Chapter 2 – Finding the morning
"Goddamn it--another raid!" shouted an angry voice into a room of very anxious listeners. The owner of the voice slammed his coffee cup down on a desk with a heavy hand. There was silence now, as everyone looked to one another for reassurance.
"The Golden Jewel, Sir, was broken into early this morning at 2:00am."
A file was placed down with a picture of the jewelery store on the front page.
"Shit. How did they do it this time?"
"Bypassed the alarms by drilling holes in the wall. They drilled enough holes to knock it through with a sledge hammer. The hammer was found at the scene, Sir. No prints."
Placing his hands over his face, he slumped over his desk. His short blonde hair remained perfect as he ran a hand through it.
"Shit," he whispered into his hands. "What's the status right now?"
A large dark man looked up from his notes.
"Twenty-three raids--twenty-four including this one."
"The same team?"
"The same," the man confirmed.
An excited young man rushed into the crowed office. All eyes fell on him instantly.
"Sir. Agent Almasy, Sir! We found a hair on the hammer!" he said, looking impressed with himself. This caught the blonde man's attention.
"Excellent! Begin DNA testing immediately."
"Yes, Sir!"
Seifer Almasy, one of the government's top police agents, had been working on the case ever since the first raid began in the otherwise peaceful city of Capestone. This was a newly founded City, only 200 years old on the Esthar continent. The city being relatively quiet had not many crimes other that the petty squabbles on the streets. As a result, the big scale robberies had come as quite a shock to the local police force.
Almasy was posted out there after the first attack. His officers were eager and willing to work, but they lacked experience, and this was what Seifer missed most about his old team.
This case had been taking a lot out of him. The raids had been carried out much too well for his liking, meaning that it was a highly trained team that was operating. And this wasn't the only town that had been hit. Other areas had been subjected to similar crimes in the past, and now it seemed like it was the turn of Capestone [Capestone's turn?] to be sucked dry.
Seifer had vowed the first day he'd been appointed, that he would catch these criminal even if it killed him, unaware that one day he might just have to live up to that vow.
*******
It had been hours since he had had the disappointing news: the hair they had found hadn't been human after all; it had belonged to a pet cat. Seifer had cursed at everyone and everything after hearing the lead had just run out. Once again they had nothing to go on and all eyes were on him, expecting a miracle.
This had happened before. Partial finger prints on the cut wire of a security camera had once given rise to hope until they were found to be useless. The prints turned up thousands of matches on the database and was discarded.
One of Seifer's colleagues walked casually into his office with a box of assorted mini cakes. Seifer looked up, annoyed at the breech in his privacy and frowned until he saw who it was. Raijin stood firm against Seifer's annoyed gaze.
The large, dark man handed the cake box towards Seifer who took the nearest one, eating it without even noticing the chocolaty taste.
"So...What do we do next, Sir?"
Seifer thought carefully. What did they do? How could they justify sitting around and waiting for the next attack? Yet, what other option did they have? Making what small evidence they did have known to the public might drive the criminals away or scare then into being even more cautious.
No, Seifer believed that if they held on, they would eventually slip up and give themselves away.
"We hang on. Nobody stays careful long; they'll make a mistake soon and we'll be ready," Seifer said with more confidence than he actually felt.
It was a desperate hope and he knew it. His job would certainly be on the line if his superiors ever found out that he had ordered his squad to do nothing.
But there was no alternative.
What little information they did have was stored in the police criminal network.
They knew that for the team to operate successfully there must be about 5 of them. Some of the break-ins before had been so complicated that it would've taken at least 5 to pull it off.
At least 2 were male. Last night's escapade had proven this once more. No matter how this world called for equalization between the sexes, Seifer was positive that no woman would have been strong enough to bash through the wall with that sledge hammer. Also the motorbike stunt was a clue to a second male.
Seifer had put together a plan of how he thought the night's crime had been completed. Calling his colleagues in for a meeting, he stood in front waiting for silence.
"2 males arrived at the Golden Jewel at 1:40am this morning. One drove a car, the other the get- away vehicle, and in this case a motorbike. The car has not been identified," he said, breaking for air and dramatic effect. "In the car are the drill and the hammer. The side street is noisy, there is a pub nearby, and nobody hears the drill. They knew that it would be noisy on a Friday night, meaning they've been here before. They also knew that the back entrance alleyway would be empty."
Everything was beginning to come together now from the mess they had found only a few hours ago. Seifer looked into every face before continuing.
"The two proceed to bash the now weakened wall with the hammer. This bypasses all the alarms at the front of the shop, allowing easy access. The first male with the car now leaves, but he forgets to take the hammer. The second male enters the shop and steals the jewels," Seifer finished.
There was silence now. A stunned silence, rather than the restless quiet that had went on before. But Seifer had more to say.
"On his way out, he knows the motion detectors are going to trigger, but all this has been planned beforehand. None of this is going to come as a surprise. He knows the response times of our units, and he knows how long he has before we catch up with him. What he doesn't realize, however, is that we are patrolling that street at that particular time and the chase begins sooner than he expects. He has some sort of radio device; he radios the first guy; and tells him that he's gonna jump and needs a pick up," Seifer said, looking around the room. There was a murmur of individual conversation. Seifer realized that he had lost their concentration and walked out, leaving the job assigning to Raijin.
Seifer sat back down at his desk and stared out of the window. He turned what he had said over and over in his head. There was something missing. Could it have been that simple?
No. Although it looked easy, months of preparation must have gone into it for it to have worked so successfully. Taking a deep breath and letting it go slowly, Seifer looked down at the file. Right; they knew exactly what they were looking for. This meant they'd cased the place before. They knew there was a bar, and they knew the response times. Seifer jumped out of his chair.
"Raijin, I need a copy of all the video security tapes from the Golden Jewel, er, at least 2 months prior to this attack to the present date. Also question the owner; I want a list of everyone who requested to look at those diamonds. The criminals knew they were there. They didn't just get lucky; they knew what they were after," Seifer ordered to the larger man.
"Right away, Sir."
Fujin, a new recruit, now entered the office with a stack of sorted papers. She peered at the case file as Seifer gazed out of the window, ignoring her.
"LOCAL?"
Seifer snapped his head round to look at her.
"What?" he asked, shocked that she had actually spoken to him.
"ARE THEY?" she asked, tapping the file. Seifer looked down at what she was tapping.
"I don't know. I don't think so," Seifer answered, feeling intimidated by this woman.
"STILL IN AREA," she said. It was a statement this time. Seifer was puzzled.
"You mean...they are still close by?" Seifer asked, feeling stupid at not considering this before.
"YES," she answered, without any emotion.
Seifer wrote the words 'still in the area' on the profile.
"Thank you. You work at division 6, correct?" Seifer asked whilst looking at the strange girl.
"YES," she replied in monotone, her un-patched eye looked at him with a questioning gaze.
"You've just been promoted to division 5--my squad," Seifer said, smiling.
"Y..YES, SIR" she replied, slightly startled as she was ushered out of the room by a new face.
Seifer groaned. This had to be the most annoying man in the force, and that was saying something. Why couldn't people leave him alone for just one second?
"S'up, Chief?" he asked, smiling as he placed more files on Seifer's desk. Seifer looked at him with the expression of someone trying desperately not to commit a murder. Unfazed, the man looked down at the note in his hand. "Oh, just had a call--another disappearance. A Miss Rinoa Heartilly."
"Doesn't ring any bells. She's not a regular disappearance. Send Biggs and Wedge out on that one," Seifer said, looking bored.
"Yes, Sir."
There was silence.
"You realize that this is Miss Heartilly, General Caraway's Daughter?" he asked. Seifer looked at him confused.
"But don't they live in Deling City?" Seifer asked, feeling very left out on all the news.
"Yeah, but they were on holiday, I think."
A look of surprise fluttered over Seifer's face.
"Tell Biggs it's a high priority case," Seifer said, ending the conversation.
The man opened his mouth to speak once more and then closed it again. A second look at Seifer's hardened face sent him scuttling away again. Seifer flopped down over his desk.
"Urgh, why are these robberies so damn good?!"
*******
"She's been out for longer than I would have liked." Quistis said, shining a light in Rinoa's drugged pupils. "Perhaps I over did it with the anesthesia."
"Nah, we did everything fine. Better let her sleep it off, though. What is there to wake up to anyway?" Selphie asked as she bounced a yoyo up and down.
"Squall's really worried, you know." Quistis said quietly.
The yoyo stopped.
"He didn't sleep at all." Selphie said, looking depressed.
"I wonder what she was up to at that time of night anyway. I mean that road has no street lamps! It's not exactly the place to take an evening bike ride, is it?" Quistis asked, sternly looking at Rinoa as though expecting an answer.
"Well, you know. There are probably loads of explanations!" Selphie said happily. Quistis looked unconvinced. "Well, I've got to finish the modifications on the walkie-talkies. You can manage without me, right? It's just that Squall will kill me if I don't get them finished," Selphie said, looking hopeful. Quistis sighed.
"No, no, I'll be fine. You go on and get the work done," Qusits said, checking once more over Rinoa's bandages.
Selphie smiled and bounced off to the other side of the warehouse, leaving Quistis alone.
Apart from Zell, who still hadn't emerged this morning from his bed, there was only Quistis and Selphie left in the building. Squall, who hadn't slept once, had been still awake when Quistis retired for the night. When she woke early this morning he had gone. Nobody knew where he had disappeared to, but since he was always taking off, it didn't cause that much alarm. Irvine was also out, shopping for the weekly supplies. Quistis hoped that he wouldn't buy any more of those dodgy sausages this week.
Quistis rubbed her eyes and looked down at the sleeping girl. Her mind swam with questions and worried thoughts. What would this girl be thinking when she woke? Was it wise to keep her here? But it didn't matter; it was up to Squall to make the decisions. Although she could advise, it was his word that ruled, and if Squall said she should stay, who was Quistis to question it?
Loud clanking noises were heard once more from Selphie's direction and curses of "Argh-- Damn--Crap." Quistis smiled. If anything was going to wake up Rinoa, Selphie's frustration would.
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers!
Danii – There's the answer to your question! Seifer's the goodie in this story. Woah, Seifer on the right side of the law, in my story?! Shocking!
Keiry
Bianka-Chan – Possibly, but if people were hoping I'd bash Rinoa after knocking her flying across the road, I'm sorry to disappoint. Lol.
Cassandra – Nah I'm not going to leave any of my fics. Ok I have in the past, but I'm determined to finish them this time!!
Exhile87
Super-fantasy-pup
Nuaro – Hey if you wanna send them, I'm sure I'll find a use for them!!
The Angel of the Lion
Billie The Wild Angel
Steel magnolia
Labyris
Archangel_6~6~6
Trekken46
Thank you guys and gals!
Ps, Special thanks to Bianka-Chan for giving up her time once more!!