X
"Mr. Moore…" hissed a voice on the other line. "You see what happens when you don't follow what I ask from you. Now your dear friend is dead."
"What do you want!?" Moore exclaimed, his palms sweating and he can feel a headache looming.
"Oh, you know what I want." Came the reply with a laugh.
"Why'd you want it so much? Wasn't the money enough? You promised to shut down the whole thing…"
"And what? You'll send your men and hunt us? Kill us like you killed everyone else 12 years ago? I think not" interrupted the angry voice from the other end of the line.
"I'm not hearing anymore of this!" shouted Moore.
"And yeah, the move to ask help from that detective is pretty dumb. He'd find out the truth and everything about the project and your involvement"
"Shut it!" Moore said in panic, he did realize that just a minute after the detective accepted his request. Pulling back the request would make him look suspicious though so he just went through with it.
"How did this guy know that he hired L anyway? He made sure to keep everything 'hush hush' "
There was a maniacal laugh on the other line. "So you together with 3 other man took interest with the project and revived it even after the organizations demise. Grove went to you just in time. So one of the 3 other men was the congressman, but he's now dead." Then there was a pause. "The other one is that billionaire West, we'd take him out next. Then there is the ex-secretary of defense, who is now Mr. President. Now isn't this getting exciting or what?" taunted the man.
"You!... Fuck you!" exclaimed Moore. Putting down the phone would end this madness but he might give him something important.
"Yeah right, fuck me." Then there was another laugh "Hey how about I blow off some of your citizens? That would be nice eh?"
"You're not doing that!"
"Then give it to me"
Moore can't answer him. Giving what he wants would be treason.
"I see. You can't be shaken that easily. Hey Moore, if I were you I'd be getting some good night sleep, you'll need it."
"Bastard!" ranted Moore.
"Tomorrow would be a great day Moore. Tomorrow at noon, I'm sure we'd feel like doing something nasty. Also you might want to say good bye to West. Well, that's all and sweet dreams" said the voice with a drawl. The call ended and Moore wished that he didn't even bothered with that project but there is no time for regrets, he thought. "I think, I know what to do. This is my best shot as of the moment. I might lose some but in the end if I win over Stryke it might be worth it" he told himself.
~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~
"So Moore wants to discuss something to me, I wonder if the skeleton just fell out of his closet and is catching up to him" L thought as he waited for Watari to connect him to Moore. Moments later they were on.
"L, I'm glad that you agreed to talk to me at this hour." Moore started. L can sense strains of nervousness in his voice.
"So what is it you want to talk to me about?" he asked.
"You probably know a lot right now. About the case I mean."
"Is there something else I need to know about?"
"Yes."
"Why tell me these other details you've left out before now?"
"Because, lives of people depend on it, including mine" Moore said in a serious tone.
"Just as I thought, he's finally haunted by his secrets" L thought as he started to casually drop sugar cubes on his cup of coffee. "Alright, I'm listening" L said.
Moore focused his eyes on the laptop screen covered with L's logo. He tried to ignore the fact that he's uncomfortable talking like this, to a man whose face he doesn't know and whose voice is even modified. He then finished his brandy in one slurp and started talking. Yes, confessing things would be easier. The more the detective knows the easier it is to defeat Stryke. He trusts the detective and his skills and so he places his faith and that of the others in his hand.
L listened to Moore's narration most of it he already knew. Just as he thought, the government was in on it. The new things he learnt from Moore were the people involved, which included the current president, and the thing Stryke wants.
"So it was a drug that could enhance human capabilities, it was the only successful sample, tried on only one subject 5 years ago. The drug after being swiped from the organization, which was just destroyed at the time, was entrusted to Moore and he is the only person who knows where it is hidden and how to get to it. Given that Stryke had contact with Moore, they could have just easily kidnapped him and torture him to get the information they needed but what they're doing is revenge." L thought.
"Thank you. Now everything in the puzzle fits." L said.
"Please do everything you can to help stop and catch them. I'd ensure to provide you with all the help you need." Moore swore.
"I'd contact you at around 6 in the morning with details of how you'd take on this matter from this point on." L said and he ended the conversation the moment he heard Moore's affirmation.
L stood up and walked to the large windows of the hotel room and stared at the dark sky. "What would happen when the time runs out on that timer? That's the only piece left I believe. 71 more hours, these would be a crucial time. The next city is a couple hours away from here. Looks like I should be visiting it since West is there."
~~~o~~~o~~~o~~~
Misa was sitting in a bench in the subway station, with her 2 travelling bag and a backpack. She watched the people passing by her and the old lady beside her who seemed to be asleep. As she quietly watched the world around her the memories of her stay in the country repeated quickly in her mind and then she sighed. Placing an earphone in her right ear she tried to drown half the noise of the place with music. She then randomly remembered Det. Snow, probably because the last name of the lead singer of the band she's listening to is Snow.
"In 10 people you pass by every day, at least 2 off them have greater psychotic tendencies than the others. Ron and Fred Maxwell, are one of those people who looked all respectable and clean outside. People you'd pass by and never think of as serial killers. The two by the way grew up with an abusive mother who never gave them any toys to play with and so they took dolls that their mother collected from her younger years. The mom would lash at them for touching those dolls and keep it away from them. Several times their mother told them that she really wished to have girls for kids, that way she could dress 'em up and all that. The boys then thought that their mother would love them if they became girls and so they pretended to be one, only to be punished by their mother harshly. One day they saw their mother doting over a couple of blonde girls from the block, heard her say that they were like dolls, hence begins their obsession with doll like girls. Until one day, like every other unhealthy obsession, the boys became insane." Misa thought remembering what Snow told her when she asked about the suspects.
As much as she could Misa tried not to think about the whole incident anymore but every now and then it just pops in her mind. "Misa, you'd be home soon. Once you're home you'll completely move on" she thought. She'd be leaving the country today, excited as she may be; she wished that she could see L one last time. She blushed at the thought of him. Her thoughts were interrupted though when somebody filled in the space next to the old lady.
Misa glanced to her left and saw that it was just some boy. She was about to return to her business when something caught her eye. She then looked at the boy again. "No way! That's so cool! His eyes are heterochromic! Blue and light brown… if the other one was green that would be better though. I wonder if he's a cosplayer." She thought. To her surprise the boy caught her stare. She instantly looked away.
A while after looking away, she looked back at the boy only to find that he was on his way up the stairs in the other side. This was when Misa noticed that the boy left his bag. It was a brown satchel bag. Misa, being the concerned and nosy person that she is, took the bag and tried to catch after the boy who was already nearing the top of the stairs.
"Hey! You in the gray hoodie!" She called. Some people looked at her but not the boy. The boy then vanished just like that. A security guard who happens to be passing by approached her.
"Ma'am, is there a problem?" he inquired eyeing her from head to toe. It was probably her Lolita inspired dress and luggage.
"Oh, Officer" she beamed "The guy who sat by the bench left this" she said handing the bag to the officer. It was quite heavy she must admit.
"Thank you" the guard said as he took the bag from her and checked for name tags but there was none. So he went and opened the bag. The guard suddenly paled and looked like he just choked on something. Misa seeing the guard's reaction started to worry and for some reason her heart started beating faster. The guard then turned around and radioed something in a soft voice, making Misa unable to hear what he just said.
"Ma'am please stay where you are." He said looking a bit hostile all of a sudden and scared at the same time, still holding the bag in his hands. Moments later a group of policemen came rushing down. They approached Misa and the guard. Misa looked at them in horror as they placed hand cuffs on her without saying anything else. She wanted to scream but the stern look on their faces choked her voice.
"You did a good job. The bomb squad is on their way, now follow Officer Hart, quickly and try not to make a scene. 7 minutes right?" said the officer and the guard nodded and was quickly led away by Officer Hart somewhere.
People were looking at them. Misa was surrounded by 4 police officers and was escorted out the place. Next thing she knew she was tossed in the back of the police car. "They said something about a bomb. No way. That bag has a bomb on it?" she thought as her head hit the window of the police car. Finally, she found it in her to talk.
"Why? Why are you taking me away? I was just returning the bag…. It was left in the bench by a guy" she said trembling. She knew this was supposed to be the part where she starts screaming at them but she wasn't that dumb to not know how serious having a bomb with her is, even if she knows nothing about it.
"Tell that to the other terrorist who blew shit up!" growled the police sitting in front.
"Now they even use young girls. This is sick." ranted the police who was driving.
"I'm no terrorist! Besides you can't just arrest me like this! You haven't even told me my rights! And again I'm telling the truth" she exclaimed.
"Save that for later! Terrorists don't deserve the rights provided by our law." said the police glaring at her.
Misa cried the rest of the ride to the police station. She learnt that the bomb was successfully detonated but turns out another one exploded in an amusement park, there was a total of 22 casualties.
Misa sat quietly in an interrogation room, she finally stopped crying. "I'm innocent! I shouldn't cry!" she thought.
The door then opened and a brawny middle aged man walked in and sat in front of her.
"You're Amane Misa, a Japanese national, age 17. Anyway none of that is important as of the moment. 13 people are dead and 9 are severely injured from the explosion in an amusement park and you had a bomb with you on the subway. Coincedence? I guess not. What do you know about Stryke?" asked the man looking at her sternly. Misa felt that the man would bite her head off any moment now.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just returning the bag. A guy left it. He must be the bomber" Misa answered, her voice shaking.
"So you know nothing? I'll give you another chance" the man pulled his chair closer to the table and looked her coldly in the eyes. "Are you part of Stryke?. Now Ms. Amane, answer this and who knows we might be easy on you but refuse and I tell you, we have ways to get what we want from people"
The last words the man said sent chills down her spine, tears started to roll down her eyes uncontrollably. "I swear! I know nothing of what you're saying. I swear" she defended but it looks like she was talking to man who wouldn't accept that for an answer.
Note: What can I say? Hmmm... Just thank you for reading and please leave a review hahahaha XOXO