"So… let me get this straight," Renkotsu stated, surprisingly confused, "Hiten, an ex-cop who was just released from prison, decided that he would kidnap Angel, your girlfriend, to exact revenge on you and risk his freedom all over again?"
Bankotsu, still wired-up from earlier, nodded vehemently. It was 8:57 AM, and they were all at Jakotsu's house as scheduled. Renkotsu, Suikotsu, Kouga, Miroku, and Inuyasha, all making up the city's elite homicide detectives, had irritably dropped everything to see what had happened.
Renkotsu and Suikotsu put another homicide case on hold, Renkotsu showing up in brown slacks and a white long sleeved button-down with two guns in a double shoulder holster, and Suikotsu showing up with black slacks and a black muscle shirt with one gun in a belt holster. Both had badges on their belts, making sure they were as visible as their guns. Kouga snuck out of the house while Ayame was asleep, showing up in khaki cargo shorts and a sleeveless button down shirt, showing off a silver gun and a badge as well. Miroku called a babysitter early to take care of the twins he and Sango had had, wearing a conservative pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt. He too had his badge on his belt, but he kept his gun in a pocket holster. Inuyasha had to cancel and reschedule a physical training session; he arrived wearing his regular scowl, baggy black pants, and a black wife-beater (the regular exercise outfit for him). He wore his badge around his neck, and he had a shoulder holster on him.
They had all sat patiently while Bankotsu gave them a heated explanation as to why they were called together. When he and Jakotsu called them all, they thought that they were scheduling another casual outing at the bar. They were sadly mistaken when they were told that Angel, who was like a baby sister to all of them, had been kidnapped. They were even more surprised by who had done it.
Renkotsu crossed his arms and sat back in his chair pensively. "Well what the hell does he want?" he asked, aggravated.
"Like I told you before, if you couldn't get it through your thick head, he wants a confession for some shit I didn't do!" Bankotsu snapped, close to throwing something else across the room.
Suikotsu, tired of hearing the unsolved mystery of the crime, gruffly asked, "What is it that you were supposed to have done?"
Again, Bankotsu tensed. "That's not important right now, dammit! What's important is getting Angel back before this nut-job hurts her. And if he does, I swear to God, I'll-"
"You won't have to do anything, Bankotsu," Miroku interrupted sternly, "It's only been fourteen hours since she disappeared. Do you think he really would hurt her?"
Bankotsu slammed his fist down on the table. They honestly had no clue what kind of guy Hiten was. But then again, he was the only one who knew him well enough for him to kidnap his girlfriend… and know where they lived in the first place. He had to admit, though- he put her in danger by even introducing her to him so many years ago.
He leaned across the table and venomously whispered, "You should know that it doesn't take him long to harm innocent people."
Miroku sighed and withdrew. "You have a point. He used to resort to the cruelest of tactics just to get information."
"Yeah, you guys remember when he broke that guy's arm in interrogation? He was suspended for a whole month. He almost lost his badge," Kouga reminisced, placing his hands behind his head leisurely.
"Then there was that other time when he put that chick's hair in a paper shredder. He stopped it before it could pull too hard, but it was still a vindictive thing to do."
"Still, though, I don't think the guy would do anything to hurt Angel…" Kouga stated, only to receive an icy glare from Bankotsu, "… badly, anyway."
"Look, the point of me calling you guys here in the first place is to make sure he doesn't hurt her AT ALL!" Bankotsu growled.
"Did you even try to contact either of them to see if you may be too late?" Inuyasha scoffed, leaning further back in his chair with his feet arrogantly on the table.
Although he expected Bankotsu to snap at him, he instead got as white as a ghost and pulled out his phone. Everyone else let out loud, exasperated sighs. Bankotsu was one of the sharpest when it came to the big picture, but he missed even the smallest things that the rest of them would have checked first.
Miroku massaged the bridge of his nose, asking, "So that means you tried to move things around the house to look for clues, right?" He was hoping he said no; if he didn't, he probably destroyed over half of the evidence that could have been found.
"Hey shut up, it's ringing!" Bankotsu snapped, putting his Blackberry on speaker for everyone to listen. The machine picked up.
"Hello, you have reached Angel's phone. She's not conscious right now, but leave a message and-"
Bankotsu repeatedly shoved his finger into the "End" button, not wanting to hear any more of Hiten's dark, evil voice.
"DAMMIT!" he bellowed, ready to throw the device out of the window. Suikotsu jumped up and took it from him.
Hiten was smart, they all knew that. However, he showed his tech-savvy ways by cracking the password on Angel's phone to record another message. He had done something similar earlier by technologically erasing the return number on the answering machine at Bankotsu's house after the message finished playing. They all now knew that Angel probably didn't have access to a phone wherever she was. He didn't throw her phone away, though, or destroy it, and they didn't know why.
"Listen to the whole message, you idiot!" he scolded, going back to the number in the phone. He pressed speaker and everyone heard it ringing. "You're gonna miss something important."
The machine picked up again, and everyone anxiously gathered around.
"Hello, you have reached Angel's phone. She's not conscious right now, but leave a message and Hiten, myself, will get back to you… Bankotsu."
Bankotsu grimaced; he was calling him out.
"Try leaving a message," Suikotsu concluded.
"What? How the hell is that gonna help her?" he inquired, surprised.
"He said he'll get back to you. Let's see if he thinks he's smart enough to contact you again and remain concealed. More than likely, we'll be able to track him," he explained.
Bankotsu, seeing his point, snatched the phone and called again. After listening to the recording, he started into the phone like it was the one that kidnapped Angel.
"LISTEN TO ME, YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH, IF YOU HURT HER, I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN, SKIN YOU, THROW ACID ON YOU, DISMEMBER YOUR BODY, THEN SEND ALL THE PIECES TO YOUR FAMILY, YOU HEAR ME-"
Suikotsu snatched the phone and muffled the receiver. "Stop it! Calm down and remember that we lack information on his whereabouts!" he snapped at him, already pushed to his wit's end by his blatant stupidity. "Try to bait him. Ask him where he is and where he's keeping Angel. To make him think that you are blinded by your emotions, sound just as enraged as you did. He's bound to get cocky and reveal small pieces of information to you in a puzzling manner."
With that, he gave him back the phone. Bankotsu did as he was told, threw in some more choice words, and hung up.
Jakotsu stood. "Good, now what do we do?" he asked, impatient about sitting around. He was the only one there who wasn't or hadn't been a homicide detective, so of course he expected more action than this.
"We, meaning us not you, Jakotsu, will now be going spreading out to investigate," Inuyasha snarled, still creeped out by the cross-dressing man who continually flirted with him.
Before Jakotsu could respond, Renkotsu started handing out tasks. "Suikotsu, Bankotsu, and I will go to Bankotsu's house to investigate. Maybe Hiten left more tracks than he realized. Inuyasha, you and Kouga will go down to Angel's school to ask the students, faculty, and neighboring business employees if they've seen anything suspicious. Miroku, I'm sorry, but I'll need you to go to her parents' house and make up a tale for why Angel's missing. Make it a field trip or something- anything airtight will do. If her parents find out she's been kidnapped, they'll go to the police, which Bankotsu clearly doesn't want. After all, they do like you the most."
They all nodded and immediately went to the door. Suikotsu and Renkotsu went to the curb and hopped into a black'66 Mustang GT350 with yellow stripes on the hood and a candy red Ferrari F430. Inuyasha advanced past the driveway to commandeer a sparkling sky blue '61 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a two-door coupe that went topless for the day, complete with white leather seats and the greatest sound system known to man. He parked a little down the street, away from the others; the man took a lot of pride in his car and didn't want a scratch on it. Kouga drove a cream-colored Linoln Mark LT; he always kept a luxury pickup truck because he enjoyed woodwork in his spare time these days… and it was nice to relax in with Ayame. Miroku drove a not-so-conservative white Range Rover. He had a family, so the extra room was needed, and he needed something with much more style than a minivan.
As they all headed out to their separate locations, Bankotsu pulled a tiny black box out of his pocket. He opened it, staring at the princess cut, 1.5 carat diamond ring. The band was platinum and bore nothing else. It was breathtakingly beautiful and modest, just like Angel.
He snapped it shut and put it back in his pocket, praying that Angel was alright as he followed Suikotsu and Renkotsu along.
Renkotsu had his own thoughts as they neared Bankotsu's small mansion. Bankotsu was quite touchy whenever the crime Hiten was so angry about was brought up. He knew of the murder during the terrorist bombing threat, but Hiten went down for other despicable crimes as well.
Could Bankotsu be hiding the fact that he committed one, or possibly most, of those crimes? He didn't know, and his eyebrows knitted together just thinking about it. He himself cared for Angel, and he didn't know how he would respond if he found out that she had been hurt because Bankotsu didn't want to own up to something. Didn't Angel's life mean more to him than his reputation?
