In The Darkness of Night, Evil Prevails | 9 May 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2367 | Prompt: origin of evil (origen del mal)

Saturday night in the lower end of the city's West side spotted Naila prowling alone. She longed for a hard drink, but swallowed the taste. Her surveillance gear weighed heavily in her backpack. She paused in a nearby alley just off the boulevard to set up her equipment. All was quiet, except for the illegal activity that never sleeps. Her target; two vicious gangs vying for the right to own human bodies.

Across the road behind the streetlight, two black shiny expensive vehicles stared at each other with venom in their headlights. Each hugged the opposite corner as if orders to pounce were impending. And it wasn't to win a prize in the local exotic car show. The emblems on the driver's side of each car distinguished the opposing gangs.

From the look of things, Naila didn't expect the situation that night to end favorably as she crouched in the alley, her shoulders leaning against the empty building.

Her thoughts turned to her last conversation. Her boss leaned forward near her face from behind his desk. Spit mingled with cigar breath reached her as he issued strict orders, "I forbid you to pursue the underage trafficking case without backup. And I'm not authorizing it."

She nodded; not in agreement, just to end the conversation before she upchoked back in his face.

Naila left his office, but couldn't leave the dark mood forced upon her. Working alone undercover was her expertise. The dangers came with the job. And this assignment would elevate her career. She hated her promotion would come on the backs of innocent victims of a disgusting trafficking ring she'd been following the past year.

All she had in life was her faithful canine, Rocco and her partner, Ryan. And she left specific orders for Ryan not to contact her that weekend. No sense jeopardizing his career.

Before she could reminisce over the importance Ryan held in her life, instantly, footsteps approached. She'd been careful, she thought. She couldn't pack up and run for it. She'd be exposed in the middle of the street trying to reach the next block. Her angle was perfect to capture the transactions bound to take place in under an hour, if her previous stakes were accurate.

Turning, she recognized the familiar stride before she heard the voice it belonged to. A sigh of relief escaped.

"Our boss will make sure we're beating the pavement next week, and not on patrol." Ryan grabbed her arm and pulled her back from the edge of the building.

"What the hell!," Naila cursed. "I thought I told you..." But a part of her was happy Ryan would have her back as he covered her mouth.

"Quiet, else firing will be the least of our worries," Ryan scolded while frowning.

Ryan fumbled inside the backpack and retrieved the remaining equipment needed for night vision.

Naila took another glance, then retreated, shaking her head.

The night vision goggles brought into focus the transaction between the two smuggler gangs. Passengers were exchanged. One of the black vehicles sped off in the night.

Immediately, an unfamiliar vehicle pulled up. A dark-suited driver exited and approached the black car nearest to him. A handshake and a black box confirmed to Naila another deal was being transacted.

She watched the chauffeur return to the vehicle he arrived in. As the back window on the driver-side rolled down, the face of a silver-haired male with a long, fat cigar in his mouth surfaced. The man took the black box and rolled up the window. His chauffeur maneuvered a quick u-turn and sped off in the opposite direction uptown.

Naila grabbed Ryan's shirt and pulled him toward her, planting a long, wet kiss inside his accepting mouth.

"You won't believe this!" she chuckled, although the sight wasn't laughable.

"As long as I've been in this game, nothing surprises me."

"Well, old man Hampton in Internal Affairs got our back on this one. Not only are our jobs safe, all we need to do now is uncover how wide and deep our net reaches past our boss to identify the origin of evil."

Ryan froze, then shuddered while frowning, a slow understanding pervaded his senses. He cursed under his breath at the duplicity that ran rampant before composing himself.

What that, he hurriedly stuffed the equipment into Naila's backpack. They both retreated down the back alley into the darkness of night where anything goes on the lower end of the city's West side.

For my theme, I was inspired by and utilized the @daily.prompt's publishing of 9 May 2024, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2367: origin of evil.

SOURCES:
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g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/