STALEMATE [MAFIA] [MXM] ✓

25: IT'S TIME

It's only one car, thankfully, parked on the street outside Burnhouse. Salem hesitates in his step for a moment upon laying eyes on it, before he realizes whose car that is.

Oh, thank god.

Salem breaks out into a jog, beyond happy to see Donovan exiting his car. He is already looking at Salem, which has him thinking that's probably the entire reason he's here. Salem reaches him in record time, and he must look pretty shaken up, because Donny is immediately pulling him into a hug.

It only lasts a second, before they both pull away from each other. Salem is breathing kind of heavily, and he has no idea if it's from the running or what he just witnessed. It was a lot to process, and he can still see the entire thing playing out over and over again in his head.

"What happened?" Donny asks, knowing something's wrong. Salem runs a hand through his hair, averting his eyes in stress. He doesn't know what to do, what to say.

Salem sounds tired when he replies, "I don't even know."

Donny frowns at him, then reaches out towards his face. He rubs his thumb along the skin under Salem's eye, before pulling his hand away. He looks down at the liquid, then shows it to Salem. Even with the red and blue lights distorting the colors around them, Salem can tell it's blood.

He isn't even surprised. Atlas showed no mercy, it was a mess in there.

"Well," Donny says, dropping his arm, "how did everything go?"

Salem purses his lips, crossing his arms. He averts his gaze to the sidewalk, realizing that basically this whole area is empty. There are a couple cars around—one actually looks a lot like the kind of cars the Di Angelo's drive around. That can't be right, though, because Atlas left already. Why would he stick around?

It's running with the headlights on, and it's parallel parked across the road with a perfect view of everything.

"I warned the owner," Salem says, trying not to get emotional about everything that happened. Sorry, he just really does not handle loss well. It's why he was so torn up about that teenaged girl. It's one of his big flaws, he just values life far too much. "He's dead, now. But I warned him."

Donny raises his eyebrows, clearly not expecting that. Salem can't blame him, since of all the ways tonight could've gone, that was basically at the bottom of his list. He looks like he's about to say something, most likely ask for some detail, but then another police car is pulling up.

Okay, that's not good.

It parks right by Donny and Salem's patrol car, way too close, and Salem watches the driver's side door open. He gets a sinking feeling in his stomach when none other than Jordan steps out of it. Oh god, here we go.

What is he even doing here? He's a sergeant, he's only needed on the serious scenes. Are they aware that there was a fatality? Surely they only know of a shooting, since it doesn't appear as though anyone has actually gone inside to investigate. What business does Jordan have here? Why isn't there anyone else?

Jordan walks up to them, not even looking at Donny. His eyes are trained solely on Salem when he speaks, though it's not directed at him. "You're dismissed, Donovan."

Donny looks hesitant, but Salem gives him a nod that it's okay. He should probably head home, anyway, since he's got a wife waiting up for him. Salem watches him step away, giving Salem a pat on the back that actually jostles him a bit. Donny never really understood his size and strength, he's always been so gentle and kind. It's in good nature and Salem gives him a small, reassuring smile.

Then, he gets in his car, and he's gone, leaving Salem and Jordan alone.

"We received word of gunshots," Jordan notifies Salem, "I have people on the way to investigate. Were you present?"