Marcus sighed as he leafed through reports. He grabbed the mug of now cold coffee off of his desk and took a swig.
There wasn't much on the disappearance of the two boys. A couple of contacts, addresses, but no information on the investigation itself.
"It's like someone opened it but didn't do any fucking investigating." Danny growled, gripping a handful of papers in one fist as he cross referenced the file on his computer.
"It's not looking good Danny. Maybe we should just hit up the phone, ah fucking, scroll numbers and see what we find. There's not even an entry for who opened this case. Chances are, well, you know how some people have been in the past D. And it's been what? Eight months since this case was opened?"
"I know." He bit out," I know we aren't finding these kids Marcus, but, fuck. I wish someone had actually tried." He knew this was going to be difficult for his friend, no matter how it went, but he had hoped the situation would be, not this. Either the record keeping was atrocious, or someone hadn't done their jobs correctly.
Or maybe someone had.
He slapped shut the binder and tossed it on his desk before downing the rest of the mug in one go,"Ah, alright, let's go find his relatives. Maybe we can learn something."
Marcus tossed the papers on his desk and grabbed his coat, following Marcus out of the office.
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, the sun out shining and the look of hard wet rain clinging stubbornly to the buildings from the night before.
Marcus and Danny stepped out of the Impala freshly showered, black jackets shining as they made their way up to the steps of the apartment. Everything two homicide detectives should be, they were.
It was a seedy area, and people scattered as they walked through, V.P.D. printed in bold blue on their windbreakers. Marcus nodded to Danny before hitting the buzzer for apartment number sixty-eight. The apartment of one Scarlet Moreno, single mother to Sylvan and Sylvester Moreno.
"Hello? Is that you Detective?" A timid voice questioned from the intercom.
"Yes ma'am," Marcus answered,"Detectives Santiago and McDaniels."
He leaned off the intercom and waited for the door to open, which happened almost instantly.
"Hello detectives, you said you had something to speak with me about?" Ms. Moreno asked.
She stood in the door all of a hundred and sixty pounds soaking wet. Her dark hair and chestnut eyes did nothing to distract from the redness that showed she had obviously been weeping before they had arrived, though from her voice they would have thought she was unphased.
"Yes ma'am. May we come inside?" Danny asked, taking his hat in his hands and bowing his large head down a few inches in apology.
She hesitated a moment, eyes searching them and evaluating them as they in turn did the same. "Yes, please come in." She announced, before stepping to the side so that they may enter.
She closed the door behind them and then guided them to the living room, where hot tea sat waiting on a small wooden coffee table. It was warm, simply the only way to describe the home. The walls were littered with pictures of a smiling woman laughing with her two boys on a beach. The short pixie bob haircut looked so different from what she sported now. The woman turned back to look at them, ponytail high and tight as she gestured to the couch for them to sit.
"Please," She said, emotion beginning to creep into her voice," Have you, found my boys?"
Her voice almost cracked, though, her eyes hardened at this, strained expression settling on her lips.
Danny spoke first as he sat gently on the couch, trilby held firm to his chest as he searched for the words to say.
"I'm sorry to say we don't know anything ma'am. That's why we're here Ms. Moreno."
Her face flared in aggravation, and then, after a moment, it shifted to confusion.
"What do you mean you don't know anything?" Her voice was strained, though she kept her hands clasped gently around her teacup.
Marcus looked at Danny, before deciding to elaborate.
"Ah, well Ms. Moreno, we weren't assigned to your son's case, we are here because we believe your sons' disappearance may be linked to a separate case that we are on. We looked in the case file, and there isn't any information whatsoever. We decided to come directly to you to see if you could shed some light on what happened ma'am."
She closed her eyes for a moment, breath shakily escaping her before she simply raises the teacup to her mouth and begins to sip. After a moment she calms herself and opens her eyes.
"You mean to say, that there's been nothing done to find my boys this whole time?"
Danny nodded sadly, shame evident in his eyes,"I'm sorry ma'am. We don't even know who was supposed to be working the case. The file is as empty as I've ever seen one, pretty much only your information Ms. Moreno."
Her voice cut through the somber mood of the room," I told them it was that fucking book store."
Her voice was accusatory. Adamant.
"Told who ma'am?" Santiago said, whipping out a small pocket notebook, flipping it open to an empty page and waiting.
"That cop, the big redhead, Windmesser or something." She said, setting her teacup down.
"Windmesser?" McDaniels said to himself, before meeting her eyes," Winchester?"
She nodded, folding her arms," I think so. He was dismissive. It took a week before he agreed to look for my boys. He kept saying they were probably at a friend's house, and everytime I called about filing a missing persons report, he was the one to show up. Him and the green one."
Marcus shot Danny a look before furiously scribbling down things in his notebook, brows furrowed and jaw set as he began making notes of who to call.
"Does this mean you'll be looking for my boys now?" She said tiredly. Her previously fierce demeanor had faded, and what remained before the two men made their throats tight. They had mothers too after all.
McDaniels leaned forward,"I will find your boys if it's the last thing I do ma'am. The Vale police department will not fail you twice."
Santiago spoke up then, still looking down at his notepad,"I'm sorry Ms. Moreno, you said something about a bookstore?"
She nodded firmly," Tukson Book Trade. They were going to buy some ninja book. And they never came back. I told them to be careful. At that point, there were a lot of troublemakers in that area."
She turned away and took a deep breath before looking back.
McDaniel stood and Marcus followed suit.
"Give her our numbers would you Marcus? Give her Rachel's too."
Santiago nodded and flipped to a fresh sheet before ripping it out and handing it to her.
"We're going to get started on this right away Ms. Moreno, those are our numbers if you need anything, and I mean anything. Detective McDaniels here would also like you to have his sister's number. We aren't good with words like she is, but we are good at finding people."
He shrugged," So if you need to talk you call her, and I guarantee she'll solve any problem you can talk through better than we ever could. If you need something else, if there are any other problems, you call us and we will handle it."
He moved to leave but she stepped around the table to grab McDaniels shoulder.
"Please bring them home, officer, I can't do this again."
And with that, she stepped back and smiled, strained though it was. There were no tears in her eyes, though she seemed to deflate a little.
"Of course ma'am. We'll call you when we find them." Danny said softly as he stepped around her and moved towards the door,"You have my word."
And with that, they left. The walk down to the Impala was heavy with silence. The wet sheen that had coated the city had been warmed by the sun. A light fog obscured the distant buildings and corners, but that was okay. They knew where they needed to go.
The walk down to the Impala was silent, like a spell had been cast between the two of them. The Impala turned over and Santiago slowly pulled off as the radio kicked on.
Some news report about White Fang robbing a dust shop. Some kid had intervened- "So what are we doing?" Danny said, breaking the silence and interrupting Marcus' thought process.
He sighed as he tossed his notes over one handed, gazing forwards as he took a right,"I'd say the book store. I don't feel like dealing with Winchester right now. We'll just bring that up to the boss later or something."
Danny shrugged before flipping through the notes," What are we going to do about him though. Are we gonna Roger Cumstone his shit?"
Marcus snorted as he slowed to a halt at a red light,"I don't think we'd get away with that buddy. Sure as shit not gonna mince words. Hey, why don't you search up this book store, tell me if you get anything on the guy that owns it."
"Already did in the elevator, nada. It's a gray day in Yankee stadium brother." McDaniels said quietly.
"Why the fuck do you have to make it so ominous Danny, Jesus dude." Santiago chuckled, flicking on a turn signal.
"I'll die of fucking boredom if I don't Marcus. Just hurry up and get us there man." Danny said, slumping in his seat as he tossed the notes back.
"Why did we choose cops, Marcus? We literally just could have written fucking songs, well, stolen songs, but still."
Santiago shrugged,"Well, 'cause no matter how lazy we want to be, we spiral into self-destructive tendencies the moment we struggle to justify our worth to society. Quit making me think Danny, you're ruining the one thing I enjoy."
"Thinking?" He chuckled," That's dangerous."
Marcus laughed as he pulled over into a small parking lot. Running a hand through his shaggy brown hair, he looked at the campaign hat on his dash, before thinking better of it and popping the door. "C'mon you whore. Time to chase a lead."
It took McDaniels a few moments to actually gather the courage to step out of the vehicle. When he did it was as if he was a different person, a carefree smile plastered on his face and a tune on his lips.
"Born a Diamond, Die a Spade." He called over to Marcus in a throaty tenor.
Marcus, for his part, simply shook his head smiling and waited at the door for his partner.
"Shall we?" Danny said, opening the door without waiting for an answer.
The bookstore wasn't set up how they expected. Instead of the neat rows they'd visualized, there were isolated bookshelves and diagonal rows breaking up the pattern of the store, though it didn't matter much as they had a straight shot to the desk and that's all they needed to focus on.
"Hello!" A masculine voice called from somewhere in the back of the store," Be there in a moment!"
Marcus pulled out the notebook and flipped to an empty page before jotting down a few words.
As he finished a man came out of the back room, mutton chops and short black hair framed the face of Tukson, the owner.
The man slowed as he took in their uniforms but otherwise appeared unbothered.
"Morning officers, can I help you find something to read by chance?"
It was obvious he knew they weren't here for books, still, Danny appreciated the attempt at levity.
He chuckled half heartedly before getting down to business,"Nah old timer, just got a few questions if you wouldn't mind."
The man's eyes narrowed a fraction but he didn't seem to be flighty quite yet.
"Ask away then, officers." He said in a more reserved manner.
Santiago stepped forwards with his notepad ready, scratching at his beard before he began.
"Know anything about those two boys that went missing a few months back? The Morenos?"
Tuksons eyes widened and he took a half step back," Wha- they haven't been found yet? It's been months!"
Danny nodded as a frown deepened on his face, mirroring the one forming on the book store owner,"Yeah. Off the record? We came across this case as it may be linked to ours, imagine our surprise when we found out there was no follow up. We're here to fix that."
McDaniels placed his hands on his hip and glanced over to Marcus for a second before turning back to Tukson.
"Anything you can tell us would be appreciated. We spoke to the boys' mother already but she said they were last seen here."
Tukson nodded, and crossed his arms as he leaned against the desk, his eyes darting between the two as he began to relay information.
"They came in looking for a uh, well it was smut, the older one came in looking for a smut book and the younger one wanted some comics. Told the older one to pick something else, gave the younger one his comic, and then well, they left."
"Is that all?" Marcus asked, looking up from his green notepad.
"Uh, well," Tukson started, scratching his elbow and frowning down at the desk," A man came in just after they left, claiming they were his nephews, didn't believe him so I said I wasn't sure. Did the other officers not tell you any of this?"
Santiago looked up and cooked his head at Tukson,"Which officers?"
Tuksons face morphed into an expression of grim understanding.
"I'm, sure I have their names written down somewhere. One moment officers."
With that, Tukson began rifling through drawers, papers and folders being slapped on the desk as he searched for the correct one.
McDaniels turned around and began perusing one of the shelves as he put a cigarette between his lips and idly chewed on the butt. The two of them shared a glance as they waited but otherwise stood silent at Tukson finally stood up with a small blue sticky note.
"Ah! Here we go. Sergeant Winchester and Officer Green." He said, handing it over.
Marcus sneered at the name on the note before a sigh escaped him and he put it into the notepad. Wiping a heavy hand across his face he looked back towards the bookkeep.
"And one last thing? This guy that came in looking for the boys? What'd he look like?" Santiago asked. Mcdaniels placed his hands on his hips and closed his eyes, ready to visualize the mans' description.
"Older, beefy, had an eyepatch and a very raspy voice. He was a, uh, faunus, but I couldn't tell ya what type." Tukson said, suddenly looking like he'd eaten something unpleasant. The man stepped back and began placing the paperwork back under the counter as he took glances at the detectives.
The detectives for their part locked eyes and McDaniels attempted to stealthily slap Santiago's leg, which resulted in the two of them going back and forth, swatting at each other's legs, excitement building before violently coming to a halt as Tukson stood up and stared at them.
Santiago coughed. "Uh, ahem," He reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a card with his number on it," If you can think of anything else, let us know," He said, handing it over.
"Of course, can you tell me if you find them?" Tukson asked.
"Of course sir. You have a good day and call us if you need anything at all." McDaniels replied as they walked towards the door. The duo exited the book store with an expanded list and confirmation, but McDaniels hung his head as they walked to the car. The closer they got to finding the boys, the more reality set in.
The chances of the two men finding these boys alive were slim to none. And McDaniels knew he would be the one to break the news, and dreaded every moment they inched closer or found another clue. But that was the draw of missing persons cases. You would bring someone home one way or another and there were no gray areas like other fields. It's why this was such a good change of pace for the two of them. McDaniels got to do real detective work. With no gray areas.
He looked at Santiago, the only friend he had in the world, this world the two of them never asked for, and he smiled in grim satisfaction.
He'd be okay, he knew.
Santiago reached out and sent a jab at Danny's shoulder as they finished buckling up.
"We'll be fine. You'll see Danny."
Marcus Santiago forced an easy smile on his face as he drove back towards the station, knuckles white against the steering wheel as he tried to convince his friend things would be okay.