Hi Guys and welcome back to Rush and Response! I'm so excited to get this chapter to you all, so let's crack on shall we?
James was pacing as they waited for Gustavo and everyone to return to the station, James completely freaking out. Never before had been so nervous to interrogate a witness but this wasn't just any witness, it was Kendall.
"James, just try to stay calm" Camille said, still sat at her desk, watching as the convoy of police cars got closer on the monitor.
"I can't, I'm freaking out slightly" James tried, finally stopping in front of her and facing her, his hands running through his hair. "If Kendall or anyone in that crew aren't the killer, then this investigation is fucked. There's no way I'm going to be able to get in after I've interrogated them."
"Are you sure that's all this is about? The case?" Camille asked, James' eyes widening before his eyebrows furrow together.
"Yes, Camille, that's all this is about" James replied, blatantly lying, something they both knew he was doing. James really didn't need to be thinking about his…personal feeling for Kendall at the moment because that would make the situation so much worse. No, James just needed to focus on the case and what a fuckery that had become.
"They're just pulling into the garage now"
"Thanks Camille" James replied, causing the brunet girl to nod.
"No problem partner" she replied, causing a small smile to grow on James' face. Both of them knew that James wasn't thanking her for the garage information, it was for the last 20 minutes where James had done nothing but subjected her to his rambling about how fucked he and everything else was.
Now, however, the waiting game began, with James planting himself down into the seat he was sat in before, as he waited for Kendall and the crew to be processed and moved to a cell. That wouldn't take too long, which meant that any minute now, Gustavo would be telling James which interrogation room to go into, something that James was completely unprepared for, both mentally and physically.
What questions would he ask, how is Kendall going to respond to his ultimate betrayal, and whether he should be good cop or bad cop where some of the frequent questions floating about his brain, but luckily, or maybe unluckily, he was snapped out of his thoughts when the lift door finally opened, revealing Gustavo who had a massive grin on his face.
"I'm guessing you saw the raid?" he asked, causing both Camille and James to know. "Then you'll know it was successful. All 5 of them are in custody, and the Challenger has been seized as part of the evidence. We also found some drugs in the back of Kendall's car"
"Drugs?" James asked, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up slightly. "What type?"
"We're not sure, but there seemed to be quite a few. I'm guessing cocaine, heroin, maybe some cannabis as well" Gustavo shrugged, while James' heart dropped. "Anyway, he's waiting in interrogation room one. The rest are in the holding cell, and once Kendall has been interrogated, he'll be separated so he can't warn the others about you. Now head down there detective, and finally solve this case."
"Yes sir" James replied, obviously disheartened, although Gustavo didn't take any note of it. Nodding to the two of them once more, the captain made his way back to his office, leaving James and Camille alone again.
"Hey, you ok?" Camille asked, causing James to nod as he pulled himself from the seat.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine" James replied, the air stretching into silence for a few seconds after he spoke. "I…um…I should get down there" the brunet continued, causing Camille to nod as James finally walked away.
The drugs announcement had completely thrown him, and with flash backs to New York occurring, James knew that this interrogation was going to get a lot harder than it already was.
As James walked into interrogating room one, he saw how the blond's eyes lit up for a second.
"Oh James, thank god! They wouldn't let me have my phone call, but I'm glad you're here" the blond began, James' heart dropping slightly as he took the seat opposite Kendall. It took the blond a few seconds to realise what was going on, but James knew what it had clicked, as Kendall's eyes darkened with anger. "Oh, you have got to be shitting me" the blond began, ramming one of his fists onto the table. "Seriously, what the fuck is going on" As the blond spoke, James placed all the pieces of evidence down into the table. "Are you actually here to interrogate me? Is that really what's going on?"
"Yes" James replied, wiping his hand across his forehead. "I was sent to infiltrate the street racing circuit, in the hopes to bring down the Crime Boss."
"And I was the unlucky bugger who let you in huh?"
"You were the first racer, I saw yes" James replied, causing Kendall to let out a long sigh as he leant back in his chair.
"Fuck me. I really fell for it huh. The whole thing you had going on." The blond continued, waving his hand at James in reference. The room fell into silence at that, James' guilty feeling returning with full force as he tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make this situation any worse that it already was. Before James could say anything however, Kendall spoke up again. "I really trusted you, you know that right? I really thought that you were there to help us out, and that's why I told you my story. I wanted you to know that everything you were doing wasn't in vain, and that it was actually really helpful for quite a lot of us, but I guess I fucking wrong to believe that. I bet you were fucking ordered to do whatever the fuck you needed to do to get the information you needed from us, so congratu-fucking-lations, you did its James" Kendall now started to clap his hands in sarcasm. "You've arrested 5 completely innocent people."
"You're not exactly innocent, street racing is still a crime, one that the lot of you have committed a lot" James began, causing Kendall to roll his eyes. "And yes, I was ordered to do whatever it takes to get information on the case. The Crime Boss is a serious threat to this city, so it's imperative that we bring him down."
"Oh, and the fastest way to do that was through my pants huh?" Kendall snapped back, the room now descending into complete silence as Kendall stared at James, waiting for his response. James on the other hand, was shocked into silence at Kendall's bluntness, and he felt how his throat dried up. With nothing leaving James' mouth, Kendall continued. "That whole make-out session on my car, and the whole 'I wouldn't be leaving if I didn't have to' bullshit, was that what that was about?" Kendall asked again, James swallowing to try and clear the massive lump in his throat as Kendall leant forward.
This time, James noticed how Kendall's eyes were filled with a little plead, almost like he was asking James to deny it. Still, no matter what the brunet tried to say on the matter, the words just wouldn't form, causing him to take a deep breath as he opened the first evidence folder.
"Can you tell me about your relationship with the Crime Boss" was all James could say, causing Kendall to shake his head as he leant back in his seat, before taking a deep breath.
"What the fuck does that mean, my 'relationship' with them?" the blond asked, James being slightly grateful that Kendall hadn't commented on his lack of response.
Pulling out the transcript from the discussion on the car, James turned it around to show Kendall as he began to speak. "You said, and I quote 'When I finally earned the $30,000, I remember returning to them and asking if my debt was done, but the guy shook his head.' Is that common? You do often return to them and speak to them?"
"Fuck me, that's like a proper transcript, let me look at that" Kendall said, grabbing the piece of paper as he began to read through it by himself. "God, even I don't remember saying half this stuff. You must have a fucking good memory for you to rush home to still remember it…unless" Kendall let out a massive groan, leaning further back into the chair. "The fucking car's bugged. Fuck me, I can't believe I didn't even think about that. I mean, it makes sense as you why you were so protective over it. I mean, I thought that you were just some perfectionist neat freak who wanted to make sure that everything was in the right place, but now this all makes sense. While you were 'infiltrating' our little crew, somebody was recording everything that was said, keeping a track of us. God, you really got us good. Seriously, I mean, if I weren't so pissed at you, I'd probably be impressed."
"Can you please just answer the question?" James asked, causing Kendall to shake his head at he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why don't you shove your fucking question. I'm not going to answer any of them, until I get a lawyer, although I suppose in my case, that only makes me look more guilty" the blond replied, causing James to let out another sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Still, that didn't stop Kendall from continuing. "You know, less than 24 hours ago, I genuinely thought that something could happen between the two of us. I mean, I fucking admitted that I liked you, like some fucking love struck child, but now I've realised that you're just another prick, who this time, is trying to charge me with a fucking murder that I didn't commit. Well, let me just say, fuck you James. Fuck you so much, you fucking asswipe"
That caused James to push himself up from the table, trying not to let Kendall's words get to him. Collecting the evidence that he'd laid on the table, James turned and walked to the door.
"That's it, fuck off! And while you're at it, why don't you take a long walk off a short fucking pier!" Kendall shouted, causing James to slam the door behind him.
Taking a deep breath, James felt a small prickle at the back of his eyes, but he didn't let it get to him, instead walking into the room where Gustavo was watching through the one-sided mirror.
"It's not going very well at all is it" the captain began, causing James to roll his eyes at the statement, the two of them watching as Kendall started to lean back on his chair, the front two legs coming up off the floor.
"I just need 15 minutes with him, with no one watching and the cameras off, and I'll have something to show from it."
"What the hell are you thinking of doing Detective" Gustavo asked, and James knew exactly what the captain was referring to. Rolling his eyes, James replied.
"Definitely not what you're thinking. If it helps, the cameras can stay on, but no audio. I can get him to talk"
"I don't know Detective. If we get a confession, I want it on video."
"15 minutes, and we'll get what we need" James replied, turning to Gustavo with the evidence clutched under his arm, his face filled with determination.
"Fine" Gustavo conceded, as he let out a sigh. "I'll make sure this room is off limits and that the cameras aren't recording sound. But if the 15 minutes are up, and you still haven't gotten anything, someone else will take over." He continued, causing James to nod, the two of them leaving the room.
With a new found determination, James re-entered the room with Kendall in.
"I thought I told you to fuck off" Kendall began, bringing the front of his chair back down to the ground.
"Will you just shut the fuck up and let me speak" James replied, placing the evidence back onto the table as he took a seat.
"Let you speak, you're trying to get me fucking arrested for murder!"
"Actually, if you'd let me speak for 5 fucking seconds, you'd realise that I'm trying to do the opposite of that"
"Well, you're not doing a very good job then are you" Kendall replied, his eyebrow raised causing James to roll his eyes.
"It didn't help that you were practically throwing evidence in my face" James snapped, causing Kendall to lean back slightly, an inquisitive look on his face as James reached into one of the evidence folders. "On the 16th, Councilman Richards was being driven home when his car came under attack. Unfortunately, Councilman Richards died during the crash, but his driver survived and was rushed into hospital. When given the chance to interview him, I learnt that the car used was a Dodge Challenger, although he didn't know what colour it was" James began, sliding over the transcript of the conversation he had with Mr Stevens, the driver. "Then, when I return to the garage on the 17th, Carlos admitted to me that the Dodge Challenger you own had been damaged the night before, with him staying that Logan damaged it while practising to drift"
"Well, Logan did damage it while learning to drift" Kendall interrupted, as James slid over the transcript of the conversation he had with Carlos.
"Whatever the case, can you see why you've been arrested? There are a certain tire being used to commit the murders, one that you put onto your vehicles while taking part in Waterway Rivalries, and you admitted that you were indebted to the Crime Boss, which means that you'd have to do what he asks in order to pay that off. This is why you've been arrested"
"But all of this is completely circumstantial." Kendall replied, reaching forward to grab some transcripts to read through them. "Logan did damage the car while learning how to drift, I even have a copy of the video we took while shows him doing it. The fact that I'm indebted to the Crime Boss also applies to every single racer and every racer has those tires. Everyone uses them for Waterway Rivalries, but since the tires are classed as illegal, you can't have them on display."
"This is what I'm trying to provide, that you didn't do it" James said once again, letting out a small sigh. "You said you have a video of Logan damaging the car?" he asked, causing Kendall to nod. "It's a start. It won't prove that you're completely innocent, but our technical staff will be able to tell if it's doctored or not, so it can act as a basis. I'm also going to need solid alibis from everyone which prove that it wasn't anyone in the crew" James finished, causing Kendall to look at him with his eyebrow raised.
"Why are you trying to help us?" Kendall asked, causing James to tilt his head slightly in confusion.
"What?"
"Why are you trying to help us? You're a cop, and you said it yourself, we're criminals because we street race, so why would you want to clear our names. Surely, it'd get you a promotion if you bagged 5 street racers" Kendall repeated, causing James to let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead as he spoke.
"It isn't your fault that you're in this position. I know what it's like when you're desperate to save a loved one. You'll do anything to make sure that they're ok" James began, Kendall raising his eyebrow at the brunet. "Since you trusted me, I might as well trust you" the brunet continued, letting out a sigh as he leaned back in his seat. "I left New York because it was a constant reminder of my family. I was a uniformed officer at the time, and I was working on the Barrios cartel case. They were the biggest drug dealers within New York, but they always seemed to escape the police grasp. Anyway, one day I was working in the station, filing some paperwork when I remember my radio going off. There had been a shootout, in Times Square of all places, between the Barrios and another smaller cartel in the city. They had a disagreement about their 'borders' and just started to open fire, both vying for control. About 50 civilians were caught in the crossfire, so any officers that could respond were told to get to the scene as soon as possible, and I was one of them. When I got there, the first arriving officers had already cleared the scene, with a lot of the cartel members fleeing when the police arrived. But, there were a lot of causalities, and one of them was…it was my mum." James wiped the tears that started to form in his eyes. "After that, I threw myself into my work and I didn't stop until I'd found and brought down the Barrios cartel. I pushed away everyone that cared for me, and I didn't stop at anything, even when it meant sacrificing something else in my life. So yeah, I know why you did what you did, and if I can help you get out of that position, then I'd like to try"
"James, I'm so sorry" Kendall replied, causing James to shake his head as he continued to wipe the tears that had formed in his eyes.
"10 innocent civilians have been killed in these 'accident', including a family with two kids, and I want to stop anyone else from getting hurt, which means I need to find who's really behind it. That's why I'm helping you Kendall" James finished, causing the room to descend into silence for a few minutes as Kendall took everything he'd heard in.
Finally, with a deep breath, he spoke again. "I'll answer any questions you have, so long as you can promise that you'll prove that we're innocent."
"I'll try" James replied, causing a small smile to grow on Kendall's face.
"Then we have a deal" the blond said, causing James to nod, wiping the few strays tears left before taking a deep breath and launching into his first question.
So there we have it! James was sent to interrogate Kendall, and we learnt that James is trying to prove that Kendall and the crew are in fact innocent instead of guilty. We also got a little bit of James' backstory, and it seems for the moment that Kendall has decided to work with James. Do we think that's going to continue for long?
I want to say a massive thank you to Guest, Winterschild11, RainbowDiamonds and EpicallyObsessed for reviewing the last chapter, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! You all agree that Gustavo is an idiot and James has practically made it his purpose to prove Gustavo wrong, so I think you'll all be happy to hear that! We'll get the rest of the 'interrogation' in the next chapter, so don't worry, we have a lot to come!
Anyway, I hope you're all having a good week, and I will see you on Monday for the next chapter of Blizzard! But until then,
TTFN 😃🚗