Il libro di Jaylos

Jay being a cop and Carlos being a thief

taken from: bunny-lou on Tumblr
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Blue's not really his color and every time he looks in the mirror, Jay thinks Evie has snuck into his apartment again. This is his life now though: a blue collared shirt with buttons, a metallic blue badge he didn't have to steal and dark blue slacks.
And a tazer.
And a gun.
And some dark, heavy bags under his eyes that show how little sleep he's been getting since being hired as Auradon's Police Department. Apparently an ex-con turned cop was hard to be trusted and Jay got pushed to the bottom, being assigned the case of some nut job who liked to break into Cutie and the Beast and Oliver & Co.
Whoever the hell this guy (or chick) is, they never took money, just supplies, and they're hitting every pet shop in town which means Jay has been on patrol every night for two weeks trying to catch this dog food eating, cat toy chewing, animal shampoo bathing freak.
He yawns. Now is not the time to be tired though. He had shown the tracks and files to Evie (secretly. Jay's not big on losing this job after four years in the academy), she helped him draw out a pattern.
Hiding around the back of Radcliffe's Shop of Animal Necessities, Jay can only hope she right about where the thief will hit next. Then the alarm sounds and he knows that she is and makes a note to thank her.
Just as quickly as it began, the alarm is off though. Jay blinks and keeps his hand on his waist, just above his gun, and circles the store. He wonders if any other cop would have missed the closed, but clearly unlocked, window on the north side. The only reason Jay noticed it was from his own years of stealing.
The good ol' days, he thinks to himself as he silently pushes the window open. He's had so much practice in breaking into business himself that Jay doesn't even have to think about how to land properly or how to move without sound. He doesn't have to safety of a blaring alarm to cover his noises and when Jay squints in the dark, he can see the little box in the high corner, dismantled with loose wires hanging out.
A dim light from another aisle over catches his attention and Jay moves. His feet slide on the ground and he can barely hear the rustle of another person and...something else?
He turns the corner, still in the shadows, and watches with the aid of a small flashlight in the mouth of the crook. The person has short hair and if Jay hadn't been mistaken so many times for a girl from behind, he would assume the thief is a dude. Whatever, he'll find out once he's tackling the crook and reading out the rights of a criminal.
"All o'ganic?" The thief says around his flashlight. "'Ook, 'ude!" The light turns from the shelf down toward Jay, catching the officer off guard.
He swings his hands up to cover his eyes and he can barely make out the shadow of a dog against the floor.
The light is gone and a harsh "shit!" rings out.
Jay's actions must have given him away because he can hear the rapid footsteps running away. "Stop!" He shouts and dashes forward until Jay hears the quick click of nails on a hard floor rushing toward him.
His gun is out immediately and Jay cocks it, narrowing his eyes in the dark for whatever dog is about to attack him.
"Dude, no!" The thief shouts and he is most definitely a guy. "Don't shoot him!"
The dog, halts at whatever his owner has shouted. It woofs and, now that his eyes have adjusted to the dark once more, Jay can see that the dog is quite small.
Still, the thief is running back for the animal, back towards Jay, so he moves quickly.
"Dude, come!"
The dog turns and follows his owner's command, scrambling to reach him, but Jay catches up first and runs past the dog and toward the thief. "Stop!" Jay shouts again and his voice rings through the store.
Whoever the hell this guy is, he's quick on his feet, Jay gives him that. The thief turns right and runs past the other aisles, taking another quick right and running back toward the window he came in.
"Come on, Dude!"
Is he telling Jay to hurry up? Because the cop is almost near enough to grab the back of his shirt. In fact...
Jay leaps forward, arms stretched as long as he can, and he collides with the back of the thief's knees, bringing them both to the ground. They struggle, but Jay can tell he outweighs this guy and despite getting a solid punch to his gut and another to his face, Jay wrestles him onto his stomach.
"You have the righ- stop! The right to remain s- you squirmy fucker!" Jay curses and wrenches one hand behind the guy's back and clasps a handcuff on his wrist. The other is a bit of a fight, but Jay is just as persistent, one knee pressed into a writhing back as he snatches a flailing hand.
The dog bounces over and licks at his owner's face.
"Ugh, not now, Dude!" He whines and turns his head away. The thief bucks under Jay, tries to dislodge him, but Jay has gone through too many arrests of his own to fall for some pitiful wiggles.
"You ever been arrested before?"
"Yeah, just once," the guy grunts.
"Good. You know your rights then." Jay pushes himself off of the thief and hauls him to his feet. "You're a hard little shit to catch."
"Thanks."
Jay leans back against the checkout counter. He'll lead the guy out and into his car in just a minute. "This who you're stealing food for?" Jay nods down to the dog yapping at their feet in circles.
"Yeah. Dude, no bark!" He commands.
"His name is Dude?" Jay mumbles to himself. That explains a lot. "What's your name?"
The thief doesn't answer.
"Dude, er, man," Jay corrects when the dog looks up at him, "I've been chasing you for a couple of weeks now and my sleep schedule is totally fucked up because of you. I'm taking you in, I gotta know your name."
"Any chance I'm getting out of this?"
Jay laughs and fidgets with his hair pulled back in a tight bun. "No. Take it from an ex-thief, you don't have a trick I don't know."
"You were a thief?"
"For about 10 years, yeah."
"Wait a second," the thief steps closer and the moonlight reveals he doesn't have blond hair like Jay first thought; his hair is dark at the roots and blond at the tips. "You're the guy who stole cars a couple of years ago! Your face was all over the news!"
"The good ol' days," Jay tries to stifle his yawn.
"Now you're a cop."
"Representing the boys in blue. Officer Jay. Now who are you?"
The thief bites his lip.
"Fine. I'm calling you Dog Boy until we get to the station."
"Ugh, no! I'm Carlos."
Jay grins. He's getting somewhere. "Pleasure to meet you Carlos. Let's get going." He pulls on the thief's arms toward the doors of the Radcliffe's shop and is met with resistance. "Seriously?"
"I can't get arrested," Carlos pleads, "I have animals to feed."
"Your little friend will get food do-."
"No! I have more animals too! I take care of them!" Carlos shuffles away. Nothing has been done to his feet, but it's too awkward to run with his hands cuffed behind him. "You have to let me go."
"I have to bring you in."
"Please!"
"Look, Carlos, even if I believed your story-."
"It's not a story!" Carlos snaps, "I can show you them. They're all off the streets or from shelters that were gonna kill them because they're too crowded. Please," he whines, "you have to believe me."
Jay sighs and hangs his head, never taking his eyes off of Carlos. The story made some sense - otherwise, Carlos was eating pet food himself because there's no way Dude ate enough to account for all the stolen goods. "You can't afford food for them?"
"I can barely feed me!" Carlos argues and Jay imagines that he would cross his arms if he could. "They would all starve if I didn't do this. Please, let me take the food and go."
"No can do. You gotta come with me."
"No!"
This isn't up for debate. Jay crouches down and lifts Carlos over his shoulder easily. Ouch, he was probably telling the truth about how little he ate. "Let's go. Here Dude," Jay whistled and pushed his way through the doors. "How did you disable the alarm so quickly?"
"Put me down!"
"Not happening." Jay marches over to his car, unlocks the back seat. He sets Carlos down and the guy immediately tries to run again. Jay just grabs his shoulder and pulls him back.
"My animals!"
"Carlos. Carlos." Jay holds the thief to his chest and ignores how Carlos tries to break his nose. "Carlos! I'll help you out man!"
"What?"
Jay keeps a firm grip on his shoulders, holds him at arm's length. "Look, I'm new, but I have a couple of friends. If what you're saying is true, I can get you a good de-."
"I'll blow you!"
"You what?" Jay blinks and stares. The moonlight is still dim, but the streetlights are on and he can see Carlos' face clearly for the first time. "What?"
Carlos averts his gaze to the ground. "Let me go and I'll...do that. What I just said."
Jay's not considering that for even half a second. The letting Carlos go part. But, shit, if his sleep has been bad, his sex life is even worse and it's infuriating to see that Carlos is actually a little cute in the moonlight. He has dark eyes and a billion freckles and curly hair hanging around his face.
Damn, if they were at a bar, he'd be the kind of guy Jay offered to buy a drink.
"Carlos, you don't have to do that."
"Please, you don't understand-!"
"You are coming with me to the station!"
"No!"
Fucking hell. "Dude!" Jay snaps and the dog that happily jumped into the backseat barks, "I'll help you out!"
"My animals!"
"I'll fucking feed them!" Jay snaps as he shoves Carlos' head down and forces him into the backseat.
"You'll what?"
Jay closes the door on him and slips around to the driver's side with a huff. He sits in his seat and starts the car. "I personally will feed your damn animals, okay?"
"How do I know you will?"
"You are one high maintenance criminal, you know?" Jay groans but looks at Carlos through the screen separating them. His face is far too hopeful and pitiful in the back. "You seem like you have your heart in the right place," gah, he sounds like Ben, "you cooperate at the station and I'll talk to my guys, get you a good lawyer and a good deal."
"What about m-?"
"I will feed them! You have my word," Jay narrows his eyes.
"You promise?" Carlos sounds so weary and tired.
Jay knows the feeling. "I promise. Just cooperate with us, tell us what we need to know and don't throw a fight like that again, okay?" He rubs his swollen eye, "you pack a hard punch."
"You don't know-."
"We'll be spending the night together," Jay tries not to flush at how dirty that sounds, "you can give me all the information at the station, okay? Where they are, what animals, whatever."
Carlos is quiet for a long moment before he swallows and sighs. "Okay. I'll do anything you want."
Now that sounds dirty.
Jay grits his teeth, turns back around and shifts out of park. He has a feeling that even though he's caught Carlos, they are far from done with each other.