AN: I'm really glad people are liking this! This one just deals with a little info on Dee's past. You find out a little bit about that mask of sadness he had on in the first chapter. Belle Tragedie is first introduced in this chapter as well. But as the story progresses you will find out it's meaning and stuff. Oh, and I know that that's not Dee's real name, but it's my fic and that's what I wanted to name him. Really I would just tell you to skip this chapter, but this one is VERY improtant to the story line. Enough of my rambling...Enjoy!

Chapter 3

15 long years had passed since that faithful December morning when Ryo had met Dee. Ryo sighed as he walked down the street. So much had changed since then as well. Ryo moved from his small town, into a big city. It wasn't like he hated the change. He was just worried that if Dee should happen to come back, would he know where to find him?

"Hey Ryo. What's wrong?"

Ted, Ryo's best friend, asked concerned.

"Nothing. It's nothing really."

Ryo and Ted lived together. Ryo met Ted shortly after he had moved. He was looking for a roommate to help out with the bills while he went to school. Ryo wanted to be a detective, and luckily for Ryo, Ted was a detective. Ted had told Ryo that when he had finished with school, he would see about getting him a job at his precinct, but for now, he would just have to stick to his job at the grocery store.

"So, any new cases?"

Ryo asked as they stopped in front of a small bistro. They walked in and sat down.

"Yeah. A real tough one actually."

A waitress came and took their order. She quickly left.

"What about?"

"Well you ever hear of a gang called Belle Tragedie?"

Ryo thought for a second. The name did sound really familiar to him.

"I think."

"Well, they were a mob that used to be around…oh I'd say about 17 or so years ago."

"Yeah. I was a teen back when that story began to hit the news. I remember it now."

"Well, apparently there was this guy who just strolled on in and shot the boss right in the head. He was paid a very high sum of money to snuff out the guy."

"Oh wow. I never heard that part."

Ted nodded his head.

"This was information that has only been given to the police. The news only was allowed to show a cleaned up version of the story. Anyway, the guy was also promised that he would have a job at the other mafia, but unfortunately they didn't have any intentions of paying him or giving him a job. They only wanted him to kill his boss, so that they could take over in the business and be on top."

The waitress came over and delivered their food. After some thank you's were exchanged, Ted continued on in his story.

"Well the guy was prepared for this so, after he killed his boss he just dropped out of existence. Just disappeared without a trace. Rumors began to circulate that he had been killed along with his boss, while others say that he walked away un-harmed. But no matter which rumor is true, there is still one thing that remains."

"What's that?"

"That the guy is obviously still alive."

Ryo looked puzzled at Ted.

"What do you mean?"

"We flash forward to today. You know about some of the murders that have been happening all over, right?"

Ryo nodded his head.

"Well, somehow that guys linked in with all of this. Either he's linked to it, or some chuckle head thought that he would use the same name to get away with it."

"What's his name?"

Ted finished off his sandwich and continued.

"Jess Deangelo Laytner. Or just Dee for short."

Ryo's mouth dropped wide open. Dee was linked to this?

"You don't mean it do you Ted? You don't think that's it's really him who's doing all this do you?"

Ted looked at the worried expression on Ryo's face.

"Well…we're not at all certain right now Ryo. We don't really know a whole lot at this point. We just got that information today, so we haven't had the time to check into yet, but trust me, we're going to get to the bottom of this."

Ryo nodded his head. That man he had met some 15 years ago couldn't possibly have been that guy, right? It just couldn't be. It had to be another Dee. Ryo didn't eat the rest of his food, which worried Ted a little, but Ryo told him not to worry about it. That he hadn't been feeling well that day. After some bills were dropped on the table for the waitress, the two of them left.