Chapter 22

Mike entered the lair. It was late afternoon, so it would give him enough time to get to the boathouse after talking to his friends. They were all waiting for him in the living room. Austin and Malcolm were nearby, playing video games and not really paying much attention to anything else around them. "Hey Mike," the adults greeted.

"Hey, alright so what's going on?" he asked.

They didn't answer right away, instead they had to convince the two kids to leave and play somewhere else. They moaned about having to leave their game unfinished, but eventually left to the dojo to watch their cousins spar with each other. "We think we might have something that can help you." Sierra said.

"What do you got?"

"Remember that cafe I told you about?" Vanessa asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, me and the girls think that you should put a little more focus on that. Specifically this guy."

Sierra pulled out her phone to show him the picture of Trent. "Hey, I remember that guy. He's the owner, said his name was Trent right?" the girls nodded. "You think he has something to do with this?"

"It's just a thought, but this guy has been giving us some weird vibes." Melanie added.

"Weird vibes? Weird how?" Mike asked.

"This guy has been trying to get me to go on a date with him for the past month or so and despite me telling him that I'm married he still tries anyway."

Mike looked to Don, who didn't look too pleased at this information. "Okay, how does this help me?"

"They were thinking that this cafe is the killer's base of operations." Leo answered.

"Think about it. A cute little cafe, clearly catering to women. Women show up with friends and gossip among each other. Who's to say that this guy wasn't listening in on their conversations. Waiting for one of them to say something about their relationship." Paige said.

"The timing works too." Sierra added. "The cafe only opened only a few weeks before the first death even occurred.

"But it's just a theory."

"Okay, if that's the case then why is he gunning for you?" Mike asked.

"That's the only part of this theory that doesn't make much sense." Melanie said. "We're just going by what we know and pure gut instinct right now."

"Well, regardless, it's something to look at."

"So we thought that you could get surveillance footage, maybe even the bank statements of the victims." Leo said. "If they were there, we'll know."

"But, unfortunately, that won't prove anything."

"Gotta start somewhere." Mikey said with a shrug.

Mike wasn't sure, but Mikey was right, it was a start. "Since we're exchanging info, I guess I should tell you what I've found. Tonight, I'm supposed to meet up with someone who claims to know who the killer is."

The guys were taken aback. "What?" Leo asked, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Mikey added.

"I know, it sounds crazy."

"Okay, why aren't you telling your partner?" Don asked.

Mike stood up and began pacing the length of the room. He didn't want to believe it, but he just couldn't help but wonder, what if. "Well, our little mystery source claims that I shouldn't trust anyone at the station."

"And you believed him?" Raph asked, at a loss.

"I know, I know. It sounds crazy... and really dumb, but I don't know, my gut instinct was telling me to trust what he was saying." Mike said. "I don't know why, but it was."

"I guess now would be a good time to bring up a suspicion I've been having." Don said. Everyone in the room looked to Don, listening patiently. "So, I've been thinking that someone within the police department might have been involved with this whole situation."

Mike froze and squeezed his eyes shut. So my source wasn't the only one thinking this way. "Why do you think that, Don?"

"Keep in mind, that this is just speculation. I don't have any actual proof."

Mike nodded his understanding. "Okay, so remember when you gave me that phone to work on?" Mike just nodded and waited for him to continue. "Well, considering how simple of a fix it was, why couldn't any of your guys figure it out. I mean, they're supposed to be the some of the smartest guys in New York and they couldn't figure out that they just needed to remove a SIM card? That seems odd to me."

Mike took off his baseball cap and rubbed his bald head, frustrated. "When Henry told me about that, I guess I was just too stressed and overwhelmed to really think about it, but it does make sense." he said reluctantly.

He didn't want to believe that there was a mole among all those people that he has been working with for so long. He didn't want to know who to trust, but if there really was someone working against him, then he needed to stop them as soon as possible. Great, something else for me to worry about. "It would explain why I feel like I'm never making any progress."

"And the phone itself being sabotaged also seems off to me." Don said.

"Yeah." Mike's shoulders slumped.

Donnie felt kind of guilty. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, no, you were right to tell me. I'm just having a tough time processing this." Mike said. He sat back down. "I'll have to look into this. I don't know if I can trust anyone up there on the surface right now." Mike pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "As of right now, I'm just going to focus on this supposed source. I'd prefer not to go in there alone and after what we discussed, I really don't think I can trust anyone I work with."

"We'll be your back up." Leo offered.

"That's what I was hoping you guys would say." Mike said with a knowing smirk.

"When and where are you supposed to be meeting this guy?"

"9 and we're meeting downtown in a shack."

"Why there of all places?" Sierra asked.

"He said he wanted to meet in private. It was the most private place I could think of. Not many people know about this place."

"Alright, let's get ready."


The mystery source was the first to arrive. He was about a half an hour early. That would give him enough time to gather his thoughts as he prepared for this meet up. He clutched his manila folder filled with all the evidence he had and walked into the shack, the old door creaking in protest. He found a light and flipped the switch. The one light bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered to life, only bright enough to illuminate part of the shack. It was empty except for a few chairs. The wooden walls were falling apart and one of the glass windows was shattered letting a chilly breeze blow in. Everything was covered in dust, taking one step caused a mini dust cloud at his feet.

He pulled one of the chairs from out of the corner and sat down with a sigh. He was nervous to say the least. Would Michael believe him? Or would he denounce it all as fabrication? Only time would tell. "Looking a little nervous there."

A sudden voice spooked him. He stood up out of the chair and looked around, recognizing the voice. Another man appeared from the corner of the dimly lit shack. "No." the source whispered.

"Yes." the man said back. "How have you been doing, Devin?" he took a few steps toward him.

The source, now known as Devin, took several steps back. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I could ask you the same question? Why is someone like you hanging around a place like this?"

"I'm here to meet someone."

"About what?" he took another step.

"Don't worry about it." Devin took another step back, tripping over the chair he was sitting in. He stumbled for a second, but stayed standing. "You need to leave."

The man sighed and without another word pulled a hidden pistol out. Devin felt his heart stop for a second as he stared down the barrel of the gun. "Please, you don't have to do this." Devin's breath suddenly became shallow.

"And I don't want to do this. It really doesn't have to be this way."

"How did you even know I was here?" Devin asked.

"I saw you talking to that goody-goody of a cop. I figured you were you going to try to meet someplace privately and I had an idea of where he might want you to go. Glad to know that my hunch was right."

"So, you were watching us. I knew I wasn't losing it."

"Leave it to you to be so observant. I'm impressed. I've taught you well. It'll be a shame to kill you. So if you just hand over all the evidence that I know you have and promise never to speak of this with anyone. Then I won't do it."

He clutched the envelope to his chest before speaking again. "I can't do that. What you guys are doing is wrong? And it needs to end." Devin said defiantly. He stood a little straighter, he wasn't going to let this man bully him into being silent. And if he died in the process, then so be it. "I've let you get away with too much over the years and maybe that's part of the reason why you are the way you are. Not anymore. I'm not going to be the one to just stand by and let this continue."

The man's face scrunched up angrily. "We'll see about that." without another word he discharged two bullets into Devin's skull. Devin's body crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. "Second bullet was a bit excessive..." the man walked up to the body and crouched down next to it. "...But it was worth it." he took the envelope and made his way out of the shack.


The turtles, the girls and Mike had all piled into the hauler and were making their way downtown to this shack, so Mike can meet up with his mystery source. "So, why do you have a shack downtown?" Mikey asked, curiously.

"I bought the place and planned to completely refurbish it to use as some extra storage or something. But before I could do any of that, the killings started, so I had to focus on that. It's a wreck right now, but it's the only place I could think of where there would be privacy since barely anyone knows about it."

"Let's just hope this guy is being legit." Leo said. He handed Mike an earpiece. "Here, put this in, if you need us, just call."

Mike placed the earpiece in just as they pulled up near the old, decrepit shack and cut the engine. "Welp, here goes nothing." They all climbed out of the hauler. "Okay, if I remember correctly, you guys can watch from the roof there should be a skylight. I wouldn't all climb up there at once considering how old this place is though."

"Got it. Head in, we got you covered." Sierra said.

Michael made his way inside the old shack. It was cold, dark, musty and oddly quiet. Mike expected him to be in here already, but it was too quiet. "I guess I'm gonna have to wait." Mike said. He managed to find the switch to turn the lights on. The struggling light bulb flickered on, revealing the crumpled body of his source that he was supposed to be meeting with. Mike swore under his breath. "You have got to be kidding me. Someone got to him." within seconds everyone else made their way inside.

"Damn, poor guy." Paige said, with a shake of her head.

"This is my fault." Mike said.

"Come on, Mike. You can't blame yourself for this." Leo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"But it was, he told me that someone might come after him and I really didn't take it seriously. I should have. Now, I have no possible evidence and a man's blood on my hands." frustration building he began pacing in the shack.

"I'm sure he knew the risks." Sierra added.

"I'm sure he did, but that doesn't really make me feel better." he ran hand down the length of his face, feeling the exhaustion settle in once again. But then, he realized something. "Wait a minute." he crouched down next to the body, putting on gloves that he usually keeps on him and began searching his pockets.

"What are you doing?" Raph asked.

"This guy said that he also had a flash drive with evidence on it. Hopefully, the guy that killed him didn't know about it and take that as well." Mike continued his search until he found what he was looking for in one of the inside pockets of the guy's coat. He pulled out a small green flash drive, relieved that something was finally going his way. "I found it." he turned to his friends and handed it off to Donnie.

"You're giving it to me?" Don asked, almost confused.

"Yes. I already told you that I don't know if I can trust anyone that I work with. So, take this with you, see what's on there and call me when you find out." he looked back down at the body. "You guys better go. I've gotta call this in."

The clan of ninja all left and Mike could hear them take off in the hauler. He crouched down near the body, searching again, hoping to find some sort of identification. Checking a jean pocket, he found a wallet. He opened it and found his driver's license. "Devin Shelton? Well Devin, I'm sorry that this happened to you, but I promise, your death will not be in vain. Hopefully, with your help we can finally put an end to all of this."


When the guys made it back to the lair, Don immediately got to work on the flash drive he was given. "How's it looking, Don?" Vanessa asked.

"This guy was smart. He has this thing heavily encrypted."

"Paranoid, wasn't he?" Raph said.

"Well, considering he's now dead, I'd say he had every right to be." Melanie mentioned.

"Can you get in, Donnie?" Leo asked.

"It'll take a bit of work, but yeah, no problem." Don said as he got started.

While Don worked on that, everyone else went on to do their own thing. Raph and Melanie both decided that they were going to go on a run since there was no fight to be had at the shack. RJ overheard that and decided that he wanted to join in. "Where's your sister?" Raph asked.

RJ almost flinched when he was asked that. He knew she was going to meet Logan again at Amber's place, but he promised he wouldn't say anything yet. "She went to Amber's." at least it wasn't a lie.

"Again?" Melanie said.

RJ just shrugged. "Yeah."

"Okay, let's go." Raph said. So all three of them left.

Raph, Melanie and RJ hopped across the roof tops of the city as they always did. Watching and listening for any trouble that would most likely happen. They only came to a stop when RJ spotted someone on the sidewalk, right underneath a streetlight. It was Logan. "What's wrong, hon? Why did you stop?" Melanie asked.

RJ crouched down and pointed down below. "I know that guy." he said, silently wondering why he was just waiting here instead of meeting up with Kylie.

"Who is-" Melanie started, but before she could finish her question another guy showed up. "Wait a minute, that's the guy we're looking into. That's Trent."

"The guy you think is the killer?" RJ asked.

"Yeah, what's he doing?"

"I don't know." Raph said.

They only spoke for a little bit before Logan started to act a little bit differently. They couldn't hear what was said, but it was enough to make him look upset. After that, they shook hands and parted ways. Trent began walking down the sidewalk and Logan hopped in a car and drove off.

That didn't look good at all. If Logan was meeting up with a suspected criminal then that could possibly mean that Logan was in on it. Which meant that his relationship with Kylie might not be real and she might be in danger somehow. Logan looked very upset by whatever they were talking about and the handshake looked like they were making some kind of deal. Maybe this Trent guy was planning on using Logan somehow and Logan really didn't want a part of it. Either way, they would now have to assume that Logan was dangerous too if he's associating with Trent. First thing they needed to do was stop Kylie from meeting up with Logan and right now that meant breaking his promise with Kylie and telling his parents about it.

"RJ, let's go." Raph snapped him out of his thoughts. "We're gonna tail this Trent guy."

"Wait guys, I think we need to follow that other guy."

"And why's that?"

"Wait, you said you knew him? Who is he?" Melanie asked.

"His name is Logan and I know him because... he's been meeting up with Kylie."

"What!?" both of his parents exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's been meeting up with Kylie for a little while now and is going to be meeting her again tonight."

RJ couldn't tell if his mother was upset. When she gets angry she usually internalizes it. His father, on the other hand, was definitely upset. "Where is she?" he growled.

"At Amber's, that's usually where they meet up."

"We'll talk about this later." Raph said before taking off toward the Evan's house. Melanie followed.

RJ sighed. This was going to be bad. He followed his parents all the way there. Wondering how this whole thing was going to play out.


Meanwhile at Amber's, Logan knocked on the door and Amber answered as usual. "Hey Logan." she greeted, letting him in. "What's wrong?" she asked when she noticed his puffy red eyes and slouched demeanor. She hadn't seen him like this since Toni died.

"I... um, I just really need to talk to Kylie." he said as he sniffled a bit.

"...Sure... she's waiting for you." she stepped out of the way and let him head up to her room.

Jacklyn stepped out of the kitchen after overhearing what was happening. "Is your friend okay?"

"I'm not sure."

Up on the roof, Kylie sat up against the storage shed waiting for Logan to arrive. When he did, she smiled up at him, but was confused when he didn't smile back. He looked really upset about something. She stood up to meet him and gasped when Logan suddenly wrapped his arms around her. "Logan?" she said softly. He didn't respond and just kept holding onto her, shaking slightly as tears rolled down his cheeks. Confused, but wanting to comfort him, she hugged him back. She rubbed his back until he was ready to pull away. "What's going on? What happened?"

He sniffled before speaking. "I just found out that... my father... he..." more tears began spilling.

Without thinking, Kylie reached up to gently wipe a tear from his face. That simple gesture gave him enough reassurance to tell her about the news he just heard. "My father died."

The sudden statement threw her off guard. "What? When? How?"

He ran a hand through his brown hair. "All I know is that he was shot in some old shack downtown."

Kylie still had so many questions, but felt like it would be too much for him right now. So instead, she had him sit down and she sat down right next to him. "I feel like I'm being punished. I don't know what I did to deserve all of this."

Kylie held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder, choosing not to say anything. Just let him take any comfort in her being there. "I'm sorry." he wiped away some more tears.

"For what?"

"I'm a mess right now. I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"You just found out your father died. How else are you supposed to act?" she looked up at him. "And I appreciate that you could come and tell me, but... I don't think you should be here with me right now."

Logan looked back at her. "What do you mean?"

"What about your mother? I'm sure if you know about this then she knows too. And she may need you, now more than ever."

He knew she was right, but he just couldn't bring himself to go back home right now. He needed comfort before he could go and comfort anyone. "I know, you're right. I'll go, I guess." he stood up. "Hey look, for once, I'm the one leaving early." he tried smiling.

"First time for everything." she shrugged before bringing him into a hug again. "I know it hurts now, but you'll get through this."

"Thank you, my Angel." he smiled.

Kylie rolled her eyes at the nickname and continued hugging him. The only thing that stopped her was the sight of her mother and father showing up so suddenly. "Mom?! Dad?! What are you doing here?" When Kylie saw her brother along with them she instantly knew why they were here and aimed a dirty look his way.

Logan turned to face the red haired human and the very angry looking mutant turtle. The amber glare from him was unsettling. It was even worse when he suddenly made a beeline for the teenager, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the storage shed.

"Dad wait!" Kylie gasped. "Don't hurt him!"

Melanie stood there with her arms crossed, not saying a word. RJ couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"What do you want with my daughter?" Raph growled.

The brown haired teen was at a loss for words. The enraged glare kept him tongue tied. "Dad, come on. Let him go." Kylie begged.

Melanie finally sighed and walked up to her husband and the teenager. Putting a hand on Raph's arm to calm him down. Raph roughly put him down and Kylie was next to him in a second. "I don't want anyone that is associated with a killer anywhere near my daughter." Raph said. He was making an assumption because they didn't fully know if Trent was the killer. But he was the main suspect so the way Raph saw it, he was.

Kylie's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Your father, brother and I witnessed this guy meeting up with our main suspect." Melanie explained.

Kylie looked to Logan both nervous and confused. She knew who they were talking about. "Logan, what are they talking about."

"Wait, please." Logan finally found his voice and stood up. "I don't know what they're talking about. This is just some misunderstanding."

"Don't play dumb with me." Raph growled again causing Logan to back away. "We just saw you with him."

"I-I don't know." Logan stuttered. Kylie backed away from him looking hurt. "Kylie please. You have to believe me."

Kylie wasn't really satisfied with that answer. She shook her head and ran off back home, leaving Logan and his family behind. "Kylie!" he called out to her.

He wanted to go after her, but was stopped by her parents. "You stay away from her." Raph said. He didn't have to say much after that, the threatening look in his eye was enough. Logan knew that if he so much as tried to go anywhere near Kylie, he'd probably tear his head off.

So, Logan stayed quiet, both out of respect and fear. He continued to cower under the gaze of the mutant turtle. If they really believed that he was associated with the killer then there was nothing he could do to change their minds right now. Instead of looking at them, he opted for just looking down.

Melanie and Raph left, leaving Logan alone with RJ. Logan looked him right in the eye, since he wasn't as terrifying as Raphael. "RJ, I swear I don't know what you guys were talking about. I would never do anything to hurt her."

RJ stood there silently, seeming conflicted before he turned away and ran off too.


Everything is all messed up. Oh nooooo.