A/N Crazy travels make for a crazy me. Plus my oldest cat is in the hospital and I am a mess. My poor little man is recovering from surgery and most of my friends don't really understand why I am so upset. -sigh- Don't really have any crazy cat people to talk to about it I guess. Anyway thank you to the handful of you that are reading. It means the world to me. Also, to the strange guest reviewer...um...thanks? This is a short chapter but it seemed fitting to cut it there.
The boys had spent several days trying to make a breakthrough on who was running Kira's Faithful, but had run into obstacles every step of the way. Firewalls and proxy servers kept Matt out of reach much to the redhead's dismay.
Matt pounded his fists on the keyboard, "Son of a bitch! I can't even track him through YouTube with his constant IP address changes."
The blond was twitching at the loud disturbance that had distracted him from reading the chat room. "I'm sorry…"
"Can't Tatana just tell us where the fucker is? A Shinigami has to know where their book is!" Matt was still shouting.
"You are awfully loud for a mortal." A young man suddenly stood in the living room. "Is it really all that necessary to shout?"
Matt opened his mouth to protest and quickly snapped it shut.
"Do you have to constantly appear in different forms? I am getting annoyed with it." Mello glared before turning back to the screen.
"It keeps things interesting. Anyway, as much as I would like to help I can't. The Shinigami that book belonged to is dead. Apparently has been for a long time. This Kira knock off got the book through another Shinigami that acquired it from the dead one. Since he is not the original owner he cannot track it. He claims to not know where the mortal is hiding." Tatana sat on the couch.
The boys looked to the Shinigami king and waited to see if he would add anything to the statement. This form was a tall and slender figure with pale skin and dark black hair with eyes to match. He crossed one leg over the other and smiled at them in silence.
"So you are of no help. Why are you even here?" Matt grumbled.
"You said my name."
Both boys went back to their tasks, irritated by the presence of the Shinigami.
After another moment Mello turned to the man, "Where did the Shinigami drop the book? Does he at least recall that?"
Tatana nodded, "He had said he dropped in a town in California. Redding I believe was the name."
Mello did a search and found the small city. It was in the northern valley along the Sacramento river and was a decent size. It of course had a high tourism rate but also flaunted a high crime rate as well.
"Let's see what deaths have occurred there recently that coincide with the time the book was dropped. When did the Shinigami drop it?"
"Approximately three weeks before the death of Light Yagami." Tatana responded idly.
"Do you think that maybe that information would have been helpful a few days ago when we started this wild goose chase?" Mello was clearly less than pleased.
"I just found out myself. I had to get the information out of the Shinigami by force. They enjoy playing their silly little games and don't want anyone messing with the entertainment." Tatana waved his hand dismissively at Mello.
Matt was already hard at work looking into deaths in the Redding area. "If he treated the book like everyone else has been he would have experimented close to home. A safe target would be a criminal or a homeless person that no one would assume a victim of foul play."
"Unless the guy who has it is a complete sociopath already then he wouldn't care." Mello stood with a stretch. "Besides, this guy is clearly very advanced for just a few weeks with the book. He isn't wasting any time making a show of it."
"Perhaps he isn't working alone. He is tech savvy, hosting a major God complex, and seems to be justice driven. Maybe he has an accomplice helping set all of this up." A cigarette dangled from Matt's lips as he spoke. "Or more than one."
Mello walked into the kitchen to fetch his favorite chocolate. "We know he has to be hacking into the video feeds from all of the locations he broadcasts the murders. Can we try to trace that?"
With another exhale of smoke Matt got to work on exploring the hacked connections. Meanwhile Mello returned to his seat and started another search into the death records of Redding's criminals and homeless.
After hours of searching a clue finally surfaced. In the week just after Light's demise three people in the county jail awaiting trial for charges of murder during an armed robbery were all reported to have had a heart attack while in the dining facility. The span of time between the attacks was mere minutes and had prompted the officials to evacuate the facility out of fear of a toxic gas or contaminant.
Of course no one else suffered any kind of illness or injury and it was dismissed as a freak accident. The one commonality between the three was they were all involved in murdering the same person.
"Mels, take a look at this. These three inmates in the county jail were waiting to be tried in a murder case. All three were involved in a murder of a single individual. None of them would take the blame, but none ratted the others out. The person who was murdered was a father of 3 teenaged girls and 2 middle school aged boys. He was killed when the three broke into the home to rob it. Two of the girls were home and witnessed the attack. It was also caught on camera."
"So they all had a hand in the murder and they can't tell who actually dealt the final blow?" Mello watched the video of the murder.
"This doesn't seem like it was a robbery gone bad. This looks intentional." Matt pointed out. "Look they go in, walk right passed the television and big dollar items and then go straight to where the father is. Also…watch."
Matt reversed the video to just a few minutes before the other members of the family had left. The oldest of the three daughters put her key into the lock as if to lock it, but never turned it. Then she took the boys and mother and left.
"She didn't lock the door?" Mello questioned, "Maybe she realized that there was no need with her father there?"
"Let me check through the history of her habits and see if she normally locked it when a parent is home."
It took nearly an hour before Matt sighed and looked at Mello.
"Let me guess, she normally locks the door?"
"Every single time. No matter who is home or what time it is. She always locks it."
Mello stared at the computer screen, "She left that door open on purpose. I think it might be time to observe her in person. Tatana?"
The Shinigami king had still been on the couch, "Still here."
"Oh, I thought you left." Matt blinked.
"Nope, you two get awfully focused when you are working." He chuckled.
"We need to go to California. I assume you will meet us there?" Mello crossed his arms.
"Have fun boys!" Tatana disappeared.
"Matt…you know what to do." Mello walked off to pack a bag.
Matt smiled, lit another cigarette and started working on fake passports and aliases. Now this was fun for him. He contemplated what Mello's name would be on the passport and decided a name that would piss the blonde off probably wasn't the best idea and settled for a normal run of the mill American name. Once the books were properly made and passed every security check Matt went to pack his own bag.