Chapter 68

"Richano!"

Barely making it through the station's front doors, Pierre walks over to his captain who shakes his head. He watches as a couple of other people point and stare at him as well.

"I actually thought the boy was clean cut, goodness. The kid was supposed to be in Monaco, what's he doing out there?!"

"The hell are you and everyone else talking about?" Pierre asks, watching as the stressed captain ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm talking about your partner, Cizetto. He's been arrested in America for assaulting a police officer. It's all over the news!"

"Kazimir? That man made international headlines?" Pierre asks. "Then again, I shouldn't really be surprised; he's always gave off madman vibes. Why'd he do it?"

"Something about a discriminatory or racist phrase." Captain Uzini replies. "I swear I told everyone in training to ignore stuff like that."

The detective nods.

"Yeah, he definitely did that shit. When's he coming back?"

Captain Uzini throws his hands up in the air.

"Richano, I do not know! Listen, I want you to take a flight over there and see if you can negotiate with some of the officers over at the Las Vegas Police Department."

"Wouldn't you be a more suitable choice? I mean, you are the captain of this department after all." Pierre says, rocking his feet back and forth.

Captain Uzini shakes his head.

"And you're sometimes on the news; both nationally and internationally. Here's the address to his hotel, just go as soon as possible."

"If you say so." Pierre says, walking back out of the door.

Stepping to the side, he pulls out his phone and dials Kazimir's number.

After hearing the phone go straight to voicemail, Pierre leaves a message before hanging up.

"And Blondie's on my tail. Go figure."

-------

"Alright, son. That's it."

Placing the ankle monitor back on Kazimir's ankle, the doctor pats the young man's shoulder.

"Be careful when moving around. Everything else is fine, but your ribcage still needs a lot of healing. No heavy lifting for five weeks, okay?"

"Yeah." Kazimir replies, sliding down from the doctor's table. "Thanks, just send me the bill to my address."

Walking out of the room, Kazimir watches as Alexei waves over to him.

"What'd the doctor say?"

"Take it slow for about a month." the young detective replies. "Damn, I hate this ankle monitor. It's too tight."

"Well, at least you aren't stuck behind a cell." Alexei says, placing his hand in a pocket.

"I know. Thanks for making deals with the law over here."

The young law student shakes his head.

"I couldn't make a deal, Mr. Cizetto. That's all they offered to me, pay bail and keep you under house arrest, or they'd just would've kept you in jail until your trial date."

"Then I guess they really do take officer-related incidents seriously."

Walking out of the hospital, Kazimir watches as multiple cameras and microphones surround him.

"Do you feel any regret for assaulting our finest law enforcement?!"

"You guys can't be the finest if I'm taunted." Kazimir replies.

"Did you feel as if your life was threatened?!" a newsman asks.

Tapping Kazimir's arm, Alexei raises his hand, motioning for the cameras to go away.

The young detective sighs.

"They probably think I'm doing this for show now."

"Let them think whatever, they'll find a way to twist your already said words anyway." Alexei says. "Hope you have a clean background, too."

A newswoman barges through the crowd, quickly making her way over to the law student.

"Sir, you're his acting lawyer! How do we know you two aren't trying to push a communist agenda?!"

Alexei groans and turns to the camera.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in pushing our communist agenda in this country."

Kazimir turns to Alexei.

"I thought you said to shut up."

The young law student laughs as he gets inside his car.

"Let's see if the two rival news stations can finally come together regarding my statement, yes?"

Opening his own car door, Kazimir starts it up and drives back to the hotel.

He makes his way up to his room, noticing a familiar figure standing by it.

"You little-

"Ah, I wouldn't try to fight again." Haruki says, placing his hands in his pockets. "I got off with an $1,000 fine, but you took the extra mile. Even got a fancy ankle bracelet that lights up."

"Then get the hell away from my door if you don't want to end up in the hospital next to that damn officer." Kazimir says, crossing his arms.

Haruki's brows furrow and he points up at the young man.

"I almost got away with killing your stupid ass if it wasn't for those pigs. I swear, I'll do it all over again, so you just better watch your fucking back."

He kicks Kazimir in the shin before walking off.

"Then do it right here, right now."

Turning around, Haruki raises a brow.

"You say you can kill me, but I have to wait until l least expect it. Basically, you're a little coward."

Looking behind him, Haruki runs forward, throwing a punch to Kazimir's face and he quickly dodges it.

"You piece of-

"Hey!"

The two young men watch as Alexei runs over and steps in between them.

"What are the two of you doing now? Mr. Cizetto, your ribcage is heavily damaged, not to mention you're already under house arrest for assault. Do you want to go to jail permanently?"

"Alexei, I know you mean well and all, but I'm not going to stand around and live in fear because my life's being threatened by an elf."

"Oh, but your friend harassed me first." Haruki says. "Called me a coward."

"Yeah, because you threatened to kill me when I least expected it. That's what cowards do." Kazimir adds.

Alexei rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Mr. Cizetto, just go into your room. Mr. Feliano, please leave the young man alone for now. Do you really want to be thrown in jail with possibly no bond?"

"So you're the mediator? I don't know who died and left you in charge, but you should note that you won't run everything you want to in life, damn communist." Haruki angrily replies.

"You have three seconds to get the fuck out of my sight before this damn communist pays back what he owes you."

Haruki gives Alexei the middle finger before walking off.

"Did you forget what that clown put us through?" Kazimir asks. "We could've ended him right there."

"Can we leave that for Claiza City? You don't need to be arrested here again. Tomorrow, your trial begins. Try to get as much rest as possible, you'll need it."

He pats Kazimir's shoulder before walking back to his own hotel room.

"ALL RISE!"

It was a sunny, warmish day. While little children ran around in the nearby park, a couple of adults sat in a courtroom before a judge.

"Officer Teriston vs. Kazimir Cizetto is now in session. Please take your seats."

"How long do you think this is going to last?" Kazimir asks, leaning his chair back.

"I don't know." Alexei replies, placing his foot on his other knee. "A few days at the least."

"I'd like to call for the prosecution to begin first." the judge says.

A man walks to the front and gives Kazimir a sleazy smile.

"My name is Harold McAllister and I'll be the lawyer seeing over this poor officer's case. First, I'd like to make it known that my client, Teriston, was brutally beaten by another man, Kazimir Cizetto, over a few harmless words. I'd also like to make it known that the man who beat my client is actually a detective from another country! He should know how to handle things regarding the laws. He should know to control his emotions, even if someone else is being allegedly rude to him."

The judge taps his gavel and Harold takes a seat.

"Defense, you're next."

Standing up, Alexei makes his way to the front of the room.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Alexei La'rine and I'm the acting defense lawyer for Mr. Cizetto. As you all may or may not know by now, my client seemed to physically assault one of the police officers of the Las Vegas Police Department. However, can we really say Mr. Cizetto started that? According to witness reports, officer Teriston took Mr. Cizetto's wallet, which he is not allowed to do under American law unless given permission by the person being detained or serving a warrant which the officer did not have, and then proceeded to refer to him as a "strong samurai" while detaining my client before beating him. This officer has clearly broken a few rules that he swore not to and verbally assaulted my client first."

The judge taps the gavel and Alexei takes a seat.

"Judge, I'd like to state that Mr. La'rine is wrong in his statement about verbal assault. It was just a matter of jokes, nothing no one should get worked up about." Harold says, chuckling. "Besides, a little bit of kicks to the torso couldn't have hurt the kid, now could it?"

"Mr. McAllister, I'd like to have you know that no matter what profession you're in, you don't go around and "joke" like the way your client did. It's called profession for a reason; for the employee to act in a professional manner."

Harold grits his teeth and points to Alexei.

"I'll have you know that people with professions are human too and some certain people aren't fit for high-quality jobs. I will not hesitate to go over this desk to make you understand what I'm getting at, boy."

"That's where I have to disagree with you, Mr. McAllister. As soon as you jump over that desk, I'll show you how professional I can really get." Alexei says, slightly rolling his suit jacket sleeves up.

"ORDER!" the judge screams. "I will not have any backhanded threats going on in this room. We will take a quick recess before hearing witness reports."

The judge taps the gavel once more and everyone stands up, moving around to talk.

"Well, well! Little Kazimir is all grown up now, huh?!"

Kazimir groans and turns to Pierre.

"Fuck are you doing here?"

"Uzini sent me to try and make a compromise with the Vegas Police Department." the older detective replies. "And Alexei, mean-mugging McAllister won't get you nowhere; just fight him after this."

"I don't want to waste my energy on that self-absorbed, low-life, greasy, bigot."

Pierre nods.

"That's understandable."

Hearing the judge's gavel tap again, Kazimir and Alexei make their way over to their respective seats as Pierre signals a sign of good luck.

Looking around the room, the judge waits for everyone to get seated before clasping his hands together.

"And now, I'd like to call Witness #1 to the stand."