[Bob the hobo] A Celestial Wars Spin-Off Part 0141

PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE

Daniel was in the midst of checking through the greenery around the bridge at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for Trevino, promising himself with each step further into the foliage that that when he got his hands on the little prick this time, he would jam a GPS tracker either down his throat or up his ass. As usual, he was careful to keep his thoughts away from making it an ultimate desire, as that would have an unfortunate consequence to the young man in question.

Due to a weird situation with his mother (which still didn’t make sense to him), none of his brothers or sisters had the bending ability that the rest of their Mystallian family had. That didn’t stop them from being tracked by the elder Mystallians through their familial link however so, out of respect for the family, they continued to wear the rings that blocked a power they had no access to. Meanwhile, the other two flowed freely through them.

It wasn’t as bad as some might imagine. Perhaps it might have been if another ultimately ruled the realm instead of his mother, but that was inconsequential. She had ruled Earlafaol for the last few hundred thousand years, and with her finger on the pulse of the realm, mistakes could (and always were) rectified, as necessary. Occasional mistakes were overlooked, as were minor changes. But full-blown abuses of power, especially those that cost lives, were landed on with the full weight of the Pryde.

That was when things really got messy. Because not even his mother could create life from nothing. At best, she could borrow it from elsewhere and shape it into what she wanted, but from the outside looking in, it just wasn’t the same. Of course, his dad’s people never saw that difference. A family member walking back into the house with exactly the same thoughts and memories and everything else (right down to the mole on their left butt-cheek) as their deceased predecessor would never be questioned by the household, but it was still wrong and left a foul taste in the family’s mouth. Especially as the life substitution was usually plant-based.

Thankfully, he had never crossed that line, though he’d seen one of his younger brothers try it. Twice.

Hasteinn had made it very clear that a third screw up and, son of Lady Col or not, he would not be heard from again for several centuries. It seemed even Dominic wasn’t that stupid … though in Daniel’s opinion, the idiot ranked in the top three for his second attempt where he set himself up as an Eastern European dictator in the early 90s and genuinely believed no one would notice.

It wasn’t really that hard to avoid changing things. People often really, really, really wished for something to happen. The only difference between him and them was … with him, that intensity would be enough to make it happen. And then he would have his own people to answer to.

His phone rang, causing him to stop and straighten up out of the underbrush. “Nascerdios,” he said, after seeing Lucas’ name come up.

“I need backup at the 5th!” Lucas’ tone was frantic, though credit to him, he was trying to hold it together.

What he said next changed everything.

“I’ve found our mole and he’s got the whole freaking precinct trying to beat down the door to get to Angelo!” Every second syllable was punctuated with a heavy thump of something, most likely the door he referred to.

“I’m on my way.”

Daniel was still putting his phone away when he stepped through into an unused storeroom he discovered on the second floor of the 5th Precinct. Hearing the commotion outside, he rushed to the door and let himself out. If Lucas was at the crux of the disturbance, he only needed to follow the crowd.

“EVERYONE! STOP!” someone bellowed on the third floor just as his head crested the top of the stairs and, surprisingly, silence filtered through the room.

“Sir! Officer Dobson has a 1PP witness in there with him…”

“Which I will take responsibility for on behalf of the 1PP,” Daniel decreed, raising his hand and his voice from the back of the crowded hallway to be both seen and heard.

A path was quickly made for him. Officers were trying to pull a plainclothes detective from the door, possibly due to his badly broken right arm, but he refused to leave. “I want him done for assault!” he shouted. Daniel also saw Lieutenant Harris right beside the door, with his fist raised.

From the other end of the corridor, the precinct’s middle-aged Captain Fogel was also having a path made for him. “Who the hell discharged their weapon in my precinct?!” he demanded.

More interesting to Daniel, were the auras of everyone around him. Both the captain and Lieutenant Harris were furious, probably because they knew the nightmare level of paperwork that would land on them from on high for the weapons’ violation, not to mention the official dressing down by the police chief for allowing it to happen in their precinct by one of their detectives. CompStat would blow a circuit board over this. Everyone else around them was either curious or worried.

Everyone, that is, except the detective with the broken arm.

He reeked of anger and fear bordering on desperation as he raised his broken arm a few inches and said, “Officer Dobson, sir! When he smashed my arm into the door and broke it!”

“And why did you have your gun drawn in the first place, Detective …?” Daniel left the name slot open for him to answer.

His aura splashed momentarily with panic, confirming Daniel’s thoughts. “Dobson had already drawn his first,” he lied, ignoring the latter question of his name.

Daniel would deal with the detective in a moment. Firstly, he had to secure Trevino and check on his protégé. “Captain, as you’re aware, Dobson has been temporarily assigned to me, and if that is my witness in there with him, I’d like you to pull your people back so I can at least talk to him.”

The captain’s eyes narrowed. “Very well,” he said. “But you’re not going anywhere until I get some answers.”

“Yes, sir,” Daniel answered curtly.

Another flash of panic, this time from two sources, had Daniel’s head jerking towards the door. Lieutenant Harris was ducking his head under the injured detective’s good arm to support his weight. “This man needs medical attention,” he declared. He stepped towards the crowd. “I’m taking him downstairs.”

“Lieutenant!” The captain barked.

Harris froze and turned back. “Yes, sir?”

“You get back up here just as soon as the paramedics arrive.”

“Captain, I need a uniform or two to be put with that detective,” Daniel said, gesturing to the wounded man. “Until his story’s corroborated, he is still the one who discharged a weapon and he cannot be allowed to just walk out of here.” It was a decent cover story without tipping his hand that he was already onto the detective as Brambillo’s dirty cop.

The captain snapped at the nearest two and pointed briskly at the retreating lieutenant.

“Lucas,” Daniel said, using one knuckle to change the whole tone of his knock against the door. “Open up. It’s me.”

Whatever Lucas had barricading the door was pulled free, but he didn’t actually open the door. Infrared vision revealed him scurrying back to where no doubt Trevino was curled in a ball. He covered the witness with his left hand and positioned himself in front of him protectively with his weapon in his other hand, braced against his knee for support.

Damn, your instincts are good, Daniel thought to himself, knowing most officers in Dobson’s position would assume they had the situation completely under control and wouldn’t need to use their knee to keep adrenaline from jittering their aim. He cracked the door open an inch or so, then he fed his left hand into the door and twisted it so Lucas would see his family ring. “It’s me, Dobson,” he said, pushing the door open a little farther so he could peer in.

Lucas’ gun immediately rolled to one side and slid down his leg to the ground. “Sir, am I glad to see you,” he huffed in a heartfelt pant as he holstered his weapon. “But how the hell did you get here so fast?”

Daniel held up a finger, then pulled back into the hallway. “Captain, this is a 1PP situation, however, if you want to come in with me, it’s your house. But everyone else stays back.” As he spoke, he opened the door and eased himself through the gap.

“Damn right I am,” Captain Fogel barked, following on his heels.

Seeing both him and the captain coming through the door, Lucas gave Trevino a relieved one-armed squeeze. “Tolja it was gonna be okay, pal,” he said, though Daniel knew that was being said more for his own sake than his roommate’s. Lucas then looked straight at him. “It was Detective Harris. He saw Angelo here and flipped when he realised we had him in protective custody.”

“What are you talking about, Dobson?” Captain Fogel demanded.

Lucas looked at Daniel, who knew there was nothing else for it. “There was a leak in your house, captain,” the 1PP detective said. “A big one. At first, we thought it was Dobson, but once he was cleared, he agreed to work with us in ferreting out who it was. That’s why we had to keep you out of the loop.”

“And how did your witness know it was Detective Harris?”

“Because Tony gave me to them in payment for their services. Two hours in a privacy booth, twice a week. Wednesdays and Saturdays. The only stipulation was no blood. Extras as they earned them,” Angelo croaked from under his arms as if he were reading off a price board.

Everyone looked down at Angelo. “Their payment?” Lucas asked half a second before Daniel could.

“Him and his older brother.”

And that was when all hell broke loose in the 5th.

* * *

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PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO

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((AUTHOR'S NOTE: Normally I mix things up every part to keep all the characters fresh in everyone's minds. However, because this last section was loaded with action where an outcome wasn't clear {what I call 'a mean cliff-hanger'} I stuck with the Angelo story until it reached a point where the next piece to continue from would be obvious, thoroughly enjoyable, and not leaving people hanging.

I feel this is that point. As such, for the next two, I will be going back to Sam to catchup for the way Angelo dominated the show for a few, and then switching back and forward each post like I used to. I figured I would give everyone the heads up, so we all knew what was in store, and why.

Point two: MWAAHAHAHAHA! Way back at the very first Angelo scene with Brambillo in the dentist, it was mentioned how the cops that worked for Tony were a pair of brothers that were paid in tricks. Hands up who remembered? Or made the connection with the Lt's skeeviness? 😎😍🤩 ))

((All comments welcome))

I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here

For more of my work including previous parts or WPs: r/Angel466

For those who want to read this from the very beginning: Part One

FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!