Part 3 – I Hired the Mayor's Daughter!

"I think you'll be surprised," Naofumi said as the waitress brought the bottle to the table along with three glasses.

"Here's your wine, gentlemen," she said as she went into her pocket, staked the cork, and pulled it out with a very satisfying 'pop'.

As she poured the wine, Erhard held up his glass, "Well," he said, "Here's to a lasting partnership between our town and the Brigade."

"Here, here," Naofumi said.

As the three of them cheered their glasses, the very satisfying 'clink' from their glasses would set the tone for the rest of the evening.

"You sure know your wine," Mayor Tanuki said as he placed his glass down.

"So, Mr. Mayor," Naofumi said.

"Please," Mayor Tanuki said, "We're not at a press conference. Call me Jin."

"Ok," Naofumi said, "So, Jin. What made you decide to allow a Private Police group into your town?"

"In short," Mayor Tanuki said, "I've seen the work your company does, and it's much better than the previous tactical team we had."

"Previous team," Naofumi asked.

"They're all in jail," Erhard said, "We discovered that the Captain was using his men off-the-books as a hit squad."

"Murders-for-hire with police training," Naofumi asked, "Forgive me if I say I don't enjoy that thought."

"We didn't," Erhard said, "All of them are facing life sentences."

"Hence the reason you want a Private Company in your town," Naofumi said, "With the establishment of the university, men like me are becoming almost a necessity."

"Exactly," Mayor Tanuki said.

The waitress then brought over their orders, "And here you are gentlemen," she said as she placed the orders in front of each of them.

"Looks fantastic," Naofumi said.

"The food here is excellent," Erhard said, "It's one of the places we bring our wives for anniversaries."

"You married, son," Mayor Tanuki asked.

"No, sir I'm not," Naofumi said.

"Girlfriend," Erhard asked.

"Not yet," Naofumi said, "I'm still looking."

"You'll find the right one," Mayor Tanuki said.

"Thank you, Jin," Naofumi said.

The taste of the steak was very soft and butter-like, and the sauce gave it a very nice break from the richness of the steak.

At the end of the night, as they were leaving, Naofumi noticed that the Escalade that had taken him from Castletown to Rock Valley was gone.

He then heard a chime on his phone, and when he pulled it out there was a text message saying, "I recalled the Escalade because you're right down the street from your apartment."

What was sent next was a location tab that was pointing right down the block.

As he was walking down the block, Naofumi found that most of the cars in town were run-of-the-mill family SUVs, some Mustangs, a few Corvettes, and he did see a BMW on the street.

As his phone dinged, he looked upwards to see a multi-story building that looked like Trump Tower mixed with the Sears Tower: golden front entrance with mirrored windows and four of the sides ended at different levels of elevation with a central spire sticking upwards.

As he walked into the building, the very-nicely dressed concierge looked up and said, "Good evening, can I help you?"

"Yes," Naofumi said as he walked up to the desk, "I'm the new Tenant. Naofumi Iwatani."

The concierge looked up Naofumi's name, and after a while, she looked back up, and said, "Why, yes sir," she reached behind the desk, and handed Naofumi a small key, "Twenty-first floor, room 2145."

"Thank you," Naofumi said as he slid the key onto his key ring, and walked over to the elevator.

As the elevator opened, an older couple stepped out to see Naofumi.

"Oh," the wife said, "Excuse me."

"Sorry," Naofumi said as he stepped to the side, letting them go past, and then into the elevator.

The floor of the twenty-first floor was all wooden boards laid sideways which gave it a nice pattern.

His apartment was in the corner of the building, to the right of the elevators. The main room of the apartment itself was very nicely decorated: leather chairs and couches, mahogany wood floors, a large, open kitchen, a glass dining table, and large windows which gave Naofumi a very nice view out onto the ocean and downtown.

The bathroom had very nicely-patterned white marble floors, a glass shower with a black marble privacy-shelf that would probably come just above Naofumi's waist, there was also a tub right next to it which was made of a black ceramic material, the cabinets were made of black marble, probably from the same slab as the privacy-shelf, and top-mounted glass sinks.

The floor of the bathroom was made of a dark, almost black wood, the bed was a grand king, the pillows were a tannish-brown color, the sheets were very dark green, almost black, and the bedspread was jade green. The headboard made of black leather and studded, and surrounding it was the same type of wood that the floors were made of. In front of the bed was a set of cabinets for his off-duty clothes, and possible for a few other things. Over to his right was a walk-in closet, and he knew there were a few possibilities for that.

He didn't have time to think on that right now, he had to get to sleep, it was a long day.

His nightclothes was a simple white tee-shirt, and a pair of boxer-briefs.

Lying back on the bed was a much welcome relief from what was going to happen tomorrow: his own unit, his own office, and possibly being yelled at by the mayor for not telling him that he had hired his daughter.

The bed was a far reach more comfortable than what he had back in Castletown and was probably a lot more comfortable than anything he was going to have.

Sleeping in his apartment, the sounds of the city were a welcome sound as opposed to the usual cannon fire that he would usually hear in his dreams which would be accompanied by flashbacks to his time in the Army.

The sound of the alarm on his phone going off was more than enough to rouse him from his sleep.

As he stood up, the floor was nice and cool, and leaving the comfort of his own bed was something he wasn't looking forward too.

However, the warm water from his shower was a very nice relief, and a fresh set of new clothes was exactly what he needed before walking out the door. His wardrobe choice: a pair of thick-soled boots, a pair of premium denim jeans, a thin white shirt, and a black polyester jacket that went four inches below his waist-line.

As he exited the elevator, the concierge looked up to see him, and asked, "Off to work?"

"Yes," Naofumi said, "Did my car arrive?"

"Yes it did," the concierge said as she reached behind the desk, and pulled out a set of keys, "Parking garage around the side."

Naofumi walked around to the parking garage, and using his key, he very quickly located his Equus BASS 770 which was painted Steve Green (very dark, almost black green), had a titanium mask, turn signals, window and door trim, and wheel finish. The interior leather was mostly Polar White with a black dash, floorboard, steering wheel, and rear shelf.

Sitting behind the wheel of his car made him feel alive again, the sound of the engine roaring to life sent a rush through his body.

The police station, right across from Town Hall was a large building that looked like the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California.

As he pulled up, he saw Chief Erhard standing outside waiting for him in full uniform, "This is unexpected," he said as Naofumi rolled down the window, "You can afford this?"

"Yes, sir," Naofumi said, "Want to head inside before the press conference?"

Chief Erhard walked around to the side door, stepped into the car, and the two of them drove around to the parking garage.

The elevator in the corner of the garage took them up to a floor that was completely empty, save for a single office that had a desk, and a computer.

"Welcome to the Brigade office," Erhard said, "Right now, this is a blank canvas. After training, you and your unit will customize it how you see fit."

"Training," Naofumi asked.

"These are your recruits," Erhard said, "You'll train them how you see fit, you'll come up with the primary goal of your brigade in this city, and you'll lead them."

"But I answer to you if the operation goes wrong," Naofumi said.

"Yes," Erhard said as he pointed to the office at the end of the room, "There's your office," he then pointed at Naofumi's uniform, "There's your uniform. Now go get dressed. The press conference is in half an hour."

The formal uniforms the HERO Brigade provides to their operatives is a pair of pants, a jacket, and a military officer-style hat.

Naofumi's pants had a series of dark-green stripes running up the side. The jacket had a button-up front with various borders that were the same shade of green, a high collar, and a small flap on the front that would cover the buttons. The military officer-style hat was fully black, rather than white, had the emblem of the brigade stamped in gold on the crest, and had a small strip of cotton the same shade of green running around the brim.

As he slid on the gloves and walked outside, he saw Erhard standing there, waiting for him.

"Not bad," he said as he walked up, and brushed a small amount of dust off the front of Naofumi's jacket.

"It's not complete," Naofumi said as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a chrome-colored badge.

"Chrome badges," Erhard asked.

"Almost every police department in Melromarc uses brass badges," Naofumi said as he fastened the badge to his jacket, "It helps distinguish us from the rest."

"Fantastic," Erhard said as he and Naofumi took the elevator down to the main level.

"So when do I meet my recruits," Naofumi asked.

"After the conference," Erhard said, "Right now, they're sitting in the audience. They've been arranged to meet me and the mayor following the conference."

"Nice," Naofumi said, "Now tell me. Have you meet the mayor's daughter?"

"Yes," Erhard said, "Nice girl, and certainly a good cop/"

"She worked for you," Naofumi asked.

"Yes," Erhard said, "She was a patrol cop for two years before her mother was diagnosed with Stage 2B Pancreatic Cancer. She joined the Brigade to afford her procedures. Wonder whose recruit she'll end up being."

"You've met him," Naofumi said.

As the elevator opened, Erhard put his hand on Naofumi's chest to stop him, "You hired Raphtalia Tanuki for your team?"

"Yes," Naofumi said, "At the time I didn't know she was the mayor's daughter."

"Well you'll have to face that music later," Erhard said, "Thankfully for you, the fact that she's staying in her hometown might be the one thing that saves you from getting yelled at by her father."

"I'm her boss, not her boyfriend," Naofumi said.

"As far as the chief is concerned you're the one sending her into the line of fire," Erhard said, "He's not going to like someone sending his daughter into danger."

"I'm going to be protecting her from danger," Naofumi said, "I'm a sniper and a shield-specialist. I'll be in front of her, absorbing the damage."

"You do that," Erhard asked.

"I'm a Captain, not a General," Naofumi said, "I work for the Brigade, but I answer to you. You send us into danger, and I'll decide how we move."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Erhard said as they exited the elevator, and saw a large crowd gathered outside city hall where the Mayor was standing behind a podium, giving his speech.

"And it pleases me to announce, that the HERO Brigade has finally made it to our little town after the horrible debacle with our previous S.W.A.T. Team," Mayor Tanuki said, "Right now, a few notable recruits have been selected, and plans to train the new team is underway. But now, I would like you to help me welcome the head of our new team," he pointed at Naofumi and Erhard, "Captain Naofumi Iwatani."

The cameras and everyone at the conference turned around to see Naofumi and Chief Erhard standing at the top of the stairs, in front of the station, and applauded as Naofumi began his descent to the podium.

Off to meet the town's press