Walking through the different sections of the maze were Tom and James, but they weren't dressed in their uniforms. Instead, they wore casual clothes—Tom in a white t-shirt and black jeans with trainers and a black coat, while James sported a Hawaiian shirt with a vibrant colorful floral pattern and tropical print shorts with a palm tree design.
"So not only do you have bad fashion sense, but you also don't know what clothes to wear for an occasion," James teased Tom as they navigated through the underground passages.
"What's wrong with black-and-white?" Tom replied, his face cold and emotionless.
"Um... let's see. It screams, 'Hey everybody, look at me, I'm an officer.' And what's with the Batman attitude?" James asked with a smirk.
"I like to look intimidating. And besides, I'm not the one who wears a beach outfit to an underground city with no sun," Tom shot back.
"Huh?"
James then looked down at his clothes and realized that what Tom said was absolutely true. The tropical shirt and shorts looked completely out of place among the dimly lit tunnels and rough crowd.
"So whose this contact of yours you have so much confidence in?" James asked, genuinely curious.
"August Sawyer, former member of an elite tech ops unit. We met in the army—he owes me a favor," Tom explained.
"Uh... huh."
After walking for a while, they stopped at one of the stalls. The place looked like a junkyard mixed with a computer repair shop—old monitors, circuit boards, and engine spare parts from all types of machines were displayed haphazardly.
"Wait here. August is a... cautious man," Tom said as he walked into the stall.
Inside, the stall was cluttered with various technological components and mechanical parts. The air smelled of oil and old electronics.
"August... you here? It's me, Tom. Tom Bradley," Tom called out while walking around the narrow aisles between the displays.
"Strange," he muttered to himself.
Tom then went to the counter, behind which was a dark room. As he moved towards the entrance, he heard a clicking sound from behind. Turning around, he found himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun—and holding the gun was a middle-aged man in rags, with a scar over his left eye and an unkept beard.
"Whoa, August, calm down. It's me, Bradley," Tom said quickly, raising his hands in the air.
"Sure you are. Tom Bradley, that bastard who's got a job at NYPD and lives a good life on the surface would come looking for a dirt bag like me. Looks like you impersonated the wrong guy, mate," August said, his finger hovering over the trigger.
Tom then removed his coat and pulled up his sleeve, revealing an eagle tattoo inked on his forearm.
"Tom? Is it really...?"
Bang!!!
Just before August could complete his sentence, he had been knocked out cold. Standing behind him with a frying pan in his hand was James, who looked rather pleased with himself.
"You're welcome," James said with a grin.
******
Meanwhile, in another part of the maze, Kealin was currently talking to Alex about the situation with Max and Lena.
"So you think someone framed Max and Lena?" Alex asked while stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Yeah, and I have to find the victims so they can testify, but..." Kealin began.
"But you don't know where the victims are and you don't know where to start looking," Alex finished for him.
"Exactly," Kealin confirmed, frustration evident in his voice.
Alex then hooked his arm around Kealin's neck in a friendly manner and said, "Then you've come to the right place, ma boy."
"Really? You know how to find them?" Kealin asked, hope and excitement building up inside of him.
"Yeah, word spreads fast down here. So no matter where the victims are, I'm sure someone would know a thing or two about their whereabouts. C'mon, let's go make some enquiries," Alex suggested.
Alex and Kealin started walking around with a missing poster of Lucy, asking from stall to stall whether anyone had seen her. It looked like the goddess of luck was watching over them as they finally found someone who knew about the missing girls.
"You know... now that I think about it, I have seen her here," the man said, his eyes lighting up with recognition.
"Really? Where?" Kealin asked eagerly.
"Now, now, you can't get information for free down here," the man said with his hands out and a sly smile on his face.
"We don't know if the info is legit, so take us to where you saw her and then you get your pay," Alex said as he stepped in front of Kealin. After hearing Alex's words, the man's smile immediately turned to a frown, but he gestured for Alex and Kealin to follow him.
******
"Ah, what happened?"
August slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his throbbing head. As he got up, he noticed two figures standing in front of him and remembered what happened.
"August, are you okay?" Tom asked as he helped August to stand.
"Damn you. You come to pay a visit to an old friend and knock him out with a frying pan," August complained, still holding his head.
August then leaned on the counter, wincing from the pain.
"Sorry about that. A certain idiot decided to go against my orders," Tom said, glaring at James, who immediately moved back a little before apologizing profusely.
"So, Tommy boy, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" August said, trying to lighten the mood.
August then got behind the counter and pulled out a bottle of wine from somewhere beneath the clutter.
"Care for a drink?" August asked, already reaching for a glass.
To which Tom shook his head. "Suit yourself," August said, pouring the wine into a glass and taking a sip before continuing.
"Ah... let me guess. NYPD got another case they can't handle alone, and you're taking lead on this one?"
"Something like that," Tom confirmed.
"Three girls went missing three days ago. We got CCTV footage showing one of the girls with her classmates at 9:30 PM in the school, but I doubt they're the criminals," Tom explained as he took out his phone and showed August the footage.
"So you want me to find the true culprit and prove these two are innocent?" August asked as he studied the footage carefully.
"Tsk... bastard. Tell Sarah she owes me a date for this one," August muttered under his breath.
August then went to the stall's entrance and flipped the sign from OPEN to CLOSED before going behind the counter, gesturing for James and Tom to follow him into the back room.
Meanwhile, Alex, Kealin, and the man had finally reached their destination—a hidden chamber deeper within the maze's tunnels.