Chapter 3

A.N- It has been a while eh? I had this saved on my computer for ages and I really wanted to edit it but I didn't have the time. So, I decide to just upload it as it is! So excuse it for being rather ruff, I kinda just wanted it out the way. The fourth chapter is currently under redraft as I'm trying to work out where ti end it and where to start chapter five. So please review your thoughts as they are very helpful!

"I told you not to flip the table."

Percy grunted in response into the silence. His head rested against the cold glass pane taking pleasure in the serenity that it brought allowing him to calm down. Eyes closing he brushed his hand through his hair getting lost in the softness of the overgrown locks. Need to cut this soon, Percy pondered opening his eyes and turning to face Tyson.

The bags growing under his eyes were getting bigger and darker. They pulled his skin down showcasing the weight that this case had on him . It had been almost ten months since the first death and now they had to add one more number to that death count. Percy saw how Tyson's muscles were taut as he gripped the steering wheel with so much pressure his knuckles were turning white. How he bit his lip so hard that it tore under the weight of his teeth.

"Satanic worshipers," Percy gritted out. "How the hell did he get that job if his best answer was a shitty conspiracy theory he probably read off the internet."

"Will's good at his job, the best or he wouldn't be on this case," Tyson defended. "He's just a little bit," he broke off staring ahead as if searching at the midday sky for the answer.

"Insane, weird, in dire need of help take your pick."

"Enthusiastic."

Scoffing Percy shook his head in disbelief as he returned to face the window once more. The amber glow of the street lamps faded and exploded in burst as they passed them. It was way too early for them to be on but after all the killing people were becoming paranoid about staying out when it was too dark and this was the apparent solution to all their worries. His gaze shifted upwards as he got lost in the picturesque scene. Clouds blended into the darkening sky managing to dull the steady glow that the sun was providing. Colours of blue and white moulded into one like a painter had taken his frustration out on the view.

Pulling up to the station Percy ignored Tyson's rebuttal. He threw himself out the car and stormed up the steps, bounding up two at a time. Percy tore the door open pretending he couldn't feel the stares of the shaken officers around him. Tipping his head towards the new officer at the reception, who shot him a disapproving look at his strop, Percy continued scampering up the stairs.

"Did you hear? They found another body linked to the murders last night."

"Shit, ain't that like fourteen now?"

"Sixteen."

"Dang, no more leads?"

"Nah nothing so far, they managed to get away with at least a dozen cars on them."

"How'd they get away?"

"They were like undercover ninjas according to Braxton. Scaling the building and shit, what I don't understand is how they're still on the case though."

"Who the Jacksons'?"

"It's 'cause their dad was head of Scotland Yard when he was alive. Now his goodie two shoes kids move to America and get all their positions and perks handed to them on a silver platter."

"Shut up Luke you're just jealous that Percy got promoted to detective while you're still stuck in traffic."

Percy couldn't help the small smirk that graced his face as he slammed the door behind him and threw himself on his chair. He reached into his pocket and grasped the lighter. Clenching it in his fists seemed to calm Percy down as he took deep, controlled breaths. He could hear his brother's footsteps pounding up the stairs. He heard him greeting passing officers with a chivalrous smile and a pleasantry; usually inquiring about their day. Tyson opened the door with care making sure it shut behind him before proceeding to close the blinds to the windows looking out onto the station floor.

Lowering his head Percy let go of the lighter and moved his hand to scratch the back of his neck. Paying no attention to the sigh that rose from Tyson's throat, he picked up the pen on his desk. He began to twirl it to take his mind off the reprimanding he knew was coming.

"I don't think you should work this case anymore."

Percy's head snapped up. Dropping the pen in shock, his eyes bulged as he opened his mouth only to close when he could not form a sentence. He hadn't expected that, he knew he screwed up a couple of times, but this? They were brothers for god's sake.

Seeing his outraged expression Tyson explained. "You missed the call last night, probably out drinking for the eighth time this week. Then you came in here and started yelling at me for not catching them and then almost trashed the morgue. Shit Perce, this thing has gotten to you. You need some time off."

"I don't need time off."

He couldn't say anything else. Percy's fist clenched together underneath the table. Although they were concealed from Tyson's view he could tell by the change in his stance that Tyson already knew.

"Okay, calm down. Maybe, ask for some low level stuff then, when you're under control, come back and I'll let you on straight away."

Percy opened his mouth to retaliate but was cut off by a loud cry of outrage from outside. Exchanging a look of confusion, Percy and Tyson sprinted through the door leaving it swinging behind them. Slowing down to a brisk walk, after seeing the looks they were getting, they saw the commotion they heard from upstairs.

A rather plump man, around middle age, hunched over the front desk. He slammed his fist against the wooden desk, the sound vibrating in the air although was soon interrupted up the roars that the small man emitted.

"I'm telling you it was the pizza guy!"

The man's round face turned a darker shade of red with every syllable he spat out. His yellow teeth flashed as his growled at the officers attempting to place a hand on his shoulder. Retracting the arm the officer answered.

"And you told us this last night, a file has already been written but it's not the priority at the moment." The soft tone of the policeman's voice only seemed to enrage the man even more as he straightened his back and shook his fist in the air with vigor.

"Not the priority! Not a priority! I'll show you what a priority looks like!" The man drew his balled up fist back and shot forward aiming towards the officers face whose eyes widened in shock at being attacked. Percy surged forward, his own hand reaching out to stop the fist in midair but it was too late, he wouldn't make it.

Percy squeezed his eyes not wanting to see the blackened eye he knew the officer would sport after the first punch landed. But no sound was heard. Peeling his eyes open, Percy saw Tyson grip the hand in a tight hold immobilising it from moving. How the hell did he move so fast?

Tyson brought the man's arm behind his back, twisting it, as he shoved him against the front of the desk causing the man to bend over it; face smushed into the dark oak.

"Sir, do I need to inform you that you were about to assault an officer, on police property, and that could put you up for warrant for arrest?"

Tyson's collected tone had a calming effect on the whole station. Percy gazed in awe. He saw the tension in the shoulders of the people around disappear and that they seemed to stand up taller with their chests puffed out. His brother always had that effect on people; he could talk anyone from a tense situation. The opposite of himself really, Percy mused, he was usually the one to start the tense situations in the first place.

The pinned figure seemed to realise he had no other option than to relax. He slumped against the desk and shook his head in response to Tyson's question.

"No? Good, then would you mind telling us what you were so riled up about then sir?"

Nod.

"I'm going to let you go now. You have to promise that you're going to deal with this situation with a level head or I'm afraid we're going to have to put you in a holding cell, understand?"

Another nod.

Tyson eased the pressure he had been applying to the man's back as if afraid that he might strike out once more before letting go of his grip on him completely. The man rose, straightening his back. Grimacing at the popping sound it made, he swivelled on the spot to face Tyson a scowl crawling up his face. Tyson remained impassive, the one change in his expression was the thin eyebrow he raised.

The man's face fell towards his feet as his began, "My car, bloody expensive that thing was, was stolen by the pizza boy."

Tyson's eyebrow remained raised. "The pizza boy?"

Seeming to be fueled by the disbelief coating Tyson's tone the man's head shot up. His eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes flashed red.

"Yeah the pizza boy, you got a problem with that?"

Tyson's fingertips itched towards the pair of handcuff Percy remembered he kept in his coat pocket. This guy was getting to him and Percy knew he had to step in before his level headed brother finally blew his fuse.

"I'll deal with it," he piped up and he stepped forward. Eyes homed in on him as Percy raised his hand and flattened his hair feeling nervous under scrutiny of a hundred pairs of glowing eyes.

"Are you sure Perce?" Tyson inquired.

"Yeah, you said to try and work smaller cases to get my mind off so… yeah, I'm sure."

The rounded man scoffed at being called 'a smaller case' but didn't dare speak up after his last attempt.

Turning to face him Percy spoke, "You can wait outside, I'll grab my notebook and we can get started."

The man huffed as he spun around and stormed out; tearing the down open before he slammed it shut. It was like watching a toddler throw a tantrum after not having all the attention on him. He reminded Percy of an angry gnome that his next door neighbour had brought after coming back for an antiques showroom. The furrow of its brow, which made it look like a hairy caterpillar had wriggled its way up there and nested, was almost identical the man's own unibrow. Not to mention the plumpness of their build or the mirrored height.

"Are you sure about this Percy? We could stick Braxton on this instead, he mention that he wanted to do some simple jobs last week."

"Tyson you said I need to do some-"

"I know what I said, but so soon, are you ready?" Tyson interrupted inching closer to Percy and lowering his voice so to not be overheard.

Was he ready? Percy knew that he needed Tyson in most cases to calm him down just as Tyson needed Percy to push him. It had been years since they had performed separate cases; back when they were still climbing up the ranks.

Schooling his expression Percy bobbed his head. He might not be ready but he had to learn to be.

Tyson sighed but returned the nod. He reached into his coat pocket retrieving the pair of handcuff he almost used earlier and placing them into Percy's open hand. "He seems like the wild type. With your… personality that won't mix well, if he tries to attack, or hurt someone, cuff him and call me straight away."

Percy didn't reply but did place the handcuffs into his pocket before walking away.

"Hey, eh, Jackson?" A timid voice cried out from behind. looking back Percy let a smile settle on his face as the figure approached.

"Grover, how you been?" The short man shrugged his shoulders as he scuffed his feet against the floor. Grover's hand rose to the back of his neck and tugged at his hazel locks, a habit Percy recalled him doing whenever he was nervous. The constant darting of his eyes added to his conclusion. Grover tended to work at the desk. He filed reports as he seemed to always crack under pressure ever since he was involved in an armed robbery case and a civilian got shot. She recovered. Yet not without losing a few years in a coma. She personally came in to tell Grover her thanks for saving her, but of course Grover still blamed himself.

Percy placed a hand on Grover's shoulder forcing him to look him in the face. "Something you want to tell me?"

Grover cleared his throat, pushing his shoulders back but allowed Percy to keep his hand there as a confidence boost. "That guy out there, the one you're going with, he's been coming here for years, each time with a different cause of someone to blame, always someone who doesn't like him, which I have to admit is a lot of people he's certainly not a people's person-"

"Grover you're rambling," Percy interjected. Grover seemed to calm down as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths, "The guy's a drunk. He's been coming in for months saying that someone's stolen or wrecked something of him but half the time it's nothing. He's been known to get… aggressive to the officers that have taken his case, so we've been telling him he'll have to file a report or someone will see him. But I guess that was his last straw."

"What are you telling me Underwood?"

"Just be careful alright and don't go looking for clues, I know how you are, 'cause he's probably made this up."

"I'll be careful, alright? Just see if I can see anything, and if not I'll leave," Percy reassured, smiling . Grover's face loosened and that made Percy feel a little bit better at the site; maybe he could help someone today.

Percy once again found himself driving in silence. The sound was deafening on his ears, as he eyed the man sitting next to him. It was probably not a good idea to have him in the front seat, but Percy couldn't deal with another tantrum that he would throw if Percy even suggested he sat in the back.

As he approached a set of red lights Percy reached into his coat pocket. He extracted his notebook, surveying the scratchings he scrawled from the man's interrogation.

Name- Gabe Ugliano

Age- 40

Notes

Ugliano believes that "pizza boy" hot wired his car and drove off after delivering his order (one large pepperoni pizza with stuffed crust).

Suspect was short (around 5 foot 5)

Wavy, black hair

Light brown eyes

Cheery grin

Last seen at approximately 22:00 at 4th Brookman Road

The honking brought Percy back to the present as he stomped on the accelerator with too much force than necessary and pocketed his notebook. He needed to start paying more attention.

"This your place?"

Grunt. Percy took that for a yes. He slipped out of the car, closed the door and approached the door. It was a nice home, which surprised Percy: white picket fence, bright pale blue paint, neat garden and sparkling windows.

Percy waited for the man to open his door, tapping his foot on the ground in an arrhythmic pattern and avoiding eye contact with Gabe, rushing in once open. The inside was also fairly decent as well. The paint on the walls were precise matching the colour of the radiator. Expensive sculptures sat on the tables, shelves and cabinets and even the air smelled fresh. No pictures, Percy noted as he looked around sauntering around.

"Hey! Don't touch anything," Gabe yelled, throwing his keys on the table causing a loud clang to echo through the house. "Just because you're some fancy police officer, doesn't give you a right to go snoopy through my stuff."

Percy raised his arms in surrender and turned back. It was too clean, too plastic, too perfect. Something was up.

Clearing his throat Percy began, "Did you happen to catch the name of this pizza boy?"

Gabe gave an outraged expression. He puckered his face like he had swallowed a particularly sour lemon whole. "Catch his name, no I didn't bloody well catch his name. I couldn't give a damn about the kid he was just delivering my pizza not asking me twenty questions. What kind of officer are you? How the hell did you get this job asking questions like that?"

Percy clenched his jaw. Tyson was right; their personalities did not mix, but Percy couldn't lose his temper this time. He had to prove he was capable to Tyson, to Grover, to even bloody Luke.

Schooling his anger Percy countered, "Well, do you have the number of the pizza place, perhaps a flyer? Did you maybe call them or visit them before you decide to storm into the station?" Or were you too busy throwing a tantrum to think of that? Percy added silently

He had obviously hit a nerve as Gabe choked on air.

"I'll get you the flyer, it's upstairs somewhere," he mumbled marching off.

Listening to the retreating footsteps Percy figured he had about five minutes at the most before he got back. Enough time to figure out what was going on. Percy wouldn't necessarily call it snooping more… investigating.

He tugged at the drawers, which flew open, showcasing how void they were of any possessions. Percy felt behind the cabinets for any clues but soon came up empty. The same answer awaited him as he crouched on his knees under the tables.

Percy grimaced in annoyance trying to listen to the footsteps once more. Gabe must have been near the back of the house as the dull thud of his shoes were drowned out by the quiet.

Percy ran his fingers across the table glaring at his fingertips. He doesn't dust at least, Percy scoffed as he viewed the shelf in front of him. He looked puzzled by the lack of dust as he reached for the glass sculpture on the shelf and tossed it in his hands. Click.

The muffled sound caused Percy to almost drop the glass on the ground and shatter. Turning his head, Percy feathered his fingertips along the vacant area where the sculpture once stood. His fingers ran over a smooth rectangular piece of metal. A magnet. Flipping the sculpture upside down Percy found the same piece of grey metal on the bottom of the glass.

A hidden compartment.

Percy nudged the bottom of the shelf up and watch as it flew open, spewing its contents on the floor.

Rushing forward Percy shuffled through the items. Letters addressed to different names in angry scrawl- Mr Stuart Davidson, Mr Michael Owens, Mr James T. Harrington- all followed a simple pattern of saying that they would pay the addressed to "call it off". Various forms of id's also scattered the floor. Each with different names, ages, origins but the same photo every time. Series of different cast were squashed between the pieces with fake doctors notes attached to each one.

Hearing the familiar sound of footsteps, Percy collected the papers and shoved them in the table next to him . He then clicked the shelf shut with the glass sculpture in place.

"Couldn't find the fucking thing, must have lost it or something," Gabe muttered. "You know what I'll just talk to my insurance company first see what they say then I'll come back to the station if I have to."

"You'll give us a call, won't you?"

"I'm probably just going to forget about this whole thing once I get my car."

"I don't think you will," Percy contradicted stepping closer to Gabe, who gulped. "I don't think that you are going to drop this at all."

Gabe stepped back, grabbing his keys and opening the door. "I think you've overstayed your welcome officer."

"Probably," Percy chuckled, "but I don't really care that much for pleasantries with con artists."

Gabe's complexion paled further in the bright light shining through the windows. His eyes closed and jaw tightened as he squared his shoulders. He looked ready for a fight.

"Get out. Now."

Percy strode ahead smirking, one hand reaching into his pocket the other towards the drawer. "Are you sure? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that the station would be very interested to see what I found."

Before Percy could even tug at the handle Gabe had lunged forward. Gabe outstretched his hands in an attempt to push Percy into the wall but was halted when Percy slammed his elbow into his stomach, winding him. Taking the opportunity Percy gripped Gabe's wrists in a tight hold. He shoved him against the wall, cracking the paint. Pushing him down Percy dove into his pocket, retracted the handcuffs and cuffed him to the radiator with a click.

Gabe struggled against the restraints, "What the hell! Get this off me you bastard! I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? Call the police? Because have I got news for you," Percy patronised, "the police don't typically help criminals."

Crouching down Percy continued, "So what's your deal? You move from town to town changing your name and finding some way to stir up trouble for someone. The you say you're going to sue for getting injured but then settle for a bribe? Come on tell me if I'm close.

"How'd you do it?"

Percy scratched the back of his neck. "Oh look at you making me blush, it wasn't that hard. You came in acting like a drunk, yelling and stumbling. Yet right now you seem as sober as anyone can be definitely not enough time to sober up. You even had the station fooled, but then this house is clean. Too clean. It goes the whole nine yards, even has the white picket fence- nice touch might I add. So you don't want your neighbours to raise any eyebrows but on the inside it's dusty, no photos, nothing personal, just expensive decorations. Point A- you don't stay here often. Point B- you have money.

Now the whole secret compartment was, I have to admit, really cool. It had letters full of people giving you money, with what I assume were your names at the time. They seemed angry, resided, not frustrated enough to go to court but enough to give off a large sum to get you to back off. The casts suggest you pretend to get injured, not from any current injury with the way you were going to throw a punch at the station. This shelf had been opened recently with the lack of dust on it compared to everywhere else, meaning you were planning to con someone soon."

Gabe, or whatever his name was, was silent for a long time.

"Fuck. You."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Percy answered, "So this can go one of two ways. One, you tell me where that pizza place is and I leave. Two, you don't tell me and these documents appear on the front desk of the station. With this much evidence I'm guessing you wouldn't be getting out for a long, long time. So what's it going to be buddy?"

"Luigi's. The name of the place is Luigi's."

"Like the green Mario guy?"

"Yes, like the fucking 'green Mario guy' it's four blocks down and on the right. It's on the corner and you can easily miss it if you don't know you're looking for it, don't know how they're still in business."

Percy nodded standing up. "I guess that's why you went after them."

"No it's fucking not, it's because they stole my fucking car, I wasn't lying to you," Gabe rebutted. "At least not this time."

"Hang on, you own an SUV?"

"Yeah, why?"

"What's your licence plate?"

"C7YDF9, again why?"

It was the same number, Percy didn't even need to check his notepad for confirmation. Whoever stole this guy's car was at the field that night and most likely at the crime scene. Percy need to get there now. He spun on his foot and rushed forward not before grabbing the documents from the drawer.

"Hey dumbass! Unlock me and what the hell are you doing with those, put them back!"

Halting in his movements, Percy looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say I'd uncuff you. I don't even have a key, and for these you come to the station one more time or even think about conning someone again just remember who has the evidence to lock you up for years to come."

"How the hell am I to go to the station if I can't get out of these fucking cuffs?"

"I'll send someone for you," Percy replies walking off, "eventually, of course."

"Asshole!"

A.N- Gabe's a bit of an ass ain't he? In the next chapter Percy goes to investigate the pizza place and possibly meet Jason, Leo and the rest. Next few chapters are more exploring the characters but after that it dives straight into the plot. So, hold on for that!