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The Secret Intelligence Bureau, or SIB, is a public law enforcement agency that works in the shadows. When you least expect it, they'll show up at your door and question you about what you may be guilty of. Agents Draco Jung, Bezalel Lior, and Garnet Nox check on strange electrical readings from an apartment complex that lead to the discovery of a human trafficking syndicate that involves many people in movies, TV, and entertainment in the City of Angels.

Government-Sanctioned Mafia: Chapter 4 – Secret Justice

Chapter 4 – Secret Justice

All agents and police officers already outside the targeted house move in just as we arrive on the scene. Bezalel, Garnet, and I move in and are surprised that no one fires a single shot. Everyone in the house surrenders and is taken away without a fight.

“Did you know this would happen?” Bezalel asks.

“This house was surrounded the moment we knew what was happening here. The bureau wasn’t going to take any chances,” Garnet says.

“Whatever. I’m digging deeper into what’s here.”

In the house, Garnet connects to the computers and finds files on the many degenerate parties they had here and the kinds of people they did work with. They apparently worked with other criminal human trafficking rings, a rape gang from the Cult of the Pale Green Horse, and other people they knew in entertainment. Thankfully, no one in the government is mentioned since the syndicate didn’t want to risk their entire operation. The government here is mostly filled with traditionally-minded, good people, so they probably wouldn’t find any allies in it anyway. Going into the basement, we find pictures on the walls of many of the victims of the human trafficking syndicate, most of whom are children.

Further in the basement, we find dozens of dirty beds, and in one room, we find barrels buried into the ground, clothes of all sizes scattered around, flies swarming the barrels, and the smell of something beyond horrible, as if we could smell the evil of what happened here.

“If those fuckers don’t get the death penalty, then the justice system is dead,” Bezalel says as he storms out of the room and runs up the stairs and out of the basement.

Because of what happened and the public outcry surrounding it, the trials of everyone involved are expedited so that the public unrest will die down. Most of everyone associated with the human trafficking syndicate receives the death penalty, except for the people in entertainment who have the most influence and power. For some reason, the evidence we have is insufficient for the jury and judge, but because of the public outcry and the evidence we do have, they are given a few months in prison for severe negligence.

Bezalel jumps up during the decision and says, “Bull-fucking-shit!”

Garnet and I have to hold him back as he and everyone else in the audience cause a scene at the trial. Nothing is changed by the crowd’s outrage, and the decision of the judge is final. With nothing else to do, the three of us go back to the SIB office and are surprised by the bureau throwing a party for us and everyone who helped out take down the human trafficking syndicate. They especially recognize Garnet, Bezalel, and me for discovering it and everything we did, even going so far as to give us raises and promote us in rank. We’re all thankful for it, but the three of us are still somewhat upset by the results of the trials.

“Maybe the jury or judge was bought out. Maybe some of the evidence was deleted,” Bezalel guesses.

“None of the evidence in the investigation was tampered with as far as I knew. I made sure that it was secure in the SIB’s database. I feel like it’s my fault for not being able to get some of the information that was deleted on their servers and computers when they were scrubbing those,” Garnet says.

“Don’t blame yourself for that. You did what you could,” I say.

“I know, but I feel like I could’ve done more.”

“We all feel that way,” Bezalel says.

During the celebration, I can’t help but try to reassure myself that we did everything we could and that this was the best result we could’ve gotten. I even try to delude myself into thinking that those who didn’t get the death penalty maybe were actually guilty of severe negligence, but a part of me can’t stop thinking the opposite. Things are quiet in the City of Angels for a while as the day of the release of the remaining people associated with the human trafficking syndicate arrives. Garnet, Bezalel, and I are called to the briefing room of the SIB office by our superiors. When we enter the room, we’re surprised to find that our bosses aren’t there. Instead, it’s the president and vice president themselves, President Vincenzo Campione and Vice President Cesare Campione.

Vincenzo is dressed in a red and black suit and hat and black hair and blue eyes, while his brother, Cesare, has a grey and blue suit, blonde hair, and green eyes. The three of us bow to them and say how much of an honor it is to meet them. Vincenzo waves us off and says that the honor is his.

He continues, “You three helped save so many children and innocent victims of a syndicate that should never have existed in our country.”

“We’ve been monitoring the situation ever since we heard about it, making sure that everyone is doing their job and no one is stabbing us in the back. I wish I were there to help and not uselessly on the sidelines. You three have more self-control than I will ever have because I would’ve shot every single one of those bastards without even thinking of taking them in alive,” Cesare says.

“Trust me, sir. I was on the edge of killing them all myself. I don’t have as much self-control as you think,” Bezalel says.

“And yet, you held back, but don’t worry about self-control for what we have planned.”

Vincenzo says, “As you know, the people in entertainment associated with the syndicate that got away with their lives and a slap on the wrist are getting out of jail soon. We’ve heard that they’re going to have a getting-out-of-jail party, and we’d like you to make the celebration special for them.”

“What are you suggesting, sir?” I ask.

“What you’re all feeling. What you all know that these people should’ve gotten.”

Bezalel looks at us, and I can tell he’s smiling behind his gas mask.

“Sirs, this is highly illegal,” Garnet says.

“Illegal, maybe, but as I like to say, men make laws, but God decides what is right and wrong.”

“You sound like this is going to happen with or without us,” I say.

“It will. Justice must be served outside the law as much as it is inside of it,” Cesare says.

I’ve heard the rumors that Vincenzo and Cesare are associated with vigilantes and the mafia, but this solidifies it. Given their influence, power, and what they’re going to do, I can’t see trying to stop it as the right course of action.

“What would you like us to do?” I ask.

“Draco!” Garnet says.

“Tell us what we need to do. We’re willing to do anything,” Bezalel says.

“Bezalel!”

“If you don’t want to help, you don’t have to, Garnet. Just don’t try to stop us,” Vincenzo says.

Garnet looks at us, sighs, and agrees to help. Vincenzo and Cesare tell us their plan, and we enact it on the day of the party. As the party is underway, we make sure everyone is inside before cutting the power. We all put on our masks, draw our pistols, and enter the mansion. Bezalel wears a new gas mask in the design of a plague doctor, while Garnet and I wear crow masks. As we move through the house, we silently take out the guards by strangling them with fiber wire. Everyone in the building is now gathered, afraid for their safety, so we radio our backup to enter the mansion from all sides. Before they can come in, we open fire on the remaining guards and tell everyone to stay down.

Our backup arrives, other people in masks, and begins threatening the partygoers with guns and bats as they force them out into the streets, where they start beating them to death and yelling at them about how they’re monsters for destroying their lives and taking away their loved ones. The rageful parents and grandparents are the most vicious, as they yell about their dead or forever mentally damaged children or grandchildren. This whole scene causes the neighbors to call the police, who soon arrive in a few minutes. While the police are telling the crowd to stop what they’re doing and that they’re under arrest, President Vincenzo and Vice President Cesare take off their snake masks and step out of the crowd with their hands up. The police are shocked to see them and are unsure about what to do.

“Do you really want to deny these people justice?” Vincenzo asks.

“No-no, sir,” an officer says.

“Then leave.”

“B…but this whole thing is-”

Cesare interrupts by saying, “Is what? We all know that these pedophiles and scum are guilty, and yet our system let them go free with a slap on the wrist compared to what they should’ve gotten.”

“This isn’t illegal in the slightest,” Vincenzo adds. “This is why my brother and I instituted vigilante laws, so that criminals like these wouldn’t get away with their heinous sins, so please, let these families have what they were denied, and then they’ll leave.”

The police officers look at one another, agree, and then leave. With the police gone, the crowds continue to beat the scum that abused and took away their loved ones before hanging them on a nearby tree, still alive. They hurl their final insults at them, and then leave. Back at the SIB office, the president and vice president thank us for helping them.

Vincenzo says, “Even though no one but those in Heaven will know about what you three did today, I’ll make sure you’re all properly rewarded with a bonus, promotion, and favors in the bureau.”

The three of us thank the president and vice president, who then leave the office as if they just concluded some mundane business with us. Bezalel is ecstatic over what we did, while Garnet is unsure exactly how to feel, though she is satisfied that the loved ones of the human trafficking got what they felt they deserved. As for me, I feel a strange sense of satisfaction and finality, as if what happened was the actual right thing to do and the best thing that could’ve happened to end this whole situation. Thanks be to God for justice finding a way to be enacted on the guilty, both inside and outside human law.

 

The End

Government-Sanctioned Mafia: Chapter 3 – A Messy Rescue

Chapter 3 – A Messy Rescue

All the agents and police officers for the raid on the sex traffickers enter the briefing room and make small talk with one another as they enjoy the free coffee and hoagies.

Seeing a familiar face, I go up to him and say, “Chief Leo! It’s great to see you again.”

“Of course I’d be here after hearing that you were heading the investigation. Will you be in the field or just directing everyone behind the scenes and doing your own thing?” Chief Leo asks.

“Hell no. I’m not going to stay on the side while lives are on the line.”

“And that’s why I always said you were a model officer, and the SIB would be worse without you. I’m sure you two don’t need to worry with him on the field.”

Speaking for them, I say, “Actually, I wouldn’t be able to do as much without Garnet’s advice on comms and on the field and Bezalel’s help in detaining suspects.”

The meeting is about to start, so I tell everyone to please sit down and quiet down for the briefing.

“Did you hear what they said, Draco?” Chief Leo asks.

“Sorry, I didn’t. Tell me later,” I say.

“Get used to Draco being deaf to hearing anything good about him. He’s usually focused on the task at hand. Speaking of which, let’s hear what you three have to say.”

Garnet goes to the front of the room and switches slides on the projector as she talks. She begins by saying, “The sex trafficking syndicate we’re after is about to be trading and getting rid of the people they have on hand at the docks we’ll be heading to, so I’ll be brief. You're all already assigned to teams, and each part of the docks you’ll be attacking. We have sniper support, EMTs on standby, and the Coast Guard ready to chase anyone who tries to escape from the water. Any questions?”

“Do we really need this much support for an operation like this? It seems a bit overkill,” an officer asks.

“Of course we need all this help. The lives of innocents, and especially that of children, are at risk here.”

Another officer asks, “Does that mean it’s kill on sight for these suspects since human trafficking, especially child trafficking, is punishable by immediate execution?”

“Take them in alive, if you can. Because they’re connected to many people in entertainment, we need to know what they know and their testimony to put the people they know in jail,” I say.

“What about those people in entertainment? Shouldn’t we be arresting them?”

“That’s already happening as we speak from other squads of agents and officers,” Bezalel says. “We’re after the suppliers, while the buyers are being put behind bars before their trial.”

With no other questions, we conclude the meeting and go out to the docks. We get to work immediately just as it starts to rain. Heading in with other agents, Garnet, Bezalel, and I attack the docks from the side where all the ships are docked, and start with the one ship that was noted as being the one with all the sex slaves in it. As we board, a crane on the docks starts taking the containers and tossing them into the ocean.

Over the radio, I say, “Get the Coast Guard to move in immediately! They’re tossing away evidence, possibly people into the water!”

“Are you sure? That’ll ruin your element of surprise-”

Cutting off the Coast Guard contact, I say, “Get them over here now! All agents and officers, go loud!”

Gunfire rings out in the night, and the guards on the boat rush to the edge to see what’s going on. The agents I’m with fire non-lethal knockout rounds at them and push into the bowels of the ship. We catch the guards shooting the slaves in the rooms; some we’re able to save, others we’re too late for, which pushes us to move faster. At the very bottom of the ship, we find the guards gathering all the slaves into one cage and setting a fire under it, trying to burn them all alive. Seeing this makes me throw caution to the wind for my safety and the safety of the scum trying to kill innocent children.

I don’t care what kind of ammo I’m loading into my pistol, whether the suspects get shot in the head or not, and how many times I’m getting shot or grazed by bullets. All that matters to me is the safety of the slaves, especially the children. I reach the cage, shoot off the lock, and help everyone out of it. My fellow agents help everyone out of the boat, and it isn’t until I get off the boat that I feel the effects of the bullets I took. I fall to my knees and have to have Garnet and Bezalel get me to an EMT for help. Thankfully, most of the bullets grazed me and didn’t get too far into me, thanks to the body armor I’m wearing.

“That was reckless, Draco. What were you thinking?” Garnet says.

“I wasn’t thinking. I was only concerned for the safety of others, as a real agent of law enforcement should,” I say.

“He’s right. Of all the times to be reckless, that was the most appropriate. Those people are alive because of him,” Bezalel says.

“Tch. I can’t argue with you on that. Just try not to make it a habit,” Bezalel says.

The results of the raid led to the arrest of dozens upon dozens of criminals and the rescue of many sex slaves, most of whom were children. Unfortunately, some of the suspects and many of the slaves were killed, and not much new was discovered from questioning the suspects. There weren’t any servers or computers that could be mined for info, and the only thing that was discovered was one last place where the slaves were brought, bought, and abused, that being the house of a famous movie and TV producer, one that Bezalel and I see every morning during our coffee breakfast together. The next morning comes, and Bezalel, Garnet, and I look at the house as we have our coffee and make our plan.

“You know what we should do?” Bezalel asks.

“What?” I say.

“I should get a launcher from the SIB armory and blow the place up.”

“You can’t do that. The bureau won’t let you,” Garnet says.

“You know what sickens me? That house is one of the most visible places in the City of Angels because it’s on a hill. We see it every day. Everyone sees it every day, and it’s where those sick fucks have been selling and abusing people from! Don’t say that I should take in anyone alive because I plan on killing every single guilty motherfucker in there!”

“We need them alive, Bezalel,” I say. “We don’t know how much deeper this goes.”

“How much deeper can it go? The government? The Church? A lot of those guards on the docks were from the Cult of the Pale Green Horse, and people are saying that the Israeli mafia may be involved with it too. If you want suspects to question, then you better get to them before I do, because I have every legal and moral right to send those pieces of shit to Hell.”

“Okay.”

Bezalel downs his coffee and tells us to get a move on. Garnet and I quickly drink our coffees, go to the SIB office for our briefing, and then head out to the house on the hill.

Government-Sanctioned Mafia: Chapter 2 – Digging Beyond the Bottom of the Barrel

Chapter 2 – Digging Beyond the Bottom of the Barrel

A good thing about being an agent for the Secret Intelligence Bureau is that I can choose who I work with on an assignment and which assignments I take on. For the most part, the Bureau lets us agents decide what we do and only asks us to work with certain people or on certain assignments when the need arises. Since Bezalel, Garnet, and I discovered this sex trafficking ring, we have to see it through to the end, and because of our particular skills, we can simply work with one another like we usually do without having to have anyone else help us on the aspects of the investigation we choose to tackle. Given the list of targets and places we can go, Bezalel and I chose to go to a child talent agency that’s done multiple collaborations with the streamers who owned the apartment complex where this all started.

Gathered around Garnet’s office, I ask her, “What do you have on this child talent agency?”

“I’ve found that most parents who use their services are from poor or middle-class backgrounds, and that every child who enters the agency either gets a job in entertainment or leaves it without a complaint. What’s weird is that some of the kids who did complain about how they were treated either retracted their complaint or disappeared,” Garnet explains.

“That should’ve been investigated before this all started,” Bezalel says.

“They were, but nothing ever came of the investigations. No detective got beyond the surface level or looked deeper into the agency.”

“Maybe they were bought out.”

“Maybe, but they also never got permission to be able to get into the agency’s deeper systems.”

“We could be dealing with an internal issue as well.”

“That’s something else to look into. For now, let’s head to their recruitment center and see what we can find,” I say.

“I want to work in the field today,” Garnet says.

“Why’s that? You have better access to information here.”

“Given the fact that this sex trafficking ring has now been exposed to the public, they’re more likely to start erasing information from their servers and devices. If I’m there in the field, I can use my personal laptop to stop them from doing so and prevent them from wiping their systems.”

“I see your point. You can come then.”

“This is going to be interesting since you’ve only worked with us in the field to stretch your legs from being in the office every day. How’s your shooting?” Bezalel asks.

“I practice a few times every week and go to the gym every day. You won’t have to look after me if a fight starts.”

“I like it. Get your stuff and let’s head out. I want to personally beat these child traffickers into the dirt.”

Garnet goes to the lockers to change and get her stuff, and when she comes out, she isn’t wearing her usual green sweater, red dress shirt, flower bow, red shirt, black stockings, and red heels. Instead, she wears a green and red suit jacket, black dress pants, and black combat boots, but she’s kept her red and gold agent glasses on that she usually wears. We take an SIB agent car to the child talent agency office, park a couple of blocks away so they don’t immediately see us coming, and walk into the building. Despite the place being a popular place to send kids, it’s oddly dirty and quiet at the same time, with seemingly no one around. Garnet, Bezalel, and I walk around looking for someone until a fragile-looking woman walks out wearing a name tag that says Sharon, casual pants and shoes, and a shirt that has the child talent agency’s name on it.

Approaching her, I show her my badge and say, “Hello, miss. I’m SIB agent Draco Jung, and these are my fellow agents. We’re here to investigate your connection to the streamers who were recently arrested.”

“Sir, we didn’t know what they were up to outside of our collaborations. They just had their events here, recommended our services, and that’s that,” Sharon says.

“That may be true. Please stay here while we investigate the rest of the building. Where is everyone?”

“They’re off today. Given the drama happening today, everyone associated with the arrested streamers has been harassed, so my boss has given most people off. Today it’s just a few other workers and me taking care of the building and some office work.”

“Hmm. Okay.”

As the three of us walk around, looking through the rooms, it really looks like no one is here, so then we turn our attention to the back. Bezalel sees someone duck into a hallway and calls out to ask a question. Before he reaches them, something catches his attention in a room ahead of it, and he ducks down and takes cover behind a wall as shots ring out from it. I turn around just in time to see Sharon pull a small pistol out of a nearby drawer, so I tackle her, cuff her, and tell her to stay in place before joining Bezalel and Garnet in the gunfight.

“We can’t waste our time fighting these guys! Put your earplugs in!” Garnet says before pulling out her phone and activating a special function.

I manage to put my earplugs in just as her phone makes a high-pitched noise that makes the shooters hold their ears in pain and drop their guns. Using non-lethal rounds, we knock out the shooters and quickly run through the rest of the building, encountering more armed men and staff. I throw a flashbang into a particularly crowded room, and we put down everyone in the room. The door leading into the next room is locked, but as I’m about to lockpick it, Garnet tells me to move aside. She places a small charge on the door handle and blows it open.

Inside the office room is a colorfully dressed man in a suit, tie, and dress pants with all happy faces on them. Something is burning in the trash next to him, and he holds up a pistol at us.

“You won’t take me in alive! I won’t let you!” the man says before putting the gun to his head.

Before he can pull the trigger, I tackle the man to the ground and knock him out by hitting him in the head with my pistol. Garnet rushes over to the man’s laptop, connects her phone to it, and quickly types away at it.

“Can you save whatever is on there?” Bezalel says.

“I’m on it! He was trying to erase everything on the company’s internal databases! Ugh! Some of it is already gone!” Garnet says.

“Save what you can then!” I say.

“I am! Alright, I got what I can.”

Garnet disconnects her phone from her computer, and it blows up.

“The guy had a self-destruct function on his computer? Next you’re going to tell me that the whole building is going to explode,” Bezalel says.

“Call the cops to arrest everyone here and secure everything else they can,” I say.

While we’re waiting for the cops, the three of us wait at the entrance where we left Sharon, who thankfully is still on the ground.

Suddenly she blurts out, “I did it because I needed the money!”

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“I gave my kid to this talent agency because I didn’t want to be poor anymore. I wanted to live like the rich people in entertainment and business in the Golden State that they make documentaries, shows, and movies about.”

“What did your kid want?”

“I taught them to want what I wanted, and what’s wrong with that? A parent is supposed to teach their child to care for their parents.”

“Did you know what they were putting your kid through? Did you know about the sex trafficking ring that this place was associated with?” Bezalel says.

“My kid told me about it, but I said that it’s the price of fame and fortune, and I don’t regret a thing.”

“Why tell us this? Do you think you’ll get sympathy or a lighter sentence for your crimes?” Garnet asks.

“I did what I had to do to get a better life for my family. You can’t judge me for that!”

Bezalel slams Sharon’s head against the floor, knocking her out.

“Bezalel! You can’t do that!” I say.

“Piece of shit!” Bezalel says. “That’s what she is! She doesn’t have the honor of even being considered a mother! She’s the lowest of the low!”

“If she remembers that you did that, she could get a lighter sentence, and you in trouble,” Garnet says.

“Whatever. I feel better after giving her what she deserved. I need some air.”

The cops come, arrest everyone associated with the child talent agency, and secure the area. While they’re doing that, the three of us go back to the SIB office and wait for Garnet to connect the information we got to get a new lead for the case.

As we wait, Bezalel says, “That was really quick thinking, tackling that creep before he shot himself, Draco.”

“I got it during my time as a cop, saving suicidal people. Being too late or not reacting fast enough imprints on you the reaction to act first so that you don’t see someone take their own life again,” I say. “You reacted pretty fast to being shot at.”

“Ah. It’s much the same for me. Getting shot and blown up during the war gives you the instinct to recognize the familiar danger. You got any special reactions that you got on the job, Garnet?”

“I can recognize patterns and make logical leaps with the right information,” Garnet says. “I may not have experience fighting people as you boys do, but my studies and work on many investigations help me solve the puzzles we’re given.”

“Oh, that’s right. You know a lot of higher-ups and given one of those expensive educations, right?” Bezalel asks.

“Yes. Doesn’t mean that I got a privileged start to my job, though. I still had to work hard to get to where I am. Speaking of my skills, I’ve found multiple connections between the many suspects we’ve arrested and people in entertainment. This computer has a lot of dirt on them, with pictures of celebrities and politicians with children and sex slaves.”

“Don’t show them to me, or I may break their necks with my robotic hand.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I’m putting these pictures and videos through a program to make sure they aren’t fake. It looks like these people took in these child actors for a guaranteed role or job in entertainment, on the screen or behind it, as long as they didn’t complain about the abuse, and people in entertainment have criminal contacts who don’t care about killing children or young people, in case they want to get rid of them.”

“Is there enough in there to put these people away?” I ask.

“Yes, there is, now that the program has confirmed that everything in here is real. The last piece we need is just finding what was deleted. The files on this computer are placed under different tiers of importance, and the deletion program deletes the most important first.”

“So, should we wait to find what the other investigators find to get our missing information?”

“There may be no need. I’ve discovered that one of the docks is a place where they import and make bids on sex slaves. If we go there and discover the location of this slave marketplace, we may find what we need.”

“Let’s hurry then, if that’s where people are being kept. Arrange a raid with the local police and agents.”

“On it.”

Government-Sanctioned Mafia: Chapter 1 – Caught Unaware

Chapter 1 – Caught Unaware

My partner, Bezalel Lior, and I are out on the streets of the City of Angels in the Golden State, enjoying a short coffee break. We watch tourists take pictures where movie and TV stars show off the premiere of what they star in, and watch as amateurs perform their tricks or sing on stage to get attention for their craft.

“This almost makes the high taxes worth it. We get free entertainment while enjoying our breakfast,” I say.

“You have a weird idea of entertainment, Draco. Watching a bunch of attention-seeking idiots make fools of themselves in public is sadder than anything,” Bezalel says.

“So, why are you watching it then?”

“It’s something to look at while I’m drinking my coffee, and it is cool to see the actually talented people do their thing and amusing to watch the idiots try to impress people.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you if it’s uncomfortable for you to drink coffee like that, always having to take your gas mask on and off.”

Bezalel is a Great War veteran who needs a gas mask from the war to breathe properly. He also has a robotic right arm and wears a brown suit, a fancy black bowtie, dark brown suit pants, black dress shoes, and has his SIB pin on his suit.

“I got used to it.”

“How come you didn’t pick something more normal to wear in public? Why did it have to be a gas mask from the war?”

“It’s because I wore it so much during that time that I feel safer wearing this than the other masks they offered me.”

“What about the damage done to you?”

“It’s nothing but fancy war scars.”

“So, you don’t look ugly under that mask?”

“Not at all. I look quite handsome.”

“Prove it.”

“Nah. It’ll make you jealous if you ever saw my real face.”

I look at myself in my car’s window for a second, and imagine how Bezalel looks under his mask. In comparison to him, I look like a normal SIB agent, with my black hair, with some light tones to its side, black sunglasses, blue suit and pants, black dress shoes, yellow ties, black dress shirt, and SIB pin on the side of my suit.

On the earpiece radio I have, I hear Garnet say, “You boys done your coffee break yet? We have to make those tax dollars spent on us worth it.”

Garnet Nox is an office worker at the local SIB office who is Bezalel and my backup to look up anything we’re investigating, is able to get us police or agent backup, and just generally keeps us on our toes.

“We’re on it, boss,” I say.

I go into my SIB car and check its system for any reports of suspicious activity that we can investigate. One of the nearby reports says that an apartment complex is unusually using a lot of power for the number of people that are there.

I tell Bezalel about it, and he says, “If the tax agency had as much power as they did before President Campione took office, they’d just give them a higher bill and not look into it, unless the tenants weren’t paying their dues.”

“God bless President Campione for severely limiting the tax agency’s power and influence. I’d hate to be an annoying lawman, so let’s just check what’s going on and get them off the list. Can you tell us anything about them, Garnet?”

“Everyone in there knows one another and is associated with moderately popular online streamers. They bought out every room in the apartment, and everyone who wasn’t associated with them was paid a generous amount of money to leave,” Garnet radios over.

“That isn’t illegal to do?” Bezalel asks.

“Not technically. The people they kicked out made a settlement with them, so it’s legal. It must’ve been a good deal since the current tenants haven’t been sued, nor has their deal been argued since.”

“Okay, let’s just go there, write them off, and leave. They probably have a high bill because they just stream and party all night. I’ve heard these people survive on a diet of energy drinks and pornography,” I say.

“That’s pretty close to the truth,” Garnet says.

“God help those faggots,” Bezalel says.

I drive Bezalel and me to the apartment complex. From the outside, it’s nothing special, except for all the graffiti all over it. It’s three stories high, and many of its windows are blacked out.

Using my agent glasses to send over to Garnet what I’m seeing, I ask her, “Is all this graffiti legal?”

“It's their apartment. If someone within didn’t complain, it’s legal,” Garnet says.

“Alright.”

Bezalel and I go to the office of the apartment, say we’re SIB agents, and ask for the manager. A woman in a business suit approaches us from the back room, and for some reason, she looks all frazzled, and with the way her business suit is, you’d think she was dressing for someone with an office-woman fetish.

“Excuse me, miss. We’re SIB agents Draco Jung and Bezalel Lior. How are you doing today?” I ask.

“Fine enough. Can I help you with something?” the woman says in a somewhat tired tone.

“We saw that the amount of electricity used in this apartment complex was unusual. We’ll be investigating the reason for that, and then be on our way.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

The woman walks back into her office and closes the door behind her.

“I was going to ask her for a layout of the apartment building, but I guess she’s busy with something,” Bezalel says.

“I can get that for you. Check your phones,” Garnet says.

I look at my phone and see a map of the apartment complex with every room marked.

“Thanks, Garnet. This shouldn’t take long,” I say.

Bezalel and I decide to check the electrical room first and find that it’s locked. Asking the nearby electrical workers and janitors for a key, they say they don’t have one but should be getting a replacement soon. Not wanting to wait for it, I use the lockpick gun I have with me and open the door for us.

“What is all this?” I ask.

“Data mining servers,” Bezalel says.

“I know, but I’m asking more about why it’s all here.”

“Is there any record of them having this, Garnet?”

“Not at all. We’ll have to do an investigation as to why they have it,” Garnet says.

“Bezalel. The electricians and janitors are coming down,” I say. “We opened the door for you. Would you happen to know why-”

Before I say anything else, I see the electricians and janitors drawing their pistols on us. I draw my own and open fire on them as I take cover.

“Garnet! We’re under assault from the apartment’s staff! Get police backup down here!” I say.

“On it!” Garnet says.

Bezalel fires back at our attackers and asks me, “Should we take them in alive or dead?”

“Alive! They know what’s going on here,” I say.

I load special rounds into my pistol that inject a solution into what it hits that puts people to sleep. I can’t penetrate hard surfaces, but it can penetrate normal clothes. Bezalel and I use our knockout rounds on our attackers and head up the stairs, wary of any more threats. Sure enough, some Middle Eastern-looking men come out of the apartment’s office firing at us, and there are also others shooting us from the stairs. Bezalel and I shoot them and then chase after the others who are running up the stairs. More people come out of the apartment rooms to fire at us, forcing us into cover.

“They must really be afraid of us finding what’s on those servers if they’re all trying to kill us,” I say.

“Let’s give them another reason to be afraid of us. Put your mask on,” Bezalel says.

He reaches into his pockets and throws small, metallic capsules into the hallway that release a red gas. I reach into my back pockets and quickly put a half-face mask on. The red gas makes people choke up, fall to the ground, and drop their guns.

“The SIB want the owners of the apartment complex in cuffs for questioning,” Garnet radios over. “The primary streamer’s family, who owns everything, is on the top floor.”

“Let’s get this degenerate,” Bezalel says.

Bezalel and I go to the top floor to find more people shooting at us. We shoot back, and we throw more gas to easily take them out. I look at my map and go to the one where the owners live. The door is locked, but instead of picking it, Bezalel punches a hole through it and unlocks it. Inside the room, we find various statues of nude men and women, neon lights, and empty food boxes. It doesn’t seem like anyone is here until one of the doors bursts open and a man in a cat full-body costume charges at us with a bat. After shooting him and knocking him out, Bezalel and I see that the bat is the kind that people shove in private places.

Moving on from the pathetic degenerate, I open a bathroom door to see an older, tanned woman dressed like a schoolgirl. I tell her to put her hands up, but she says she hasn’t done anything and reaches into her pocket. Not taking any chances, we shoot her, and she drops the phone she was reaching for. A fat young adult male with cat-ear headphones then comes out of his room with a rifle decorated with naked anime women and neon lights. We tell him to put the gun down before he can raise it, and he seems afraid to even hold it.

“You hurt my wife! You gotta pay!” the young man says as he raises his rifle.

We shoot the young man, knocking him out. In his room, we find various lewd anime-girl character figures, femboy posters, and pictures of children, both boys and girls. The computer is on, and it looks like he was streaming a popular children’s game. People in his livestream see us and start saying hi, telling us to make sure everyone in the apartment is dead and not to shoot the dog. Police backup finally arrives and helps take everyone in, including the other residents who didn’t fight us. Everyone is questioned, and the apartment’s data servers are analyzed. Bezalel and I meet with Garnet back at the SIB office to go over the findings in my office.

As I lay out the files, I say, “It looks like we’ve walked into a real mess of a situation.”

“I always joked in my head about degenerate streamers being pedophiles because of their audience of kids, but I didn’t want it to be true. Garnet, did you know anything about it before we went in?” Bezalel says.

“There were reports and rumors, but nothing formally investigated for some reason,” Garnet says.

“Well, we’re going to find out that reason soon. The Bureau has all local SIB offices and police stations on this case. The entire apartment complex was not only hosting their streams, but they also streamed porn, and not just any kind of porn, but rapes and child pornography, featuring the apartment’s residents and men, women, and children who were being trafficked and abused for the sick amusement of the people on the dark web.”

“That explains the servers,” Bezalel says.

 “That thing hosted their website and dozens and dozens of their videos, pictures, and pornographic games that they made. It also showed that the operation is bigger than themselves because they’re the buyers, not the suppliers of the people who were trafficked,” I explain.

“Heads are going to roll for this, or should I say hang,” Bezalel says.

“Technically, they may get lethal injection, electric chair, or a bullet to the head,” Garnet says.

“Whatever the case is, we have to arrest them first before they face justice in a court of law, so let’s not keep the executioners waiting,” I say.

My police trilogy is in one book and out today!

Paperback ($7.99) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL411RD1

Kindle ($3.99) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL74C56L

The Angel's Trumpet police squad consists of four officers, each distinct from the others. Kurtis Thomas is a veteran, by-the-book officer; Cole Belmont is a Great War veteran; and Max Marlowe is a detective with ties to mobsters. Last but not least is Xander Storge, whom the trilogy follows, and who is a relatively new officer compared to his squadmates. Together, the officers will bring justice to common criminals, go after self-righteous vigilante syndicates, and target foreign political entities that use crime to corrupt their country.
This book contains: Men of the Law and Shield, The Arms of Order, and Defense of Our Way of Life, along with a few Behind the Story trivia notes for each short story.

The last story in my police-inspired trilogy is out today!

Get it for free at select online retailers found on Books2Read - https://books2read.com/b/mgVjY6

The police and the Secret Intelligence Bureau, or SIB, are working together against Slavs who are trying to manipulate the government for their own ends. Caught in this mess is the Angel's Trumpet squad, who are distrustful of the SIB and use their own connections to get to the bottom of a criminal plot to corrupt the very way of life of the United Chimaera States.