Calatonia Chronicles II

VI - Bad Cop, Bad Cop

00000

Calatonia Police Department - Downtown

The dark-haired young man, sitting behind a steel table, with a lamp, in handcuffs, smirked arrogantly. "I got nothing to say."

Sergeant Collins, a middle-aged detective with combed auburn hair, a full mustache and glasses fixed the boy with a severe, probing look.

"We have you dead to rights. You were seen fleeing the scene in question before Miss Crawley's accident. Your fingerprints were on the theater scaffolding that was tampered with. You could be looking at attempted murder. Murder if Miss Crawley does not pull through. Now…who put you up to this?"

"I got nothing to say."

Collins stood up, sighed deeply, and left the interrogation room.

A loud buzz was heard indicating the secure door unlocking and locking itself.

The dark-haired young man sat back in his steel chair.

Just say nothing until my lawyer gets here and I'll be outta here by morning.

The door to the interrogation room buzzed and reopened.

A thin woman in a suit carrying a briefcase entered.

The door shut behind her.

"Who are you?" The young man demanded.

The woman stepped into the light and she was revealed to have long golden hair tied in a ponytail, with two long locks of hair, dyed black, extending down her neck. She had large spectacles, light-blue eyes, golden-tan skin, and a very stern, business-like look on her face.

"I asked you who you are?!" The boy was getting impatient, not to mention nervous at this sudden arrival of this woman who he had never seen before and shouldn't be here.

Opening her suitcase, the bespectacled woman pulled out a case file and placed it on the table.

Hesitating, the young man opened it.

Eyes becoming huge with terror as he saw the contents, he closed it quickly in a vain attempt to hide what it said.

"Where…where did you…?" He stammered.

"We've been keeping an eye on you. Petulant runaways are usually below our grid but members of Black Cemetery, even fresh members are another matter entirely. So…" she said, cocking an eyebrow that spelled the promise of trouble. "…ready to talk?"

"N-No," the young man stuttered. "Not that. You don't know them. Can't do that. I won't-"

A large grizzled hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

The young man was beginning to lose control of his bladder.

"An associate of yours said something similar to me yesterday. You know what he said next?"

The man had an American accent but there was a Spanish flair to it.

00000

Wright Residence

"Why didn't you at least message me?" Johnny asked.

Nooshy avoided eye contact. "I…might've forgot."

Johnny sighed in exasperation. "You scared me you know."

"I'm sorry, love."

Johnny pulled Nooshy close so that her back was pressed to his chest and her head was under his chin. He rested his chin on her snow-white hair.

"It's ok."

Nooshy smiled dreamily as she nestled her head against Johnny's chest, her hands over his.

Chadwick, Nooshy's father, stood at the doorway to the living room as he watched his only child with her fiancé.

He was a tall man, full of lean muscle, coal-black skin, jet-black hair combed back, honey-brown eyes, same as Nooshy's, and his most noticeable feature, severe burn scars all over his body, mainly the neck, his left arm and the left side of his face, the scars dyed black to make less noticeable.

He crossed his arms but chose not to make himself known.

My poppet is all grown up.

Chadwick walked out of the room, tears in his eyes.

If only I had been there. I've missed so much. And now I've come back just to walk her down the aisle.

And then he smiled a glowing smile.

I must be the luckiest bloke in the world.

00000

Crystal Residence - Rural Calatonia

Porsha sat on the loveseat of the Crystal household, hands folded and eyes downward.

It lacked the size and extravagance of the Crystal Manor.

But it was homely and it was home.

Her father Jimmy and his new wife, Suki, stood over her with severe and unimpressed looks on their faces.

"If the circumstances were different, Porsha, I'd be angry," Jimmy said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But I'm more frustrated, not because you pulled another stunt, but because it's like there's no end to this."

Porsha said nothing.

Suki sat down on Porsha's left, putting an arm around her.

"It was smart that you kept your distance and stayed put, honey."

Porsha said nothing.

Jimmy sat on Porsha's right. He put a hand on his daughter's knee.

Porsha flinched, but she took her father's hand.

And then she did speak. "Will it ever end?"

Jimmy pulled Porsha into a hug and Suki leaned in so that her head was laid against her daughter's back.

"It will," Suki cooed. "I promise."

"We promise," Jimmy added.

00000

Industrial District - Downtown Calatonia

"Come again?" Noelle Sr said, a phone to her ear.

"You heard me. It's Black Cemetary. And they're training up another squad."

Noelle Sr grimaced. "How is that possible?"

"Sorrows and his underlings may be gone but certain criminal organizations are still active. Sorrows' death left a vacuum and I seriously doubt his sons are behind this."

"How's that, Karen?"

There was an exasperated sigh on the other end.

Noelle Sr cleared her throat. "Sorry, Carol."

"That's better. As for your question, it's because they're so stupid. And with everyone connected to them and their father either dead or incarcerated, there's no way they could connect the events in New York to Moon and his people. And even if they did, it would've been done at a great distance. They're all in a prison on an island in the Mediterranean under heavy guard."

Noelle Sr nodded. "We've eliminated the unlikely. Is it possible that Sorrows might be alive?"

"His death was confirmed by Straham and his body was cremated. You know that."

"Right. Best keep digging then. Black Cemetary having a go at us and our families. Can't be having this."

"Nope. But we got plenty of ground to cover. Our man should have a lead."

"Best get going then." Noelle Sr grinned savagely. "Can't keep the lucky guy waiting. Cheers."

Noelle Sr ended the call.

00000

Rural Calatonia - Undisclosed Location

In a private residence overlooking the city of Calatonia, owned by a private contracting company was currently under private usage of a private buyer.

The large grey-haired man, a Black Cemetery commander, sipped a cup of Volcanica coffee.

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he yelled into a cell phone.

"Get the jet ready! I gotta get outta town fast!"

He paused as he listened.

"SHUT UP! Just get it done!"

He hung up.

"Evening Maraini," said a clipped British voice.

The Black Cemetary commander, Maraini, froze and then turned to see a chair behind a desk turn to reveal a woman in a long black coat, below average height with snow-white hair tied back with a toothpick between her grinning teeth.

"You!" snarled Maraini.

"Me," was Noelle Sr's jovial response.

Murderous rage in his eyes, the commander reached into his jacket for his hidden weapon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Maraini scoffed. "Why shouldn't I?"

"You're out of practice, otherwise you'd know the difference between the weight of a gun that's loaded and one that's not."

Maraini stared dumbly before pulling out his sidearm, a silenced Beretta.

He pointed it at Noelle Sr.

And he pulled the trigger.

The empty click confirmed Maraini's fears.

Noelle Sr chuckled. "Now, we'll start with your bosses' name or whoever put you up to sending that boy to sabotage the New Moon Theater."

"How about you go to-!"

Noelle Sr lost her smile. "I ain't got a lot o' time and neither do you. I don't mind doing this the hard way, especially after what you did to Miss Crawley but I'm on a time limit. So, you can talk or you can talk to my friends behind you."

Maraini scoffed again. "Oldest trick in the-!"

An iron grip grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and threw him screaming across the room.

He went through a plate glass window.

From the second floor and into the pool down below.

Sputtering and choking on pool water, Maraini pulled himself up from the water and rested on the pool's ledge, catching his breath, his waist and below still in the water.

Sensing a presence above, Maraini looked up.

And the pool suddenly felt warmer as he gawked in horror at the tall, menacing Spaniard and his sister standing above him, both looks of white-hot fury in their azure-blue eyes.

Leaning over the second floor's balcony railing, Noelle Sr smirked.

"I'm sure you're familiar with the Santiago twins."

Noelle Sr's jovial voice turned to iron. Now…names. Now."

"You know what they'll do to me if I talk?!" Maraini said in a frantic panic.

"Something like this?" Ramos said as he grabbed the merc by the collar, pulling him out of the pool.

Maraini yelped as he tossed to the ground and placed in a hold with his right arm outstretched, Ramos preparing to break it at the elbow.

"No! No! Stop! Stop! I don't know his name! We don't share names! Just aliases!"

"Go on!" Ramos commanded.

"I only had three contacts! All with disguised voices! Rook! Bishop! And King! Rook is the one who gave the order to sabotage the theater! That's all I know!"

Ramos applied more force, causing Maraini to cry out in pain.

"Who else knows about the Moon troupe?!" Ramos asked gruffly.

"Just me! Just me and my pilot! He's just some nobody! A kid I picked up back in San Diego! An orphan no one wanted!"

Noelle looked ready to spit fire. "So that's it."

She leapt from the balcony and landed with the agility of a champion gymnast.

"Black Cemetery has been kidnappin' children and turnin' them into mercenaries."

Maraini chuckled darkly. "It's not kidnapping if nobody wants them."

Black fury was writ large on the faces of Noelle and her associates.

Wincing, Maraini braced himself, expecting to have a broken arm in an instant but instead he was released.

Ramos stood up.

Maraini, gripping his sore arm, stood up as well.

"Why are you havin' a go at the Moon troupe?" Noelle asked.

"What do you think?" Maraini said as though it were obvious. "Their interference ruined over two decades of hard work. The money we lost. They wanted their name in lights, they got it." His voice became cold. "But stardom comes with a price. And one way or another, they're going to pay. You can't stop it. With or without me, they'll never know a moment of peace for the rest of their short miserable lives. We're everywhere. Wherever you look, we're there." Maraini smiled evilly. "We will kill you all. We will kill you all."

Noelle Sr did not speak.

Neither did Carmen or her brother Ramos.

And then the toothpick in Noelle Sr's mouth snapped in two in her teeth.

"We'll see who's hunting who," she said, not an inch of fear in her voice.

In a flash, she closed the distance and drove her head into Maraini's face.

The Black Cemetery commander's nose collapsed and he fell backwards, unconscious before his feet flew out from under him.

Noelle Sr grabbed him by the tie and pulled him back before he fell back into the pool.

She laid him on the ground on his side so that he didn't choke on his blood, having a collapsed nose.

"Get him outta here," she said, her teeth bared. "I hope Cosgrove puts him in a hole so deep he doesn't know which way is up."

00000

Noodleman Manor

Dr. Wanda Mauser, a short woman of a physician but a perfectly capable one as well as a specialist, exited Miss Crawley's room.

"Well?" Nana asked, trying to maintain her regal composure.

Mauser removed her stethoscope. "Miss Crawley will pull through."

Nana released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"But…she has suffered terrible damage to her spine and neck."

Nana painfully clenched her eyes. "Is it…repairable?"

"It is, but I can't even begin to operate until she's regained some strength."

"But she will live!" Nana said, raising her voice in her distress without meaning to.

"Yes," the doctor said calmly. "But she could die under the stress if I try to operate now. We need to give her time to recover her strength."

Nana paused and then rubbed her eyes before nodding. "Very good. Thank you…"

Shaking off her raw emotions, mustering up her strength, Nana smirked almost playfully. "…Old sawbones."

Mauser smiled genuinely. "Your bedside manner is as charming as ever, madam."

…..

NEXT CHAPTER: Recovery and Recollection

NOTE: It's not unheard of for inter-racial couplings to have children with skin color entirely different from their parents. I've heard of twins from a black couple with totally different skin color, one white with red hair and one totally black.

REVIEWS:

Guest: How many chapters? Undecided. More than a few.