The Storm

Having waited for several hours, Lily finally showed signs of falling asleep around midnight. Not wanting to move just in case it was a trick or trap, Bazel was content to wait further. Instead he elected to pull out his phone, and text Neto everything he had learned.

"I have new information from a source I cannot disclose as of now, that the power behind McGrath is more dangerous than initially thought. I still want to come, but I advise you to trust my intuition on this one and come more than prepared. The same intuition that led me to discover that Prosecutor Rolph had a backroom deal to put your friends and family members in prison for life, the same that allowed me to uncover the facts and put to bed a conspiracy that displaced an entire community for the sake of greed and lust for power. I think it is not too much of a stretch to trust such a thing?" wrote Bazel, sending the text after checking it multiple times over.

Despite the late hour, a reply from Neto arrived just a dozen or so minutes later.

"I understand" was all that was written.

"Not sending me a small essay in reply, I guess he is taking this seriously" thought Bazel as he sighed in relief, wondering if it was the right thing to do to trust so much in his little sister.

"She has always had a good head on her shoulders, so I do not think she is completely wrong. From the way Neto described it the members of this group of criminals were mostly low level, but perhaps this is but a ruse to lead enemies into a trap. Even so, do they really think that they can take on the entire police department? Even if they somehow managed to not get rolled over by the vast resources at their disposal, the southern central department than Neto belongs to can always seek help from the northern department or even from the smaller east and west ones. Not to mention the government has the military at their back...what is their plan in being so open about things?" wondered Bazel, unable to decipher the reason.

Looking over at the sleeping figure that was still grasping onto him even in sleep, Bazel decided that even if he had to personally petition the Governor he would do just that. Anything to see that which harmed his most important thing punished for their sins.

----

Sitting in a luxurious chair, Neto looked at the text that had been sent by Bazel with complete seriousness. His concentration was so high that he did not even notice his subordinate walk in and try to get his attention, still just tapping away on the desk as he considered everything he knew about the current case.

"Now that he mentions it a lot about this does feel off. Hmm....even If I get a years pay removed for this I will take extreme caution for tomorrow's operation. What is that saying...'better safe than sorry', hah" thought Neto, finally paying attention to the person in front of him.

"Loera, good that you finally arrived. Tomorrow's operation just got a lot more complicated, go full force. Quietly increase our public forces, but still allow the usual rats to have the information of the escalation. As for our hidden forces, none must know" ordered Neto.

"I was going to tell you that we just finished preparing for the operation, but it seems that things have changed. Whatever, you are the Capo for a reason" said Loera slowly, awkwardly saluting Neto before leaving.

"Ey! I am no Capo, call me boss you idiot. Ah whatever."

Neto turned in his seat, reminiscing in his memories of a past long left behind.

"Hopefully nothing happens tomorrow, but if they want to tango I can dance a lot better than they might expect. The fury of one who once stood atop the underground, can they withstand it?"

----

Meanwhile Bazel had been slowly freeing himself from Lily's grasp for several hours now, taking severe and careful care so that she would not awake.

His efforts rewarded after an excruciatingly slow endeavour, he finally freed himself and was able to stand up. Waiting for a moment to confirm that his sister was indeed sleeping, he went upstairs for a moment to fetch a blanket and covered her with it. He then wrote a short note explaining his absence as well as begging for her understanding and forgiveness, before leaving his home once more with the resolve to not return until he saw justice reign supreme with his own eyes.

Stepping outside into the cool night, the moon shining high above, he walked down the short steps and out onto the sidewalk.

Out of the shadows walked several figures the moment he was about to leave the small enclosure that was his front yard, causing Bazel to tense for a moment until he saw the uniforms that they were wearing.

"We are the protection detail assigned to this residence, are you going out sir?" asked the lead of the small group of men and women, all wearing the Southern Central Police Department uniform.

"I am but that does not matter, you are here to protect the girl inside not me" began Bazel, "the one inside is my little sister Lily and she did not take too kindly to me leaving but she still eventually fell asleep. Keep a close eye on all exits just incase she does something foolish and remember to be on guard, there is a reason that you were called here after all and it is not to admire the scenery."

The group of officers saluted in response, clearly having been informed of the identity of the junior prosecutor in front of them as well as his relation with their boss.

Satisfied with the response, Bazel nodded in response and continues along his way. With there being no distraction at hand, his thoughts inevitably wandered over to think upon upcoming events.

"Tomorrow I will finally be able to meet face to face with that despicable kid and have my chance to uncover the truth behind this mess. Is she just a powerful arrogant snob who was raised by human trash or is there something more sinister going on, something that would cause Lily to willingly endure such torture..."

His thoughts began to go down a dark and dreary path with each consideration of the true nature of his imagined enemy. Halting him from his thoughts, however, was a vibration from the inner pocket where he always kept his beloved pocket watch.

Curious about what change it might have for him this time, he pulled it out quickly and flipped the cover open revealing the contents within.

"The picture changed again. The shadow is covering half of the sun now," muttered Bazel while he closely examined the pocket watch, "If only it was possible to open this up and take a look inside, alas, every clock maker I talked to said it was impossible to open without damaging or destroying it entirely."

Looking at the mystery for a few moments longer, he put it away when he confirmed that there would be no more changes for now.

"I have more important things to worry about anyhow, such as getting some sleep so I am wide awake and alert for tomorrow."

He continued to walk under the moonlight, eventually reaching the same riverbank he had rested momentarily the night that he rescued Lily.

Pushing down his anger once more, having been reminded of the incident, he decided that this was as good a place as any to get some shut eye. He laid down on the grass by the bank, allowing his mind to immerse itself in the soothing sounds of water rolling past and eventually sink into the world of dreams.