Setting the Trap

Over the next two days, Daren led the team on patrol around the city. Aayla basically spent hours running around the city each day. Crime had scaled up drastically over those two short days. Aside from the blue zones, crime was rampant everywhere.

The military and police forces had trouble keeping the serious violence contained. The battle lines between insurgents and the city kept flowing towards the central areas. Now, keeping to the yellow zones was extremely difficult.

Whenever the team stepped outside of the blue zone, several pairs of eyes instantly locked onto them. From pitiful beggars to scheming villains, the team couldn't avoid the attention. People even tried to pickpocket them in broad daylight!

Chris suffered the brunt of any attacks on the team. A street urchin tried to pickpocket someone? Chris was the intended victim. An uncontrollable wagon rushed towards the team? Chris was directly in its way. A crazy villain randomly started stabbing people? Chris was marked as the first victim.

Fortunately, each incident was handled with ease. The pickpocket was grabbed before their hand entered Chris's pocket. The wagon was avoided by a hair when Chris flipped over it with air magic. The crazy stabber was forced to the ground with a broken arm before even touching him.

In short, Chris was a trouble magnet yet managed to survive. The opposite happened with Daren. He kept discovering all sorts of crimes in progress yet the criminals would flee every time. The suspects usually managed to escape into more dangerous areas, but his contributions kept racking up.

On their latest mission, they finally caught one of the serious troublemakers. When the team found him, the guy was as drunk as a skunk and sneaking out the back of a bar after his antics pushed the patrons into a frenzy. The idiot would have gotten away if he hadn't tried to drunkenly harass a lady in public.

This guy had been terrorizing the bars and taverns around the city before the True Order moved in. Now, he was even worse. He committed several crimes including dining and dashing, assaulting wait staff, harassing women and started brawls. The drunkard even stole the wait staff's tips!

Daren happily cuffed him before they began to drag him back to the station. The man could barely walk. Instead of physically holding him up, Daren simply cast a spell. The drunkard reeked of beer and vomit. He did not want that smell on his clothes.

"Yoooo! Preeettyy laaadies!" the drunkard slurred. "Could ya get these ittle boooys off meh? I'm suuuper sober ash I'm gonna get. But you know, you know, I know a reeeaal nice place to – wait, what was I sayin'? Oh – grab a drink to get reeaally wasted fer a –"

"No thank you." Aayla harshly interjected.

He's said those same lines about twelve times now. The first few times were infuriating when his speech was decipherable, but now it's just annoying. Aayla suspected that the alcohol might have permanently addled his brains.

"Oooh! Aren't yoooou a firey one, eh? So exotic and fine~"

Aayla nearly punched the guy right then and there. That was the best way to shut these people up according to her grandpa. Jacki held her back, but no one held back Daren. The drunkard doubled over in pain before Daren roughly grabbed him by the collar.

"Eh? What's that fer, you git? Mad dat I'm takin' yer gurl or somethin'?"

"No decent woman like her would go out with you, so just shut up and drop it. [Silence]"

Daren picked up his pace as he dragged the drunkard behind him. His firmly drawn lips and pulsing temple betrayed his anger. Dragged over the road, the drunkard struggled to stand back up. Though the drunkard flailed, not a sound peeped from his lips.

"Finally, some quiet. Let's hurry up and drop this guy off at the drunk tank. I'm sick of his awful odor already."

When they finally arrived at the blue zone, a police officer came out to greet them. With an apologetic look on his face, the officer handed a piece of paper to Chris.

"I'm so sorry, but there's been a few incidents so the cells in the police station in the blue zone is full. The prison wagon has been delayed for over an hour, and there are too many non-prison worthy criminals that can't be released yet. Could you do me a favor and take that man to the station on this map?"

Chris and Jacki carefully looked over the map while Aayla studied the officer. She didn't remember seeing him around. His uniform was crisp and clean with a neatly displayed badge. Strangely, his fingernails were really rough and dirty.

"I haven't seen you around, sir."

"Oh," the man smiled. "That might be because I'm working a different shift than normal. I got transferred over for the day to help with the added chaos."

"What happened to overload the police station? I hope that it's nothing too serious."

The officer squared his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back. A serious look appeared on his face.

"It could be serious or not depending on what's really happening behind the scenes. There's been a serious uptick in crime today. The criminal gangs might be getting involved. Anyways, you're all technically still civilians. Don't get involved."

"Thanks for your concern. We will."

"I need to leave now, so I'll see you all back at the station later. Keep the map. Stay safe as you travel."

With that final sentence, the police officer turned and jogged away. Aayla watched the man leave with a frown on her face. He seemed like a normal police officer, but why did something seem suspicious?

"Aayla? Would you like to look at the map?"

"What? Look at the map? Oh, yes please."

Perhaps she was being too paranoid. Aayla turned her attention away from the police officer while she looked at the map. The other police station was a bit far away. A clearly marked path outlined the shortest route with x's on certain areas to avoid.

The team set off with the drunkard, who continued to struggle to break free. Eventually, the drunkard fell asleep. He somehow became even more annoying as the drunkard could no longer support his own weight. Still, Daren continued to drag him over the ground.

Jacki held the map and guided them towards the police station. The route followed safe, larger roads with plenty of people. The roads slowly got more congested as they neared the station. Arguments broke out several times around them. Luckily, none of them became fist fights.

As they neared the other police station, two carriages collided ahead of them. One of them overturned and dumped its contents out into the street. A crowd formed as the carriage drivers argued. Jacki and Chris consulted the map to find another way around it.

Luckily, there was an alley that led to a parallel street that would take them to the back of the police station. This delay would only cost them a few minutes in travel time. The team quickly pushed through the crowd and entered the alleyway.

The moment Aayla entered the alley, she coincidentally got a good look at the accidents. The stars or something had aligned to let her see the face of one driver and the back of the second. She could have sworn that the first driver seemed familiar, but Aayla couldn't remember seeing his face anywhere.

"Are you coming Aayla?"

"Yes!"

She pushed those thoughts aside then entered the alley. As they walked away from the crowds, the alley got quieter and quieter. The team quickly followed the small winding path through the short buildings. Aayla finally remembered why that driver seemed familiar.

She didn't get a good look at his face the first time, but she did see his back!

"That's who that guy was!"

The others stopped and turned towards her in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What guy?"

"The jewel thief that got away! I'm positive that one of the drivers in the accident on the main road was that jewel thief from a couple of days ago. I got a good look at his face when I entered the alley."

"Are you sure? I didn't know that Miss Glowery was an expert at seeing people's faces from behind as we chase them."

"I am very sure! I saw his face briefly when he came out of the store and his profile as the thief turned corners."

Footsteps echoed throughout the alley as someone slowly clapped. Chris face quickly turned from disbelief and derision into shock and worry.

"We need to leave! Drop the drunkard and head back the way that we came."

"Leaving so soon? That won't do. I have a special reunion planned. After all, it's been a while since we last saw each other."

Several people emerged on both ends of the alley way. They were led by a stout figure in a hooded robe. Shadows fell across Aayla's face. When she looked up, several more stood on the roof tops. The team was surrounded.