SENTIENT

Allegiance

This morning when she woke, she realized she had fallen asleep in his couch. It was 6:42 AM and the living room smelled like coffee.

"How do you like your eggs, detective?" Asked Connor. He had on a yellow apron that mismatched his grey suit.

She rubbed her eyes and fixed her hair, "Ugh... back to 'detective' already?"

"Scrambled?" He asked again.

She looked around the room twice. Sumo still snoozing by the empty fireplace. She fixed her hair into a ponytail, "Sure. Wait, uh... has Miller called yet?"

He walked back to the kitchen to pour her coffee, "You left your phone in the car, but I received a message that Captain Miller needs his case reports done before 10."

"Shit," she cussed.

By the time AJ got back to the station, it was already 8:30 AM and the floors of the Detroit Police Department were buzzing with officers pacing left and right. New cases and leads are being reported via the wireless intercom every minute. The city is on Modalert and their crime rates never sleep.

The hustle and bustle of the crime stopping force quickly settled down once the elevator travelled down to the lower floors. Basement number nine or B9 is where the elevator just dinged into an open.

The glass door to the DBA office was buzzed open, but they would never guess who just arrived as their visitor this morning.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Larrosa. How can I help you?" Connor was the first to greet her to which Larrosa returned with an alluring smile.

She quickly walked past his desk. The clicking of her heels stopped at AJ's desk. Her struts were long and hurried, but steady and collected.

There were some remarks made by Captain Miller on the double homicide that needed to be corrected before it is archived. AJ looked up from the report she was reviewing.

"Whitley," said Larrosa.

A loud thud was made when Larrosa dropped off the files she brought. When she smiled, she made her burgundy lipstick shine.

"I need these cases reviewed and delivered to me before my meeting with the chief of department with evening."

AJ had already made up her mind that they started off on the wrong foot. This was definitely time for her to apologize and start over on better terms, but instead she said.

"Lieutenant, I am sorry and I get it, OK? You're punishing me. I need to be the bigger person but I'm not and it's hard to–"

"Stop, Whitley. Look, here's what I came here to talk to you about."

To AJ's surprise, the Lieutenant dragged an empty chair and sat on it with the backrest supporting her chest. She quick about everything, precise, no nonsense. She said, "I'm not supposed to talk about this with you, but I need your help."

"What– What kind of help?" AJ began clearing her desk.

None of the things that AJ regretted saying in front of her were there in her eyes. Elizabeth Larrosa has already placed everything behind them for the sake of this case.

She was full of remorse when she revealed to AJ, "We found another body."

Connor overheard this and remained alert to any information he could take note of. Larrosa didn't seem to mind.

AJ shook her head to the breaking of the news, even though she was not surprised by it. The Blueblood Ripper will strike again. She leaned to sit forward and listened, "What can we do for you?"

To be frank, Larrosa intended to speak to both Detective Whitley as well as her replicant counterpart, Connor.

The 6'1" and 210-lbs woman rubbed her hands together as she asked, "Is it possible that Connor process a reconstruction just by looking at crime scene photographs?"

"Well, we've never done that before. Why don't you just take me and Connor there? To the crime scene," suggested AJ.

"I believe that the suspect is changing his M.O. He's no longer dumping his victims. He's now transporting his victims away and killing them there."

Connor joined the conversation, "That means the newest dumping site is also the place where the murder took place."

Now this intrigued AJ. "You don't know if this is the Blueblood Ripper?"

Larrosa nodded, "I can't be sure yet. None of my boys are sure. We don't know why he's evolving now after seven kills."

She pulled out her tablet where photographs of the latest crime scene were streaming. By the looks of it, Connor made his first observation about the body they discovered, "Another deviant."

"This killer is crossing race lines and different deviant models. I can see where you're stuck. This is too random for an organized killer," said AJ.

Her observation was seconded by Larrosa who also noticed the same thing.

Larrosa gestured at the tablet to display a close-up picture of the latest victim, "Skin patches missing. We're still waiting for the examiner to split this poor guy in half – see if anything else is missing."

"First, he only took organs and now skin?" AJ looked at her partner, puzzled. She cursed, "What the hell is he doing with them?"

Larrosa didn't show it but she was trembling in her black leather boots. The chief of department called for the meeting this evening to discuss involvement from the FBI in the investigation of the Blueblood Ripper.

If they take over and solved the case more successfully than DCU, the Big Brother will certainly take a second look at those smart cruisers for next year's budget. It doesn't help that the Drug Enforcement Unit is catching up on their case hours.

"I just transferred the photographs to your tablet. Call me anytime if you find anything," said Larrosa. She finally picked up a phone call that she has been ignoring and urgently made her way to the next place she needed to be.

Before she got inside that elevator, AJ caught up with her. There was something else she needed to say. "Lieutenant Larrosa?"

Larrosa held the elevator door open with the press of a button.

AJ continued, "Listen, about Adrian..."

Larrosa was under the impression that the two of them were never going to discuss Adrian again. She was hoping this is the last time.

She clarified, "I can promise you; I'm not letting my mistakes get in the way of us finding this prick."

"I appreciate that, Lieutenant." AJ gave a simple nod.

"Can I count on you?" Larrosa let go of the hold button.

"I think so."

The elevator door closes and now it's just AJ standing in the hallway. The way that Larrosa was able to admit her wrong and handled herself through confrontations, left an impression on her.

"Detective Whitley?" Called a familiar voice. Connor was standing at the opposite end of the hallway, just outside of the door. "You need to see this."

Quickly, she walked inside their workspace. Connor had streamed what he found onto the glass screen. The photograph of a sweet girl and a large red font that says; AMBER ALERT.

"New case just came in from Homicide," he reported.

"Homicide unit transferred their case to us?"

"To DCU, at first, but the Blueblood Ripper's eighth victim must have occupied them," Connor put on his grey outer coat that matches his suit.

"Well, we better hurry then," AJ grabbed her keys.