"Milette?"
Looking up from sketching in her journal, Milette gives Kenneth a soft smile.
"The captain says we'll have to pair together now. Your partner called out of work, correct?"
The young woman nods.
"Yeah, I think her cousin died or something."
She slides over so that Kenneth could sit.
"I, um, did what you told me earlier this morning."
"What did he say?" Kenneth asks, opening a notebook.
"Kazimir said he'd have to check back with me and then hung up as if he was annoyed." Milette quietly says, playing with her pencil. "I don't think I'm going to receive an answer anytime soon."
"Just give him some space and time."
The young woman nods and looks up at Kenneth.
"So, what're we assigned to today?"
The older man shakes his head.
"I don't really like working together, kid."
"But that's the point of being partners!" Milette says, smiling. "To get to work together and know each other better and possibly form an unexpected friendship!"
"Well, not everyone wants to be friends with co-workers."
Milette sighs.
"Was your wife a co-worker of yours?"
"Can we switch to another subject?"
"Oh, sure. I'm very sorry, it was rude of me-
"Yes, she was." Kenneth interrupts. "We met at the same office, dated for two years, and then got married. How'd you guess?"
"It's usually like that in the books I read." Milette replies. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee; I'd really like if you'd come along with me."
The man sighs and shrugs.
"Alright."
The two make their way to the break room, where Kenneth starts a pot of coffee.
"So, tell me about yourself Mr. Mondalle." Milette says, jumping up to sit on the counter.
"I don't have much to say."
"Okay, where are you from?" Milette asks, swinging her legs.
"Born in Somalia, grew up in France."
"What's your favorite color?"
"Don't have one." Kenneth replies.
Milette shrugs.
"How tall are you?"
"6'1 and a half." the man replies.
"What's your favorite food?" the young woman asks.
"I'll eat anything as long as it's edible."
"If you were to ever marry again, would you want to try for kids again?"
"Sure, why not?" Kenneth responds. "Anyway, the coffee's ready. Pass me your mug."
Milette hands it to him and he pours some of the coffee in.
"Thank you." Milette says.
Kenneth shrugs.
"Don't mention it."
She goes to grab a coffee skewer to stir in the creamer, accidentally pricking herself with a misplaced kitchen knife.
"Ow!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Kenneth mentally sighs as he watches the young woman stare down at her bleeding finger.
"Here, I have a band-aid. Let me see your finger."
Milette shows the man her finger and he opens the band-aid wrapper.
"Do you always carry bandages around?"
"I made it a habit after my younger brother used to get injured a lot when we were little." Kenneth replies, wrapping it around Milette's finger.
*WHOOSH!*
Turning to the door, Milette and Kenneth watch as Caio angrily walks in, followed by Nia.
"Caio, please, just tell me what's wrong." Nia says, walking after the man. "I'm your friend, I just want to help you."
"I already told you nothing's wrong." Caio says, sitting down at the table. "Can you just promise me that you'll stay away from certain people? I have a feeling some of them aren't what they seem."
"Caio, what certain people? Who're you talking about?" Nia asks, tilting her head.
"Nobody in general, Nia. Just promise me you won't get close with anyone. I already told you I used to work as a private investigator and the shit I've seen—well, I just don't want it to happen to you."
The young woman frowns a little.
"I'm sure you've seen very horrible things, but Caio you can't just go around and-
"DON'T FUCKING TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO!"
Nia watches as he gets up from his seat, causing it to fall down before leaving the room.
Milette hops down from the counter and runs over to Nia, who sat at the table looking down at her hands.
"Nia, what happened?" Milette asks, sitting down next to her.
"I don't know." Nia replies, shaking her head. "Caio asked me if I was free tonight, but I told him that Mihajl and I were planning to read in the park. I asked him if it was possible that we could schedule it for tomorrow, but that's when he started acting funny and now this."
Milette watches as the young woman sadly drops her hands in her lap.
"You mentioned another man's name?"
Nia looks up at Kenneth and nods.
"Sounds to me like he's jealous. How long have you known this Caio guy?"
"For about a month, I believe." Nia says. "But you should know that he's a really nice man and I don't think he's really the type to get jealous over something that small."
Kenneth shrugs.
"He's jealous whether you want to believe it or not. Give him some time to let off some steam; he'll come back around."
Nia nods and smiles, getting up from her seat.
"Thank you, Milette. And thank you Mr. Mondalle for the advice."
------
"My goodness, young man; how'd you get a bullet lodged this deep into your leg?"
Kazimir shrugs as the doctor stitches the wounded part of his leg.
"Like I said, I was just walking along and a stray bullet must've hit me."
"Have you told the local police?" the doctor asks, looking up at the young man.
"No, I'd rather not get involved into all that hassle."
The older man sighs.
"Hey, you might have a good chance at suing from the city and winning. Alright, your leg has been completely stitched. We'll give you some crutches to-
"Uh, it's fine. I'll be okay without the crutches." Kazimir interrupts, getting off of the hospital bed.
"Now wait just a minute, son; your leg is stitched, not healed."
The young detective shakes his head.
"No really, I'll bear through the pain. Thanks again, just send me the bill on the account I gave you earlier."
The doctor watches as Kazimir swiftly walks out of the hospital, seeming to drag his leg along a little.
"Goodness, that is one hell of a stubborn young fellow."
"All finished?"
Looking up from his phone, Kazimir watches as Alexei waves over to him.
"Yeah, the doctor said it'll be back to normal in a couple of months."
"That's good." Alexei replies. "Anyway, I have something to show you."
The two walk out of the hospital and Alexei leads Kazimir over to his car, opening his trunk.
"Here we are."
"Uh, wait. Aren't these banned from production?" Kazimir asks, staring down at a box of firearms and picking a few up. "They're too powerful or something of that matter."
The young law student nods.
"Yes, they're banned from production in all countries. Fortunately, I just happened to find a wonderful businessman who purchased a few some years back while they were limited."
He closes his trunk and looks back up at Kazimir.
"We'll use those tomorrow at the auction. I'm assuming you're still in a bit of pain, so I'll set them up high and hidden away from the others attending."
Kazimir raises a brow.
"Hold on, you told me we were only planning to just get rid of the people who're in charge of trafficking Khristina and the other children."
"I did, but I changed my mind." Alexei says, checking his watch. "There's going to be celebrities, politicians, millionaires, billionaires, etc. Once everyone who was in attendance is gone, it'll be our job to expose those who were in attendance for the person they really were. Now, doesn't that sound like a great plan?"
Kazimir shrugs.
"I suppose you do have a point. One of our favorite celebrities might be there and it'll be good learning lesson for us all to realize that not everyone is what they seem. Yeah, that actually makes a lot of sense now."
The young law student smiles and shakes Kazimir's hand.
"Perfect, I knew my right hand man would agree in the end. Ah, I almost forgot, I have a meeting via video call with my new team. I'll see you in the morning."
Kazimir waves as Alexei gets into his car, before driving off.
Walking to his own, he gets in and starts the ignition, before looking across the parking lot and noticing something was off.
A young woman waited in the dark, looking around nervously.
Sighing, the young detective turns off his ignition and steps out.
"Dammit, why am I even doing this?"
Walking over to the young woman, Kazimir waves in an attempt to get her attention.
"Excuse me? Miss?"
He sighs, watching as she slowly started to back away.
"Wait, miss; I don't want to hurt you."
"I know you don't, but please leave me alone! If you come near me, you could be in danger!"
Kazimir's eyes widen and his heart quickly sinks.
"NAYDINE?!"
She begins to run and he chases after her, eventually grabbing her arm.
"Naydine?! Who held you captive?!"
"Kazimir, please just get away from me!" the young woman replies, quickly removing his arm from his grasp.
"Why would I leave you alone? You're my friend, Naydine; I don't want to lose you, too."
She looks down as the young man rests his head on her shoulder.
"Kazimir, it's okay. I'll be fine, just go home and tell my family I'm okay."
"But you're not okay! You're literally standing here in a fucking parking lot, looking around as if someone's out to get you!"
*CLICK! CLACK!*
"What's your name, kid?"
Turning around, Kazimir watches as a man with a handgun points it up to his head.
"I'm Naydine's friend from middle school."
"I don't care who you are, you stay away from my whore, boy."
Balling his fists in anger, Kazimir punches the man in his temple, knocking him on the ground.
He begins to punch him repeatedly, before reaching for the man's gun.
"Kazimir, wait! There are cameras here!"
Putting the gun in his pocket, Kazimir drags the man to his car, stuffing him inside the trunk.
"Couldn't you just have left him in the parking lot?" Naydine asks, watching as her friend closed the trunk.
"No, he hurt one of my friends, so he deserves what's coming to him. Besides, you must want him dead too if you warned me about the cameras."
The two get in the car, before driving to a secluded spot where Kazimir drags the man deep into the woods.
"Go wait in the car, Naydine. This'll only take a few minutes."
Walking back to the car, Naydine looks out of the window and anxiously taps her foot, before hearing the sound of a faint gunshot.
"Are you hungry?" Kazimir asks, closing the driver's door.
The young woman smiles, turning to her friend.
"A little."