Chapter-20 Decisions

Friday, August 30

Safe house

11:30 p.m.

After the bust at the pier, all the Internal Affairs personnel had their busiest night analyzing evidence collected. The most important evidence was the USB memory stick that Giuliano Falucci left behind during his escape.

"Captain, you should see this" said one of the technicians that was able to hack into the encrypted information. Captain Douglas Mancini looked at the screen and couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"So this is what they're after" said the Captain.

Mizuki looked at the screen and read some of the information that was in Italian. Even though Mizuki couldn't speak English, she was fluent in Italian. She was originally an exchange student from Japan living in Italy but she was abducted and taken to Eastern Europe where she was forced to work as a stripper at a gentlemen's club. She was talking to one of the translators, Captain Mancini heard the conversation.

"What did she say?" Capt. Mancini asked.

"She said it's a message stating the people guarding the father are requesting their payment" the translator said.

"I see…. Some dirty Interpol agents are bringing Vito Di Bortoli and selling his release" Capt. Mancini took a hard look at the information on screen.

All the chatter was suddenly silent as Izumi walked thru the door along with her partner Tyson.

"You're back" said Capt. Mancini.

"Mata o-me ni kakarete ureshīdesu, Izumi-chan"(I'm glad to see you again) Mizuki said as she greeted the only person she would call a friend.

"Karera wa anata ni yoi sa rete iru?" (Have they been good to you?) Izumi asked.

"Hai" Mizuki nodded.

"What is he doing here? He's not part of the operation" Capt. Mancini looked at Tyson.

Izumi looked at Mancini "We have a problem"

Dame walked into the room and saw his former partner, he wasn't very happy.

"What is it?" Mancini asked.

"I need that USB stick" Izumi said.

"Look, Captain. The guy you're after just kidnapped my daughter and he wants that USB stick" Tyson pleaded.

Capt. Mancini closed his eyes as he heard Tyson's plea "I'm sorry, son. But I can't let you take the USB stick"

"Why the hell not?" Tyson asked.

"Take a look at the screen, names of corrupt cops and not only from Fairhaven but from Chicago, Bayview, Los Angeles, and New York. We also discovered an entire network involving different crime families too. This is our chance to implement a dragnet to catch these guys" Capt. Mancini explained.

"You are still the sensitive fool from back in SWAT" Dame said with a cynical tone.

"You go fuck yourself…" Tyson shoved Dame, the latter tried to fight back but Capt. Mancini was holding him back and Izumi did the same for Tyson.

Tyson tried to continue fighting even with Izumi holding him back.

"Let go off me, Izumi. I'm gonna kill this bastard" Tyson yelled.

"Just like when you almost killed that hostage" Dame taunted.

"Motherfucker!" Tyson continued his verbal assault.

"Knock it off, both of you!" Capt. Mancini commanded but was ignored. Mizuki was witnessing the altercation as well but due to her not speaking English, she had no idea what it was all about.

Izumi continued to struggle to hold her partner from doing something stupid but her petite frame wasn't enough to contain Tyson.

"Izumi, for the last time…. Get the fuck off me!" Tyson yelled furiously.

Izumi frustrated at Tyson, slapped him across the face. Tyson was shocked.

"What is the matter with you? Huh? Your daughter is in danger and here you are acting like an idiot" Izumi grabbed Tyson by the shirt.

Dame broke free from Capt. Mancini and tried to punch Tyson but Izumi quickly kicked Dame on his mid-section, knocking him flat on his back.

"And you stay down and shut up" Izumi looked at Dame who was on the floor.

Capt. Mancini was without words, in his many years as a cop he's never seen a situation like that one.

"Azami, I didn't think you had it in you" Dame got up, Izumi ignored him.

"I didn't think it either" Tyson said as he was massaging his cheek.

Izumi just realized what she did and felt guilty about slapping her partner but then again, she felt good about kicking the detective that had been looking down on her.

"We need to work together to rescue Audrey and arrest Salvatore" Izumi said with a more calm and serene tone of voice. Dame walked away as he tried to cool off.

"Now you're the one acting within reason" Capt. Mancini said to Izumi.

"I'm sorry Captain but we need the USB" Izumi insisted.

"As I was explaining, we got enough evidence to dismantle the Di Bortoli family and associates along with the crooked cops that had been aiding them. This could help other police departments on their own investigations too, and we've also discovered why Salvatore wanted Manny" Capt. Mancini explained.

"Really?" Izumi looked at the screen.

"His father, Vito Di Bortoli was convicted in Europe two years ago and tomorrow morning he'll be extradited here. The Interpol agents that will bring him here are on the take as well and wanted Manny to take Vito to a yacht so he could escape prosecution" Capt. Mancini continued.

"You got all the information you wanted… let me have the USB and rescue my daughter" Tyson said.

Capt. Mancini took a deep breathe "I wish it was that simple…. we need to plan how to make a bust and rescue your daughter, and most important… to make sure the charges stick"

"There must be something" Izumi insisted.

"I'm sorry but we need more time to study the evidence" Capt. Mancini walked away.

Tyson clenched his fist and punched the wall "Damn!"

Mizuki walked towards both Izumi and Tyson.

"Koko ni, sore o toru" (here, take it) Mizuki gave a USB stick to Izumi.

"Kore wa?" (This is?") Izumi said as she looked at the USB stick.

"Watashi wa, USB sutikku kara dēta o kopī shita" (I copied the data from the USB stick) Mizuki replied.

"Anata wa tensaida" (You're a genius) Izumi happily hugged Mizuki.

"Yo hablo English" Tyson said in a broken Spanish as he's not being able to understand Japanese and didn't know what was going on.

Izumi turned to Tyson and showed him the USB card "We are in business"

Tyson looked at Mizuki and gave her a hug as well.

"We need to go, Manny is waiting for us" Izumi said.

"Right" Tyson said.

The Junkie's Notes: It's been a month since I've posted anything so here are two more chapters... I wanted to finish the story but haven't had the time. I think I should be done before Christmas so bare with me...