Chapter 5
The following day, the five Joes found themselves outside the main building of the 18th precinct of the New York Police Department. All of them were wondering about three things: the mysterious man who gave them confusing information and then disappeared without being seen; the detective, Rosalie Daniels; and Scarlett's whereabouts and her connections to both.
Once they entered a man called out to Snake Eyes.
"Hey man, have you found your friend?"
They all turned to see a man with dark blond hair approaching them. Snake Eyes shook his head.
"Damn, I hope nothing's happened to her. Look..." he said softly. "I want to help. There's a small office in the back with the door open. Go wait for me there. My partner will probably be in there unless she's getting coffee, but our new partner will be in there. They can be hardcases, especially with Danny's recent death; they both were pretty good friends with him. Our new partner knows everyone who was at the funeral, and sees almost everything that happens around her. She'll give you a hard time at first, but she's a real sweetheart once you get to know her. Sara and her will listen to you, if nothing else."
The five make their way to the back where the man pointed, and found the office. There was only one inside; a woman with long blonde hair tied in a braid sitting at a desk, her back towards them and her chair turned towards a wall. She was looking at pictures of various murders. She didn't seem to notice they were there.
"Excuse me..." Jinx said softly so not to startle her.
"There have been so many, hasn't there?" the woman asked suddenly.
"The latest two," she pointed to two different sets of pictures. "were random, weren't they? The girl was a hooker and a junky. The man, Danny, was a former CIA agent and currently a detective here. The connection between the two was the killer. Two different people and one killer, what was the motive, why these two. What do you think they did?"
She finally turned to face them, her green eyes took measure of them. Then she turned to face the pictures again, ignoring them.
"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "One of my best friends was murdered a couple of days ago and I've been staring at pictures of that scene for two hours; and it's done shit for my attitude. You people need something?"
"Your partner told us to wait for him here."
"Well, a third of this office is his..." She paused and looked out the doorway, "Hey Pez, Jake."
"Hey girl," a woman with dark chestnut brown hair greeted, "glad to see you started to burn a hole in the wall. Who are they?"
"Ask Jake. They said he sent them back here."
"I'll admit they're unusual types, but I don't think they're murderers Jake." the dark haired woman said. The blonde woman chucked at the remark.
"Their friend is missing, guys." Jake said.
"That's missing persons, Jake. We're homicide. We don't deal with that."
"Sara..." Jake pleaded with Pez; calling her by her first name.
"Jake, it's not our area." the blonde woman said. "Missing persons or the Feds if kidnapping is suspected. I hate to do this, but it's like Captain Dante said; if they're not dead, we can't do anything about it."
"But..." Jake started.
"It's not our problem, Jake." Pez cut him off.
"Look, Jake." the blonde spoke again. "Dante is just waiting for us to screw up so he can have our badges as well as our heads on platters. He's out to get us and this could be the chance he's been waiting for. This would be on all our heads," She paused and sighed, "I must be crazy for this but I'll help."
"I've always been known for going against my better judgment," Pez said, "I'm in, too."
"Thanks guys." Jake said.
"So, you people have names?" Pez asked.
"I'm Jinx, and this is Falcon, Stalker, Stormshadow, and Snake Eyes." Jinx said motioning to each of them in turn. "And you are?"
"You've already met Jake, I'm Sara Pezzini and this is..."
"Rosalie Daniels, but everyone calls me Ro." the blonde woman said.