Shino brought his hand to his chin and paced the examination room. He was clearly in one of his "mile a minute" inner monologues and would soon have a hundred questions. Giving a side glance to Dr. Haruno, he nodded and finally faced Kiba. "We could go to the university to check on contacts there, but first we have to get down to Coconut Grove and check out her apartment. Who came to confirm the body?"
"Record says a classmate named Moegi came to confirm the body. Apparently they lived nearby, few blocks away from each other." Kiba double checked the address on the form and allowed himself a smug smile at the feeling of knowing all the answers.
"Chances that there's more than a little coincidence that she's the one who confirmed the body?"
"More than zero. As for the drugs, I think we have to pay a few visits to old friends in the area."
"Kiba, get the car started, I have a few more things to check on here." Shino pulled out his notepad and pen as Kiba turned to the door to leave. He thought about the traffic routes downtown at this time of day, the people they needed to see, anything to distract him until Shino came out of the station, who was looking even stiffer than usual. By the time they were finally out on the road, Kiba felt the need to ask.
"How you figuring this case so far?"
"Are you asking me for my opinion, or are you wanting a free lesson in police work?"
"Don't be a dick Shino, we're going into a situation where three people have already died. Going into something like this without any forethought is just dumb. What do you figure?"
"All right. The Hot Doses are too specific for this to be accidental, not to mention the number of victims makes for quite the Modus Operandi. My gut tells me we're in a bit of a time crunch though. Witness disposal seems the most likely motive for the deaths, so you had best stop listening to me and focus on driving faster."
"Fair enough, but next time you complain about nobody listening to you I'm going to remind you that you just told me not to listen to you." Kiba was sure that the look Shino was giving could punch through steel, but he was too focused on the road. After shifting gears and changing lanes, Kiba turned on the radio and smiled at hearing that shrill tone that marked the start of "Cars" by Gary Numan. Shaking his head, he accelerated down the road hoping for green lights all the way.
Coconut Grove was the oldest neighborhood in Konoha, one of the oldest in the country actually, but it had seen better days. It had beautiful beaches, but the boardwalks were in disrepair. The days of Afro-Cuban bars in the 50s gave way to the counter-culture drug centers of the 60s, and twenty years later the only things that have changed were the drugs used by the people who lived here. There were plenty of nice areas, but all too often Kiba found himself and Shino working the Grove on some small time case.
"The girl's apartment or her friend's place?" Kiba asked two blocks before he needed to make a turn.
"Moegi. I got the keys to the victim's apartment from the Sergeant, but I want to get a feel for the situation from her friend."
Sticking to the main road, Kiba pulled into the apartments and immediately got a weird vibe. Something definitely smelled wrong, and it wasn't just the ambient smell of marijuana and gasoline. "Apartment number?" Kiba was already eyeing the apartments on the second floor.
"112." Shino tapped Kiba's shoulder and pointed to a residence on the ground floor. "Odd for an apartment to have the window closed and blinds pulled on such a nice day." Shino approached the door while Kiba took a glance at the car parked in front of it. Medical books, a lab coat, cassette tapes and candy bar wrappers littered the car's interior. Shino knocked lightly on the door and announced himself. For a moment Kiba debated going up to the door, but his instinct took over and his hand went to his pocket for his car keys. Shino changed position to the window and pressed his ear against the glass. "Someone opened the rear veranda." A step ahead of Shino, Kiba jumped over the hood of the Red Fang to get to the driver's seat and pulled out of the parking lot as fast as he could as Shino pulled out his gun to break the window and enter the apartment.
The next few seconds were crucial; finding the person fleeing the scene would be hard if there was a crowd of people, and harder still if the person had the sense to hide. Thankfully most criminals have little sense, particularly when in a panic. The bright red shit and gray jeans were a dead give-away, but it was the facial scars that were the key feature. Shigure was a key player in the Coconut Grove drug trade, but he'd been lying low the past six months. Cutting a corner, Kiba tried to cut Shigure off, but he managed to duck out the way and run to a waiting motor bike.
Chasing down a motorbike was nothing Kiba wanted to do at the moment. With a rapid brake, Kiba threw the gear into reverse and hit the throttle as he looked over his shoulder. Honking his horn as he crossed the intersection, two cars narrowly avoided hitting him. Shigure had just managed to get on his bike and start revving the engine when the Red Fang's rear bumper made impact. Pulling the emergency brake, Kiba walked out of the car and took off his sunglasses. Shigure was lying on the ground in pain, but Kiba knelt next to the rear of his car to inspect the damage. Bumper was a mess, but the paint and metal work all looked fine.
Handcuffing Shigure's hands behind him, Kiba got out the protective seat cover from the trunk and put it over the passenger's seat before tossing the scum in his car and driving back to the apartment. Shino had the door open and was leaning over a young woman on the ground. His jacket was off and placed under the girl's head, his sleeves rolled up, revealing the tattoos he always kept hidden on his forearms. On the ground beside him was a vial and a few needles. "Get me some ice and a towel and then call for an ambulance." Shino's tone of voice was firm and low as he examined the girl's forearm. "I assume from the screams of pain out there that you got him."
Half listening to Shino and complying to his partner's requests, he said, "Yeah, from the way he was screaming and squirming I'm pretty sure I broke his leg."
"Deserves worse," Shino coldly said as he began to measure liquid from the vial into one of the syringes, "she is going into shock from a Hot Dose. Her heart can't handle the combination of the upper cocaine and the downer heroin." Kiba already knew what was happening, but did not know exactly what Shino was attempting here. Very carefully, Shino gave the injection, then took the ice from Kiba and placed it under her head before checking her pulse. "Before leaving the medical examiner's office, Dr. Haruno suggested I take some Naloxone with me, I'm not sure about Hot Doses but it can counter the heroin in her system. The ice will help lower her body temperature, hopefully bringing her some stability. It's our best shot."
Kiba made the call for the ambulance before going outside to ask Shigure a few questions. Opening his car door, he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him from the car onto the parking lot pavement. Nodding to the man's broken leg, Kiba inferred, "That must hurt."
"Of course it hurts you dumbass, you broke my le-" Kiba cut him off by raising his foot above Shigure's femur.
"I'm going to ask you a question, answer correctly and it will make ever other question I ask you easier, refuse to answer and… well it will just complicate things for both of us. Now, how much did you give her?"
Shino came out a few minutes later, his sleeves buttoned back up and a relieved look on his face as the ambulance sirens sounded in the distance. Kiba gave the information to the paramedics when they picked up Moegi and put her in the back after Shino gave them the dose information he had given her. Dragging Shigure inside the apartment when the medics had left, Kiba took off the handcuffs as Shino put his jacket back on.
"We've got a few questions for you before we bring you into the station." Shino walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver to call for another car. "It's a funny little thing about Miranda rights; they don't have to be read until you are actually arrested. And I think there are some things you would like to willingly share with us before we get to that part."
"Screw you cops." Shigure rubbed his wrists and winced at his leg.
"So here's the situation as I see it. A drug dealer murders three people, and attempts to murder a fourth. I'm sure a normal investigation would turn up all sorts of interesting facts, but you see I've got this itch on my nose; and when I've got this itch on my nose it tells me that I'm not dealing with a normal investigation. The girl you just tried to murder was at the station yesterday to identify the body of a girl murdered the day before. It's too soon to be random, and too close to a current investigation to be coincidence."
"I ain't talking to you anymore. I'll wait for the other cops."
"Don't you think it's interesting?" Shino questioned, his hand still on the phone. "The ambulance arrives to take Moegi to the hospital, but there's no ambulance for you and your broken leg?" Shino unplugged the receiver from the phone chord and tapped it in his hands as he got up and walked over to Shigure. Without turning his head, he instructed, "Kiba, the television please."
Kiba complied with his partner and turned the television on and turned the volume up before closing the door. The scum was starting to sweat from Shino's threat. "You cops gotta be crazy. You can't do this."
"Crazy?" Shino responded quizzically. "No, crazy would be me talking into this hand receiver with someone who isn't there or doing something completely irrational. But there's nothing irrational about any of this. Your actions show premeditation, but they aren't your own? Who's paying you?"
"The way I see it," Kiba interjected, "You're looking at three charges of murder one, and an attempted. In our great state that's the same as a murder charge, that's four life sentences, and most likely the death penalty."
"Hold on, you can't pin those on me."
"Oh we can't?" Shino knelt next to Shigure and tossed him the receiver, "And why is that?" Kiba moved from the door to sit on the bed, sitting above where Shigure was lying on the ground. It was clear he was starting to crack, Kiba debated giving another push but Shino's presence seemed to be doing the trick; with a countenance like some avenging angel, and not the merciful kind. Shigure's lips and jaw were starting to quiver, clear signs of a breakdown. Kiba got out his notepad and got ready to write.
"All right, I supplied the drugs, but this is the only time I've been the man with the needle. Every other time it was the man with the money."
"Who?" Shino questioned as he began to stand up.
"I don't know." The wild look in his eyes were fearful, but truthful.
"What did he look like?" Smoothing out the wrinkles on his jacket, Shino reached into his pocket and pulled out a tie before putting it back in his pocket.
"Glasses, curly hair, a-a-nd a Freddie Mercury mustache."
"And where can we find Mr. Mercury?" Kiba cracked his knuckles as he bent down to grab the receiver from Shigure to plug it back into the phone.
"He said he had something to get from the girl's apartment."
"Police have that place locked down." Shino frowned before turning off the television and nodding to Kiba. Opening the door, Kiba let in the police who were waiting outside. "Book him for resisting arrest for now; we'll worry about the rest if we find the other guy. Ready partner?"
Flipping his keys in his hand, Kiba smiled and hurried out to the car to catch up with Shino and gave himself another silent reminder to never really make Shino angry. A tease now and then was fine, but in all honesty the only two people on earth who scared him were his mother and his partner.
Author's notes: Nothing really in this chapter. I was half tempted to go in a different direction with the ending, but decided not to make Shino "the bad cop". It's not necessarily out of character, because Shino is pretty brutal to his opponents in Naruto, but I decided he's better as the "Quiet, slow burn" type.