Chapter 2
Akari directed me there. I drove angrily, trying, without success, to calm myself. I gripped the steering wheel tightly in my hands, the skin over my knuckles stretching thin. I ground my teeth together angrily as I turned the corner. I pulled into the parking lit that Akari had directed me to. I parked and got out of the car. I took a deep breath, hoping to calm myself, before closing the door.
Akari got out and closed the door behind her. "Amea, calm down." She said, noticing my, still present, anger. I didn't answer her, only took a deep breath and masked my anger. I locked the doors and put my keys in my pocket. I followed Akari to a door at the back of a building.
"What are we doing at a coffee shop?" I asked as I realized where we were. She turned and looked at me. Then said seven simple words.
"This is where we are meeting him."
"The person in charge of the files?"
She nodded and opened a door at the back of the shop. I gave her a questioning look before slipping through the door and into the darkness beyond. I looked back at her.
She went through the door and closed it. We were immediately engulfed in darkness. I blinked a few times as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness. I blinked and my eyes had just adjusted when I heard Akari.
"Aha!" I her triumphly to herself in the darkness. A second later the lights came on and I blinked rapidly, momentarily blinded by the sudden brightness. I looked around and saw boxes of coffee stuff stacked up. There was a lot of things in the boxes, almost everything you find in a coffee shop. I saw, beyond the boxes, a slightly cracked door. I looked at Akari. She smiled at me and walked around the boxes to the door. She pushed it open and stepped through, I reluctantly followed.
I looked at the wall. In the light from the storage room, I saw a switch. I flipped the switch and the lights came on. I saw a man about my age, around twenty to twenty-five, sitting in a chair at one of the tables.
"This the guy?" I looked at Akari, who was leaning against the wall.
"Yup." She said, popping her lips on the 'P'. She had her arms crossed. I sighed and, trying to control my anger, sat down across from the man. I crossed my arms and looked at him, showing no emotion. He looked to Akari with a questioning look.
She nodded her head in my direction and shrugged. He sighed and looked back at me. He raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on the table. He had short brown hair hidden under a black baseball cap. I ground my teeth and looked at him, he looked back at me. "We need information, but there are no files on this person." I said and leaned forward on the table, staring at him. After a few seconds he got uncomfortable and sat back up in his seat.
"Name, I need to know a name. Also, who are you? I can't give files to just anyone." He said with a slight smirk that told me that he knew exactly who I was. I decided to play along, I balled my hands into fists and replied.
"I'll have you know, that I am a private detective." I said, acting like I had trouble replying calmly. He smirked, this was gonna be fun.
"Oh, really?" He asked, still smirking. He was, apparently, buying my act. I acted angry and clenched my fists tighter and glared. "If you are, who are you, your name?"
"You know me by Piper, Piper Fellington. I said, I almost laughed that he had bought my act.
"Oh, okay. What's the name?" He asked. He pulled out a laptop and I crossed right leg over my left. I smirked, predicting his reaction, before answering.
"Jason, Jason Formidulosus." I said and leaned back in my chair. His hands were shaky while he typed in the name. I tapped my fingers against my arm impatiently. Akari stood, leaning awkwardly against the wall. She had a coffee in her hand. She slowly sippedbher coffee, and watched our conversation like it was a show. I rolled my eyes.
I turned my attention back to the man. His eyes were wide.
"T-the file are g-gone!" He said, looking incredulously at the screen.
"What?" I screamed and was out of my chair in a second. I ran around the table and looked over his shoulder. I banged my fist on the table and growled, realizing that the files were gone.
Akari dropped her coffee and stared at the scene in front of her. I grabbed the laptop over the mans shoulder. I reloaded the page. Well crap, the files were gone. I banged my fist onto the table again, making the laptop move. I was mad. Mad didn't even cover it.
Well crap, I thought. I mentally cursed myself. How could I have been so stupid? I should have looked at his files the moment I could. The Formidulosus Mafia had to many connections to waste time. They must have deleted the files in the time it took me to realize that I needed the files.
I growled under my breath and stormed out the door, the sun was just beginning to rise. I stalked around the building to my car. I heard Akari call out behind me, yelling at me to wait.
I turned around with a sigh, she came running up. I stood impatiently while she caught her breath.
"I-I think you n-need to go under-undercover." She said, I looked at her like she had lost her mind. Maybe she had. I stared at her, taken aback.
"What to you mean go undercover?" I asked, already knowing the answer, yet I still asked.
"I think you need to go undercover, in the mafia." She said.
"Have you lost you ever-loving mind?" I asked with wide eyes.
"I think that if you got into the mafia, you might could give us inside information. Whereabouts, locations, connections, and you could get information on that Fodidolusos guy, or whatever." She said, and the look on her face told me she was dead serious.
"You're joking, please tell me you're joking." I said, eyes wide eyebrows raised.
"Umm... maybe... no, I'm not." She sighed.
"There is no way in heck I am going undercover in a mafia!" I said, emphasizing 'mafia'.
"Oh, come on!" She said, exasperation on her face. "You're our only shot. They know everyone at the police stations, but they don't know you."
"Um... I. Do. Not. Care." I said, saying each word carefully. "I am not going undercover in a mafia." I said, she then gave me her pleading look. I growled a 'fine' and spun around on my heels.
"Yes, thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah. You owe me big for this one. I said. I angrily got in my car. Before I could drive off, she was in the car.
I pulled out of the parking lot and as her seatbelt clicked, she said "Yeah, I know, I know." She was smiling. I rolled my eyes and turned the corner, heading to me private office. This office was hidden, only me and Akari new of it.
"Do you want to stop by your house for anything?" I asked, after we had drove in silence for a while. I saw her turn her head away from the window.
"Um, I don't think so, unless I need my gun or anything?" She said it as a question. I shook my head and she looked back out the window.
"Watch and make sure no one follows us to you-know-where." I told her. It reminded me of Harry Potter, how they call Voldemort you-know-who. I looked in the rearview mirror. I saw her nod in my peripheral vision. She say up straighter and looked at the window to watch behind us. I smiled to myself at how seriously she took her job.
I turned onto the leaf-covered path, hidden by trees and vines. Now I really wish I had taken my truck, darn. The bumpy - and thin - path, was not easy to go down in my SUV. I was jolted around in my seat as I drove down the long, bumpy, and thin path to my private office. Akari - taking her job very seriously - had her head out the window and was looking behind us. I almost laughed, she reminded me of a dog!
I shook my head at her and turned onto a barely noticable path. I drove for about a mile before I parked the car and got out. Akari only now quit being so serious. She got out of the car and closed her door. She walked around to my side of the car and waited as I got my stuff and locked the doors. We then took an unnoticeable trail the rest of the way.
After a short walk, we arrived at my small cabin that I used as my private office. I had a public office, but that was only for when I was taking new cases. I unlocked the door - I might be in the middle of nowhere, but you can never be to careful - to my cabin and left the door open behind me for Akari. I heard her close it as I continued along to my office area. I sat down in my black swivel chair and scooted it up to my wooden desk. I opened my computer. It takes a while for it to start, since I'm literally in the middle of nowhere. While I waited, I decided to get breakfast, since I had lost my appetite earlier.
I went to the kitchen, which consisted of a fridge, anoven, an island, a sink, and a few cabinets. I opened the fridge and grabbed a deal of orange juice. I poured some in a glass cup. I put the orange juice back in the fridge. I grabbed a half-full carton if eggs and closed the refrigerator door.
I got a skillet out of a cabinet and set it on the stove. I opened the fridge back up and got the butter. I closed it with my foot and walked over to the stove. I grabbed a paper plate and set it to the side. I made some scrambled eggs and set them on the plate.
I put everything up and went back to my office, grabbing my glass of orange juice and my eggs.
"Hey, Akari, you want anything, eggs?" I asked, I doubted she would, but I didn't want to be rude.
"Huh? Oh, no thank!" She said.
I opened the door to my office with my elbow and closed it with my foot. I sat down in my chair, I set my plate and orange juice to the side.
My computer had started and I started to close all the little ad windows. After I closed the last ad window, I went to my most-used search engine. I took a drink of my orange juice and started my research.
A few minutes later
I had forgotten a fork, so I had Akari bring me one. I had finished my eggs, and had half a glass of orange juice left. The mafia I would be going undercover in was large, and had many connections to smaller mafias, along with big business owners.
I looked up everything else I needed to know, it took a while because I was in the middle of nowhere. I hated to turn off my computer after so little use, even though it had taken a while. I sighed. "Akari!" I called. She came in a few seconds later, looking at the empty plate to me.
"What did you need?" She asked.
"I was wondering if you needed my computer for anything, I would hate to turn it off since it's so hard to get it going." I replied, standing up and picking up my empty plate.
"Well, not really. But I could always look at some if the cases we have. And by we I mean me and the police station." She said. She sat down in my chair. I nodded and walked off the the kitchen. I threw my plate in the trash and downed the rest of my orange juice. I washed my glass and set it to the side to dry. I leaned against the island for a while. After realizing I had nothing better to do, I dried the glass and put it away.
I walked back to my office slowly. Akari was typing on my computer. She stopped when I came in. "Your computer is slow." She stated. I laughed and nodded.
"Well, what did you expect? We're in the middle if nowhere." I said, a small smile on my face. She grunted in response and turned back the computer.
I sat on the couch, I leaned my head against the back of it. I stared at the ceiling until my eyes began to grow heavy. I let them drift closed slowly. I was tired from not sleeping the night prior. I fell asleep while Akari worked on my computer. This sleep was dreamless, peaceful, and it was nice.
