“The word is that you had a hand in
personally taking down the LA Ninja.
That must feel like an exceptional accomplishment in comparison to most
other cases in your career.” The
reporter from Los Angeles magazine exuded confidence, Detective Ryan Carter
noted. He had already made it clear that
he wanted her. He believed in direct
innuendo, a phrase he’d coined years before that described the tactfully
direct, but unspoken way of approaching a woman he was interested in. He had a way of pulling off confidence and arrogance
in a disarming way, and he knew it. As
much as power was an aphrodisiac, so was the underlying sensitivity that subtly
signaled his skillfulness at being deeply intimate. His gold hair, blue eyes and tanned LA skin
helped too. Altogether, he felt he had a
power; a “sexth sense”, a vision of sorts, in the ability to peer directly into
the heart of a woman and see what she really wanted. He called it, sex-ray vision.
He’d been sneaking peeks of the hot
reporter’s legs all afternoon. It was
unavoidable. She was in a skirt, sitting
across from him with her tanned, smooth legs crossed, shimmering like an oasis
in a desert. She was Latina too, and
unmarried he figured since reporters had no reason to hide a wedding ring like
a news anchor would. She also had no
visible tan line on her finger where one would be. He’d get to those important details soon
enough.
He sipped from his pinot grigio
before speaking. “Well,” he said. “Officially, the LAPD’s position is that I had
direct involvement in the capture of the LA Ninja. But the truth is…” he paused. What was the truth, he wondered? He decided to stay politically correct. “The truth is that I was one of many in a team
that worked together to bring him down.
Most notably, my partner, Detective Sergio Munoz, played a big part in
it all.”
“People want to know how it is that
a man of such unique and ancient skills like the ninja, could be so effective
as he was at not only carrying on his crime spree, but also in evading
police. What is your take on that?” she
asked. She was all business, but she was
smiling more as each moment passed. He
was even more into her now. There was
something so appealing about a woman that could balance out business and
pleasure and maintain her professional composure when needed. It seemed effortless for her, he noted.
“Well…Miss, is it?” he pushed.
“Yes,” she smiled, just a bit. That was her sign back, ever so subtle. He smiled and gazed into her eyes, holding it
as his sign to her that he was into her too.
Game on, he thought to himself.
“Yes, Miss Torres,” he said
finally. Back to business, he
thought. He knew he was purposeful, but
he could also be professional too. He
was not just all dog all the time. “You
know I’ve thought a lot about that over the years that we were on the case of
the LA Ninja. Munoz used to…”
“Your partner,” she interjected.
“Right. He used to say that any jagov with a penis
could make a baby, but it takes a real man to raise a child.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Carter laughed. “Munoz always said things that didn’t make
any sense.”
“Ok?”
“Sorry, I was just trying to be
funny,” he replied. She didn’t
laugh. “Well I guess what I’m saying is
that in today’s society, a person with the skills of an ancient warrior like a
ninja, or samurai, or even a knight for that matter, could be very
effective.” She relaxed a bit more,
content that he could get back on point.
Carter felt a bit more challenged that she was going to hold a serious
line through the interview. “I think
that skillset just enhances the abilities that one possesses to begin with.”
“For example,” he went on. “I’m a detective right? And I have a gun and training on how to solve
crimes using a lot of tools such as physical, forensic evidence, and the
ability to read people and build psychological profiles. However, if I added the tool of how to cloak
myself, and how to use projectiles, fashion weapons, and use my hands to be a
lethal weapon, I’d be far more efficient and powerful. I think a good scenario is one where the
gangs that terrorize our community not only had guns, as they do today, but
were also capable of espionage and skilled martial arts ability. How crazy would that be?”
She smiled. “Yes, that is a terrible scenario to
imagine.”
He laughed too and sipped from his
wine. “Anyways, that would never
happen. The gangsters are too stupid and
drug addicted to ever summon the discipline to study such things.”
“That’s a jaded perspective. Is that a result of the job?”
“I guess so. If you’ve locked up as many idiots as I have,
it tends to be depressing. I would have
to say, in that sense, chasing the LA Ninja was somewhat refreshing.”
“Please do expand on that, if you
would?”
“Well, let’s face it. We are talking about a guy that was only
guilty of one thing; and that’s taking out assholes. He never went after any cops or any of the
good citizens of LA!” Carter raised his
voice.
She pressed him. “It was reported that he was responsible for
the murder of several gang members as well innocent youths in LA.”
“Ha!” Carter exclaimed. He finished his glass of wine and regained
his calm composure by thinking of her legs again. He told himself to stay on point. “Miss Torres, I am well aware of what the
LAPD has reported out about the LA Ninja.
The truth is, we’d have to go way off the record if I were to tell you
the real story.”
“On the record, are you just saying
that he was a vigilante?”
“On the record, I’m saying that the
LAPD has made the streets safer by capturing the LA Ninja. I think that the notoriety that has come with
it is something I try to keep subdued so that it does not become a distraction
for me in conducting my job.”
“That’s great,” she said with a
smile. “I will use that. I can see that you feel very passionate about
this case. I can see that you have a lot
more to say, and I’m guessing that I can’t go on the record with any of it.”
Carter poured another glass of wine
and sat back in his oversized chair.
“Sorry,” he said, simply, as he sipped.
“Well,” she said, pushing a button
on her digital recorder and putting down her notepad. “I’d really like to hear more. Maybe you could take me to dinner and tell me
all about it?”
Carter smiled. Hell yeah that would work, he thought. “Yeah,” he said loosening his grin. “I think we can do that.”
As they readied themselves to go out
to dinner and whatever else, there was something that Carter had not been aware
of. The reporter had her own secret that
was way off the record. She already knew
who Carter was, and she was in search of Detective Munoz and the real LA Ninja,
because she too, was a ninja. Carter was
in for a long night of sodium pentothal soup with a nightcap of torture. And who knows, Angelica Torres thought to herself,
maybe she’d let his sexy ass pickle her peaches?
