Chapter 57 : Dolphin RoadKill
As they were returning to the hideout, Mark suddenly heard police sirens approaching from several streets away. The sound immediately put Kimiko on edge — her body tensed, attention snapping toward the noise.
Mark noticed and lightly waved his hand. "Relax."
Not that she understood the word. Still, his calm demeanor seemed to stop her from immediately preparing for a fight.
A few moments later the source appeared. A police cruiser came racing through the street with lights flashing while a van sped ahead of it.
Mark frowned. "Well, what is this mess now?"
The chase didn’t last much longer. The van slammed on its brakes. The windshield shattered. Something flew out. For a moment Mark thought it was a person. Then he got a better look.
"A dolphin?"
The word escaped before he could stop it. The dolphin launched through the air and crashed onto the pavement in the middle of a crosswalk, bouncing once. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it.
A truck coming from the opposite direction had no time to stop. The driver hit the brakes, but momentum won. The truck rolled directly over the dolphin.
The result was immediate. And horrifying.
Mark stared at what remained. His stomach reminded him he had eaten an entire pizza less than an hour ago. "I am never eating seafood again."
Beside him, Kimiko stared at the scene in complete silence, even she looking confused. Of all the things she had expected to see tonight, a flying dolphin becoming roadkill had not been one of them.
The police cruiser finally forced the van to a stop. Officers rushed forward and dragged the driver out. Mark got a good look at him. Then blinked. Then looked again.
"...Deep?"
The officers looked almost as confused as he was. This wasn’t some random criminal. It was one of the Seven. Unfortunately there was also the small issue of the dead dolphin scattered across the road. Neither problem came with a training manual.
One officer looked at Deep, then at the remains, then at his partner — already imagining the paperwork.
Eventually his attention shifted toward Mark and Kimiko as the closest witnesses. With a tired sigh he walked over.
"Sir, ma’am, are you two alright?"
Mark pointed toward the street, then toward the remains. "I’m definitely not alright."
"Understandable."
"No, I don’t think you do." Mark gestured toward the road. "I went outside to get fresh air. Instead I watched a dolphin get launched through a windshield and turned into paste."
The officer opened his mouth, then closed it. There really wasn’t a proper response to that.
Mark placed a hand on Kimiko’s shoulder. "Look at her. She’s traumatized."
The officer looked at Kimiko. Kimiko looked back, then tilted her head slightly. The silence stretched for several seconds.
Finally the officer sighed. It had been a long night.
Behind him, Deep was loudly trying to explain why stealing a dolphin from an aquarium had somehow been a good idea. The explanation was not going well.
Mark watched the disaster unfold for a few seconds before pulling out his phone. "So what are you going to do about this? I need compensation for the mental damage. Otherwise I’m posting all of this on the internet."
The officer stared at the phone, then at the remains, then at Deep. Tonight had somehow become significantly worse than when his shift started.
The problem was that Deep wasn’t an ordinary suspect. If this had been a normal person the situation would’ve been simple. Instead it was a member of the Seven.
That meant Vought. That meant lawyers. That meant public relations teams. That meant somebody higher up was eventually going to make his life miserable.
The officer sighed and stepped away to call his superior.
Several minutes passed while Mark waited. Kimiko remained beside him, silently observing with the same expression she’d had since the dolphin became roadkill.
Eventually the officer returned. "We can arrange compensation later."
"No. I need it now."
"That’s not how this works."
"It should be."
"It doesn’t."
Mark pointed toward the street. "I was an innocent civilian." Then toward the dolphin’s remains. "I witnessed whatever this is." He raised his phone.
"If I don’t receive satisfactory compensation, this whole thing goes online."
"Sir—"
"I know my rights." The words came out so naturally that even Mark surprised himself.
For a brief moment he finally understood why Karens always said that — there was a strange psychological satisfaction attached to the phrase.
The officer looked like he was contemplating early retirement.
After several more phone calls and an uncomfortable amount of paperwork, the officer returned looking exhausted — the kind that came from dealing with lawyers, supervisors, Vought representatives, and Deep all within the same hour.
Without saying much he handed Mark a envolope.
"Sorry about all this. Please don’t spread it around."
Mark quickly checked the amount. A satisfied expression appeared on his face. "Of course."
"I’m a law-abiding citizen."
The officer stared at him for several seconds. Mark had just negotiated compensation at the scene of a dolphin-related traffic incident involving a member of the Seven.
The statement felt questionable. Still, he decided not to argue. At this point he simply wanted the night to end.
Mark grabbed Kimiko’s hand and started walking away. Kimiko didn’t resist, seeming more interested in returning to the hideout than staying near the increasingly bizarre crime scene.
The officer watched them leave. Something about the man felt familiar —the build, the hair. He knew he had seen him somewhere before. Unfortunately the dark sunglasses made it difficult to get a proper look at his face.
He frowned, trying to remember. A news report? A poster? A television interview? The answer remained frustratingly out of reach.
Eventually Mark disappeared around the corner with Kimiko. The officer shook his head. Probably nothing. Besides, he already had enough problems tonight.
*****
A/N: Advanced Chapters are available on Patreon.
👉 /Mark841
Currently, 21 advanced Chapters are available