FAKE Fic: Daring Robberies
Title: Daring Robberies
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ryo, Dee, OFC.
Rating: PG
Setting: After the manga.
Summary: A gang has been staging a series of daring daylight robberies, but the police are so far no closer to catching them.
Word Count: 910
Written Using: The tw100 prompt ‘Bang’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
Being cops was often frustrating. Times like this, Dee and Ryo felt like they were permanently two steps behind the criminals they were after, despite whatever information they’d been able to gather from victims and witnesses, and with no chance of catching up. It wasn’t even as if they were having to go door-to-door trying to persuade reluctant bystanders to get involved; this time a witness had called them.
“At first, when I heard the bang, I thought it was just a car backfiring,” Mrs Nowak explained. “It happens. This isn’t a wealthy neighbourhood; no one can afford a new car.”
Dee had already noticed that; the few cars parked outside were of the clapped-out wreck variety. It was difficult to imagine some of them being drivable in any meaningful sense, and they’d passed a couple that looked like they hadn’t moved in a decade or more. He dragged his attention back to the present as Ryo asked…
“What changed your mind?”
“Well, I don’t rightly know, just that it sounded… different somehow, and I hadn’t heard a car engine starting up. Anyway, I looked out my window and that’s when I saw the two men in ski masks running from the corner store. One of them was carrying a bag; it looked heavy. They jumped into a car that was waiting at the curb and sped off. That’s when I realised what I heard must have been a gunshot, so I called the police.”
Ryo smiled encouragingly. “We’re very glad you did, Mrs Nowak. Too many people prefer not to get involved.”
“Oh, I couldn’t have just ignored it! That would have made me as bad as those robbers!” Mrs Nowak shook her head. “Such a terrible thing! I’ve lived here almost thirty years; it used to be quite a nice area, back when my husband and I moved in, but it’s gone downhill over the last decade or so. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a gun go off until today. Poor Mr Patel, he’s such a kind man, always so helpful, delivers my groceries right to my door if I’m not able to go out. All I have to do is phone him at the store and tell him what I need. He didn’t deserve this. He will be alright, won’t he?”
“Yes, he was lucky, it was a relatively minor wound so he should be fine,” Ryo assured the elderly woman. “I’ll let him know you were asking after him.”
“Would you? Oh, thank you so much. I wasn’t sure if I should have gone across the street to see if he was hurt, and perhaps called an ambulance, but my hips aren’t too good these days, and the elevator’s out again. I thought the police could probably get there faster than I could.”
“Yeah,” Dee agreed. “Dispatch sent the nearest patrol car over. They were on scene in a matter of minutes. Is there anything else you can tell us about the car, make or model maybe?”
“Not really. I’m sorry, I wish I could be more help, but I have no idea what sort of car it was. I’ve never been good on cars; they all look the same to me. My late husband, he could have told you, but all I can say is that it was big, light brown, and it had four doors.”
“Don’t worry about it. You gave us a partial license plate as well as the color when you phoned; that should help a lot,” Ryo assured her.
“I hope so. Do you think you’ll catch the men who did it?”
“Hard to say.” Dee turned from the window, where he’d been looking across at the store where the robbery had taken place. “We don’t have a lot to go on, what with them wearing masks, and their getaway car could’a been stolen. Mr Patel couldn’t give us much of a description either, he said it all happened so fast. We’ll do everything we can though.”
“I’m sure you will.”
It was gratifying to know at least one civilian had faith in them and their abilities as detectives, but Dee wasn’t sure they deserved it. This was the fourth robbery of its kind in the last week, all of them involving two men, and possibly a third who remained in the car and acted as the getaway driver. How many more daring daylight robberies would there be before those responsible could be brought to justice? How many more innocent shopkeepers would the robbers shoot in cold blood as soon as they walked in, just to make sure no one would try to stop them?
Ballistics said the same gun had been used for the first three robberies, and Dee was certain the bullet removed from Mr Patel’s arm would match the previous three. This gang was very organised so far, but after four successful raids they had to be growing overconfident. Eventually they’d get sloppy and make a mistake; they were bound to. Not that it made the current situation any less frustrating.
“Thanks for your help. We’ll see ourselves out. If you think of anything else, call us; you’ve got our card.”
“I certainly will, Detective.”
As Dee closed the apartment door gently behind him, he turned to his partner. “Don’t know about you, but the next bang I wanna hear is the cell door slammin’ behind these jerks. That would be music to my ears.”
The End