detective jason and detective michael go on an investigation to track down the serial killer running rampant in Detroit nicknamed 'the marinara man' due to all of his victims having marinara sauce poured down their throats. connor tags along too in the stakeout cuz he cant be poisoned and can detect the poison in the pizza sauce.
The car slowed to a stop in the parking lot. This was the place.
I turned to look at Jason, who was eagerly bouncing her legs up and down in the passenger's seat. "Papa John's is going down this time. No one can out pizza the hut!" she yells, her voice louder than usual in the confinement of the vehicle.
"You need to be ready to catch him when he runs out of the shop, okay?" I reminded her. She was going to be the one we relied on to catch the manager when he fled. "Connor and I--"
Jason begins to snore obnoxiously loud, her head going limp as she pretends to have fallen asleep. I press my lips together, unamused. I glance over to the back seat where the android sits eerily quiet. I could have forgotten he was back there. He appeared to be staring off into space. I wondered why he did that a lot.
My partner's head abruptly bounces up. "Huh, huh?!" Her eyes meet mine again, bringing my attention away from the idle robot. "Oh, sorry, must of fallen asleep when you were telling me for the thousandth time what I have to do. Catch the guy. Got it. Toodalo!"
"Jason, wait!" She had already left the car, closing the door behind her. We had parked in a spot where she would be able to sneak into the back way without being seen.
I let out a sigh and slumped in my seat. She's lucky Connor was able to scope the place and pinpoint where the security cameras were implanted. We were both fortunate enough to have Connor assigned to us for this stakeout.
"If Detective Voorhees is in position, we should be moving." I perked up when Connor spoke. He hadn't spoken a word since we left the department.
I nodded and get out of the car. The place looked like your typical Papa John's. Its ordinary appearance is what made it difficult to locate, and made it all the more scary.
I leaned on the hood of the car with my arms and ankles crossed as I waited for Connor to join me. The stakeout was simple: Connor and I walk in and order a pizza, he detects the poison in the sauce to confirm we have the right place, and we confront the manager. Jason will wait at the back exit to catch him when he tries to get away.
It was all so simple, so why was I so nervous? My hands shook and my breathing shallowed. I felt myself feeling a bit light-headed. I take a slow, deep inhale, swallowing down the climbing anxiety.
I meet Connor's gaze once he's by my side. He wasn't dressed in his android uniform and it consistently was throwing me off. He was borrowing some overly-sized clothes I wore for my personal style of comfort. They were a bit tight on his taller, broader frame, but they worked. He wore the hood of the black sweatshirt over his head to hide his LED. He looked scarily human and it made me uneasy knowing that he wasn't.
I force a smile on my face and push myself off of the car. "I'm not gonna have to eat it, right?"
"Correct," he reassures, following me over to the front door of the pizza place. He holds the door open for me, following me inside.
The place smelled like any other pizza place, and it made my stomach rumble. It only made my stomach churn anxiously knowing that the pizza is drugged and poisoning people across the city.
The employee working the cash register looked up upon our entry. He looked relatively young—no older than 19. A nervous smile spread across his brawny cheeks, his deep russet eyes checking out Connor before finding my hazel irises. His tense expression made me feel a bit more confident in myself.
