"Whoa! Whoa…what's the 5-0 doing here? I ain't done nothing wrong!"
The slimy Puerto-Rican ran a nervous hand over his well-manicured mustache, as his brown eyes travelled back and forth between both detectives.
"Then you won't have anything to worry about now, will you, Sunny?"
Keeping his voice cheery and his expression unreadable, Mike leaned forward, using his six-foot frame to intimidate the slightly smaller man with the loose-fitting tie-dye shirt.
"So, what are you two hustling me for?"
"Hustling? Did you hear that, Lieutenant? He's accusing us of hustling him!", Steve scoffed and shook his head, "Maybe we just wanted to check out your…your necklaces. Christmas is coming up in a few months, and you got some nice shiny stuff there, don't you, Hector?"
At the mentioning of his name, the artist looked up, then squinted his eyes.
"I know you, punk cop. You're with Vice. The hell you want from me? I am clean!"
"We want information, that's all.", Mike interrupted sternly, "And I could care less about the small-time grass business you've got going on here, Hector, I'll leave that to my other detectives to chase. I want someone far bigger than you."
"Hey…hey guys…", taking a step back behind his display of sale goods laid out on a white bedsheet, Hector smiled nervously, then looked around, ensuring that nobody else was within earshot, "Guys, you know I won't be talking about LuCherro. That's in the past. I ehm…I don't know anything."
"Forget LuCherro.", Mike barked for everyone in the vicinity to hear and stepped closer toward the man, nearly making him jump out of his skin. Steve kept up the charade, having to fight hard to stifle a grin as he looked around theatrically, and eventually shook his head.
"No Hector, the Lieutenant and I are after Luigi. We know you know him."
It was an outright lie, a leap of faith so to speak, but it seemed to do the trick.
"Luigi?", the other man mouthed incredulously and frowned, before a relieved smile played on his lips, "You dudes are only after that clown? Really?"
"Mhm hm."
Standing over the small-time crook like a daunting shadow, Mike cocked his head, before clearing his throat again.
"What is his real name and where can we find him?"
Still recovering from the initial worry, Hector ran a hand through his unkempt curly black hair, before chuckling mockingly.
"Well, seems to me you guys are kept out in the dark a lot, aren't you? Luigi's real name is Francis Thompson, he used to be a small-time runner for one of the Aldarez brothers, not sure which one. Anyways, he got picked up by the 5-0 a week or so ago. I guess you guys are a dollar short and a day late."
