Yawning, Kazimir rolls on his side as he picks up his ringing phone from the small end table.
"Hello?"
"Yes, this is the detective from the Claiza City Police Department following up on the Roger Brookstone case. After thoroughly reviewing camera footage and additional witness reports, you are no longer listed as a person of interest."
Immediately hanging the phone up, the young detective closes his eyes to fall back asleep, before opening them again.
Getting up from his sofa, Kazimir walks into the kitchen and opens his refrigerator, taking out some of the leftover onigiri he made for dinner last night.
He liked onigiri; one of his favorite foods to be exact. However, it was now to be used as a thank you gift.
After washing up, the young man grabs the plate of food and hails a taxi, taking him to the beach front.
"Good, he's still here." Kazimir says to himself, noticing Alexei's car in the driveway.
Not even thirty seconds after ringing the doorbell, the door opens and the young man is immediately greeted with a small hug.
"Good morning, Mr. Kazimir!"
"Good morning, Khristina. Thanks for the hug, but you shouldn't answer doors by yourself."
The small girl smiles up at him.
"It's okay because I checked first and then saw you!"
"I know, but it's still good to have someone older answer." Kazimir replies, with a smile. "Anyway, is Alexei still asleep? I have some food that I wanted to give him."
"No, he's in the shower! Come on, I'll take you to him!" Khristina replies.
"Nah, it's fine. I think he'd prefer his privacy."
She shrugs and takes Kazimir's hand.
"Alright! You can watch cartoons with me while we wait for him to finish!"
Following her inside, the young man sits down, watching as Khristina happily twirled around the room to the kid's song on the T.V.
"Can you dance with me, Mr. Kazimir? Like how the princes and princesses do at the balls?"
He chuckles and stands up, before getting down on one knee.
"Of course. But first, I have to ask you, may I have this dance?"
Khristina's eyes light up in excitement and she jumps up and down.
"Yes, you may!"
Taking her hand, the two walk to the middle of the room and begin to do the waltz, Khristina standing on top of the young man's shoes.
After the song finishes, Kazimir takes a bow.
"It was a pleasure having that dance with you, my fair lady, Khristina."
The small girl smiles, jumping up and down.
"I liked dancing with you too, Mr. Kazimir!"
A small round of applause comes from the side of the room, both Khristina and Kazimir turning to their right.
"Bravo, bravo." Alexei says, clapping his hands. "What a magnificent performance."
"Why thank you." Kazimir replies, as the little girl runs over to her brother.
"Did you see me twirl around on Mr. Kazimir's shoes?! He's like a real life prince, Alexei! Do you think we'll get married in the future?" Khristina excitedly asks.
The young law student chuckles.
"I don't know about that, Khrissy. In the near future, however, I'm certain you'll find someone around your age that is a gentleman like Mr. Cizetto."
"I hope so!" the little girl says, running back over to the large couch to watch her morning cartoons.
"She's quite a dreamer, isn't she?" Alexei asks, as Kazimir walks over.
"Yes, she is. Makes me happy to see her happy. Anyway, I'd like to thank you for saving my ass back at the station; here's some onigiri. I made it from my mom's recipe, so it shouldn't be that bad."
Taking it, Alexei gives him a smile and chuckles.
"I've never had onigiri before, so I'm quite eager to try this. Thank you very much, Mr. Cizetto."
Kazimir nods, leaning against the dining room wall.
"It's no problem. However, I'm curious to know how you managed to divert their attention from us."
Putting the food on the dining table, Alexei turns to the younger detective.
"Since I knew the police department was going to take Mr. Brookstone's case extremely serious, I made sure to enter blind spots where the cameras couldn't pick any footage of me up."
"Which is also why you asked me to watch Khristina for you? To not get me into any further trouble?" Kazimir asks, smiling.
Alexei nods.
"Bingo."
The young detective chuckles.
"I'm grateful you did so. I probably wouldn't have cared and just walked right in."
Alexei shakes his head.
"I don't call just anyone my right-hand man for nothing, Mr. Cizetto. You're highly intelligent and quick to catch on. Just remember, combining your emotions with logical thinking play a large role when making connections."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, thank you. Anyway, did you know we were supposed to be killed a couple of days ago?" Kazimir asks.
The law student raises a brow.
"Oh? What's this about?"
"Khristina told me that if Mr. Brookstone found out she told anyone about the attempted rape, then those people she told would be killed." Kazimir replies. "However, I hear Roger's family is grieving terribly; it'd be horrible if something unfortunate were to happen to them."
Alexei chuckles and watches as the young detective forms a small smile on his face.
"Mr. Cizetto, your way of vengeance frightens me terribly. On the other hand, I heavily agree with you. As a matter of fact, I know someone who can help us out a bit."
------
Closing the car door behind him, Kazimir follows Alexei to the front door of the unfamiliar house.
The young law student rings the doorbell and a minute later the door quickly swings open.
"Alexei? I thought you didn't like me; am I not a bad influence on Khristina?"
Alexei rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
"We can talk about that later, Laurenté. You've met Mr. Cizetto, haven't you?"
Laurenté nods and smiles, shaking Kazimir's hand.
"It's nice to see you again. May I help you two with something?"
"Yes, let's talk more inside." Alexei replies, as Laurenté steps aside to let them in.
"Aha, I know where this is headed." the elementary teacher says, with a chuckle.
Laurenté grabs a bottle of red wine from his wine cabinet, pouring three glasses.
"So tell me; who's the "lucky" person this time?"
"Roger Brookstone's family." Alexei replies, taking a sip of the wine. "How long do you suppose we'll have to wait until you can kill them?"
Laurenté shrugs.
"It depends on how much people of his family you're placing a hit on. Have a number?"
"Only his immediate for now." the law student responds. "I'll handle the extended."
"I have someone who can find his address quickly, so it shouldn't be much of a wait." Kazimir adds, setting his glass to the side.
Laurenté nods.
"I see you two are quite determined. What'd he do, step on the back of your dress shoes?"
Alexei groans at his cousin's sarcasm.
"That motherfucker tried to rape Khristina. Handed her a condom with a hole poked through the middle and told her to meet him in the bathroom. Fortunately, she told Mr. Cizetto and I before any further damage was done."
"It wouldn't surprise me if he had already successfully done something like that before." Kazimir says, swirling the red wine in his glass. "He was a weirdo, glad he's gone."
"I deeply agree." Laurenté replies. "Anyway, it may take a while since the city is already installing new and updated security cameras due to the crime rate. Once I learn my way around them, then I'll be good to go. Speaking of crime, it's not lowering anytime soon; do you two have anything to protect yourselves with?"
"I'm fine, but I believe Mr. Cizetto could use something. He is watching our Khristina after all." Alexei replies.
Laurenté smiles and turns to Kazimir.
"My little cousin is right; Dréy, Alexei, and I tend to go to hell and back about little Khrissy. Follow me, I have some weapons that you can choose from."
The three men walk downstairs into a dark room and Laurenté switches the light on.
Inside the huge room were a multitude of artillery, both legal and illegal.
"Pick whatever stands out to you and you can test it on that target over there." Laurenté says, slowly rocking his feet back and forth.
"Where'd you happen to get all of this?" Kazimir asks as he picks up a pistol.
The elementary teacher laughs.
"A hitman never reveals his secrets!"
Picking up a submachine gun, the young detective walks over to the target and begins firing.
"Seems as if he's got a bit of experience." Laurenté says, turning to his younger cousin.
Alexei softly smiles.
"Perfect."
Walking over to the two men, Kazimir holds the weapon up and nods.
"The MAC-10? Works well with close range." Laurenté says, handing the young man a box of bullets and extra magazines. "Also, if you need anything more, don't hesitate to see me."
"I won't, thank you." the young detective says with a smile.
The three men head back upstairs, where Laurenté sees them both out, watching as his cousin's car pulls from out of the driveway.
The elementary teacher chuckles, shaking his head.
"Oh boy."
--- Claiza City Special Forces Department ---
"Good morning, Mrs. Ellison!"
Nia smiles and looks up from the stack of papers.
"Good morning, Kazimir. Oh, you as well, Alexei. Anything, I can help you two with?"
Kazimir nods, propping himself up on the table.
"Yes, we'd like the address to Roger Brookstone's house. I'd like to pay my respects to his family."
The young woman nods.
"You too? It seems as if everyone is doing just that."
Kazimir looks back at Alexei, who smiles; the two realizing it'd be harder for detectives to find out who killed Roger Brookstone's family.
"Here you are!" she says, handing a sticky note to the young detective.
Taking the note, Kazimir places it into his pocket.
"Thank you, Nia. How have you been holding up so far?"
"I've just been living." she says, sighing. "The strangest thing happened last night. My husband's work called and told me that he hasn't been in for almost four days; he never misses even one day of work."
Kazimir raises a brow.
"He probably just doesn't feel like going because you're no longer living with him."
The young woman nods.
"You're probably right. On the other hand, I do have a small sense that something is very wrong. I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking into it too much."
Stepping forward, Alexei puts an Hermés shopping bag on the table in front of Nia.
"Mrs. Ellison, please excuse my interruption, but I have something for you. It's just a small token of my appreciation for all of your hard-work in helping with my parents' murder case so far."