don't get me wrong () prodigal son SLOW UPDATES

Forty Five

Chapter Forty Five:

Malcolm parked next to Gil's car, to which he practically threw himself out of his own to follow the leading man. Theodora trailed behind them until they approached a row of buildings blocked by police tape. JT stood at the entrance of one, sunglasses on with a look of distaste as he stopped Malcolm.

"What's he doing here?"

"Hey! Detective Tarmel. How about that game last night?"

"What game?"

Malcolm pursed his lips, "Oh, you know, the game, with the players."

JT's look of distaste only worsened, especially after his glance towards her ended with a shrug.

"Forget it." Malcolm huffed, making his way into the building. "I'll show myself to the body."

"No, you won't."

JT followed him in, taking off his glasses and tucked them away. "What's the matter? You don't see it?"

Theodora nudged between them, staring around what looked like to be a tiny café of sorts. She walked over to the counter and leaned over it, eyebrows raised at the sloping floorboards. She could see the difference from her angle, and when she flipped back up Theodora made her way to the far wall and ran her hand against the blue plaster. Towards the end, where two large posters were placed, she saw the difference between two panels. Theodora nudged JT out of the way and jammed her fingers into the wedge, pushing it open to reveal... a whole other area.

"A speakeasy." Malcolm followed her in, "Cool."

"How'd you find that so easily?"

She glanced back at JT, "Why do you want to know? How long did it take you to find it?"

He said nothing, only cleared his throat. Theodora surged forward, eyes landing on a body slumped against a bar.

"What are you guys doing here?" Dani's voice called out, watching them.

"In the neighbourhood." Malcolm shrugged, "So, what do we have here?"

Dani coughed, pointing around the room. "Two Vic's here and to be honest, a crappy bodyguard here. His throat was slashed, and his boss didn't get off any easier."

JT brushed by his partner, leading them to a new location. "Our human snow globe. Jacques Desir, 34. Of Haitian decent and known pusher of molly, other high-end party drugs, and, yes, cocaine."

The man was seating at the end of a long table, head flopped back with his mouth hanging open. His face was blue, like a sheet of thin ice.

"Ew." Theodora mumbled under her breath, taking it in.

"He controlled New York's Haitian dealers. Ruthless but respected." Dani added.

Malcolm walked to the other side of the chair, studying the frozen man.

"Allow me." She stepped up, clicking on a flashlight so he could see better.

"Ruthless." Malcolm muttered, looking where the light pointed. Theodora joined them, interested to see what was happening. When she focused on his half open mouth, she saw that the man's tongue was missing. He looked up at Dani with a smile, "Someone cut out his tongue. And you said you didn't need me."

Footsteps scraped behind them and Gil appeared, "Talk to me, Powell."

"Desir controlled most of Flatbush, but there is a contested section of Ditmas Avenue that the Trinitarios have been trying to get for the Dominicans. It's an ongoing beef."

Theodora crossed her arms, "Who do the Trinitarios answer to?"

"Saulo Reyes." The women answered, "If the Dominicans are in on this, Saulo is in the know."

Malcolm made a face, looking back and fourth across the narrow room. He was picturing it in his mind, the whole interaction.

"Desir's guys may be looking to hit back hard. If we're not quick with a collar—"

Dani cut Gil off with a sigh, "We got ourselves a drug war."

Malcolm clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Are you sure this is about drugs?"

"He's literally covered in drugs." JT mumbled.

"Yeah, forget about that for a second. This happened fast. Desir didn't even have enough time to get out of his chair."

"He must have been surprised." Dani added.

"Well, he paid that guy good money to not be surprised." He pointed at the dead bodyguard, "Whoever did this, Desir let them get close."

"You think our killer was a friend?" Gil questioned.

"Possibly. At the very least, Desir trusted them."

JT snickered, "Bro, this was an execution."

Theodora gazed over at him, "Then why did they cut out his tongue?"

"Psychological warfare. Cartels have been using it since the '80s." Dani chirped.

"But this isn't cartel. You said yourself that this is street level, a turf dispute." Theodora told them, she glanced at the body covered in white powder. "How much cocaine is this?"

Dani crosses her arms and shrugged, "Maybe a kilo? It looks uncut. 20K, give or take."

"If this was a drug hit, then why did the killer dump $20,000 worth of product on a dead guy? That seems like bad business. Malcolm's right, this was driven by anger. Like a vengeance killing."

The other women shook her head, "Desir's crew was tight. This is about turf or product."

Malcolm made a face, "Well, I'm not the expect you are—"

"Oh!" Dani grinned angrily, "Look at that, we finally agree on something! You're wrong. We need a sit down with the Dominicans." She turned to Gil.

"I'll make the call."

"Thank you." She huffed, walking towards the exit. JT disappeared along with her.

"What did I say?"

"Too much." Theodora shrugged, "Probably, I mean. I didn't help."

Gil sighed, "Lay off the Dani profile. Not everyone's so keen on revisiting their past."

And with that, the man turned and disappeared along with the other two.

"Well, that went great." Theodora nodded, "Fantastic."

Malcolm shook his head, grabbing ahold of her hand. "Come on. We should catch up."

"So soon?"

He glanced back at her, "It smells awful in here."

"Yes, well, that would be all the dead guys here stewing together."

"Theo."

"Mal."

He snickered as they found themselves outside, trailing the group of silent detectives to the next unknown location.