Standing up, Alexei leads the way out of the door as Dayne follows behind him.
"Hold it." Caio says, as Pierre gets up. "We're not finished."
Turning to Caio, Pierre raises a brow.
"You do realize I'm the best detective on this department, right? Right. Now, I gave that twin bastard of yours permission to search my house, so that should be enough. We out, Dréy."
Caio watches as the two men exit the room and sighs.
"Goodness, they're a mess."
-------
"Yo! Kash!"
Looking forward, Kazimir walks over to where Dréy and Pierre stood.
"I thought you were off today." Pierre says.
Kazimir over back at the exit door.
"I was. What'd the twins say?"
"They just wanna check our houses." Dréy replies.
Kazimir motions for the two males to walk alongside him, opening the door.
"Look, I'll tell you what I know. Dayne suspects you two more than you think. All I want to say is be careful if you're participating in what would be considered "illegal" activity."
Dréy turns to Kazimir.
"You don't care?"
"No, I don't. This department didn't care enough about Camille, so why should I care if they catch the supposed criminals?"
Pierre looks over at Dréy, giving him a nod.
"Then I need to ask you a question."
"All for it." the young detective replies turning to Dréy.
"Are you the one who's been murdering the police officers?"
"You're just now finding out? I thought Alexei or Laurenté had already told you."
Dréy gives Kazimir a confused look.
"You thought- boy, what the fuck you mean?! My little sister is staying with a murderer and you talkin' like it's fun and games!"
"Khristina's not in any harm, Dréy." Pierre says, patting his friend's shoulder. "Kazimir wouldn't dare think of hurting our little sister."
"That idiot's right. Khristina is like a little sister and my very own daughter rolled into one. Seeing her happy warms my heart." Kazimir adds. "Listen, I know you think what I'm doing is wrong, but at least try to look at it from another perspective. This department doesn't take anything serious unless money is coming out of it. What makes the people who work here different from regular citizens?"
Dréy sighs and shakes his head.
"I get what you sayin', but killing people? That ain't gonna solve anything. You might feel some sort of relief for about a certain period of time, but that pain of your sister never coming back is always there; you can't do shit about it. Why can't you just arrest the person and have him lose part of his life just like you? Wouldn't that be the smarter option? Now what happens if you get caught and Khristina sees it on the news? What I'm 'posed to tell her?"
"Just tell her that what I had to do was right. Dréy, this department doesn't care-
"I know they don't care, I already know. No one cares until it hits them personally. Mane, I gotta go. I'll talk to y'all later."
Pierre lets out a sigh and turns to Kazimir.
"It's unlike him to get that bent out of shape. Just like his brother, I thought he'd be fine with it."
"That's because those two aren't even remotely the same." Pierre says, taking a seat on the bench. "See, Dréy was all about the fast life. He's lost more than a few friends over violence and once got shot in the leg. Saw little kids get caught up in all that. That was his wake-up call to start playing it cool. When he stayed in New Orleans, he was planning to become a D1 athlete, but got expelled during his sophomore year of high school for fighting a kid 'cause the kid kept bothering him about his French accent. The man literally had it all, but life never treated him right."
"Never knew that." Kazimir says, playing with his earring.
Pierre chuckles and nods.
"He means well, that's a fact. If this investigation goes horribly and I'm somehow taken down, make sure the department doesn't get to him. Dréy doesn't deserve to be tangled in this shit."
"How the hell am I supposed to do that when the department is looking for me too?" Kazimir asks, shaking his head.
"No one will suspect you, dumbass. Yeah, you had that incident in the States, but that was basically justified. You don't even do anything to look like the bad guy."
"Really? Caio and Dayne must be part of this no one group."
Pierre groans and looks up at the sky.
"I'm really tired of hearing about those clowns. Those two aren't even trained to be detectives! What do they know that we don't?"
"They're professional spies, Pierre. They know more than this fucking department will ever know."
Pierre gets up from the bench and looks down at his watch.
"Professional my ass. I'm through with hearing that word; professional this, professional that. A man will be called that until the next skilled bastard comes along and then he's forgotten. I gotta go, I promised Prince I'd get him chicken nuggets."
Walking over towards his own car, Kazimir gets in and blankly stares at the dashboard, before putting his head on the steering wheel.
"I'm tired, Camille. Your younger brother needs some advice, just give me a bit."
*TAP! TAP!*
Lifting his head, Kazimir turns to see little Miracle pressing her head against the window.
"Hello, Kazimir! Mommy went inside to get her car back!"
Opening the car door, Kazimir steps out and closes it behind him.
"Mommy said it was alright if I played on the playground behind the building!" Miracle says, grabbing Kazimir's hand. "But then I saw you walk over to your car and you looked really sad. You still look sad, Kazimir. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Miracle. There's an ice cream machine inside the department. Why don't we get you one?"
The little girl sticks her tongue out, making an "ew" face.
"I don't like ice cream. It's too cold!"
"Really? Then what's your favorite snack?"
"I like honey buns!"
"Then we'll get you a honey bun." Kazimir says, walking over to a vending machine.
He puts some coins in and watches as the packaged snack falls to the bottom. Taking it out of the machine, he hands it to Miracle.
"There."
"Do you want a piece, Kazimir?" Miracle asks, jumping into a chair.
"I'm good."
"Guess what!"
"You got a new stuffed animal?"
The little girl laughs.
"Yeah, 'cause you bought one for me! But that's not it; I'm going to be starting a new school tomorrow! It's a school that costs a lot of money to go to!"
"Hey, congratulations. I'm sure you'll find a lot of new friends there."
"I hope so!" Miracle says, eating a piece of the honey bun. "I met my new teacher this morning! His name is Mr. La'rine!"
"The girl I'm taking in, Khristina, is actually in his class. She'll probably be your first friend."
Miracle shrugs.
"Is she nice?"
"I'd say so." Kazimir replies.
"Then I hope she'll be my friend."
"Well, well. Who's this, Mr. Cizetto?"
Looking up, Kazimir turns to Alexei.
"Hey, Alexei. This is Miracle. We met earlier at the mall when she got lost. Miracle, this is Alexei. Get this, he's one of Khristina's older brothers."
Squatting down in front of Miracle, Alexei shakes the small girl's hand.
"Hello, love. It's nice to meet you. I hope we can become great friends."
Miracle shyly looks to the side and giggles.
"So, I'm assuming you've met my little sister?"
"No, but I will tomorrow! Does she like playdates?"
"Yes, she absolutely does." Alexei replies.
"Can I go on a playdate with her?"
"Of course, love."
"Will you take us on one?"
"Maybe not as often as you'd prefer. I do have school to attend."
"Do you like your school?" Miracle asks, swinging her legs.
"It could be better."
"Do you get made fun of at your school?"
"I've received threats."
Miracle's eyes widen.
"My mommy works to unmarry people! One time, I heard her talking on the phone 'cause one of the people she was helping to unmarry had threatened to kill her husband!"
"Is she a divorce lawyer?"
"Yeah! That's what she calls it! She even divorced herself and my daddy!" Miracle says. "How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess, I suppose." Alexei replies with a deep chuckle.
"Miracle!"
Kazimir, Miracle, and Alexei turn and watch as the small girl's mother makes her way over.
"Honey, I told you to stay on the playground or if you got too cold to come inside to where I was."
"But Kazimir looked really sad and I wanted to see if he was okay!" Miracle says, crossing her arms.
"Well, please alert me next time."
"I will! Guess what?! This is my newest friend, Alexei! His little sister is in the class I'm gonna be in! Her name's Khristina!"
The woman smiles before shaking Alexei's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Ms. Nyelle Richards."
"A pleasure to meet you, darling." Alexei replies. "Miracle here has told me you work as a divorce lawyer. You see, I'm currently in law school and I was wondering if you'd tell me what it's really like to be a lawyer. I'd just like to have someone's honest opinion."
"Certainly. Is there a preferred time you'd like to discuss this?"
"Yes, why don't we discuss this over a business-like dinner? Does Saturday work for you?"
"Since Miracle will be with her aunt for the weekend, I don't see why not." Ms. Richards replies.
"Wonderful. I'll pick you up at around 7:30."
"That sounds fine. Come on, Miracle. We have to finish getting some of your things for school."
Kazimir and Alexei watch as the mother-daughter duo exit the building.
"So, you needed me for something?" Kazimir asks, turning to the law student. "Hey, Alexei."
Quickly turning back to Kazimir, Alexei shakes his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Cizetto. Please repeat."
"I asked you if you needed me for anything."
"Yes, that blonde man is suspecting suspicious activity regarding my bank account and I'd like for you to write him a statement saying there isn't any."
Kazimir subtly looks to his left and right.
"Uh, why don't we discuss this somewhere more private?"
The two head into the room where Kazimir originally shut down the security camera.
"This is the page where all transactions and withdrawals are recorded." Alexei says, showing Kazimir a piece of paper. "I've looked over it multiple times and nothing comes up as suspicious for him to suspect anything."
"You're right, but he's probably looking at the $300 million. I can see how that'd come off as kinda funny." Kazimir replies.
"I told him the $300 million was from both my mother and father's life insurance policy. It was split evenly between Dréy, Khristina, and I."
"Then I don't see why he'd be so consistent on having you placed under investigation. I'll write a statement and give it to my captain. He'll let me take over your case, I'm sure of it."
Alexei nods and shakes the young man's hand.
"I knew I could count on my right-hand man. Thank you for your help, Mr. Cizetto."