*A WEEK EARLIER*
"Donnie, you have to stay calm," Pamela said behind Donnie as the two of them exited the captain's office. She could sense the lid on his rage toppling.
"It's always the same thing when he's around," Donnie raved. "The captain never seems to take my word for anything."
"You know it's kind of hard when the gang members we arrested refuse to cooperate," Pamela tried to make him see reason but Donnie pacing around.
"But how is it possible that we show up to work the next day and all of them are gone, huh? Who the hell granted them bail without checking it out with me first?"
"Jimmy and Romeo were at the desk this morning, but they already swore they knew nothing."
"Pfft, those crooked bastards," Donnie spat. "They would lie on their mother's grave for a few hundred dollars."
Pamela sighed.
"Well, it sounds to me like we're back to square one on this."
"What about the doctor?"
"Come on, Donnie. You know we can't go down that road anymore."
"But he was right there. We had him!" Donnie voiced. "If we could get a warrant--"
"You of all people know how things work here, they'll dismiss him without any proper evidence."
"So what are we doing here? Let's go get some,"
"We have to take our time on this. Remember, it's because of these guys you're losing your credibility before the captain," Pamela reminded. "Let's just take it easy, do some old detective work and tail him. He's bound to slip up sooner or later."
Donnie sighed.
"Okay, let's get to work."
** ** **
*PRESENT DAY*
Donnie might have as well been a statue placed in the driver's seat of the minivan. The latte on the dashboard was untouched and had gone cold and as was the donut Pamela had gotten in an attempt to make him eat something before she left him to attend to an emergency call from the precinct. He had been sitting there, parked right at the entrance of the Omega Tech building, noting as many details as he could.
The surveillance of the company had gone on for some days now, yet there was nothing concrete to show for it. The company seemed clean. Most especially, Dr. Bates seemed clean. However, Donnie knew that what transpired at the docks wasn't just a bad case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had a hunch that Henry was either in league with the Cartel or the Russians. But for what?
Tycoon pharmaceutical escapes bankruptcy, the newspapers headlined.
A truck soon pulled over to the side of the building. Donnie watched as two employees jumped down from the truck and began to unload wooden boxes with the red-lettered word 'FRAGILE' pasted to each of their sides. Two security guards rushed to help them. Similar deliveries had been made on two other occasions since they began their surveillance but since they weren't authorized by their captain to monitor Dr. Bates, getting a warrant to inspect those shipments was impossible.
However, Pamela had quickly brought up a solution as soon as the problem arose. She had met up with an employee who was once under her parole, making the right threats and demanding access to the shipment later that night. It was blackmail but it didn't matter as long as it was going to get them what they wanted.
He continued to observe them as they unloaded the boxes, hoping whatever was inside them was incriminating enough to connect the doctor to either the Cartel or the Russians. Just then, a black mustang drove speedily into view as it drove out of the building. He recognized the plate number all too well. It was Henry's.
He jerked up, straightening his slouched back. His back made a cracking sound in reaction to the first movement he made in a while as picked up his phone to call Pamela.
"Hello?"
"Pamela, he's on the move now," he said in a low firm tone.
"So?"
"What do you mean so? What if he's about to meet up with the Cartel?"
"Last I checked, you don't have any backup over there. While I'm down here filling up a buck load of paperwork that we ought to do together," Pamela countered.
"That's why I called you to get ready?"
"And you're certain that's where he's heading?"
He heard her sigh under her breath.
"It's far too dangerous to walk in blind and without back up. We don't know enough. Why don't you come back to the precinct and we will go back to the company later tonight to meet with Ricky?" Pamela suggested.
Donnie grimaced. He could tell she was starting to lose faith in him as well. She only followed him because he was her partner.
"I'll call you back, Pamela," he grunted then hung up.
The black mustang was headed down the road already. Donnie adjusted his backrest as he turned on the ignition and began to tail the car. He maintained an inconspicuous distance, making sure there were more than two vehicles in between him and the mustang.
The driving continued uptown until the mustang turned right into the parking lot beside a shopping plaza. Donnie was a bit disheartened but he still followed. The mustang parked and Lucifer and Tony emerged from it. Donnie remained in his vehicle until they were too far to hear him at all.
"Uhm, Lucifer, I think this might be a good time to mention I do not have the money to shop in stores like this," he heard Tony say.
Lucifer laughed.
"Relax, Ash. I got you," he said finally.
Donnie got out of the minivan and watched as Lucifer led Tony to a men's fashion store.
"What the hell?" He muttered under his breath. The doors were made of glass so he could see everything going on inside the store. There was nothing sketchy going on at all, just the doctor teasing his assistant as he tried out a couple of outfits. Donnie went mad. He had spent over an hour tailing them around the city, all for nothing.
He fumed as he walked back to the minivan. Then he turned on the ignition, ready to head back to the precinct but something tugged at him so bad that he turned it off immediately. He couldn't get the freakish superhuman display out of his head, how he beat down those men without breaking a sweat, how the bullet bounced off his back. He had to know who the doctor was- what he was.
Lucifer and Tony returned to the mustang thirty minutes later but there he was, waiting for them.
"This is huge, thank you so much," Tony bowed as he spoke.
"You're welcome," Lucifer replied. "Are you sure you don't need a ride back home?"
"No, no, I'm good. My apartment isn't far from here and you've got a lot of traffic to beat," Tony answered.
Lucifer gave him a nod.
"Right. Good night, Ash."
"Good night sir."
Donnie watched as Tony walked away, leaving Lucifer behind. The parking lot soon became silent save for Lucifer's whistling as he fumbled with his car keys. They were alone. Donnie knew he couldn't get a better opportunity to engage him. There was no time for patience now.
Suddenly, Lucifer's whistling stopped.
"You can come out now."
He was utterly stunned when Lucifer turned and was staring at the minivan. Immediately, he jumped out of the vehicle, pulling out his sidearm and aiming it at Lucifer.
"Detective," Lucifer smiled. "Donnie, isn't it?"
"Stay where you are," Donnie growled. "I'll pull the trigger if you move an inch."
"You seem surprised I knew you were following me," Lucifer said stepped closer. "Well, don't be. I already caught you right from the first turning."
"You're testing me, doc," He said, trying to keep his trembling hands steady. "I'm gonna shoot."
Lucifer laughed.
"You and I both know that didn't work last time," he said without taking a step.
"Who the hell are you? What are doing with the Cartel?"
Lucifer scoffed.
"You couldn't even begin to grasp it if I told you the half of it," He moved closer but this time it was calculated. He wanted Donnie to shoot but he didn't want to risk getting hurt by a bullet should Tony's hypothesis be correct.
"I warned you."
Donnie lowered his aim to Lucifer's kneecaps and pulled the trigger. Lucifer, already anticipating this, jumped to the side and charged at him with lightning speed. He shoved Donnie's arm to the side and snatched the pistol from him before he could fire another shot. Finally, he dislodged the cartridge from the pistol then tossed both of them to separate ways.
"Hey, I saw this in a movie last week. I had no idea it works." Lucifer chuckled.
"Y-You're not h-human," Donnie stammered, slumping to the ground as beads of sweat gathered on his forehead.
"Ding, ding, ding! A hundred points to the detective for being right for once," he pointed his fingers at Donnie.
"What are you?"
Lucifer's eyes began to glow red as a cynical smile grew on his face. Donnie panted heavily as an aura of fear enveloped him. He closed his eyes to control his breath but his heart seemed to race a lot faster.
And then it stopped.
He opened his eyes to see squatting and facing him. The red glow in his eyes was no longer there.
"I'd suggest you stop meddling in things you don't understand and get back to chasing street thugs. Goodbye, detective," were Lucifer's last words before he got up and walked back to his car.
** ** **
Donnie remained on the floor even after Lucifer had left, sulking about how powerless he had been and yet too horrified by what he had just seen to get up. Suddenly he heard a voice call his name.
"Hello, Donnie."