"You look fucking ridiculous!"
Laughing hysterically, Pierre watches as Kazimir adjusts the badge he retrieved from a police officer's desk onto his shirt.
"Where are you going? Can't be career day 'cause Prince would've let me know."
Kazimir groans and turns to his co-worker.
"Can you shut the hell up and hand me that radio over there?"
"Did you forget you were a detective or something?" Pierre asks, handing Kazimir the device.
"No, you idiot. Uzini told me the department highly recommended that I do cross-training."
"And you're the only one who got this message?"
Sighing, Kazimir rolls his eyes.
"Alright, I'm helping Alexei with something."
"While on the clock? Man, you're really something else."
Walking out of the emergency exit, Kazimir heads to the back of the department where the many police vehicles were parked.
Lowering his hat to cover his face, he finds the vehicle that was assigned to the officer who he'd also gotten the badge from.
Pulling out of the lot, the young man speeds down the road and to the designated address where he'd been asked to go.
Stopping in front of an secluded, wooded area, Kazimir gets out of the SUV and looks around.
"There you are."
Turning around, Alexei shakes the young detective's hand.
"My truckers are just up ahead. I'll be in the front to direct and you'll be behind to make sure no one disrupts the line. Oh, this is a headset that you'll need to wear just in case we have to communicate upon a certain circumstance."
Putting the headset on, Kazimir holds up a finger as he walks back over to his vehicle.
"Before we leave, I need to drop something off here in the woods."
Opening the SUV's trunk, he drags an unconscious male out and places him on the ground.
"What the hell? Mr. Cizetto, who is this?"
"The guy I'm impersonating. Do you have a shovel or something similar I can borrow? I need to knock him in the head a few more times so that when he awakes, he won't remember anything."
"I believe him being unconscious is quite enough." Alexei replies, opening one of the man's eyelids. "Just drop him off somewhere here. He'll be fine."
After placing the unconscious officer into a random spot in the woodlands, Kazimir gets back into the vehicle, honking the horn to signal he was all set.
———-
"Why you sneaky little bastards."
Setting his binoculars to the side, Haruki Feliano quickly steps on his car's accelerator, forcing his way into traffic.
After switching on autopilot, the gamer reaches over to his passenger seat and picks up a machine gun.
Rolling down the driver's side window, he leans out and positions the gun towards Kazimir's vehicle.
"Game over!"
Pressing down on the trigger, a flurry of bullets begin to fly out, multiple cars swerving to avoid being hit.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Kazimir says to himself, looking up at his rearview mirror.
"Mr. Cizetto, I want-
"I'll handle it. Just make sure the two truckers get to safety."
Alexei raises a brow and presses down on his headset.
"I find it quite hilarious that you'd think I'd let just anyone transport my artillery. Let's direct this show somewhere other than on the highway, yes?"
"Jeez, you just sound like you want to kill someone." Kazimir replies, following the trucks to an exit lane.
"You have a point; the drive was getting a little boring."
Reaching into the seat behind him, Kazimir quickly grabs the machine gun and rolls his window down.
"We should split up and try to block him in. He has a better chance of trapping us both if we all stick together."
"Good point. I'll send the trucks back on the road as a distraction and then I'll make a left and follow him from behind."
"M'kay."
Making a quick yet sharp turn, Kazimir leads Haruki down the unknown road and begins to slow down a bit.
"He must think I'm stupid!" Haruki says with a chuckle.
Pulling up beside the larger vehicle, the gamer aims for the driver's window.
"Gotcha."
*BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!*
Quickly swerving, Haruki lets out a loud yet frustrated groan.
"You fucking bitch!"
Returning fire, he aims for Kazimir's wheels, hoping that the large SUV would eventually roll into a ditch.
Hearing a loud "pop" sound, Kazimir sighs and looks down at the road ahead of him.
"This guy…"
Slowing down a bit, the young detective lets Haruki get in front of him, before proceeding to lean out of the window.
"BANG!"
Watching the glass of Haruki's windshield break, Kazimir quickly swerves to where his wheels wouldn't run over the broken glass.
*SCREEEECH!*
Slowing down a bit as he watches another SUV drift from around the corner, Haruki slams a fist against his horn.
"DAMMIT!"
With his car abruptly being shoved into a ditch, the gamer grabs his gun and climbs out of the passenger seat.
"If I were you, I wouldn't make any sudden movements." Alexei says, as he places his own car in park.
Snatching the gun from Haruki's hand, Kazimir places it in the backseat of his car.
"Oooh, I'm so frightened!" Haruki taunts as he lifts a small device. "Now, you two back the fuck away from me or I'll blow all three of us up."
"And you really expect me to believe-
"BANG!"
The scent of burnt rubber suddenly begins to spread throughout the air as Haruki gives Kazimir and Alexei a sleazy smirk, before turning to look at the burning tire.
"I don't think little Khristina-Bella would be happy to see both of your bodies in a casket, would she?"
"You shut the hell up about-
"Just let him go, Mr. Cizetto." Alexei interrupts, lowering his gun. "We already have enough problems to deal with and putting Khristina's happiness at risk shouldn't be one of them."
"You can't be serious right now." Kazimir says, watching as Haruki skips off back to the main road. "We could've held him captive for a certain amount of time while coming up with a plan to get rid of his dumbass."
"Yes, but we do not have time for all of that. I have a large shipment that requires my attention first. He can wait."
"He can wait? This is the same guy that's associated with the same group that got your own parents killed and you're telling me he can wait?!"
The law student sighs as he throws his gun into the back of his car.
"Will you let me worry about that?"
"I'm assuming you're also worrying about Dréy, Khristina, and Amir too, huh?"
"My goodness, Mr. Cizetto. You're quite the emotional being, yes?"
"If we're being honest, it sounds to me like you're secretly working with that clown."
*BANG!*
Moving his foot to the side, Kazimir looks down as a bullet landed right next to him on the ground.
"You should be more careful in choosing the words you let come out of your mouth." Alexei says, putting his gun back down. "I sent my trucks to a rest stop to wait on us. We'll go there and fix any damages to your car before heading back onto the road."
————-
*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
Fixing the cuffs on his shirt sleeves, Lucien Mirdad watches as the door opens, an older man yawning.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"My name is Lucien Mirdad, detective for the Claiza City Police and Special Forces Department. I believe I must be speaking to Brent Domonkos."
"Who sent you here?"
"Sir, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe you got shot at yesterday."
"Right, right." Brent says, nodding. "I just thought I'd be called down to the station to be interrogated. Come on in, I guess. Jade, fix another cup of coffee! We got company!"
Taking a seat, Lucien flips to a clean page in his notebook.
"I understand you are the biological father to Andréy La'rine, correct?"
"That's right."
"And how did this happen?"
"Now, how the hell is this relevant to me getting shot at and my son getting injured?" Brent says, crossing his arms.
"Here's the coffee."
"Give it to him, not me."
The young woman hands Lucien the cup and gives him a warm smile.
"Thank you, miss. Sir, according to other reports, you got your best friend's wife, fiancée at the time, pregnant. For all we know, your friend could have set up people that're out to kill you for doing that."
"Nah, me and Elliot agreed on that together."
"So did Kiyana La'rine have a say in that matter as well?" Lucien asks.
"Course she did. One thing about Elliot, if Kiyana didn't agree to it, it wouldn't fall through."
"Alright, fair enough. Did you happen to get a glimpse of the shooter?"
"Not at all. I was only focused on making sure my son was out of the way before anything else could happen."
"There's a new dress that I saw at the mall two days ago. Can I see if it's still there?"
"I'm in the middle of a conversation, Jade. Go read a book or something 'til I'm finished."
"But what if it's gone?"
Groaning, Brent takes a card out of his wallet and hands it to her.
"There. Now please just go."
"Thank you!" the young woman says, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Has Andréy met his sister yet?" Lucien asks, watching as Jade exits the front door.
"What sister?"
"Is she not your daughter?"
"Daughter-in-law." Brent replies, lighting a Cuban cigar.
"Uh, okay; moving on. Have you had any problems with anyone in the past year or so?"
"No, not that I personally know of."
"Would you say your relationship with the airline company you previously worked for was well?"
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"What about the La'rine family? How's your relationship with them?"
Taking a puff of the cigar, the older man shrugs.
"Pretty good."
"Any other secret relationships that may be important pertaining to this case?" Lucien asks, rolling his pen between his fingers.
"Nem. Nada. Nope."
"Well, Mr. Domonkos; unfortunately I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do highly suspect that someone extremely close to you had something to do with the shooting."