GOODFELLAS → EXO // WATTYS 2019

[21]

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ILLUSIVE MAN I.

[MARCH 21st, 1982]

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The scene is crowded and busy as investigators rush back and forth. The rubble is crushed even more under their shoes, and few stumble over the high piles as they take photographs and dig through the chaos for anything useful. The sight they're investigating is months old now, two months to be exact. The blood and bodies had long since been taken care of, now it was a matter of finding out why things went the way they did. Because hotels didn't just collapse in the middle of downtown for no reason, right?

It didn't help that the people involved seemed to be very suspicious altogether, but when it came to the actual background checks and interrogations, everyone passed, every single one. Needless to say, the Bureau of Investigations were suspicious. But at the time of the hotel's collapse, no one had been willing to take over the case, considering it was treading into dangerous territory if their suspicions were true - mafia related activity was involved. But as of a recently, they'd found the perfect man, and he was already several steps ahead of the game.

"Keep searching, keep searching! We're not leaving here until we find something useful, that means if we gotta work sun up to sundown again, then that's what we'll do."

Lead investigator, Elena Lopez, walks through the crushed mass that was once the hotel's main entrance. She takes in her team working frantically, digging through piles of rubble endlessly, only to sigh when she looks up at the sky to see an angry mass of gray clouds. She could only hope that the rain would wait until something useful was found. Because at the first sight of the downpour, they'd have to pack everything up and leave. But Elena doesn't want to leave, not until they found something. Anything would be good enough at this point, she just didn't want to write another day off without having made any progress - that just sent the case that much further back in an already endless pile at the bureau.

Luckily, there was something that kept their case afloat despite this, or rather, someone.

Elena loosens her vest as she watches a dark car pull up at the sidewalk nearby. A few days ago, she had been introduced to her new partner, and the man now in charge of their case. He'd come barging into the Bureau like a storm, and sure enough had left an impression afterwards. Needless to say, Elena had begged her boss for a new partner or to at least be released from the case. But sadly, she had no luck.

And now she can only watch as the car doors come flying open and out steps her partner. Today, he's wearing a black trench coat that carries with the wind, practically swallowing him whole. And then, there was his signature black hat that covered his face. But even then, the man wore a black scarf that was wrapped so tightly around his face that only his eyes could be seen. And it didn't help that today he was wearing dark shades. Elena wondered what kind of crack the police department was smoking when they hired the man. He was strange, to say the least.

"What have you got?" Her new partner, Detective Black, his name was apparently, demands as soon as he steps near her. His voice was low, but rough and intimidating. It made Elena cringe as she looked over at him.

"Nothing so far." She informs him, turning to look at her still hard at work team in order to ignore his displeased look. Or at least she thought he was giving her a displeased look. It was hard to tell when he was covered up like he was going to face one of the greatest snow storms known to man.