[Independence Highway | 1315 Central Time, Day 2]
"For real? Serizawa's on your ass?" asked Mendez to his phone, dusting off his rainjacket. At this point the three-car pileup site has been sealed off, marked by the presence of multiple police cruisers barring the scene from the public with police lines and paramedics treating the wounded survivors at the back of an ambulance--namely, Mendez and Foy.
"That's what Chop thought anyway," chimed in Becks, his voice sounded like it came from a distance. After all, he was not the one receiving Mendez' call; it was Sui.
"Hey, you agreed with it, remember?" asserted Sui before returning to the call. "So what's our next move?"
"Well, Mickey Kenburn just swiped Cezaro before we had him. Almost took me and Foy out while he's at it too," reported Mendez.
"Hah, no shit."
"Cezaro's dug deep with Kenburn while Serizawa's out here trying to pop our tires. I think this calls for a change of plans."
"We go after Serizawa now?"
"Uh-uh," nodded Mendez. "I got a feeling his connections are gonna bite us in the ass if not dealt with properly."
"And what if Kenburn swipe Serizawa off the streets?"
"One of two things: we hit their ops when they're not looking, or we hit wherever they're holed up. Keep in mind they can only do things remotely for so long; we screw things for them badly enough, they'll have no choice but to drop in."
"Or we kill three birds with one stone. Okay."
"But as for now, we need to solve the SLPD-being-Serizawa's-bitches problem first."
"We got any leads?"
"Well, Foy knows a slightly-tilted journalist called von Sainte. van Sant? von Santa? von--"
"Rohanna von Saint? Foy knew her? Holy shit."
"Yeah, how'd you know her?"
"Her stories pop up in my news feed from time to time. You know she infiltrated a porpoise-worshipping cult once? Absolute madlad. Or mad-lass in this case."
Mendez chuckled at the image. "Well that confirms that she might just be crazy enough to have the intel we need. But we also need a lawyer."
"What, in case Serizawa took us to court? Or use his police homies to arrest us?"
"That, and we need someone building a case against the corruption in SLPD. From what I can tell, this has been going on for quite some time now, which means there should be someone gathering evidence--or trying to, anyway."
"Holy motherfucking shit," cursed Becks off-phone.
"What, Becks? Don't tell me you just so happened to know a lawyer."
Silence.
"No way," said Sui in disbelief.
"My brother," revealed Becks.
"Your brother is a lawyer?!" exclaimed Sui.
"Becks' brother is a lawyer?!" reacted Mendez.
"Becks has a brother?!" chimed Foy from Mendez' side.
"Y'all done being shook?" retorted Becks, annoyance in his voice. "Anyways, he might not be looking into the PD corruption thing, but I bet he at least knows someone doing it."
"Might wanna give him a call," advised Mendez as he spotted an unmarked police car arriving on the scene--the ones detectives usually use. "I'll call you back. Stash the guns at the safe house, alright?"
"Got it."
"Wait, by 'safe house' you mean my--" click!
And with that, two figures stepped out of the unmarked car: Detectives Isaacs and McConley.
"Jude, Cal," greeted Mendez. "How ya guys been?"
"Not too bad actually," answered Isaacs. "Especially after you guys captured that armory on Kincaid Street. What's left of it, anyway."
Mendez' ear perked up. McConley never mentioned the address being an armory, only that it was an 'address of interest'.
"Eh, it was eventful, that's for sure. Hope there's something left that you guys can work with," replied Mendez.
"We're working on it, there's got to be something left," assured McConley. "Got any word from the boys yet, Isaacs?"
"Yeah..." said Isaacs as he pulled out his phone. It would appear he had just received a message. "Not much else 'cept this one lead."
"What is it?" prodded Foy.
"Hotel down in Baxter Block, called Hotel Elisa," announced Isaacs, which drew Mendez and Foy's intrigue. "Apparently it's where they 'store' the kidnap victims before distributing them to all sorts of places."
"Makes sense," deduced Mendez. "Hotel Elisa, San Laureola's own Cecil Hotel. With all the shady stuff going down there over the years, no one's gonna turn their heads on gang members shoving those poor people down the hallways."
"The number of crime reports we've received from the hotel and its surroundings didn't decrease," added McConley. "Blackpoint did a good job keeping the operation low-key without drawing attention. This calls for a police raid operation."
Mendez looked at Foy briefly before chiming in. "Well in that case, we're in."
McConley raised an eyebrow. "SLPD and... wait, just the two of you guys?"
"Ah, I forgot two tell you there's more than only two of us."
"Which brings the number to...?"
"Four."
Mendez could have sworn he heard a quiet 'goddammit' coming from McConley.
"Hey, consider this: four of us took down that Kincaid Street house, and one of me saved your asses back at the police station. Pretty sure four of us can more than help you guys out in the raid," persuaded Mendez.
McConley sighed. "Alright."
"Good," smiled Mendez. "I'll give my guys a call. See you back at Richardson?"
"Nah, Richardson's still under renovation. We'll be at Precinct 9."
Mendez pulled out his phone. "Gotcha."