Chapter 10: Shenanigans
Earlier that morning...
"Okay boyo, you be a good boy while you're here ok?~" I said as I leaned in and gave him a hug.
"Aww come on sis..." he grumbled while trying to break free of my grasp. "You're embarrassing me."
"D'awww you don't mean that.~" I said as I continued to huggle him. "Be sure to keep a low profile, ok?" I whispered to him softly. I took his head nod yes as his answered before I let him go.
"Well see you at home tonight Elsword. I love you~" I said as I smiled warmly at him.
"R-right Elsa...see you later..." he said as I watched him look down at his side; trying to avoid eye contact while hiding his blush.
"Awww, how cute." Swooned Hoffman at the display of sibling affection presented before him. "Well not to worry Miss Seigheart, we'll take good care of him."
"Hey man, I'm not a toddler, I'm almost 18." I heard Elsword complain. I chuckled at the sight before waving good bye and walking out of the office.
I plopped my purse down in the car as I put the keys in the ignition and started her up. The engine purred like a cat as the car warmed up. I picked up the my cell phone and watched as the clock read. 8:35 Am.
'Hmmm...It guess it would be a good time to go deal with that noise at the hospital now...' I thought to myself as I spaced out at the clock display on my phone. 'I hope he'll be ok today...that ring can be a little handful to handle your first time around...' I sighed and put the phone down before cranking the ignition and putting the car into drive. I cracked a smile as I drove my car out of the parking lot and onto the street. 'Don't worry so much Elesis. Even if he is a block head at times, he's still a Red Knight after all.'
It was about a twenty minute drive before I pulled into the hospital's parking lot and parked my car. I locked the car and walked to the main entrance, carrying the briefcase holding the paperwork for the thugs transfer to prison. I walked inside where I was greeted with a deep discussion between Dr Ariel and a receptionist.
"Hey girl, what's all this noise this morning?~" I said with a smile. I watched as the blonde girl took notice and turned around to meet me, coffee and all.
"Oh hey there miss Seigheart." She said with a smile. "What brings you here?"
I looked at her puzzled as she asked me that question. "What do you mean what brings me here?" I watched as she returned my puzzled look to me.
"Exactly as it sounds." She responded. "Didn't anyone tell you?" Confusion washed over my face as I was presented with this news.
"Tell me what?" I asked as I wrinkled my eyebrows at her. Something fishy was going, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what. "Look, I'm just here to check up on those thugs from yesterday and to call in for transport down to pris-"
"Well that's just it." interjected Ariel. "I know sounds weird, but they were transported out earlier this morning... Are you saying that you had no knowledge of this?"
I stared at her in bewilderment in response to her question as I shook my head in bewilderment. "No, I wasn't notified of anything of the sort." I said as my eyebrows wrinkled in thought while I tried to make sense of the situation. "When and who gave the authorization for this to take place?"
"Well, according to Amy, the secretary for overnights, said that an old man came in sometime after 12 with some documentation and a transport team at 1am." said Ariel as she handed me some papers. "Here check it out for yourself. I mean it's odd but it seems legit to me."
'Just how in the hell is this even possible?' I thought to myself as I skimmed the paper. 'Due to a recent decision in a meeting with the mayor and other boards of the city council, we will have to terminate our existing contract with Elder General Hospital with regards to inmate care. All inmates should they need medical attention will be treated in our prison's new medical facilities. All present inmates residing in Elder General Hospital will be picked up and transported to the new facility. This change is to be effective immediately. Signed... Colonel Edan...'
"Well I know I just read the order... but I still don't get it." I said as I scratched my head.
"I know right?" responded Ariel as she sipped her coffee. "I mean it's no skin off my nose what they do... but what's the big rush for?"
"I don't know Ariel." I said as I grabbed my car keys. "But I intend to find out... You take care alright?"
"Yes, I will." She said as she smiled at me. "You do the same ok? You're not invincible you know."
"Pssssh! Just who the hell do you think I am?~" I said with a smirk. Ariel giggled at the remark as I turned around and walked out the door.
As I got into the car, I picked up the phone and dialed our other Red Knight operative here with me and Elsword. "Heya. Lowe?"
"M-mam?" He answered in a startled tone.
"Come on Lowe, you know mam makes me feel old." I complained at him."
"W-well sorry ma- I mean Elesis..."
"Thank you." I responded.
"Anyway, what's up Elesis?" He asked.
"Well, I was supposed to pick up those convicts from the hospital this morning after I dropped of Elsword at school but-"
"Ah yes, did you scold him a good one for being extravagant in the field?" interjected Lowe. "He could've ruined the whole mission if anyone not-"
"Yes Lowe, I chewed him out good." I interrupted his rant before it got off the floor. "I even gave him a new assignment and a ring of restraint to keep him in check, so no need to get your panties in a bunch.~" I could hear him grumbling under his breath but I couldn't stop myself from giggling over the phone.
"Did you just call to poke fun at me again?" He said as he cleared his throat. "Because you could've just come down to the precinct and do it in person."
"Hehe, sounds like a good idea. I'm on my way down there now.~" I said with a hint of delight in my voice. "By the way, is Colonel Eden in the office today?"
"Um...let me check ok?" said Lowe before I was left with silence on the line. After a few moments he returned. "Yeah he's here... it looks like he just got in... but why do you ask though?"
"Well I just got some news from Dr Ariel that the thugs Elsword beat up Friday were transported to some new prison medical facility early in the morning before I was supposed to check up on them and send a transport team to get them this morning."
"R-really?" replied Lowe in a surprised tone. "But why would they do that knowing full well they had a transport already scheduled?"
"I don't know Lowe..." I said as I eyed the document I got from Ariel, lying in the front seat. "But this document I got from Dr Ariel says otherwise, and it has the Colonel's signature on it to boot."
"The Colonel?" He said in a confused tone. "But why would he sign something like that? I mean, the timing and everything... it just seems a little fishy, you know what I mean?"
"A little is an understatement." I scoffed at his statement. "But it's definitely fishy enough to investigate further... If my hunch is correct, we may just have found a lead on this case."
I could hear Lowe shifting around in his chair as he mulled over idea to grill Colonel Edan about this rushed change in contract. "Well... I guess it's a good place to start..." he finally responded. "Just be careful Elesis."
"Just who do you think I am eh Lowe?" I scoffed at his concern."Or did you forget that I'm the Blazing Heart?"
"Yes I know Elesis..." he responded with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "But I don't think that they would call him the Blood Colonel for nothing. Just be careful all right?"
"Oh all right you big baby. I'll be careful." I said with a smile. "Keep an eye on him till I get there ok?"
"Roger that." He said before I hung up the phone.
'Blood Colonel eh?' I said to myself as I pulled out into traffic and drove off to the presinct. 'Let's see what you know...'
"Good morning mam." I was greeted as I walked inside the precinct. "Hehe good morning." I replied back with a smile. I walked over to Lowe's desk as he was busy with his head glued to the computer screen. I rested my hands in front of the monitor as I playfully looked over at him.
"Busy huh?" I said as I smiled coyly at him.
"Bwaaah!" He yelped as he just realized I was staring directly at him. I couldn't help but to giggle at the sight of him all red and flustered. "M-mam!? When did you get here?"
"Just now." I replied. "It's not like I was that far away anyways but you seem really busy there though."
"Yeah, I am." Sighed Lowe as he sunk back into his seat. "As soon as I hung up with you, my desk phone rang and. The Colonel was on the line asking to see me in his office." My eyebrow raised at the bit of news presented to me.
"Really? Why not just talk to you in person since he's in the office?" I asked.
"I know right?" He responded. "When I walked inside he was busy on the phone with god knows who. He then gave me a bunch of documents that he wants me to input in the system so here I am, punching away."
"I see..." I said as I folded my arms. "So he's still in his office right?"
"Yeah..." replied Lowe as he looked up from his screen again. "Though you might want to hurry and catch him. I kind of overheard him talking about leaving soon."
"Ok then buddy, talk to you later." I said as I waved and walked over to the Colonel's office. I gave the door a few gentle knocks.
"Hello? Sir?" I asked as I slowly opened the door and poked my head inside.
"Yes, yes, I got everything covered over here. I'll be there shortly." I heard Edan say on the phone before hanging it up in a hurry. "Ah, Captain Seigheart. Do come in." He said as he gestured his hand to come inside. I closed my eyes and smiled weakly as I took his invitation. "So Miss Seigheart, did you have a good morning today?"
"Well if by good, you mean the shenanigans I had to deal with this morning then yeah, I had a good morning today." I replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"Shenanigans?" Edan said as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Shenanigans like what exactly?"
"Well..." I began as I crossed my arms and sat back into the easy chair. "Do you remember those injured perpetrators we caught this weekend? The ones I mentioned in the report on Saturday?"
"Ah, yes them. I remember..." he responded as he brought his thumb to his chin. "So what about them?"
'Really?' I asked in my mind as I shot him a confused look. I couldn't believe that he didn't know what was going, especially since it was his signature on the orders I received this morning. Fuming as I was, I decided to play along with his game for now as to not agitate him.
"Well sir, I was assigned to call in a transport for them this morning after checking them out." I said as I gestured with my hand lightly. Edan just nodded lightly as he replied with a simple "I see..." before scratching his chin again.
"But when I got there this morning, I was a little more than surprised to learn that someone had come by and picked them up in the wee hours of the morning." I said as I looked at the Colonel, who looked as though he was just hearing this for the first time.
"Really?" He replied as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah" I replied back as I pulled out the contract paper I had gotten from Ariel. "I even got this from the doctor over there with your signature on it talking about some change in facilities too." I said handed him the document. He took it from me and began to eye it over; his face looked as though he was in deep thought as he concentrated on reading.
"Damn it all!" Edan suddenly shouted as he nearly startled me out of my seat. "I remember now, they did this crazy change last night after hours. The rest of the board even had me sign the new contract and so that the new guys could pick them up… Ugh… I'm sorry about that captain. It all must've been very surprising for you."
"What was even more surprising to me was that no one bothered to notify me about it at all." I responded again. "And I'm the one who was doing the pick up so you would think I'd be notified at least... it all just seems really fishy if you know what I mean..."
"Yeah I can definitely understand your concerns there miss Seigheart and I agree, that is highly unorthodox behavior, especially on my part." said Edan as he closed his eyes and apologized to me; all while emanating an air of authority while he spoke. "But I can assure you; there isn't anything to worry about."
"Well um… thank you for the apology sir, but there's no need to be so formal." I said as I waved my hands in front of me. "It was just weird that's all... but now that you mention it, do you mind if I ask what did happen to cause all of this?"
Edan clear his throat as he took the document and put it in his desk. "No I don't mind. After all, we did up and just change everything in the middle of the night and not tell you, the one in charge of said detail. Well, the city council has been arguing amongst themselves since long before your transfer here about how to take care of injured inmates. Well you would think to simply just let the hospital take care of it and forget about it right?"
"Yeah, that would be the logical answer..." I responded to his question. "But I'm guessing that never happened with them huh?"
"Nope." said Edan as he shook his head. "They've been bickering about this noise for months now. Issues about the ever shrinking budget. But miraculously, they came to a decision late last night. But since it was so late there was hardly any notification of it though."
I nodded as I mulled over the story in my head. "But if it was so late then why not have just waited till normal business hours to apply these changes?"
"Well that's what I was thinking too." Responded Edan as he sighed. "But they were complaining that if we had inmates in the hospital at the time of signing then it would push back the change for another month, thus costing them a ton of money and which is why things played out as it did today."
'Hmmm... it still sounds pretty fishy...' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and processed the story I just received. 'But I guess there's no use crying over spilled milk.'
"Oh well, it can't be helped right?" I said with a smile. 'I'll just have to keep my eyes open around here for any other suspicious happenings from now on...'
"Right." Responded Edan as he pulled out some new documents. "Anyways, I have a new assignment for you Captain."
"A new assignment?" I replied in a surprised tone.
"Yes, a new assignment." he repeated himself. "According to the medical reports, it seems like there might have been some traces of magic used to take down the perps..."
'Uh oh...what's he going on about?' I thought to myself as I heard the news. "Umm...with all due respect sir but why does it matter if magic was involved?" I asked him.
"Well if we're going to catch this vigilante then we're going to need a detailed description of them." He responded while jotting down some notes on a notebook he had on the desk.
"Catch him?!" I shouted knowing full well who he was talking about. "But he's a hero sir! He saved that girl's life! If it weren't for him we'd be cleaning up a homicide right now!"
"He?" Edan said slowly as he looked up at me. "How do you know it's a he?" He asked with more interest than usual.
"Umm...just a guess, haha..." I chuckled nervously as I found Edan staring straight at me. 'Crap, I hope I didn't let the cat out of the bag.'
"It sure didn't sound like a guess..." he said again as his eyes narrowed with mines. "Your tone seemed to say otherwise..."
"N-no..." I replied weakly as I turned my head away from his face. "I mean... they saved that girl's life. They did a good thing... I don't think we should hunt them down for that..."
"Pssh, The law is the law; and one life isn't enough of an excuse to break the law." scoffed Edan as he returned to scouring the new document on his desk. "Besides, she was just a dark mage anyways...we would've been better off with one more less of them."
"A life is a life sir! No matter what class they may be!" I shouted as I stood up in outrage at the Colonel; who looked at me dumbfounded as if he had said nothing wrong. He stared me straight in the eyes, which seemed like an eternity before cracking a smile.
"Hehe, now I know why they call you the blazing heart captain..."he said while closing his eyes and rocking back in his easy chair. "But it would behoove you to remember that you're not in Hamel anymore...and that we do things differently here..." he said again as he reopened his eyes. I flinched a bit when his cold eyes locked up with my fiery ones; I could feel the bloodlust emanating from him at that point. It was as if he were a lion hiding I the grass, poised to lash out at its prey.
"Is that a threat?" I responded slowly as I feebly tried to regain my composure.
"No...not a threat..." he said smoothly while forming a slight smile. "More like...advice...from a superior officer." He said; emphasizing on the superior part. "But anyways, I need you to go down to the 23rd precinct and re-interview the swat team that responded to the incident in your report... no wait, I got a better idea!"
"You do?" I said as my temper simmered into that of confusion. "Like what?"
"Well I was thinking it would be a better idea if you took the team down to the scene of the crime to search for traces of magic." He said in response to my question. "That way, it might trigger any details they might have missed in your first report."
"Or it might be less on account of this being the third day since the incident..." I interjected.
"Miss Seigheart..." Edan said slowly yet menacingly, filling the room with bloodlust once again. I let out a sigh, seeing that his patience was running thin.
"Ok sir..." I said in an unmotivated tone. "I'll get right on it."
"Good job Captain. I'm counting on you.~" he said with a grin as he closed his eyes and waved at me.
I closed the door behind me as I walked sluggishly past Lowe's desk.
"How'd it go in there?" He asked.
"Shenanigans Lowe..." I said in an annoyed tone. "Nothing but shenanigans."
"Shenanigans?" asked Lowe in a confused tone.
"Yes Lowe, Shenanigans..." I repeated again. " I repeated myself. "Just got assigned a bullshit ass mission to re-interview the swat team and scour the crime site in that kidnapping case for traces of magic." I said while making quotation gestures with my fingers.
"Ah so you got a dumb mission too huh?" said Lowe as he sat back in the desk. "It seems like the whole office got dumb details today. So he why does he want you to search for traces of magic anyways?"
"Well my guess is that he wants to find out what type of magic was used in a feeble attempt to figure identify who the vigilante might be..." I said as I shrugged. "Although if you think about it... this might be a blessing in disguise really. This way, could deal with any evidence that may turn up linking to boyo and take care of it."
"Well when you put it that way... it does sound like a good idea." Said Lowe as he crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "Just be careful now... Even though we're undercover, tampering with evidence is still a crime."
"Aww, don't be such a worry wart Lowe. This is me we're talking about.~" I said as I grinned widely while giving him a thumbs up.
"That's exactly why I'm saying to be careful." He said again as he face palmed.
"Pffft, you're no fun." I scoffed at him as I walked out of the office and towards the door to the precinct.
Meanwhile...
I waited a little bit till the little firebrand was gone from my office before easing back into my chair. 'She really is a blazing heart indeed...' I thought to myself as I. Let out a sigh and closed my eyes. 'Her temper nearly set the room on fire... I just hope they find out some more information so we can know what type of mage this vigilante is...hell... if we catch him... maybe we could even fe-'
-BRIIING - when my phone as it disrupted my thoughts. I picked up the line and put the phone to my ear.
"Ah, Mr. Mayor... I was just thinking about you." I said as I opened my eyes again.
"Well that's good to know Edan..." he replied. "Did you take care of that little favor I asked you for? You left so suddenly that it had me a little concerned."
"No no, everything's alright so you can rest assured Mr. Mayor." I replied as I was looking over the captain's report. "Just had to take care of a loose hair that came up after last night's escapades."
"A loose hair huh?..." Wally said, followed by a long pause before finally clearing his throat. "Well thank you for that Colonel. We can't have just anyone sticking their nose in our business now can we? That would be disastrous for the both of us. Anyways colonel, I need you to come on down here and take down some notes on who did this to my associates. We can't have them interfering in my plans again."
"Yes, but of course Mr. Mayor. I'll be right over." I said as I chuckled a bit at the idea presented before me. 'I guess it would be better to get an id from the victims themselves rather than to scour a crime scene. Oh well though...at least this keeps that nosey Seigheart out of our business and make things less complicated for me...' I thought with a smile. "So how's this little project of yours Mayor?" I asked again.
"Well at this point pretty bad considering this delay we have with my associates injured and my mana source dying out on me again." grumbled Wally on the other end of the line.
"Damn another one?" I complained at him. "You just got her last month. You've been lucky that I've been covering up all of the disappearances so far …but keep this shit up and I won't be able to cover them up anymore like I've been doing." I warned him.
"Yes, yes, whatever." he responded nonchalantly. "Just hurry up and get down here!" He shouted before hanging up the phone.
I dead panned at the phone for about a minute before finally letting out a sigh and getting out of my chair. 'Oh well I guess I can't complain too much...' I thought to myself as I grabbed my hat and walked out of the office. 'His little weird science experiments have been making me a very, very rich man...'
End of Chapter
Digi: -Yawwwns- Well, another chapter bytes the dust. Glad that ones done.
Rena: Yeah, so are your fans~
Digi: I bet. Thank you everyone for all the kind words and chats I've had with y'all in between chapters (you know who you are). I think I'll leave this A/N a widle short this time. Been preoccupied with Onigiri / Dragon's Nest and Elsword, speaking of which, Ereda Island came out and its sweet in my opinion.
Raven: Hmph, Well it is pretty cool~
Digi: -stares at Elsword and Aisha still asleep- Hehe, I should probably be asleep right now as I speak, just like them.
Eve: Yes baka, you have work in the morning -pushes Digi away from the laptop-
Digi: Hehe, I guess I'll get to work on waking these two up next chapter. Have fun guessing Wally's true motives are…hell feel free to pm your guesses, if it wasn't already self explanatory.
Eve: -Eve Slaps Digi-
Digi: OWWWW!
Eve: STOP TEASING OUR FANS AND GO TO BED!
Rena: Read, Review and Enjoy everybody. Goodnight~