Unexpected 1: Trojan Horse

Chapter 1 : Prologue

It was just a normal day in the office. All the members of 20 Squad were getting ready to get their chores of the day. As Street and Tan chatted about their weekend events, including a GTA marathon of over 26 straight hours, Deacon told Chris all about his youngest daughter's first ever sleepover and how tough it had been trying to sleep with eight 3rd graders all hyped up on pizza and soda all weekend long. Hondo was on the phone, getting the latest news from Darryl , who spent the weekend with his son in San Diego. Finally, Luca was sharing news about a new toy that just arrived to HQ for Black Betty. As everyone settled in, it was time to head to the main office and check out what was in store for today.

"Hey everyone. Hope you had a good weekend. Ready to start?" greeted Hicks

Everyone responded cheerfully, ready to get their beat on. A new window popped up in the side monitor and a lady sitting behind a desk greeted them.

"Hey commander, and greetings to your team."

"Hello Lt. Marcia Luxeda.", he turned to everyone, "Guys, this is the top chief of the Public Relations office of LAPD, Hollywood branch. She has communicated an interest for our assistance to solve a chain of homicides in her neck of the woods."

Street immediately grabbed one of the tablets and started typing away. Nobody really noticed him, except Hondo and Chris who were standing right next to him. Everybody else just focused on the lady in the screen.

"Yeah, so. We have a delicate situation in our hands. Seems we have rival rapper gangs kidnapping and killing each other", she interrupted to type something, and immediately a window popped opened on the screen to the side of here, with a table of over 10 names and each with a DOD and comment,"These are just some of the names we know of...because, you see, these guys are so meticulous that they don't leave a trace."

"Lt. was just telling me most of these guys find a way to pulverize bones, so there are no bodies to be found. These names are either rappers gone missing for 5 plus weeks or victims confirmed after a deep DNA test of scraps found in crime scenes."

"What method do they use to dispose of the bodies?" Deacon asked

"That's it, that's our biggest question...there are no bodies. We have found five incinerated, three tied and hung just before being set on fire, and the latest we have only found scraps or pieces of bones. Our experts worked with Animal Control Unit and found that more than half of the victims' bodies were eaten by wild life, which tells us these guys are not playing around and are very ruthless. Piranhas, tigers, bears and other wild life has been identified based on the remains."

"What? How are those guys getting those kind of animals here? The zoo?" wondered Tan

"Is there a smuggling operation of wild animals tied to these crimes?" Hondo asked

"Well, now that you ask, we have contacted ACU (Animal Control Unit) and they are conducting their own investigation. The issue is that it is much more complicated than that. They have to establish not just specie, but origin, work with international laws and many other agencies that control movement and transfer of animals... It is a very very slow process, even with all the information we already have, the permits and permissions could take weeks. We don't have all day to figure it out! ", the group was more and more confused, "Look, bottom line is that these groups are getting bloodier and bloodier as the crimes mount. As soon as there is a problem, a riot or a confrontation, one of the guilty parties goes missing for no more than 4 hours. At the 4 hr mark, the victim is killed and thrown into a den as meal for a wild animal."

"Wow! Criminals really get creative" said Luca

"Where would you keep a bear? Why would you have a piranha on hand?" Asked Tan