Chapter 13 – Wrong side of the tracks
Friday, August 30th
Abandoned warehouse, Callahan District
1:15 am
In the Callahan District were many abandoned buildings as a result of the unemployment and economic crisis that's sweeping the nation. There was a warehouse that used to be owned by a pharmaceutical company, now it serves as a command post for the Internal Affairs unit.
Izumi was seating on a chair while her left hand was cuffed to the table in front of her, her black dress was still wet from the sprinkler shower from the shootout at the nightclub earlier. She leaned on the table, she had a lot in her mind. Maybe her quest to avenge Gianna got the best of her, at the same time she had gained good information on the Di Bortoli family and was aware that most likely her fellow cops never got that close.
Izumi's trance was interrupted by two men, one was Dame Harper and the other was a tall man with a shaved head, he looked like he was in his late 30's or early 40's.
"Why am I not surprised to see you fucking up my case, Azami" said Dame.
"For the last time… my name is Izumi" the rouge female officer hissed.
"Izumi, Azami, Sammi… whatever! You have no idea the how much shit you're in" Dame walked towards Izumi in an intimidating manner.
"For starters, I got information you probably don't have" Izumi taunted.
Dame slammed his fist on the table "You think this is a game, don't you?!"
Izumi stared at Dame, she wasn't in the mood to take the detective's verbal abuse.
"Dame, that's enough" said the man who was also wearing a business suit.
"You wanted the rookie, here she is" Dame took a few steps back.
The man pulled a chair and sat on the other end of the table right in front of Izumi.
"I'm Captain Douglas Mancini. I'm with Internal Affairs" Capt. Mancini said with a calm tone.
"I'm thrilled to meet you, Captain" Izumi said with a sarcastic tone.
"I hope you're aware of the trouble you've cost Detective Harper here" Capt. Mancini said.
Izumi took a quick glance at Dame "I wouldn't have if he hadn't been seating on his ass for the past few days"
Dame gave Izumi a dirty look. If one thing bothered him was a beat cop with a smart mouth.
Capt. Mancini took a deep breath "You made contact with one of our prime suspects and beat one of his enforcers to a bloody pulp at that gym"
"I just wanted to sign for some lessons there and they came looking for trouble" Izumi replied.
"Then you go to that nightclub and not only abducted another suspect we were watching but you shot the place up like if you were in Iraq" Capt. Mancini continued.
"I made sure no civilians got hurt and no one got killed" Izumi said.
"And then your stunt on your way to the airport" Capt. Mancini pulled a folder.
"I was getting shot at… what did you expect me to do?" said Izumi.
Capt. Mancini opened the folder "Izumi De Souza, age 22. Born in Bayview and joined the force three months ago. Graduated with honors from Bayview State University with a mayor in criminal justice. And here it says your father is the current CEO and founder of Taelon Industries and your mother is a talented martial arts expert, won many championships in her prime"
"I wonder how you found out about my family history" Izumi said.
"You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you could've spend your days shopping at the most expensive stores and travel the world instead of catching bad guys" Capt. Mancini looked at Izumi.
"Look… I'm not a spoiled princess who spends her family's fortune but you didn't bring me here to talk about my life" Izumi was getting upset at Mancini.
Capt. Mancini leaned back on his chair and loosened his tie, then he flipped the page "I'm not surprised Sgt. Vargas hates your guts… you've been accused of reckless behavior and even excessive force on the job… honestly I wonder why they haven't taken your shield and your gun"
Izumi was silent.
"And remember the guy you beat to a bloody pulp two days ago on that domestic violence call? He filled a complaint against you. That alone is good enough reason to place you on an administrative leave" Capt. Mancini explained.
Izumi rolled her eyes "If I'm gonna be fired for doing my job, then get it over with"
"After what you did tonight, that's an assault charge since you were not on duty and that highway stunt… that's reckless endangerment and the list can go on. In other words you could face criminal charges and even prison time" Capt. Mancini continued.
Izumi looked at her left hand that was cuffed to the table "Is this where you're gonna read my rights? If so I want to talk to a lawyer"
"My job is to weed out bad cops from the good ones and I get nothing by busting you" said Capt. Mancini.
"What does it mean?" Izumi looked puzzled.
"Dame, give me the key" Mancini looked at Dame.
Dame looked at Izumi with contempt as he handed the key to the handcuffs to Mancini.
"We won't be needing this" Mancini removed the handcuff from Izumi's left wrist.
Izumi rubbed her wrist.
"This investigation is bigger than you think, in fact it doesn't just end with the Di Bortoli family" Mancini explained.
"Ok… so what's the bigger picture?" Izumi asked.
"There's crooked cops involved and after reading a few profiles. I've found out you are one of the few cops that can't be bought, the only problem is you're a loose cannon" Mancini said.
"You can't be serious" Dame lamented.
"I'd like for you to work for us" Capt. Mancini continued.
Dame exploded in anger "That rookie?! I thought you brought her to get rid of her! She's no better than those animals we're trying to catch!"
Izumi got up from her seat "You think I wanna be here?! Maybe I can do your job better, dickhead!"
"Dame, that's enough! Take a walk or something and cool off!" Capt. Mancini had enough of Dame's arrogant attitude.
Dame slammed the door as he left the room, he was cursing and yelling as he walked away.
"I think you can get us further, if you help us out then I can help you get promoted to detective and erase all these dirt off your file" Mancini said.
Izumi was quiet for a few seconds.
"What's your answer?" Mancini asked.
Izumi reached inside her cleavage and pulled the USB stick "I'm sure you'll be needing this". Then Izumi handed the USB stick to Mancini.
"What's in here?" Mancini inquired.
"Financial records and surveillance footage from the club" Izumi answered.
Mancini put the USB stick in his pocket "This is what we're gonna do. To keep people from knowing our operation we'll place you on a leave of absence. No one must know you're working for Internal Affairs on this case, not even your partner"
"Ok" Izumi nodded.
"Any questions?" Mancini asked.
"Just one" Izumi said.
"What is it?"
"What car am I gonna be driving? Mine got shot up" Izumi asked.
"We'll talk about that later, first let's talk to Dario" Mancini opened the door and exited the room, Izumi followed him.
In another room that served as a management office back when the facilities were fully operational was Dario Amato, he was seating on a chair with his hands cuffed behind his back. Izumi and Captain Douglas Mancini walked entered the room.
"Mr. Amato, we've been watching you for a while" Capt. Mancini said.
"That wasn't part of our deal" Dario looked at Izumi.
"Don't look at her, she's not the one who brought you in" Mancini pulled a chair.
Dario only smirked as he looked up to the ceiling "You cops are way over your head, Mr. Di Bortoli will have your heads for this"
"Is that so?" Mancini replied.
"I'm surprised you aren't on the payroll" Dario barked.
Izumi took a few steps and got close to Dario "Now you talk like a tough guy, back there you were screaming like a school girl as we were getting shot"
"Back at my club you couldn't wait to get it on…. You can play a cop all you want but you acted like a skank" Dario continued taunting.
Izumi was losing patience with the suspect "This skank saved your worthless life"
"Don't bother, he's dead anyway… in central lock up his people will kill him" Mancini said.
"I know people" Dario scoffed.
"Really? Like the people who shot at us?" Izumi said.
Two agents in suits walked in.
"Take this guy to central lock up" Mancini said to the two agents.
The two agents grabbed Dario and were about to take him away.
"Wait! You can't send me there!" Dario pleaded.
"Then tell us all you know" Izumi demanded some answers.
"Ok! I'll tell you" Dario said.
The agents took Dario back to his seat. Izumi and Mancini sat in front of Dario.
"We're listening" Mancini said.
"Tomorrow there's a shipment coming from Eastern Europe" Dario started to explain.
"What kind of shipment?" Mancini asked.
"Girls from all over… Croatians, Ukrainians, Russians, Bosnians. They come to work at our clubs, bars, strip joints" Dario explained.
"Human trafficking" Izumi muttered.
"Yeah… it's good business and to keep Immigration from asking questions, we got friends at the Department of Homeland Security that help us to give these broads green cards" Dario continued.
"Turning young girls into slaves… that's disgusting" Mancini replied.
"The American Dream" Dario cynically chuckled.
"You sick bastard… I should've let them kill you" Izumi hissed.
Dario blew a kiss to Izumi, much to her irritation.
"I'll go straight to the point, what's your boss doing hiring street racers?" Izumi inquired.
"What street racers?" Dario played dumb.
Izumi took a deep breathe "I'll narrow it down for you, why did they try to recruit Manny Perez. You know… The MMA fighter that everyone is raving about"
"Ohhh! That guy…. I hear Salvatore Di Bortoli needs a good driver to help him retrieve someone. His right hand guy Guiliano Falucci knows more" Dario explained.
"Where do I find this Guiliano?" Izumi asked.
"He might be at the port where the package is to be delivered" Dario said.
Capt. Mancini got up "Where exactly?"
"Pier 14 in Repley's Point tomorrow about 3 PM" Dario answered.
Captain Mancini nodded at his two agents "Place him in protective custody in one of our safe houses. I'll talk to him later"
"Protective custody!" Dario protested.
"Would you prefer a jail cell with your buddies?" Mancini asked.
Dario was silent, the two agents removed Dario from the room. Izumi and Mancini were by themselves.
"You should go home and get some rest" Mancini looked at Izumi.
"We got to plan how to bust these guys tomorrow" Izumi insisted.
"I admire your dedication but you need some rest. We'll have a briefing tomorrow afternoon to set the operation in motion" Mancini explained.
"Ok…" Izumi responded.
Captain Mancini walked out of the room.
"Captain" Izumi followed Mancini.
"Yeah?"
"My car got totaled, I haven't even made a claim to my insurance" Izumi said.
"Right" Mancini then turned to one of his guys "Joey… take care of her, will you?"
Joey was a one of the Internal Affair agents who worked under Mancini, he was a tall blonde guy and he was wearing the same business suit attire as the rest.
"Follow me" said Joey.
In a large room were five cars, a BMW M3, a 1968 Shelby Mustang, a brand new Corvette C7, a Porsche Cayman and the fifth car was covered by a tarp.
"The Corvette is yours" Joey said.
Izumi shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Joey asked.
"I honestly hate muscle cars" Izumi replied.
"Can't go wrong with American Muscle" Joey chuckled.
"More like American junk" Izumi said sarcastically.
"Well… how about that Porsche? Some of the best Germany has to offer" Joey pointed at the German sports car.
"What's under the covers?" Izumi asked.
"That? I don't think you'll be interested" Joey walked to the mysterious car, he pulled the cover and there it was. A silver Honda S2000, modified for high performance driving.
"I think we have a winner" Izumi said as she walked towards the S2000.
"Not the shitty import" Joey said.
"This will do" Izumi got inside the S2000 and started the car, she revved the engine.
"Ok… If you say so" Joey said as he opened the gate.
Izumi shifted to first gear and raced out of the safe house.
The Junkie's Notes: Before people ask me why I decided to use a Honda S2000 as Izumi's new car after her Nissan Silvia (S15) with an RB26DETT swap was destroyed. Simple, most import guys including myself start in the street racing scene driving Honda Civic SI's or Acura Integra GSR's and then graduate to more complex cars. In this chapter she gets the opportunity to be a detective and earn her stripes and the Honda S2000 symbolizes that. This is also where Izumi meets her future boss, Captain Mancini from Undercover Chronicles. One Love and stay safe!