Michelle reminisced on the name. After the Great Fire a year ago, he began babbling about some fictional second Sun in the sky as the cause.
Soon, he was laid off…
And then,
No one knew what happened next. He just… disappeared.
No one knew where he went, and rumors began to fly around that he had gone crazy and killed himself.
Others were that he was confined in solitary confinement.
Whatever the case, that didn't matter now, at least for the moment.
It was just, this new inspector was so… similar.
If not for his hair and dark eyes, she'd have thought it was Abel trying to disguise himself.
'Well, it doesn't matter!' she thought as she followed behind the Inspector, who handed the old man to the other group of officers.
The arrest was a shock to her, but putting it into perspective, the man's account seemed over convoluted.
Constable Alberto walked up to her and saluted.
"Sir, I've done a sweep of the area as you ordered, there wasn't much I could find sir"
Abel nodded and walked back into the alleyway.
"Lieutenant, show me what you saw" Abel said to Michelle, watching her inquisitive gaze with a cold and contemptuous look.
He noticed that some of his actions were quite similar to his days in the force.
He and Michelle had worked together enough times for them to know what they would do at most scenarios.
He had to be more careful. His identity was too special to be revealed easily.
Michelle's eyes squinted, a hint of disgust as she led him to a part of the crime scene.
It was behind a dumpster, there she pointed at a particular object poking out of the trash can.
It was an emblem with blood stains on it, made out of bronze with the sigil of a hammer on it.
Abel's eyes gleamed, he knew what this symbol meant.
He grabbed a small plastic bag and placed it inside, sealing it.
"Seems this might get a little complicated" Then he waved the bag at his two assistants and asked.
"Does anyone have an idea what this symbolizes?"
Michelle was tongue tied, not knowing what to answer, but almost instantly, Alberto replied with a calm voice…
"Thats the Rossi Family's Sigil, it's usually worn as a tie-pin for the higher echelons of the family"
Michelle turned to Alberto in surprise, but then understood why.
Alberto was born and raised in these streets. He had joined the force about two years ago due to the scholarship program, just like Abel, and so he was very cognizant of the happenings of the East End.
His story was so much similar to Abel's, except for one major factor that Abel and a select few knew about.
Alberto used to be a gangster in these streets.
The Rossi family, one of the four main gangs that controlled the underworld of the East end, and the whole of Belmont in general. Their leader, Marcello Di Rossi was the grandson of its founder, Zigollo Di Rossi, and was known to be a quiet but ruthless man, taking the slightest provocations as means to start mass slaughters of other gang members.
Abel nodded as he placed the bag into his jacket's inner pocket, before signalling for them to leave.
'So the Rossi family is involved? This is getting very interesting'
***
East End, South Frigate Avenue.
A small warehouse just at the end of the street. The entire street was abandoned due to the Great fire that destroyed most central parts of the East End and almost half the West.
Currently, a group of men sat around a table, playing cards and hurling curses around.
Some were smoking, others dead drunk.
But just across the room, in an office building, two men sat across from each other.
One of them was a young man with bronze hair and eyes. A scar cut from his forehead down to his left cheek. A beard sported under his jaw, growing to a reasonable length.
Opposite him was a figure dressed in robes and a hood, covering their figure and giving them a sense of mystery about them.
"Begambo, how did the operation go?" The figure spoke in a distorted voice. Begambo, the man across, shivered slightly at the person's voice.
"The… uhmmm… the package will be delivered to the situated point in about. A few hours" he replied as he gulped.
Since when did he and his crew go into human trafficking? If his boss found out it was him, he would have his head.
But the pay was simply… tantalizing!!!
As a small mob leader, his pay was substantial enough to take care of his needs from either racketeering or bootlegging.
Sometimes the drug trade paid higher dividends, but that one was quite risky.
Kidnapping was done only to their enemies… same as murder.
But human trafficking, at least in their gang, was off limits.
So, why would he go against the orders of his Boss?
Greed… pure unadulterated Greed.
Sometimes, one must take risks.
The figure chuckled as it stood, walking towards the door before turning back.
"Ah, it seems someone is beginning to figure out something. Your diversionary tactic failed"
Begambo instantly sat up, his eyes squinting.
"Is it true? How do you know?"
"I just do. Trust me on this one"
"Shit!!! Graham, Billy get your asses here now" Begambo yelled as he jumped to his feet.
The shuffling of feet followed soon afterwards, two men bolted through the door, perplexed.
"Sober up ya louts, get your asses and find Terry. Check if the blue jackets are snooping where they shouldn't"
"Yes Boss" they both replied immediately.
Begambo turned to look at the hooded figure, who seemed to be leaning on the table in front of him.
"Boss?... What do we do if… the blue yaks are sniffing our scent?"
"Try to… negotiate. If it fails…" Begambo made a slitting gesture across his neck.
Both men grinned and nodded, leaving immediately after.
Begambo sighed, a small chuckle dragging his attention.
The figure was now seated back in its former seat.
Then, just as he blinked, the figure vanished entirely.
Begambo wasn't surprised. Sometimes, he thought to himself if this figure was a figment of his imagination.
They came in and out when it pleased, vanishing like some ghost. Worst of all, he was the only one who could see and hear this figure.
The only thing that assured him of its existence was that the figure paid in cash.. real hard cash.
He collapsed in his chair and sighed.
"Well fuck it, can't get any worse now innit?"
***
The Iron Boar… a seedy bar just at the end of the road just near an intersection.
This was a popular place where people came to drink, sell illegal substances, and solicit…
Young girls dressed in body hugging and revealing gowns stayed hidden in the alleyway corners, soliciting for customers who passed by.
Abel, dressed as Lucien Groot, walked by, flanked by the two police officer escorts.
Michelle looked very uncomfortable. They'd been walking about all day, asking questions about the victims, even visiting some families.
But what they got was always similar.
The child went on an errand, then they never came back.
Witnesses would say they went through some alleyway and never came through the other side. If that was actually what happened.
One thing she knew when they questioned eye witnesses, which aligned to the reason inspector Lucien arrested the old man…
'No one snitched in the East End'
The ones who did, did so in hiding and remaining anonymous.
But even with all the clues, they still seemed to be running in circles.
Abel on the other hand had other ideas.
'Someone is trying to use the Rossi family as bait… but who?'
A lady walked up to him and grabbed his arm.
"Hey there handsome, want a good time? I'll leave you begging for mooore" she spoke with a sultry tone.
Abel's eyebrow raised as his lips curled into a smile.
He turned towards his subordinates and announced with a sleazy voice
"Oi, wait for me at the bar, duty calls" then immediately afterwards, he looked directly at Alberto.
After a few seconds he followed the prostitute into a hidden corner alleyway.
Michelle was disgusted. This man was definitely floozy. She had high expectations of the Inspector from the Royal Kings Guard that General Greg had spoken so highly about.
But who knew he would be easily swayed from his duties by a prostitute.
'He's DEFINITELY not Abel'
There was no way that Lieutenant Abel would do something so 'Uncouth'. Of all her seniors in the force, he was one of the people she admired and looked up to.
Alberto on the other hand, seemed very flustered. He walked to the entrance of the bar and signalled for Michelle to enter.
"Wait, you're actually just doing to obey such a stupid order? I say we report to the general"
Alberto's eyes focused as he signalled that he wanted to say something to her inside.
Michelle saw the seriousness in his gaze, trying to figure out what had got him worked up.
In the end, she decided to follow him.
***
Abel and the lady walked into the alleyway, Abel keeping his right arm around her shoulder, whilst his left was in his jacket, fingering his revolver.
'The streets do stink today ' he thought as he looked around.
His intuition screamed to him, rattling his brain.
As they made a bend, he was sure of a fact.
He was trapped.
Two male figures walked from behind him, both holding a metal rod and a knife.
Before him, another three walked out, two of them holding metal pipes, whilst the one who seemed to be the leader brandished a gun.
The woman in his arms shimmied away from his grasp as she walked to the man with the gun.
With a gruff voice, the man chuckled as he said to her
"Good job Greta" then he passed her a small bundle of paper currency.
'Three Rashs, he's generous' Abel thought.
The woman smiled and winked at him, before skipping away.
The man turned to Abel and pointed his gun to him.
"Drop the Iron, I know you're packing"
Abel paused to a second, before slowly pulling out his gun and tossing it to the floor. The weapon clattered, spinning and then stopping before the leader.
Abel's face showed no emotion, his dark eyes colder than ever.
One of the gang members rushed to the ground and picked it up.
"How can I be of service to you fine gentlemen today?" Abel said with a calm poker face, acting as if everything was under control.
The leader nodded with a smile and replied solemnly…
"Oh nothing much Yak, we came to make a bargain which you can't refuse"