Revival (Graceland Fan Fiction)

Chapter 12

I leave all the grey behind. I see clear, I know that I'll find. You claim that you are innocent. But tell me who ain't. You think that you're going to be saved. There's no such thing as a saint. Black and White. There's nothing in between. Black and White. Nothing's what it seems. Black and White - In Flames

The monitor flickered a scene in black and white. People bustled in and out of frame. Square in the camera's view was a bar behind which were shelves of bottles.

"Isn't that Toby?" Mike pointed out one of the bartenders.

"Guess it's the bar he works at," Wes said. Their suspected shooter bounced between customers, looking to be hard at work.

"And who is sitting at the corner of the bar? I've seen that guy before," Wes said.

"I believe that is Sergei Rodski- the guy Charlie's investigating," Mike pulled up Sergei's mug shot on his laptop.

They compared it to the muscled man on the screen. "Sergei it is," Wes said.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mike asked.

"Sergei is Toby's contact?" Wes answered. Mike nodded.

Toby set his drink in front of him. Sergei started to talk. Toby lingered, engaging him in the conversation.

"What are they talking about?" Mike's borrow furrowed, "Can we turn up the sound?" There was nothing coming out of the speaker.

Wes messed with the volume controls to no effect. He retracted his hand from the tab with a frown, "The file doesn't have any."

Mike grumbled under his breath, "Perfect."

"We can get this down to the lip analysis," Wes offered. It wouldn't stand up in court, but at least it was something. Wes wrote down the date stamped in the corner of the video. "This was a week before the shooting," he remarked.

Mike got out his cell and called Charlie. He waited out the rings.

"You're on Bluetooth speaker, Mike," Rossabi answered.

"Hey," Mike started.

"What do you got for us?" Charlie inquired.

"I think we just found a connection between Toby and Sergei," Mike relayed.

"From the files on the drive?" Vincent questioned.

"It's video of Toby on the job," Mike said, "Sergei is at the bar."

"Do they interact at all?" Charlie asked.

"They talk for a good couple minutes," Mike replied.

"You boys should head over to the bar and flash Sergei's photo around- see if any of the regulars remember him," Vincent advised.

"On it," Mike acknowledged.

"If backed up by witnesses the video just may be enough to get a judge to sign off on a warrant for more security feed from the bar," Vincent said.

~*~*~

Wes and Mike walked into the bar with Sergei's photo in hand. Traffic wasn't as heavy as on the tape, but for late afternoon the place had a fair number of people in it. Only one bartender was on duty. They decided to start with her.

Wes lifted his badge which hung on a chain around his neck to make sure she could see it, "Agents Clarke and Warren."

"I'm Carmen," she replied.

"Do you have a minute to look at a picture for us, Carmen?" Mike requested.

"Sure," Carmen agreed. She wiped her hands on her apron. Mike handed over Sergei's picture. Carmen took a moment to study it. The man in it looked a little worse for wear. Anyone would be after surviving two gun shots.