Scenery flew like the wind, houses and people a blur when passed by.  Cody and Dion were sitting in a taxi cab, riding into the city limits of Metro City, no longer the crime capital of the Unites States, but not far from it.  They both just stared out their windows, as neither had been back in the city for awhile now.  Cody could remember that day perfectly, fighting through the streets of this very city to save Jessica.  Now he’s at it again, only this time, the Mad Gears are after him and have his girlfriend.  The young Filipino, somewhat bored, decided to break the silence. 

“So what’s the plan?” Dion asked, looking at his partner’s expression.  Cody indeed heard the question, but hesitated to answer him for two reasons.  One, there’s so many possibilities on obtaining information and two, he had no idea who the cab driver was.  For all he knew, he could be a member of the Mad Gears.  He didn’t want to risk leaking out any information.

“I’ll tell you when I we get to our destination,” he replied simply, once again looking out the window.  Dion gave him a strange look, squinting his right eye.  Cody knew his partner wouldn’t understand, not like the way he does.  Nearing their destination, Cody called to the cab driver.  “You can drop us off here.  We can walk the rest of the way.”

“That’s ten bucks even,” the driver said in a hoarse tone.  He had a scraggly and unshaven appearance, with wavy, black hair.  It looked like he’s been drinking out everyday for the past month or so.  Cody and Dion split the bill even and paid five dollars each to the driver.  They climbed out of their seats with their bags and closed the doors behind them.  The taxi driver drove off, skidding his tires along the pavement.

“Lesson number one on surviving in Metro City.  Never mention what you’re doing to anyone who you don’t know or trust,” the boxer replied matter-of-factly.  He hoisted his bag and began walking. 

“Oh, sorry,” Dion said looking downward, appearing somewhat ashamed of himself.  He lifted his bag over his shoulder and started walking to catch up with Cody. 

It was a sunny, mid-afternoon day.  The sky was as clear as could be, as the duo walked through the neighborhood called Eldon, the middle class section of the city.  It was actually a nice-looking area, complete with small bungalows and manicured lawns.  A few apartment complexes and condominiums were added for height texture.  The people went around their daily business.  Some were mowing their lawns, while others were barbequing in their backyards.  A few kids were playing in their front yard, but you didn’t see that too often nowadays.  It was hard to imagine that an area like this existed in Metro City, but it did.  Cody glanced over to Dion, whose head was staring toward the sidewalk, somewhat gloomy. 

“Hey, don’t worry about what happened in the taxi,” continuing to walk.  “You’re just a little green when it comes to knowing your way around the city.  I’ve lived here my entire life.  I know what you should and shouldn’t do.  You’ll catch on eventually, just soak all the information in.”

“I know,” Dion replied quietly. “So where are we headed?”

“Doesn’t this place look familiar to you?” Cody asked.  The young Filipino looked around a bit, but it didn’t register anything that he remembered.  “We’re in Myrna’s neighborhood . . . my old neighborhood.” 

Dion’s eyes lit up.  He was somewhat surprised that he didn’t notice where he was, but then he saw the apartment complex that his cousin lived in. 

“Why are we going to my cousin’s?” Dion asked, scratching his forehead a bit.

“Your cousin Myrna was my neighbor across the hallway.  When I went to Mexico about a year ago to return a favor to an old friend, I gave my keys to Myrna to feed my tropical fish while I was away.  When I came back home and found that I was being sent to jail, I called Myrna to see if she would take my fish into her apartment, as I probably wouldn’t be returning anytime soon.  She happily took them in, along with most of my other belongings into her apartment, so my stuff wouldn’t be thrown out if I was evicted and not there when it happened.  She said she had a lot of room in her apartment.” 

“Ah, so that’s all your stuff in there then,” replied Dion with enlightenment.

“Yep.”

“I was wondering who’s stuff that was in that one room, mainly because there was a bunch of cool weapons in there, especially that katana,” Dion said enthusiastically. 

“It’s still there?  I thought for sure that it was gone.  I really have to thank her for doing that for me, as well as everything else,” remarked Cody.

“Yeah, um, just to let you know, I’ve sorta, kinda . . . practiced with your katana a couple of times when I visited about two months ago,” Dion stated with a guilty look, not wanting to look into his partner’s eyes.

“You unsheathed it?!” Cody snapped.

“Yeah,” he answered, starting to tremble a bit.

“Don’t you realized what you’ve just done!?” as he stopped in his tracks.  The boxer’s face was red with anger as his voice whipped against the young Filipino’s face.

“No, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean any . . .” Dion was obviously scared out of his mind.  He couldn’t even look at Cody’s face. 

Cody suddenly relaxed.  “You didn’t do anything.  I’m glad someone used it.  You need to learn to take a joke once in a while,” he said in a normal, casual tone.  His face was totally calm, but he really wanted to laugh with expression he saw on Dion’s face.

“That’s not funny,” Dion poked.

“You should’ve seen your face,” Cody replied.  “Besides, I like knives better and speaking of knives, here we are.  Ex-Home Sweet Home.”  They stopped in front of the apartment complex.  Le Grand was inscribed on the keystone above the entrance archway.  “I’m sure your cousin will be surprised to see us,” Cody stated, has he opened the front door of the building. 

There wasn’t much to the foyer, just a couple of sanseversia and dracaena plants in between the two elevators.  Cody pushed the up button on the panel.  The white arrow of the left elevator blinked on, with a little ding.  The elevator was already on the floor.  The duo walked in and proceed up to the fourth floor. 

“So, are you and Myrna close . . . as in good friends?” Cody asked.

“Yeah, we’re the only ones of our generation.  I was an only child and so was she.  We grew up together in Japan, but my aunt and uncle moved to Metro City about ten years ago.  Yet, we’ve managed to keep in touch with each other.  She and my grandmother are the only family I have left now.  Both my parents are dead and both her parents died in a car accident.”

“Yeah, Myrna told me about that,” the boxer said solemnly.

“Our family doesn’t have much luck when it come to life span.  It’s amazing that we even exist today, knowing our ancestry,” the young Filipino said with laugh, leaning against the rail.

“What do you mean by that?” the boxer asked confusingly.

“Most of my ancestors, died before they were even thirty.  My parents were a little lucky at the age of forty-four and forty-five and Myrna’s at the age of forty-six and forty-nine.  Maybe Myrna and I will be lucky enough to live till we’re fifty,” he laughed again. “My grandmother’s the luckiest of all, being seventy.”  Cody just gave a strange glance at Dion as he walked out of the elevator. 

“I know it looks and sounds weird that I’m laughing at this, but Myrna and I joke about this curse all the time.  It’s just that death seems to run our lives and we’ve decided to turn around and laugh back it.”  Cody was amused somewhat, but it was a strange case nonetheless.  They made their way over to Myrna’s apartment, both standing in front of Myrna’s door.  Cody knocked on the door, while Dion leaned against the wall.  They waited about thirty seconds before Cody knocked again.

“Myrna, are you home?” Cody said loudly.  Hearing an unlocking noise from behind, Cody turned around to see a rough-looking man with a balding head and a long, red beard.  He was smoking a pipe and his discolored t-shirt wreaked of pot. 

“You’re looking for Myrna?  Sorry, but she’s not here.  She took a trip to Chicago, something about a nursing seminar or something like that,” the burly man stated.

“Hmm, she never mentioned any of that to me,” Dion said.  “Oh well, I’m her cousin from Japan, and I got a key to her apartment.  Thanks anyways.”

“Oh, okay, well here’s her mail.”  He bent down to the floor to grab a stack of envelopes.  It was amazing the he was able to bend down with that humongous beer belly. 

“Thanks,” said Dion as the large man closed his door.  Dion grabbed a hold of the apartment keys from his back pack.  Slipping the key into the slot, he turned the key and opened the door.  It was silent, the only things that could be heard was pendulum of the clock and the motor from the fish tank pump. 

The apartment was a decent size, but it was spotless.  Any cleaner and there would have been sparkles appearing to and fro.  The walls were painted an off-white, with smoky-gray carpeting.  The dining room table, with it’s spotless glass tabletop, was ready for company.  The living could have used more furnishings.  All that was really there was small table sitting next to the silver sofa and ottoman -- not even a TV. 

“My cousin’s a neat freak, but then again you probably know that,” looking at Cody with raised eyebrows.  “I don’t think Myrna would mind if we stayed here for a couple of days, as long as we don’t trash the place.”  Dion placed the pile of envelopes and magazines on the dining room table, while Cody made his way into the living room.  He set his large duffel bag down next to the sofa. 

“I think you should stay in her room,” Cody started.  “You know, being her cousin and everything.  At least she won’t flip if she saw me sleeping in her bed.”  Dion laughed for moment, walking toward the small kitchen. 

“Do you want a glass of orange juice?” he asked, pulling a glass from the cabinet above. 

“Uh, no thanks.  I can’t believe my landlord gave my apartment to that guy.  I liked that apartment.”

“That’s what you get for leaving town and not telling anybody,” Dion replied wryly. 

“Ha ha,” the boxer responded sarcastically, making his way into the living room.  He dropped his duffel bag next to the sofa and began searching for all of his stuff that Myrna had been keeping for him.  “Which room did Myrna keep my stuff in?” he asked Dion.

“Should be that door next to the couch,” the Filipino yelled from the kitchen.  Cody opened the door, and sure enough his stuff was inside, neatly arranged and organized. 

“Wow, your cousin is a neat freak,” Cody thought.  He made his way into the room.  All of his t-shirts, boxer shorts and socks folded neatly in his cream hamper bins.  Shirts, pants and jeans were hung neatly on hangars and all his CDs, electronics and weapons lay neatly on the twin bed.  All of his stuff was basically there, with the exception of large furniture, which was property of the landlord anyway.

“There you are,” Cody mused, referring to his extensive knife collection.  “I’m glad Myrna was able to hold on to you guys.”  Knives of different shapes and sizes were seated neatly in a wooden boxes with a glass top.  He opened one of the boxes and slid his finger against the cold steel.  “I’ll find you Jessica,” he said to himself. “And then I’m gonna make that son-of-a-bitch regret the day he laid eyes on you.”

“That’s quite an impressive collection of knives you got there,” as Dion walked into the room with his glass of orange juice.  “But I still think the katana is the best,” looking at it from where he stood.

“Anything that katana can do, my knives can do better and more.  Alright, enough of me searching through my stuff.  What information do you have on the Mad Gears?” the boxer asked, walking out of the room. 

“I don’t have much,” Dion answered, making his behind Cody.  “All I have are some documents that my parents had when they were going undercover to seek information about the Mad Gears,” Dion replied, walking out with his glass of orange juice.  “They knew how to cover up their stuff.  Heck, I didn’t even know they were agents until they were murdered.  I’m sure there’s some more documents in my house in Japan, but I’ve yet to find the jackpot.”  He opened another side pocket, one that Cody overlooked and pulled out another envelope bound together by a rubber band.

“Anything would do right about now,” mentioned Cody, as he took the rubber band off the envelope.  “Hmm, this is a lot of reading,” as he shuffled through the papers filled with single space writing from top to bottom -- an endless sea of black. 

“I barely read four pages.  It’s so in depth and I think undercover agents have their own way of writing or something, a lot of the passages are almost poetic,” the Filipino said, resting his chin on his hand.  Cody just shifted through the papers, until he saw one that caught his eye.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Cody said in a loud tone.

“What?” as Dion lifted his head.

“There’s been Mad Gear related activity in every continent on the world with the exception of Antarctica!  Paris, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Sydney, Cairo, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Manila, São Paulo, London, Moscow . . . this list goes on and on.  Jessica could be in any one of these places.”

“So what’s the plan?” asked Dion.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, but I have good hunch on where to start.” Cody got up from his chair and made his way over to the phone.  Picking up the receiver, he quickly punched in a number.  “I don’t think Myrna would mind if I used her phone.”

Dion just gave a shrug of his shoulders.

“Can I help you?” answered a voice from the other side.

“Yes,” Cody said in a deep and monotone voice, only getting eyes from Dion.  “Is this Inspector Morgan?”

“Yes it is,” the voice replied. “How can I help you?”

“I have vital information concerning the whereabouts of the Mad Gears,” Cody started, walking around the apartment.   

“Go ahead,” the other voice responded.

“If you wish for me to tell you, you will have to meet me, in private -- no colleagues of yours, no colleagues of mine.  Just the two of us.  Then, and only then, will I give the details.” The voice on the other line was somewhat hesitant. 

“Alright sir, where do you want to meet?”

“Five PM, sharp.  Saint Clair Park, on the bench next to the James Kilbourn statue.  Remember, come alone.”  With that, Cody clicked the off button on the phone.  “I have an appointment to go to,” the boxer said out loud. 

“With a cop!?  Are you crazy?  They’ll just take you back in,” Dion argued with a large voice.

“Not just any cop, an inspector and an old friend of mine since high school.  This person has access to all the top files of the Metro City Police Department.”

“I should go with you.  What if you get turned in?” Dion pleaded.

“No can do, I already said that I wouldn’t bring anybody, and I know the person won’t turn me in.  Trust me on this one Dion.”

“Humph!” the Filipino simply puffed, crossing his arms.

“Look, it’s almost four-thirty now.  I’ll be back around six,” Cody stated, taking both his and Dion’s documents with him.  “I’m not trying to diss you, but this is something that I have to do alone.  I’ll see you in a bit.”