Chapter 29: The Story of Sweet Bird

Residence of Anna Barakova
Inseno Road
Banham Canyon
7:45 PM

Harrison arrived at Anna's canyon side beach house in Banham Canyon, as he had promised he would, roughly 15 minutes after clocking out for the evening, dressed in his black leather jacket with a novelty black Los Santos Panic jersey underneath, black denim jeans, and dark gray boots. He exited his car, walked up the driveway, and knocked three times on the door, all the while wondering what his criminalist girlfriend wanted to speak to him about.

Anna Barakova answered the door a minute or so later, dressed in a gray Yale University sweatshirt, gray sweatpants, and white cotton bunny slippers with her strawberry blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She smiled at the sight of her beloved Harrison standing in her doorway. "Evening, handsome" she warmly greeted as Harrison made his way inside.

Shutting the front door behind him as he entered, Harrison wrapped the fetching young woman in a hug and kissed her forehead before taking a moment to linger in the embrace. "…And a good evening to you as well there, gorgeous" he sweetly replied, "How are you?"

Anna broke the embrace and looked Harrison deeply in the eye. "I'm okay", she said as she ushered Harrison into the living room, "Thanks so much for coming."

"Happy to, sweetie", Harrison replied as he sat down on one of the two identical red sofas in the room, "What's up?"

"Well," Anna began to explain as she set herself right beside her boyfriend, "Like I said on the phone last night, I responded to that biker shooting out in Blaine County late yesterday afternoon. The thing is, that wasn't the only murder that occurred out there yesterday. Does the name 'Johnny Klebitz' mean anything to you?"

"Oh yeah", Harrison candidly replied, "It rings more than one bell actually. I ran into Johnny and those Lost Motorcycle Club assholes a few times when I worked an organized crime case in Liberty City during my FBI days. I heard he got killed. We actually spent part of today trying to track down a guy that Blaine County wants to question about his murder."

"No kidding", Anna said, "How'd you cross paths with Johnny?"

Harrison chuckled. "My partner and I raided one of The Lost MC's clubhouses with the LSPD", he explained, "A very unhappy Johnny punched me in my right eye. Unfortunately, I had to spend the rest of that evening in the ER at Schottler Medical Center."

"Well," Anna replied, "It looks like karma must've caught up to him. Some crazy guy apparently stomped him to death in Sandy Shores. What worries me is a phone number that Deputy Morris found on Johnny's cell phone. It was a phone number with an area code and prefix that linked back to Liberty City. The particular contact was labeled 'Sweet Bird'."

A momentarily perplexed Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Okay", he flatly said, "Go on."

"Remember when we first met?" Anna asked, "I told you how I grew up in Liberty City and spent most of my time riding motorcycles?"

"Anna", Harrison cut in as he put a hand on Anna's face, "Honey, what are you trying to tell me?"

Anna sighed deeply. "'Barakova' isn't my actual last name. My birth name is Anna Liliana Faustin."

With reality setting in and some major memory bells now going off in his head, Harrison's jaw dropped for an extended beat. "Your father's Mikhail Faustin", he said, "The Russian mob boss who owned that club in Hove Beach. You're 'Sweet Bird'."

"That's right", Anna replied with very obvious regret in her voice, "Just before he was killed, I was dating a member of the Lost MC named Frankie Yugavitch. Niko Bellic killed Frankie on orders from my father."

"You decided to clean up your act after this Frankie guy died, I take it?" Harrison inquired.

Anna nodded. "It's like I told you when we met", she said, "I managed to get my GED, I went to Yale, got my degree, and decided to move out to Los Santos to join the lab staff. As much as I love and miss my mom, I needed to get as much distance between me and Liberty City as possible."

With that, Harrison kissed his girlfriend passionately. "That definitely filled in some blanks for me", he said after breaking the kiss, "I am curious, though. How'd you come up with the name 'Barakova'?"

"After my father was murdered", Anna explained, "My mother and I traveled to Russia to bury him in Saint Petersburg. After we did lay him to rest, I decided to spend some time with my aunt Yuliya who lived on the Crimean Peninsula. Her married name is 'Barakova'. With her permission and blessing, I legally changed my last name after I moved to Connecticut and got settled at Yale."

Harrison tenderly stroked his girlfriend's face before kissing her forehead. "I just want to get one thing straight, my love" he said, "I don't care if you're a 'Barakova' or a 'Faustin'. You're one of the most talented forensic investigators I've ever had the pleasure of working with and, more importantly in this moment, you're my girl and I love you."

Anna reciprocated her boyfriend's affectionate and heartfelt words with a passionate kiss to his lips. "I love you too", she replied after breaking the kiss.

"How and why would Johnny Klebitz still have your old cellular number from way back when?" Harrison asked.

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not entirely sure", she candidly replied, "That must've been the only number he had for me. I haven't had that phone or that number since right before I left Liberty City. Every member of the Lost has the numbers of all the brothers and their girls."

"Have you told anyone at work about this?" Harrison asked.

Anna nodded. "I gave a statement to Deputy Morris earlier today at the sheriff's station in Sandy Shores", she said, "I'm also going to have a meeting with my bosses at the lab explaining the whole story tomorrow morning."

Harrison smirked nervously. "I hope they don't ream you too badly", he replied.

Anna chuckled. "I know", she said, "I think the worst they could do is pull me off the case, which is fine because I can pay more attention to the ten other active cases in my pile."

Harrison smiled before kissing Anna's neck. "So", he seductively whispered in her ear, "Now that we've settled that, how about we destress for a while, Miss Anna?"

"I thought you'd never ask", Anna softly replied.

Harrison leaned back as nature began taking its course for the couple on the sofa.

Casey's Diner
San Andreas Avenue
La Mesa
The Next Morning
6:30 AM

Harrison, now in full uniform, walked into Casey's Diner, a 24-hour diner in the Los Santos neighborhood of La Mesa that wasn't far from the LSPD's South-Central station. He sat down at a spacious wraparound booth where Sergeant Adam Xander, Sergeant Dakota Michaels, Officer Arashel "Shelly" Horowitz, and Officer Samar "Sam" Hanpoor were also seated.

"Morning, ladies and gents" Harrison warmly greeted and he took a seat beside Hanpoor.

"Troy", Xander said as he bumped fists with Harrison from across the table, "What's up this morning, bud?"

"Not much, brother" Harrison replied with a slick grin.

"That happy grin on your face is saying otherwise, dude" Michaels chimed in, "You got laid last night, huh?"

A now embarrassed and blushing Harrison snickered and leaned in. "Damn it, Dakota!" he softly interjected, "We're in public and in mixed company, man! Why are you razzing on me now?"

Michaels could do nothing but playfully snicker in return for a moment. "Sorry", he said, "But it is written all over your face."

"With all due respect, Sarge" Hanpoor added, "He's right."

With that, the 6 officers erupted in laughter for a long beat before this sidesplitting moment was interrupted by way of the high-definition TV mounted above the diner counter. The loud announcement for Weasel News abruptly quieted essentially everyone in the diner, causing the officers to direct their attention to the big screen.

On screen, Weasel News anchorwoman Constance Diaz announced herself. Constance was a dark-haired Hispanic woman in her mid-40's clad in a neon red pantsuit. "Good morning, everyone" Constance greeted from the screen, "This is the Weasel News Morning Report. I'm Constance Diaz."

The image of a white uniformed police officer appearing to be in their late 50's came up on the screen. "Early this week", Constance began, "The Liberty City Police Department gave a heartfelt sendoff to its most high-ranking officer. LCPD Commissioner Matt Fitzsimmons is retiring from the department after an illustrious twenty-five-year career. The Liberty City Mayor's Office released a statement an hour ago which stated that Fitzsimmons' long-held position will soon be taken over by Deputy Commissioner Jon Atkinson. Atkinson, who spent seven years serving as the LCPD's Chief of Detectives before being promoted to Deputy Commissioner in Two-Thousand-Nine, is expected to be sworn in as Liberty City's new Police Commissioner before the end of next week. For Weasel News, I'm Constance Diaz."

With that, Harrison turned his attention back to his colleagues and rolled his eyes. "What's bugging you, Sarge?" a concerned Officer Horowitz inquired.

"Jon Atkinson", Harrison replied, "I had dealings with him when I was an FBI agent back in the day. My partner and I were working an organized crime case in Liberty City and we ended up getting roped into assisting in a serial murder case. Atkinson was the head detective on the investigation."

"What was your issue with him?" Xander asked.

"More like 'issues'" Harrison candidly said, "He's a glory-hog and a media-whore. Every time a new body dropped; he'd blab to the media before the medical examiner even removed the body from the damn crime scene."

Michaels then took a moment to think as something struck him. "Wait a minute", he said, "I think I remember the case you're talking about. The killer's name was Eddie Low, right? I think it was back in Oh-Eight."

Harrison nodded affirmatively. "That's right", he replied, "And we only figured that out after Low was already dead. He tried to attack a guy named Niko Bellic in Alderney City right when an Alderney State Police patrol car rolled up on them. Two cops got out and shot Eddie dead in Niko's defense."

"…And let me guess", Hanpoor cut in, "The body of this 'Eddie Low' dude wasn't even zipped into a bag yet when your man Atkinson swooped in to take all the credit."

Harrison pointed to Hanpoor sheepishly in retort. "Bingo", he replied, "My partner and I brought Niko Bellic in right after the attack to do a routine interview, but the Alderney State's Attorney told us soon afterward that he was going to rule it a 'self-defense' case, so we let him go without charge. The LCPD officially closed their investigation the next day and my partner went back to working on the organized crime case we were supposed to be investigating in the first damn place."

A disapproving Xander shook his head. "That's cold, bro" he said, "Atkinson takes all the credit for this big investigation that you, your partner, and who knows how many Liberty City cops worked in addition to his arrogant, spotlight-hogging ass. Then, he uses this unearned clout to schmooze his way all the way up to the Deputy Commissioner's Office."

"I guess the moral of the story is", Harrison said as he raised his coffee mug in an impromptu toast, "Everybody sitting in this booth right now earned their way to where they are. Don't be an 'Atkinson'."

"Here, here" Xander said as he clinked his mug with Harrison. Everybody else at the booth followed suit, clinking glasses with one another and echoing similar sentiments.

[Author's Note: All these references to the GTA IV storyline will come into play some more in future chapters and create some interesting opportunities for some of our heroes. Stay tuned!]