Certainty Rated PG-13

[Ella713]

Certainty
Rated pg-13
By Ella713


Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A new cop notices some strange things in the police files and starts to do some digging of his own


Richard Bigelow came from a long line of distinguished law enforcement. One could say it was in his blood. His great grand father was policeman in the Bowery which housed some of the worse crime in New York City. His grandfather was a beat cop but rose to police chief and his father had worked his way of to Commissioner. So every male in his family saw Richard and taking the torch and running with it as far as he could. But Richard grew weary of New York. 9/11 was a definite wake up call for him. Crime had taken on a whole new face. Gone were the days of the Mafia Dons. They were replaced by the Drug Lords. And now they were replaced my terrorist groups. Suddenly his home had become a battle ground and he was on the losing side. So when a friend of his from the academy suggested he make his way out west, he jumped at the chance. His thoughts were filled with sun, sand and women in bikinis. Sure the LAPD had somewhat notorious rep but Richard thought maybe they just needed to be shown a different way of handling perps.

Lt.Carl Davis was looking over the resume that was handed to him. On paper, the man looked good. No write ups, no IA investigations, a handful of accommodations from the Mayor. He had also scored high on his verbal testing. Carl could see this man in the negotiations department. Even Mick thought this recruit sounded perfect.

Richard had gotten to Los Angeles a week ahead of schedule because he wanted to explore a bit and get the lay of the land. His apartment was nice and had a great view. He had introduced himself to his neighbors. He liked to get that out of the way immediately. Most people were relieved to know a police officer was moving into their building, but there were always a few who didn't like it and Richard made a point of taking exceptional notice of them. Asking around the neighborhood about them. He found out that the man who lived below him had a lot of men in and out his apartment day and night. Richard called the LAPD and they discovered that the man was running a prostitution and drug ring out of his place. He was placed in jail and evicted. The other 2 questionable tenants gave their notice and started to move out. Lillian his next door neighbor thanked him repeatedly and had a small welcome party for him in the building. Richard knew he was going to love Los Angeles.

Carl sized the young man up.
"How was the NYPD?" Carl asked.
"Brutal. Things changed after 9/11/ Some things for the better and some things for the worst. But I needed a change" Richard replied. Carl continued to look at his file.
"Anything else you can you do?"
"After 9/11 I started training in the martial arts. I have black belts in Kung fu, karate and jujitsu" he said proudly.
"Damn kid! You wanna take on the world?" Carl joked.
"Just the ones that break the law" He said in all seriousness.
"Well we got plenty of those to spread around" Carl said as he led him to the squad room and showed him where he would be sitting. "Richard this is Tim Rawlins. You'll be working closely with him for a while. He mainly keeps an eye on Chinatown. We've had a few cases of kidnapping there so we always make sure to keep fresh eyes on the place. It says in your file you've got a knack for languages."
"Yeah, it came in handy in New York. I speak a little chinese, better mandarin and fluent German. I can make out a tiny bit of Russian" Richard said.
"Well, that's better than most here. Alright Tim, show his the ropes.
Tim Rawlins was a large guy, played defensive tackle in college until a hamstring injury ruined his NFL dreams. But he enjoyed being a cop and tried to keep a positive attitude even when faced with the atrocities of crime.
"Please to meet you Richard." he said offering his hand. "Okay, when you first come in, you come right over here to this fax machine check out the beat sheet. The beat sheet pretty much tells you what you have on your plate for the day. You and I will be working the "ChiBeat" for Chinatown. Now the beat sheet tells you crimes that were reported during the night and need to be followed up on. It also tells you about the people you need to keep a constant eye on. The guy who beats his wife or kids, we like to pull up everyday to make sure they're okay. Things like that. Right now we're following this gambling ring. They're taking tourist to the cleaners. Robbing them blind."
Richard took everything in and made notes to himself. He could see a bright future at the LAPD.

[Ella713]

Tim and Richard were making their rounds in Chinatown.
"Okay Richard, We have to be real careful when checking on people in this neighborhood. This quarter is run by the Chin Lu Gang. They're small but extremely organized. They basically deal in gambling/racketeering, prostitution and recently started getting into the real estate and development."
"How close is gang task force to shutting them down?" Richard asked. Tim shook his head.
"Not even close." He said sadly walking ahead. Richard walked slowly behind him, and noticed something that didn't seem right. In the window of one of the restaurants he saw an old man counting stacks of money. He stepped out of sight and peeked around the building and saw a younger man dumping a bag filled with money onto a table. All the bills were banded like they came from a bank. Richard decided to act fast. He threw a pebble at the window and ducked. The younger man immediately pulled out a gun and ran out doors. When Richard had him in sight, he quickly tased him into silence. With weapon drawn he walked through the kitchen where the old man stood on shaky legs trying to put all the money back into the bag.
"Dòngjié" Richard yelled pointing the gun at him. The old man dropped the money and laid flat on the floor with his hand over his head. "I can see this isn't your first rodeo old man" Richard said cuffing the man and calling for backup.
Tim backtracked and found Richard in the kitchen of the Golden Lion restaurant.
"Crap man! What did you do?" Tim asked in surprised.
"I noticed this old guy here counting a large stack of money with a young guy who's being tended to by paramedics. It was a lot of cash. A lot of cash for this neighborhood, so I got to check it out and the young guy pulls out a piece. After that I knew something fishy was going on"
Tim was in awe of his new partner but he was a little too good and Tim knew that when that happened he was alone again with no partner while the hot shot moved up to Detectives. Richard to see where Tim's mind was going. He slapped him on the back.
"It's a good thing I paid attention to what you told me" Richard said. "You told me about the different quarters in this part of town, and this one is far away from their financial center. So all that cash had to be illegal"
"You got that right" Tim smiled knowing what his partner was doing. He was making sure they both got the credit.

Carl was chatting with Mick and getting ready to leave for the evening. Richard came out of the locker room and was walking near him. Carl stopped him.
"Richard. Come here for a second. I want you to meet my good friend Mick St. John. He's a private detective we consult at times." Carl said.
"Hello Richard. Nice to meet you" Mick said shaking the guys hand.
"Hello. Nice to meet you too. Well, I'm out. Have a good night" Richard said.
"Hey Richard. I wanted to tell you that was a good job at the Golden Lion last week, but watch your back out there." Carl said. Richard nodded and walked away.
"What was that about?" Mick asked.
"He's one of our new recruits from New York. He caught the guys that stole all that money from the Cathay Bank. Recovered over $375,000.00". Mick frowned.
"That's Chin Lu territory. You got someone assigned to him?" Mick asked.
"Tried to but he refused. He comes from an old cop family, you know how they are. It's all about pride and honor"
"Yeah, I get that, but he still needs a uniform on him. Look Carl, just so I can sleep at night I'm gonna shadow this guy. I'll see you in the morning" Mick said taking off quickly. He just caught up with Richard when he got into his car. Mick followed close behind and kept his eyes open. The Chin Lu wouldn't take something like this lying down. They would retaliate. Mick watched him pull into his garage. He noticed two guys sharing a smoke by the garbage dumpster. When they saw Richard pull in, they quietly put their smoke out and pulled out their guns. Mick ran quickly into the garage and grabbed Richard's shoulder.
"Get down!" Mick whispered loudly pulling Richard down with him.
"Hey, what's going on?" Richard asked in surprise.
"Shhh..you got the Chin Lu following you. Be quiet" Mick said while poking his head from the back of the vehicle. He saw the young men walk in and start looking underneath cars. Mick would have to rush them. He looked at Richard.
"Stay here and stay down" Mick said standing up. He rushed forward and stood in front of the two men. Mick knocked their guns away and threw one man into the garage wall and the other man he grabbed by the throat and bared his fangs. The man shook violently and fell still. Mick pulled out his cell phone and called Carl.

Richard sat by the car shivering. Did he just see what he thought he saw? From where he sat, it looked like Mick St. John was some kind of animal. Those eyes. Those teeth!

[Ella713]

Richard shivered underneath the blanket that the paramedics insisted he needed. Maybe I am in shock he thought to himself. That would explain what I....think I saw. He stared at Mick St. John as spoke with Carl and he looked like a normal man. And Lt. Carl didn't look afraid of him. A paramedic was taking his blood pressure.
"Your blood pressure is 140/90 but that's to be expected after what you've been through. Are you experiencing any shortness of breath?" He asked. Richard shook his head no. "Well, you should be fine, but if you feel any shortness of breath or tightness in your chest call 911 right away. Okay"

Carl came up to him and patted him on the back.
"How you doing?" Carl asked.
"Physically , I'm fine sir. Mentally, I don't know."
"No problem. I understand. We've all been there before"
"I don't understand how your friend St. John was even around."
"He insisted on following you. Mick had a feeling that the Chi Lu would retaliate. Be glad he did"
"Yeah, he got to me so fast. I didn't even see him until he had my arm and pushed me down."
"Mick's very good at what he does." Carl said giving him one last pat on the back and walking away to speak with another officer. Richard noticed that Mick St. John was walking away.
"Mr. St. John!" He called out. Mick turned around and walked towards him.
"Are you okay?" Mick asked.
"Yeah. I feel fine....I wanted to thank you for saving my life."
"Don't mention it. I've worked on cases surrounding the Chin Lu. I know how they operate." Mick explained.
"Well,...what I don't understand is...well how did you disable those men? You had no weapon and the one guy was thrown pretty high against the wall there. How'd you manage that?" Richard asked studying Mick's passive facial expression.
"You know. I honestly can't tell you. When your adrenaline's pumping and you're just acting on instinct, it's difficult to recall anything. I just know they had to be stopped." Mick said with shrug of his shoulders. Richard watched him walk away but he had so many more questions.

Carl insisted that Richard take the day off. So he turned on his computer and started to get to work. After typing in Mick St. John's name he pulled up his website. Pretty standard website for a private eye. Quite a few testimonials from satisfied customers. An approval stamp from the LAPD...etc..etc.. but nothing that told him about the man himself. His was married to one Beth St. John nee' Beth Turner.....wait this was interesting....Beth was kidnapped as a child.....was found by Private Investigator......Mick St. John Investigations? That couldn't be right. His wife looked to be in her early 30's and he looked about the same...Maybe it was his father. He became a cop because of his father... because there was no way Mick St. John would mean he was in his 60's when he saved his wife. And even by Los Angeles standards, no one looked like that in their 60's! He wrote down a few addresses and decided to check out a few things.

He walked up to the building that would have been St. John's Investigations. It had been remodeled, a lot! There was green grocer on the lower level, and apartments or condos on top. And elderly man walked out with a tray of shiny apples.
"May I help you? We got a sale on Fuji apples. Sweet and crisp" He said smiling showing a mouthful of teeth to perfect to be real.
"Uh...well, I'm doing a small history project, and saw some photos of what this structure looked like 40 or 50 years ago." Richard said.
"Well, I can tell you that! My grandfather opened this store before the war and passed it on to my father who passed it on to me. Sullivans Market has survived the best and worst of times" He said proudly.
"Well, I was wondering about business that would have been here say 1960-1980 or so"
The man scratched his head.
"There was O'Brien's for a spell. They were tv repairmen. Then there was Daisey Kettles she had a beauty parlor round back.....The Stevensons sold insurance....and Mr. St. John did private eye work"
Jackpot! Richard thought.
"Did you know Mr. St. John? I hear he was kind of famous for rescuing that young girl" He said cautiously.
"Oh, Mr. St. John was wonderful! Always nice and respectful. And anytime something broke down here he was the first person to offer help. Yeah, I remember that little girl that got snatched. Of course we all knew it wouldn't be good news when she was found. But Mr. St. John got hired by the parents I think and took him but less that a week, and he found her. Little Elizabeth something or another. Prettiest little thing. And she holding on to Mr. St. John like she was afraid to let go."
"Well, what happened to him? Did he relocate or move away?"
"I'm guessing being a celebrity didn't quite take well with him. People kept coming by wanting interviews and such. I think it just got on his nerves. But my wife and I woke up and came to open the store and there was a for lease sign on the window and it was empty. We never saw him again."
"Was Mr. St. John married?"
"No. But with his looks he sure wasn't hurting in that department. Those gals flocked to him like a moth to a flame. And he was good friends with some rich playboy fella. Can't remember his name."
"So he didn't have child. A son?" Richard asked.
"Not that we ever knew of" He said.
"Well, thanks for the information. This will really help....uh...my report" He said quickly walking away.

Mr Sullivan walked into his office behind the store and punched in the number.
"Mr. St. John. How you doing? This is Mack Sullivan. I thought I should let you know that someone came round asking about you. He was kind of young. Had a East Coast accent. New York. Claimed he was doing some kind of history report or some such nonsense.....well, mainly he asked if you were married or had any sons....well, you know me Mr. St. John. I told him what I could, but some things are best left unsaid.....well you're welcome. I just thought you should know." Mack said and hung up the phone. Mick St. John was saint in his opinion. He had saved his store from being robbed too many times to count. So what if was....kind of dead. That weren't nobody's business.

[Ella713]

When Mick hung up the phone with Mr. Sullivan he knew that Richard was looking into his past. He had to walk a fine line here. He certainly wouldn't hurt a cop, but people who were that interested usually uncovered something that left him no other choice. He quickly called Carl and asked if he and Angela wanted to join he and Beth for dinner and Carl accepted. They would have to figure out what to about Sgt. Richard Bigelow.

Richard spent the rest of the day and most of the evening at the Library. Even though he felt like a fool he asked the Librarian if there was a creature that had red eyes and sharp teeth. She blinked a couple of times then led him to a section of the Library that housed books on superstitions, voodoo, mythical creatures.
"You're not going to laugh at me?" Richard chuckled. The librarian smiled and pushed her glasses back up.
"You're kidding right? You must be new to the city. You'd be amazed at what people in Los Angeles are looking up" She laughed and walked away. He found a nearby table and began his search. Some books he dismissed right away, like voodoo. Mick St. John certainly wasn't a zombie. But when he got to the portions that dealt with Warlocks/Demons/Shapeshifters, that's when he became interested. Maybe Mick was a Incubus. An incubus is a demon in male form who, according to mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to engage in sexual activity with them. But that didn't sound right. Mick St. John certainly wasn't hurting in the looks department, so that couldn't be it. Then he came to Shapeshifters. In Greek mythology, shapeshifting is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. It is present in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest extant literature that Richard found the bulk of his information and there was a lot of it. Maybe Mick was some kind of Lycan. But even when he had that thought he just couldn't make himself believe it. Werewolves? After a couple of hours of even more research, Richard thought he finally had an answer that made sense to him. Mick St. John practiced in some kind of dark art. Now witchcraft was something he definitely believed in. Growing up on the East Coast you wouldn't find a single person who didn't believe in witchcraft. But if Mick St. John was some kind of wizard who could he be stopped? Could he be stopped? What kind of powers did he possess? Richard saw for himself what he did to those two guys. He tossed them about like rag dolls. His eyes were glowing bright red and his teeth looked like canine teeth but bigger. Richard read until his eyes became heavy. He fell asleep for what seemed like a short while but when he felt the nudge at his back, he knew they were getting ready to close up. Richard reached for the book in front of him to place it back on the shelf and that's when he saw the title of the chapter.
Vampires Myths and Legends. Richards eyes grew wide and he grabbed the book suddenly.
"I need to check this out" He said the Librarian.
"Ok. You have a few minutes. Where's your card?" She asked. Crap! Richard didn't have one. He pulled out his badge.
"I just moved here from New York is there some kind of LAPD thing available?" He asked anxiously.
"Yeah, but you have to fill out a form." She said walking to her desk. Richard waiting impatiently as she slid out the form and asked him to fill it out. The Librarian sighed. Cops were always like this. Like they just uncovered the one thing they needed to put Public Enemy #1 away forever. She glanced down at the book briefly. Vampires Myths and Legends She shrugged. Well, only in L.A.!

[Ella713]

Angela leaned over to tell Beth something funny that had happened in court and Mick took that chance to speak with Carl about his Sgt.
"Carl, I really need to let you know that your new Sgt. has been digging into my background. I think he may of saw something that night." Mick said. Carl closed his eyes. He really didn't want to hear this. He really liked Sgt. Bigelow. The man was one hell of a cop. But nosing into vamp business could mean a very short life for the Sgt.
"What exactly did he do?" Carl asked knowing it wouldn't make a difference.
"Well, as you know I've been in private investigations for some time now. Richard started searching newspaper archives and found out that Beth was kidnapped and I was the investigator that found her. Then he went searching for my old office which isn't there anymore, but the man whose family ran the grocery store is still there, so he asked him a bunch of questions about me" Mick said.
"Crap! You know how hard it is to find good cops these days?" Carl said rubbing his hands over his face.
"Alright Mick, how do you want to handle this?" Carl asked.
"I don't know , but let's just keep an eye on him."


Richard went to work the next day with much fanfare. Everyone stopped by to ask if he was alright and if he needed anything. He felt touched by all the well wishes. The "Blue Code" ran deep and officers always stood with their brothers. Carl came in shortly after and called Richard to his office.
"Have a seat" Carl said as he sat down behind his desk. "How are you feeling. Do you need anymore time off?" He asked.
"No sir. I feel fine. I'm ready to get back into rotation" Richard said with confidence. Carl nodded his head.
"Alright. Go meet up with your partner. He's got the day's assignment."

[Ella713]

Tim greeted Richard with a wide smile.
"Man, am I glad you're back! They placed me Lewis and that guy is one of those bible freaks. Talkin bout the end of the world and the last days. I almost shot him myself!" He laughed.
"Well I'm glad to be back and also glad you didn't shoot your temporary partner. So other than the religious rantings of my replacement what else did I miss?" Richard asked pulling his gun out of his locker.
"Not much. We had an armed robbery at a convenience store and a man who tried to run his wife over in his car,but overall pretty standard." Tim replied.
"Let me ask you something. Do you know that PI Mick St. John?" Richard asked.
"Only by reputation but he's a man you definitely want on your side. He's helped the squad crack a number of cases, and he brought down that whole Tejada cartel!"
"So you've never met him?" Richard asked.
"Nah. I always seem to just miss him. Lt. Carl is very close to him and likes to keep him in the loop if something is too weird for words. Which is often here in L.A. I mean, we've had it all!"
"I believe you. What cases has St. John worked on other than the drug cartel?"
"Well that one, some artist was killing people and using their blood in his artwork, that guy who took out Robert Addington on Josef's Kostan's yacht and a bunch more before my time."

Now Richard had a starting point. When his shift was over, he started searching through old case files.
Mick St. John was the starting point for a lot of these cases, going back at least 10 years. Every case read pretty much the same way. The LAPD didn't have a clue what was going on, and Mick St. John solved the case. Richard found that very hard to believe. In his short career he had known some officers who were absolutely amazing. Their methods were taught to every rookie going into the academy, like Frank Serpico. But St. John was like some shadow or ghost. Something didn't smell right.

He found a file from the attorney who had handled the Caleb McMann trial. There were five request to look into police misconduct regarding the injury the artist had suffered during his apprehension. Caleb at the time said a man of considerable height and weight punched him and it felt like he had been hit with a tire iron. He had some brain hemorrhaging after the ordeal. The LAPD said they had no officers at the crime scene and they found the artist on the ground in his studio and had arrested him on suspicion of murder. The victim he had held captive was.........Beth St. John! Richard would bet his money on the fact that Mick St. John had disabled the man! And the police were covering it!

His first instinct was to go to Internal Affairs, but he had reservations with that idea. He'd have to think some more about all the options!

[Ella713]

Barbara Lyons was a top notch officer, one of Carl's favorites from early on and when Mick told him that she was a vampire......well let's just say their relationship changed. Carl always felt like he was a father figure to the young Sgt. but when he found out that she was in fact almost 90 years old, he figured she was just humoring him. But in all honesty Barbara really thought a lot of Lt. Carl and thought him a very wise, very honest, and a very hard working boss. So it was him she called when she noticed that someone was accessing files in the records room. Carl asked her to very calmly check it out and she was surprised to find the new rookie digging through all the files. He stood up immediately.
"Sgt. Bigelow. What are you doing in the records room?" She asked in her soft voice.
"Sgt Lyons. Hi, you scared me....uh....I was just doing some research....you know that Chin Lu gang got the drop on me, I thought I'd read up on some old case files." He lied easily. Barbara heard his heartbeat speed up and knew he wasn't telling the truth. She looked down at the files lying on the table.
"Maybe I can help you. Those aren't even the right case files. Didn't they show you how to look up information?" She asked. He smiled and shook his head.
"No, they didn't" He smiled at her. She scooped up all the files on the table into her arms and went to a nearby filing cabinet. She quickly pressed in the 4-digit code to unlock the drawer.
"These should have been in here with the other closed cases" She said shutting the files inside. "Let me show you how to pull up a request sheet. Because if Lt. Carl catches you in here reading files you'll be suspended. No one but Lt. Carl, the Chief of Detectives and the District Attorney are allowed in here" She said with soft caring voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." he lied. Barbara smiled at him and tilted her head.
"Don't lie. Yeah you did. I was a beat cop in New York. Their files are kept under a much tighter system. So, what were you looking for, or I'll have to tell Lt. Carl" She said. Richard held up his hands.
"Okay, okay. Look, I was just trying to find some information on Mick St. John." He said.
"Why him?" She asked.
"Something's not right about that guy, I can just feel it. I can't explain it but......" He trailed off.
"You sure have a funny way of thanking the person who saved your ass" She smirked. "What do you want to know about him?"
"You actually know him? Because so far everyone I've asked said they only knew him by reputation."
"Yeah I know him and his wife." She shrugged.
"How did you meet him?" Richard asked.
"Well Beth was doing a story on the Murray Park Rapist and I met her through Buzzwire where she used to work before getting grabbed by Action News. I met Mick...right after they got married. Nice guy. Great looking! And I mean sexy as hell! He works well with us. Nobody has ever had a problem with him. So what's your beef with him other than "something's not right about him"? She asked.
"Sgt. Lyons. I'm going to tell you something, that I haven't told anyone. Not even the Lieutenant. But when that gang was trying to kill me and Mick St. John got there....his.....face changed. I mean he had these glowing red eyes and these teeth that looked like....some kind of demon from Hell. It was scary as shit! I was just trying to find out...well..." He stopped talking realizing he sounded like an idiot.
"So you thought you'd find something in the files to prove that Mr. St. John is a werewolf?" She said with chuckle. Richard ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, Richard? May I call you Richard? I feel like we've bonded. You were almost killed by a extremely dangerous gang. I mean, they were going blow a hole inside of you with a very large 50 caliber weapon! That's enough to spook even the best of us, Mick St. John included! What I'm saying is that maybe you should talk to the handler."
The handler is what they called the Precinct shrink. "You know, I've talked to Oliver myself. Like New York, Los Angeles is no walk in the park" She finished.
"Maybe you're right" Richard said. Barbara led him out of the file room.

After being away for two weeks on paid leave Richard returned to work, but the first thing he would so is make an appointment with this Dr. Rebecca Oliver.

Oliver was an intense severe looking woman with jet black hair. Hair and the skin on her face was pulled tightly back and he thought that was strange but noticed that her hair was pulled tightly into a bun.
"So tell me Mr. Bigelow, tell me exactly what you think you saw." She said in a quiet voice.
Richard told her everything he thought he saw, but assured her that he had dismissed the idea and realized that it was just the trauma of the situation. She took notes all through the session and recommended some mental exercises to relax his mind. And when he left she took out a folder and compared what she had just heard with something she had heard 3 years ago about the mysterious Mick St. John.

And two different people described the exact same thing.





The End