Author's Note: For those who actually remember me, I'm back :) So how are all of you? Anyhow so the prologue to my story was also in my final author's note in Blood-Streaked, but I realized I had a few mistakes in it… like a mistress who was pregnant for eight years… poor woman! I've added a bit more to it, but yes. Please read, review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I know, I'm sorry I forgot to put this up before but, I forgot. Thank you, press-and-click for reminding me. The scene of the bank robbery is somewhat borrowed from CSI, it's a TV show for those of you who don't know. The part where they go in and explode all the safety boxes so that one would remain intact is theirs. However, rest comes from my own head. Once again, sorry for forgetting to put this up yesterday, but it slipped my mind. Let's hope I don't get sued.
Tears of Blood
Six men sat calmly in the white van parked across the street. One man, the youngest sat behind the wheel while the others sat in the back. All except the driver were dressed in black sweatshirts, dark blue jeans and scuffed up white sneakers. Each wore green contacts except for one because green was his natural eye colour. One of the men nudged another with his elbow. The leader of men lazily looked at his watch. Four minutes until closing time.
"Give them another minute," he decided and the men waited.
When the time came, the driver started up the engine and moved the van directly before the bank. The men pulled down their ski masks to cover their faces and filed out of the van. A shorter man took out his stopwatch and started it. They would be in and out in less than four minutes. The men walked up the few steps and strode into the Bank of America, their H&K machine guns by their sides.
As dusk began settling over the city, red and blue flashing lights filled the night sky. Helicopters hovered like vultures over Main St. trying to get a glimpse of some action below. Detective Seth Randal wasn't sure what was going on. He had worked the early morning shift and wasn't due in again until tomorrow evening, but sure enough, they called him in tonight anyway. He was in a rental car because his was in the repair shop, which was even more frustrating because there was no police scanner. All he knew was what the media knew, that a robbery had gone terribly wrong. He parked his car and a fellow officer admitted him into the restricted area, a good chunk of Main St. was now restricted area.
Seth didn't bother questioning the officer. He had already been spotted by the new and eager-to-get-out-there detective, Naomi Barclay. She had left their superior Norman Lincoln and was already weaving through the crowd to get to him. He looked up to see a smug smile on Lincoln's face. Seth almost groaned out loud.
Barclay came up to him with a proud smile and told him what he had already discerned. "Good evening, Detective Randal. I'm going to be your new partner for this case."
"Joy," Seth replied dryly. He and Lincoln had gotten into a couple of arguments over the questionable methods Seth employed while working on cases. For Seth, procedural laws, county territories and all just got in the way of justice so he disregarded them. He often pulled dangerous stunts, but it was not as if he was untrained for them. Uncle Sam had trained him well. Lincoln was forcing Seth to allow Barclay to tag along in hopes that Seth's means of investigating this case remained legal. In other words, Lincoln had just sucked the fun out of the job.
Upon spotting the coroner as he was arriving, Seth asked, "How many dead?"
"Six, but-"
Seth didn't let her continue. "Tell me what happened from the very beginning. Don't leave a single detail out."
She hesitated, but then continued. "Approximately ten minutes before closing time, a white van pulled up down the street from the bank. There was only one young male in the front seat. Unbeknownst to him, he was being admired by twelve year old, Annie Newman, who lives in the apartment above the flower shop across the street from the bank. Five minutes left until closing time, they moved the van directly in front of the bank. At this point, five armed men stepped out of the van and entered the bank. When Annie saw the guns, she called the police."
"Did they leave anyone alive in the bank we can question?" Seth queried.
Barclay gave him an odd look. "Yes, they did. They have been interviewed and from their statements, we know that once inside, two men went around and closed the blinds of the windows. Another locked the front door and flipped the sign over indicating the bank was closed. He then joined the others and stood behind the leader, their guns ready. Once they got everyone's attention, the leader stated 'Anyone calls the police and everyone dies. Got that?' He and another then got the bank manager to take them to the room where all the safety deposit boxes are located while the others watched the last minute bankers.
"They placed four bombs strategically on a quadrant and left the room. They got the manager to 'do the honours of pressing the button' and blew the bombs. They went in afterwards without the manager and came out. Forensics has already taken a look at the scene. The bank robbers knew exactly what they wanted and how they were going to get it. The bombs were strategically placed to leave the one box in the middle perfectly intact. The manager didn't know what they took, but another woman in the foyer of the bank heard the leader say into a radio as they were leaving the bank that 'the sonofabitch emptied the box already'."
"And they got angry and shot six people?" Seth questioned waiting for the six casualties to come into play.
"No, they left the bank and froze on the steps as the first three squad cars to respond to the nine-one-one call Annie Newman made arrived," Barclay stated.
Seth let out a curse. "Are you saying we have six dead cops?
"Why don't you stop interrupting me so you can find out?" she offered.
Seth frowned. "Go on."
"The cops are still a bit confused on the matter. Gunshots rang out and they automatically ducked believing that they were being fired upon. When they were about to return fire, they found all five of the bank robbers collapsing on the ground. A closer look revealed that all five of them had been shot in the head. The sixth, the driver, was found dead in his van a little down the street. He tried to getaway, but was shot in the head."
"All the bank robbers were killed," Seth repeated incredulously.
Barclay nodded. "Precise, instantly fatal shots and the trajectory angles in which the bullets entered their heads suggest that the killer was on top of the building next to Annie Newman's apartment."
Seth stopped and studied Naomi. He had already drawn his own conclusions, but he wanted to test her out. "So what do you think went down here?"
The look that she sent him told him she knew he was testing her. "I believe that someone hired these six men to rob the bank. When they reported that the safety box they were targeting was found empty, then the sniper was given instructions to kill. Whatever is in that box, someone wants it real bad and is willing to kill to get their hands on it and to keep their involvement in it a secret."
Seth was about to congratulate her, but she continued, "I have already traced the owner of the box and his activities in the bank. The owner of the safety box is Han Chu. Seven months ago, something was placed inside the box for safekeeping. A week ago, someone decided it was not longer safe in the bank and took it out."
"So we track down Han Chu and find out what was in the box and who was willing to kill to get their hands on it," Seth decided.
"I've already tracked down his known address," Barclay replied dryly. When Seth raised an eyebrow, she clarified, "43 Faywood Drive."
"Oh shit."
"My sentiments exactly. Han Chu has been deceased for eight years and counting. I already have a friend looking into the family of the deceased to find anyone who might have had access to his bank records."
"What have they got so far?"
Barclay smiled. "He didn't make it easy for us. Chu was a very active man. He divorced three times. He has three ex-wives, one current wife, and four mistresses who all had children. So far as we know at the time of his death, the number of children he had is thirteen and a half."
"A half?"
"One of the mistresses was pregnant with his child. She was due four months after his death. His parents are dead. He has two brothers and one sister and they are all married except for the older brother who has remained a bachelor. That makes nine nieces or nephews on his side of the family."
"You found all this out in two hours?" Seth asked, impressed.
"I found access to his will. The man was a gold mine. He was filthy rich and just on the verge of dying. He was also incredibly tight fisted according to his bank records. His relatives were probably waiting for the man keel over so they could get their hands on his money."
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that he didn't die peacefully in his sleep."
Barclay shook her head. "Stabbed five times in his chest and his throat was slit. Whoever killed him must have been real disappointed. The family members I named each got ten thousand dollars, but compared to Chu's fortune, that was next to nothing. The rest of his money all went to one recipient. A distant relative who had just immigrated from Cambodia."
"What's his name?"
"Larry Chang."
"Have you tracked him down yet?"
"Not yet, but I will."
** Yes, the whole not finding what the robbers were looking for and the sniper killing them all… my idea. Robbing a bank just to get what was in the safety box… it belongs to the brilliant writers of CSI. Right, so this is the stuff that people who read Blood-Streaked all ready got. New Readers are always welcomed :) I am posting the first chapter with it. I hope you all like my new story :) Flawless Storm.**