Cop Craft – Dragnet Mirage Reloaded - Book 2 Need for Speed (10)

「You want to keep doing this for a while, right? In that case, you need to learn how to raise your voice and put on an effective front like I do.」 「I wonder about that. I thank you for the advice, but to be honest I’m not particularly interested in management and that kind of stuff.」 「I was like that as well when I was your age, but as you keep wanting to be able to do more and more stuff, you’ll realize that you need to be in a position of power to do so. You can do as you please right now, take your time to mull it over, boy.」 「So you’re treating me like a child now?」 「Of course. And you have to listen to your elders, as well.」 「I’ll do that then, Bill.」

He simply tried calling him by his first name for no particular reason, but unexpectedly, he didn’t get angry about it.

「Don’t call me that in front of others, though.」 「Understood, boss.」

But just as he was leaving the conference room they were in with a bitter smile, Zimmer called out to him for a second time.

「Ah, I almost forgot. Take this with you.」 「?」

Zimmer threw something at him. He took it swiftly and looked at what he now held in his hand: car keys. They were black and elegant electronic car keys. They had an emblem of a trident engraved right in the middle.

「Boss. No way, are you for—」 「She’s in the parking lot waiting for you. Take a look.」

~o~O~o~

A black and shiny Maserati Coupe was occupying a single spot in the underground parking lot of the Police Department’s HQ.

It had an elegant shape with two doors. Its curved front grill looked special while still retaining a peculiar classical energy to its design. The 90-degree V8 engine with 405 horsepower and its elegant appearance would be hard to ignore for any regular passerby.

As for its real leather interior, it was full of smooth and beautiful curves, and extremely carefully crafted seats along with a beautiful steering wheel. He could practically smell the gentle power with which a driver would be surrounded by while driving it. Matoba couldn’t wait to start using the car everyday, accompanied by its discrete analog meters.

Matoba muttered almost as if he had just seen the most beautiful woman on earth,

「I’m glad to be alive」

I’m so glad I took this job in the first place. Sorry, my good old Mini Cooper S. But I will be traveling with this car from now on. A beautiful hundred thousand dollar girl. Of course he knew that in reality it was just a confiscated vehicle from somewhere, but he would still be treating it like a pure maiden, with tact and care.

Ah. I wonder what it’ll sound like if I just turn the ignition and start driving it right away.

He paced back and forth a little, and then finally slowly walked up to the Maserati, placing a single finger on top of its sparkly perfectly polished black bonnet.

Tilarna walked up to him and gave her unsolicited opinion in a rude tone.

「I think the previous automobile was definitely better and more charming.」 「Shut up, you idiot…」

Said Matoba to what he perceived to be complete nonsense.

「As if you could appreciate how good this car is when you haven’t even gotten a temporary license yet.」 「Ah the license? Well, I did get one.」

She pushed several documents in front of Matoba’s face.

「I already passed the written exam. Now I’m going to be moving on to the driving part of the course. I received some intensive tutoring from Cecil, and she also helped me practice at night. I don’t even forget about the handbrake anymore. How’s that?」 「Oh. Uh… I see, good for you.」

Replied Matoba rudely, and then he got on the Maserati and started the engine. A fantastic sound roared through the entire parking lot, and a strong vibration started agitating his entire body. Tilarna spoke to Matoba in a voice loud enough so it wouldn’t drown completely in the sound of the engine.

「Can you hear me, Kei?」 「Yeah! What are you going to do tonight?」 「Huh?」 「Are you going to stay at Cecil’s again?!」 「Well, that’s…」 「That’s fine, do as you please! I’m just going for a test drive, okay?!」

He stepped on the accelerator. And almost like a bullet, the Maserati sped up and dashed forward. The handle was light and gentle. He tested it by driving left and then right gently.

He left Tilarna behind, despite her looking like she had something to say, and Matoba drove away from HQ’s parking lot.

~o~O~o~

It was early in the morning. 4:55am, as Matoba drove up to the parking lot in Sheffield. His test drive that had begun the previous night ended up covering over 150 miles in distance.

The twelve officers excluding Zimmer were already gathered at the parking lot. They were all going to be participating in the raid on the members of the porn stealing gang. There were the guys from Vice and six uniformed officers from Department 4. They were all making idle chit chat mixed in with some typical policeman slang. Godunov was talking about some gossip while the uniformed guys all laughed.

Tilarna had apparently gotten a ride from Cecil.

Tony got close to Matoba and whispered “Isn’t she a bit colder than usual?”

「Who is?」 「Tilarna. At a first glance she looks calm, but somehow she just looks upset.」 「Really?」

Tilarna was standing with Godunov and the others, and she seemed to be asking something to a uniformed officer. She probably didn’t understand some particular slang term or something like that. The other officers laughed and started explaining it to her. A lot of officers hated Semanians, but these guys were apparently very interested in Tilarna’s very existence, so they weren’t displaying any signs of hatred or rejection towards her.

「Hey, I’m sorry. I got carried away by my new car.」 「You’re the worst. Why do men always get so engrossed in their cars or whatever?」 「I’ve wondered that as well. It must be one of the seven greatest mysteries of the world.」

Said Matoba as he tried to hold back from yawning. He had been driving all night nonstop after all. He didn’t really intend to sit back and let the entire mission carry on without him, but this was mostly going to be Tony and Godunov’s work after all. And the criminals were probably all just a bunch of low life losers, so it should be fine. He had planned to simply go back home and take a good rest after the mission was taken care of and the paperwork handled.

Zimmer got to the parking lot driving an old Toyota Crown.

「I think we’re all here. Let’s go over the plan again then. Hey, Matoba.」 「Here.」

Matoba extended a map on top of the patrol car’s bonnet, as he started explaining all the necessary information to the present units. Their placement, and the routes they would be taking, the methods they would use to block the roads, the frequencies they had to tune their radios to and so on. He also mentioned some potential problems they could run into, and which car they would be taking Tony and Godunov to, separating them from the gang members. How they would react in case the gang members were armed. And what they would do if anybody got seriously injured.

「So it’s something like that. Any questions?」 「I have one, Mr. Sargeant. Are we going to be splitting the porn magazines equally among us?」

Said a patrol officer jokingly.

「You can have them all for yourself if you want to. Though you’d probably become an old man before you’re done with them all.」

The officers all laughed out at Matoba’s response. Zimmer made a bitter expression almost as if he were biting into a huge bug, but he didn’t seem like saying anything in particular about it.

「Well, I’m mostly joking, but you know, theft is theft. So there’s no way anyone can take any magazines or books. Anyways, let’s get on it.」

The uniformed officers all went back to their respective cars, and started moving with their lights off. The officers from Vice all headed straight to the planned location. Tilarna also got on the passenger seat of the Maserati without saying a single word.

「Did you drive nonstop through the night?」 「No, I had to do some work at some point, but to be honest I did spend most of my time driving.」 「Let me drive.」 「No way!」 「I already understand the general layout of a car, and I almost have my license already. It would be better if I knew how to drive it when the time comes.」 「Absolutely no way. This car is almost twice as powerful as the Mini Cooper. There’s no way I will lose it to your destructive hands.」 「You’re an asshole.」 「I don’t care.」

Matoba drove the car to his designated location.

「Hey. Are you still staying at Cecil’s?」 「Yeah. I decided to move in with her. I’m moving tomorrow.」 「… I see. Your stuff is still at my place though…」 「That’s okay. I’ll carry it.」

Said Tilarna bluntly.

Matoba stopped the car at a side road from which they could easily observe Sheffield’s abandoned factory, the place where the supposed trade was going to take place. They were about 200 meters away, and there was still no movement at the scene.

The two remained almost completely silent. Occasionally they would receive some information or instructions from Zimmer on the radio.

It was almost dawn, but that part of town still had very little traffic at that time. After about fifty minutes, Tony and Godunov arrived in front of the abandoned factory driving their Citroen.

「We’re here. Though it seems like Gyarben and the others haven’t arrived yet.」 「Understood. Stand by.」

Replied Zimmer.

~o~

It was a little past 6am, the time of the appointment, as they heard a Diesel engine getting closer. A large truck with a container, and another small vehicle drove past the mostly deserted coastal warehouse district, and then finally stopped right next to the abandoned factory.

「That’s them.」

Which meant that the container was packed with porn magazines. Gyarben and his partners got out of both vehicles.

It seemed like they really were just three people.

The plan was for Tony to check the contents of the truck, show them the money (all cash) he had brought with him, and then just as the business was about to be closed, all units would jump at Gyarben and the others, and catch all of them.

Tony had a hidden device with him, so they could hear his conversation with the gang as well.

「Sorry for making you wait, Zeetha McCloud. We had to take a little more time getting all of them ready…」 「I don’t give a shit about your excuses. Just show them to me already.」 「Yeah… right here…」

Looking through the binoculars, they could see Tony and members of the gang walking towards the back of the truck. Godunov simply stood still next to the Citroen, and wouldn’t leave its side with the money inside no matter what. As morning rolled in, the abandoned factory and its surroundings started getting lighter, to the point where it was even possible to make out their expressions from a distance. As they opened the back of the container, Tony whistled cheekily.