Chapter 12: A Pretty Big Mess

Homicide Squad Room
LSPD South Central Station
Mission Row
2:00 PM

During a very uncharacteristically sluggish afternoon in the Homicide Unit's squad room, Detectives Harrison and Xander decided to utilize this uncommon opportunity by catching up on some overdue paperwork that pertained to previous cases. Harrison was busy organizing case files, while Xander, whose desk directly faced Harrison's, was typing away on his computer.

"Damn it", Xander muttered under his breath after grunting in frustration.

Harrison looked up from his scrupulous work, momentarily removing his reading glasses. "What's wrong, Adam?" he asked.

"Remember how I told I busted that kid Jimmy De Santa?" Xander asked.

Harrison nodded. "Yeah", he replied, "I remember. Something about him trying to score some marijuana from some Ballas in your apartment courtyard the other night."

"Right", Xander said, "The DA's office wants my report by tomorrow afternoon. So, here I am now trying to get all the background work done so I can put the finishing touches on my report so I can submit it in time for his sentencing hearing tomorrow morning." The detective then pointed to his computer screen. "Come and take a look at this", he continued.

With that, Harrison got up from his seat and crossed to his partner's desk. On the screen was a common police department background check report, but flashing across the blank template screen was the message: "ACCESS RESTRICTED" in flashing white letters against a red border.

"I mean", Xander said, "I've seen 'Access Denied' screens before, but 'Access Restricted'? What the hell does that mean?"

Harrison thought for a moment before a look of realization came across his face. "I think I might know", he said, "Let me ask you something. I apologize if it sounds a bit random."

"Shoot", Xander reassuringly replied.

"Have you ever heard of an attorney named Alan Saguaro?" Harrison asked.

Xander smirked. "Have I?" he said, "Troy, Alan Saguaro is the U.S. Attorney in charge of this entire district of the West Coast! Every law enforcement officer in San Andreas, except apparently you, knows who he is."

Harrison also smirked in retort. "No shit", he lightheartedly said, "I first met Alan Saguaro when he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney here in Los Santos back in Two-Thousand-Four. Obviously, I can't go into too many details due to the sensitive nature of the case we worked on, but what I can tell you is that we had to put someone in Witness Protection."

"So", Xander replied, "You're saying that Jimmy De Santa might be in Witness Protection as well?"

Harrison nodded. "Looks like it", he said, "And not just him, his whole family, too. Does he have any next of kin on record?"

"When I booked him", Xander explained, "He mentioned that his father's name is Michael, his mother's name is Amanda, and that he has a kid sister named Tracy. Come to think of it, I think his sister's a contestant on that dumbass 'Fame or Shame' show."

Harrison chuckled. "No way", he replied, "I hate those damn talent shows. They seem so blatantly staged."

Just then, Lieutenant Wong emerged from his office and came up to them. "Hey kids", he said before handing Harrison a small piece of yellow note paper with some information on it. "Looks like we've got a combined Ten-One-Eighty-Seven and Ten-Nine-Ninety-Six at a storage yard on Magellan Avenue in Vespucci Beach", he continued, "The address is on that paper."

"And by that you mean a homicide with either a bomb or some other type of explosion involved?" Harrison inquired for clarification.

"You got it", Wong confirmed.

"Wait", Xander interjected, "Vespucci Beach? Doesn't their station have their own detectives?"

"They do", Wong said, "But they're pretty tied up with a major 'Toilet Cleaner' bust at the moment, so I told their lieutenant that we'd lend a hand or two."

Xander nodded. "Copy that", he replied before looking to Harrison, "You want to drive this time, bud?"

Standing up from his chair, Harrison shrugged his shoulders. "Sure", he said.

Magellan Avenue
Vespucci Beach
10 Minutes Later

The detectives arrived at Magellan Avenue; a small street that was located right on the edge of Vespucci Beach adjacent to the ocean.

"So", Xander said to Harrison as they exited their vehicle, "You say that you'd need Alan Saguaro's permission to access the De Santa family's true identity information?"

"Yep", Harrison replied, "Even though I'm not with the FBI as an agent anymore, I still have government clearance because I occasionally consult on certain cases. If I can get Saguaro's permission, I'll be able to access the Los Santos FBI's mainframe computer to get the information you need for your report. I'll get on it later, okay?"

Xander smiled. "Thanks, man" he said.

"No problem, bro" Harrison replied, "Let's just deal with whatever's going on here for right now, okay?"

Xander nodded affirmatively before the two of them donned blue nitrile-free exam gloves and made their way to a large chain-link gate that had been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. This gate neighbored what appeared to be two upscale-looking apartment buildings, and these buildings were separated by a long alleyway. There, the two detectives again encountered Officer Rodney Zhao, who was now dressed in a very formal black LSPD uniform.

"Hey Zhao", Harrison greeted warmly.

"Afternoon, Detectives" Zhao replied.

Xander patted Zhao on the shoulder. "The uniform looks good on you, man" he said, "I almost didn't recognize you without your Tactical Unit stuff on."

Officer Zhao chuckled. "Thanks, Adam" he said, "This is my regular assignment. I work foot patrol here on the beach. Not as exciting as Tactical, but not a bad beat nonetheless."

Harrison smirked. "What've we got?" he asked.

"A pretty big mess", Zhao began to explain, "Fourteen confirmed dead. All Hispanic males in their early to mid-twenties. No definite IDs yet, but based on their all but matching attire and tattoos, we think they're members of the Vagos. They all appear to have been shot."

"Who initially called this in?" Xander asked.

"A fire alarm went off in response to an apparent explosion outside this building here", Zhao said as he pointed to the apartment building on the left side of the alley, "Two of our units showed up and saw an active fire and all these bodies strewn along the ground, so they radioed for LSFD and held down the scene as best as they could. The fire guys got here in under three minutes and realized that it was actually two fires burning simultaneously."

"Huh", Harrison said, "No kidding."

"Yeah", Zhao continued, "I guess in addition to the initial explosion, a car blew up at some point during the scuffle and caused a second big fire. LSFD were able to quickly knock both blazes down in record time, and the coroner showed up about the same time I did."

Harrison nodded. "Is the Crime Lab here yet?" he asked.

"Yes sir", Zhao replied, "Anna and a few other techs showed up a few minutes ago." He pointed to what looked like the burned out remains of what used to be a balcony. "Looks like she's working that first explosion site now", he added.

"Cool", Harrison said before nodding to Xander, "Let's do this, partner." His gaze then momentarily returned to Zhao. "Thanks again, Zhao" he said with substantial gratitude in his voice, "Check you later, man."

The two detectives made their way through the chain-link gate and down the lengthy alley, taking in the sights of the bullet-riddled bodies and explosion debris littering the immediate area. As Officer Zhao had indicated, they encountered Anna Barakova photographing some extensively burnt pieces of wood that had apparently dropped onto the ground due to the first explosion, her gloved hands holding a large high-end digital camera. She was dressed in a dark blue coverall jumpsuit with "LSPD CRIME LAB" embroidered on the back in large white capital letters. Her strawberry blonde hair was up in a very neatly braided ponytail.

"What's going on this afternoon, Miss Anna?" Harrison asked.

She lowered the camera and looked to the detectives, mutually greeting them with a warm, fetching smile. "Hey guys", she said, "It looks like this explosion over here was caused by the ignition of the propane in this old tank." She pointed her gloved right hand toward the blackened and nearly incinerated remains of a circular metal propane tank that sat just a few feet away.

"Any chance the first explosion could've been caused by faulty tank construction or a wear-and-tear leak?" Xander asked.

Anna chuckled in retort. "No way, man" she replied, "I found a bullet-sized entry hole on the front upper portion of it. It looks like the force of the explosion forced the actual bullet out. I've got two of our techs scanning this whole alley for it with metal detectors, but no luck yet, though."

"Does it look like we're looking for just a single shooter on this one?" Harrison asked.

"I would say 'no'" Anna said, "Most of these guys took some very precise one-round headshots from what looks like a forty-five-caliber handgun, including the first badly burned guy that the coroner just took out from around this area. But a lot of our other dearly departed people seemed to have been sprayed down with some sort of rapid-fire submachine gun. Maybe an Uzi."

Harrison nodded and noted all of the attractive criminalist's astute observations in his memo book. "Got it", he said, "Two guns, two shooters then?" he asked.

"Yep", Anna replied, "That'd be my assessment as far as the shooting stuff is concerned."

Xander, meanwhile, carefully made his way to what looked to be the burned-out shell of what used to be some type of high-class car, located at the opposite end of the alley. "What about this torched car?" he asked Anna, his voice raised due to his proximity to both her and Harrison.

With that, both Anna and Harrison made their way over to Xander's position beside the burnt-out vehicle. "The fire department's arson dogs detected the smell of a long gasoline trail leading from the center of the alley to where the car is now", Anna explained, "Looks like the vehicle was already leaking gas when somebody shot the small pool at the start of the trail."

"Which, in turn, lit it up" Harrison added, "Igniting the gas until it reaches the car, causing it to go boom. Do we even know what this cremated pile of metal used to be?"

Anna nodded. "One of the firemen was able to detach the driver's door", she said, "I was able to find a useable Vehicle Identification Number and had Dispatch run it through the system. Apparently, this car used to be a very-much-intact blue Two-Thousand-Three BMW M-Three convertible that was actually a fleet vehicle for an upscale car rental at the airport."

Xander nodded. "We should call them up and see who last had this Beamer", he said.

"Well," Anna cut in, "I doubt that will do you much good, Adam. The lady at Dispatch told me that the vehicle was stolen off their lot in broad daylight two weeks ago. The GPS locator on it had been disabled and everything."

A now frustrated Xander hung his head and sighed. "Damn", he said, "Where the hell are we going to start on this, then?"

"I'd say we start trying to ID these dead Vagos", Harrison replied, "It might take a while, but it is doable. You think Lieutenant Wong will let us start kicking in for overtime?"

Xander shrugged his shoulders just before his cell phone began to ring. He promptly took it out of his pocket and answered. "Detective Xander", he said before momentarily walking away from Harrison and Anna.

Anna snapped off her soiled exam gloves, tucking them in the pocket of her jumpsuit before looking to Harrison. "How are you doing?"

"Can't complain", he replied, "Sorry we've both been so busy lately. I'd love to have dinner with you again." He smiled.

A flattered Anna chuckled. "Sounds good", she said, "I meant to tell you, I think I left some…clothes back at your apartment a while back."

Harrison stepped closer to her and spoke in a whisper. "You mean that black and pink lace bra that I found in my couch cushions yesterday morning?" he said, "No worries, I put it in my most recent load of laundry. I plan to do it as soon as I get home." He gave her a small closed-mouth kiss on her right earlobe.

"Thanks", Anna replied with a cute, but still embarrassed blush.

Xander soon made his way back to his two colleagues, now finished with his phone call. "Hey Troy?" he said.

"Yeah?" Harrison replied, looking to his partner.

"Wong wants us back at the squad room ASAP", Xander replied, "I guess my inquiry into Jimmy De Santa's background set off some red flags at the U.S. Attorney's Office downtown. Alan Saguaro just showed up and he's not very happy."