A Danger That Lurks In The Darkness | A TPQ AU |

XII | Liar

MINI
"Does he have any priors?"

The day after they had called Aru on had been overcast, which perfectly matched the both of their moods.

Rudy hummed as he scrolled through presumably James Daniels' records.

"Nope," he said, ruffling his hair, "he doesn't even turn up on the system,"

"Well..." she began, "Do you want me to ask Aru?"

"What can Aru do?"

"She might know something— she joined the prosecutors' office a few years back, so James could have been charged with something, but never indicted,"

"Text her, then," Rudy said, leaning back into his seat, yawning.

Mini's thumbs flew across the keypad, as she sent Aru the text. Her reply was almost instantaneous: I think there was a case involving him but like. He'd been working at city hall then. He was fired bc he'd been selling personal info of some people to somebody... but his dear big brother got him off.

She turned the phone screen to Rudy, who squinted at the text.

"So he's a criminal too?"

"Yes, but it was never 'proven'," she put air quotes around the last word. "His brother argued that the evidence was purely circumstantial, and he got off easy.

"Aaand he began working at the DMV, great," Rudy said, frowning.

"But why didn't his name show up on the system?" Mini steepled her fingers.

"He could have paid money for his name to be struck from the servers,"

"Oh, to be rich," Mini sighed, rubbing her eyes.

Rudy smirked— his signature smile, it seemed, lips ticked upward, eyes alight with a teasing gleam— and said, "I can help you on that front,"

"You'll give me money?" She asked, incredulously, her voice alight with laughter.

"Absolutely. Even if it's to support your terrible coffee tastes,"

"Liar. You love my coffee,"

"I never lie."

She snorted, but then Aru's text came through.

"'Look at his personal records through city hall. Good luck. Bye!'" She read out.

"Real helpful,"

"Don't talk about my best friend like that," she sniffed, dramatically.

He rolled his eyes, but feigned hurt, and said, "Ouch. I thought I was your best friend,"

"I can have more than one best friend,"

"Still hurts— that I'm being overshadowed by the person who agreed to marry my cousin," his smirk turned to a grimace.

"Aiden's not that bad," she said, "Pretty sure he holds the brain cell in their relationship,"

"Well, then, he's got you fooled too." His playful smile returned, making his face glow.

She smiled back.

————

City hall was crowded, swimming with people.

"Should we question James's coworkers first?" Rudy asked, peering into her notebook, over her shoulder.

"What else can we do?" she sighed, flipping it shut.

"After you,"

Minutes later, they'd gained an audience with the chief of the sector that James Daniels had been working for.