department was open and several police cars were either parked separately in the parking lot or parked outside the department.
It was a very large area inside the 23rd precinct building for many police officers. Among the police unit was Officer Stanley Anderson, who's approaching towards the captain's office.
In his early thirties, at possibly 31 years of age, he appears as a brown rabbit, with crooked-looking brown ears with a brass of hair between them and an inch long bucktooth between his teeth. His brown jacket and gray pants has covered the rest of his feature, but not enough for his brown tail. He also wore a pair of black shoes, shades to hide his eyes, and wore a necklace around his neck that withheld his badge.
As he entered the office, Captain Thomas Bernard looked up from his work to the officer.
The captain appears as a gray coyote in his early forties, at 42 years of age, wearing his casual police uniform with a badge pinned on the right side of his coat. He was without the hat since it was hung up on a single clothing nail.
Stanley halted in front of Thomas' desk before speaking.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked
Thomas nodded and gestures his hand to a chair before speaking.
"Sit."
Stanley pulled out a chair from the front of the captain's desk and sat down while Thomas folded his hands up onto the desk.
"A few hours ago, as you may know, a murder has taken place."
With his left hand, Thomas slid a photographed document forward as Stanley, who took his shades off to reveal his neon green eyes, inspects it.
"The victim: Russell Styles, Drug Trafficker."
Stanley looked from the document to Thomas in question.
Thomas took notice of it before Stanley spoke.
"How did it happen? I mean, did they get an autopsy report?"
Thomas slightly nodded.
"Yeah. A single bullet wound to the side cranium."
"Suicide?" He assumed.
Thomas shook his head.
"Doubtful. The DNA test on the bullet indicates his signature, but that was only possible because of his blood stained on it. This is why I'm sending you and your partner to the crime scene and investigate."
Stanley's expression was in surprise upon that statement before speaking.
"I'm sorry. Partner?"
Thomas nodded.
"Yeah."
Stanley's expression suddenly became one of sadness as Thomas took note of it with concern.
"Sir, with-with all due respect, I'm not--" He started before Thomas cuts him short.
"Look, Stanley, I know it's been only a year since your last partner's death in the line of duty and I'm truly sorry about that. But, son, you got to let go of the past for a while, okay? It's not easy being a cop, but sometimes you gotta make the most of it. You hear me?"
Sighing silently, Stanley nodded in response and smiled.
"Yeah."
Thomas smiled before quickly noticing a soft chuckle coming from Stanley's mouth.
"What's funny?"
Stanley halted his soft chuckle and spoke.
"You remind me of my father, softening me up like that, you know?"
Thomas issued an inward chuckle before speaking.
"Complimentary. All right, off you go."
Stanley nodded before getting up and leaving the office.
A couples of minutes later, Stanley, who has his shades on, was walking in the parking lot towards his standard police cruiser.
Walking beside him was his recommended partner... a female cop named Winifred Beal.
In her late twenties, at possibly 29 years of age, she appears as a raccoon with pinkish fur, bushy hair between her ears, which gives a devious wild look to her feature, and beautiful blue eyes.
Winifred was only a few lengths from his heights as she wore her standard police uniform. And, despite herself wearing pants, she has her tail sticking out from it that shows a coloration of pink, but shows a dark complexity of red throughout.
When Stanley had a first look at her back in the department, he was in awe of her sensual beauty. But aside from that, especially when he looked at her beautiful feminine legs and not only because she was going to be his partner, which became a big shock to him, he was also a bit surprised at how she looks.
In his mind, he knows what a raccoon looks like. But never has he seen one that's a shade of pink before. To this indication, he figures it was probably a birth defect. He would ask her to be sure, but he decided to stay quiet for a while without trying to strain on an unknown personal issue that he's been secretly dealing with.
As they got to the car, they both opened the doors on opposite sides and entered the vehicle with Stanley in front and Winifred in passengers.
As they each closed the doors after entrance, Stanley sat there in silence for a while as Winifred took notice with concern.
"You okay?" She asked
Silence, Stanley sighed a bit and spoke.
"Yeah, I, um...I'm okay."
In silence, Winifred issued a slight smile, but kept her concern intact.
Straightening himself up a bit in his seat, Stanley fastened his seat belts with Winifred following suit.
Afterwards, Stanley placed his key in the ignition and started the engine.
As the engines started, he pulled the car from its parking area and drove out of the lot.
Another few minutes later inside the cruiser, the two officers were in silence during the whole ride and Stanley couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he should speak with her.
But he questioned himself on that matter, yet it grew unanswered.
To this indication he could only assume that it was a measure of curiosity.
Swallowing a bit of saliva, he sighed silently and spoke.
"So, um...Winifred, right?"
Winifred looked at him and nodded.
"Yeah."
Stanley took a slight look at her before gazing the road again.
He always hated long-term names, due to the fact that it has to be repeated from time to time, yet sometimes it became hard to say. Sighing deeply, he spoke.
"Is there a short name for that?" He asked
In silence, Winifred nodded and spoke.
"Yeah."
Then, she looked away from him, suddenly and softly tensing her face in anger before speaking.
"Wendy. God, I hate that name."
With his eyes on the road, Stanley grew confused, but Winifred didn't seem to notice due to his shades.
"Why?"
Sighing deeply, Winifred, with her eyes closed, laid her head back on the seat and spoke in a bit of frustration.
"I just don't like the name, that's all."
Stanley took note of the tension in her voice and spoke.
"Oh. So, uh..." He cleared his throat and resumed. "So, Wh-what do I call you?"
Slowly opening her eyes, Winifred, after taking note of the tone in his voice, sighed a bit and spoke.
"Wenny."
Nodding with his eyes still on the road, Stanley spoke.
"Wenny? As in, uh..." He started before she intervened.
"No."
He took a moment to look at her, and then back at the road before nodding comprehensively.
Winifred, on the other hand, wanted to apologize. However, she was a bit afraid to at the moment, which is why she kept her silence.
The cruiser arrived at the building complex about ten minutes later and Stanley and Winifred were already inside.
Throughout the minutes, they separately inspected the room where the incident took place, literally conversing on the matter.
"So, what are we looking for?" Winifred asked
Stanley heard her, but grew silence as he started trailing the floor. After a while, he answered.
"Leads."
Silence in response, Winifred resumed her search while Stanley followed suit.
Suddenly, Stanley caught sight of something on the floor. Kneeling down, he picked up a tiny piece of glass away from a few others.
Momentarily surprised, Stanley looked up from the tiny glass to the left side window.
Slowly, he stood up and started to approach towards the window before Winifred spoke.
"Well, aside from the blood stain that was on the table and the outline of the victim, I can't seem to find anything. How about--"
Winifred stopped short as she looked over to Stanley's position, only to find him approaching towards the left side window in his previous state.
In confusion, she approached towards his position. As soon as she got there, she spoke.
"Stanley, what is it?"
Stanley grew unresponsive as he was staring at a small cracked hole in the window. Then, he gazed over to the table where the blood stains and the outline was before gazing back at the window in anticipation.
Winifred took notice and spoke.
"Stanley, what's--"
"The gunshot came from here and straight to the victim."
"So, what does that means?"
Exhaling a bit, he spoke.
"I don't know. Either our suspect has climbed this building and shot the guy once..." He stopped and gazed through the window up to the nearby rooftop across the area. "...or our suspect has taken him out from the rooftop."
Silence a bit, Winifred spoke.
"So, what, you think this is some kind of hit or something?"
Silence, Stanley shook his head and answered
"I don't know. But even if we do know, we still need proof on who took him out and where to find 'em."
Gazing away from him, she nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Maybe you're right. So, what now?"
"Right now..." He showed the tiny glass in his hand to Winifred and resumed. "...bag this. We need this in the evidence's room. And I wanna check our dead body."
Winifred took the glass in her grasp before she and Stanley started out the place.
As soon as they got back in the car, Winifred spoke.
"Wait a minute. Check the body? They already did the--"
"Yeah, I know that. But I want to check the bullet."
Winifred shook her head.
"DNA test shows that it was the victim's blood."
Sighing a bit in frustration, Stanley spoke while Winifred listened.
"Yeah, I know that. But it doesn't make a lick of sense. I mean, the guy was shot from the left window to the left cranium. But the DNA only trails to him because of the blood work. Now I don't buy that. Somebody was on that rooftop and took him out. Who? I don't know. But I'm gonna find out."
Winifred studied the determined look on his face, yet she grew a bit suspicious on why Stanley would want to find the suspect so much.
Literally shaking the thought off, she nodded comprehensively.
Gazing forward, Stanley started the engines before the car drove away from the building.
The room was cloaked in darkness, but some could tell that it was a clean, decorated bedroom.
Suddenly, the far window opened up and a mysterious silhouette has entered the place. Despite the darkness in the room, the figure knew its way pretty well.
Eventually, after closing the window, the silhouette made its way to a chair and sat down in front of a laptop.
As the silhouette turned the laptop on, a mainframe screen appeared.
On the screen, it read, 'Enter Password.'
The silhouette entered its password and pressed 'Enter' on the keyboard. Then, the screen was replaced with a white screen where a cursor was blinking on and off.
Automatically, a texted message was typed on the screen.
'Is the dispatchment done?' A monotone voice asked from the speaker.
The silhouette typed 'Yes' on the keyboard and pressed 'Enter.' As the message was answered, another one came.
'Good. You will receive your next objective tomorrow afternoon.'
The silhouette nodded and typed its message onto the keyboard before pressing 'Enter.'
'Understood.'
After the message was sent, the laptop was automatically shut down and the room was left in darkness again.