If you read my fics, you'll notice that I tend to keep it WWE. This is different because it's a slight AU. I kind of wanted to stray but keep one foot in wrestling and one foot out. I'll be uploading 6 chapters at once today.

Eventually, Roman thought he'd get used to it. He hadn't. The sight of a dead body was never an easy sight to see especially one in this condition. Just looking at the picture made him want to gag. The file photo of the older guy's face looked unrecognizable in the crime scene photos but it was him: same height, same build, same bald head.

Roman's boss, Ambrose looked at him with an amused expression on his face. It appeared as if a smile was twitching on his lips but he decided against it when he saw the look in Roman's eyes. Ambrose had been doing this for a very long time and seemed to have developed a ghoulish outlook on life. He'd often brag to Roman after a few drinks that he'd seen it all and all wasn't pretty.

Ambrose was a little odd, but likeable. He'd been a street kid all of his life. He got into the PI business in his late teens by helping out a neighbor who wanted him to stalk his wife to find out if she was cheating on him. She was. Next thing you know, a friend of that neighbor contacted him asking if he could do the same for him. She was cheating too. By the time Ambrose was 18, he was ready to go legit. The operation started small but now he had 4 firms in major cities, a few personal assistants and Roman.

How did Roman fit you ask? First of all, his name wasn't "Roman," it was Joe but Ambrose thought in this line of work that it'd be better if they used code names. As a 6'3, 265 pounds Samoan, he was destined for football greatness but when a health issue that he'd rather not talk about ended his career, he had nothing left. He worked a few administrative jobs here and there since his degree from Georgia Tech was in management but a suit, tie and conversations in the break room just wasn't for him. He worked as a club bouncer, a bodyguard and a security guard but he was still searching for more. That's when he saw Ambrose's cryptic ad on Craigslist.

Ambrose liked Roman right away and hired him on the spot. That was 5 years ago and they've been working together ever since. Some of the clients were high profile, so discretion was a necessity. His good looks helped in that department. He was able to transform himself into whatever the job required. One minute he was rocking a suit like a boss, the next minute he looked like your average Polynesian on the beach catching son, the minute after that he was rocking a black vest on a street corner looking like the baddest motherfucker in town. Sometimes he felt guilty because the conclusion to his investigations usually ended in arrests, divorces and sometimes even death when he was hired by shady guys to help locate someone.

"Where's his…you know?" Roman stared at the crime scene photo again. The body was nude with a very important body part missing.

Ambrose almost grinned again but refrained. "Whoever did this chopped it off. The coroner's report doesn't say this but word around town is it's shoved up his ass."

"Yikes," Roman grimaced.

Rule number one in private investigating is to find out who profited from the death. The motive may not always be money especially when someone is killed as brutal as this guy was. This had to have been personal or for revenge. Find the motive and you'll usually find the killer.

"Who is he?"

"This is, well this was, Thad Cameron. He was this legendary wrestler for WWE back in the day. After he retired, he started his own independent promotion, Thad Championship Wrestling or TCW," Ambrose informed.

"Wrestling?" Roman's brow knitted. "That fake, carny shit? Who still watches it besides trailer trash? I haven't watched WWE since it was WWF when I was like 6!"

"You'd be surprised," Ambrose muttered. "The fanbase is large and diverse so don't knock it. It's a pretty big industry actually. WWE is worth billions!"

"What the hell makes you want to be involved with something like this?"

Ambrose looked around as if he wanted to make sure no one was listening which confused Roman because they were alone. "A really obscene amount of money is what. I don't even know who we're working for. I was hired by another PI firm, who was hired by a lawyer, who is paying all of us from an untraceable account. No one is talking. I tried to look into it and got some pretty harsh words from the lawyer, telling me they're not paying me to investigate them, they're paying me to make it go away."

It seemed the wrestling business wasn't too different from other entertainment industries. It was never about justice, it was about covering your own ass and the people up top paid big bucks to make it all disappear like it never happened. It didn't matter if innocent people got hurt or had lives ruined, as long of none of it stuck to them.

Ambrose saw him frowning. "You need to get over it, Roman. I'm paying double rates on this case. They really want to find out who did it. Believe it or not, we're the good guys this time."

Roman laughed in disbelief. "Us, good guys? Nonsense. You're lucky I have bills due. What are the cops saying?"

"Much of nothing," Ambrose shook his head before handing Roman a folder. "This is a list of sponsors, business associates and of course, the wrestlers. You take most of the female wrestlers because women always respond to you better."

"Or, you could get Charlotte to do it. A woman may feel more comfortable with another woman," Roman suggested. Charlotte was one of their top PIs.

"Actually, I'm sending both of you. You can take turns; let her be the bad guy on one and you on the next. Go shake some trees, Big Dog. Let's see what kind of shit falls out."