"Hey Velásquez, so what do you think? Did auntie catch you a good one this time?"

  In the dark sky, the newly waning moon was illuminating the road, aided by the fluorescent street lamps. With the roads being empty, 2am was indeed a fine time to be travelling unimpeded. Only the noise of the tyres rolling across the asphalt could be heard, with the intermittent squawk of a radio, followed by inconsequential chatter.

  Velásquez was sat in the passenger seat, her eyes staring off out of the side window and into the distance. Carmichael sat beside her, driving their works vehicle to their destination.

  "Tsch, tell your auntie to stop trying to matchmake me. That guy was the worst, he clicked his fingers at the waiter and complained about the food, then tried to get a discount. I was so embarrassed, I was considering if I could get away with blowing his head off"

  Carmichael ended up in a fit of laughter, wiping the tears from his eyes as he focused on the road ahead.

  "She means well, she's just worried about you"

  She had heard these words many times, with blind dates being set up for her by numerous aunties in the neighbourhood. All Velásquez wanted to do, was carry out her work and fulfil a promise from the past.

  Velásquez chose not say anything else on the matter, knowing full well it was pointless. A few minutes later of travelling in silence, and they arrived at their destination. Pulling up the car, the flashing blue lights lit up the surrounding buildings. Numerous other police cars were parked at odd angles, non really caring about the rules at that point.

  Stepping out of the car, Velásquez was only 5ft7, but her athletic body showed she never missed a day of training. Wearing a form fitting suit, her modified pistol sat proudly on her hip, and her cuffs were hidden at the small of her back. Her light caramel skin would never fail to draw admirable gazes, and even her no nonsense, tied back, black hair was an eye catcher.

  Standing beside her, Carmichael was a burly man at well over 6ft, with ginger hair and beard, and an Irish accent that had been fading over the years. He was Velásquez's sworn brother, they had gone through training together, and were now District 4 detectives.

  Quickly hurrying over, a small bespectacled man approached them both and began to guide them, while holding an electronic tablet close to his chest.

  "Detectives. The body is this way....Julius Dinghurst was reported missing two days ago by his live-in chef. The body was discovered this morning by a dog walker, who's dog had subsequently slipped its collar and ran back here"

  Walking under the police tape that was hoisted up by a policeman on guard, they soon arrived in the dark alley at the rear of the hardware store. Velásquez's eyes were constantly scanning about while she replied.

  "Is there any CCTV? Witnesses? Any leads?"

  Tapping away on his electronic tablet, the man showed the screen to the detectives and spoke.

  "He had been in the bank prior to his death, but they refuse to give us any information, citing confidentiality. It's a dead end with those guys, as you know....This is the image that the CCTV captured from a residents house"

  The security camera only showed a small portion of the necessary scene, with a wooden fence blocking the view. Over the top of the fence, it showed Julius Dinghurst going to and fro from the bank, and to the alley. For a split second it also showed one other person, although the image only lasted for a handful of frames. Wearing a jet black cloak, only a dull golden emblem was visible, and it appeared to be a solid circle.

  The detectives lamented their crappy luck, but they knew they had to pull something out of the bag, with it being a high profile person.

  Looking over the body, they could see the deceased, Julius, slumped against the alley wall. Although he was dead, he appeared to have a peaceful expression on his face, with a trace of a smile as his lips slightly curled upwards.

  Carmichael left the two, and went to check the surrounding area, his ex-profession was that of a tracker, something that proved invaluable in his line of work. Velasquez knelt down over the body and produced a small silver sphere from her jacket pocket. A slight toss and it hung in the air under its own power, before it positioned itself over the dead body.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Athena, run a scan, cause of death and any evidence"

  In an artificially generated female voice, the orb spoke and then began scanning.

  "Yes master"

  A beam of orange light was emitted from the orb named Athena, before tracing over the body multiple times, and then stopping.

  "Scan complete. Julius Dinghurst, died from myocardial infarction.....Traces of unknown substance in the lungs, and also trace amounts on clothing.....Suspected to be narcotic known as Blue Life.....47% accuracy.....Need more valid data points to confirm"

  The orb then flew into her hand, and was promptly placed back in her pocket. After hearing her AI's report, Velásquez leaned in closer to the dead body and sniffed at the clothing, before she spoke.

  "Tsch. So it's Blue Life again...He must be a new user, his fingertips haven't turned black yet and his eyes still look fine"

  The man with the electronic tablet was still stood close by when he heard that, he began inputting and then replied.

  "The night of his death, the victim had an argument with his wife and she filed for divorce. Are you marking it up to a drug overdose?"

  Jumping to her feet, the woman had a creepy smile on her face that was at odds with the cool demeanour she had been exhibiting. Leaving the scene, she replied to the man while he followed.

  "Usually I would, but that guy was rich....With the extra resources Headquarters will provide, we can finally locate and hit the place they manufacture, or at least distribute Blue Life from"

  Leaving the bespectacled man behind, Velásquez got back in the passenger seat of the car, and then was followed by her partner, Carmichael. After sharing the details and information they had both found out, they left the crime scene and set off driving again.

  Carmichael had been attempting to put pressure on the bank security, but to no avail. The only thing he found out was that the deceased had gone in the bank that night for a withdrawl, and that information was only pried out of him by the security guard slipping up.

  Velásquez furrowed her brow and swore internally, before she turned to stare at her partner.

  "Pullover and close your eyes. If you even think about opening them, I'll tell your wife"

  Carmichael pulled a confused face, before it dawned on him what she meant. He dutifully pulled over, closed his eyes and then replied.

  "Okay, but just make it quick. I seriously don't get the lengths you're willing to go sometimes"

  Waving her hand in front of his eyes multiple times, she was confident his eyes were closed. Velásquez then unbuttoned her shirt and unclasped her bra, revealing her supple breasts that were thankful for the freedom. Flashing a peace sign with one hand and wearing a smile, she proceeded to take an indecent selfie.

  She quickly dressed herself and typed out a message, before sending it with the picture attached. She then deleted the picture from her phone, only then did she give Carmichael the okay to open his eyes.

  "I'm done, you can open them"

  Rubbing his eyes, Carmichael set off driving again.

  Inside a building at the other side of District 4, a dark room was suddenly illuminated by a phone screen. The petite girl wearing blue dungarees, read the message and looked at the blurry image from a CCTV, and she knew what it was right away. She swore to herself that the payment would have to be good for the information.

  Taking in a breath, she opened the attachment and instantly her nose bled slightly from the excitement. After several minutes of being captivated by the image, she typed out a reply and then got up to lock the door, before she returned to her seat, phone in hand.

  Back inside the police car, Velásquez's phone lit up with a message. A broad smile appeared on her face as she relayed it to her partner.

  "You remember that guy that Central was chasing, the Golden Sun Guild? Well it's him, he must of started working with the drug ring once his Guild fell through....She's also sent me the suspected location of their base"

  Carmichael was genuinely surprised, the speed at which the person on the other end of the phone worked at was astonishing. Putting his foot down, he headed in the direction of their station while he spoke.

  "Damn she's fast, and all it cost was a picture of your tits! Are we telling Central? I mean about the base, not your tits"

  Velásquez swore in Spanish, before punching his leg and replying properly.

  "We'll tell them when we're done. I don't trust the bastards for a mole....Tomorrow morning, yeah, we'll hit the base then and use our own squad. The assault team from our station should be good enough"

  After hearing what she said, Carmichael grimaced and clawed at his own face.

  "Eurgh, you're on a tightrope on a unicycle you know, and I'm the damn clown who's on it with you. Tsch"

  With the advent of sunrise less than an hour away, Velásquez, Carmichael and the rest of the assault team were geared up and ready to go. Still wearing their suits, the detective duo were also wearing bulletproof vests now, as well as reinforced helmets with a holographic screen. With their pistols still on their hips, they both wielded automatic rifles with a coloured bullet attachment.

  The accompanying assault team consisted of an eight man unit, all seasoned pros who also work counter terrorism. Decked out like stormtroopers, not a speck of exposed skin was visible, their black armour covering everything. Even their LCD screens were next gen, and were not visible to anyone but the operator.

  All of them were waiting inside of a HGV, that was parked a street over from their target. The information they received from the breast enthusiast, said that the drug base was a large restaurant. The floorplan of the building showed it had a large basement, with two levels and a simple design, this was suspected to be where the drug was manufactured.

  They all lined up inside the metal container in order of infiltration, and then waited in silence for the designated time.