"Lieutenant Ramirez… don't see you down here that often. What's the occasion?"
The forensics section of the MCU had been left largely undamaged in the recent explosion, save for a bunch of old evidence that had been kept in cold storage being destroyed. It was there that Ramirez had headed after her run in with Agent Rudra, and she had been left with a bad taste in her mouth.
The main lab for their forensic work was small, maybe ten feet square, but it was cram packed with equipment. The lights were luminescent, and gave everything an eerie white glow. Towards the back a door led to the storage area, where old samples were kept refrigerated.
"No occasion, Jack", Ramirez replied. "Just here on business". Ramirez walked through the room towards Jack, looking around at the various pieces of equipment that lined the sides of the room. "How come you're down here on your own? Where's the rest of your team?"
Jack laughed and turned back to the microscope he had been looking through when Ramirez had entered. "My 'team' got the day off… all three of them", he said bitterly. "Honestly, I don't know how they expect me to get the results they want when they give me such a small set of resources to work with".
Ramirez sighed and leant against one of the tables. Every time she saw Jack he seemed to be complaining about something. She liked him, but she wished he'd just lay off every once in a while. "Just gotta deal with it best you can, huh?" she said absently. "I came here for the analysis results of the sample that Stephens dropped off a few hours ago. I know it hasn't been long, but have you got anything yet?"
Jack glanced at her and then pushed himself away from the desk that he was working at, sending his wheeled chair spinning across the room towards a cabinet. He pulled open one of the drawers and pulled out a file, before wheeling himself back to Ramirez.
"Heard about Stephens", he said, laying the file down and opening it. "Nasty business. I know you were pretty close. You wanna talk about it?"
Christ, Ramirez thought. Won't he ever give it up? The reason that she hadn't been down here very often in the past few months was because her and Jack used to be… an item. It had lasted a long time, and Ramirez used to think that he was the one… but they drifted apart when her mother got sick. Her obsession with providing her with the best, and most expensive, treatment hadn't sat well with him, especially when she had asked him to help out with the medical bills. He had refused, and their relationship had ended soon after. She regretted it now, of course… just one item on a long list of things that she regretted… but she didn't want to even try to go back to the way things used to be. He, on the other hand, never seemed to shut up about it. Every time she had seen him since then he'd made some kind of suggestion that they should get together, and Anna was getting tired of having to blow him off.
"No, thanks", she answered. "Just want the info, if you've got it".
Jack gave her a sad look, but he didn't push it any further. "Yeah…" he sighed. "I've got your info. The fragment Stephens brought in is a piece of plastic, most likely from a lens of some sort. Glasses, maybe".
Glasses, Anna thought, once again seeing an image in her mind of the woman she had run into outside the mob club. Son of a bitch…
She forced herself to smile at Jack, and thanked him. Before she got to the door, Jack stopped her.
"How's your mother?" he asked.
Anna paused for a moment, before turning back to face him. "Dead", she sighed, and then she left.
It was past midnight when Anna's car pulled up outside the mob club. There were dozens of people lined up outside in the rain, waiting to get in. The same monotonous beat that echoed out into the streets the last time she was here was present, and she could feel it vibrating her car as she sat, planning her next move.
The last time she had come here she had been overcome with rage, bursting through the door without thinking and almost getting herself killed. This time, she was determined, she would enter with a clear plan of what her intentions were.
But what are my intentions? she thought, absently cradling her gun in her hands. Am I going in there to end this? Or am I going in there for confirmation of what I suspect? I could be wrong… there could be no connection between the mob and the cop-killings. Am I just desperately looking for any excuse to get back into that room? Trying to give myself an opportunity to snatch that laptop?
She shook her head, vigorously. This was no time for self-doubt. She would march in there, and she would act like the nice polite police woman. She needed them to confirm it before she went any further.
She pushed open the door to her car, and stepped out into the rain. After a moment or contemplation, she took her gun out of its holster and slipped it into the glove compartment. If she didn't have it with her, she reasoned, then there was less chance of her doing something stupid with it.
Approaching the bouncer, she remembered the way she had brushed past him the last time she had come here. The memory made her smile, thinly. This time, she knew, she would have to do it by the book.
She approached him and flashed her badge. "Lieutenant Ramirez", she said, curtly. "I'd like a word with the owner of this establishment".
The man grunted, but he reluctantly stepped to the side. As Ramirez walked past him and into the club she could hear him as he spoke into his radio, warning the people inside that she was coming. The dance floor looked exactly the same as last time… the same sweating bodies, the same pounding music. God, she thought, how can these people stand doing this every night? Don't they get tired of it?
One good thing that came out of her last visit was that she knew where the boss of this place worked, and she made her way up the stairs and towards his office. A metal, spiral staircase led to a thin walkway which overlooked the dance floor below. Through the flashing neon lights, Anna could make out a large figure standing outside the door. It was the same man who had held a gun to her head the last time she had been here. Anna hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was a little afraid of him… he was tall, and built like a house, and as she walked closer to him her looked at her as though he would attack at any moment.
But he didn't. Instead, he simply knocked loudly on the door behind him and then pushed the door slowly open.
Inside, the mysterious owner of this club sat behind his desk. When he saw that the cop that he had been warned about was Ramirez, he grinned widely. "Officer!" he yelled, his voice friendly and jovial. Ramirez hated the way he treated her as though she couldn't touch him, and she would make him sorry that he did. "What can I do for you today? More talk about money problems?"
Ramirez smiled and shook her head. "Not today", she said, trying to sound confident. "Today I'm here on official police business. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
The man's smile flickered slightly… so slight that Anna wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been looking for it. He nodded and motioned for her to sit down in the empty chair, which she did. "Ask away, Lieutenant", he said.
Ramirez pulled out her notebook, and prepared to make notes. She knew that she wouldn't need them, but it always helped if the person you were interviewing thought that everything they said would be taken down. "Last night…" she started. "There was a woman here. A woman with red glasses. Do you know her?"
Another flicker, this time his eyes. Ramirez had interviewed countless people, and witnessed more, and the one thing she knew was that if someone's eyes moved like that, then the next thing they said would be an outright lie. "Red glasses…" he said, appearing to mull over her question. "Red glasses… No, sorry, can't say that I do".
Liar, she thought, and she smiled. "Were you aware that someone has been murdering members of the Major Crimes Unit?" she asked. "That's what I'm investigating. So I'd appreciate it if you cut the bullshit".
Anger flashed across his face, and he leaned forward suddenly, his elbows slamming against the desk. "Fuck you!" he shouted, startling Ramirez. "You come down here and call me a liar? Fine… I know who you're talking about, and I know who she is and where she is. But I ain't gonna tell you shit. And you know what you're gonna do about it?"
Anna smiled. "Please", she said. "Enlighten me".
The man grinned. "You ain't gonna do jack shit. You're in my pocket, you hear? I own you. You don't tell me what to do, I tell you what to do. So why don't you run off back home instead of acting like you're still a cop".
Anna was frightened, but she was also angry. How dare this piece of crap talk to her like this? She leaned forward so that her face was close to his, and then she lowered her voice to a whisper. "If anyone else finds out that you had something to do with the death of Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent, then you'll be in a shit load more trouble than me. And if I do ever go down, I'll make damn sure I take you with me. Understand?"
Then she stood, and moved to leave. Before she got through the door, however, the man called after her. "I didn't have nothing to do with Harvey Dent, Officer", he yelled. "And as for Rachel? As I recall, it was you who knocked her out and dragged her to us. And that makes you an accessory to murder".
Anna carried on walking away, with her back to him. If he could see her face, however, he would have been surprised to see that she was smiling. So you were there, were you? she thought as she left. Now I know who you are, you son of a bitch. And believe me, Ramon… I'll make sure you get what's coming to you.
