M: Roughly three years ago, I published this story's first chapter. One year ago, I announced that story would die without ever being finished. However, I now get to share the exciting news that the story will, in fact, be finished! In reality, I have already written the final chapters and I will be publishing them come Monday. I'll upload one chapter each day from Monday to Friday.
I've also been working on a soft rewrite. This means that every chapter that is already published has been thoroughly checked for spelling errors. I also took the opportunity to add some scenes, implant some important details and remove some parts that didn't make any sense. In other words, it would be worthwhile to read the story from the beginning. These chapters have already been uploaded.
Now, get ready for the true end of The Cop and the Robber, in the shape of 95 pages with over 50k words.
New disclaimer: Anything that I have ever seen, heard, read or experienced in any way, shape or form could have been used as inspiration for this story. Please don't sue me.
Chapter 10: A nearly forgotten foe (part 1)
"There can be no good without evil." – Russian proverb
Every conversation has a dominant and submissive participant, with the strong naturally dominating the weak. Or at least, that's what Xeno believed. For example, when he had the briefing on the project Bloodrazor was after, it was clear that Bloodrazor controlled the conversation. Despite Xeno's best efforts, that is.
Now Xeno was once again sitting in that very same room, only this time, he was directing the conversation. Like Bloodrazor back then, it brought him quite a lot of enjoyment. The mercenary really liked to have power over others, physically or verbally. But deep down, beyond the edges of reason, deep down in his soul, he was disgusted by this preference.
Last time he knew Bloodrazor's name, which was supposed to give him an edge, but Bloodrazor was still in full control of their conversation. This time, however, he wasn't facing the all-powerful Bloodrazor, a criminal mastermind and the one who pretty much ruled this city. No, this time, he was talking to the unstable Marcus, who had gone through Bloodrazor's 'conditioning'. Xeno didn't know what they did to him and he honestly didn't want to know. But whatever it was, it had to be bad. The husky was traumatized through what seemed like torture, either psychologically or chemically. From the outside, he looked fine, without as much as a scratch on him, but the inside was a different story. Marcus had to seem completely untouched for the plan to work and due to this extra complication, Bloodrazor had to resort to more unorthodox forms of torture. Xeno wasn't worried about Marcus' physical abilities, he had seen the training he received from Bloodrazor's men, but he was worried about the canine's mental stability. So, understandably, before he'd undergo any operation with the husky, Xeno wanted to check his new 'colleague' for himself.
"So, tell me, what do they call ya?" Xeno asked.
"M-my name is M-Marcus." the husky replied.
"But what about your name before that, before Bloodrazor found you and… conditioned you?" Xeno asked.
"I-I don't know, I'm sorry, but I just don't know it anymore." Marcus replied, getting close to tears.
"Well then, I guess you'll just have to do." Xeno stated as he turned the laptop that apparently belonged in that room. "This is our target, now let me tell you the plan."
"So you all think I should tell him?" Zuma asked, even though the others made it quite clear how they felt on the matter.
"YES!" Chase, Marshall and Silvex shouted as one.
"Alright, alright, I'll tell him when he wakes up." Zuma said "But what if he doesn't feel the same? Or what if he does, and my whole life will change? I don't know if I could handle either outcome."
"Marshall, Silvex, can you give us a moment?" Chase asked, to which both the dally and the husky nodded and left without protest. Once they had cleared the room and closed the door behind them, Chase spoke again: "Listen, Zuma, what I'm about to tell you will never leave this room, understood?"
"You know that you're no longer my boss, right?" Zuma countered with a hint of a smile on his face. "But sure, I'll keep my mouth shut."
"When I was Ryder's second in command, I made it part of my job to know the thoughts and troubles of every team member." Chase said. When he had dropped the name of their former leader, both Chase and Zuma felt a wave of sadness, but Chase continued nonetheless: "Including who had a crush on who, like when one of us paid more attention to one teammate than any of the others. You didn't exactly make it hard to guess your feelings, and neither did Rocky."
"Hold on, you know who Rocky had feelings for?" Zuma asked as he felt a weird, jealous-like feeling crawling up to his stomach. Though, the lab supposed that the jealousy was understandable.
"He realized that I had figured him out and I had to promise Rocky that I wouldn't tell anyone. But I think he would forgive me in this case. I'd consider it an act for the greater good, so to speak." Chase said. Every word that came out of Chase's mouth sent another wave of stress up to Zuma's stomach, but Chase didn't seem to notice a thing. "Rocky admitted to me…" Chase paused for a second, a second in which Zuma swore that if Chase would pause again, he would kill the shepherd. Then, Chase finally continued: "That I was right, and that he liked you more than a friend or brother."
These words sent another wave of feelings up Zuma's stomach, but this felt different. This wave actually made him happier than he had ever been, although his training as an NCIS Special Agent prevented him from showing it. As such, the lab was silent for a moment, after which he finally regained his ability to speak. His training may have given him a poker face, it didn't do the same for his voice. "R-Rocky loves me?"
"Yes, he does, but he's too careful. I didn't think he'd be able to confess these feelings back then. And right now, with everything going on, I don't think he can tell you. That's why you should talk to him and confess your feelings the first chance you get." Chase explained. "And don't worry about your life being turned upside-down, it's not like it's anything close to normal right now."
Their conversation gets interrupted by a knock on the door and a few seconds later the doctor walked in.
"Congratulations, Detective. You are cleared to leave." the doctor said with a smile. "Just try to avoid shootings the next few weeks."
"One can only hope." Chase said cheerfully as he got up. "Thanks for the help, doc."
"There is something that might interest you." the doctor said, while he handed Chase the bag with his personal belongings.
"Like what?" Chase asked as he put his clothes back on, including his gun and badge.
"Your friend, John Smith, has woken up." the doctor said.
"I don't know any John Smith- " Chase started before being interrupted by Zuma.
"I do, I know him, and so do you, Chase." Zuma said while winking at Chase. "In fact, you just encouraged me to go and talk to him, remember?"
"What are you…" Chase's eyes then turned wide as he realised what Zuma meant. "Oh, that John Smith! Of course, I know Johnny, he's an old friend!"
"Then let me take you to him." the doctor said, ignoring the slip-up from Chase. He opened the door again and left the room, followed by Zuma and Chase.
Sergeant Brooks had been on the force for an impressive 26 years now. The Sergeant was used to quite some violence and weirdness since this was Coastal City after all. But he had never seen anything like this before. Four minutes ago, he had received a call from dispatch that a body had been found under unusual circumstances. Now he was standing over it, looking at the scratches, the claw marks, the ripped out throat, the clawed out eyes, it made him feel the way he felt when he saw his first body on the job. Back then he had to hurl, which was considered to be completely natural. If you wouldn't have that urge, then there was something wrong with you. But now, after 26 years with over 800 dead bodies, he suddenly felt like a rooky cop again. But even with this feeling, there was something Brooks found even more scary and sickening. The part that really shocked him was something else on the body, something that made his entire life flash by, starting with his application to his high school.
When he was young, the Sergeant wanted to join the navy. In fact, he was nearly obsessed with it. He chose his subjects in high school, his courses at university, all in favour of one goal: to make his dream of becoming a NAVY SEAL a reality. But during his time spent at college, his applications were all denied. It broke his heart. He eventually decided to join in his late father's footsteps and so he became a cop. He had left any dream of joining the army behind him and had focused on his career of being an officer, eventually making it to the rank of Sergeant in the CCPD. But, as God, or Allah, or the universe, or any other kind of deity that seems to be all-powerful and that rules divine likes to do, it took Sergeant Brooks' past and threw it back straight into his face. All this raced through Sergeant Brooks' mind as he looked down on the corpse lying at his feet, which was wearing a NAVY SEAL uniform.
"Are you alright, sir?" Officer Cara Redwood asked, concerned.
"Uhm, yeah, I'm fine, but he clearly isn't." the Sergeant replied, as he started to get his sarcastic personality back.
"Who could've done such a thing?" Officer Cara asked her superior. She was staring at the thousands of claw marks all over the body and of course the throat of the victim. She didn't even want to look at the eyes.
"That's not for us to find out Officer Redwood." Sergeant Brooks stated in response. "Reach out to Silvex, we need him on this case."
"But sir, he's taken some time off-" Cara started, But Brooks didn't let her finish.
"Look at this body, look at the aggression the killer must've had." Sergeant Brooks said as he gestured to the body. "You don't have to be a detective to know that whoever did this, they will not stop killing unless someone stops them."
"I'll make the call right away." Cara said as she walked away, looking for a number on her phone. When she found it, she called it, but it didn't belong to Silvex. No, it belonged to Bloodrazor.
"Hello?" Bloodrazor's icy voice sounded on the other side.
"Sir, we have a body that's brutally murdered, and now Sergeant Brooks wants me to call Silvex…" Cara said before she was stopped by Bloodrazor.
"You were right bringing this to my attention, Cara." Bloodrazor replied, complimenting his subordinate. "Thank you, I'll handle it from here." he then hung up the phone, leaving a somewhat stressed Cara Redwood.
"Mr Greene? Can you hear me?" the doctor asked Rocky as he was standing beside the Mix's bed.
"Yeah, I'm perfectly awake." Rocky replied, even though he was barely waking up. "Who are you?"
"I am Samuel Blackthorn, and I will be your doctor for today." The doctor replied. "Oh, and before I forget, if anyone asks, your name is John Smith."
"What the hell are you talking about? My name is Rocky Greene and I won't hide it." Rocky stated proudly, though it made everyone in the room cringe.
"Calm down, Rocky." A calm voice said from a corner of the room which Rocky couldn't see. But it was a voice that Rocky would recognize anywhere. Needless to say, Rocky immediately turned his head to the source. There he was, standing inside the room. The reason for his trip to Coastal City. His crush, the love of his life. Zuma.
Maybe it was because the request came from Zuma or maybe it was just common sense, but Rocky immediately shut his mouth. With the situation under control, the doctor was left free to leave.
"I'll leave you two alone." Samuel said as he left the room, giving the two pups some privacy.
"Rocky, there's something I need to tell you and I know that if I wait I will get far too nervous and then I won't be able to get it off my chest." Zuma ranted, before letting a silence fall. Zuma desperately tried to build up the nerve to say it. The silence wasn't a pleasant one at all, rife as it was with tension and suspense. It was one of those long, awkward silences which both sides want to break, but neither could find the words. Zuma tried to speak his mind, but he froze. He tried again and froze again. It was as if there was this invisible wall in-between the Labrador and the words he wanted to say, a wall built from secret personal feelings and fear of rejection. This wall had been built over several years, which made it as impregnable as can be. But still, the Labrador kept trying to break through it.
Watching his crush struggle against his feelings so badly made the silence even more unbearable to Rocky, until the mix finally snapped.
After what felt like an eternity, Zuma swallowed. The Labrador took a deep breath and gathered all the courage left in him. He chose the words he was going to say and prepared to say them. He opened his mouth and was this close to saying it when Rocky beat him to the punch. "Zuma, I'm in love with you!"
"Well, they are sure taking their sweet time in there." Marshall noticed, voicing the thoughts of everyone present. "Should we go in and check on them?"
"No way!" Chase reacted strongly. "Maybe they're doing something we shouldn't see if you know what I mean. It would be like that morning phone call I got a few days ago, only worse, on both sides."
"Oh yeah. Well, you're absolutely right." Marshall agreed with his mate. He then noticed a man walking down the hallway, in their direction. All the while the man was looking straight at them. "Hey, does anyone know that guy?"
Both Chase and Silvex turned towards the man, and they immediately recognized him.
"Captain?!" Silvex yelled towards the man. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"
"As a matter of fact, yes there is." Captain Andreas Xavier replied. He was holding a case file, which definitely couldn't be good. "I have a bit of a major problem. In fact, everyone who wears a uniform in this city has."
"What is it, Captain? What's going on?" Chase asked. He didn't trust Captain Xavier much, but something in the man's scared demeanour made Chase feel just as terrified.
"About an hour ago, a body was found down by the docks and Sergeant Brooks was the first officer on the scene. He immediately wanted you two on the case, seeing as it was even more brutal than the body you caught a few days ago." Xavier reported.
"Even more brutal?" Chase asked, his voice rife with disbelief. The memory of Griffin's murder was still fresh in his mind. "How is that possible?"
"I'm afraid that I can't share details with off duty detectives." Xavier said with a hint of sincere regret in his voice. Whether he liked the two detectives or not, even Xavier couldn't deny that they were some of his best. "But I'm here to ask you for a favour. Two to be exact."
"Two favours?" Chase asked. "And what would those be?"
"Well, for one, I want the two of you on the case." Xavier said, to no surprise of either detective. "But the second one is more complicated and I can only ask for it if you agree to the first one, else I'll be severely breaching protocol."
Chase quickly looked at Silvex, who replied by simply nodding. With his partner's approval, Chase replied. "Alright we're in, what do you need?"
"Well, we have already traced the MO to a known serial killer who is currently under investigation by an old friend of yours." Xavier said as he looked at Chase and Marshall. "Have either of you been in any recent contact with NCIS Special Agent Zuma Shade?"
"Uhm, well…" Chase started as he quickly glanced at Silvex. The husky didn't seem to have a solution either. They knew they needed to keep Rocky's presence a secret, but they couldn't just let a serial killer roam free. "We have kind of been a little out of touch lately…"
Xavier was about to react when Zuma exited the room where Rocky was in, looked around and spotted Xavier standing with Chase, Silvex and Marshall.
Zuma approached from behind Xavier when Chase noticed him. This gives Chase an idea for the perfect reply: "Although he did hear about me being in the hospital and he came to give me his best wishes. In fact, here he is now!" Chase said as he pulled Zuma towards him while he whispered in the Lab's ear: "Play along!"
"Well, this is a surprise." Xavier said, but something in his voice scared Silvex. It was almost like Xavier knew they were hiding something and Chase feared Xavier also suspected what they were hiding. "But a fortunate one." Xavier then turned to Zuma "We need your help, the Port-to-Port killer has struck in Coastal City and we need to stop him. Can I count on your assistance?"
"Yes, of course!" Zuma said without hesitation. "Let's catch this son of a bitch!"
As the man left for the door, he opened it with the usual cracking sound of the old, rusty hinges. When he crossed the threshold, he stepped out onto the pavement while deeply breathing in the cold air of the winter's night. He couldn't resist looking back, just this once. And as he did so, he gazed over his latest masterpiece. It was a family of five and it made him realize, that doing this was what he truly loved. This was his purpose, his destiny. Even though this could only end one of two ways, with him either captured or dead, he still found that it was his life's goal. He then turned around, careful not to trip over a garden gnome and closed the door behind him. He stopped to breathe in and out a few times, letting that the cold could travel through his body until he closed his coat's zipper and disappeared into the night, never to be seen again.
It wasn't long before the police arrived, at the call of 'domestic disturbance'. But after seeing what had happened, the officers reported it while vomiting. The scene they came across was far worse than any 'domestic disturbance' and thus came the FBI, led by Supervisory Special Agent Hunter Highland. But this SSA left quite shortly after, knowing enough to realize staying behind was pointless. Like with Zuma, the killer that Hunter was chasing was just too good and so he returned to the FBI field office. Or at least, that's what the cops and Hunter's colleagues thought. The truth was that Agent Hunter left to make a phone call from a deadzone. A deadzone was a location that had no camera's, or any surveillance of any kind.
"Hello, customer service, what can I do for you?" the automatic response came.
"L'enfer c'est les autres." Hunter responded in French, which was one of the code phrases that Hunter used.
"Securing phone line, please bear with us." the same automatic voice replied. "Phone line secure, redirecting call to the commander."
"Yes?" a male voice asked as he answered the phone on the other end. The voice belonged to none other than the Ace of Spades.
"Hey boss, it's me." Hunter said.
"Hunter, nice to hear from you again, what's new from the FBI?" the Ace asked.
"M struck again, he's in Portland now." Hunter said. "I'm getting the feeling that he's headed to Coastal City next, but he hasn't left any trail."
"Understood, I'll put all operatives on high alert." the Ace responded. "Is there anything else?"
"Yeah, I don't think the timing is a coincidence." Hunter said, giving voice to his concerns. "The last time I spoke with him, Shadow told me that it was almost time for you-know-what, and now M shows up. Maybe it would be better to steer clear of you-know-who?"
"I agree, Hunter, I really do, but we've been working on this for years. This might be our only chance. Besides, don't you think they deserve to know what happened two years ago?" The Ace asked him. "But enough about that, how is the other long-term operation going?"
"Which one? The Bloodrazor one?" Hunter asked, before adding: "Or do you mean our little… side-project?"
"The latter, even though Bloodrazor is more powerful than ever, his influence is limited only to Coastal City." The Ace of Spades replied. "Meanwhile Bastion is only increasing in power. We need to put a stop to it."
"As you say, sir." Hunter replied. "Tonight there's a meeting about the newly established network, I'll keep you updated throughout."
"Good." The Ace of Spades said. "In the meantime, I'll have Callum run surveillance on Bloodrazor."
"Why be so careful?" Hunter asked. "Callum has gathered the proof we'd need already, the target's hidden bank account with millions of dollars says enough. No Police Captain could possibly make that much."
"Still, I'd like to be absolutely sure about it before we pick a fight with the CCPD." the Ace replied. "Especially if I want to present this matter to you-know-who as a show of good faith."
"Alright then Ace, you're the boss." Hunter said. "If you're sure about this, then I will follow your lead."
"Good luck! After you wrap up your meeting, make your way down to Coastal City. Something tells me we'll need your help." the Ace of Spades said. "And Hunter, don't get caught."
"Sir, yes, sir!" Hunter responded before ending the call.