An Hour later They arrived at Dragon Lane, and Alvin pulled into a parking spot outside Craven's Wave karaoke studio. From the car park, Craven's Wave looked like a chill spot, blending into the lively vibe of Dragon Lane. The building was painted a cool dark blue with neon accents highlighting the sign and entrance. A few people were hanging outside, sipping drinks and laughing.
Alvin nodded towards the door.
"We're here," he said, killing the engine.
They stepped out of the car and headed towards the entrance. The neon sign above the door read "Craven's Wave" in bold letters. Alvin pushed the door open, and they walked into the bright morning light filling the karaoke studio.
After they entered, they were greeted by a well-dressed, handsome middle-aged man with a smile on his face. "Albert Alvincent WinCo, is that you?" the man asked.
"Alex, I told you to stop calling me that since childhood," Alvin said with a smile, hugging his old friend.
After the hug, Alex looked at Alvin and asked, "So, old friend, what brings you here – business or pleasure?"
"Well, you can say , it's a bit of both, actually," Alvin said with a grin. "Let me introduce you to my partner, Shawn Decker. And these are my out-of-town friends, Peter Wayne and Angela Williams – they're with the theatre. My partner and I are just showing them around."
Alex chuckled. "Ah, so karaoke's on the agenda before you guys hit the town, huh?" I'll tell you what, I'll have my best room booked for you guys
Alex clapped his hands, and a servant, dressed in a tux and tails bunny suit, scurried up to him. "You call for me sir, hop?" she asked with a grin.
"Yeah, get the VIP room ready for these folks. Best service, best everything," Alex said, winking at Alvin.
"Okay, sir, I will have that room prepared and fully stocked within 20 minutes, bunny," the servant said, then she scurried off.
"Man, Alex, you have a serious anime fetish – you have your employees saying the word 'hop are bunny' after every sentence," Alvin said with a frown.
Alex just chuckled. "Well, I saw it in one of my favorite anime's, and I thought it would be cool if I had my staff members indulge in it as well. It's quite fun if you ask me," he replied with a smile.
20 minutes later, Alvin and the others were escorted to their VIP room. Alex then took the opportunity to head to his office; he stated that he had some business to attend to.
As they entered the VIP karaoke room, Decker looked to Alvin with an unreadable expression. "Listen, Albert, we need to have a serious talk when we're finished," he said, taking his seat.
"Shawn decker, I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me Albert. I hate that name," Alvin said with a frown.
Anyway, I like the cover story you gave him – we're from out of town and from the theatre, Agent Williams said with a small smile.
"Well, now, I couldn't tell him the real reason we're here, no sir. Even though Alex and I are friends from childhood, I can't tell him everything. Besides, my slogan is 'trust no one, suspect everyone'," Alvin said with a smug smile.
"Oh, please, you just made up that slogan," Decker said with a sneer as he got up to put on the music so they could begin their discussion about the case.
"Let's begin the discussion, I'm sure we all know by now that Shadow Snake wasn't a lawyer like he stated," Agent Wayne said, narrowing his eyes.
"I agree with you, and if I had to make a guess, he's probably working for someone well-connected. The reason I say that is, it would take somebody who was very influential to get the five suspects out of the station without anyone noticing," Decker said, cupping his chin.
"So what do we make of the disappearances? Is it magic, or what?" Alvin asked with a raised eyebrow.
Agent Wayne and Agent Williams looked at each other. "I think we should tell them now" Agent Wayne said to Agent Williams.
With a sigh, Agent Williams nodded. "I think they can handle what they're getting into," she said with a frown.
Agent Wayne took a deep breath, then he spoke. "Got it, Decker and Alvin, you guys may want to prepare yourselves. For what I'm about to tell you... I know it might seem like a joke at first, but I'm being very serious," he said with a sigh.
"Oh my god, dude, not this again, we're not in a crime show or a Web novel, so stop with the suspense already," Decker said with a mocking smile. "Just spill it, Wayne."
"So you remember how we told you that we're tracking that organization known as The Core?" Agent wyane said with a frown. "Well, they have some members that have superhuman abilities, and I suspect that guy Shadow Snake is one of them "
"Hold up, Wayne. You're telling me we've got superhumans running around, part of this Core organization?" Decker cut in, his tone incredulous. "What's next, vampires and werewolves?"
Alvin shook his head. "No, no jokes, Decker. This is serious. If we've got people with superhuman abilities involved, we need to know what we're up against. What's the play?"
"Alright, so our main objective is to find The Core's contact and, if possible, arrest them – get the information we need to help take down the organisation," Agent Williams said, her expression stern.
"Okay, I know me and Alvin promised to help you guys, but where do we even begin with this investigation?" Decker asked, looking overwhelmed. "I mean, so much has happened in the span of two to three days."
"You're not wrong, so much happened," Williams nodded. "But I originally thought the reason Shadow Snake went after those guys in the police station was to find out how the guys in the auto shop died. And I guess after he got the information from them, he killed them."
"So, if that's the case, then the connection is likely the auto shop," Agent Wayne added. "We need to dig deeper into that shop and see if we can find any leads on Shadow Snake or The Core."
"The problem with that is, me and Alvin... we're not supposed to go near that case – orders from the top brass. If anybody catches us snooping around, they'll say we're interfering with an active investigation, and that'll bring a whole slew of problems. So the best option is to do things discreetly – don't get us involved with that, let's work a different angle," Decker said with a sigh.
"Like what angle?" Agent Williams asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ethan Chen, grandson of Governor Wong... my gut tells me he's involved somehow," Decker said with a small smile.
"That's a good observation, Decker, but we can't go around basing things on gut feelings," Agent Williams said with a sigh.
"No, trust Decker's gut – time and time again it's proven to be correct. It's also saved my ass a couple times as well," Alvin said, expressionless. "The only time you shouldn't trust his gut is when he's hungry."
"Well, if you trust Decker's gut, that's good enough for me. I guess we should put our faith in it as well... but let's make sure he doesn't get hungry for too long," Agent Wayne said with a smirk.
"Thanks, Alvin," Decker said with an unreadable expression. "What I was thinking is... nobody goes around beating up a young man from a rich family without there being a reason. Also, when we questioned Ethan Chen's parents last night, they seemed a little too unmoved by the fact that their son is literally in a hospital bed, beaten half to death."
"You know, the more you think of it, the more it makes sense. You have a point, Decker... no wonder you and Alvin are the top detectives in your station," Agent Williams said with a nod of approval.
After they all agreed on the subject, there was a knock at the door, and one of the attendants, dressed in a tuxedo and tails bunny suit – pushed a cart full of food into the room.
"Good morning, to you all. Mr. Craven asked me to deliver this cart to you. He said Everything is on the house," Hop! the attendant said with a smile.
The cart held a variety of Danish, cookies, artichokes with dip, a few different types of sandwiches and club sodas.
After the attendant wheeled the cart into the room, she turned, bowed, and said, "I shall take my leave now, bunny." She said, then she left the room in a hurry.
"I have got to say, Alvin. Your friend Alex Craven is very... perverted," Agent Williams said, rolling her eyes.
Alvin chuckled. "Yeah, he is, but he's a good guy once you get to know him." He said then They all started laughing, and shortly after, decided to indulge in the items on the cart.
"After we finish here, let's head to the hospital and check on Ethan Chen," Agent Williams said, popping a cookie into her mouth .
"Sounds like a plan." Alvin replied taking a bite of a sandwich.
Meanwhile, Alex sat in his office, a stern expression on his face. In his right hand, he held a Desert Eagle with a silencer on it. In front of him, three people were kneeling on some plastic, shaking in fear. One of them began to beg, "Mr. Craven, please have mer-"
The man didn't get to finish what he was saying; a soft bang rang out and a hole appeared between his eyes. Alex shot him in the head; blood flowed down his face as he fell to the ground, motionless.
"Did I say you could speak?" Alex asked, a cold, murderous glint in his eyes. The other two people who were kneeling shook their heads fearfully.
"No," they whispered.
"Good! Now tell me, which one of you stole money from my office last night?" Alex asked, twirling the Desert Eagle in his hand.
The two people who were kneeling pointed at each other.
"You fools have forgotten. I don't own this establishment, but it's under my name. However, this place is owned by the Wright family, and stealing from me is like stealing from them," Alex said with a cold tone of voice.
Just then, somebody knocked on his office door. He told them to come in. It was one of his technicians.
"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Craven, but I brought the recording the VIP room," the man said, stepping forward, ignoring the dead body and the two people on the ground kneeling.
As Alex put the recording in and started listening, his expression turned to a frown. "Is this recording from the private room that my friend and his acquaintances are in?" he asked.
The technician nodded. "Yes, Mr. Craven, it is."
Alex just sighed. "Get a clean up crew to my office now and get me a phone so I can call Mr. Sebastian Wright."
He said, then he shot the two people who were kneeling.
The technician's eyes widened, but he didn't flinch. "Right away, sir," he said, backing out of the office quickly.
Alvin, you're playing a deadly game of cat and mouse, and for your own sake, I hope you don't go looking for trouble with the Wright family.
Alex thought to himself with a sigh, his expression unreadable as he continued listening to the recording.