The Hunt Begins

Rose returned to her apartment with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Rose. How's it going?" Mrs Sandler, her next door neighbour asked. The old woman sat in front of her apartment smoking a cigarette. 

"Going great." Rose flashed her a smile. She plugged her nose with her finger. "You sure you should be smoking that?"

Mrs Sandler chuckled and looked at the cigar caught between her index finger and her ring finger. "This? I'm a lonely 78 years old woman. Smoking this is the only thing that makes me happy."

"You're right. You've gotta do what makes you happy." Rose winked at her. She inserted her house key into the keyhole and twisted it. There was a soft click and she clasped the door knob. 

"See ya around." She held the door open and walked in.

"Touché." Mrs Sandler called behind her.

Rose walked into her apartment and threw her purse on the pink plush couch. 

She paddled to the bathroom to take off her makeup. Opening the cabinet, she found wipes and drew out one, wiping it against her face. 

"A contract marriage? You should've said that first. Where do I sign?" She recalled her own words and chuckled. After wiping her face, she threw the stained papers in the dustbin beside the sink.

Rose stared at her image in the mirror and blinked. She put her hand in her hair and dragged the wig off her head making dark curls bounce off her shoulders. With her nails, she peeled at her temples, pulling off the mask on her face.

"Yeah. This information is supposed to be classified but all you need to know is that Drake Parson is a member of the most dangerous crime syndicate in the city. Probably dead by now if you ask me." Those words echoed in her head. 

She pushed a button on the cabinet, and it caves in, revealing an array of weapons. She took out a burner phone and dialled a number.

When it clicked. She put the phone to her ears. "This is Agent black. Operation Capture the Devil is a go."

Girls dressed in their underwear were wrapping bags of white powder in a large room. 

Vladimir walked into the room and the women greeted in low, soft, cadences. 

"Hello, Vladimir." They all chorused with a smile.

"Hey, ladies. How's it going?" Vladimir beamed and walked to the large white table where they wrapped the coke.

He dipped his finger in the coke and took it to his mouth. "Hmm. That's good." 

"Good work, ladies." Vladimir gave them a thumbs up and walked out of the room into an inner one where Drystan sat, smoking with 3 gentlemen. 

"Put that away, D. We've gotta talk." He said with a frown on his face. 

Drystan slapped his forehead. "So you pulled me out of there to talk about my wedding?" Drystan pulled his hand from his face.

"Yeah. I mean, your girl's pregnant and you'll have a baby. I can imagine a little you running around here." Vladimir couldn't help but chuckle. When he saw that Drystan wasn't laughing with him, his face fell. 

"Is it now a crime for me to make a joke?" Vladimir said quietly.

Drystan scoffed and walked away, shaking his head.

"Bro, wait up. Please, wait up." Vladimir went after his brother.

Neil Nunez walked into a round of applause in the office block. 

"You were on the news today, Neil. How did it feel?" Mark asked, approaching Neil to clap his shoulder proudly.

Neil had a proud look on his face. "I'm just doing my job. Showing up on TV doesn't matter." 

The applause resounded again in the office area.

"Spoken like a true detective." Mark clapped Neil's shoulder again. His shoulders shook as he laughed. 

"Neil. My office." The captain called from his office.

Neil strutted to the office and pulled the door open. "You wanted to see me, sir?" 

"You did a good closing the Melanzopa drug case." Captain Rick was about light a cigar when he replaced it with a mug of coffee. 

He did this because of Neil. Neil was the strictest police officer he had ever come across. The man was just 25 years old and in his prime, but he had several received honorary awards for his diligence, commitment and hard work. It was rumoured that Officer Neil come from a line of cops. His father had been a cop for X city police department and his father before him and his father before him. And each of them even though were not globally recognized, they made groundbreaking success in helping to reduce crime rates in the city. The Nunez was a name that sends bad guys running. Neil was basically batman without the cape, and he was the perfect man for the job he was about to give him.

"I've got a job for you. And you're gonna like it." Rick picked up a file from his drawer and threw it on his desk.

Neil flipped through the file. A frown came to his lips when he saw black and white pictures of a robbery incident.

"This took place 9 months ago at Dark Flower, the fancy jewel company. A lot of people were killed including a 2 weeks pregnant woman who just got promoted." Rick briefed his junior on the case he was just given. 

Neil ran his fingers on the picture, a frown on his face. "And?" 

"The armed robbers who raided the place are rumoured to be members of Blood Moon." Rick gestured for him to flip the page.

Neil turned over the page and found another photo of a group of people dressed in black from head to toe with animal masks on their faces.

Rick explained further. "We can't decipher their genders, but I suspect they are members of Blood Moon, a dangerous organization run by Drystan Riley."

Neil looked up with a smile on his face. "Leave it to me."