Wolf Noir

CHAPTER II - CHASE

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please! Can we have some order in the waiting room! Please line up accordingly and let me assess all of your cases individually! I don't wanna end up in a deadlock here just because everyone's requesting my services. It would be wonderful if you could all have some patience!" Mr. Wolf felt as if he was entrenched within a building which resembled something more similar to an elegantly decorated sardine can as opposed to one where he could get his work done independently. Despite taking in some cases for the past hour, he had found himself faltering due to the amount of noise erupting from the main waiting room as people buzzed about their cases.

"But please! My son! He had some dealings with The New Blizzard! He was a good kid but he was struggling! Please! Help me so I can help you!" A coyote by the name of Bernard howled as a whirlwind of chatter surrounded him alongside encircled Mr. Wolf. Upon hearing this information, Wolf had no choice but to take in Bernard considering his case was the one that intrigued him the most and was the one he was currently reviewing before the waiting room overflowed with distress and curiosity.

"Sir Bernard, I'm doing everything I can. You know what, follow me. I need to take you to some place quiet and ask you a few questions about your son-"

"WHAT? HOW COME HE GETS TO BE INTERVIEWED! MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?" An enraged businessman tried to cut the line, yet was held back by the private security Wolf was employing to maintain order as well as to serve as crowd control. "YOU'RE PLAYING FAVOURITES, I TELL YA! FAVOURITES! YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN WHEN YOU WERE A CRIMINAL YOU LITTLE SHI-"

"I am going to ask you one time to take a seat and to remain calm, Mr. Anton. I understand that The New Blizzard has been a massive hindrance to your life and you may be dearly worried about your daughter. However, causing hysteria and being impatient isn't going to resolve anything and I suggest that all of those inside of this waiting room take up a similar attitude," Wolf frantically reached into a shelf that he had stuffed with paper, pencils as well as a few folders. "If you people want to be some help, please, I encourage you to share your stories with one another. See if you can find any connections between those who are missing and why you're here. I want to see if there's some form of pattern but I cannot do it without your help or cooperation. If you're able to give me a list of connections, I may be able to narrow down my workload and make sure everybody goes home feeling safe instead of stressed out," Wolf, after his hefty training sessions with Diane, was able to keep his cool whilst reassuring everyone as he passed out a few notes surrounding the slightly oversized coffee table before clearing it of magazines.

"Everybody, there's a coffee table here, move your chairs if you must and have a respectful conversation with one another. Try and give everyone some room, too. I'll turn on the A/C so you're a little more comfortable, too. This is a group effort, I'm going to get to the bottom of this and I've reviewed most of your cases. I'll start calling you in one by one and I will be starting with Sir Bernard to paint a bigger picture, got it?" Wolf commanded with irascible authority as everybody fell silent, merely shuffling their chairs across the black carpet as they took some pencils and began the process of scribbling some notes onto the paper they had been handed whilst leaning onto the brown coffee table before them. "Good. Everybody has their pace. There's a little coffee brewing station and a break room considering I knew people were going to be here for a while. There are cookies in the jar, please try not to go too crazy. There's a smoke room if you're into that sort of stuff and there are magazines, newspapers alongside books to read from the drawers and bookshelves," After finishing his speech which allowed him to command a grip on order within his own investigative offices, he pointed towards the private interview room which lay down the hall and nodded at Sir Bernard to follow him.

"Quite a chaotic day, huh? Starting your first investigative agency whilst permanently living in the shadows of the past? People have got nerves that can fire like a shotgun loaded with incendiary rounds around here, I can understand their concerns. I'm happy you were able to handle that like a professional, but did you ever expect it to get this crazy?" Sir Bernard attempted to make some small talk whilst dressed inside of his jade suit and accompanied by its golden tie as Wolf cracked open the door for him to enter. "Wow, nice room. Reminds me of what my son has at home. Nice set of shelves, a globe in the middle of them, some books here and there alongside some decorations... Whoa, is that Sumotski's action figure?"

"One of few boxed copies that exist from the late eighties. My father passed it down to me quite some time ago. I wasn't even born when that thing was manufactured, it's a nice reminder of where I came from and the personality that would come to influence my life, both good and bad. Why... Does it catch your eye?" Wolf peacefully inquired, talking around his desk whilst staring at the boxed action figure.

"My son is a massive fan of Sumotski and Japanese Sumo in general. It's never really been my thing since they ruined it in the mid-nineties with all of this needless and brutal hardcore stuff. It's a nice reminder, which reminds me, aren't we going to be discussing him and his potential connections to the New Blizzard? He used to tell me a lot about his adventures and I always reminded him to be reckless," Bernard replied as he took a seat, his five foot eight frame standing slightly below Wolf's six foot form as he locked eyes with Wolf from across the desk.

"You mentioned that you were somewhat aware of his position in the then-motorcycle gang turned into a crime organisation, yet you remained vague when regarding the experience you both faced. Excuse me for prying but is there any sort of reason as to why you remained neutral on the matter as opposed to not faulting him for anything? I mean, I know they were once a motorcycle gang but even then, you weren't concerned?" Wolf's questions struck a nerve with the coyote before him, not because he was being inconsiderate but because it forced him to look deep into the past, roughly five years ago, to determine the crash course that led him into this room with Wolf on this day.

"Well... At the beginning, I was as sceptical as anyone else would be. You see, my wife, she passed when he and his sister were being born. You see, his sister is working fine as a lawyer but Brian... Oh, Brian was quite the reckless one. Everyone had their ways of grieving as they became older. Chloe became obsessed with numbers and justice, therefore she became a lawyer. Brian was more concerned with solving puzzles whilst partying hard, so he went on to become an engineer. At the time, I wasn't opposed to it because I'm his dad, I wanted to support him and it seemed like he was just doing this to have fun with his friends," Bernard's body trembled a slight bit. He may have been in his late forties but he was still as nervous as anyone else would be when reflecting on the past, especially when his heart weighed a lot and the lingering melancholy within his voice further proved that. "Time taught me that this New Blizzard club was about to become a lot more than just a pun between a few friends. As it turns out, one of the gals in the group, Ari, was fronting for a group back at home in Japan and this whole creation of the group had been her doing. Unbeknownst to Brian, about a dozen New Blizzard's popped up at the same time all fronted by Kitsune's or as you'd call 'em, vixens or foxes."

"Interesting. I was unaware of any of this history and I thank you for telling your side of the story despite this obviously weighing down on your heart. So, you were a little apprehensive but went with it anyway to be supportive. Was there anything odd about that arrangement other than the fact that they weren't the first New Blizzard to exist?" Wolf rapidly jotted down notes into his notepad all the while Sir Bernard reached further into the past.

"How artificial some of it was. Now, I ain't gonna lie to you, Wolf. I'm not exactly the kindest coyote there is. I've been up and down this state, around the country. I've had my groups here and there, even when I was taking care of young Chloe and Brian, I was a little reckless. I know what a motorcycle club looks like, I know what happens when it turns into a criminal organisation and almost everything about their little posse seemed artificial, from the hangouts to the operations... Oh, he'd discuss all of them with me. Hitting the powder room, burning down grass, hunting down some sweet illegal meat. Anything you can think about, he probably did it before the New Blizzard somehow came together to elect their leader," Bernard reached into a small bag that he had bought with him, tearfully gazed into it before handing it over to Wolf. "Here's his bag. One of the only things he took with him. It was left on his bed and I know he'd never leave without it. I've filled it with some photos that might, you know, help ya. I know this isn't easy for you, either. It's got a few pictures of him hanging out with his friends and of club meetings before it became this massive syndicate. I will say one thing though and that's the fact he was one of the few who worked at the higher end of the spectrum when the club became a syndicate; I just hope my boy didn't yap to the wrong affiliate."

"I'll be sure to keep your son's bag with me and to use these photos to build up evidence. I've already got the city mapped out on this little corkboard of mine. No private investigator or detective should go without one. You don't mind me using some paper clips attached to thumb tacks to hold them up, do you?" Bernard shook his head to say that he didn't mind as Wolf lifted himself up from his chair, hoping to plot some of the pictures onto the map. "Is there anything you can offer when it comes to when these pictures were taken? Apologies if I'm asking a lot of questions," Wolf let off a sigh, he admittedly felt guilty treating one of his first real customers more like they were being interrogated yet he knew this was an important part of his job, especially when building up a case to work with.

"Start with the ones where he has crimson in his hair. That was some sort of initiation challenge. Use that and then go forward with his fur getting messier. You'll find one where they've finished a meeting at a tower and around two weeks later, a few more where he's being promoted to lieutenant status. His fur's noticeably cleaner and sharper, I think he started seeing a woman during that time, too. I just hope she hasn't said anything. Her name's Lana, if that helps, at least the name of his lover," Wolf started plotting the points according to Bernard's recount of events whilst building a timeline using sticky notes with writing hastily sharpied onto them.

"You sound a little unconvinced about his love for Lana. My love for Diane is as easy to state as the many pictures of us together but hm, you're sceptical about Lana, aren't you?" Wolf turned back whilst Bernard cheerily smiled at many of the photos Wolf had mentioned, his orange eyes letting off a glint before making contact with Wolf's orbs once more.

"Hah, little unconvinced is an understatement, detective. My boy was seeing her for around three months and during that time, he made a lot of changes. It was almost like that girl was assigned specifically to seduce him or to clean up his act. It was true that they were friends before but their love always seemed a little fake for my liking and that's going beyond lonely coyote standards. It only took him two weeks to start freshening up, cutting his hair, trimming down and showering more than three times a week! I told him it was ridiculous how he let that woman wander around his life like that and that's roughly when he went from living with me to living with me and her," Bernard almost sounded as if he had given Wolf an easy lead, yet he went to further his point and disproved Wolf's idea. "I know, it probably sounds like I drove him off with my cavalier attitude but no, I looked everywhere. I even went to visit Lana and she said that she was having the same issue. Am I still unconvinced by her admission to me that Brian's gone? Maybe, as it could be a coverup, but she seemed quite concerned and it was the one time where I thought about her as someone who wasn't sent to turn my Brian into a puppet."

"What's the deal with Lana, anyways; why do you hate her so much? Or at the very least, suspect their love to be a little artificial?" Wolf was still plotting out a timeline yet if there was one thing he had learned from his beloved Foxington, it was the fact that multitasking was about to become his new best friend and there was nothing he could do to stop that inevitability from creeping up on him.

"She had a way with words that Brian simply couldn't have. He even started writing poetry. My boy's always been an artist, never really into words. I'm not really too sophisticated myself, I even struggle saying that word! I was just a country boy who got lucky, met a wonderful lady, started up a small jewelling business from the fact I was mining quite a lot back in my early days and here I am, still running that same business," Bernard promptly sat back down after realising he had rambled about himself a little more than he wish he had. "Apologies, went on a tangent, there. One other thing is the fact that Brian isn't one to incite radical change, especially upon himself or his surroundings. He's been a big fan of stability and well, it seems like Lana ruined his perception on that as he started making more knee jerk decisions after that."

"Have you ever considered that he could've been making these decisions to impress Lana or is there some ulterior motive that you believe in yet you haven't exactly gotten to yet?" Wolf was admittedly getting a little sceptical about Bernard's case, especially when he was beginning to sound more like a concerned father that may be sweet but unaware of the times surrounding him as opposed to having an idea as to the motives of the New Blizzard.

"Girl was in tight with the New Blizzard from the beginning, honestly was Ari's right-hand woman in setting up the whole pack to begin with," Ah, there it is; that's the bomb Wolf was looking for. "Brian said something was funny about her papers. He apparently managed to look over the papers and found that she had quite literally used a magic eraser to write over her passport and change certain aspects of it, even her papers were badly made fakes. It was almost like she had snuck into the country but we couldn't figure out how. That was the one thing we had unity on, it was the fact that her origins were slightly mysterious but it wouldn't surprise me if she had come from Japan a long time ago and was the one who really sowed the seeds for this whole thing. A lot of people say the New Blizzard is a Hispanic creation because of the fact Winter González is at the front of it all but animals from Japan are very much involved, too. People even have doubts about Winter's real name and her being from Guatemala but that ain't my place to speak, I just want to find my boy and I hope I can help you whilst you help me," Wolf eventually finished plotting out the timeline alongside figuring out a plan of action, especially when it came to this Lana contact of Brian's.

"Alright. That looks like something I need to look at. Something that'll lead me to my origin point. If you say Lana is a big fish and she also knows Brian then she's the first person I can look into. Do you know where she works or anywhere I can find her; her full name or any aliases?" Wolf pulled out his notepad from his drawer, this time marked with a golden bookmark to denote its importance to him as well as the case he was developing as he scribbled some notes onto the top about the interview process so far alongside what he had gathered.

"Lana Jacklin, I also know of Ari's, which is Ari Tsumake. Dang, I really hope you can help me find my son and maybe get to the bottom of your own mystery in the process, Wolf," Wolf sensed that Sir Bernard was getting a little anxious and so reached across the table to reassure him by placing his paw around the coyote's shoulder.

"I can't make false promises, I refuse to make any unless I know I'm right. But this information you've given me is bigger than you could've ever imagined it being. I may not know where your son is, I may not know how to exactly find him, but I will do my utmost best to find him. Now, I need to know where Lana works, are you okay with giving me that information?" Bernard started shaking underneath Wolf's gaze, which is when he was gently shook as well as beamed a stern yet reassuring smile. "Bernard. I'm going to help you find your son or get to the bottom of his disappearance, you're in good hands. Now, I need your help for one last question. Where does Lana Jacklin work?"

"I-I... I think she works down at the docks, near Marina Del Rey. It's quite a drive away from here but she works there for four days handling the boats belonging to rich people, takes a coach back and then crashes at her apartment doing god knows what. I heard she's in with the cartels, too. If you're going to chase her, I think you're gonna have to look the part. She should be heading to work tonight, will be staying at a nearby hotel and then repeat. I don't know what she does down there, this is all Brian has told me; that and missing her a bunch," Bernard anxiously explained as Wolf retracted his paw, peering into his notebook to make his final notes alongside assessments of the situation.

"That's quite the trip but Marina Del Rey has become quite a massive hotspot for the New Blizzard as of late, so it wouldn't surprise me if she's up to something. I'll be sure not to bump into her and I'll do some scouting, see what I can find out about the operation through eavesdropping and recon. Anything else I should know about her, where does she go after work other than the cheap hotel that she's renting?"

"I-I think she likes going to a bar. I forget the name, just look for a gigantic bar that recently opened up with three palm trees outside and a huge neon sign; that's probably where she is. That was one of Brian's complaints, how she would spend more time there instead of texting him. Is there anything else I can do for you, detective?" Bernard politely asked, to which Wolf shook his head. "Should I go back to waiting or will you get back to me with the phone number I provided?"

"It's probably best that you head to work or at the very least, go home and relax a little bit. I can tell you're stressed about this but I thank you a massive amount and promise to keep you updated as much as possible without blowing this case wide open. You've been a huge help, Sir Bernard. I hope to get to the bottom of this mystery involving your son whilst cracking open the case of the New Blizzard one step at a time, like ice and a chisel," Wolf walked over to the wooden door alongside the golden doorknob before opening it up for Sir Bernard. "I hope to bring you some peace soon and yet again, I will do my best... Now, I need to make a call," Wolf soon turned his attention towards his cellphone sitting on the desk and with some information in his hands, he sought to call the one person he knew was suitable for the job of doing some recon and that was none other than Mr. Piranha.

His phone buzzed quite like the inactive backup generator housed in the basement that he could perpetually hear quite like the central heating when he attempted to power it on earlier. As the fans of the air conditioning blew onto him, washing him with cooler air as opposed to being doused in the sunlight that poured into the room from both of his flanks, he questioned if Piranha would actually make it to the phone or if he was off causing trouble.

"Hey, Hermano! It's been a while since you called!" Mr. Piranha soon answered by shouting into his phone whilst distant music poured into Wolf's ears, all the while he backed up the phone from his ears a slight bit.

"Are you usually this loud? I know, it's been a while since I called, I've been busy with setting up the agency. Don't worry, I'm not here to trouble you with anything serious. Also, what's that music in the background? Are you in some sort of bar? It's not even noon yet!" Judging by the sun alone, Wolf could tell that it was still an hour out from noon whilst Piranha let off a slightly inebriated laugh.

"Hey! Every day can be a party day if you're living as free as I am. I'm glad that you've set up your agency, it's just a shame it's been a week since we were able to hangout. I'm guessing you're not calling to do that, huh?" Piranha replied, leaning forward onto the bar table whilst Wolf flipped through his notes on the other side.

"I wish, but no. I know you hang out by Marina Del Rey a lot, right?"

"I'm actually there right now! Getting the day started before rocking up a tour bus with my singing! The contract I signed has gotten me two single deals with the same studio and I'm here to perform; why, what's up?" Piranha's curiosity got the best of him, yet Wolf was relieved that Piranha wouldn't be troubled by any sort of travel expense.

"When you go and perform, I'm hoping you can take a detour to the docks. There's a lady there that I want you to keep an eye out for. You see, I've been asking some city folk about the missing people and the connections to the New Blizzard and there's a lady that I need some intel on. She supposedly helps bring in the boats of the rich and the wealthy during the day whilst being a party animal late at night. I assume she's a coyote, I never got any info on her but Lana Jacklin is her name," Wolf's lack of a short term memory already forced him to plunge directly back into his notes to his own dismay. "She was dating a guy named Brian... I think Brian Curtis is his full name. He's in big with the New Blizzard and supposedly went missing. I have reason to suspect that Lana is one of the big founders of one of the largest clusters of the group and I need to know what she gets up to at night to rule out the possibility or plunge deeper regarding her connections," Wolf relayed his information to Piranha with his voice conveying the utmost amount of seriousness.

"Damn, amigo. It seems like you're really starting to play cop ever since you got that job as a private detective. I'll see what I can do but I will most likely try and keep a look out for her late at night, it sounds like she goes to the Midnight Soul, I've been there a couple of times and I've heard a few people talk about a coyote lady with a briefcase and a leather jacket. However, what's in it for me?" Wolf was slightly perplexed by Piranha's question, he wasn't expecting him to demand any sort of payment or compensation.

"I'll reward you kindly by asking Foxington to speak to some of her music people and get them to fund two music videos for those single releases you're working on so you can reach more people. I'll even personally pay for localisation of them if you want to get into other markets by offering your Hispanic Jazz to the world. Oh, and I'll pay you two hundred and fifty bucks. I've already earned two thousand just by getting people to hand in their cases in the hopes that I find some connection between them and their missing sons, daughters, friends and lovers... There's a lot of missing people out there, Piranha, people that haven't been reported because involving the cops is a messy deal in today's age. A lot has changed since we were criminals and I'm hoping you'll be able to conduct your recon quietly and without asking anymore questions," Wolf quite honestly had reached a stage where he was starting to intimidate Piranha as opposed to offering him an opportunity.

"That last part you've gotten way too correct, amigo. I'll make sure to get you what you need whilst keeping it silent. I got it, no bar fights, no awfully crude questions. Hell, I might be able to coax that lady into talking to me considering I'm quite the star around here now. Two fifty dollars would be nice considering I've spent the majority of my money on partying and arranging my transport, plus those music videos would be awesome. Alright, I'm in. But you tell no one that this conversation happened, got it, hermano?"

"I understand, brother. My lips are sealed and they're going to be sealed for a long time. Good luck with your performance and your partying, call me if you find anything or text me if you don't want to risk being eavesdropped on. Have a nice day, Piranha!" As the crowd began to roar from the waiting room once again, Wolf was itching to secure order over those who wished to hire him to track down those they loved the most as Piranha wrapped up his goodbye.

"Have a nice day too, Wolf! Try not to turn into a cop with all of this private detective work you're doing... Or turn into an ass, either. We all know how people get when they're given a lot of money and opportunity; I know a few people in the business who started to howl a little too often and now their career is in the dirt!"

"Haha, I promise to be responsible. Now, I've got some more detective work to do. Seeya around, Piranha," At that point, he pressed the massive red button that would end the call with his distant friend, at the very least, Wolf now had a start as to where he was going to take his operation next as well as someone to do it. However, he had to address the beehive that was forming within the waiting room and so he hesitantly cracked open the door once more; venturing down the corridor to eventually find a few people arguing with one another about the details.

"What is it this time?" Wolf rang the bell that he had assigned to his receptionist's desk. Unfortunately, he didn't have a receptionist just yet considering it was his first day and therefore had no way of maintaining order or organising everything beyond being a one-man show. "I'm here to listen to all of your stories considering you've paid me handsomely but you need to remain calm. I know that's a tall order but what do we have so far? And please, one person at a time or ideally one person in general would recap everything," He instructed, which is when a platinum fox emerged from his seat with a pair of glasses on to analyse everything.

"I'm not gonna start with my own case, instead I'm going to go with what I know based on the events. It all began in March, right, everyone? Where a couple of your loved ones went missing only to return home in May? What? There's like, five cases of that happening? That's a pattern," This mysterious fox was able to level with everyone whilst pointing towards the notes that had been hastily scribbled down by everyone, with pictures attached to various pieces of paper to further add context to the events. "Jules, I know your son went missing and was affiliated with the New Blizzard. Jack, your daughter supposedly had dealings with someone who was from the New Blizzard. Kaylee, all three of your children were in tight with the New Blizzard and they were the only ones that never returned in May."

"I-I hope we can find them! I love them with all of my parts! They may be grown up now, but that doesn't mean their mama shouldn't be able to talk to them!" Kaylee eked out whilst grabbing a tissue, being the only human amongst the crowd was a stressful ordeal considering it seemed like the New Blizzard was targeting the anthropomorphic crowd above all else.

"The cutoffs seem rather intentional. I have reason to suspect that the New Blizzard is responsible for this severing of family connections, at least temporarily. From what I know, something big was happening in April; some huge shipment from Asia. At least that's what Foxington has told me," Wolf added to the conversation whilst nodding at the fox which stood directly adjacent to him. "I have reason to suspect that these people were ordered or more likely, convinced, to keep their family out of their personal lives for a short amount of time as they handled the shipment. Do we know anything about the June disappearances?"

"Ah, that's where I come in," The fox sighed as he prepared to recall the past. "My wife, she works at one of the big offices in town and she would frequently tell me that she was under command to let the New Blizzard get away with the occasional warehouse disappearance. You see, she's the stock manager for Cradle, which has become highly influential when it comes to transporting packages around the city. She was in charge of logging everything and reporting any sort of breach that was suspicious. In June, she made her first major reporting because around fifty percent of the technology that had been shipped in through trucks and transport had mysteriously vanished and she told me about it two nights before she disappeared... Sort of," Bradley, the fox stricken by mild grief as well as mystery, took a seat on his chair as Wolf raised his eyebrow.

"Sort of? What does that imply?" All Wolf needed to know when Bradley lifted up his own piece of paper with some pictures attached of his wonderful wife was the fact that she was the only one who managed to get some message out about everything. "She managed to get a message out to you? Do you know where this place is?" Wolf couldn't help but fixate on Dropzone V, which had been labelled on the text Bradley's distressed wife had sent out to him moments before her cell signal ceased for good.

"I've looked around, tried to do my own scouting mission. I assume it's somewhere up in the mountains but I don't entirely know where. I know it's somewhere outside of the city, it's become their new frontier, at least the urban front. Jakob, what do you know? You were telling me about how my case are loosely connected with the August disappearances and I wanna know how," Wolf's gaze went from focusing on Bradley to observing Jakob, who was the only bear amongst the audience and therefore one of the only members of high society that had come to Wolf for his help.

"Sorry. I do not speak good English. I am from Russia, however, I can say that my wife had big connections to a multi-billion dollar international corporation known as Cosmotech. She had no ill intentions, my Valeriya would never. She was... Targeted by this New Blizzard. Many people choose not to speak to me because I am a big bear, big bear means frightening for some; but my heart is fragile. She would get regular emails and calls harassing her, telling her to step down or to assist. She saw it as bullying and nothing more, when it came from a little crime syndicate, it was easy to ignore," Jakob took a deep breath and handed over several of the screenshots of the text messages he had received from his beloved, which quite frankly petrified Wolf whilst Jakob narrated his strife. "However, as time went on, the messages became more brutal. They supposedly went to Russia to interrogate her sister. The Russian authorities apprehended them before they could do anything. They said they wanted to get revenge and well... August Fourteenth, I got a message with her tied up in a chair which simply said 'Is this your love, Ruskie?' - I instantly ordered some of my mercenaries to attack the warehouse and free her, part of which was successful. We spent one night together before she was escorted to somewhere private, yet our peace was short lived as she was sent to Dropzone II, which was... Luxurious I believe. It is where people who can be helpful go, I know where it is; near the Black Mountains which is a long way from here. I am willing to work with you but I need your reassurance that you will keep everything under wraps," Jakob was seemingly offering a business proposition to Wolf. Considering Wolf was talking to one of the big black bears that ran the Californian sect of Cosmotech, it was hard for him to refuse.

"What do you need from me and what can you provide me with?" Wolf simply asked, which is when Jakob stood up with a gentle yet solemn smile covering his face.

"I need your belief that my Valeriya is still alive. I need your courage to make sure many people get to the bottom of this. I need your skills to break into the Dropzones when the time comes. As for what I can provide... I have big guns, far bigger than the ones Foxington will let you play with. I also have a private security force, so if you need people to keep order then I can help. I can even get you a receptionist. Consider this a collaboration if you will. You can chase your leads and I will continue to further my own case against the New Blizzard using information that you can provide me. Does that sound fair?" Jakob's offer was promising, especially on Wolf's first day, but he was unsure if he could trust such a hefty promise or objective.

"So long as I get to bring peace to those looking for their lost relatives and to reassure the city by cracking this case then I am in. It seems I've gotten myself involved in quite a massive deal on my first day. Am I allowed to continue pursuing my leads?" Despite being surrounded by everyone, it seemed that the public understood that this deal would be favourable for those inside of the room.

"You are allowed to do anything, so long as you do not blow my own case about the Dropzones. That goes towards everybody inside of this room. Start off with what you have, find out as much as we can. Not only am I going to get justice for Valeriya but I am going to get justice for this whole city... And it will start with partnering up with the man who knew the most about the terror he inflicted on the common person. I've been keeping an eye on you, Wolf, I am very proud. But let's not allow prestige to blind us," Jakob shook Wolf's hand, who couldn't believe he had secured himself quite the hefty business deal in one day. "You may continue your day as usual, I will be in contact with you later tonight. Take my business card and call me at 6PM sharp. As for now, I know you have a case to solve and I will not hinder you. Farewell, Wolf, and to everybody else!"

"So... Now what do we do?" Bradley, the fox who had innocently highlighted Jakob as someone who had a connection to his own case thanks to the Dropzones.

"Now, we solve this mystery together and I go out on my first stakeout with all of the information you've provided. Today is the day that we start to unravel the blanket of chaos that surrounds this city and today is the day Los Angeles will breathe fresh air once again. Now, all of you, pens and paper out... We have a long game of 'connect the dots' to play."

...