The Trials of Being Loved

Part 45 - WTF, Polar Bear!

It was a tense night. The Desk Sargent worked around the clock, rounding up the last of the dirty cops. He knew missed some, when the news of the Captain's death hit his ears. He gritted his teeth as one of his beat cops flopped into the chair next to his, and stretched. He didn't want to hear anything if it was bad news. 

"Found something interesting, Sarge." He stretched again. "You know you sent me out to that lawyer's office... "Sayen Sangenthian wasn't it? God, I'm tired." He stretched again, yawning.

The Sarge was getting frustrated but this was one of the smarter beat cops so he let him ramble, letting his mind drift. Suddenly, he stopped him. "What was that?"

"Pay attention, Sarge!" The beat cop whined, "I said, Sangenthian destroyed his office and disappeared but I found the hard drive and since he didn't buy cheap shit, it wasn't destroyed completely. I love smart men." The cop smiled broadly. "Solid state hard drives are really hard to destroy. I guess this man didn't know that."

"So we now have evidence on the Mafia?" The Sargent almost jumped for joy. 

The beat cop shrugged. "Don't know until the encrypted files are hacked. That's not my job, sir." He pulled the hard drive from his pocket, the scorch marks visible from the fire. "I don't know who you can trust to hack it, but from what my limited skill show, the drive is good."

A slow smile crept across the Sarge's face. "Kid, go get some sleep. I have somewhere else to send you. How many hours do you need? Six?"

"Four hours should do." The cop answered slowly, almost hesitantly at the gleeful look. "Where am I going?"

"We are taking down the dragon later today." He held up the hard drive and slowly tucked it into his vest. "Thank you." He put his hands together and gave a small bow. "Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Mafia Boss screamed in anger, throwing a very expensive vase at the first person who walked into his office. "YOU! You were to keep tabs on that shitty excuse of a son! Why didn't you tell me he was a fucking drug dealer!"

The man dropped to his knees, head to the floor. "Boss, I'm sorry. I had no idea. I met once a week with the Commander and he gave me the reports."

Another vase followed, smashing mere inches from man laying prostrate on the floor. Sharp shards of porcelain cut the man's face, leaving small trails of blood. "My son is dead! Who will pay? Who will make restitution?"

Suddenly, a calm descended over the room. "I want everyone in here. I want to know who worked with my son, in distributing the drugs, intimidation and any other one of schemes." He reached over for his cane and began to tap it. "I will find out what I need to know."

Suddenly, his second in command walked in, holding out the phone nervously. "Sir? I have a very strange request. I think you should take this call." The Boss raised his eyebrow. They had been together since they were teens, running games on unsuspecting tourists on the streets. If his oldest trusted friend said listen, he would listen. 

Taking the phone, the Boss simply said, "What?"

Ms. Tam on the other end, was the epitome of politeness. "Thank you for taking my call. My name is Ms. Tam. I believe we have a common interest: solving the mystery of your son's death. Can we meet on neutral ground? I have vital information for you."

A low growl escaped the Boss's throat. "Where?" After exchanging details, they both hung up. The men in the room swiftly vacated to the sound of more breaking items. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Job stared at Joko with horror. "No. I won't believe that." She walked two steps and the fell, using the nearest wall to support herself. "The Captain wasn't part of the mafia at all? He was an independent contractor working for the government? Why?"