Bucky should be working.
Bucky should be working on the Hitachi murders that he knows are in direct relation to a recent rise in Seabrook cartels, potentially a new group on the scene that he can't pin down for the life of him. But instead of bringing closure to Aya Hitachi, grandmother to Jon and Ema Hitachi (both murdered and left for dead in an alley in Zombietown for no. apparent. reason.), he's sitting in his office, Dirk Johnston, a new officer in his unit, across from him with his stupid notepad and pen.
"This better be fucking good, Johnston," Bucky grumbles.
"There's been an update in the Necrodopolis case, sir."
And, well, that catches his attention. Zed Necrodopolis, son of Zevon Necrodopolis, head of the entire 'Zombie' operation. Seabrook Police Department's white whale, so to speak. They'd taken down goons and low level guys before, but they'd spent twenty five years trying to dismantle the entire thing and put Zevon behind bars. Bucky spent his entire time in organized crime trying to bring down Zevon Necrodopolis, and just when he got close, he disappeared. The rumors on the streets said he died, but there was no record of it.
Now they were starting almost from scratch, trying to bring down the new guy in charge: Zed Necrodopolis.
Bucky raises an eyebrow at Johnston, careful not to give too much away, not to get his hopes up. Like his father, Zed Necrodopolis was good at keeping clean. He never kept the same company for too long, never did any of the dirty work himself. Hell, he never even made a phone call giving an order.
"He's been spotted at Dezzy's Delicious Diner."
Bucky rolls his eyes, biting back every insult he can think of. Zed Necrodopolis, at a diner owned by Zed Necrodopolis? How shocking. "That's not news, Johnston. We already know he visits all his businesses once every few months —"
"He's been spotted there nearly everyday for the past month, at least," Johnston interrupts. "Sometimes in the mornings, sometimes at closing, sometimes during the day. There's not much of a pattern to it, not one we can find at least. Some days he goes in, some days he doesn't. Eliza Zambi isn't even there half the times he's been seen there."
"Hm." That is strange. Zed Necrodopolis was smart. He never did anything dirty at his legal businesses. The only thing that came close to was his nightclub, but it was so above the bar that young kids avoided the place so as to not seem lame. Plus, Necrodopolis liked to keep his public appearances to the minimum. "Can we get eyes on this? Subpoena their cameras or something?"
"We can try to find something to get a warrant," Johnston says.
"Good," Bucky replies. Johnston stands, moving for the door. "Hey!" He stops and turns back to Bucky, "Let's keep this between you and me, okay? I don't wanna get Chief's hopes up if we can't actually stick something to Necrodopolis."
Johnston nods. "Understood."
Johnston leaves, pulling the door shut behind him. Bucky spares his previous work a half hearted glance. He's too focused on Necrodopolis now to get any work done.
The diner was the pride and joy of the Necrodopolis family. It was the one place in their web that was always untouched, unbothered. Hell, if they ever caught word of a cop poking their nose around, someone always ended up dead or out of a job. Bucky knew the basics: Zevon's ex-wife owned the place, and when she passed their children, Zed and Zoey, inherited it all.
What most people didn't know, though, was Bucky and Chief Wells were extra careful around the diner too. Addison Wells, Bucky's baby cousins and Chief's daughter, worked there almost everyday. Unbeknownst to most in the unit, Bucky kept an extra eye out on the place, making sure Addison stayed far away from his world.
So how did he miss Zed Necrodopolis?
Bree shuffles inside of her apartment half past eight in the morning. Exhausted, overworked, and barely able to blink her eyes, she deposits her bags and keys down by the front door, vaguely remembering to move them after a long nap.
"Bree? That you!"
Bree sighs. The reason for her double shifts lately, standing in the kitchen on his way out the door for his own job.
"Yeah, babe!"
Bonzo. The love of her life and the current bane of her existence. When he first told her about what he really did, he promised to keep her as far removed from the Necrodopolis World as possible. And now, her oldest friend was dating the leader of the biggest mafia in Seabrook. Peachy.
Bonzo walks out of the kitchen, already dressed, sipping from his travel mug. "Hey, how was work?" he asks.
"Fine. Lisa called out again today so I'm thinking of taking her shift tonight."
"Oh."
Bree nods. "I-uh, I gotta go shower. You heading out?"
"Yeah. Just a few errands, though. Zed's going out of town for a few days." With Addison. He doesn't say it, but Bree knows. It's all Willa and Wynter could talk about — Addison's mysterious new boyfriend who whisked her away in every single way. If only they knew the truth.
"Okay. Have a good day, babe." She kisses his cheek, then heads to their bedroom, making a beeline for the shower.
She hears the front door close and sighs. Their stupid cat and mouse can't keep on. Her and Bonzo haven't had much of a proper conversation in weeks. He thinks it's not too bad if Addison dates Zed, and Bree can't stand the thought of Addison getting hurt because of Zed.
So much for keeping his work life separate from her personal life, huh?
She disposes of her scrubs, fishing her phone out of the pocket of her jacket as she heads into the bathroom. Her screen comes to life with a few missed texts from Bonzo, checking in and making sure she got out of work okay, a reminder from Willa about lunch, and a missed call and voicemail from…Addison?
Bree frowns at her phone. It'd been nearly a month of silence, no calls, no texts. Something must be wrong, horribly, terribly wrong! Bree clicks on the voicemail in an instant.
"Hi Bree." Hearing Addison's voice again instantly calms her. Especially after she realizes Addison sounds…content. Not sad, or scared, just normal. "I…I just wanted to say that I miss you, and I'm sorry about our fight. You're my best friend, and I miss having you around. I know you don't like Zed. But Bree, he's…he's the first guy I've ever dated who gets me. I really feel like we could be something extraordinary. I don't care if you like him, I just want you back in my life. You can shit on my boyfriend all you want, okay?" Addison chuckles to herself on the line. "Just, please. Could we talk? Face to face?"
Bree lets it play again.
She plays it a third time, just for good measure.
She hates icing out her best friend. She hates it more than she hates the thought of Addison and Zed together. But she still doesn't know what to do.
Shower. Clear her head, hopefully.
Bucky walks into Dezzy's Delicious Diner, prepped and equipped with enough excuses that he could hang out there for hours. He may not catch Zed Necrodopolis visiting that day, but he may be able to connect to their security servers and see some footage from previous visits. The manager, Eliza Zambi, had a nearly foolproof encryption, but every once in a while, with a lot of dedication, Bucky could get into their security system. As long as Eliza wasn't around.
Willa Lykensen, someone Bucky knew worked for Necrodopolis, although he still doesn't know in what capacity, stands at the register. Her already neutral expression turns sour when she sees him.
"Lieutenant Buchanan," she greets drily.
"Willa."
"Addison isn't here," she states. "So you're dealing with me today."
Bucky frowns. Addison works basically everyday (the unfortunate karma she gets for disappointing her parents and subsequently getting cut off).
"Where is she?"
"Ya know, not really my place to say. Shouldn't you know the who's who and what's what with your blood, Buck?"
Bucky glares at her. Willa rolls her eyes. "She took the weekend off, and that's all I know. Now are you gonna order or not?"
"No." Bucky huffs, straightening out his jacket. Now it was up to Johnston and his steakout team, but that could take weeks. "Bye, Willa."
She plasters on a fake smile, waving. "Have a shit day, Bucky," she says cheerily.
Bucky ignores her, marching back out of the diner. He doesn't want to rely on Johnston, but now it seems like he doesn't have much of a choice. He could try to come back during the week, when he knows Addison will be there, but then he risks Eliza seeing him and forcibly putting himself on Zed Necrodopolis's radar.
As Bucky walks through the parking lot, he notices a man dressed in dark grey and deep, royal blue hanging around his vehicle. An unfamiliar, highly suspicious man. Someone must have tipped off Zed Necrodopolis. Bucky reaches into his back pocket, pulling out his gun. He keeps it tucked by his side, hidden in his coat as he approaches the man.
"Lieutenant Buchanan," the man calls out. He steps toward him, his blue hair reflecting brightly in the sun lightly.
"Who are you?"
The man smirks and chuckles. "Call me your guardian angel, Buchanan." He stops in front of Bucky, holding out a yellow Manila folder. "Merry early Christmas."
Bucky scowls at the folder. For all he knows it could be full of dog shit. Plus, it's the middle of September. Everything about this guy is shady.
"You do wanna find out who Zed Necrodopolis has been sneaking around with, don't you?" He smirks. Bucky opens his mouth, flabbergasted, but the blue haired man cuts him off. "Don't worry about how I know, just take this information before it isn't free anymore, hm?"
He shouldn't. If Chief Wells found out he was getting information from suspicious, shady men outside public enemy number one's best business, he'd be a dead man. But…well.
Bucky takes the envelope, then quickly brushes past the man. The man in question snorts, continuing to walk away. "See you soon, Bucky," he calls over his shoulder.
The door to their dark SUV opens, Alan sliding into the passenger seat with ease and a chuckle. Ali glares at him as he sits and closes the door. "Did you see the look on his face?" he asks through a chuckle.
Ali glares and rolls her eyes. Sometimes she really couldn't stand him. "Idiot," she grumbles.
"I thought it was funny."
From the backseat, Aspen groans and says, "Both of you, stop."
Ali straightens under the scrutiny of their fearless leader. "Sorry," she quickly says.
They watch Lieutenant Buchanan get into his car and drive away, carrying an envelope perfectly curated to set off his every nerve and hopefully speedrun the fall of Zed Necrodopolis.
"Remind me again what this waitress has to do with taking down Necrodopolis?" Aspen asks.
"He's basically in love with her," Ali says.
"She's just some girl of the week."
"He took her to his house today. He never does that." Ali points out.
"Plus," Alan adds, "she's Chief Wells's only daughter. Once he finds out his precious baby girl is dating his sworn enemy, he's going to redirect all his attention and resources to putting Zed behind bars and keeping him away from Addison."
Ali rolls her eyes. "I was getting there, but whatever."
"Will you two stop bickering already?" Aspen asks, exasperated. "Buchanan and Wells have the pictures. Now let's focus on Necrodopolis."
Ali huffs, but doesn't argue.
"We need to get your hands on his files." Aspen reminds them.
"Right," Alan says. "Ali, get us back to the office so we can review the mansion layout."
Ali shoots him a glare. "I'll drive, but not because you said so."
Bonzo comes home a little before noon. It's early, way earlier than he ever gets home. Especially when he's just 'running errands.' Bree cuts her sandwich in half, grabbing another plate from the cabinet and putting it aside for him.
"You're back early," she says.
Bonzo drops his keys and coats on the kitchen table, then greets her with a kiss. "Z's off to his lake house for a few days —"
"With Addison?"
Bonzo pauses. She looks over her shoulder at him. "It's okay, I won't freak out."
"Yeah, with Addison," he says. "I-uh-I actually saw her today."
"Really?" Bonzo nods. "How…How is she?"
"You know how Addison is," he says offhandedly. Bree arches an eyebrow, so he elaborates. "Something happened during the week, I think. She was sad, but Zed made her smile. She was being really clingy in the car, too."
There were only three things that ever made Addison upset enough that it showed through her usual peppy mask: her birthday, the anniversary of her brother's passing, or seeing her parents again. It was too late in the year for either of the first two, which meant Missy and Dale Wells got their hands on Addison again.
And Bree wasn't there to support her.
Sure, it wasn't Bree's job to support Addison, but they'd been through nearly everything together. Addison got Bree and Bree got Addison in ways no one else could understand.
Things start to click into place after that. Addison being upset by her parents and Zed going out of town for a few days. He was trying to take her mind off of things. And he sure as hell was doing a better job than Bree was.
"What's on your mind?" he asks.
"I'm an awful best friend."
"What? Don't say that! You're a great friend, you guys are just in a rough patch."
"She called me this morning. She-She wants to talk things out."
Bonzo eyes her, nervous and weary. Bree takes a shaky breath. She doesn't know what to do either!
"Did you call her back?" he asks carefully.
"Not yet…"
"Don't," he warns her. "Wait until Monday. She's not gonna get much service at the lake house anyway. And, if you're that worried about her, let her have those two days stress free."
Bree sighs, knowing he's right. "Do you think they're good together? Zed and Addison?"
Bonzo shrugs. "I don't know Addison that well, but I've never seen Zed happier than when he's with her." Bonzo picks up his sandwich, taking a bite. "How was work?"
Bree frowns. She loves working in a hospital, helping people, and she loved all the people she got to work with in the maternity ward. Even with cute babies and excited moms-to-be, people still die. No matter what happens, no matter how hard they try, people just die.
"Bad shift."
Bonzo's arms wrap around her from behind. He nuzzles a kiss to her cheek and she melts in his arms. "Let's watch some shitty daytime TV, hm?" Bonzo suggests.
She nods, letting him lead her to their living room.
He can't believe it.
He really, really can't believe it.
In grainy black and white, almost like it were a still from a security camera, there was Addison, in the diner, kissing Zed Necrodopolis across the counter.
Zed Necrodopolis. Kissing Bucky's baby cousin. In broad fucking daylight.
The timestamp told him it was only a few days ago, the day he last saw her in person. There were dozens of pictures from the past three weeks, some of Zed and Addison at fancy restaurants, some of him driving her around town, even one of them getting aboard his stupid fucking boat.
"Fuck." He was fucked.
If Chief Wells found out about this, he'd personally see to it the fucking execution of Zed Necrodopolis. It'd put a wrench in the entire case.
But Bucky couldn't sit by and let Addison stay with this monster. She could be hurt. Seriously hurt. He has to warn her.