Ghazi Antara Harib | 24 | M | Deputy | Mentions; Estelle (Ind/Dir), Santos (Ind/Dir), Amos (Ind/Dir), Bea (Ind/Dir), Lueruna (Ind), Riders (Ind), Open.
Outfit; https://postimg.cc/gallery/ScbTHDJ
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“Good morning to you too, Ghazi.”
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Ghazi saw as she stood up after his words, saw the way she tried to come across as calmer. As if she weren’t on the verge of a breakdown. Which, given how they knew each, seemed uncalled for to him. Though, even he wasn’t as much of a liar to consider himself good at anything concerning emotions. Let alone comforting people, for that matter. The most he could offer were facts, a lecture, and reminders of others needing her.
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“When a murderous gang is out there terrorizing and killing people, do most people get a good sleep? I had a cup of coffee this morning.”
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Ghazi shook his head, rolling his eyes a bit at her joking tone. At the straight-faced lie that while he had no reason to assume she was lying- He knew her, he knew that she probably hadn’t had coffee. Not when she was this worked up. Still, the only response these words got was a simple, “Never said they did.” And then he went right back to trying to organize her desk a little. Went right back to all that he’d been doing before.
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“Look, Ghazi. I know that I seem a little stressed out but you know, better than anyone, that I need to catch these bastards. I’m getting calls by the minute. If something isn’t done soon, I fear that we are going to have a bigger problem.”
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He looked away from the case in his hands, towards Estelle, but ultimately decided against saying anything further about all of that. Looking back at the case in his hands. He couldn’t really argue any of that. No matter how much he wanted to. There was too much that he agreed with, too much he carried himself to try and convince her to not carry it. He knew where his hypocrisy had to end. At least for now. Later. When she was more awake, more willing to listen, and hopefully less willing to point out his hypocrisy. He had never been a gambling man, not in the traditional sense at least, but he liked to think that he’d be good at it. What, with how well he did at this most of the time.
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“I agree with the training. I need these cops to be at peak experience before we all go into something like this.”
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He nodded, still staring at the file in his hands, choosing to bite his tongue on the matter for now. He knew his limits, where his luck would run out. There was a slight lift in sound, voices speaking on the other side of a wall. He glanced up, towards the door of Stella’s office. Just in time to see Estelle walking over and opening the door, the sibling officers on the other side. Officer Amos and Officer Bea. The Karagiannises… Karagianni? Karagianni. Sure. That would work fine as the plural. Ghazi didn’t really care all that much about that anyways.
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“Good morning Officer Amos. Good morning Officer Bea. You two are welcome to come inside. We are just discussing training matters.”
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He kept his eye on the scene as Estelle let the two officers inside her office, up until the sheriff was sitting back in her chair, her eyes on the computer screen in front of her. Then, he allowed his eye to look at Officer Amos and Officer Bea. Still missing two officers. He looked over at Stella as she turned her attention to him again, his eye narrowed in thought as she spoke.
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“Training will need to be done immediately.”
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He nodded, and then looked over at the door as it opened and closed. Santos. Great timing. They were just getting started. Where was Officer Lueruna? Sleeping in? When they had a violent, bloodthirsty gang on the loose? He had half a mind to consider investigating her. The thought slowed him down, he turned it over in his mind, mulled over it. He filed it away for later when he realized that Stella was speaking.
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“Ah, just in time.”
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Santos didn’t really seem to mind her words, looking at him and the case in his hands. Ghazi fixed him with a stare, trying to convey that the case wasn’t actually all that interesting compared to the other ones the two had read. Santos was just about the only officer here, other than himself, that he could trust to read the gruesome cases without getting bothered. And the only one that Ghazi could actually stand to talk to about… Anything other than work. Estelle was great, no doubt, but he was fairly certain that she held some misguided beliefs about him. He wasn’t crazy or paranoid. He also wasn’t a good person, though he wasn’t sure if she had ever thought that about him.
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“Sparing her from grey hairs?”
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He didn’t smile, didn’t nod, didn’t really react at all. Just closed the case in his hands and held the closed file at his side. He took in Santos’ appearance though, eye wandering from the officer’s neck to face to whatever stuck out to him. Santos didn’t look terrible, per se, but something had definitely happened. Nothing that was Ghazi’s business though, he didn’t think, so he let his gaze go to Estelle as she spoke.
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“I can handle these cases, thank you.”
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That, that earned an eye roll. He knew how strong her stomach was with the type of cases he usually made sure she didn’t see. And he knew that her stomach was weak with them. It wasn’t a fault of hers, it was more of a strength. Proof that she was a good person. A better person than he could ever be. He almost wished that his own stomach was weaker than it was. Almost. But then who would read these cases? Make sure Estelle didn’t? Santos? He doubted that. It was his own job anyways. And if he couldn’t do that job… Santos speaking broke his mind from his thoughts before he explored that route. He put a pin in it though, a bookmark for later. He didn’t want to leave loose ends.
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“Boss, I'm battered from last night and desire a day off. As you can see, a wild animal attacked him last night.”
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He glanced back at Santos then, raising an eyebrow. He looked at the officer’s neck, there was no way that was a wild animal. Either it’d be worse, or Santos would’ve gotten out even less scathed. Especially since Santos was one of the better officers. Did Ghazi need to start going over training with him too? He hoped not, but he couldn’t really have him losing fights to wild animals… He doubted it was a wild animal. He also doubted it was any of his business…
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Unless Santos was working for the Lone Riders and had just done something for them. Or he’d just escaped them. Which, then, why wouldn’t he tell them? That would be good, important, vital information to have. Santos being a spy seemed more likely than that. And all his hatred for the group could be a cover. And Ghazi might need to investigate him too. He filed the idea away for later, right next to the idea of investigating Officer Lueruna.
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“I’m sorry to hear that Officer Santos. But we need you here today. We are going over very important matters and discussing training, which you play a very big part in.”
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Ghazi glanced over at Estelle, shifting more to attention so he could be sure not to miss anything. So he could speak if he needed to. So he could watch for reactions. So he could figure out what all he needed to do himself based on those reactions. Investigation needed or not, if the reactions were worrisome, he couldn’t endanger officers.
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“As you all know, the problem with the Lone Riders is only getting worse by the day. We’ve decided that we need to start training you guys more. We don’t know what we are dealing with here and I’ll be damned if I lose my cops to these assholes. Officer Santos. You will be training as a gunman for the others. Officer Amos, you will be helping Officer Santos train Officer Bea. Officer Bea, I don’t mean to put you on the spot but you are a new cop and I need you to be at your best when we decide to take these bastards down. My deputy and I will be around to help and if you have questions, feel free.”
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He nodded along to the information given. Curt, precise. He made sure to at least try and make eye contact with Officer Amos, to try and quell any arguments, any disobedience, any concerns, before they could arise. He knew they probably weren’t happy with it, but the training was necessary. He could talk with Officer Amos later about this if there were any concerns. But, for now, they couldn’t start infighting, couldn’t start questioning their sheriff.
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He watched Estelle go back to her desk, the board with a picture of each member of the Lone Riders, fingers tracing, and then she sat down again. And then she was looking him in the eye, and practically whispering to him.
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“Ghazi, you know me better than anyone. You know how much it means to take these assholes down. I can’t let them do what they did to us to any more people. I just can’t.”
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Ghazi took a small, heavy breath. And nodded, movement quick, firm, decisive. He had a job to do. The day had only just begun and there was a lot he needed to do. He looked over at the other officers, gaze sticking to Officer Amos for a moment before he spoke. “If there are any questions, hold them. I’ll be out there to answer them soon. We have a long day ahead of us, better to get started sooner rather than later. And someone needs to find out where Officer Lueruna is, we need her here too.”
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He watched them, waited for them all to leave the office, and then turned towards Estelle again. “We’ll take them down, Estelle. We need to be smart about this too though.” He paused, looking at her computer screen, at the maps. “I can oversee the station, the cases and officers, if you want to go searching through these places. If you trust Officer Lueruna enough for it,” He tried to keep the skepticism, the suspicion, out of his voice. He wasn’t sure how well he did, “I would suggest bringing her along. Safety in numbers, and you could search each place quicker too.”
Fall 
Night Weather: 
Hurricane Moon: 
