Consequences

by shallow15

Stubbornness, Threats, and Connections

Tempest rolled over in bed, awoken by the sound of her phone ringing. She fumbled around on the nightstand until she found it and pulled it underneath the cocoon she had made for herself from the sheets and comforter. She answered the call and put the phone up to her ear.

“Temp'st Shd'w,” she mumbled.

“Um, Agent Shadow? This is Detective Spyglass with the Canterlot City Police Department. I got your number from Lieutenant Helm.”

The name pushed Tempest closer to full alertness. Lieutenant Padded Helm was in charge of the precinct handling Firecracker Burst's disappearance. “Yes, Lieutenant Helm... what can I do for you, Detective?”

“Ma'am, I'm out here in the woods to the southeast of the city and frankly, we've got something going on here we can't really understand. The lieutenant said your agency specializes in weird cases and that you asked to be notified if something strange came up. I was hoping you could come out here and take a look.”

Tempest pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the clock. 12:35 AM. She'd only been asleep for an hour.

“Send me the location, Detective. I'm on my way.”

–

It took Tempest thirty minutes to get to the site. Admittedly, ten of those minutes had been spent trying to find an open gas station so she could get some coffee and approach some semblance of alertness. A further ten were spent hiking through the woods from where she had parked her car.

The long trip proved to be worth it when she got there. A small clearing had apparently been formed when a few trees had been knocked down. Broken limbs and branches were scattered across the ground, as well as one large boulder sunk into what looked like a small crater on one side. Small piles of earth were scattered around the rock.

As Tempest crossed the yellow police tape, a pudgy man in a suit came up to her. “Agent Shadow?”

When she nodded in affirmation, the man stuck out a hand. “Detective Spyglass. Sorry about the rude awakening.”

Tempest shook his hand, then looked out at the site. “What exactly happened here?”

“We think it was some sort of animal attack. We've had a few of those over the last few days. Reports of loud noises in the wood. A couple of businesses on the outskirts of town reported their dumpsters getting damaged.”

Tempest looked around the site and took a few steps forward. For the first time since she came to the city, she felt back on comfortable ground. STORM handled all sorts of cryptid investigations. Those were what the agency usually spent most of its time on. “Seems like this is a lot bigger than any animal you'd normally see around here.”

Spyglass nodded. “We get the occasional bear attack, but usually that's some idiot tourist or local kid who gets too close. But they don't usually cause damage on this scale.”

Tempest looked at the ground. Several worklights had been set up around the site, providing ample illumination. Large paw prints were visible in several places. Tempest looked up and saw another hole in the ground several feet on the far side.

“What happened over there?”

Spyglass rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, that's the damnedest thing. Near as we can figure, something ripped that rock over there out of the ground and chucked it to where it is now. Or at least, that's what the witnesses said.”

Tempest looked at him. “What witnesses?”

“Three local hoods. One of them was on the receiving end of that rock. Smashed her leg up something fierce. EMTs are taking her to the hospital now. They had to knock her out, she was screaming so loud.”

“What's her name?”

“Caelano. Lieutenant with a gang out of Klugetown,” Spyglass answered. “Leader's name is Capper. Slick operator. We've never been able to get anything to stick on him.”

“What about the other two witnesses?”

“Boyle and Mullet. A couple of goons that work for Capper as well. We questioned them, but outside of the basics, they wouldn't tell us what they were doing out here. They're over there.”

Spyglass gestured with his chin to where the goons in question were sitting on a log. They were handcuffed and a couple of uniformed officers were standing nearby. Tempest frowned.

“Let me talk to them.”

Spyglass nodded. “Knock yourself out.”

The two walked over to the log. Both Boyle and Mullet looked up as they approached.

“All right, gents,” Spyglass said. “This is Agent Shadow. She specializes in stuff like this. She'd like to ask you a few questions.”

“Not without a lawyer,” snapped Mullet. “I don't talk to cops, and I definitely don't talk to feds without one.”

“Same here,” said Boyle.

Tempest turned to Spyglass. “Detective, could you and your men give me a minute with these two?”

Spyglass blinked. “You sure about that?”

“Just stay within sight. I think I can convince these two to be a little more forthcoming.”

Spyglass considers then nodded at the two officers. All three retreated to the far side of the clearing. Tempest looked down at them and smiled. The smile didn't reach her eyes.

“All right, let me make this clear,” she began, walking behind the two of them. “I don't care what your records look like, who you work for, or what you've done. I'm here investigating the events that seem to have been plaguing this town for the last year. Whatever happened here is clearly connected to all that. I just want to know one thing: why were you out here tonight?”

“Go piss up a tree, lady,” said Boyle.

“You don't frighten us,” snapped Mullet. “You're just another hard ass with a gun and a badge.”

“And a nicer suit,” Boyle added. He and Mullet snickered at each other.

“A gun?” Tempest asked. She slowly lowered herself so her head was even with the goons'. “I don't need a gun to deal with you two. I just need... say... a finger.”

Tempest's hand darted out, and she gripped Mullet's right pinkie finger. Mullet's eyes bulged as Tempest began applying pressure. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

“I can break it sooooo easily,” she said. “One little twist and... snap! And I can do it again...”

Mullet grit his teeth.

“... and again...”

His eyes began to water.

“... and again. Until I get what I want.” Tempest suddenly let go and stood up, causing Mullet to gasp in relief. He glared up at the agent, flexing his finger to make sure it still worked properly.

“You can't do that. It's illegal.”

“Maybe,” said Tempest. “But who do you think Detective Spyglass is going to believe? A high ranking federal agent, or a couple of street hoods he knows are dirty as hell?”

Mullet growled in the back of his throat. Tempest ignored him and turned her attention to Boyle.

“And what about your friend? The one who got her leg crushed. If it were me, I'd be pretty pissed at whoever sent me out here to run into that thing. Your boss must really dislike you.”

“You don't know shit about the boss,” snapped Boyle. “It was the girl who – OOF!”

Mullet glared at him and pulled his foot back from Boyle's ankle. Tempest's eyebrow raised.

“Girl?” Tempest asked. “What girl?”

Neither crook replied. Neither one met her eyes. Tempest exhaled through her nose.

“Fine,” she said. “I'll just go have a little chat with your friend at the hospital. I'm sure she'll be more... helpful.”

Mullet and Boyle exchanged a glance. They had caught the hidden threat in the agent's voice. After a long moment, Boyle subtly shook his head. Mullet nodded back and looked up at Tempest.

“Good luck with that. She's tougher than we are.”

Tempest's eyes flashed and her expression turned ugly. She stormed over to Detective Spyglass. “They know something all right, but for some reason they're not interested in saving their own skins.”

Spyglass nodded. “Capper's crew are like that. Dunno how he does it, but they're loyal as hell.”

“And here they say integrity's dead,” Tempest said snidely. She pulled out one of her business cards. “I want to talk to the one who went to the hospital.”

“EMTs said she'll probably be under sedation for most of the day.”

Tempest handed the card to the detective. “Call me the second she's lucid. I think I can get her to talk.”

“If you say so, Agent Shadow.”

Tempest left the scene and hiked back to her car, her mind whirling. A girl. A girl contacted this Capper person, who in turn sent his goons out to the woods to look for this thing. A girl who has an interest in what this thing is and what it's been doing.

It was all connected. Tempest was sure of it. The thing in the woods, the girl who had gotten Capper to send out his troops, the mall rampage, and Firecracker Burst. She just needed one crack. Something she could latch onto to tie it all together.

She opened the calendar app on her phone and smiled at the note she had put down for Monday morning.

10:00 AM Interviews with Canterlot High Students.

Comments

[CapNTilfy]

Oof. I was holding my breath for a better part of this chapter. I was positive that Mullet or Boyle were going to mention Sunset's name.

[RoboRed]

Ah jeez...Caelano's gonna sing like a bird...

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

hate to say it, but sunset and the gals might wanna do as the sirens suggest and get rid of tempest

[Spiritus Arcane]

9676889
Heck I wanna get rid of Tempest just on principle. She's a walking amalgam of everything wrong with law enforcement these days.

[Teraunce]

9677306
Agreed