Chapter 50: Field Work
Reno woke to an elbow prodding him sharply in the ribs… and quickly stopped himself from complaining about it, when he realized that Veld was still talking. The redhead shot Rude a grateful look and sank down slightly in his chair, hoping the Turk leader hadn’t noticed. The last two days had completely fucked up his sleep cycle… and it probably didn’t help that he’d come to the morning briefing straight off of his last shift. He hadn’t even had his coffee yet.
“– set up in Junon by the end of the month,” Veld continued, apparently unaware of the rookie’s short nap. “Sato and Saya will be taking the first rotation with her. For everyone else… it’s business as usual.”
Kai softly cleared her throat, drawing Veld’s attention, and looked at him expectantly.
“Ah… Yes. Kai has asked me to inform you all that I have approved her proposal for a mandatory refresher course in survival training for all personnel as soon as the snow melts,” he said, quickly adding, “Likely because she wishes to see you all suffer.”
There was a collective groan from around the conference table, and Kai grinned widely.
“Oh, quit acting like such babies. It’s important, and you all know it,” she snickered. She shot a pointed look at Sato. “And no… no explosives allowed.”
The Mideelian Turk scowled and flipped her off.
“Alright…” Veld said before it could escalate, “I think that covers everything. Dismissed. And will someone please get Reno some coffee before he falls asleep again?”
The redhead cringed in embarrassment and slid lower in his seat, until he’d mostly disappeared beneath the table as the others snickered loudly. He hoisted his middle finger above the tabletop, directing it at no one in particular.
“Fuck you all… I was up half the night guardin’ a glorified closet,” he muttered. Kai laughed and ruffled his hair as she headed for the door, most of the others filtering out behind her. Tseng chuckled as he walked up behind his rookie, and lifted him back into a sitting position by the back of his collar.
“Come on. I hate to say it, but I think you do need to get some caffeine in you.”
“And some fuckin’ breakfast. Those assholes took their sweet time turnin’ the security system back on so I could finally leave.”
A short while later, the redhead was in the cafeteria, happily munching away on a pile of bacon and some stale donuts from the previous morning, and downing his second cup of coffee. Tseng shook his head.
“I wish you would opt for something a bit more nutritious…”
“You have seen what they serve here… right?” Reno asked, smirking. His mentor laughed.
“Point taken. Hurry up, then. You’ll be joining me on assignment today.”
The rookie glanced up in surprise. He’d expected yet another day of training. Tseng nodded in confirmation.
“You’re nearing the one year mark… and there’s only so much a person can learn in the training hall. It’s time you started getting a bit more field experience. Starting with our missing person investigation.”
“… Yeah. So… You’re kinda gonna have to refresh my memory on that. I think I mighta still been asleep when Veld was talkin’ about it.”
Tseng snorted softly in laughter. “I thought as much.”
“Hey, it your fault I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in two days.”
The Turk lieutenant raised an eyebrow.
“… ‘kay, fine. It’s my fault that it’s your fault.”
“I’m honestly not certain if that bit of logic can be attributed to sleep deprivation or your sense of humor,” Tseng replied. “In any case, a member of the accounting staff has gone missing… along with several thousand gil in bond notes. A fairly paltry sum, compared to what he could have taken, but as Shinra Company has a zero-tolerance policy on theft, he’s been left to us to deal with.”
“Deal with like… what we had to do in Gongaga?” Reno queried, uncertainly.
“I’m afraid so.”
“So… where do we start?”
“You tell me,” his mentor prompted. The redhead thought for a moment.
“The guy have family in town?”
“Yes. A wife and a young daughter in Sector 7,” he answered.
“Then I’d start there. See if they packed up ‘n left with him… and if not, when they last saw him.”
Tseng smiled approvingly. “An excellent suggestion. We leave in five minutes.”
They parked around the corner from the large apartment complex in Sector 7 and slipped around the back of the building, entering silently and avoiding the few residents in the lobby. Tseng led him up to the fourteenth floor, and stopped in front of apartment 1428.
“I don’t expect much in terms of trouble, based on his employee profile,” he said quietly, “but don’t let your guard down. If he’s aware we’re after him, which I’m sure he at least suspects we are by now, he may be desperate… and desperate people do foolish things.”
Reno nodded, and Tseng knocked sharply on the door. There was a faint shuffling from within, and a moment later a young woman eased it open a crack, peering out fearfully.
“… Oh, dear Titan, no…” she breathed upon seeing the pair of them.
“We’re only here for your husband, Mrs. Savoy. We aren’t interested in harming you or your daughter.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, and Reno heard a faint sob as the door opened enough to let them in.
“I told him not to do it. I begged him. I told him we’d get the money some other way,” she sniffled, shaking her head, “He knew he couldn’t hide it. Someone was bound to notice.”
Reno frowned and hung back slightly. He hated seeing women cry, and this one was barely holding back tears.
“Where is he?” Tseng asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” she replied, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “He left… three days ago now. He was going to sell the bonds he took for cash. The money was for our daughter. She… she can’t walk. An accident a year ago. Her doctors are very hopeful that something can be done now that she’s regained her strength and healed, but… the treatment has been so expensive. Our savings are gone. We can’t pay for any more operations. I told him not to! But… he’s her father. It was killing him, knowing that all that stood between our Alice and being able to walk again was money.”
“Do you know who he was selling them to?”
Mrs. Savoy shook her head in the negative. “I only know he was meeting someone in Sector 2. I’ve tried calling him, but… there’s no answer.” She dropped her gaze to the floor. “To be honest… I’d assumed the worst. I thought you were here to tell me that the Turks had already…”
Her voice wavered and she couldn’t go on, instead dissolving into tears. Reno swallowed thickly and uncomfortably fidgeted in the doorway behind the senior Turk. That sound had bothered him since he was little. It brought back too many unpleasant memories of his mother in a similar state… crying because she couldn’t afford to feed him that day, or because one of her customers had beat her up again, or just out of the sheer frustration of not being able to get them out of the Sector 2 slums and into any of the other sectors. It hurt… more than words could describe. And knowing that there was a kid involved here just made it worse.
“I see,” Tseng replied.
“Please… Can’t you just let him go? He’ll give them back. I’ll make him give them back!” she asked, pleadingly.
“Mommy?” a small voice called from farther inside the apartment, and Reno spotted a tiny girl in a wheelchair, lingering nervously in the hallway. She couldn’t have been more than six or seven.
“It’s alright, Alice… Mommy will be right there. Go back to your room,” she said, struggling to regain control of herself. The child hesitated a moment, but at last obeyed, disappearing around the corner.
“Please…” Mrs. Savoy whispered.
“I’m afraid it’s not up to me,” Tseng replied, and turned back toward the door, ushering his rookie back into the hallway.
“How can you be so heartless?!” she sobbed.
“It’s what they pay me for.” He stepped out into the hall alongside Reno, and the door closed behind them. Tseng shooed the redhead toward the elevator. Reno said nothing until the doors slid closed and they were on their way down.
“The guy’s just tryin’ to help his kid get better…”
Tseng sighed softly. “I know. And I truly wish there were something we could do… but we have our orders. We can’t ignore them simply because we are moved by a target’s circumstances.”
“… This is gonna be one of those parts of the job that’s really gonna suck, isn’t it?” the rookie said, blandly.
“In all likelihood. Hopefully it will be quick and painless for him. That, unfortunately, is all the mercy we have the luxury of offering him.”
The elevator dropped them off on the first floor and the pair of Turks headed back to Tseng’s car in silence. Reno climbed into the passenger seat, pulling his seatbelt across his body.
“Hey… Tseng? Couldn’t you have least been… ya know… less of a dick to the lady?”
“I doubt very much a kind-hearted killer would have been any comfort to her. And… sometimes it’s less painful for a person to have another target for their anger when the person they should be angry with is someone they love. In the end, it doesn’t really matter if she hates me.”
The redhead thought about that for a minute. He could see the logic in that sentiment… but he wasn’t sure he completely agreed with it.
“So… what now?” he asked.
“Now we pay a visit to Sector 2. Call Luca. Find out if the Midgar City Police have located Savoy’s car for us yet, and tell him to relay to them that they should concentrate on Sector 2 if they haven’t.”
The police hadn’t found the car… which left the two Turks searching for it on their own for the time being. Reno watched carefully out the window, peering into alleyways and down sidestreets as they drove past.
“This is fuckin’ hopeless,” the redhead said after awhile. “It could be anywhere in the sector! Hell, it might not even be in this sector…”
“You’re quite correct,” Tseng replied, taking a right down yet another street. “It may not be. But it’s our target’s last know location. Until we have new intelligence to work with, that makes it the most likely place to find him… so we keep looking. We’re not the only ones searching, after all.”
“Yeah… I guess,” Reno replied. “Tch… if it were up to me, I’d do it from the air.”
Tseng chuckled quietly. “Any excuse to get into the helicopter?”
“That’s just a bonus,” the redhead grinned.
“I, too, would prefer an air search. But, as apparently you’ve forgotten – or slept through it – Remy, Saya, and Sato are presently using it to get to Junon. I believe Shay is dropping them off… He should be back by lunch time. If we haven’t found anything by this afternoon, we’ll return to headquarters and commandeer the copter for ourselves.”
“Heh… know what we need? A second helicopter,” the rookie stated. Tseng smiled slightly.
“Mmm… Try getting the budget approved for that sometime. Nevermind that it’s quite a large piece of equipment to store and the roof is rather short on space with both our aircraft and the executive helicopter up there.”
“Details, details…” the redhead muttered, and turned his attention back out the window. A brief glint of dark green suddenly caught his eye, and he bolted upright in the seat. “Whoa! Hold on, back it up…”
Tseng braked, and reversed until they were even with a narrow side street. A dark green coup sat unassumingly, parked by the curb and largely obscured by a large ‘Road Closed’ sign and the shadows of the nearby buildings. Tseng pulled over and shut off the engine.
“How in Leviathan’s name did you manage to spot that?”
The redhead just grinned in response.
The pair exited the car and made their way over to the parked vehicle. A quick glance at the license plate told Tseng that it was, indeed, the one they were looking for. Now the only question that remained was… where had he gone from here?
“Reno… Stay with the car, out of sight, and keep watch. The last thing we need is for Mr. Savoy to return and leave while we’re questioning potential witnesses. I’m going to speak to some of the business owners nearby.”
“Got it.” The redhead ducked into a nearby alley, while Tseng circled back around to the front of one of the adjacent buildings. Reno leaned back against the wall and waited. He didn’t know much about selling stolen bonds… but if it was anything like selling stolen goods down in the slums, he had a feeling that any legit business wouldn’t want to touch them with a ten foot pole. Which, in his mind, meant that Savoy probably wasn’t here to visit the local shops. More likely, he was meeting someone here. The street was closed… so no traffic to worry about. And it was dark, even in daylight, with the huge buildings rising up on either side of it.
Which… Tseng had probably already figured out.
He wasn’t looking for the person Savoy was meeting. He was looking for witnesses. Reno knew about as much about finding witnesses up on the Plate as he did about stolen bonds… but if that was anything like the slums, they wouldn’t be in any hurry to volunteer information. He had a sneaking suspicion that the next item on today’s agenda would be an interrogation back at headquarters if Tseng was successful.
Reno glanced around at his surroundings. A few trash cans lined one side of the alley next to a metal door with a large padlock fastened to it… and at the far end was a much larger dumpster with the name of a nearby restaurant stenciled on it in white paint. A small object lying in the middle of the alley caught his eye and he walked over to it, bending down to retrieve it.
The redhead flipped the worn leather wallet over in his hand. It was nothing particularly high-end, and the stitching was coming loose in one of the corners. He opened it and found a few credit cards, photos, and an ID… one that read ‘Herman Savoy’.
“Crap,” he muttered. That didn’t exactly bode well for the guy. Of course, it’s not like good old Herman was going to be heading home even if they did manage to find him. A thought occurred to him… and Reno made his way back out of the alley, to Savoy’s car. He tried the driver’s side door and found it unlocked. After a brief moment in which he considered calling Tseng before he was face to face with a dead guy, he reached inside and popped the trunk. Steeling himself, he walked to the back and shoved it open… and let out a sigh of relief. It was empty.
“Fuck, man… I’ve been watchin’ too goddamn many horror movies lately…” he said, laughing at himself. He shut the trunk and retreated back to his hiding place to wait for Tseng.
Something still bothered him, though. Obviously, Savoy had been here. He left behind his car and his wallet… both of which he probably wouldn’t have if he’d left this alley of his own accord. So, where did he go? Had the person he was selling to nabbed him? And if so… why bother? The guy was broke. It’s not like his family could afford a ransom. If Reno had to bet on it, he’d have wagered that the buyer had grabbed the bonds and run. But, then… what had happened to the seller?
Dead seemed the most likely answer. And if he was dead, whoever had killed him hadn’t exactly been overly careful about hiding the evidence that they’d been here. The rookie Turk glanced towards the back of the alley again. That dumpster was more than big enough to ditch a body in.
He sighed in resignation and started to walk over to it. He didn’t even have to look. By the time he was within six feet of it, he could smell it, and quickly backed away when it made him gag. Reno pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Tseng’s number.
“Yes?” the Turk Lieutenant answered.
“… I, uh… I think I mighta found him, boss…”
It took Tseng several minutes to make his way back to his rookie. When he finally did, Reno was waiting for him near the target’s car.
“Where?” he asked, and the redhead pointed him towards a dumpster hidden away in the shadows of an alley. By the time he was standing next to it, it quickly became clear that something was dead. When he opened the lid, it was undeniable. The stench was overpowering. He heard Reno make a sound of disgust, likely as the odor hit him as well.
“Hmm…” the Wutaiian Turk said, peering inside, “Well… not the most pleasant sight, but it certainly makes our job easier.” He tossed his keys to the redhead. “Get the white box from the trunk.”
The rookie quickly scurried off to do as he’d been commanded, obviously only too happy to get away from the smell. Tseng propped the lid of the dumpster open with a metal pipe, and shook his head. It wasn’t pretty. Savoy had clearly been there for a few days. The local rodents had found him, as well. Not the worst he’d ever seen… but still…
Reno returned moments later with requested box, and Tseng opened the latch, pulling out gloves and a long black, zippered bag. He tossed a pair of gloves to the rookie as well, and then took his jacket off, laying it neatly across the open box.
“Let’s make this quick, shall we?” he said, pulling on the gloves. Rotting bodies were his least favorite to deal with. They had a tendency to… burst… when one tried to move them if one wasn’t careful, and Savoy was going to require a fair amount of moving. He unrolled the bag, laying it out flat on the ground and unzipped it. “I’ll need your help to lower him.”
“Uh… y-yeah. Okay…” Reno replied, not sounding particularly keen on the idea. Tseng hoisted himself onto the edge of the dumpster and carefully slipped inside, swearing loudly in Wutaiian as something slimy coated his shoe. He lifted the body, passing it out to Reno’s waiting hands. The redhead grunted as he took the weight. “Tseng? I’m not sure I got this on my own…”
“Just hold on. I’ll help you.” He hurried to swing himself over the lip and back onto solid ground again, and joined his protege in easing the dead man down. They carried him over to the bag and at last set him down. Tseng peeled off his gloves, and tossed them into the dumpster behind him. “Well… that’s the hard part. Now we –”
He stopped short as he looked over at the younger Turk, who by then had gone pale and begun to double over, eyes still locked on the body.
“Reno?”
The rookie shook his head minutely, and then gagged. Before Tseng could do anything else, Reno was on his knees, retching violently. When it finally stopped, he coughed faintly and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Tseng sighed and knelt down beside him.
“Better?” he asked.
“… Not really…” Reno groaned and heaved again. He panted softly for a few moments as he recovered. “Sorry about your shoes…”
Reno still felt a little queasy. The ride through the city streets all the way back to headquarters hadn’t really helped to calm his stomach. Neither had the burning humiliation he felt.
“What happened to you?” Rude asked, returning to their shared office.
“I don’t wanna talk about it…” the redhead replied, not bothering to lift his head off of his desktop.
“… Do you want to get some lunch?”
Reno’s stomach churned, threatening to rebel again, and he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t even mention food right now…” he moaned after a moment.
“I would take him seriously,” Tseng said, strolling through the door, a mug of steaming liquid in his hand. He smirked slightly. “Unless, of course, you’re looking for an excuse to purchase new shoes…”
Reno groaned. Tseng smiled and set the mug down beside him, and gently rubbed the ailing rookie’s back.
“Drink it. It’s peppermint tea. It will help.”
“What happened?” Rude asked again, a worried expression on his face.
“Nothing to be concerned about. Our termination mission simply turned into a body retrieval mission. The target had been dead quite some time. It was… unpleasant.”
Rude grunted in understanding and took a seat at his own desk.
“First time always is.”
Reno minutely raised his head and glared at him. “Quit actin’ like you’re some kinda expert on dead, rottin’ bodies. How many you even seen, anyway?”
Rude shrugged. “A few. It gets easier. Still not really used to the smell, though.”
The redhead gagged and swallowed sharply. “Oh god, don’t remind me about the fuckin’ smell…”
“Drink,” Tseng insisted, “It will help. Rude, would you mind informing Tres that Reno will be missing his afternoon range practice? I don’t think he’s in any condition for it right now.”
Rude nodded and left to find the senior Turk. Reno’s fingers curled around the mug as he slowly sat up, and he took a cautious sniff.
“It’s practically blasphemous to ruin perfectly good tea in such a way, but I’ve added sugar for you.”
The rookie slowly sipped the hot beverage. It wasn’t terrible. Much better than the last time Tseng had plied him with tea. The sugar greatly improved the taste. And Tseng was right. The peppermint did seem to be helping. He finished nearly half of it before he finally spoke again.
“Are you disappointed?” he asked.
“No. Why should I be?”
“Maybe ’cause I puked like a total fuckin’ wuss?”
“Most people would.”
“Tch… most people aren’t Turks,” Reno shot back.
“Reno… very few people are prepared to see something like that, let alone having to deal with transporting it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re being much too hard on yourself,” he replied, “Actually, I’m quite impressed. Not only were you the first to spot the target’s vehicle, you also found the target himself. Stop focusing so much on what you perceive as the negative aspects of your performance. You did very well today. Though I’ll admit… I do wish you had aimed for something other than my shoes.”
The redhead managed a weak laugh at that, and Tseng ran his hand through the teenager’s hair before withdrawing his hand. He sighed quietly.
“Are you certain you want to stay here until you find a new apartment?” he asked, “It’s no inconvenience to me to have you as my guest. Especially with you not feeling your best.”
Reno smiled and shook his head.
“Nah… I’m good. ‘Sides… it’s probably only gonna be for a week or two. Sato says he’s already got a couple possibilities lined up.”
“Alright,” Tseng agreed, “But should his ‘possibilities’ not work out and you find yourself growing tired of living in a room the size of a closet, you’re more than welcome.”
“… ‘kay. Thanks, Tseng.”
Reno spent the remainder of the week working with Tseng to track down the missing bonds that had cost Herman Savoy his life. By Friday, they’d narrowed it down to a well-known money launderer operating out of Wall Market. Tres and Rude had picked him up and delivered him to a detention cell that afternoon to await interrogation.
Saturday found him back at Rude’s new apartment continuing to make up for the previous Friday. By then, his friend was mostly settled in, but there was still furniture to be arranged, and personal effects to be cleaned. By the time dinner rolled around, though, Rude had declared them finished… and they sat down to enojy dinner and a movie. Reno didn’t get back to his temporary abode until late.
He yawned as he dragged himself from the elevator and down the silent hallways of Turks headquarters to his room. He was going to bed… and he was staying there. One of the bonuses of the little sleeping quarters were that they had no windows. No Shiva-forsaken sunlight to wake him up before he was ready. He stripped down and shut off the light, climbing into bed. Minutes later, he was asleep.
Reno rolled over with a soft grunt. It took him a moment in his sleepy state to realize that he was awake. He mentally shrugged. It wasn’t unusual for him to wake himself up now and then. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes, knowing he’d be out like a light again in a minute or two.
Just as he was beginning to drift off, however, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled unsettlingly. He wasn’t alone. He was absolutely certain of it. The redhead strained to pick out any unusual sounds in the room… and a faint shudder went down his spine as he recognized the sound of quiet breathing coming from the direction of the door.
‘Fuck,’ he thought. He didn’t know what time it was, but it had to still be pretty late. Plus, it was the weekend. Who the fuck would be here now?
As slowly and as silently as he could, he reached a hand out towards the bedside table. His EMR was there. He swallowed nervously as his fingers curled around the handle, hoping whoever was watching him wouldn’t notice. Once he had the weapon in hand, he sprang upright in bed, flicking the mag-rod out to its full length and activating the electric pulse. It sparked in the darkness, illuminating the immediate area around him, and he heard a surprised yelp.
Reno caught a brief glimpse of a bespectacled figure with long, greasy hair as it fled the room. He was on his feet moments later, ignoring the shiver the chill of the cool air on his bare skin sent through him as he charged into the hallway after the intruder. Footsteps were fading quickly down the hallway, and he followed… arriving just in time to see a shadow disappear into the elevator. By the time he caught up, the doors had already closed and the car was on its way upstairs. Reno watched the digital panel on the wall as the numbers ticked upwards. It stopped on sixty-seven. High security biologics lab.
He shivered again, and this time it had nothing to do with the temperature. What the fuck had Hojo been doing down here? In his room? Watching him?
Reno had no idea. But one thing he was certain of… he wasn’t getting any more sleep tonight.
~end chapter 50~