sorry this one took a little longer than usual!
As soon as the transmission ended, every head turned to look at Bad Cop.
"Deputy," said the officer who'd called him over. "What do we do?"
The channel that Kinzel had hijacked to send out his message resumed its previous programming, and Bad Cop stepped forward and stabbed his finger at the TV's off button before facing the room. "Kinzel said that he'd left hints around. I have a list that may be of help, but I need some time to look it over. In the meanwhile, I want you to split up into groups and investigate each of the stations that were hit with a fine-toothed comb. Anything strange at all should be bagged and tagged." He gritted his teeth. Ordinarily, he would have had Benny go over the list Business had given them while Bad Cop organized the teams. That was obviously not an option right now, and Jenkins was getting some well-deserved rest, so he scanned the crowd for familiar faces. He spotted one and barked, "Sergeant Yancy!"
The middle-aged man jumped in surprise and hurried to the front. "Sir?"
Yancy was fairly good at directing and organizing people. He would do. "I want you to be in charge of the investigation teams," Bad Cop said. "Make sure every station that was attacked is covered, as well as the place and car Emmet was kidnapped from."
Yancy nodded. "Yes, sir!" he replied.
"Good," Bad Cop said, and pushed his way back to his desk. He flopped into the chair and put his head in his hands, tangling his fingers in his hair.
Are you okay? Benny asked, even though he already knew the answer.
He's all alone, Ben, Bad Cop replied, trying not to shake. He's never been alone. At least I… He swallowed. At least I had the leisure of locking myself in my apartment and not dealing with anything.
Leisure, huh? Benny asked dryly.
Compared to being kidnapped by a madman, Bad Cop said. I think I had it easier. Before Benny could reply, Bad Cop changed the subject. Do you think you can sleep?
What? Benny sounded incredulous.
In all likelihood, we're going to need to keep going for forty-eight hours. If we take turns sleeping, we'll be able to do that without becoming too exhausted.
I dunno, Benny said doubtfully. I think I'm too nervous.
Please try, Bad Cop replied. At least just get a couple hours in. You'll feel better, and then we can switch and I'll sleep.
Benny radiated reluctance, but he said, Alright. I'll try.
Thank you. I'll wake you up if something new happens, okay?
That seemed to ease some of Benny's worry, and Bad Cop felt the spaceman begin trying to relax. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey," said a voice.
Bad Cop snapped his head up. Wyldstyle was standing in front of his desk. "Bad Cop?" she asked.
Bad Cop nodded.
She sighed and hopped up to sit on the desk. "It's funny," she said. "Everyone thinks Benny's pretending to be Bad Cop since you're 'not here'." She put air quotes around the last two words.
Bad Cop leaned back in his chair. "Perhaps we'd best leave it that way." He paused. "And everyone's been acting normal about it?"
Wyldstyle shrugged. "Benny's got a reputation for being really weird. You know that."
"Well, yeah," Bad Cop said. "But…"
Wyldstyle raised her eyebrows at him.
"Yeah, okay," Bad Cop conceded. He ran his hands over the sheet of paper in front of him, smoothing out the creases. "Business was here a little before the transmission," he said, holding up the list. "He gave me this. I think it might be of use. You've been assisting Emmet with the construction projects, so you'd probably be the best person right now to help me figure out if there are any clues in here."
Wyldstyle took the paper and glanced over it before looking back at Bad Cop. "If Business is the one who made the list, wouldn't it be better to ask him for help?"
Bad Cop's expression darkened, and that was apparently answer enough for Wyldstyle. She pursed her lips and turned her attention to the paper. After a moment, she said, "We need a map of the city."
Benny was tired. He'd slept at the hospital after Good Cop's first accident, but it had been restless. Benches and chairs aren't the best places to get a good night's sleep. So if he had to sleep now, he was certainly weary enough.
But the encounter with Business nagged at him. He hadn't been able to capture clear images of the thoughts and memories that had gone racing through Bad Cop's mind, and he was glad for that. It had been a moment that Benny probably shouldn't have even been present for, never mind sharing the same head.
The general nature of Business and Bad Cop's relationship, though, had been apparent enough. Benny wondered why he hadn't realized it sooner. There were so many little hints that had been left lying around. Bad Cop had a lot of scars that were older than T.A.K.O.S. Tuesday's, and Benny had thought they had been acquired over the years in the line of duty, but in retrospect more than a few of them looked an awful lot like the scars that Benny knew Business had made.
Benny didn't really want to think about the heady rush Bad Cop had felt upon realizing the power scales had been tipped in his favor. It had been an unsettling reminder of the darkness Bad Cop was capable of.
Things outside had calmed down now, though. Wyldstyle was saying something about a map, and Benny forced himself to settle. Worrying right now would do more harm than good. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.
They spread out the map on the long table in the conference room. Wyldstyle had marked off on the list which construction sites had seemed the most targeted, and now she was circling their locations on the map. They were mostly focused in the more northeastern part of the city, but other than that, there didn't seem to be any pattern to them.
Bad Cop narrowed his eyes. "Here, let me have the marker."
Wordlessly, Wyldstyle handed it over to him, and he circled the police stations that had been hit. There were four of them – the main station, one slightly northeast of it, another near the east wall, and one in the South Side.
Still, no apparent pattern.
Then Wyldstyle said, "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."
Bad Cop raised an eyebrow at her, but she wasn't looking at him. She snatched the marker out of his hand and drew three quick lines.
Bad Cop groaned.
The spots they'd marked formed an arrow pointing directly at the Northeast Projects.
Wyldstyle looked at him. "This has to be a joke."
Bad Cop pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is, to Kinzel anyway. He probably thinks it's hilarious. This is our hint. He's in the Northeast Projects."
Wyldstyle shook her head. "It can't be that easy." She pointed to the South Side station, which was the only one that was too far out of the way to be part of the arrow. "What's with that?"
"I don't know," Bad Cop replied, drumming his fingers on the table. "It's definitely suspicious. I'll have Yancy send extra people to that station. But in the meanwhile," he continued, rolling up the map. "You and I are going to the Projects."