"This is ridiculous!"
Hale slapped down the forensics files in front of him with an angry groan. Detective Dante Winters sat at the desk across from him, watching him throw a tantrum like a child over a toy. However, it was much more serious than that.
Dante and Hale sat alone in the police precinct. It was two weeks after Angelo was suspected for murder, but that was barely a memory in Dante's mind. He had been seeing crooks left and right, he couldn't manage to remember every single one – that being said, Angelo was a special case. He was mute, and that was Dante's first interaction with someone mute.
Hale was in his late forties with peppered hair and a couple wrinkles around his hooded eyes. He was Korean by ethnicity, but he was born in America along with his mother and father, so he had an American accent. He had beady black eyes, but they were more warm than intimidating like he wanted them to be.
"No prints, no weapons, and the cameras cut." Hale growled. "Another standard no-proof mafia job with no leads and a dead end. Typical!"
Hale crossed his arms and started grumbling to himself in another language. Dante was surprised how many languages he knew – he was like a fantasy character in a roleplaying game who knew far too many languages to ever speak in just one when he was cussing someone out.
Dante was different. He was your typical golden retriever, happy just to be there spending time with his compatriot. If he had a tail, he'd be wagging right now. He was fun, light-hearted, and pure – there was no way to get him in a bad mood.
Detective Dante Winters was different from Hale in appearance. They were like two sides of a coin – except, completely opposite of what they looked like they represented. While Hale looked like a complete teddy bear, he was actually pretty intimidating and grouchy. Meanwhile, Dante looked scary serious if he wasn't smiling, but was really super soft and kind-hearted in the end.
Dante had clear espresso skin with bright brown eyes. He had dense, curly black hair close cropped to his head and the braids he had along the sides had just been redone the other day. He wore a beige button-up shirt and no tie, with dark brown pants and black loafers.
He had a natural resting bitch face, and if he wasn't smiling, he looked like any other cop glaring into someone for information. Yet, because he had that iconic puppy energy… most girls didn't go for him. They expected a real dangerous guy, someone that would beat people up for fun, a bad boy – but he wasn't. He liked cinnamon lattes and cooking, and everyone found that boring compared to his appearance.
"Getting annoyed, Hale?" Dante asked.
"More than annoyed!" He grumped. "This stupid case isn't going anywhere. We're gonna haf-ta write the final report as cold."
"Why not just pending further information?" The detective hummed.
"On what?" Hale scowled. "We've exhausted all our resources! We have nothing else to report."
Dante sighed, biting his lip. "We've had hundreds of these cases all across the state. I wonder what's gotten everything so worked up lately?"
"Who knows?" His friend groaned, leaning back in his chair.
The detective watched his partner for a moment before he leaned forward. "Why don't I write up the final summary and you go home? You got in early this morning – you should get some rest."
Hale popped open an eye, staring at him for a moment as if deciphering if he should take this offer to leave or stay around. Dante offered a smile, and Hale took in a submissive breath, sitting up and sighing. He picked up his disposable coffee cup, shook it to find that it was empty, and tossed it into the trash.
"Well, if you're really up for it," He sighed, glancing at him again before looking away. "I'll get going, then. You stay safe on your way home, Winnie."
Winnie was the nickname for him in the detective department. Nobody really called each other by their first names, and Winters was much too lengthy according to everyone else, so Winnie it was. Hale stood up and grabbed his coat, and Dante gave him a smile as he walked out the door.
Then Dante went about cleaning up the left out evidence on their desks. He gathered it up and started heading off to the evidence locker, pulling out his key and unlocking it. As he was putting everything away, he could hear Trisha and Alexander at the front desk of the precinct. After he was all done, he decided to drop by and start a conversation.
Trisha was a blonde woman who usually wore her hair in a ponytail, but unfortunately it showed her tan lines. Alexander was a well-rounded guy with black hair and freckles, and he alw3ays tried to dress nice but apparently he wasn't very good at tying his shoes. Both of them were chattering at the front desk, Alexander standing while Trisha was sitting.
"Hey, Winnie!" Alexander said, noticing him first.
Dante gave a small wave in return, leaning on the desk as Trisha turned to him. "Hey! You're in late – didn't Hale just leave?"
"Yeah," Dante shrugged. "I offered to finish this cold case report we got because he got in early."
"Oh?" She hummed. "Is he gonna get you coffee in the morning, then?"
He blinked. "No. Was he supposed to?"
Alexander laughed. "Don't you know how to do a transaction, Winnie? You do something for him, he does something for you."
Dante shrugged. "Didn't think of it. I was fine staying late."
"Sooo?" Trisha said, throwing her hands up. "You always coulda gotten coffee out of him!"
He laughed. "I mean, I guess? That's so silly, though – why would I ask him for coffee when I'm the one offering?"
Trisha and Alexander looked at each other. "What?" Dante exasperated, laughing.
"Oh my gods, you're such a dork." Trisha shook her head.
"Why are you so nice, Winnie?" Alexander said. "Is it like, illegal for you to be selfish?"
Dante chuckled. "If y'all are just gonna be mean to me, I'm gonna go write that report."
"Rawr!" Trisha said jokingly, faking a clawed hand as she grinned.
He shook his head. "See you in the morning."
With a wave, he wandered back over to his desk in the bureau. He passed by the offices there for each detective group and came to his and Hale's, stepping inside. That was when he spotted something – an unmarked envelope. Weird… he thought he put all the evidence away. Except it was on his desk, not Hale's, so maybe it wasn't evidence and something the lieutenant came by to drop off.
Dante picked it up and opened it, spilling out what was inside. What met his eyes was something that almost made his throat turn to stone.
He saw pictures of women and children being siphoned into a warehouse by multiple individuals with guns. There were printed screenshots of a group chat calling them cargo, setting delivery times and dates, naming drop off and pick up locations. A handwritten list of names of people and their jobs was inside, with their age and how much they had paid to buy these people he saw. Then there was a slip of white paper, torn, with uncomfortably familiar handwriting on it.
July 29th, 1:33 AM
Redpoint Logistics Hub| 1257 Signal Row | South Industrial District | Los Angeles, CA 90021
The list of apparent buyers wasn't the same handwriting as the person who wrote the time, date, and location. Dante wasn't sure if it meant there were two people who wrote these for him, or if it was stolen information. It was obvious that this was all from someone on the inside – of what, though? The mafia? They were too organised to be some hideaway gang.
Everything was clear. Dante looked around, but there was nobody there. Glancing at the cameras, he wondered if they were hacked… probably, if someone was smart enough to break into the detectives' bureau without getting caught by anyone else. There were still people around. He could go around asking if anyone saw anything, or… he could accept that someone chose to give this evidence to him for a reason.