Crimes of the Streets

Chapter Four

Captain Thomas Fitzroy had received the report from the coroner's office. The deceased, Henry Alexander Brown, was thirty-five, unmarried, no kids, and no known living relatives. He was shot in the head with a 9mm and killed instantly. Whoever committed the murder wanted it done quick and with as minimal evidence as possible. Maybe the guys didn't want Henry to talk. The message left for the cops was also being investigated, but no fingerprints or other DNA evidence could be found on the paper. These guys were good, and the captain knew something bigger was at play. The only mystery was who were these guys, and what was their motives?

It was hard to investigate any leads. Henry had clearly been tied to them in some way, but the way was unclear. Maybe it was a gang, and he was a member; maybe he was in debt and working for them, or maybe he made an enemy out of the wrong people. It was hard to say. Thomas decided to get a trusted member of the force, Det. James Mercer. James was always ready to work a case, and this one seemed particularly interesting.

James: So, a dead crook and a threatening note? This one is going to be a hard nut to crack. I'll get my team on it right away.

It would be hard, because there was nothing solid to go off of.

Meanwhile, at school:

Demetrius went to periods 1-5 with nothing out of the ordinary happening. In period 6, the coach let them play basketball, and Demetrius was shooting hoops in the corner again. While he could hoop, he wasn't exactly a social butterfly. Halfway through, Coach David blew his whistle.

The kids all lined up.

Coach David: We got a new student in our class today. Say hello to her.

Demetrius perked up, wondering if the student in question was that Diamond girl from before. When the girl slowly walked over, she was certainly...not Diamond.

Girl: Hi, my name's Aurora. Aurora Tyler.

Aurora Tyler, as in daughter of the Mayor, Thaddeus Tyler? Demetrius couldn't believe he was in a class with the daughter of NYC's mayor.

Well, that was that.

All the guys in the class started fawning over her. Even most of the girls went up to her. She had a couple guards around her that seemed skeptical of the kids, but she waved them off. Demetrius did a simple wave and went back to hooping. The star of the school's JV basketball team, Dominic Sullivan, went to greet her.

Dominic: So, what grade you in?

Aurora: Oh...I'm a freshman.

Dominic: Nice. I'm a sophomore, I play JV.

Aurora: Oh?

Dominic: Yeah, I hoop for real.

As Dominic and his friends chatted up with the girl, Demetrius pulled out his phone, went incognito, and tried to search up information related to Henry's death. The police knew the cause of death, but that's all they currently knew. Demetrius decided to wait and see if any other leads popped up.

The rest of PE went exactly the same. Demetrius went to art class, did art, and left. He, yet again, got on the bus and went home. Two new girls showed up in his school. Something didn't feel...right. He did his homework and decided to wait for nightfall, eager to get out in the field again. While waiting, he went to the kitchen and found his dad on the phone with his "partner" again.

Darius: Yes, I'm trying to meet the deadlines--

He looked up when he saw Demetrius.

Darius: Oh...hi, son.

Demetrius: Hi, dad.

Darius: Had a good day at school?

Demetrius: Yeah, nothing too out of the ordinary.

Darius: Ha. Well, let me know if you need anything.

Demetrius: Okay. Thanks.

Darius: Have you seen your mother?

Demetrius: No, why?

Darius: She should be home by now...ah, well. Maybe she has an important meeting.

Demetrius nodded and grabbed some chocolate ice cream out of the fridge. He went back to his room and turned himself on some Scream. The movie was pretty good, but it didn't really scare Demetrius. He was watching it because he liked to see other people get scared and make dumb choices.

Hours later, night came, and Demetrius grabbed his Riot suit out of his closet and decided to do some patrolling like he did on Sunday, getting his motorcycle from the back. There wasn't much happening, and he had to make sure he wasn't seen, so he waited until the streets were semi-clear and drove around for a bit. Nothing out of the blue happened, but the police did have signs posted looking for any information on the whereabouts of the man who killed Henry.

Eventually, he saw a criminal robbing a gas station that didn't have any customers in it. He drove up to it. The cashier was giving him the money and putting it in a bag for him. The criminal had a hoodie on and a pistol in his hand.

Criminal: Yeah, that's right, nice and easy.

He grabbed the bag from the man and walked away, gun trained on the cashier before he stepped out.

Criminal: And don't try calling any cops either, or I won't be taking just cash when I come back.

Cashier: I'm not! I promise!

Criminal: You'd better.

The criminal walked out the door and prepared to get in his car, but Riot cleared his throat.

Riot: So.

Criminal: You? You're real?

Riot: What do you mea—-

The criminal pointed his gun at Riot. Riot only had a few seconds to dive to the side building.

Criminal: You a special kind of cop or something? What? You Bat-man?

The criminal shot a few shots at the building, drawing attention, while Riot kept his head down behind a trash can. When the guy wasn't sure if Riot was still there, he walked a bit closer but kept his gun pointed, and Riot slightly peeked out and shot the guy in the leg. It made him howl in pain and drop his gun. Riot made his move and ran up and punched him dead in the face, making him rear back in pain. Once the guy was on the ground, Riot cuffed him and called 9-1-1 off his trap phone, like he did with Henry.

Riot: Yeah, yeah, I got an armed robbery suspect here.

9-1-1: Where?

Riot: By the 7-11 on Eighth Ave.

He hung up the phone and went inside. The cashier was hiding under the counter, having heard the gunshots from before.

Riot: It's all good now; the guy's been arrested.

The cashier got up.

Cashier: Thank you—

Then he saw.

Cashier: Wait...who the hell are you? You're not a cop! Stay back!

Riot shouldn't have been surprised. He just left the store, got the money on the ground next to the criminal, and placed it back on the cashier's counter.

Riot: There.

Then he took off into the night. When the cops arrived to pick up the criminal, they found him on the ground and cuffed up already, most of their job done for them. One of the officers, Officer Ricardo, decided to call the captain.

Officer Ricardo: Captain...I may have something to tell you...

END OF CHAPTER FOUR.