It was early evening when I finally reached the police station. It was quite busy, in preparation for today’s crackdown on Angel Dust’s supplier everyone involved was checking their gear. Cars were pulled and ready. I expected it would be a considerable operation, especially since Dia asked me to be a part of it - and she never wanted to go on those together, not unless she expected things to go very, very south. But this was way bigger than I expected.
I scanned the room, noticing most of the familiar faces from Dia’s Inner Circle as they liked to call themselves. That basically meant everyone who knew about my special skill set. I was looking for one person in particular, was she not there? She should stick out like a sore thumb in this field of uniforms and SWAT gear.
Is she late, I called a while ago? I was thinking to myself when I went into the captain's office, greeting and waving to the people around me. And there I finally found who I was looking for: a slender woman with shoulder length platinum blonde hair, a spitting image of our mom… Well, maybe not counting blazing sapphire eyes. My little sister as usual wore a casual dress and looked completely out of place, chatting with Dia who was already in her SWAT getup.
“Look Eve, our headache finally decided to show up” - Ah, the love of my life, always sarcastic. “Found what you were looking for?”
“Good evening to you, love” I’ve said with a poor excuse of a posh accent. “And to you dear sister”, I smirked, curtsying with my jacket.
“Hi Lili, what's with the lady-play? I thought you hated it, when mom drilled us in it” Eve asked with obvious surprise on her face.
“Nothing really, I was listening to some podcast on the way here and thought it would be funny to see your reaction.”
Eve brightened, whilst Dia just hung down her head and covered the face with her hand. “Can you be serious, this isn’t really the place to be joking. This is quite an important operation, and I don’t want you to be taking it lightly. So back to topic, did you finally find a solution to your gun problem, or do I have to order a truckload of pistols each time you take a case?” Dia asked, visibly annoyed at my antics. Seriously, she can get so stiff sometimes. She normally loves my humor, well, maybe not always.
“Well, kinda yes, but actually not exactly.” - I hesitated. “Eli’s contact turned out to be someone much more… how to say it, knowledgeable about people like us” I nodded at Eve and myself. “Well, maybe me is more appropriate here, since Eve doesn’t really have any daddy traits besides her eyes.”
And good for her, I thought to myself. Eve didn’t really inherit any infernal powers, as opposed to me who at the age of five flared up because I scraped my knee.
“She said that she can make a pair that won’t break on me. But she also said that it can take a while.”
“So, truckload it is for now, huh?” Dia replied with a sour face.
“Maybe not that much, this should help a bit.” I pointed, raising my hand up to show my new gloves.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Yes, because gloves have always helped you.”
“Those are special. According to Pan, they should take over some strain from the guns” I explained, while Dia looked closer at my hand.
“At least some good came from Eli’s pocketing the evidence.”
“Speaking of Eli, I don’t see him anywhere” I asked, whilst looking from the office’s inner window.
“I suspended him. Last time, before you called, I found him snooping around warehouse pocketing bits from every Lili case there was. When I confronted him, he mentioned an acquaintance with interest in the supernatural. If you did not call, I probably would have done so there and now. Why do you think he never pointed you to her in the past, probably he knew that this would come out.” Dia sighed, shaking her head. “Normally I wouldn’t think twice before kicking him straight behind bars, but it would be hard to find a criminologist who is on board with coloring reports.”
“He’s a good kid Dia, probably just wanted to help in a way.”
She nodded. “Nonetheless, I had to punish him somehow, and there’s still an issue of you breaking any gun you touch”. She shook her head in resignation.
“So, it’s good that I brought this”, Eve perked up, pointing at the duffel bag in the corner.
“Thanks Evie, it would take ages if I had to circle back.” I smiled at my little sister as I proceeded to unpack the bag’s contents: three pairs of the cheapest 9 mils one can get, two hip holsters, a harness with two holsters, and a backpack filled to the brim with clips for those. I fixed the harness under my jacket, and attached the hip holsters on both sides. After that I slid the guns into holsters, and approached Dia with the third pair.
“Can you carry those for me, just in case?” I used puppy eyes.
“I think I can fit another pair, if i bring my hip holsters, it won’t be the first time.” - It was super effective.
I looked as she fitted a similar pair of holsters, like me. “Yay, twinsies!” I beamed and pointed at her.
Dia groaned: “Ugh, don’t use that word ever again”. She then turned to my little sister.
“Eve, we might be late, don’t wait with dinner.”
Eve smiled. “I know, whenever you two work together you don’t come till next morning. And then you work late for a month.”
“Good then, I’ll call you a taxi. We are going to move out soon, and I’d rather avoid stranding you in this area at this hour.”
“Oh, but it’s fine, you know I can take care of myself Claudia.” Eve replied with a puzzled expression and flicked a small knife from her pocket. “Mom and dad taught me how to protect myself. I may not be as strong as sis here, but few creeps aren't a danger to me.”
“But you are a danger to creeps! And I don’t want to write reports about castrated thugs in front of a police station, on top of the ones Lil will cause.”
“Hey!” I shouted, though I knew she probably was right.
“Fine, I don’t need the taxi, but if it makes you feel better.” Eve replied. “Sheesh, girl stabs a pervert between legs once…” she murmured.
Dia shook her head in resignation.
“Just promise me you two will come back safe.”
“Sure thing Evie, I’ll destroy anyone that even dares to harm my girl”, I cracked my knuckles smiling.
“And I’ll make sure that she contains this destruction to bad guys only”, Dia smiled too.
We talked for a while until Eve’s taxi came. While we double checked our equipment, Dia briefed me through the plan of operation. It was rather simple: there should be a transaction involving one of the upstart crime families and an Angel Dust supplier. They meet up in the old docks area that’s been closed for a while now. We surround them, and hopefully capture the supplier. Easy in and out; the only reason Dia even asked me to be there was the Angel Dust being involved.
“Lil, you ready? We are leaving in 10 minutes.” Dia asked, while checking her gear.
“Sure, let’s go.”
And we left, never expecting what awaited us…