Prelude To The Void

Crossing the River

A Short Story By:

Black Waltz 0

†††

Before he locked up his apartment and walked out of the door Magi Magemere shoved his wallet in his back pocket, placed his gun in its holster and prepared for the culmination of three years of lies and deceit.

It was hardly something that deserved recognition let alone its own birthday, but in the beginning they had predicted that the blond-haired officer wouldn't last three days under the bridge, let alone three whole years. He took the elevator down to the ground floor and saw through the metal gratings the grubby column of window letting in the drab cloudy afternoon. Magi crossed his arms and held his elbows, patiently waiting to experience the rush of cold air that was associated with the open lobby.

He was not disappointed but he didn't keep still. There was no point in hanging around such a dirty area with its dust and black and white tiled floors. The only reason this apartment block was worth anything at all was because of its superb view of the river. In the mornings and dusky evenings the river sparkled under the sun like it had been gilded with gold. The lobby was empty but the superintendent's door was left ajar, and faint sounds of a badly-tuned television program streamed from within.

Magi realised that he should have brought a jacket with him when he stepped out into the streets of Cologne. It was a cold autumn this year but jackets left a negative image, especially on a copper working as he did under the bridge. Jackets could hide things, they could be searched. If today went well it wouldn't matter if he caught a cold or not, his role would be done with and he'd have the leeway to take a vacation. Magi brushed some loose hair out of his face and strode towards his dark green car parked by the side of the street, completely ignoring the trenchcoated man leaning up against the passenger-side window.

The man dropped his cigarette and ground it into the asphalt as Magi hopped into the car. He smiled and got in alongside him. "It's a lovely afternoon for some thieving, don't you agree?" He said with a heavy Belgian accent. The man had a bit of a friendly face, the kind that made you certain he was somebody's favorite uncle or son. He was a little sloppily groomed though, with a five o'clock shadow and wrinkled clothes. "You can't hide it from me, you know. Today's the day. You ready for it?"

It took two tries to start the car. Magi twisted the key in the ignition and listened to it protest alongside its chatty passenger. Normally he would have taken a perfectly-serviced police car but that wasn't an option right now, and aside from his clean and pressed uniform everything pertaining to his profession had to be discreet. He had been saving for a new car but he was still young and lots of other more important things kept on popping up. When the car rumbled into reproachful life Magi took the time to acknowledge his friend.

"I am always ready for anything that gets in my way, Dietrich." He said calmly and smiled like he was in perfect control. Magi was easily ten years the other man's junior but as long as he was driving he was the one in charge. "Do you have the documents I need?"

"Yeah, I pulled them from the evidence room earlier this morning." Dietrich relaxed as they got onto the road and put his hands behind his head. He had been on the force for close to thirteen years and had an impeccable record, but just over three years ago when his old partner had transferred all the way over the Austria he had been handed a fresh-faced officer only two years out of the academy. It was all too easy to forget how young and amateurish Magi was supposed to be, as the long-haired policeman had undertaken the most complicated mission so early in his career.

Working under the bridge was something even the plain-coated inspectors were wary of doing these days. Dietrich was pretty impressed that Magi was willing to do something like that, but hey, it was a clear path to a myriad of promotions with only a sliver of effort involved, provided the kid was willing to risk his neck every time he put on a uniform. He mustn't have had much to come home to if that was his choice. Still, Dietrich counted Magi a good friend. He seemed to think the same of him as well.

"We're a little early." Dietrich stated as he watched the street signs zip overhead. The traffic wasn't that bad so far, probably because everybody else was busy at work. He still had a bit of an itch for a cigarette but his partner didn't seem to like people smoking in his car.

"I'd rather be a little early for an operation and waste some time than be late, seeing as I'm the star of the show tonight." The younger officer said casually. The term 'working under the bridge' referred to the large bridges stretching across the river Rhine, and the way that crime syndicates seemed to gather in the adjoining industrial districts overshadowed by the large pathways. Hookers, crack dealers and just plain low-lifes were the trolls lurking under the bridges. It was such an ugly secret for such a beautiful city.

Magi had been an integral part of a local crime syndicate for some time now, playing the role of the friendly corrupt cop and earning trusts wherever he could. Cologne, the city of culture had a shadow and for three years Magi had become a part of it. It was all for the sake of capturing the boss who was as slippery as a fish and twice as stinky. It had been hell walking the beat as he normally did in the daylight hours and then putting on the jeans and shirt at night and playing the role of just another villain. Talk had popped up at the precinct now and then questioning where Magi's true loyalties lay.

Well, Magi knew exactly where his loyalties lay when he stood by and watched men sell their souls to heroin and wither away to wraiths, bloody gang battles and what certain pimps did to harlots who weren't earning their keep anymore. Some nights Magi felt dirty in so many more reasons than one, having to play along with the game and try his best to act like just another bag of scum. To protect his credibility he had even been given clearance to do a few 'favors' for his boss, just little things that made life easier for his syndicate and just a little bit harder for the cops who were trying to hunt him down.

As wide and as varied as the accusations were, the police had had yet to gather any solid evidence that would give them the ability to arrest the boss and tear the syndicate apart. That was when Magi had volunteered to go undercover as an elite double agent. With his long blond hair and slim but muscular build he could easily turn himself from a cop into a perfectly licentious lackey. As a cop they would use him, as a cop they would distrust him, but as time and the years crept by their guard would drop and he'd be right beside what he needed, the evidence that would create a noose tight enough to tie around the boss' neck.

To avenge his old partner and give that son-of-a-bitch exactly what he deserved, Magi would dedicate whatever he could to make this three-year operation a success.

Besides, only a very select few in the higher echelons of the crime department knew the real reason why Magi Magemere was the only one capable of slipping into the boss' circle of trust with a minimal amount of detection.. Not even his partner Dietrich knew, which was kind of bad of him but Magi had promised himself to explain everything to Dietrich once it was all over. Dietrich Müller was a good partner and they had gone through a lot together over the last couple of years. It was as such now that the age gap meant barely anything to them anymore. He deserved the truth.

"Do you have the written briefing for this operation?" Magi asked as they got into the fast lane and zoomed over the Rhine bridge. On either side the city was underlined by a strip of the river, gorgeous German masonry from centuries ago mixing in with the more modern post-war architecture. The spire of Cologne cathedral in particular was a stone exclamation mark left in the sky.

"Yeah yeah, it's here with the other documents." Dietrich reassured him and procured an unmarked manila folder from the backseat.

"Christ, don't mix the briefing in with those documents! Do you know what would happen to me if I handed the files over to the boss and he found the operation outline inside them instead?" Magi reprimanded him but only looked mildly annoyed. He had just wanted to know if Dietrich had a copy or not. He himself already knew what was going to happen, inside and out.

"So what we're gonna do is that at eighteen thirty hours you're going to meet with the big boss and about half a dozen of his men at the old abandoned warehouse on Bonn street near the south Rhine bridge. You've got the evidence folder from the Caspar murder case right here and you're going to give it to them like the nice little corrupt cop that you are. You'll be wired so we'll be able to hear everything that's going on from headquarters and outside the scene." Dietrich sighed and repeated something that he'd been saying all week long. "If they find that you're wired some terrible shit is going to break loose."

"It will be okay. They stopped searching me for wires a year and a half ago. They trust me. The evidence from the Caspar murder trial is enough to indite boss' younger brother to a full life sentence in Berlin's best maximum security prison. He will do anything that he can to get Caspar off the hook, even rely on a little corrupt official like me. He knows that I can make that evidence disappear. When he is blinded like he is now it is the best time for us to strike. Tell me what happens next after I go inside, Dietrich."

He turned the paper over to look at the next page. "Right. So you'll be stalling them as much as you can while the rest of us are setting things up, except that I'll be very close by keeping an eye on you as best I can." Dietrich smiled slyly. "That's something I do rather well, nowadays. Then, when you give the signal the squads surrounding the warehouse will advance and you're to get out of the firing zone as quickly as you possibly can. I'll help you if I'm able. Err…" He looked Magi up and down as he was driving. "No bullet-proof vest?"

"Wearing one of those will look too suspicious. They'll suspect something if I turn up wearing more armor than usual. I believe they'll be suspicious enough that I'm still in daytime uniform, but if I am not dressed this way they will not believe I just came back from stealing the evidence out of the criminal affairs department." The car experienced a little bump as they got off the bridge and found themselves on the other side of Cologne. "Don't worry. If any shooting starts I'll very quickly get out of the way."

"This crime boss guy, there's not a lot of information about him, is there?" The cop in the trenchcoat said to himself out loud, going over the character profile. There was a photo of him as well and the old guy looked like a lady-killer with a few too many years under his belt. There was something strange about him, something his copper's instinct could sense but couldn't place. "Balthazar. He's got so many false last names nobody's really sure what his real name is. Early fifties, one wife and kid presumed dead, and a younger brother slated for death row after bashing some coroner's head into fragments."

"Lovely." Magi commented dryly. Dietrich laughed and they just listened to the radio as the younger officer found a park a few streets away from their destination. It was indeed lovely to have a chauffeur to drive him places, one of the nicer perks of being the senior partner he supposed. Magi checked his watch then compared it to the time on his car radio and the large analog clock face upon the tower of the church down the road. "For now we wait until we get a call from the coordinator."

"Ah good, I can finally get some shuteye." Dietrich joked and settled down deeper into his large trenchcoat. Magi sighed and switched off the engine, resting his arms and his chin on the steering wheel. Balthazar the leader of the crime syndicate. What a weird name. After about fifteen minutes of absolutely nothing Dietrich muttered; "I wonder how people can get so deeply caught up in shit like this. I've spent close to ten years wondering that. Why throw away your life to inevitably end up in a holding cell, especially when you had something like a family to consider?"

He'd ask questions like this every time they were staked out on an operation. Dietrich was reliable but he was also pretty predictable too. Magi closed his eyes. "There are many different reasons. Money, drugs, thrills, whatever. I have seen as many different reasons to turn rotten as there are people who have used them. Take it from me, I am fractionally rotten myself. I cannot wait to finish this phase of my career and be clean again."

He sat back and took the manila folder containing the case files out of his partner's lap. He scanned over the target character profile himself. "But for this particular man, Balthazar, he is in crime simply because it was the family business. His brother was in it, and his father, and his father's father, and way back through the family history ad nauseum. Some people cannot conceive of living any other way." Magi noticed that Dietrich was looking at him with interest. "That's just what I've gathered from him while working by his side."

"Balthazar's a strange name. Your name's pretty strange too." It seemed that the other cop was talking merely for the sake of talking now. Sometimes Magi wished that he had been paired with a stronger, more silent cop, rather than the local precinct's resident parrot. He was just glad that the topic was turning away from the current operation. The longer he dwelled on it the more nervous he became.

"Well you cannot blame me for that. Blame my parents. Do you know Cologne Cathedral, the biggest and grandest church in the city?" The blond cop smiled.

"Sure. Everyone's been there at some point or another. They say the three treasures of the magi are housed somewhere in that church." Dietrich blinked. "Oooh. I get it now. Were you christened there?"

"Yeah. Christened, confirmed and conceived under that one roof."

When Magi said that and smirked in the way he did Dietrich couldn't help but laugh. "Are you being serious?" He spluttered.

"I am always serious, Dietrich. I try not to think about it whenever I am there." This prompted more laughter from his friend. Magi just allowed himself a small chuckle and nudged open the driver's side door. If they were going to be there for a while they might as well get something that would keep them focussed and alert. As the junior officer he was as much an errand boy as he was the chauffeur. "Would you like something to drink?" He asked as he got out of the car.

That'd be great, actually. He had just gotten off work and hour and a bit earlier and he was parched. Dietrich leant over to the driver's seat as Magi slammed the door and talked to him through the open window. There was a bit of a wind going and Magi's long blond hair was blowing in the breeze. "You know I take my coffee black! Nice and strong!" He called.

"Yes sir." The younger cop answered with a smile and joined the small stream of pedestrians travelling up and down the sidewalk. He blended in with the crowd rather well, even in his uniform. There weren't many shops around here because they were on the verge of the industrial district, but there were a few cafes and bars scattered here and there. Dietrich had used to drink at once of those places after school back when he had been in college. The Cock and Crown, owned by some bloke from England. The pub had changed hands several times since then.

Magi was gone for about fifteen minutes so Dietrich took the time to switch the tuner to the loud rock station and enjoy that instead of the classical crap that Magi preferred. He put his feet up on the dashboard and relaxed, used to long stints of sitting in a car and just waiting. He had spent many nights over the years on various stakeouts and rather than finding them marathons of patience and boredom he enjoyed them for their strangely therapeutic value. It was better than paperwork, at least.

They wouldn't be waiting there for very long anyway. The operation was only an hour or two away. Dietrich saw Magi returning to the car with drinks in his hands, the older copper's smile widened when he realised that it wasn't a mere cup of coffee. He opened the door for the blond police officer and caught the short-necked bottle of Köln that was tossed his way. "Here, drink up." Magi said as he climbed back into his seat and popped the cap off his drink.

"Thanks." Dietrich replied and set the recline on his seat back a little. The beer was icy cold, just the way he liked it. Köln was the best brand of beer one could find in this area, it was named after the city and its local dialect, making it the only kind of liquor in the world you could simultaneously speak, live in and drink. "But don't you think we shouldn't be drinking on duty? It's kind of early for that anyway. Hey, I didn't know you drank in the first place."

"I don't, not really." Magi admitted and changed the radio back to its original station. Dietrich sighed because the guitarist was just working his way up to a good riff. "But I also know that there's no way I'm going to be able to complete this operation completely sober. Besides, it's after four so it's okay. Why do you care about that anyway? You're not my mother." He smiled.

"I guess not." Dietrich concluded and allowed silence to reign after that, save for the soft classical music wafting through the radio. As they waited and counted the minutes down other unmarked vehicles were being placed around the area and the safety net was slowly assembled. At one point Dietrich saw the head detective drive by in his shiny new Mercedes Benz. If he hadn't known the guy personally he wouldn't have sensed the trap being set, made out of invisible spider strands.

Twenty minutes later, when the radio was playing something gentle by Wagner and they had both nearly finished their drinks Dietrich thought it important to break the silence and therefore the tension in the air. He could feel how nervous Magi was, though he was perfectly composed on the outside. The older cop had suspected for a long time that Magi's interest in this case was much more than professional but up until now he couldn't think of a proper way to bring it up. Now he knew that there was no proper way to bring it up, it just needed to be said.

"Why do you care so much about catching this guy?" He blurted out with a feeling of relief.

Magi was completely unruffled, he didn't even look away from the street he was observing, becoming more and more deserted as the afternoon aged. "What do you mean?" He murmured gently.

"What I mean is that no normal junior officer would put in fourteen-hour days six days a week only to catch one guy simply because the governor told you to! He didn't even need to tell you, you volunteered yourself. Why is that? You're still young, you should be spending your time having fun, and I dunno, meeting somebody special." Dietrich found himself ranting. If he had done that when he was younger he'd be a happier person as well. He'd hate having to see Magi miss out too.

"Whenever I do something there's always a perfectly valid reason behind it." Magi retorted and looked annoyed that Dietrich had begun to talk down to him, even if it was only subconsciously. He pointed at the older cop with the hand still holding the beer bottle. It was a 'you don't know what you're talking about' gesture. "Do you think I'd put this much effort into a bust if all I wanted was a pay rise or a promotion? Certainly there are easier ways to get at things like that. What I want is vengeance. Pure, simple vengeance."

Aha, now he was getting somewhere. Nobody did anything for a selfless reason and he knew that Magi was being driven by something far more sinister. It reminded Dietrich that this young man was still barely an adult and needed guidance, no matter how serious and together he seemed. "I think you should tell me what this is all about. I've waited long enough to find out. Tell your partner everything, hey?"

Magi looked surprised, like Dietrich's perseverance had managed to put him in his place. He stared at the stubbly man for a second or two, thinking, then he sighed and smiled, giving up. He had planned to tell Dietrich everything after the bust was over but what would a few hours difference make? He might feel better for it in the end. Magi settled down and went back to scrutinizing the street. The sun was just beginning to grow orange and set. "When I was a child I always wanted to grow up and be Robin Hood." He said.

Dietrich didn't know how that was relevant but he decided to play along. "I can understand that. When I was a little rugrat I wanted to be Spring-Heeled Jack and jump over buildings and things."

"I wanted to be able to help people, give money to the poor and be their hero. That was how I wished my life to be, but as I grew older I realised that Robin would only gain his money by thieving from the rich. How would that help people? The rich would become the poor and the poor would receive miniscule aid from a man who believed he had the right to decide the quality of life for others. Robin Hood was a criminal, but throughout my entire childhood I never really understood that."

"What this world needs most are people able to stop the Robin Hoods of this age from doing whatever they please. To stop the gang violence, the drug dealers and the pimps from breaking the law. I decided to become the Sheriff of Nottingham and join the police force to put some meaning and direction into my life, because if I am not a sheriff then I am just another joker with a bow and arrows living under the bridge." Magi went silent for nearly an entire minute, then he gulped the last little dregs at the bottom of his bottle with one swallow and continued. "It was this particular crime lord, Balthazar, who showed me the truth."

"So you want to bust him because he ruined your perfectly black-and-white view of things?" Dietrich pressed. It sounded like an accusation but really it wasn't, he just wanted to find out the truth. "Did you know Balthazar before you entered the police academy?" Magi nodded. "Well, I guess that makes sense. We all wondered how you managed to get on his good side so easily. Did he used to hook you up or something?"

"Of course not. Who do you think I am?" Magi frowned seriously. "And it was not easy to get on his good side either. It took three years." The blond haired man looked so put-off by Dietrich's interrogation that the older officer was going to drop the matter entirely, but Magi was not finished talking. He had one last thing to say, and honestly it was a relief to say it. "My partner. He killed my partner."

Dietrich had indeed heard about what had happened to Magi Magemere's last partner. On the surface it had seemed like a suicide as the poor girl had given her barretta a blowjob, but after a detailed autopsy the conclusion was that she had been murdered. By who, nobody knew, but maybe somebody had known and just never said anything about it, deciding to seek justice in their own way. "How did you know that?" He said lowly.

"He told me. He said it to my face and he laughed. After that I knew that this was something I had to do. I liked her, and I respected her, and for her I will get revenge."

A very long, awkward silence. "… Do you want another beer? My treat this time."

"No thank you."

So that was the way things were. It made almost a romantic kind of sense, though it was also pretty tragic. Dietrich tossed the empty beer bottle over his shoulder and into the backseat of the car, to rest alongside some coats, dry-cleaning and empty chinese food boxes. With Magi working so often it appeared he didn't have the time to clean out places like his car. "Did you love her?" Dietrich questioned.

Magi thought back. "I don't think so. I didn't really know her long enough for that, but I did get the feeling that if we had spent more time together…" He trailed off on his sentence, unsure of how to properly finish it. "This is not about love, it is about simple human decency. The only reason she was killed was directly because of me. She was completely innocent. I have to do something to make it up to her, so you could say I have plenty enough reason to go after Balthazar like I do."

Before the conversation could progress further Magi's shoulder radio suddenly went off. It was getting very late and they had to begin. The operation coordinator was heckling them to get in their initial positions. Had time really passed by that quickly? Dietrich looked outside and observed the darkening city streets becoming illuminated by iron streetlamps. Magi tilted his head to speak into the receiver properly and gave the affirmative to the coordinator that they were prepared to get into their starting positions.

There had been too much talk and not nearly enough action.

He was talking confidently, but nevertheless Magi could still feel that his palms were sweating. This was the night. Finally, at last.

†††

The operation had begun. The warehouse was up ahead. He held the manila folder containing the Caspar case evidence under one arm with all the documents pertaining to the bust carefully removed. Magi was by himself now, standing alone within the warehouse car park in the fading light. He really wished he had worn a coat, it was so cold out! He could easily see his breath in every puff fogging up the air, but unlike that and completely invisible Magi could feel the many pairs of eyes out there, watching him.

Magi turned off his police radio, his cell phone, any form of communication save for the wire. He felt very small and insignificant in this big wide open area, his copper's instinct telling him over and over again that if he was to be attacked this was the best time and place to do it. Magi had never been part of an operation so pivotally before, though he had been working on this case for so long he was used to being kept in the background, playing the role of the reinforcement with guns. If he failed now then everybody failed.

He kept walking towards the entrance of the warehouse. The lights were on inside, they must already be inside. Balthazar was sometimes early, he was usually punctual, but he was never late. Magi told himself that this meeting was just like any other meeting… only that he'd never get a shot at this again. Maybe if he did this right he'd be able to put Balthazar in chains without anybody getting hurt. Maybe, the rottener side of his mind whispered sweetly, he could put a bullet in Balthazar's head before the other coppers caught on to it and claim it was in self-defense.

Actually, what he really would like and had fantasized about was cramming the barrel of his ruger into the pig dog's mouth and give him the farewell that he so richly deserved. Magi got to the door and stepped inside, casting one last glance over his shoulder into the darkness behind.

Three or four times a week he met with these people. This time is was dangerously different because he knew it was the last time. They were there loitering in the middle of the large metal building, surrounded by musty wooden crates and rusted riverside machinery. Some were standing up and others were sitting down, or leaning against the support pillars and abandoned cargo. Nine men had turned up along with the boss, and one woman. Magi knew all of them by name, some of them almost fondly.

Edgey, the one with the knives and the hooked scar deforming his nose. Brutus, who probably could squeeze water from a stone. Cuddles, that guy certainly wasn't right in the head, and beautiful Emelda who had sold her soul away to big boss men when she had just been a young girl. More of them were there but these were just to name a few. Magi had laughed with these people, sweated and bled with them too. Now he was going to betray them, and not a moment too soon. But then why did he have such a twisted feeling in his gut?

In the middle of them and leaning against a crate was Balthazar, the boss. He looked tall and stoical in his long black leather jacket and dark shades. The way he dressed always reminded Magi of a movie he had seen several years back, the one about the robots that had enslaved mankind and a computer program warping reality. Anyway, Balthazar seemed every inch a healthy young man from a distance save for his long hair that was an even shade of silky grey, but when he looked up one could see the many wrinkles, laugh and frown lines all over his face. He had aged very gracefully nevertheless.

Magi walked up to them without fear. He was in no danger, not yet. They trusted him enough that they didn't even take out their weapons when he came within striking, stabbing or gouging distance. "I am here. I have brought what you asked of me." He said softly and calmly, drawing on all the techniques of undercover deception he had used one final time. He just had to be himself. The cold, rotten self that these people knew so well.

"Were you followed? Why are you still in your uniform, little darling?" Emelda said in her low sultry Austrian accent, removing from her mouth the long drag she had been toying with her deep red lips. Everything about her seemed dirty, seemed obscene, but that was the way that some people seemed to like it. It was mostly perverse curiosity. During his time in their group not even Magi had been immune to it. That was mostly how he could ignore her now.

She blew the smoke to the side out of the corner of her mouth as Magi answered. "I think not. I was very careful to avoid suspicion. Thankfully my senior partner has the intelligence of a remedial child. I'm still in uniform because I didn't want to stop at home and change while I still had the evidence in my possession. It seemed best that I deliver it here as soon as possible and minimize the chances that it might be recovered or tampered with. No doubt they will be missing it when court reconvenes next week."

Emelda was going to say something else, something witty or scathing if the way her lips curled back into a half sneer meant anything at all, but Balthazar stepped forward and took off his shades with a cool swipe of his right hand, pocketing them expertly into his leather jacket. He smiled kindly and unexpectedly, holding out his arms in gratitude. When Balthazar spoke everybody else shut up immediately. "This lad always comes through for us in the end! He is just like a little sheep in wolf's clothing! Or is that a wolf in pig's clothing? Oh, it does not matter. I am just glad to see you again, Magi, my friend!"

Magi and Balthazar stepped towards one another and embraced tightly. It was trusting hug as he let Balthazar squeeze him and he squeezed back, but he was tremendously afraid that the other man might feel the small compact listening device hidden beneath his shirt. He tried to adjust the hug accordingly to draw attention away from that area. The smell of leather from his jacket was strong, along with Emelda's cigarette smoke. "You shouldn't miss me so much. I've only been gone for three or four days." He said.

Balthazar broke the hug and stepped back, putting his hands deep in his pockets. When he did this his coat rustled slightly and Magi could see the butt of a sawn-off shotgun concealed behind the article of clothing. No doubt he also had other armaments in places he could not see. "I am just grateful to you for doing this favor for me. It was a terrible risk taking what you took and getting away with it. I knew there would be benefits from getting a little baby copper on our side. Have they been treating you well?"

"I have no complaints." Magi replied curtly and tried to ignore Balthazar's controlling tactics. He had to let the crime boss talk down to him but that didn't mean he had to like it. He took the manila folder from under his arm and held it out for the other man to accept. "Here, these are the fingerprint analysis and DNA reports for the coroner murder. I have already deleted the files from the station's computer records. I have included a zip disk here in case you wanted a copy for yourself. Finally, here is the bullet taken from the skull of the copper who caught him in the act."

"What about the ballistics report? Has that been taken or deleted too?" Balthazar purred as he grabbed the folder and briefly flicked through the files. He looked up and Magi nodded his reply. The grey-haired man took out the thin clear plastic covering containing a tiny grooved bullet. He held it up to the light for a few moments with a crooked smiled then passed it to a weaselly man standing behind him, some bloke from the states whose german was horrendous but his knowledge for firearms was sagely. The man scrutinized the bullet closely and then smiled, accepting it.

"Do whatever you want with this stuff. Keep it, hide it, burn it or destroy it, just don't let it get traced back to me. I'm fond of you guys but I'm not going to let you mess up my career and reputation." Magi said seriously, laying down the rules. Frankly it didn't matter what they planned on doing with those files, soon enough they would be recovered and sent back to their proper place. Magi had to act like he did care though, or else they would suspect something.

It seemed like Balthazar hadn't even heard him. He was the kind of person who was convinced that he was the very center of the universe. "I know my brother isn't innocent. He's as guilty as can be but my father always told me to take care of him, because I was the smart one and he was the strong one, and I am the older brother and he was the younger brother." Balthazar smiled in a sentimental way. "You're not a real man if you don't know how to take good care of your own."

Magi's colour rose slightly and he bristled. His hands by his sides clenched a little. "What do you mean by that?" He was stalling well but he had to make sure to keep himself calm. It was not time to spring the trap just yet.

Laughing softly, Balthazar stretched out a black-gloved hand, that was leather too, and took Magi by the chin. He smirked. "I think you know exactly what I mean by that. Look at you in your cute little uniform. I don't know whether it would have broken your mother's heart or made her proud. I would just like to remind you where your loyalties should remain. Please remember that I have always been there for every important moment of your life, even when it was obscenely difficult at the time. I'd like it if you could continue to do the same for me."

"That's what I'm here for." Magi answered irritably, nudging his hand away. He was right, Balthazar had always been there, for better or for worse. It was always so humiliating to remember where the money that had put him through daycare, private schools and police academy had come from, to know that it had all been built on hypocrisy. He had always been just another of Balthazar's playing pieces, or a stake in every part of Cologne that held value. Only a man like him would have the ability to take an honest and noble dream and turn it into another perversion of justice.

Balthazar was the king of Robin Hoods, the person he had admired. The blond cop had always looked up to him and his buddies as a child, viewing them as Robin Hood and his merry men, but look at how farcical it had become. How Magi hated them so. "Balthazar…" He managed to say carefully, but there was some pressure in his voice. "Why did you have to kill my partner? Why kill Samantha? She was harmless."

"No policeman is harmless, lad. Not even a little flatfoot like you. That girl was a fragile thing but she was too smart for her own good." Balthazar stroked his chin in reminiscence and a few of the guys loitering behind him snickered quietly, perhaps having been there themselves. "She was just too close to discovering the relationship between you and I. She would have used you to lead the cops directly to me and the long list of deeds I have committed. It was for the best and she hardly suffered. She should have known what she was getting into when she took an interest in you."

He wondered how Balthazar would have felt if he knew that select individuals at the precinct already knew about his close relationship with the crime lord. It was almost a compliment that he had not even conceived of the possibility. It made the murder of his partner a pointless gesture, a horrible, terrible waste. Magi was certain that the older man's commitment to his family would no doubt be his undoing. "I suppose you are right." He sighed, and he didn't have to act this part at all. He was used to saying this. "You are always right."

The older man stuffed the files into his leather jacket efficiently and slipped his shades back on. Tilting them down slightly so he could get one last look at Magi he smiled and nodded once in understanding. "Son, you know I care about you. I'm looking forward to the day you get sick of playing a cop and come back to playing on the robber side. I'm getting old, I won't last forever and I need somebody to take my place when I die."

"That isn't ever going to happen, father." Magi said impassively.

"Well, you know the offer's always open to you. Maybe you'll change your mind. My boys and I have to be going now, we're due down the river for a little friendly get-together with Heinrich and his pals. Would you like to come with us? Heinrich says he doesn't see nearly enough of you nowadays."

"I don't think I should go." The young officer said firmly and knew that it was now the time, he couldn't stall them any longer without breaking his cover. Magi knew that Dietrich and the others were able to hear him as clear as day thanks to the wire, but he had another little system set up that would send the signal for the operation to close. He slipped one hand into his pants pocket as if he was searching for a lighter or small change or something, but instead his fingers closed around a little detonating device quite similar to a 'silent alarm' button found in most convenience stores. He pressed it quickly and then there was no turning back.

Balthazar made a short 'huh' sound at Magi's decision and turned to go, about to exit out the other side of the warehouse. His little goon squad turned away with him, every single one of them. They only got five or six steps away before they all sensed and heard the sound of a gun's safety being taken off. Balthazar looked back, to the young officer now pointing a cocked ruger pistol straight at his back. He was holding it professionally, with both hands. "Hold it." Magi said solemnly and his words seemed to fill up the entire warehouse. "I don't think you'll be going either."

The big boss' first reaction was to smile and scoff. "Is this some kind of a joke, lad?" It just seemed absurd for him to point a loaded gun into a crowd of ten-strong armed men. If Magi was anybody else he'd be signing his very own death warrant.

"You should know that I am always serious, Balthazar. I want all of you to very slowly place all of your weapons on the ground. Disarm yourselves. Very soon this warehouse will be swarming with coppers so I suggest you do as I say now." What he was doing was truly brave, mostly because he had seen what every single one of Balthazar's lackeys could do to a man, long-distance or short distance. Several of them could kill him where he stood right now. Edgey's hands were heading towards his belt to do just that…

"Shoot or throw whatever you want at me, I'll still be able to put three or four rounds into your boss before I hit the ground!"

"Whoa, hold up Edgey! No fighting just yet!"

Both Balthazar and Magi shouted those words at exactly the same time. It was true, they could easily take him down but the cost would probably be their leader. It felt somewhat like a personified game of chess. The crime lord turned back to the blond cop but he still didn't look very convinced to the situation. The idea that somebody would dare to oppose him, especially his own flesh-and-blood just didn't make any sense. "Now what exactly are you trying to prove? I don't have time to play games with you."

"This is not a game!" Magi gritted his teeth. "Jesus, you never change! Even when I point a gun at your face you never take me seriously! Balthazar, I am sick and tired of all your crap! You were a kind father but you are a horrible human being, and I am not your pet copper to do with as you please! I am here to arrest you!"

Of all the expressions he could expect to cross Balthazar's face, continuing amusement was not one of them. It made Magi want to throw down the gun and strangle the man instead. Balthazar knew that his smile was ticking Magi off, but he just couldn't help it. The blond-haired man had never gone through a bratty adolescent phase as a teenager, he had been quite an earnest and thoughtful child instead, but he had always expected to see something like this someday. "Now now, calm yourself down. It's okay. I'm sorry if I don't seem very afraid of your little pea-shooter there, because I think I'm packing enough heat to blow you out of the water. Are you truly serious about this, Magi?"

Magi took his advice and did indeed calm himself down. It was surprisingly easy to do. He knew that he didn't have to do this on his own because hitting that silent alarm meant that backup was on the way. It'd only be seconds now. He tilted his head to one side a little as he heard a gratingly reassuring sound. "Do you hear those sirens? My friends are coming here to meet yours. I have told them everything they need to know to put you away."

It was the thought of Magi betraying him and disclosing the information to the police that got through to him more than the sound of the whooping sirens. It did not just shock him, it hurt him too because he had honestly believed in Magi and had given him his trust. It really did hurt that he had not done the same for him. The smile faded and Balthazar became serious himself. "Do you understand what you've done?"

"I do."

"I trusted you."

"I don't care."

Balthazar drew his own gun. It wasn't the sawn-off shotgun that Magi had noticed earlier but the nastiest black pistol the officer had ever seen. It looked brand new and state-of-the-art, deadly. The big boss hesitated for a time, looking at the weapon in his right-hand, then he hesitantly aimed it at his son. Shooting was the last thing that he wanted to do but he needed to let Magi know that the tides were equal, if not leaning in his favor. "This breaks my heart." He said bitterly. "I will shoot you to escape if I have to."

They could hear footsteps coming in from all sides of the warehouse. From one of the open doorways the corrugated iron walls reflected the flashing on-and-off colours of blue and red. Dietrich appeared from one of the entrances flanked by two other junior officers wearing a headset that he had been using to monitor the conversation. Magi had his back to him so he could not see his partner appear. "I don't believe that you will ever shoot me. You don't have it in you, Balthazar Magemere. Give it up."

"This is a moot point because I don't think you can shoot me either. Cuddles, please incapacitate him so we can escape. We'll deal with the little turncoat another day." Balthazar requested humbly and stepped back towards his men, his weapon still at the ready. Magi's gun followed him but still he didn't shoot. The man the crime boss referred to was nearly a seven-foot tall giant covered in tattoos. Magi didn't think he could bring that guy to the floor even if he shot at him, he was that big.

Some voice on the outside was shouting at the warehouse through a microphone, yelling at Balthazar and his men to give up and accept their fate. It was basically reiterating what Magi had said earlier. Dietrich broke away from the warehouse door and took his own gun out of his holster, seeing the tattooed man thundering towards his young partner with murder in his eyes. Cuddles was holding something in his hand that was sparking with electricity. A moment's deliberation told him that it was a tazer.

He stopped walking and started to run. Those things could fry a man crispy within seconds. "Magi!" He shouted as he came up at the copper's side. "Get out of the way, he's going to electrocute you!" Without thinking he raised his gun and fired a warning shot at the man, intending to miss and only hoping to give him enough of a scare for his friend to get away.

The shot startled everybody in the room, both good and bad on all sides. Balthazar flinched in defense and did only what his instincts told him to do, everything that thirty years of being a rotten scumbag had trained him to react. As such, he probably couldn't have stopped himself even if he wanted it. "Shit!" He shouted as the bullet whizzed by his ear and fired back in turn, straight at Dietrich.

The difference in location between Dietrich and Magi was only a few meager degrees. The trenchcoated senior copper had been coming up to stand beside his friend and he was only roughly ten yards behind. Magi watched the way that Balthazar turned, twisted his heel and swept his arm away from his son and over to his partner. He really wouldn't do it, would he? Was he going to shoot another of his partners? In almost slow motion Magi saw him depress the trigger, and then…

"You son-of-a-bitch! Look at me!"

He moved.

When he heard the ambient crack of the gun going off and the sharp jab of pain right afterward it was hard to associate the two sensations together as being one and the same. The echoing boom swelled and expanded in the abandoned warehouse, bouncing back off the walls, making the pain only a weak afterthought to the diffusive sound. That wasn't to say that it didn't hurt, but Magi was more shocked by the sound than anything else.

Also, deep down he hadn't expected the big boss to shoot him. His body had been braced for it but his mind had refused to believe the possibility. He had spent three years with these people and although he was betraying them he had subconsciously trusted them as well, enough to let his guard slip down slightly just as they had dropped theirs. Magi had felt safe even as he pointed his gun at the boss but when Dietrich stepped into the danger zone the only logical thing to do was put himself as a shield in the line of fire.

The bullet ripping through his chest felt smaller and hotter than it really was, feeling like the deep precise stab of a needle threaded with a long loop of cotton. It passed straight through his body and the knot at the end of the thread burst through his back as a bloody exit wound, blowing open a hole four times the size of the tiny entrance wound. Adrenaline caused Magi's whole body to go numb the moment he experienced the pain, but he still felt the initial sting and there was no possible masking of the sudden rearrangement of his insides.

"Magi!" He heard Dietrich shout from behind him as the shot pushed him back like a physical blow and he fell over without any control or grace, his balance, along with his legs crumpling below him. Magi heard himself moan as something in his chest deflated, a lung he thought, and then a pair of hands were upon him, grabbing his shoulders. The other coppers advanced forward, taking easily what had cost Magi three years of his life to secure. He could hear them shouting, telling the syndicate to drop their weapons and put their hands up.

Stealing evidence was one thing, shooting an officer was something else entirely. The big boss knew that, but the three dozen policemen surrounding him and witness to the crime outnumbered himself and his ten armed men. That was something to think about, but that was not on his mind. He lowered the smoking gun like he was in a trance then immediately snapped out of it, cutting through the crap and getting into action. "Everyone hold it and somebody call a goddamn ambulance! No shooting! We ain't moving, just get my boy into a stretcher now!"

Magi's shirt was growing damp and when he tried to breathe there was fluid coating his throat. Dietrich was leaning over him and with the fluorescent lights hanging from the roof of the warehouse it seemed to give his older partner something of a shining halo. His brow was creased with concern. "That shot was meant to be for me. Damn you and your quick reflexes! But don't worry, there's an ambulance on standby and they'll be here any second. You're gonna be fine." Dietrich laughed a little, desperately. "Hell, Balthazar is calling for an ambulance frantically right now."

Yeah, he could hear the piercing wail of the sirens in the background. He had always hated that sound, especially late at night when he laid awake in his bed and traced the shadows on the walls with his eyes. Funny that he'd have to put up with that racket again as he was struggling to breathe through all the blood collecting in his lungs. The boss had shot him. He still couldn't believe it, but when he raised his hand a little and saw that it was soaked in his own blood he knew it was true. "Dietrich..." Magi coughed, a foamy rivulet of blood bubbling from the corner of his mouth.

"Drop your guns and raise your hands! Up where I can see 'em!" A copper from the reinforcement squad shouted loudly. There was hesitation, then Magi heard with his dulling hearing the small snaps of safeties being put back on and then guns dropping to the ground. The boss cried out angrily as he and his followers were bound and handcuffed. They could have fought their way out if they so wanted to, but there was no point. They were outnumbered.

The detective leading the squad came up and took custody of the boss from the officer binding his hands. He looked grizzled and bitter, grim to a fault. "Balthazar Magemere you're under arrest, you filthy piece of shit. What kind of asshole shoots their own son? Someone like you, I guess. We never should have let a junior walk under the bridge." Paramedics were trying to separate Magi from Dietrich in the meantime. The boss barely heard the detective's commentary, too busy trying to see what was going on. He had to give him that at least, the boss really did look concerned for his son.

"Dietrich…" Magi whispered again, through an oxygen mask that had been placed over his mouth. It was strange how he ached, how the loss of blood made him feel so cold, but there was very little active pain. He just felt weak and vulnerable instead. However this was probably not a good thing. Pain came also with a promise of recovery, but if that was not there, then…

"Yeah partner, what is it?" The older copper asked hopefully. It wasn't fair, it was meant to be him there instead, bleeding and dying inch by inch, but an awful and terrible part of himself was actually relieved that he had been spared. Both the wounded and healthy officer tried to ignore the medics swarming around them like ants. It was easier that way.

Magi was greying out, losing all of the colour in his face. Only his eyes still seemed as focussed and as serious as he so usually was. They were angry. He opened his mouth to say something but suddenly he convulsed violently, one of the medics ripping his bloodied shirt open and applying pressure to try and staunch the bleeding. They had to try and clean the area up as best as they were able before they could try to inflate the punctured lung. "Dietrich!" He gasped much louder than before, taking the pain in his hands and turning it into fuel to keep him going. "That bastard killer my partner… He killed her… so I want him to rot where he belongs… For what he's done to her, and to me…"

He was going to answer him, with what he had no idea, but by that point Magi's stretcher was lifted from the ground and wheeled at nearly a running pace towards the ambulance outside. Cologne General wasn't very far away, only a few miles on the other side of the river. If they could get him into the emergency room in time then maybe he'd be alright. Dietrich Muller put his hands in his pockets and listened to the sirens, the shouts and the rights being read out in bland monotone. "Yeah." He said finally. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

He heard something else too. Surprised crying from the most unlikely source. Balthazar roared and kicked one of the metal support pillars hard enough to break a toe. "Damn it," he screamed, "damn it, fucking goddamn it!"

†††

"Are you getting anything yet?"

"No, not yet. Raise the charge of the defibrillator!"

"I'm sorry sir. There's no pulse. He's not responding. He's bled out."

"His ticker's bust. We can't get to it because of the lung. There's nothing more we can do while in transit."

"…Huh. A shame. Massive cardio and respiratory trauma. No heart sounds. No pulse detected. Time of death is nineteen oh seven. That is all."

†††

Balthazar Magemere was charged with theft of evidence from the Caspar murder case and the Cologne police finally had something substantial enough to pin the crime lord in his place. Thanks to what he had mistakenly done all the fight had been sapped out of him for worry of Magi. As different and as similar as they were Balthazar still loved his son. When a murder charge was added to the evidence theft count that was it. There was no escape.

Magi didn't make it to Cologne General. He died somewhere as they were crossing the river and was pronounced DoA when they reached the emergency bay. Along with puncturing his left lung the bullet from the high-powered pistol had slightly torn open the right ventricle of his heart. It was a sheer miracle that he had managed to hang on for as long as he did.

Such a promising officer dying so young was a tremendous tragedy. He had no next of kin to be notified as that man had been the one responsible for his murder. After his posthumous fifteen minutes of fame on the news and in the papers he was given a small, state-sponsored funeral which was held at the cathedral he had been christened and conceived in. Dietrich couldn't have helped but smile at that. Maybe Magi would have found it funny too, but probably not.

All in all nobody really missed him. Leading two lives meant that he didn't have any deep roots in either. Workaholics tended to vanish like that, Dietrich reckoned, leaving nothing behind. Still, a wide range of the precinct turned up for the funeral and most surprising of all Balthazar Magemere was let out of prison under armed guard to attend. Magi was cremated and they scattered the ashes into the river, as per his will.

He would have been glad to know that the operation had been a complete success. Even as he was dying that seemed to be all he was thinking about. During the funeral Dietrich had given the eulogy, calling him a copper through and through, to the death and beyond. Later he found himself the one standing beside an ex-crime lord in chains, facing a lifetime in prison or the death penalty as he held the empty urn and looked down into the river. People would die but the river would always be there, a long constantly moving ribbon of blue.

Dietrich was being given a new junior partner soon. Word around the precinct was she was a little fireblood with justice practically flowing through her veins. He hoped that this one would turn out differently. He'd rather be attending a farewell party than a funeral. Crossing the bridge along the river Dietrich just sighed and threw the urn overboard to rest along with the ashes. If he was violating a littering law he didn't care, though he knew that Magi would have scolded him for it.

It didn't matter. Wherever Magi was, he was in another world now.

-fin-