Chapter 21: 17.9,000,000 Calls

Los Santos County Sheriff's Department
Impound Lot
Davis
1 Hour Later

With the former's numerous theories and suspicions still swirling around in his head, Sergeant Troy Harrison and Officer Declan Fostenberg were called to the Los Santos County Sheriff's Impound Lot in Davis at the request of Sergeant Dakota Michaels. The apparent getaway vehicles that had been driven by those who had perpetrated the daring Vangelico Jewelers heist had both been recovered by LSPD patrol officers.

Harrison and Fostenberg rolled their police cruiser through the lot's side gate and promptly parked it in one of the assigned spaces designated for official police vehicles. The two men exited to find not only a large Bugstars company van, but a large panel truck emblazoned with the logo of the local "Pop's Pills" pharmacy chain. Standing next the panel truck were Sergeant Michaels and his assigned rookie, Officer Samar "Sam" Hanpoor.

Officer Hanpoor was a young tan-skinned gentleman of medium height. In a somewhat eccentric way, his dark buzzcut hair really complemented the equally black color of his LSPD uniform. When he noticed Harrison and Fostenberg approaching, he extended a hand, which Fostenberg shook first. "Hey Declan", he greeted.

"Hi Sam", Fostenberg replied as he shook his friend and fellow officer's hand amiably, "You've met Sergeant Harrison, right?"

In response to this, Hanpoor took the opportunity to shake Harrison's hand next. "I remember seeing you at our Academy graduation", he said to Harrison, "but I don't think we've officially met. I'm Officer Samar Hanpoor, sir. Please call me 'Sam'."

"So noted, Sam" Harrison replied, "The pleasure's all mine. Welcome to LSPD."

"Thank you, sir" Hanpoor said, "I take it that you and Sergeant Michaels already know each other."

Harrison took the opportunity to fist bump and briefly hug Michaels. "That we do", he replied before turning his attention to Michaels. "It's good to see you again, Dakota" he continued.

"Hey Troy", Michaels replied as the two broke their chummy embrace, "Good to see you, too, bud. I hear that you guys were the first responders to the Vangelico scene."

"We were", Harrison said, "We initially thought it was a fire when we rolled up."

"What exactly was it that tipped you off to the possibility of something different?" Hanpoor asked.

"The smell of the supposed 'smoke'", Harrison explained, "Normal fire smoke doesn't usually smell like some sort of pungent medicine."

"The lab found nitrous oxide in the air, right?" Michaels asked.

"Yep", Fostenberg explained, "Anna from the lab told us that the levels were no higher than what a dentist would use on someone, though."

"However," Harrison added, "With all due respect to the lovely Miss Anna and our awesome lab team, I think that when our perps actually introduced the stuff into the air, the nitrous was actually at a higher level. I mean, it was able to successfully subdue five people and allow enough time for them to make their way in and knock the place over after all."

"It must've dissipated somewhat just before you guys got there", Hanpoor said, "That'd be my guess anyway."

Fostenberg elected to change the subject, pointing to the "Pop's Pills" truck. "Where'd you guys end up finding the vehicles?" he inquired.

"Well," Michaels began explaining, "It appears that the Bugstars van crapped out on our bad guys in the Los Santos River after they rammed five of our pursuing cruisers."

"Were any of the pursuing officers your guys?" Harrison asked.

"Three cruisers' worth of them anyway", Michaels replied with a regretful tone in his voice.

"Sorry, bro" Harrison said.

"No worries, man" Michaels said, this time with a more upbeat quality in his voice. "They're all okay", he continued, "Save for a few bumps and bruises. Thankfully, the cars were more damaged than they were."

"That's good at least", a now more relieved Harrison said.

"What about the Pop's Pills truck?" Fostenberg inquired.

"We found it not far away from the van", Hanpoor explained, "I ran the Vehicle Identification Number and found that it was stolen two days ago from a shopping plaza in Blaine County."

"Did the driver make a statement to the Blaine County Sheriff?" Harrison asked.

"He did", Michaels replied, "Yes. Said it was done by a dark-haired adult male wearing plain blue coveralls. He said that he caught sight of him just as he was coming out of the pharmacy after making a scheduled delivery. He tried to run after the truck on foot, but clearly that didn't go too well."

Harrison's expression then changed on a dime to one that was more solemn. "Guys", he said, "I have an idea who one of our robbers may be, but it's a bit of a hunch at most."

"We're listening", Hanpoor said.

"Before we got promoted and left Homicide", Harrison began to explain, "Adam Xander and I crossed paths with this supposedly retired bank robber named Michael De Santa. I did some checking with the FBI and it turns out that he and his family are all federally protected witnesses of some kind. Adam busted his son for weed possession and got in some hot water with the U.S. Attorney because of it."

"Wait", Michaels interjected, "That car accident you got into that day. It was this De Santa guy and his son you were trying to rescue when it happened, right?"

Harrison sighed deeply before nodding. "Yeah", he said, "The asshole seemed to be more concerned about his stupid boat than anything else."

"What makes you think this 'Michael De Santa' was involved with what went down at the store today?" Fostenberg asked.

Harrison then reached into the pocket of his uniform pants and pulled out a small plastic Petrie dish, sealed with red tape bearing the word "EVIDENCE" across the front. Inside was the Redwood Selects cigarette butt he had found sticking to his shoe earlier. "I found this cigarette butt outside the store", he explained as he held up the Petrie dish to show everybody, "Michael De Santa smokes this exact brand. I saw him smoking it at his house that day."

"I don't know, Sarge" Fostenberg said, "I'm sure he's not the only dude in Rockford Hills who smokes that brand."

"And I agree with that point, Declan" Harrison said, "But Michael De Santa has a history of pulling off heists with almost exactly the level of precision we saw earlier. He seems to me to be the type of guy that gets a kick out of inflicting the peril that's usually involved with high-risk heists. I could be jumping to conclusions a little bit, sure, but I think he's worth looking into a little more."

Just then, the sergeant was struck with an idea. "Hey Dakota?" Harrison asked.

"Yeah, bud?" Michaels replied.

"Where's the nearest public library?" Harrison inquired.

"Across the street from Davis High School", Michaels said, "Why?"

"I think a little research is in order", Harrison said very matter-of-factly.

De Santa Residence
Portola Drive
Rockford Hills
2 Hours Later

After a few hours of time spent at the Davis Public Library, Sergeant Harrison and Officer Fostenberg arrived at the De Santa family residence. Harrison knocked on his front door and waited a few moments, at which point both he and Fostenberg both found it somewhat odd that Maria the housekeeper hadn't come to answer it yet.

"You said that these folks have a maid, right?" Fostenberg asked softly.

"Yeah", Harrison replied in the same mellifluous tone, "She was here last time."

Harrison nudged the front door open with his elbow. Finding the inside foyer quiet and undisturbed, he and Fostenberg quietly made their way inside. "Michael?" Harrison called out, "Anybody home? It's Troy Harrison from LSPD!"

"Back here!" Michael's voice called back from the direction of the pool area.

Harrison momentarily turned to Fostenberg and smirked. "Of course," he said with a very sarcastic tone, "When in doubt, you can always find this guy chilling by the pool."

Fostenberg smirked back. "Welcome to Rockford Hills, Sarge!"

The two men made their way through the kitchen and out the side patio door, where they found Michael De Santa once again lounging in his chair by the pool. He was dressed in a very brightly colored red Hawaiian-style shirt with two palm trees on either side with very similar-looking red floral shorts and brown sandals.

"Who called you guys this time?" Michael asked.

"Nobody", Harrison said, "We wanted to talk to you."

Michael sat up front his chair and took note of the officers' attire. "Nice uniform", he said to Harrison, "You piss off your chief and get demoted or something?"

Not taking the bait, Harrison shook his head. "Actually", he replied, "I recently got a promotion. So, it's 'Sergeant Harrison' now, if you please."

"Noted, Sergeant" Michael said before looking to Fostenberg. "Who's the kid?" he asked.

"I'm Officer Fostenberg, sir" Fostenberg said, "Sergeant Harrison's my Field Training Officer."

Michael stared at Fostenberg for a second and grinned. "Oh yeah", he said, "You're Mark and Sasha Fostenberg's boy, huh? I've played golf with your daddy a few times."

Tiring of Michael's sardonic attitude, Harrison took the opportunity to cut in. "Michael", he sternly said, "We're not here to discuss my partner. We need to talk to you, man."

Michael sighed a resigned sigh. "About what?"

With that, Fostenberg held up a file folder, its contents apparently thick with papers. "You know", he said, "The internet's an amazing thing, especially these days. The sergeant and I just spent an hour and a half or so at the Davis Public Library doing background checks and newspapers searches online. Let's just say that he and I have a few questions."

"Again, I ask" Michael said, "About what?"

"For starters", Harrison said, "Where is everybody?"

"Amanda's shopping", Michael replied, "Tracey's at her asshole boyfriend's house, Jimmy's more than likely at the Burger Shot trying to score weed, and our housekeeper Maria's gone back to Venezuela to visit her family for a week."

"Now that we have that out of the way", Fostenberg cut in as he opened the file folder and skimmed its contents. "Why do both the entire Province of North Yankton and the entire state of Kansas have Michael Townley listed as 'deceased'?"

Michael finally showed some gumption and got up from his pool chair. "That was the deal I worked out with Dave Norton back then", he explained, "My shooting after the Ludendorff heist was faked. It was Dave who shot me from a long range with a rifle using a blank. Michael Townley died and Michael De Santa was born."

"So", Harrison said, "You guys really are in Witness Protection. You escape the heist, move your family out here, and get to live in this nice, big house in Rockford Hills."

"Yeah", Michael said, "That's about the long and short of it."

"The thing is, Michael" Fostenberg said, "We have a bigger problem. We have a pretty good hunch that it was you and some other knuckleheads that hit Vangelico Jewelers earlier today."

Making no immediate denial, Michael sighed again. "So, what if I did?" he asked, "Are you guys going to arrest me now?"

"Ironically, no" Harrison said, "I think I can get the U.S. Attorney to work out a deal. But we need a few things in return."

"And those are?" Michael inquired.

"The names of your other knuckleheads", Harrison said, "We'll leave your name out of it for now and throw the Feds a bone or two. But, I swear, if you fuck us over, my boy Fostenberg and I will be coming back with the SWAT guys."

Michael briefly ducked inside his kitchen and came outside a few minutes later, holding a folded-up piece of yellow paper in his hand, which he promptly handed to Harrison.

Taking the paper, Harrison momentarily eyeballed it before looking back to Michael and nodding affirmatively. "Okay", he said, "We'll do some checking into these folks." He then patted Michael on the shoulder. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Mister De Santa" he slyly said.

As the two officers made their way back to their car, Michael called to them. "Hey Harrison?" he said.

Harrison momentarily looked back. "Yeah?" he inquired.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Michael asked.

"There are seventeen-point-nine million nine-one-one calls a year here in Los Santos", Harrison explained, "eleven-point-nine million of those are non-emergency calls for police service. I supervise five officers who, for the most part, are overburdened and underpaid. None of us have the time nor the resources to focus on one crime unless our supervisors request it. Like I said, enjoy your day, Mister De Santa."