InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Mukunda ❯ Job Hunting ( Chapter 6 )

Well, this has been a long time in coming and it's short. Oh well. I just haven't felt like writing a whole lot lately. This story will continue to come as my muse comes and goes. TTFN.

Insert useless disclaimer here.

"Detective Higurashi, while this court finds insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against you, you are hereby removed from your duties as an officer of the law. Your pension and benefits are forfeit from this point forward and you are to turn in all items belonging to the department including your gun and badge."

That was it. Two days ago, the hook nosed man from IAD stood from the table as if he hadn't just ended a good cop's career. To either side of him sat other members of the panel that had been convened to pass judgment on Kagome and her career. The vote had been close apparently, but they still decided that all of her hard work as a detective didn't matter. It wasn't fair. She was just defending herself and her friends against the stupid brat and now her career was over. The supposed victim had been a star running back at NYU whose father was rich to boot. They immediately claimed police brutality and greased the right palms to get Kagome fired. Fortunately for her, their money wasn't enough to get her thrown in jail, though she suspected hook nose was the one who had pushed the hardest to see her in a cell.

From suspended to fired. How did that happen? She was always praised in the academy. Her fellow officers all respected her and knew her as a trustworthy friend. Hell, Captain Simmons had to be dragged from the room when they passed judgment on her. Only his friendship with the chief made it possible for him to be in the room at the time, standing with her as they leveled the ridiculous charges. His string of curses were so loud, it wouldn't surprise Kagome if the chief had heard them all the way in his office on the 18th floor. Still, none of this seemed to matter. She had to wonder just how much the panel had been bribed.

Now, she did the only thing she could. She sat in her apartment running through the help wanted section. A degree in criminal justice had to mean something in places other than law offices and police stations. Page after page she turned, calling numbers as ads caught her eye and sighing when they said no. Apparently, her degree was only good for toilet paper in this city. At this rate, she would be lucky to get a job at Wacdonalds.

Discouraged for the time being, she set aside the classifieds and turned to the front page. There in big, bold letters was the name of the group that had been moved to the back of her thoughts since her most recent trouble. Mukunda Breaks Up Child Porn Ring.

Kagome didn't even bother reading the article. She was too angry, though in her heart she knew she had no reason to be. Here they were, doing exactly what she had always tried to do and they were receiving acclaim. She, on the other hand, lost her job and was nearly thrown in prison. How the hell did she always come up on the short end of the stick? Maybe she should try her hand at vigilante justice since it seemed to work so well for them. She snorted at the thought, almost dismissing it until something made her stop. The idea had its merits. She was fully trained as a police officer, having even gone through SWAT training before deciding on the Missing Persons bureau. She was certainly qualified to kick down some doors and take care of business and with how many friends she still had back at the precinct, there would be no shortage of information. The only difficulty would be getting enough capital to start her career as a hired vigilante. Of everyone she knew that would possibly loan her the money, none of them had money to spare. She would just have to start at the bottom and work her way up like she had when she joined the force. For the moment, she had just enough money to buy bullets for her .45 and grease one palm. This was going to be tough.

<*>

The atmosphere in the old bar was nothing short of dank, though a back alley basement bar couldn't really be anything else. Every corner had a shadow to hide in. Hell, the entire place was shadowy, catering to its rather shy clientele. Thieves, rapists, murderers and almost every other denizen of New York's seedy underbelly came through here at one point or another. It was a regular treasure trove of information if you had the balls and the bucks. Luckily for the members of Mukunda, Inuyasha prided himself on having both. Tonight, he sat at the bar waiting for a contact to arrive and downing club sodas in the meantime.

With a brief scratching on the floor the barstool next to him became filled by a rather large man dressed in layers of coats and smelling of pigeons and dirt. As always, the scent made Inuyasha curse his demonic nose, though just walking down the street was enough to do that most days. "So, Jinengi, what do you have for me today?"

The man turned and smiled broadly at his hanyou companion, "I've listened like you always ask and I've heard that the shipment will be going down on the docks on Sunday."

Inuyasha grunted, handing Jinengi a small brown package, "That's the usual shit; Government grade seeds and 10k."

"East dock 45, 3 am." Jinengi said, hurriedly tucking the package under his coats, "Hey, Inuyasha, why don't you come by? The last batch grew great. I'll share some with you." It was a well known fact that Jinengi was an avid pot smoker, his usual information fee including at least a few pounds of fine products. It was always worth it though. Whenever someone got together with the big man, they smoked and when they smoked, they talked. Jinengi was there to listen every time and earned himself a comfortable living because of it. It was just a miracle that no one had traced the flow of information back to him yet.

"No thanks. I've got work to do." Inuyasha replied, downing the last of his drink and sliding from the barstool. "Catch ya `round Jin." As Inuyasha turned to leave, he spotted something in the mirror behind that bar that made him freeze in his tracks. There, at the back table was the detective he'd met no more than two weeks ago talking to the very man Mukunda would be targeting on the docks. Sitting back down on the stool Inuyasha muttered, "I guess I'll stick around for a little while."

<*>

For the umpteenth time, Kagome had to fight the urge to just reach for her piece and just arrest this man right here. She had used the last of her money to arrange a meeting with this guy and now here she was, acting like a cheap floozy to try and get close to him. As if it weren't bad enough that the guy was fat, ugly and bald, but he reeked of alcohol and body odor. It was difficult to hold back her lunch every time she caught a whiff of him but she knew she had to keep up appearances if she wanted to find out anything about the shipment of slaves coming in that weekend. From what she'd already learned, her money had been spent wisely. This shipment of people due in from china would include several of the rich businessmen that were responsible for the voyage and that meant there would be money aboard. She could not only save the people from lives of slavery but she could turn a tidy profit for herself as well and the smelly scumbag to her left was her way in.

"Bwahahaha! Hey babe, wasn't that a funny story?" asked the rotund man, his narrow eyes focused on her breasts instead of her face. She wished she could just run away right now but this was about making a living so she giggled demurely and nodded like the airhead she was supposed to be. Her giggling ceased when she felt his hand on her thigh yet again. "Now now. You can't afford that mister," she said in her bimbo voice, pushing his hand from her thigh.

He grinned lecherously and leaned in close, "Tomorrow night I can and I'm gonna buy more than that sweetheart."

This was where Kagome knew she had to deliver an oscar winning performance. "Oh really!? I can't wait! Whatcha doin' tomorrow night? Can I come along?" Her performance must have been good indeed. Her date bellowed with laughter and squeezed her thigh again, "Sure babe. We can even find a room right on the ship after I get paid!"

Now that she had her in, it was time to get the hell out of there. Slapping away his grabbing hands yet again, she admonished, "Uh uh. That has to wait until tomorrow, cutie. Where should I meet you?"

"Come to east dock number 45 at 3:15 am. We should be about done by then and you and me can make that big boat rock!" He succumbed to fits of laughter again at his own crude joke and that was Kagome's cue to escape. She fled like the devil himself was at her heels. That wasn't quite true, however, since the only similarity between the devil and the one that followed her was their penchant for the color red.

<*>

As she reached her car, she couldn't shake the feeling she was being watched. Normally, she would just attribute it to a pervert with wandering eyes but this felt different. There wasn't the usual air of intent with this feeling as there was with the usual stalker. Her intuition told her that this one was merely curious and that he wouldn't make any sort of move against her. Of course, this made her curious in turn. Who would be watching her like this and what would their motive be? Well, whatever it was, she would be away from it very soon. She pressed the unlocking button on her keychain and slid into her Hyundai, immediately tossing off the wig and the gaudy purse she'd purchased at the Goodwill. She still felt it though; the nagging feeling. Not only that, the feeling was getting stronger. Turning to look out her window, she stared into the darkness, trying to find her watcher when her rear passenger door opened and someone climbed in causing her to scream in shock.

"Gah! Quiet down, woman!" yelled a slightly familiar voice from the back seat. Clawed hands covered the triangular, silver ears on the top of his head as he yelled. "I'm a fucking dog demon! That shit hurts!"

She stopped screaming long enough to pull her gun from the holster under the dash and point it at the intruder, "Freeze, dirtbag!" When her shock died down, she was face to face with the man who had saved her not even a month ago. "I-Inuya…sha?"

Still covering his ears, he managed to smirk, "So the detective finally remembers."

"What the hell are you doing in my car!? You scared me half to death!" she yelled at him, happy to see him recoil at her voice since it was the only manner of revenge she could really manage at this point.

"Fuck! Shut the fuck up for one goddamned second!" he yelled back. "I saw you in the bar and thought I should have a word with you about turf!"

That stopped her tirade and replaced her anger with confusion. "What do you mean, turf?"

He huffed, finally able to uncover his ears, "What are you, stupid? The guys you're after belong to us. Stay away."

"What!? You've got to be fucking kidding me! I've worked my ass off to get this far and I've spent every last dime I have setting up these bastards! If you expect me to back down now after letting that fat, slimy, asshole put his hands all over me, you've got another thing coming."

Despite the fact that she was defying him, he couldn't help but admire her spirit. The conviction in her voice and the fire in her eyes told him he would see her on that ship no matter what he said. Still, he wouldn't back down. "Listen up, woman. You can't take these guys by yourself. You may think you're tough but this is way too much for a little girl like you." He smirked at her incredulous look and continued on, "Leave something like this to the professionals and go back to catching purse snatchers." Without waiting for another loud reply, he fled from her car and into the shadows with Kagome still sitting in her car in disbelief as to what he just said.