Chapter 18: Guppies and Sharks

Pebble Dish Pizza
Vespucci Beach
Later That Day
1:00 PM

Detectives Harrison and Xander were once again enjoying their lunch break on the bench outside Pebble Dish Pizza in Vespucci Beach. Harrison was eating his usual slice of cheese pizza, while Xander enjoyed his typical order consisting of a meatball sub that was always saturated in marinara sauce.

"Hey Troy?" Xander inquired, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, man" Harrison replied, "Shoot."

"What would you think if we took the Sergeant's exam together?" Xander asked.

In response to this, Harrison momentarily stopped chewing his pizza and considered the offer. "Sounds like a cool idea", he said, "But I've gotta ask, what got you thinking about that?"

"You remember what Captain Gilligan said this morning about those three Sergeant positions that just came open?" Xander asked.

"Yeah", Harrison said, "One guy got promoted, one guy transferred, and one guy retired."

"Right", Xander said, "I guess I should explain myself better. Dakota and I have been planning to take the Sergeant's exam together for a while now, but up until now, there hadn't been any open spots for new Sergeants for some time."

"And you think I should apply for that third spot?" Harrison queried as he put two and two together in his head.

"Yeah", Xander replied, "Why not? You're a smart cop, a good guy, and a great leader. You'd make a great supervisor."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, Adam", Harrison said, "But honestly, getting any sort of promotion hasn't really ever been at the forefront of my mind. I left the FBI and became a cop just to continue the journey I started all those years ago. I don't think I've ever given this any real thought until right this second, but I never thought that advancement as a cop was all that possible given my unique situation."

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Neither did I, dude" he replied very candidly, "I mean, I came from this quiet small town in Northern Ohio to this busy, big-ass city on a whim simply because LSPD was hiring. There were times where I didn't think I'd last all that long, but look at me now."

Harrison chuckled. "Yeah", he said, "Almost four years in and you're a detective with the highest case closure rate in Homicide."

"…And it wouldn't be continuing to stay just as high without you by my side, Troy" Xander cut in.

The partners bumped fists. "Thanks for that, bud" Harrison replied before taking a moment to sigh very deeply in contemplation. "Okay", he finally said, "I'm all in. When do the promotion exam periods start?"

"Two weeks from tomorrow", Xander said, "We can apply before we clock out tonight. I'll call Dakota later and tell him you'll be joining us."

"How's he doing after the whole recycling center fiasco?" Harrison asked.

"About as good as he could be", Xander replied, "He's back at work, but Captain Gilligan wants him to stay off any Tactical Unit calls for now until he gets his strength back up a little more."

Just then, Xander's cell phone rang. "Xander", he answered as he stood up from the bench and stepped away for a moment.

"Detective Xander?" a male voice said from the other end of the line, "It's Donal Curtis from Narcotics calling."

"Oh", Xander replied, "Hi Lieutenant. How are you, sir?"

"Good", Lt. Curtis replied, "Thanks. Chief Sacco reached out to us this morning and told us that you and your partner were looking for any known associates of Martin Madrazo."

"We are", Xander said, "Yeah".

"I think I may have something for you guys", Curtis explained, "We did a search through our computer and it gave us about twelve names. Four are doing bids at Bolingbroke Penitentiary, four have apparently left the country, and five are still at large with home and work addresses here in Los Santos. The first of those is a young guy named Ahron Ward."

"What kind of information do you have on him?" Xander inquired.

"He's a twenty-one-year-old white male, he stands about five-foot-five, and weighs about one-hundred-sixty pounds", Curtis replied, "He works at the Burger Shot in Vespucci Canals and he lives in Room Eleven at the Pink Cage Motel on Hawick Avenue in Alta."

"Heh", Xander replied, "There's a place where you can hide in plain sight. Do you guys have anything we can use for probable cause to get through his door?"

"As a matter of fact," Curtis said, "We do. In addition to having several arrests for possessing cocaine in his recent past, it seems our boy Mister Ward has a nasty habit of not paying his parking tickets. He's racked up about half a dozen or so in the last six months."

"Alrighty", Xander replied, "Detective Harrison and I will be there shortly. Where should we stage beforehand?"

"No need to stage", Curtis said, "I was planning to have the three of us do just a basic knock-and talk. I'll bring along three of my detectives to back us up in case shit hits the fan."

"Got it", Xander said, "We'll see you in a bit. Thanks for the heads up, Lieutenant."

Xander promptly hung up and went back over to Harrison, who was in the process of discarding his now-empty paper plate in a trash can.

"Who was that?" Harrison inquired as he wiped his hands with a napkin.

"Lieutenant Curtis from Narcotics", Xander explained, "He and his squad have a lead on a guy with a connection to Martin Madrazo."

The two detectives then entered Harrison's Dodge Charger, with Harrison naturally behind the wheel. He turned the ignition over and very carefully backed out of the small beachfront parking lot as their conversation continued.

"From what he said", Xander went on, "These kid Ahron Ward's been arrested a bunch of times for possession of cocaine."

Harrison chuckled in response to that. "Gee", he replied, "I wonder who his supplier was."

Pink Cage Motel
Hawick Avenue
Alta
10 Minutes Later

Harrison and Xander pulled into the main parking lot of the Pink Cage Motel. Admittedly, this cheap weekly motel had a very dated look, what with its very unashamedly pink and blue sign that looked like it had been there since the mid to late 1960's, as well as its very lightly almost peach-colored building exterior.

As they got out of the car, they noted the presence of an unmarked white 2011 Ford Crown Victoria police car with a short middle-aged white man and an attractive dark-haired African American woman of medium height standing on either side of it, with both of them wearing LSPD tactical vests. The man had a salt and pepper buzzcut, while the woman's thick black hair was styled in braided pigtails.

"Well, I'll be damned!" Xander exclaimed as he noticed the female officer. He almost immediately went over to her and reached his arms out for a hug, "Detective Raven Wolf Claw! How the hell are you?"

Detective Raven Wolf Claw embraced Xander warmly. "Hey Adam!" she said, "Good to see you again, pal."

As their embrace broke, Wolf Claw extended a hand to Harrison. "Hi", she said, "Raven Wolf Claw, LSPD Narcotics. Nice to finally meet you."

Harrison returned the young detective's gesture with a warm handshake of his own. "Troy Harrison", he replied, "Homicide. The pleasure's all mine, Detective."

Detective Wolf Claw's older male counterpart then took his turn making an introduction, also extending a hand to Harrison. "Lieutenant Donal Curtis", he said, "I'm the squad commander for Narcotics. Please call me 'Donnie'".

"You got it, Donnie" Harrison cordially replied as he returned the lieutenant's gesture, "Nice to meet you, sir." He then turned his attention back to Detective Wolf Claw. "So, Raven" he said, "I take it you and Adam have history, huh?"

In response to that question, Xander smiled and put an arm around Wolf Claw. "This little lady was my first patrol partner in South Los Santos, right before Dakota Michaels", he explained, "We rode in a patrol car together for thirteen months." He then turned to Wolf Claw. "But weren't you assigned to another department a while back?" he asked her.

"Actually", Wolf Claw said, "I've officially been attached to the San Andreas Regional Drug Reaction Team in Blaine County for the last three months. I've been living at my grandmother's old house out in Sandy Shores. But when the lieutenant told me that my old buddy Adam and his new partner were running down a lead back here in the city, I volunteered to help out."

"And we appreciate that, Detective" Harrison said, "What's the story on our boy?"

"I've got two undercover guys tailing him from the Burger Shot in Vespucci Canals as we speak", Curtis replied.

In a very uncanny bit of timing, Curtis' portable radio then chirped to life. "Narco Field Unit Bravo to Command", a male voice said, "Be advised, the subject is on the move headed toward the motel at this time, over."

Curtis then grabbed the radio off his belt and keyed the mic. "Narco Field Unit Bravo", he said into the radio, "Copy that. We're on scene at the motel right now with two additional detectives. Just let our guy roll through to the motel and once you're here, we'll all take him down, over."

"Copy, Lieutenant" the male voice replied from the radio, "We're right behind him. He's at a stop light in a late-model light green Toyota Prius. He's headed toward Hawick now, over."

"Ten-Four", Curtis replied into the radio.

As expected, a few moments later, a light green 2013 Toyota Prius slowly made its way into the motel's main driveway. What its driver assumingly didn't notice was the unmarked metallic gray 2011 Ford Crown Victoria police car that was practically riding the Prius' bumper.

Two tall and burly figures, clad in LSPD tactical vests and concealing their identities by way of the ski masks they wore over their heads, emerged from inside the Crown Victoria. They drew police-issued handguns and trained them on the Prius.

Xander, Harrison, Curtis, and Wolf Claw accordingly followed suit, drawing their own handguns and training them on the opposite side of the Prius.

"Ahron Ward!" Curtis hollered in a very authoritative tone, "Los Santos PD! Cut the engine, throw your keys out the window, and keep those hands in plain view!"

21-year-old Ahron Ward, still dressed in his bright red Burger Shot work uniform, sighed in resignation inside his car. "Fuck", he muttered under his breath once he had fully taken stock of the daunting situation. He decided to do as instructed and shut off his engine before throwing his keys out the driver's side window onto the pavement outside and raising his hands.

One of the masked undercover officers made their way to Ahron's driver's-side door and promptly jerked it open with one hand, still keeping their handgun trained on Ahron himself. "Come on out", the apparently male officer ordered, his voice slightly muffled by the ski mask.

Ahron carefully slid out of the car and stood upright with both of his hands still raised high in the air. "What the hell is this?" he defensively barked.

Lieutenant Curtis and Detective Wolf Claw came over to him. "Mister Ward", Curtis said, "I'm Lieutenant Curtis, LSPD Narcotics Division." He then gestured to Detective Wolf Claw. "This is Detective Wolf Claw", the lieutenant continued before redirecting his motion toward Harrison and Xander, "Those two guys are Detectives Harrison and Xander from our Homicide Division." Finally, Curtis motioned to the two ski-masked officers. "As for those two guys", he said before briefly smirking, "…Well, I can't exactly tell you who they are. All you need to know is that they work for me."

Ahron gave them all a mutual look of confusion. "Homicide?" he asked, "What? Did somebody die?"

Harrison and Xander then decided to take a crack at the defensive young man. They then came over and stood beside Curtis and Wolf Claw. "Actually", Harrison cut in, "We believe that somebody you're connected to is ultimately responsible for the deaths of four people over a two-year period. Does the name 'Martin Madrazo' ring any bells with you?"

With that, the expression on Ahron Ward's face changed to one of that was rather soured and almost petrified. "Oh", he said almost breathlessly, "Oh hell no! I'm not catching a goddamn bullet to the head for this shit, man! Just get me the hell out of here and get me my goddamn public defender, dude!"

Lt. Curtis grinned as he waved over the two ski-masked officers. "Today's your lucky day, big man" he said, "Your wish is our command. As it turns out, you have about half a dozen outstanding traffic tickets in your name. So, my two mysterious pals here are going to take you to the nearest police station and book you into custody. In the meantime, the rest of us have the motel owner's permission to search your room without a warrant, so we're going to do a little sneak-and-peak around your humble abode for a bit."

Ahron then sucked his teeth loudly before hanging his head in equal parts defeat and total resignation before the two masked officers stood him off the pavement and escorted him to their unmarked Crown Victoria.

Meanwhile, the four remaining officers made their way up the motel's front stairs, stopping at the door to Room #11. They all subsequently drew their guns as a precaution, at which point Lt. Curtis loudly knocked on the room's door three times with his free hand.

"Los Santos Police Department!" Curtis called out, "Anyone in there, please come to the door, open it slowly, and put your hands up! You have approximately five seconds or we're coming through the door!"

With no response in the allotted time, Curtis withdrew the motel's master key from the side pocket of his tactical vest, carefully inserted it into the key hole, and slowly turned the lock free. "You guys ready?" he whispered.

The three other officers all nodded before the door creaked open, at which point Curtis nudged the door open the rest of the way with his shoulder. The four officers filed into the room in a neat and tactical formation, aiming their guns in every visible direction.

Harrison went off to the side of the small room, where the bathroom was apparently located. "Police!" he called out just before stepping into the small bathroom. The entire room was decked out floor to ceiling in obnoxiously pink tiles. He cautiously pulled back the shower curtain, which was also tinged in an equally abhorrent pink hue, and aimed his gun at the combination shower/bath tub that stood behind it. Harrison sighed as he found that it was empty.

"Bathroom's clear, Donnie" Harrison said as he holstered his gun and came back out into the bedroom area.

"Got it", Curtis replied, "I think it's safe to say nobody else is in here, so let's get down to business, folks."

The mutual attitude of everybody in the room changed from a tactical one to one of precision and curiosity. Everyone holstered their weapons and donned gloves, methodically searching every inch of the motel room.

It was then that Xander found something interesting. As he opened the top drawer of the small desk, he found four men's rings sitting inside. "Hey Troy", he called out, "I think you should see this."

Harrison then donned his own gloves and went over to the desk, looking over his partner's shoulder. "What've you got, bud?" he inquired.

Xander held up his gloved right hand, showing Harrison the four discovered rings that sat in his palm. "Didn't those murder cases we found mention something about each of the murder victims missing jewelry?" he asked.

Thinking for a moment, Harrison nodded a few seconds later. "Yep", he said, "They sure did."

With her own interest now peaked, Detective Wolf Claw came over to them. "So then", she said, "What does that mean?"

"What I think it means, Raven" Xander said, "Is that this whole Madrazo thing is just beginning."

[Author's Note: In the next chapter, I'm going to do a few little time jumps to propel the story forward a little more. This will not only mean some career advances for our heroes, but some new faces in the LSPD ranks. Also, I'm going to feature the jewelry store heist mission in the next chapter as well, but I'll be doing the "Smart" option.]