Carter Burnes gripped the steering wheel more tightly than was necessary as he headed down the side road that would lead directly into the carpark of the closest police station to the Dasker Biscuits factory.

He'd sent Gareth to the Magistrate's Courts to collect the Warrant. Burnes didn't expect him back any time soon; it was quite some distance away.

The Senior Detective slowed to a stop in a parking space over to the left-hand side of the carpark. He had asked for sixteen uniformed officers to be put under his control for this operation, but now, looking out at the four buildings, just a few streets away, he wasn't sure that would be enough.

Burnes opened the door of his car and stepped outside. The air felt charged. There was no wind, no rain, nothing at all. The sky was a blank sheet of paper, as far as the eye could see.

The Detective walked away from the car. He locked it with his key fob. The front lights flashed twice fast.

There were multiple other cars in that car park, of all shapes and sizes. It was almost silent, even though there must have been people within the station. Burnes heard the roar of a train clattering down the tracks somewhere not so far away.

Burnes sat down on the bonnet of his car. He turned towards the police station. It was one of the older buildings, with a drab, dark brown appearance. Cigarette butts and plastic wrappers littered the ground outside of it. He could see a strip of recently painted graffiti across the faraway side of the front. It was dark blue.

The Detective could hear what sounded like a van approaching. He looked over his shoulder. He was expecting the minivan to arrive soon, maybe this was it?

A white van drove at little more than a crawl through the front gates. It had a bar of silent blue lights across the front of its roof. Both of its sides showed the trademark highlight yellow and deep blue of the national police. All of its windows bar the windscreen were blacked out, and, Carter knew, were sealed with thick, bulletproof glass. Behind the back window, there was a six letter Welsh inscription in red; 'HEDDLU'.

The van whined to a stop a few spaces away from Burnes' own car. He headed back toward it, a plan forming in his mind.

Fourteen uniformed officers filed out of the back of the van. Two more came out of the front. They spoke amongst themselves as they neared Burnes. The Detective checked his phone before he addressed them.

"Alright. We have four buildings to search here. There's the master factory. It'll be the largest of the four..." Burnes looked at each of them to make sure they were paying attention. "...and three sister buildings will be over to the other side. They'll be much closer together. All four of these buildings will be covered by the search warrant. My partner is currently collecting the warrant from the Magistrate's Courts. Once we have word that he has it, we will begin the search."

Burnes scanned the faces of the officers before him. They were very varied. None of them appeared the same age, which meant they had varied levels of experience too. He made a few quick judgements.

Burnes split the group in the middle. "This eight will be group A. They will go with me to the master factory, and the other eight will be group B. They will be going around the sister buildings. You're looking for any evidence which could be of assistance in the solving of the Darius McGallogat case." Some of the officers nodded, some of them offered him only blank stares.

Burnes was satisfied that he'd given them enough information. Now, they would wait for word from Gareth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elle sat in her chair in front of her computer. She had moved her pistol from the box beneath the table to her to drawer. The Buddha that had also been in the box had been sold on. It had contained a highly concentrated form of LSD. She had gotten a pretty penny for it.

Elle didn't have much to do that day. She had a few deals to tend to, but none of them would be happening this early in the morning.

She'd spent the last couple of days consulting with various contacts. Since the Wallace case, business had picked up. She'd received a few offers of payment for a number of contracts. One of them had been in Sweden. She'd made a mental note to find out more about it.

Bluebird still hadn't replied, which was quickly becoming more suspicious. Elle had shut down the email account. It was an older one she'd used to contact him, and if he hadn't said anything so far, something had happened. It wasn't at the top of Elle's current priorities.

She sat back in her chair, pulling her water bottle with her. There were a number of other items scattered across her desk. She'd bought the majority of them fairly recently, in preparation for possible future cases.

She tilted her head back and took a long drink. The AC was switched on in the room, but it was still muggy. She opened the drawer to her right, and placed the plastic bottle back on the desk.

The Desert Eagle Pistol sat within the drawer. There was something almost graceful about it, and yet something daunting about its shape.

Elle held the weapon in a way that said she knew what she was doing. There were bullets in the drawer as well. She took the square packet out too, and dropped it onto the desk.

Elle pointed the gun towards the far wall. She kept her fingers well away from the trigger. She'd seen how much damage such a seemingly small gun could do before. She wasn't going to take any chances.

Elle turned the grip sideways, and removed the magazine from inside. It was a shining silver container. There were no bullets inside. She put the gun back on the desk and loaded the magazine with eight rounds. She shoved the magazine back into the grip, until the catch engaged fully.

She hesitated, considering whether or not to chamber a round. Elle left it as it was. She had no need to fire the gun. Chambering a bullet ran the risk of it going off. Elle clicked the safety on, and slid the pistol back into its drawer.

The weapon seemed more malicious now as she closed the drawer on it, enveloping it in darkness. The remaining bullets still sat on the desk. Elle opened the second drawer down and chucked them into it.

On the off chance that someone from the factory floor came up to her room, Elle preferred to keep most evidence of her work hidden. It was never a smart idea to have guns, or drugs, or any kind of wares lying around the room.

Elle's jacket hung on a metal peg just by the door. Her phone buzzed in the pocket. It was a personalised ringtone. She only used them for her immediate family. Elle walked across the room and removed the device. She read the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carter Burnes had only just pocketed his phone when it began to ring. He answered within five seconds. The name on the screen read 'Gareth Masters'. "Gareth?"

"Hello. I've got the warrant here..." There was static, followed by the sound of a car door shutting and a seatbelt clicking into place."...I've only just got out of the Magistrate's Courts. It should take me maybe twenty minutes to get to Daskers, depending on traffic."

"That's great. I'm at the station. I've got the officers, and I've explained the plan." Burnes stopped there. He had a choice to make now. If the warrant was in police possession, then the search could take place. It could begin right now, or after Gareth arrived on scene.

There was a possibility that the suspect would be inside the building. That meant that there was also a possibility that she was aware of the police presence outside. If that was the case, she could be destroying crucial evidence by the second. Burnes made his decision.

"The warrant is in police possession. I'm going to start the search. I'll be leading the search of the master factory specifically. When you arrive, take over the search of the sister buildings. There will be eight officers covering the three of them." Burnes nodded to the officers around him. Some of them had retreated to the back of the minivan; it was a more comfortable place to wait. By the time Gareth had phoned, they'd been waiting for thirty minutes. He headed back towards his own car.

Gareth didn't respond for at least a minute. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what there'll be inside that place."

Burnes had considered that. He started his car. "Yes, I am. I know it's a risk, but we're sitting out here in the open. If we lose the advantage of surprise, there's a chance we lose Riviera as well. It'll be fine." Carter Burnes could be a stubborn man when he wanted to be. This was one such time.

Gareth had known his partner for long enough to recognise this as an unwinnable argument. "Alright. Save something interesting for me at least. I'll be there soon." The phone beeped three times. Gareth had ended the call.

Burnes slipped the phone back into his front pocket. He led the way out of the carpark, and down the street. It took less than five minutes to reach the factory carpark.

Once there, he parked off to the side again. There didn't appear to be anyone outside. He switched the engine off, and exited his car for a second time. The minivan had driven a bit slower than him. He walked towards it once it arrived.

Burnes strode towards the van with purpose. "We've got the warrant, let's go." The officers left the van once again. They stood in the rough groups that Carter had brought to their attention before. "Detective Masters will be here soon. When he does show up, he'll be in charge of group B. Take note of anything you find that seems suspicious. We're looking for anything out of the ordinary. Good luck." Half of the officers headed towards the sister buildings. The remaining officers waited for Burnes.

Burnes watched them leave. From where he stood now, he could see all four buildings. The largest was to his left. It was a massive, ugly block of red brick. There were windows at the top of it, presumably to prevent the workers inside from overheating. A set of metal double doors sat about a quarter of the way along its side. Six stone stairs led up out of the carpark and towards the doors.

Carter turned to his right. The other three buildings were much smaller. They sat close together about one hundred feet from the factory/warehouse behemoth. They too were made from red brick. There was a sign above one of the shutter doors that read 'Chocolate Squares'. Another said 'Strawberry Creams'. The last building had no sign, but Burnes was fairly sure it was a storage unit, rather than a factory. He turned away.

Carter Burnes had his hands in loose fists at his sides while he walked. He took the stairs at the edge of the carpark two at a time. The third one up was cracked in half. Moss covered all six of them.

Burnes made his way to the door. He knocked three times upon it. A small man answered within seconds. He wore a white fishnet over his hair, and a cap on top of that. His eyes widened when he saw the police badge that Burnes held out to him.

"We have a warrant to search this building under the authority of the Magistrate's Court. Can we come in?" Burnes kept his tone clipped, but polite. The question was rhetorical. Burnes stepped into the premises before he could get a reply.

The man moved out of his way. Burnes took this as an invitation. He and the eight officers filed inside. The inside of the factory was deafening.

Huge machines ran in circles in all directions. There were ovens at the left-hand wall, conveyor belts swirling across the factory floor, carrying what looked like thousands of biscuits in various stages of baking. The air smelled of baked goods and sugar.

There were around one hundred and fifty workers across the factory. They watched over the machines and checked over biscuits as they passed by. None of them seemed to have noticed Burnes' presence.

"Switch the machines off." He instructed the man who'd opened the door. Rattled, he did as told, pressing and holding a button on the wall. It took ten minutes for the noise to dim. The ovens continued to hum as they cooled down. The workers looked around in confusion, and one by one turned to look at the button, and then the door.

"This property is under police investigation," Burnes held his badge up for all to see, "Please vacate the building. It will be closed until further notice."

The workers seemed stunned at first, but after a while they began to do as asked. They walked quickly, afraid that something was going to happen. Burnes caught snatches of frightened conversation between them as they shuffled outside.

Two officers hung back at the door. As the workers left, they took note of their names and contact details. This slowed down the process considerably.

When the factory was nearly empty, the officers began to search. Most of them headed towards the maze of ceiling-high machines. Burnes and three others started towards the tall shelves of the warehouse part of the factory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elle had just gotten off of a surprise call with a new contact when she became aware of how quiet the factory suddenly was.

Minutes ago, she had been able to hear little else but the whir and grind of a couple dozen machines. Now, there was nothing. Not a peep. Immediately, she was on edge.

Elle glanced at her laptop screen. There was a blue circle in the centre of it. The email application had crashed and was reloading.

She stood up and crept towards the door. Elle kept as low as she could, each step slow and precise. The machines had only stopped a few times since she had been here. That had been during scheduled maintenance periods. On all occasions, she'd been told what was going to happen. There had been no warning this time.

Elle cracked the door open as slightly as she could. A sliver of light came through. She could see four huge lines of stacked materials, from biscuit packaging to flour and sugar. Past them, she could just see an oven. There were two workers in front of it, staring somewhere she couldn't see.

"This property is under police investigation." The voice carried through the factory. She recognised it straight away. There was no mistaking that voice. Elle didn't need to hear anymore. She closed the door again, her skin suddenly ice cold. She crouched against the wall.

Surely not. It couldn't be. It felt as if the world had quaked before her eyes. Everything shook as the reality of the situation crept in.

The police were in the building, and they were searching. Elle's mind whirred. They must have used the Zoe Dakota contract to connect some missing pieces, they must have realised that the factory was involved. She wondered if they knew who she was. If he knew who she was.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit." Elle practically jumped up from her crouching position. Her knees popped; her joints whined in protest. She sat down at her desk, and then stood right back up again. She considered jumping from the window. There was a ladder, and an entrance to the underground part of the Dasker factory below. It could work.

She was panicking. Her lungs wouldn't take in the oxygen that she needed them to.

She had to calm down. Elle forced herself to sit down. She pressed the water bottle to her face, and took another drink. Slowly, she regained control of her breathing.

Before anything else was done, Elle had to erase everything on her computer. She could take it with her if she left through the window, but there were very likely more police outside. If she was caught with the laptop, all of her contacts would be endangered. Her business would go up in flames.

Elle looked at the laptop. The email application had closed down. It had failed. She took another drink of her water, drained the bottle, and tossed it in the bin by her feet.

She opened up the settings application on the laptop, and searched for a way to delete all information upon it. She found it before long; factory reset. Elle clicked the button.

The machine whirred, the blue circle returning to the middle of it again. A warning appeared, asking her if she wanted to go through with this. Elle clicked 'continue'.

There was no other option; she had to delete all traces of her work. She could get contacts back again. There were always ways. Elle picked up her phone. She found settings on it too, and clicked reset. There could be no technological evidence of her work.

A new screen blipped into appearance. It showed the reset being completed. There was a greyed out 'confirm' button below a green progress bar. Elle felt panic rise again when she read the duration.

'This will take approximately 37 minutes'