I know this is a little short, but I promise the good stuff is coming soon. I've got some good old torture and pain coming very soon. Thanks for the ones who take the time to read and review...I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone!

Chapter 7 Mark Thompson

Tom and Doug walked into the coffee shop and looked around for the familiar faces of their Seattle partners. Alex and Ethan had heard about the early morning meeting and wanted to meet over coffee and discuss their next move. Doug spotted the duo at the back of the coffee shop and led the way to the detectives.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Ethan asked.

Tom and Doug took a seat across from the detectives and picked up a menu.

"We had a really interesting meeting with Vinnie early this morning. He helped himself into my apartment along with a few of his friends." Tom said.

"So we heard." Ethan said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Vinnie called us last night before the meeting. He wants us to be your backup on this deal."

"Did you guys know about the chief and the mayor being involved in this?" Doug asked.

"We had our suspicions, but never had any proof. That is, until you saw them this morning." Alex said. "We knew someone was working the department on the inside, but never figured it would be Chief Reynolds."

"Do you guys think anyone from Vice is in on this?" Tom asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. I mean the goods are coming from Vice, so it's entirely possible. We haven't found anyone involved yet though." Ethan explained.

"I just can't believe how high up this thing goes. I mean, the chief and the mayor." Tom said.

"Well, with the business that Vinnie is in, he needs a lot of higher-ups on his payroll." Alex said.

The men finished their coffees and laid down some money on the table to cover their bills. Standing up, Ethan asked, "You guys ready to get back to work?"

"Let's go find out what other surprises we have in store." Doug said.

212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121

Back at the station, Tom decided to do some digging for information on Mark Thompson. He had a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had seen this man before but just couldn't place him. He was reading the information on the screen when his partner came up behind him and took a seat on the edge of his desk.

"What's up Hanson?" Doug asked.

"I can't get rid of this feeling that I've seen this Thompson character before." Tom said, continuing to read the files before him.

"Find anything interesting?" Doug asked, peering at the screen.

"Yeah, this guy has a rap sheet a mile long. Everything from armed robbery to a murder rap. This guy isn't playing with a full deck, if you ask me." Tom said, turning to his friend. He turned back to the screen and continued reading. Something caught his eye as he read the file. "Shit." He said.

"What's wrong?" asked Doug.

"Mark Thompson…we've crossed paths before." Tom said.

"What?" Doug exclaimed.

"He was arrested back in '89 by one H.T. Ioki." Tom read.
"What? For What?" Doug asked, looking at the monitor.

"He was the supplier for dealers over at Centennial." Tom said. "I knew I had heard that name before."

"Shit, do you think he recognized us?" Doug asked, worry evident in his voice.

Tom shook his head. "I don't think so. He would've blew our covers last night in my apartment." He ran a hand through his long bangs and sighed. "We just have to watch our backs on this one."

Doug nodded in agreement, but couldn't help the awful feeling that was beginning to creep up on him. He didn't want to find out what would happen if Mark Thompson somehow remembered them and mentioned his findings to Vinnie. Doug couldn't help the flashback of the pictures in the file that Agent Bowers had shown them on their first meeting. I definitely don't want to end up like that poor guy, he thought. A shudder ran down his spine as he shook the memory out of his mind.