Post by endoftheline on Jul 13, 2014 15:33:51 GMT -6
The burnt carcasses of a pair of bikes were resting on top of a large, stainless steel table within the crime lab of the LAPD. Several black-and-white photographs had been pinned to a bulletin board along with a host of other papers ranging from rap sheets to blueprints. A couple of television monitors had also been set up nearby.
Two men stood in front of the bulletin board, looking over the gathered information. A young man with short brown hair and rugged good looks was rubbing the back of his neck with visible frustration. The older man next to him was shaking his head with a wry grin. “This is ridiculous. They're obviously hiding something. I just can't figure out what it is.”
The younger man shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, Mike. None of this makes any sense. Where do we stand?”
Mike Ramsey, the LA Fire Marshal, stepped away from the bulletin board to move to one of the television monitors. Pressing a button, the security footage begins to play in slow motion. “Right about... here.” Mike stopped the footage just as the first explosion went off. “You see that? The bomb was positioned just behind the back tire, and angled toward the ground. The force of the explosion flips the bike forward over its handlebars, and then the second explosion goes off in the fuel tank. But look,” he played the footage forward, and stopped it again as the second explosion started, “You see that?” He points directly to the explosion. “It's going straight into the ground. Not out, not up. Whoever did this, didn't want any bystanders getting hit. It was a controlled blast.”
Mike's junior partner, Peter McCarthy, was taking everything in, nodding his head. “So, whoever did this, didn't want anybody hurt. They wanted to...send a message? What's the message?”
“That's what I'm trying to figure out. But that's not what bothers me. Look at this tape. Somebody has clearly been messing with it. They're good, but it's obvious. A quick and dirty job. Somebody was scrambling to cover something up. What don't they want us to see?”
“Or they're trying to hide some BODY. What do we know about these guys?”
Mike just laughed, moving back over to the bulletin board. He points to the first picture. “Allow me to introduce you to Alexander Davidson. Calls himself DK. This fine specimen of humanity had so many contradicting stories I don't even think HE knows what's real and what's bullshit. He claims BOTH bikes belong to him. They don't. The second bike belongs to this gentleman, Mr. Trei Sanz. Upstanding citizen whom just so happened to just get out of prison after doing a solid nickel.”
Peter interrupted briefly. “Maybe he's just trying to keep the heat off his boy?”
“It's possible, but shaky. I saw this guy's face at the scene. He looked like somebody just shot his dog.”
“Then... maybe the message was for Sanz?”
“Also possible! But here's the thing.” Mike moved back over to the TV monitor and used the controls to zoom in on DK's face. “Look at this guy. Nothing. Blank slate. No anger, no grief, he's not even confused. I'm not expert on bikers, but even insurance commercials know how much Bikers love their Bikes. And this guy looks like this is normal. Asked my guy what the problem was. Hello? Genius? Your bike just fucking blew up! What the fuck do you think is wrong?!”
Peter was flipping through the reports before pointing to something else. “He also stated that everybody was there at the time, but the footage shows this little piece of ass arrived after everything was done.”
“Oh yes. This girl is none other than Brooklynn Rodriguez. I guess she's Sanz's “old lady” whatever the hell that means. Kid doesn't look old enough to be out of high school.”
“Wait wait, BROOKLYNN Rodriguez? Any relation to Luey?” Peter was staring at the pictures thoughtfully.
Mike grinned almost savagely. “That's his daughter.”
“This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Oh, but wait, there's more.”
“Dude. How can there possibly be MORE?”
“I told you, this is FUBAR. Total clusterfuck. So, the owner of this establishment, is none other than Mrs Dawn Rodriguez. Currently separated from her husband, Damion Fucking Rodriguez. She was the one who was so nice as to turn over the security footage within moments of us asking.”
Peter nodded. “So, you think she's in on this?”
Mike took a step back to take everything in. Scratching the back of his neck, he finally just laughs and throws out his hands. “I have no fucking idea! She's smart enough, I'll give her that much. But she came across as a businesswoman. Business-minded people don't shit where they eat.”
“So... You're liking DK? Some kind of insurance scam, or something? Or maybe a message to this Sanz guy? Maybe some kind of inner biker beef?”
Mike nodded his head slowly. “I definitely think there's some kind of beef going on. It's just too personal not to be. Doing something to a biker's bike is like screwing another man's wife. It's not done without reason..”
“But, why would this DK guy cover up Brooklynn being there? You think she had something to do with it too? Or do you think he's just dumb?”
“I don't know, but I think they're definitely trying to protect her specifically. I just don't know why.”
“This would probably be a lot less complicated if he was just dumb.”
“There's only one way for us to find out.”
Mike and Peter both looked at each other and sighed. This wasn't going to be fun. Allowing his shoulders to sag a bit, Peter nodded and turned away toward the phone. “I'll call the judge and get a warrant. We'll bring Brooklynn in for questioning.”
Two men stood in front of the bulletin board, looking over the gathered information. A young man with short brown hair and rugged good looks was rubbing the back of his neck with visible frustration. The older man next to him was shaking his head with a wry grin. “This is ridiculous. They're obviously hiding something. I just can't figure out what it is.”
The younger man shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, Mike. None of this makes any sense. Where do we stand?”
Mike Ramsey, the LA Fire Marshal, stepped away from the bulletin board to move to one of the television monitors. Pressing a button, the security footage begins to play in slow motion. “Right about... here.” Mike stopped the footage just as the first explosion went off. “You see that? The bomb was positioned just behind the back tire, and angled toward the ground. The force of the explosion flips the bike forward over its handlebars, and then the second explosion goes off in the fuel tank. But look,” he played the footage forward, and stopped it again as the second explosion started, “You see that?” He points directly to the explosion. “It's going straight into the ground. Not out, not up. Whoever did this, didn't want any bystanders getting hit. It was a controlled blast.”
Mike's junior partner, Peter McCarthy, was taking everything in, nodding his head. “So, whoever did this, didn't want anybody hurt. They wanted to...send a message? What's the message?”
“That's what I'm trying to figure out. But that's not what bothers me. Look at this tape. Somebody has clearly been messing with it. They're good, but it's obvious. A quick and dirty job. Somebody was scrambling to cover something up. What don't they want us to see?”
“Or they're trying to hide some BODY. What do we know about these guys?”
Mike just laughed, moving back over to the bulletin board. He points to the first picture. “Allow me to introduce you to Alexander Davidson. Calls himself DK. This fine specimen of humanity had so many contradicting stories I don't even think HE knows what's real and what's bullshit. He claims BOTH bikes belong to him. They don't. The second bike belongs to this gentleman, Mr. Trei Sanz. Upstanding citizen whom just so happened to just get out of prison after doing a solid nickel.”
Peter interrupted briefly. “Maybe he's just trying to keep the heat off his boy?”
“It's possible, but shaky. I saw this guy's face at the scene. He looked like somebody just shot his dog.”
“Then... maybe the message was for Sanz?”
“Also possible! But here's the thing.” Mike moved back over to the TV monitor and used the controls to zoom in on DK's face. “Look at this guy. Nothing. Blank slate. No anger, no grief, he's not even confused. I'm not expert on bikers, but even insurance commercials know how much Bikers love their Bikes. And this guy looks like this is normal. Asked my guy what the problem was. Hello? Genius? Your bike just fucking blew up! What the fuck do you think is wrong?!”
Peter was flipping through the reports before pointing to something else. “He also stated that everybody was there at the time, but the footage shows this little piece of ass arrived after everything was done.”
“Oh yes. This girl is none other than Brooklynn Rodriguez. I guess she's Sanz's “old lady” whatever the hell that means. Kid doesn't look old enough to be out of high school.”
“Wait wait, BROOKLYNN Rodriguez? Any relation to Luey?” Peter was staring at the pictures thoughtfully.
Mike grinned almost savagely. “That's his daughter.”
“This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Oh, but wait, there's more.”
“Dude. How can there possibly be MORE?”
“I told you, this is FUBAR. Total clusterfuck. So, the owner of this establishment, is none other than Mrs Dawn Rodriguez. Currently separated from her husband, Damion Fucking Rodriguez. She was the one who was so nice as to turn over the security footage within moments of us asking.”
Peter nodded. “So, you think she's in on this?”
Mike took a step back to take everything in. Scratching the back of his neck, he finally just laughs and throws out his hands. “I have no fucking idea! She's smart enough, I'll give her that much. But she came across as a businesswoman. Business-minded people don't shit where they eat.”
“So... You're liking DK? Some kind of insurance scam, or something? Or maybe a message to this Sanz guy? Maybe some kind of inner biker beef?”
Mike nodded his head slowly. “I definitely think there's some kind of beef going on. It's just too personal not to be. Doing something to a biker's bike is like screwing another man's wife. It's not done without reason..”
“But, why would this DK guy cover up Brooklynn being there? You think she had something to do with it too? Or do you think he's just dumb?”
“I don't know, but I think they're definitely trying to protect her specifically. I just don't know why.”
“This would probably be a lot less complicated if he was just dumb.”
“There's only one way for us to find out.”
Mike and Peter both looked at each other and sighed. This wasn't going to be fun. Allowing his shoulders to sag a bit, Peter nodded and turned away toward the phone. “I'll call the judge and get a warrant. We'll bring Brooklynn in for questioning.”
