Wrestling the Kraken

Mahone

Mahone

Mahone and Stavo were at their desks, quietly going over paperwork, while the station around them buzzed. Stavo glanced around him, then at Mahone, then continued working.

"What?" Mahone grunted, not looking up.

Stavo looked around again, then rose to lean against Mahone's desk. Pretending to be interested in the file in his hand, Stavo spoke in a low voice, "I heard from the suits that another body was found this morning."

Mahone looked up. "Where?"

"Dugger street." Stavo gave a smirk, knowing that Mahone was up for it.

"That's right here in our neighborhood." Mahone got up. "Come on." He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and looked behind him. The Captain was standing by his desk on the phone, with the door closed, his back to the window.

"I'll drive." Stavo said and they both walked out of the station.

At the scene the agents were still processing the ally. The area was sectioned off by caution tape with an officer standing guard. Mahone and Stavo walked up to the officer, flashing their badges to the rookie cop.

"So what's going on?" Mahone asked.

The officer looked over his shoulder and saw the agents with their backs turned, standing over the body. "It's Mrs. Rossini and she had a rose. Body was reported early this morning by an anonymous call. They didn't stick around by the time we got out here, but some lady was out walking her dog."

"Where's this lady?" Stavo asked.

"Gone. The agents took her statement and let her go. She was a real chatty one too, asking a lot of questions."

"Did you happen to catch her name? Mahone asked.

"No. Sorry." The officer replied, shaking his head.

One of the agents in the alley raised his head, seeing them talking to the officer. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" He walked over.

His partner, hearing the commotion, followed suit, placing his sunglasses on. "They're from precinct fifty-eight."

"Can I help you gentlemen?" The other agent stopped just before the caution tape on the other side of the officer.

"You boys confused? This is our case now." Sunglasses said, acting smug.

Mahone, touching the side of his nose with his thumb, took a deep sigh, then straightened up. "We were in the neighborhood..." He shrugged, "... thought we'd stop by, you know, see if we could lend a hand or something."

The agent looked at his partner with the sunglasses. "This guy." He said with a snicker. Then he turned to face Mahone. "Look, fellas, we appreciate the offer, but this is our case now. We'll let you know when we need some lunch."

"Is that right?" Mahone straightened up, squaring off his shoulders.

"Yeah, you boys had a shot at the case already, along with that other precinct, and came up with nothing. The murders are spread across state lines, so it should have landed on our desk sooner. Now unless you boys have a lead you'd like to share, we gotta get back to work."

"Look here, wise guys," Mahone stepped forward. " You ain't doing better yourselves either. You had this case about as long as we did. Solve it yet hotshots?"

Stavo placed a hand out front. "Hey, look we're all on the same team here, alright." Stavo reached out to shake their hands. "Look, fellas, good luck on the case. Let us know if there's anything you need."

The agents returned to processing the scene. Putting a hand on Mahone's back, Stavo led him away.

"I didn't realize you were so diplomatic." Mahone said under his breath.

"I got three sisters and I'm the youngest. It's be diplomatic or get eaten alive." Stavo led Mahone down the street.

"Hey, where we going? The car's back that way."

"You heard that kid. This lady with loose lips found the body. You know anyone around here that willing to talk to cops? Stavo asked.

"No, snitches earn a death sentence around here."

"Exactly. Vito's place is just up ahead. I say we pay him a visit." Stavo looked at Mahone and saw that he caught on to the idea.