Chapter 17: From truth to lies
"I wear this crown of thorns upon my liar's chair" – Johnny Cash
- Monday, 9 am -
Silvex and Chase just got off the elevator to their precinct. Silvex had picked Chase up on the way, allowing them to carpool to work together. It was a fresh week and Chase desperately hoped this one would be better than the last. They were told to report to Sergeant Brooks, who held the position of acting Captain until Xavier returned from medical leave, which hadn't happened yet.
"Good morning, sir!" Chase said as they approached the Sergeant's desk. Despite Xavier's permission to use the Captain's office, Brooks chose to stay at his own desk.
"Ah, Chase and Silvex." The Sergeant replied. "Just the two detectives I wanted to see. Welcome back, by the way."
"Thank you, sir." Silvex replied respectfully. "How has the job been treating you?"
"Well, honestly, it's been one hell of a week." The Sergeant replied. "I mean, we had everything this week. From murder to explosions to plane crashes. Can you believe it? A freaking plane crash!"
"Anyways, you said you wanted to see us?" Chase replied, with an attempt to mimic Silvex' trademark calm behaviour.
"Ah yes, of course." The Sergeant replied, before searching through the files on his desk. When he found the one that he was looking for, he handed it to Silvex. "There was an explosion at the beach, in which someone was killed. It's right up your alley."
"I was actually hoping to take it a little easier today, since I had just been shot and everything." Silvex replied, trying to avoid the Bloodrazor case. Since he really was shot the week before, and Chase collapsed after suffering internal organ damage, they had decided to use that as an excuse for their absence in the past week.
"Oh, alright. No worries, I'll get someone else on that." The Sergeant replied. He wasn't using his trademark brand of sarcasm, instead, the detectives could sense genuine concern. "I think I have something for you here, a murder in a parking garage. As simple as they come."
"Ah, thanks, Serge." Chase said as he accepted the file that the Sergeant handed to them.
"Good luck and be careful." Sergeant Brooks said. He may not have said it, but all three of them knew that he was thinking of what happened to Officer Stillburg. Corrupt or not, Stillburg was still one of very few canine policemen or women.
After walking back to their desks, for the first time in what seemed like centuries, Chase took a look at the file. When he read the specifics, he instantly groaned.
"What is it?" Silvex asked after being alerted but Chase's involuntary noises.
"The victim's name is Martha King. She was murdered in the parking garage at the hospital." Chase said, putting emphasis on the last part. When he didn't see any realization on Silvex' face, he added: "She was a nurse."
That's when the pieces clicked together for Silvex, and realization finally struck. "We can't return it now, not without telling the serge why!" Silvex whispered agitatedly.
"Then I guess we're stuck with it." Chase replied at an equally low volume. "I suppose we should start by speaking with the next of kin?"
In truth, Rocky had only ever pretended to be interested in buying Inferno Industries as a cover, not because he actually wanted to buy the company. But here they were, at Inferno Industries' head office. This wasn't the first buyout meeting that the mix was a part of, as CFO he was usually Mr Night's emissary on such endeavours. But now, he was representing his own company, not someone else's. This also meant that Rocky could choose any number he wanted, as long as the company had enough in their budget. Rocky had taken a quick look at Moon Enterprises' books beforehand and he was shocked at how big their budget was. Anyway, each of these meetings follows roughly the same script. First, both parties say a number. The would-be buyer goes a lot lower, while the seller goes a whole lot higher. Both sides would then use random, sometimes pure bullshit arguments to get the other to change their price. Sooner or later, both parties agree on a number. If that number is within the buyer's budget, then the sale is made. If it isn't, then the buyer makes up a bad excuse and leaves without admitting that they can't afford it.
Rocky has been on both sides of such discussions, but he never had to sell. And as a buyer, he turned out to be a pretty good negotiator. He won almost every sale he attempted, which made him quite confident for this one. Especially when the budget was larger than Inferno Industries could possibly ask.
Rocky was in good company during the meeting, with a disguised Shadex guarding the door and Callum acting as his secretary until Trisha woke up. Rocky still couldn't believe how talented Callum was. He wasn't quite on Trisha's level yet, but Trisha was one of the best assistants in existence, so it wouldn't be fair to compare.
It wasn't hard to track down Martha King's next of kin, but it was hard to lie to her. Very hard. Chase had managed to reach Martha King's daughter, Veronica King. Over the phone, he explained that he was the detective assigned to her mother's murder and asked if she wanted to come to the precinct to answer some questions. When she arrived, a uniformed officer showed her to the conference room, where she waited until Chase and Silvex appeared through the door.
"So, you're the detectives?" Veronica asked. "Do you know who killed my mother?"
"First of all, I'm sorry for your loss." Chase replied. He didn't say it just because he was supposed to, but also to buy time. The woman in front of him was Veronica King, one of the most renowned ER doctors in the state. She was a saint through and through, which made Chase feel awful for lying against her. "Unfortunately, we don't know who killed your mother as of yet. I'm sorry."
What followed was a brief silence, during which Veronica stared at Chase with a frown covering her forehead. She then glanced at Silvex for a second, who gulped nervously. Her eyes then snapped back to Chase and seemed to stare into the depths of his consciousness.
"You're lying…" She remarked, finally breaking the silence. "You already know who killed my mother, didn't you?"
"What are you-" Silvex started, but Veronica interrupted him.
"Don't bother trying to lie again. I can read you two like an open book." Veronica said. "So, either you tell me right now, or I'm leaving to have a chat with your Captain."
"NO!" Chase exclaimed, before realizing the mistake he made when he saw the look of surprise on Veronica's face. Before Chase could say anything else to stop her from thinking it through, Veronica's surprise made room for realization.
"Tell me who it was." Veronica said calmly. But while her voice may have been calm, the intensity in her eyes made Chase break.
"Bloodrazor killed your mother after she found out who he was." Silvex explained, barely a second before Chase could. Turns out, while the shepherd was breaking under the pressure, the husky had already broken. In Silvex' defence, he had a lot on his mind.
"Then why don't you want me to talk to your…" Veronica started to ask, before she realized the answer. "Oh! Tell me I'm wrong, guys. Tell me that your Captain isn't…" Veronica didn't have to finish her answer, for both detectives in front of her were fervently nodding.
"Do you have proof?" Veronica asked, to which Silvex nodded. "Then why haven't you arrested him yet?"
"Because he isn't working alone." Chase simply explained. "Far as we can tell, he's working directly under someone's orders. Killing your mother to silence her was probably his own decision, but almost all his other crimes were on his master's orders. Including the time that he tried to have us killed, or how he tortured Silvex' brother for months on end."
"Wait, what?" Veronica reacted. "After all of that, you're still leaving him alone?! Why?!"
"Oh, trust me. Before this is all over, Bloodrazor will pay." Silvex said grimly, with what seemed like a fire burning in his eyes. "But if we take just him down, then the real mastermind, the sick freak behind all of this, will get away. And as much as it kills me to smile at him, work for him, chat with him, I will keep doing it until we can finally take him and his boss down for good."
"Do I have your word?" Veronica asked both detectives, who solemnly nodded in response. "Then that's enough. I'll keep my mouth shut about the two of you and your boss. But please, stop him before he does something like this again."
"We will do our best, I can promise you that." Chase replied. On the one hand, he was relieved that Veronica was willing to keep their secret. On the other, he was disappointed in them that they broke so easily.
After saying goodbye to Dr Veronica King, Silvex and Chase promised her loudly that they would do everything they could to find her mother's killer. Loudly enough for plenty of cops to hear.
On a rooftop on the other side of the city, a German shepherd and a black wolf were silently watching an apartment on the other side of the street. They had set up a small tent that was the same colour as the roof of the building, but they still felt way too exposed to get comfortable.
"The first surveillance mission I go on in years and we couldn't even find an empty apartment." The shepherd, also known as the Ace of Spades complained. "All we've got is an exposed semi camouflaged tent on a rooftop."
"It's better than nothing, I suppose." Shadow's dark voice sounded from inside the tent. "At least it isn't raining."
"Very true." Axel replied. The two of them never talked that much, especially not about frivolous things. The little conversation they just had was the extent of their banter. That said, even though they weren't the most social of creatures when they worked together, they were a really great team and almost always got the job done.
"Hey, Axel?" Shadow asked. Axel was immediately on alert. Shadow only ever called him by his real name when the Ace of Spades urged him to, or when the wolf wanted to discuss personal matters.
"Yeah?" Axel replied cautiously. "What's on your mind, Shadow?"
"That husky, Silvex." Shadow stated, before adding. "How do you really feel about him?"
"He's a strong ally and he's good at what he does." Axel replied in an attempt to dodge Shadow's real question. Unfortunately, the wolf didn't fall for it.
"You know what I meant, don't make me spell it out." Shadow replied.
"Fine." Axel grumbled in defeat. "As you well know, I was once engaged to him, but I had to disappear beforehand. Back then, I really loved him. It made disappearing one of the hardest things I ever had to do. And the easiest, for it would keep him safe."
"And how do you feel about him now?" Shadow asked, whilst trying not to sound to pressuring.
"I guess…" Axel replied. "That my feelings for him might still be around somewhat…" Axel said, before noticing the doubtful look on Shadow's face. "Okay, fine. Maybe I still really like him. But I gave up any kind of future with him when I faked my death. Maybe Axel Spade could have build a life with him, but the Ace of Spades cannot."
"Then how about you retire?" Shadow asked. This time, however, his question seemed to be more weighed down. Axel realized that this was the real question that Shadow had on his mind.
"Honestly, I really want to. But I can't." Axel replied. "For me to retire would be selfish, I'd be giving the world to Bastion. And as much as I'd like retirement with Silvex, I know that I would never forgive myself if I gave up now."
"How about afterwards?" Shadow replied. "After we have defeated Bastion, there would be nothing left to stop you."
Axel looked at Shadow for a moment, a moment in which Shadow could see the longing for Silvex in the shepherd's eyes. At that moment, Axel seemed to imagine the future he and Silvex could have together. For the first time in a long while, Shadow saw a genuine smile spread across the shepherd's face. But then the shepherd looked away again, and his eyes snapped back to the calm and deadly normal.
"I think we both know that that will never happen." Axel replied. "Not in our lifetimes, at least. Bastion is everywhere, hidden amongst criminals and politicians alike. Maybe one day, we'll find a way to take them down. But for now, all we can really do is put out the fires as they come up and hope that the world doesn't burn down in the meantime."
On Axel's request, Hunter had returned to the FBI field office in Portland. He had been absent for a few days, but because he was a Supervisory Special Agent, he could pretty much do as he pleased. In truth, SSA Hunter Highland didn't exist. It was merely an alias that Hunter created, one of many. It was initially intended to help the Ace of Spades take down a crime syndicate that was involved with human trafficking. It gave the team access to the entire FBI investigation, including all the information that the FBI had gathered. In order to keep the team's existence and involvement a secret, Hunter covered up all of their involvement and put the victories against the crime syndicate under his name. Once they had taken down the crime syndicate, Hunter was about ready to up and disappear when he was given the promotion to Supervisory Special Agent. This gave Hunter access to almost the entire FBI database and all of its resources, so they decided that Hunter should continue to live as SSA Hunter Highland. It's been over two years now since that happened and Hunter was now one of the most prestigious agents in the FBI.
But right now, what he was doing had very little to do with the FBI. He was, in fact, texting on a burner phone that he only used for special occasions. The phone had only one contact saved in it, which belonged to a friend of Hunter's. For the past two days, Hunter had tried to get in contact with her, but she hadn't responded. Not until now, when she called him.
"Well hello, friend." She said over the phone, before Hunter heard what seemed like fighting. Instead of asking any annoying or distracting questions, Hunter just waited patiently for the fighting to die down and his friend to speak again. "Sorry about that, these guys wouldn't even let a lady make a phone call in peace."
"A lady, really?" Hunter replied with a grin on his face. "This coming from the girl who once beat the crap out of four NAVY SEALS in a bar fight?"
"Haha, yeah. Fun times." She replied. "What's up?"
"Remember the Blackstreet mafia?" Hunter asked, already knowing the answer.
"Of course, are you telling me were finally off the leash?" She asked, having seemingly no problem comparing herself to a dog, despite the fact that she was very human.
"Yes, we are!" Hunter replied. Admittedly, he was also getting a little excited to team up with her again. "So, tell me. Is the Black Rose still as good as she used to be?"
"Oh yeah, I am." She replied. "But, I'm afraid it will have to wait a day or two."
"Why?" Hunter asked curiously. He didn't expect her to be available immediately, but he couldn't help wondering where she was, or who she had been fighting just now.
"Oh, I'm currently in Bolivia." She replied nonchalantly.
"And the guys you just beat the crap out of…?" Hunter couldn't resist asking.
"Oh them, they were just some prison guards. They wouldn't let me use my phone." She explained.
For some reason, the revelation of her being in prison didn't surprise Hunter at all. Nor did the fact that she expected to be able to escape and make it back into the US in a mere two days. She was just that good.
"I'll be seeing you soon, meet me in Portland." He said as he hung up, for he spotted a few co-workers heading his way, who were waving at him. Hunter simply waved back while he thought of a simple excuse for the phone call, before he approached them.
- Monday, 8 pm -
Like Rocky expected, the talks with Inferno Industries had been a great success. Rocky bought the company for what seemed like petty cash compared to his budget, but it still wasn't a number to be underestimated. However, even though Rocky had to acquire the company to solidify his cover for being in Coastal City, it wasn't the only reason he did. The truth was, ever since their meeting with the Ace of Spades and their newly founded alliance, Rocky had his doubts. He kept having the feeling that Axel was keeping something from them, that he hadn't told them the full story. Rocky believed what the shepherd had told them about Ryder's death and about Bloodrazor and Bastion. But the mix had his doubts about the BlueWater group and their project. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but he felt like there were things that didn't really add up. That's why he bought Inferno Industries, so that he might be able to figure out the truth. The truth that the Ace of Spades refused to tell them, whatever it may be.