Kracken
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this.
Warning:Male/male sex, graphic, language, violence,drugs.
Fake
DeexRyo
Note:
I decided to start catching up to the Like,Like Love Dj storyline, in anticipation
that the new Fake manga will have that part in it.Bicky is a bit older.
__________________________________________________________
"They all had the same tattoo," Ryo pointed out as he spread the forensic
photos across his desk.
Dee frowned and replied with a grimace, "Falling from a ten story building doesn't leave much to look at. What tattoo?"
Ryo pointed it out, holding a magnifying glass over one photo. "There. On the upper arm."
"Angel wings?" Dee grunted as he bent down for a closer look. "This one looks like a new tattoo. What about the others?"
"They were also new," Ryo told him. "Forensics says that they were all tattooed shortly before death."
"A weird cult, maybe?" Dee wondered. "Or a gang mark, of some sort, letting everyone know that they took these guys out?"
"They didn't find any ritual items at the crime scene," Ryo replied as he sat down, looking troubled. "All the victims were young, and wearing gang colors, but angel wings isn't an insignia for any gangs in the area."
"A new gang, then? One that likes throwing members off of high buildings and has a weird sense of humor? 'Here's your wings, buddy, now fly!'Seems kind of elaborate, though. Usually, they just pop, whoever they're pissed off at, in a back alley."
"There are a lot of questions to answer," Ryo agreed as he began going through the crime scene report, and witness interviews, on his laptop. "Let's get some leads and get started."
Dee grinned as he pulled up a chair. "I love when you talk 'detective', baby."
Ryo rolled his eyes at Dee and grunted sourly as he began taking notes. Dee chuckled, always loving to get a rise, in more ways than one, out of his lover.
"Here," Ryo pointed out, as his finger followed a line of percentages on his screen. "They had drugs in their system... something new."
Dee looked at the chemical makeup and then shook his head, perplexed. "That looks pretty damned professional. Those aren't chemicals a homegrown operation could get their hands on."
Dee hated when outside 'interests' invaded the slums. It was bad enough when they preyed one each other, but when big time operations, infiltrated and began using the people there,it could destroy lives wholesale.
Ryo rubbed at his forehead, slightly curling, amber hair falling gently around his handsome face. His dark eyes looked sideways at Dee."Dee, I want you to promise-"
Dee sat back in his chair, arms crossed across his chest, wild, black hair making him look sullen, as he replied, "No running in, guns blazing," he promised reluctantly.
"You know what happened last time," Ryo reminded him as he reached out and squeezed Dee's arm in concern. "We didn't get the conviction and you were suspended for weeks."
"I got rid of the rat bastards, though," Dee replied with a growl. "That's something, in my book."
"It means something to me, too," Ryo assured him, "but you can't help people from a jail cell, or full of holes, and buried six feet under."
Dee waved a hand, meaning, 'whatever', and Ryo didn't get the answer that he wanted. It disturbed him, but he intended to be there to watch over his partner. Watching each other's backs was part of the job, and part of their commitment to each other.
"So, anything so far, Dee?" J.J. pulled up a chair next to them..
Dee glared at the man. "You are not going to start hounding me again, are you?"
J.J. sniffed at the insult, brushing a hand through his fall of chestnut hair as he replied, "I'm a big boy, Dee, I got over you. I have... other interests, now."
"Other interests?" Dee arched a black eyebrow, curious.
J.J. tried to suppress a smile as he nodded towards Ryo's laptop. "I'm here for the case. Rose assigned me to help you with it."
"Really?" Ryo was relieved. "That's great! This case could get big in a hurry, depending on who's involved. If it's the syndicate.."
"We don't need help," Dee growled. He tried to give J.J.'s chair a shove to send him back to his own desk in the crowded precinct room, but J.J. grabbed the edge of Ryo's desk and thwarted him.
"I'm following orders," J.J. told him. "Being a jerk, isn't going to get rid of me."
"Dee, we really do need his help," Ryo complained and gave Dee's tie a tug. "Look at this. One witness described seeing something glowing that night near the crime scene."
"Glowing?" Dee's attention went back to the case. "Like how?"
"Odd, white... round... about the size of basketballs," Ryo read."They seemed to float into the building."
"Flashlights?" J.J. guessed as he leaned past Dee to look closely at the report. "Those new LED lights are white."
"Your witness is a drunk," Dee pointed out. "Not a very reliable one either... It says that he thought they were angels."
Ryo frowned. "Wings, angels, white lights. We should still talk to him."
"If we can find him," J.J. snorted. "There's a digital picture of him, but his address is 'the third dumpster on the right'. We'll have to search the lower slum for him."
Dee said impatiently, "If there's a liquor store close by the crime scene, we'll find him there."
"Not much else," Ryo sighed as he scrolled down the report. "This lady thinks that she saw a group of older men, hustling a younger man, down the street, but she didn't give any descriptions.If we flash a few photos of the victims, she may be able to pick one of them out as the young man she saw."
"We could check the tattoo parlors?" J.J. suggested.
"Obvious, but, yeah, let's do that," Dee agreed.
J.J. scowled as he stood and put on his jacket. "I'm a better detective than you are, Dee Latener, so you can stop acting like I'm going to be a third wheel!"
Dee snagged his car keys and jacket from his own desk and muttered, "More like flat wheel..."
Ryo sighed in exasperation, and muttered a swear word in Japanese under his breath,as he closed his laptop and slid it into it's case. "This isn't kindergarten, gentlemen," he said angrily. "Get along, or I'll tell Rose that I need new partners on this case."
J.J. nodded, but Dee retorted, "Over my dead body! Nobody's watching your back, but me!"
"I'm serious," Ryo told him as he tucked his laptop under his arm. "This is too important for rookie antics."
Dee held up his hands, "Okay, okay, I'll put up with the idiot, so stop with the tough guy act."
"It wasn't an act," Ryo replied, but then he softened and told Dee firmly, "Deal."
________________________________________________
"We are not a couple!" Dee shouted at the tattoo artist and stormed out with J.J. in tow, looking confused and amused.
Ryo, standing under the front awning of the shop, looked up from his notes at the shouting. "What's going on?"
J.J. snickered and shrugged. "Everyone keeps assuming that Dee and I are a couple."
Dee scowled at J.J. "It's because you're still hitting on me!"
J.J. scowled back. "That's not true! In fact, that last guy thought that we were a couple, because of the way we argued."
Ryo waved his notes at them as he led the way to where their car was parked at the curb. "Forget that, I had a good talk with Mr. Richards."
"The one who thought that he saw angels?" J.J. asked.
"You were supposed to stick to old lady Perkins, who thought she saw some guy getting roughed up," Dee retorted.
Ryo looked annoyed. "I am armed, Dee. This is a case, not a stroll."
"Still..." Dee paused and then finished lamely, "I still worry about you in this rough neighborhood. I know you can handle it, but you make trouble just because of the way you look. It's better if we stick together in some areas."
Ryo almost retorted, but then he gave a nod and replied more reasonably, "You're right that it's better to avoid trouble." He went back to his notes and J.J. blinked, perplexed.
"Are you just going to take that, Ryo?" J.J. demanded. "This jerk just said that you were an easy mark!"
"I did not!" Dee snarled, hands clenched into fists. "You don't know the score down here, J.J., which is why I didn't want you coming in the first place."
"I can handle myself, in any situation,Latener!" J.J. shouted back.
Dee and J.J. almost went chest to chest, snarling at each other, but Ryo calmly stepped between them, a hand on each of them to hold them back."If you two aren't interested in what I found out, then it's obvious that your head's are not on the case.I meant it, when I threatened to replace you both."
"I'm not having that on my record," J.J. replied, backing off.
"It's not going to be on mine either!" Dee retorted, hooking a thumb at himself. "I have a reputation to uphold."
"You can't be serious?" J.J. sneered. "You have the worst record on the force. This would look like jaywalking compared to other things on your record."
"You did blow up the station, Dee," Ryo pointed out.
Dee put hands on hips. "I did not! There was a bomb!"
"Which you, technically, set off," Ryo persisted. He gave Dee a level look with his dark eyes. "Come on, Dee. Stop fighting. You're acting like this case isn't important."
Dee straightened his tie, dug out his keys, and motioned them to the car. As he climbed in, he muttered, "It is important. That's why I don't want fancy pants, J.J. tagging along."
"I heard that!" J.J. growled as he climbed into the back of the car. "Dressing well, doesn't have any bearing on my ability to be a good detective."
Ryo took the passenger seat and flipped through his notes. J.J. leaned forward over the front seat and asked, more seriously, "What did you find out, Ryo?"
Ryo looked relieved to return to the topic of the case. He replied, readily enough,"It was easy to find Richards. He was panhandling for booze in the front of the liquor store, closest to the crime scene. Luckily, he wasn't that drunk yet. He talked to me without any trouble."
Dee gave him a look. "You mean, you gave him a few bucks for booze?"
"For food," Ryo corrected him.
"But, he'll spend it on booze," Dee sighed.
"That's his choice," Ryo replied irritably, but then waved his notebook at Dee."Stop distracting me. What I'm trying to tell you, is that Richards saw more than angels that night. He saw devils, too, in black, shiny cars, drive through the neighborhood late at night. All in black, he told me, and wearing sunglasses even though it was dark. They went into an old apartment building, stayed awhile, and then left. After a few hours, while he was wandering and looking for a place to sleep, he saw the 'angels'."
"So, the big guys go in," Dee mused, "did their business, and then someone got sent 'flying'. Seems like a good lead. Where's the apartment building?"
"Down this street, two blocks up, left, two blocks right," Ryo replied. "I'm going to look for priors in the building, before we go in."
"Good idea," J.J. said. "If it's full of drug dealers, it'll show up in records."
Dee chewed on his fingernail, a bad habit that he had picked up since he had quite smoking, and then said, "I know that place. The apartments are small, run down, rent controlled, and full of mostly old people. I wouldn't think that a high caliber drug lab would operate in a place like that."
"Do you think they're making the drug, elsewhere, then?" J.J. wondered, "and then taking it to distributors on the streets?"
"Seems more likely," Dee agreed."Even old people might need to beef up their government checks with extra income. Don't count them out as dealers, just because of their age."
"It wasn't old people who were murdered," Ryo reminded him,"Their runners are still young people, even if the distributors, and dealers, are older."
"A mixed bag," Dee sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair as Ryo called the station for information. "Nobody gets left alone when drugs are involved."
_____________________________________________
"Nobody was talking, that's for damned sure, " Dee grumbled wearily as he sat heavily on the couch of their apartment and put his feet on the coffee table. He leaned briefly forward to snag a scrawled note and read it as Ryo went into the kitchen to make tea.
Ryo replied, "We might have to do a stakeout of the apartment complex, and hope someone gives us some new leads."
"Looks like our dependant is out with his girlfriend this evening," Dee told Ryo, as he tossed aside the note,raising his voice to be heard.
"Bicky?" Ryo asked worriedly.
"He's a big boy, now," Dee said irritably. "So,stop with the 'mother superior' act."
"This is Bicky we're talking about?" Ryo wondered.
"Yeah, but he's getting better," Dee replied.
Ryo appeared, tea bag dangling from one hand and eyes wide. "Are you sure that you're Dee Latner?"
Dee made a face. "Hey, I won't say it to his face, probably ever, but he's come a long way.... for a little punk."
"He's still hoping for a scholarship.." Ryo reminded him. "That's aiming for a better future. You should encourage him."
"Sports scholarships are few and far between, and his grades have to come up. I'm not holding my breath." Dee replied. "I think he would do a hell of a lot better just concentrating on school now, and passing, than worrying about how many baskets he can make in basketball."
Ryo came into the living room with two steaming cups of tea. He handed one to Dee. "He has a good chance at it, Dee. Please don't discourage him."
"I won't, but reality isn't going to go away, because we ignore it, baby." Dee replied. "He's not great when it comes to hard work and focusing on his future. He'd rather be out in the slum hanging out with his friends. I'll hope for the best, but it's possible, he's going to end up flipping burgers and worrying about the baby he and Carol are going to accidentally have."
Ryo sat down next to Dee, frowning. "How did we get from me being worried and you being positive, to a complete role reversal?"
"Because we both have different levels of what we're talking about, when it comes to Bicky," Dee replied.
"What?" Ryo was clearly confused.
Dee took a sip of his tea and then replied, "It's simple. I think he's doing good for a little smart assed street punk, in the survival and staying out of trouble area, and you think he can be a nobel prize winner, if he can just dribble a ball good enough.... and if he doesn't manage to get iced by a bad guy on the street."
"He can be anything he wants to be," Ryo insisted.
Dee shrugged. "I hope you're right. I'd like to be there when he thanks us, in front of the world, for helping him."
Ryo gave him a sideways look. "Do you think he will?"
Dee snorted. "Hell, no. That wouldn't be Bicky."
Ryo chuckled, drank some tea, and then put it aside. He began to loosen his collar, but Dee was suddenly close and doing it for him. Ryo smiled warmly as the tie slid off and went flying.
"We have the apartment all to ourselves," Dee fairly purred as he started on Ryo's shirt buttons."Screw dinner and let me screw you."
Ryo blushed hotly and scowled. "Why do you have to be so crude? That doesn't get me excited at all."
"No?" Dee grinned as he slowly pushed Ryo back to lie flat on the couch. He stretched out on top and kissed Ryo's bared throat. "Not even a little bit?"
Ryo felt a rush of heat that had very little to do with his embarrassment. He knew that Dee could feel his response below his belt, the belt that Dee's strong hands were even now opening up.
When Dee's talented mouth went into play, fingers hooking into Ryo's underwear and pulling them down just enough to gain access, all coherant thought left Ryo. The case, Bicky's future, and dinner were drowned in the need for that tongue to stroke just so and for those lips to close and slide up and down tightly.
Ryo's fingers slid into Dee's wild black hair and he groaned as he came explosively. Dee swallowed and licked, thoroughly enjoying himself until Ryo was clean.
"Love you," Ryo managed, dark eyes sated and half closed as he caressed Dee's strong shoulders and back.
"You know I love you," Dee replied, looking down at Ryo with wicked pride. Then he was pulling off Ryo's shoes, socks, and pants with relish, enjoying the smooth skin under his hands and Ryo's masculine beauty as Ryo squirmed to accommodate the removal of his clothes.
"What... What about...?" Dee's hands, propping him into position beneath him, left him no doubt what his lover intended and Ryo had enough presence of mind left to question.
Dee snagged a small tube of lube from underneath the couch and waggled it at Ryo.
Ryo glared. "You are crude... and a sex maniac... and...and...what if Bicky had found that?"
Dee smirked as he popped the top and squeezed lube out of the tube. "He wouldn't have. I put it behind his stash of condoms."
Ryo spluttered, but Dee laughed, and he hoped the man was joking. His hand dipped down to search himself, but Dee didn't give him the chance as he shifted Ryo's weight up and brought his lubed fingers to the object of his desire.
Ryo groaned as fingers played and probed, slick with lube. Dee's zipper going down was loud in the silence. A moment later, Dee was pressing for entrance and Ryo was opening his legs wide, eager and ready to allow it.
They came together, a thrusting body, strong arms, flexing back, and dark hair trailing down into Ryo's face, as Dee bent to look into his eyes and kiss him.Ryo loved Dee's strength, loved being taken by him, and never tired of the feeling of Dee deep inside of him.
After, they lay tangled together on the couch, Ryo still underneath, legs loosely draped around his lover, and hands playing idly in Dee's hair. Dee's cheek was resting on Ryo's chest, eyes closed in contentment and his arms holding Ryo close.
"You can be so perfect," Ryo whispered, "but then you can be a crude, childish, bastard, too."
"Just human, that's all..." Dee replied as if he were half asleep. "Gotta take the good with the bad."
"I've already decided too," Ryo told him, "but that's in our personal life, here, on this couch, together. Out there, it's not that easy. You have to try harder on this case, Dee. Lose the attitude... for me... for your career... all right?"
Dee frowned and tightened his arms around Ryo. "Dealers in the neighborhood. That hits home, Ryo. I have a bad past with that. You know what that is. I'll try, but... it's hard."
"I know," Ryo soothed. "But I know that you can do it, too."
Dee sighed and nuzzled Ryo."Tomorrow will be different, I promise you that much."
_____________________________________
"Ricco Alverez," J.J. pointed out as he flipped through a file in his lap. In the back seat of their parked car, they had been watching their target building for nearly three hours. Drink cups and fast food wrappers littered the car and J.J. protested when Dee balled his sandwich wrapper and tossed it back at him.
"God! You are such a pig. What did I ever see in you?"
Dee grunted. "This act of yours is pretty bad, J.J.," he said as he made a few notes in his pad."Do you think I'll fall for you if you play hard to get now?"
"Should we follow him?" Ryo cut in impatiently, ignoring J.J.'s angry splutter. "He's a block and a half down the street now, idiots."
"No," Dee replied as he flipped closed his notebook. "Let's get a feel for the traffic flow before we make any moves. Probably, we won't see any action until after dark."
"Someone is going to notice if we sit here all day," J.J. pointed out uneccesarily. "We should have brought in other people."
"That's the beauty of having crap for a car," Dee replied. "Blends right in. Besides, these guys think they're too clever for us. They won't be expecting a prostitute and his pimps to be cops tailing them."
Both Ryo and J.J. stared at Dee. "Pimps?" Ryo asked.
"Prostitute?" J.J. snarled. "If you think I'm going to let Ryo pretend to be a street whore, you've got-"
"You, not Ryo," Dee broke in. "You're dressed like a technicolor freak. Open your fly and jam a rag in your back pocket and you'll look perfect for the part."
J.J. reached over the seat to grab Dee's collar, but Dee shook him off.
"I'll do it," Ryo said suddenly and began removing his tie.
"You will not!" Dee protested. "We need someone out there who won't get any actual customers. Everyone in town would be after your ass, Ryo."
"I beg your pardon, asshole!" J.J. retorted. "I can get anyone I want!That's beside the fact, though, that it's a stupid idea."
"Maybe not," Ryo said with a blush as he finished removing his tie. "It might get us closer to our suspects."
"You are not doing this!" Dee replied hotly. "You die of embarrassment if I kiss you in public. What'll you do if someone tries to stick his hand down your pants?"
Ryo glared. "I think I've seen enough prostitutes to know how to act. I can do this."
"Ryo!" J.J. protested. "You can't be serious?"
Ryo gave him a level look. "We could follow procedure, sit until someone notices us, and then lose the opportunity to get a real look at our suspects. If we switch off with other officers, we might lose opportunities for observation, and connecting the dots, while we were moving. Staying in one place is our best course. While I'm walking around, you two drive off and act like you're looking for johns."
"I'll do it!" J.J. fumed. He yanked off his own colorful tie and tossed off his plaid jacket. "Dee's right. I can keep them from actually making a proposition, you're too good looking."
Ryo blushed and Dee looked relieved. J.J. was clearly apprehensive as he slid out of the car and opened the top button of his fly. Hitching up his dress shirt, he unbuttoned it almost down to his navel and tied the ends over a flat stomach.
"I wouldn't pay a dollar for him," Dee snickered and then started when Ryo punched his shoulder hard.
"This had better work," Ryo fumed. "If he gets hurt..."
Dee became suddenly serious as he pulled the car away from the curb. "I know I joke... but J.J. is a good detective. Maybe he can't handle drug dealers and gangs, but I think he can tough out being a prostitute for a day."
"And I can't?" Ryo bit back.
"You can," Dee pointed out, "but you know we're right about everyone wanting you, so stop acting like you just got stood up at the prom."
Ryo glared, but then sighed, suddenly accepting facts. "If this goes wrong, Rose will re-assign us all to cleaning up K-9 kennels."
"And if it works?" Dee replied with a grin.
"I don't care," Ryo replied, "So long as we get killers off the streets."
______________________________________________________
"So, what do we have so far?" Dee asked as he spread all of their notes out on his desk.
J.J. blushed and dropped bills on top of the notes. "Thirty dollars."
Dee and Ryo both looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't do anything!" J.J. snarled. "A few people thought that I needed money. They didn't want me on the street."
Ryo smiled. "So much for your 'tough streets', Dee."
Dee glared at Ryo as he sat heavily in his chair and loosened his tie. "I didn't say that people couldn't be nice there. I'm just saying that the nastier elements are always there, too."
Rose made his way through the nearly empty precinct and asked, "Anything?"
Ryo sighed and shook his head. "Aside from some numb backsides, from sitting too long, not much, sir."
Rose scowled as he looked down at their notes. "You were all there for a long while. These notes don't say much."
"Many of the people, who live in that apartment building, are elderly," J.J. said. "They don't move about too often. There wasn't much to observe. The few people that we did see, looking out of place there, checked out as relatives of the tenants or care givers."
"Care givers?" Rose raised a blonde eyebrow. "Did you ID them?"
"Three were from a specific organization called, Angels of Mercy," J.J. replied. "Their van checked out as belonging to that organization. They volunteer as nurses for the elderly tenants who have medical issues."
"Photos?" Rose asked.
"Of course," Dee growled as he waggled his small, digital camera in one hand. "They're matching up the people with any files we might have, right now."
"No they're not, actually," Rose corrected as he picked up a note and frowned at it closely. "Everyone's already gone home for the day."
"Slackers," Dee grumbled. "We can boot up the system and look ourselves."
"No, you won't," Rose replied as he carefully stacked the notes and then handed them to Ryo. "I expect you on the job, early tomorrow. For now, go the hell home." He eyed J.J. and said, as he turned to leave, "and close up your pants, detective."
J.J. blushed hotly and fumbled to redo his pants.
Ryo was staring down at his handful of notes as Dee complained, "What happened to dedication? We could be holding all the answers, but everyone who can tell us that is worried about their beauty sleep."
"Rose is right," J.J. said around a yawn and a stretch. "I'm going home. If we're too tired to think, we're not doing anyone any good."
"I think we should ignore Rose, and keep working on this," Dee retorted. "What you think doesn't matter."
J.J. bristled. "I think I proved, today, that I'm part of this case, so get your head out of your ass, Latener, and try thinking for once. We've been on the job for too long. We all need to rest, right Ryo?"
Ryo looked up, confused. "What?"
"We should go home, right?" J.J. tried again.
"Oh, I guess...," Ryo replied vaguely.
Dee stood up and leaned in close to see what Ryo was looking at. He snorted. "Wouldn't that be too obvious?" he asked.
Ryo frowned and gave the note a small tap with his finger, "Maybe, but you have to agree there is a possibility."
"What?" J.J. demanded.
"Angels of Mercy," Dee told him in a condescending tone. "Angel wing tattoos?"
J.J. looked annoyed as he put on his jacket and replied sourly, "I got that, Dee, thanks. I just thought that it was too obvious as well."
Ryo pocketed the notes and then put on his jacket as he said, "Obvious, yes. Out of the realm of possibility, no. Every lead is worth checking out."
"Using home nurses would be a good cover up for drug dealers," Dee agreed, "but actually calling yourselves Angels of Mercy, and marking all of your victims with angel wings, would be like sending up damn flares."
Ryo looked annoyed. "I'm not going to discard a lead, just because it looks ridiculous on its face."
"Then don't," Dee replied as he hooked an arm through Ryo's, "but don't go crazy over the idea, either, and stop looking everywhere else."
"I wouldn't do that," Ryo growled.
"You get single minded when you get on a lead," Dee reminded him. "I know you. You won't work on anything else until you wear this idea out."
"I don't do that!" Ryo protested and jerked his arm free of Dee. He strode towards the front doors, alone and fuming.
"You do that, Dee, not Ryo," J.J. pointed out.
"Who asked you?" Dee snarled as he grabbed his coat and stalked after Ryo.
He caught up to Ryo, heading for their car. He plucked at Ryo's sleeve and tried, "Don't be mad."
Ryo whirled on him and shouted, "You always think that the sun shines out of your ass, Dee, and that nobody else can possibly be right!"
Dee grabbed Ryo's elbows and looked into his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just tired and strung out. I shouldn't have said that back there. I'm just afraid that things will get mucked up if we go after every possibility."
"Then say that!" Ryo retorted, "Instead of insulting me in front of everyone."
"It was just J.J.," Dee said quietly.
"Wasn't that enough?" Ryo shot back. "I'm your partner. Trust me once in awhile, okay?"
Dee pulled him closer. "I do trust you," he said, and then, "So, you really think these drug dealers are that stupid?"
Ryo looked exasperated as he replied, "I think that they may be a cult, or a gang, of some sort. That might account for the ritualistic tattoo on their victims. It might also account for their 'stupidity'. Cults often think that they are protected, in some way, or that their rituals are necessary enough to take the chance that they will be found out by them."
"I know all of that," Dee said, "and you could be right. We won't know that, though, until those lazy asses come back to the station tomorrow and ID our Angels of Mercy nurses."
"Dee," Ryo growled in exasperation. "They aren't lazy, they're-"
"Yeah, yeah," Dee grumbled as he steered Ryo towards their car. "I just have to have people to be mad at, right now, okay?"
"Not really," Ryo replied. "We all need rest, you especially."
They climbed into their car and, as Dee started the engine, he said, without looking at Ryo," I love you, you know?"
Ryo looked sideways at him and replied, "I love you, too, but you make it hard sometimes, Dee."
"I'm getting better, though, you have to admit?" Dee chuckled as he reached out and clasped Ryo's hand in his.
"Define, 'better?'" Ryo wondered.
"C'mon!" Dee urged. "Admit it?"
Ryo tightened his grip on Dee, pulled him in for a short kiss, and then sat back in his seat. "Okay, a little better," he admitted, "but, at this rate, you'll be all right by the time you're eighty years old."
Dee laughed outright. "Can you wait that long?"
There was a silence and Dee slid worried eyes at Ryo. Ryo finally replied, with feeling, "I'll be there, no matter what."
"Thanks, baby," Dee sighed in relief and drove them home.
____________________________________________________
"Adeline Krone," J.J. said as he put her file photo on top of the spread of photos of women and young men on Ryo's desk.
"Talk about a name fitting the face." Dee winced at the image of a very old woman with a beak for a nose a tight gray bun of hair, and an angry glare.
"Dee!" Ryo retorted, "She's known for her charity work in the slum. I'm surprised that you don't know about her."
"So am I," Dee replied.
"It says on the report that she only recently moved here from California," J.J. supplied as he looked over the sheaf of papers."Same with this one... and this one." He picked out the photo of a young girl and an older man with a scar across his nose.
"She looks sweet," Dee said, "but he looks like he had a past."
"Looks aren't everything," Ryo growled. "Background info is."
"Sometimes, partner of mine," Dee replied, "You can see the bad in their eyes."
"Well, seeing good or bad is kind of hard in a fuzzy photo of someone half turned from the camera," J.J. criticized. "I think you're imagination is working over time. Besides, it says here that the guy, Juan Suarez, teaches kid's softball, and runs an out reach program for trouble teens. There isn't a lot of 'bad' in softball, Dee."
"He does have priors," Ryo told them both as he looked through another report. "Petty theft and one possession charge."
"Not really kingpin material," J.J. snickered.
Dee shrugged as he scooped the photos back into a pile. "Hey, I'm not the one who wanted to investigate these people, remember?"
"Everyone's a suspect when we don't have any firm leads, yet," Ryo replied irritably.
"Well, since these people are doing just what they say they are," Dee said as he tucked the photos into a file, "then we should go back to the family members and the maid service, that go in and out of the building on a regular basis."
"Only two people have a professional cleaner come into the building," J.J. pointed out, "and the service checks out as legitimate. It's maids all have background checks before they're hired. No one has a criminal record."
"Relatives, then," Dee said as he reached for several folders. "Some of them do have priors dealing with drugs."
"Which isn't unusual there," Ryo pointed out as he took the file of charity workers and flipped through it again.
"And relatives dealing drugs, doesn't account for the almost ritual way the victims were murdered," J.J. said as he looked over Ryo's shoulder at the photos and the background information.
"Gangs can get weird, sometimes," Dee grumbled, "but it doesn't have to be 'ritualistic'. It can be a sign to other gangs, or stoolies."
"Six people have been seen in each other's company, outside of going in and out of the complex to visit their relatives," Ryo replied as he tapped the 'relative' file with a finger. "Three work together in the same office building, as night staff maintenance workers.Two were seen in the local bar-"
"Where they then proceeded to an alley to have sex," Dee finished for him as Ryo blushed.
"They did ask me to join them, 'for a drink and some fun'," J.J. recalled with a disgusted expression.
Dee and Ryo gave him a long look and then bent over the relative file when he glared.
"Four of them were seen at the local church," Dee continued as he flipped through pages, "but that's not unusual."
"We need to check out the church," Ryo suggested. "We need to see if there are any church groups that these men and women belong to, and if they have been doing anything out of the ordinary."
"You're reaching, again," Dee complained. "Why can't it be something simple, instead of some sort of hidden, cult, with ties to the drug world?"
Ryo scowled, "If you have any better ideas, let's hear them."
"More surveillance," Dee replied. "Someone's bound to screw up and give us a lead."
J.J. looked exasperated. "How long do you want us to sit in front of that building?"
Dee glared. "As long as it takes. If you don't have the stomach for real investigative work, then maybe you should get a job as a fashion designer for 'Bad Taste' magazine?"
"It might be better than pretending I'm a street whore!" J.J. snapped back, but then reined himself in and said more reasonably. "I think we should do as Ryo suggests. We should interview the church, and maybe some local places where we've seen them hang out."
"The more people we talk to, the more likely that they'll get tipped off to the investigation," Dee complained."If they think we're getting too hot, they'll be off to California again."
Ryo looked up sharply. "California? Are you considering the Angels of Mercy, now?"
Dee looked unhappy as he picked up their file once more. "When everything else dead ends, then the unlikely possibility rules."
"Sherlock Holmes," J.J. snorted, "but it was 'When all possible explanations are discounted, then the most unlikely possibility must therefore be true.'"
Ryo shook his head, "No, I think it was-"
"Let's just shut up and do the investigation," Dee snapped. "Let's get some info on what Angels of Mercy did while they were in California. We may find something besides rescuing stray cats and fluffing old people's pillows."
_____________________________
"There's Adeline," Dee said as he pointed to where the woman was making her way across a busy street towards a church. As she entered the building, she gave the street a long look."She looks kind of cagey, like she's afraid of being followed."
"Maybe the nice slum makes her nervous?" J.J. replied sarcastically from the back seat of their car.
Dee grunted. "She could probably outrun anyone in those hundred dollar athletic shoes.I wonder why she needs those?"
"What else would a nunn wear?" J.J. wondered. "Nunn shoes?"
"Technically, she's not a real nunn," Ryo pointed out as he checked his gun under his coat and then his cell phone charge."She's a self proclaimed nunn of the order of the Angels of Mercy."
"Which didn't exist before she made it up," Dee added. "I hate crooks who pretend to be the good guys."
"We don't know that she isn't a good guy... er, good person," Ryo corrected him. "Until we do, please keep from making snap judgments."
"Innocent until proven guilty," J.J. agreed firmly.
Dee glared at them. "You did read her file?"
"She wasn't convicted on any charges," J.J. replied. "She was suspected of being involved in several incidents, but nothing could be proven well enough to bring charges against her."
"Involved with several murders," Dee clarified. "They couldn't put a murder weapon in her hand, but she was seen with the people involved and witnesses did state that they saw her before the murders in the general area."
"She claimed, each time, that she had been ministering to the gangs in those areas," Ryo pointed out. "It is a reasonable explanation."
Dee grumbled, "There's too many reasonable explanations. It stinks like five day old dead fish."
Ryo waggled his cell phone at Dee and Dee turned his own on when it rang. Opening the line between them, Ryo pocketed his, smiled warmly at Dee, and then slid out of the car. J.J. and Dee watched him walk across the street and into the church.
Dee's fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel, his dark green eyes watching the closed the door of the church.
"It's a church, Dee," J.J. reassured him, sensing his anxiety, "What could happen?"
"This is Ryo we're talking about," Dee replied, "He likes to take chances."
More than anything, Dee wished that he could smoke. His hand even automatically patted for his pack of cigarettes. Taking it to the suspects was always dangerous. If they panicked and ran, their case was blown. They could also start shooting. The best outcome, though, was the one where they ran back to their associates to report the detective sniffing around.
"The guy has a puppy face," J.J. chuckled. "He's as sharp as a razor, but that face of his makes him look innocent.
"He just has to stick to the script," Dee said, more to himself than to J.J, "but he won't do that if he sees an opportunity to get more information."
J.J. snorted. "He can take care of himself, Dee. He may take chances, but he does it in a smart way. You're the one who just strolls in and asks, 'Who's dealing drugs here?'"
"It worked, didn't it?" Dee snapped back.
"Yeah, we did find the drugs, after the shoot out," J.J. reminded him sourly. "The room looked like a shooting gallery. I still don't know how you managed to wing two of them and not get a mark on you."
"Experience," Dee replied with a superior air.
"More like dumb luck," J.J. said as he leaned over the set and pointed to Dee's cell. "Why haven't we heard anything yet?"
Dee looked at the cell. The mute button was on and the charge was good. When he held it to his ear, he could hear footsteps echoing in a large room.
"He's still walking around," Dee replied. "Maybe they've all decided to hide?"
"Father?" Ryo's voice suddenly said, and Dee jumped, before he could register that Ryo was talking to a priest, not him.
"May I help you?" an older voice asked.
"My name is Detective Mclain," Ryo replied. "I'm working on a case and I wondered if you would mind answering a few questions?"
"Not at all," the man said. "Come and sit down. I'm always ready to help clean up this wayward neighborhood.When even hearing the word of the Lord won't keep them from evil, then one must turn to human intervention."
"Sounds like Penguin," Dee snickered. "She was always ready to hand out her kind of 'human intervention' when I did bad things."
"Thank you," Ryo said and there was the sound of people settling, as they sat down. "I'm working on a murder case. It's been in the papers. Someone has been pushing young men off of buildings."
"I did read about the terrible circumstances, the priest replied. "All of those boys used to come here to worship. I really thought that they were eager to turn their lives around with God's help."
"They did?" Ryo sounded eager. "If you saw them regularly, do you have any insight as to what may have lead to their deaths?"
"So many things were wrong in their lives," the priest replied sadly. "It would be hard to choose any singular instances."
"I understand," Ryo said and Dee could hear him shifting in his seat as he prepared to ask his next questions. "Did anything happen lately, though?"
The priest paused as if to think, for long moments, and then he said, "Nothing stands out, really. Some of them were actually volunteering to help the older citizens in a nearby apartment complex.I really hoped that their lives were changing for the better... and then they stopped coming to church... and not long after, they began dying."
"Did they talk about joining a gang, or meeting any new people in the neighborhood?" Ryo asked.
"No, but, then, people are close mouthed in this place," the priest replied. "They don't talk about anyone out of fear."
"Have you seen anyone new in the neighborhood?" Ryo asked more pointedly.
"Just Sister Adeline, and her small flock.," the priest replied, the smile in his voice. "They've been so helpful in ministering to the people, helping the elderly, and running our youth program. I thank god that they decided to move to the East coast. This place is in need of as many angels as possible."
"Did they try to help the murdered young men as well?" Ryo wanted to know.
"The boys were in their youth program," the priest replied."Would you like to speak with the Sister Adeline? She is here, somewhere."
"That's not necessary. I think I have enough information, for now," Ryo replied and there was the sound of shuffling again. "Thank you very much for speaking to me, father."
"You are very welcome, young man. If you would like to visit, under less serious circumstances, feel free to attend services."
"Thank you for the offer," Ryo replied.
Dee and J.J. watched Ryo leave the church, a few moments later, and walk back to the car. He slid into the car, turned off his cell phone, and loosened his tie.
"I don't think Sister Adeline is a shot in the dark anymore," Ryo said, expression serious.
J.J. sighed as Dee looked triumphant, but Dee refrained from taking any credit. He started the car and drove around the block. Putting the car in park, behind several old buildings, he slid out of the car. As J.J. got out as well, to take the wheel, Dee said to him, as they passed each other, "Don't let anyone bang up my car, or my partner, while I'm gone."
Dee strolled down the street. Dressed in a tank top and ragged shirt over it, he blended perfectly with the other people on the street. J.J. stared after him, amazed that the man could slip back into his old haunts so easily. "Take care of yourself," he muttered.
___________________________________________________
Dee came to in near darkness, his head pounding with pain and a sick taste in his mouth. He had bitten his tongue badly. Groaning, he tried to sit up, his skin chilled to the bone from having been on a freezing concrete floor for, what felt like, a long while. A foot on his shoulder pushed him back flat. A hard gun barrel nosed against the side of his face. "Don't move or you'll be splatter."
"I seen him from from before," a voice said from the darkness. "He and another guy were pimping a cute little piece of whore down by the old fart home."
"A pimp?" another voice grunted. "My ass." It was a woman's voice, sounding annoyed. "He's a cop, dumb ass. Look at that gun we took off him. It's too good for the street shit out there."
"You 'ave a foul mouth for a nunn," Dee managed around his tongue.
"I'll say a few hail marys, for my sin," the woman retorted. "Go dump him and get ready to get the hell out of here."
"All that work for nuthin'!" a man swore. "We're going to lose a lot of money because of this ass hole."
"Then make it painful when you dump him," Sister Adeline ordered. "Very painful."
"What about his friends?" the man asked. "They're sitting out there, but they won't be for long. They'll come after this guy."
The gun shoved hard into Dee's face. "Not yet, they won't," Sister Adeline replied. "He's going to call his cop friends, and tell them everything's going according to plan. He's going to tell them, that he's still following us and to back off until he calls again. He'll say all of that, or I'll start shooting off all of those little parts that men like to sin with, one at a time."
"Um, I like my sinful parts, 'anks, and 'ey aren't little," Dee retorted. He slowly dug into his pocket and took out his cell. "I'll call. Just let me get off of 'is damned floor first."
The gun nosed Dee harder. "Talk plain and regular," she warned.
"I bit my tongue," Dee groused as he sat up, cautiously. He checked his forehead and found a swelling and a bit of blood. He didn't remember getting hit, just rounding a corner and lights out.
"I don't care if you bit it off!" Sister Adeline snarled. "Just talk normal!"
Dee sighed,"You're not like any nunn, I know. What order let's you deal drugs, and off people?"
"We're not religious," she replied and then proudly as Dee squinted in the gloom and picked out her ugly features,"We're a business."
"So, what's with the angel wing tattoos?" Dee wondered.
"Scares the punks into doing what we say," she replied. "When they see the mark on one of their dead friends, then they know we mean business. Now, shut the fuck up! It's not like knowing is going to do you any good. Make the call or get splattered right now."
"Okay," Dee replied, holding his hands up defensively, He cocked his arm and put his cell to his ear. As clearly as he could he said, "Hey, baby, sit tight on that cute ass, with our buddy, there. I'm going to follow the suspects and I need some elbow room. Hang back until I call again."
"Dee? Don't worry. Don't call me baby, or talk about my cute ass, while on duty, again, either."
"You know I love it, and you, right?" Dee asked with a grin.
"I love you," Ryo replied,"and your ass, too." He was speaking to sister Adeline, not Dee, though, as she snatched the cell away from Dee.
She scowled in disgust, and then handed it back to Dee, making a cutting motion across her throat.
"Gotta go," Dee said into the cell. "Wait for the call."
"Will do," Ryo replied.
Dee wasn't surprised when they tied his hands behind his back and tossed his cell into a corner.
"Get this perverted,gay, fuck out of here," Adeline snarled, "and make sure that you get that tattoo on him before you dump him. I want his 'buddies' to know who killed him."
Dee flexed a bicep. "Could you put it here?"
Dee took another blow to the head and the darkness closed over him.
______________________________________________
"Nice view," Dee grunted as they leaned him out over the edge of the unfinished floor of an apartment building. He could see the bustle of the night time street life, people going about their business, unaware that a man was about to go splat very close by them. "Hey, look, Chinese takeout. Do I get a last meal?"
A fist into his side added to the bruises already there. They had worked him over in the car ride there, keeping him on the floor of the back seat and using fists and heels to make him suffer. Head and body pounding with pain, it was hard to stay focused, and harder to hope that Ryo had managed to follow them, when he was that close to death.
"Maybe if you beg us, we'll let you live?" one of the men snickered. "Come on, beg, real sweet."
He wasn't going to die just yet, Dee knew. There was still the tattoo they needed to apply. The ones on the other victims had been quick and crude. It wouldn't take as long as he wished.
"Not really interested in begging," Dee replied, when he could get his breath again.
"No?" Another man laughed. "Maybe you just need a real good reason to beg?"
Dee rolled eyes at him, the hand knotted in his hair keeping his face towards the street far below. "You can just stop with the mind game crap and tell me what's going on."
They all laughed when a bruised and disheveled Ryo was dragged forward out of the darkness of the building. They spun Dee around and put him, almost nose to nose, with his partner, both of them with guns to their heads.
"Sorry," Ryo said quietly. "They moved quick, and I was afraid of losing you, so I followed. They were expecting it."
"Dumb ass," Dee growled and then leaned forward and kissed him.
The men pulled them apart, disgusted, and then forced Ryo to his knees. One of the men prepared to make the tattoos, grinning in anticipation at the pain he was about to cause. Ryo's jacket was jerked off of him and his shirt ripped so that it hung loose and bared one shoulder.
"Beg," one man crooned into Dee's ear as he jabbed his temple with the barrel of his gun. "We only have orders to snuff you. We can let him go as a warning."
"Bullshit," Dee retorted.
"Think so?" The man jabbed him again. "Seems to me that you don't wanna be so sure of that. I could be telling the truth."
Ryo looked fragile, on his knees on bare concrete, between two hulking men. They held him still, ready for him to fight the tattoo needle. His brown hair was a mess, his face pale and bruised, but his firm mouth, and steady, dark eyes were defiant. Though Ryo could be rather naive, at times, and a pushover, he was rarely stupid.
"Kiss my sneaker," the man told him. "That's all you have to do, and I'll let him go."
The man teased him by relaxing his grip. Dee glared at him. "Like hell. You don't know him. If I did that, I'd never get a piece of his ass again. He'd cut me off."
The man sneered. "You won't be alive to worry about that."
"Seems to me, that you don't wanna be too sure of that," Dee replied, echoing the man's own words.
"Yeah?" The man cocked his head to one side, considering the darkness all around them. "Who's gonna save you?"
"Never know," Dee replied simply. "God works in mysterious ways." He nodded to Ryo. "Since I won't be doing any sneaker kissing, why don't you let me spend my last few minutes with my partner?"
The man grunted and shoved him forward. "Okay. It'll be fun watching two cops bawl."
Dee kneeled beside Ryo. Ryo looked at him meaningfully, and then bent forward as if to brace himself against pain, as the man with the tattoo needle approached. Dee bent forward as well, making himself as low as possible. When the shots rang out, only an instant afterward, he slung an arm around Ryo and took him down flat against the concrete. Men screamed, ran, or fell in boneless sprawls as someone quickly, and methodically, fired shot after shot.
The sudden silence was deafening, and then the moans of the wounded and the sounds of the street came back, as Ryo and Dee scrambled to safety. J.J. and several cops came out of the darkness, rifles and guns nosing for targets.
"Police!" J.J. shouted unnecessarily. "Put down your weapons!" He motioned his men forward and they began handcuffing men and calling for an ambulance. He looked over at Dee and Ryo, huddled behind a concrete support, and asked, "Are you two all right?"
They came out, Ryo trying to pull his clothes back into order and Dee tense and ready to help the men around them. "Fine," Ryo replied.
"What took you so damned long?" Dee snarled at J.J.
J.J. jabbed a thumb at Ryo. "Ask him why."
Dee rounded on Ryo, furious, "You mean, you actually were taken down by these idiots?"
Ryo looked embarrassed. "I'm not in the habit of letting men beat me up, to set up an arrest. They moved you too fast. I had to take the chance and follow you, hoping that J.J. and our backup would catch up to us in time. It all worked out."
Dee grabbed his shirt and shook him. "Don't do that again! You're the smart one. The guy with the cool head. You're the one who keeps me from doing dumb ass things like this!"
Ryo leaned into him, briefly, giving Dee his warmth, and then he was pushing away as he said softly, "I couldn't. You needed me to do something stupid this time."
J.J. shook his head in exasperation, "Rose isn't going to like any of this. He's going to give you medals for taking this group out, and then suspend you for breaking regulations."
J.J. moved away to help take the walking wounded out of the building. Dee was still facing Ryo, still angry as he considered everything that could have happened. Ryo said tentatively, "I'm glad that you didn't kiss that man's sneaker."
"Yeah?" Dee grunted.
"I don't like the taste of sneaker," Ryo told him and then kissed him briefly. He knotted a hand into Dee's shirt, then, and pulled him towards the stairs. "Let's get checked out and then..."
"Then?" Dee wondered wearily, following along docilely.
"Well listen to Rose yell at us," Ryo replied. "And then..."
"Then?" Dee asked again.
"Go home and..." Ryo replied as he started down the stairs.
"And?" Dee responded hopefully.
"I'll yell at you and tell you what a complete moron you are," Ryo finished angrily.
Dee scowled.
"What did you think I was going to say?" Ryo wondered acidly.
"I was hoping the word 'ass' was going to pop up, somewhere," Dee replied dejectedly.
There was a long silence as they negotiated the stairs in the near darkness and then Ryo said, "It might pop up... later."
END