Chapter Six: It’s Not Revenge, Is It?

‘Hello? Are you gonna answer my questions?’

I snapped out of my thinking space, looking at her, seeing the slight resemblance to her father, down to the way she holds the gun at me. I keep my hands raised, sighing.

‘Look, I was with him-’

‘Where?’ She said, cutting me off. Is it that she doesn’t believe me, or does she just really want to know if her father is alive? Either way, she’s really quick and jumpy.

‘In a forest-’ I barely manage to get out.

‘Which forest?’ I frowned. Too quick and jumpy.

‘If you’d let me speak, I’d love to tell-’

‘Tell me possible lies, yeah, okay-’ She said with a snarky tone, scoffing as she held the gun tighter.

‘Look, I was nearly dying and your father found me and knocked me out, taking me to his own home and took care of me before he…’ I folded my lips, lowering my hands as I tilted his head down. How am I gonna tell her this part? I lift my head back.

She repositioned her grip on the gun, leaning a bit from side to side. ‘Before he what? Huh?’

‘Before he died…’ Greda’s eyes widened as her fingers loosened on the gun. She looked down. Why is she acting like she believes him? Well, he looks like he’s telling the truth… ‘You have the note I gave you. Doesn’t the writing look new? You can check it again if you want…’

Her eyes glanced at her pocket before looking at me. ‘Don’t. Move.’

I raised my hands higher and stiffened my body so that the slightest movements could be noticed. ‘Didn’t plan on it.’ I said quietly.

She studies the note’s crook and nanny, looking for anything that slightly gives the paper’s time of use, but finds nothing but slight wrinkling and the clear-as-day ink, no deterioration. She shakes her head, putting the note back in her pocket. She guesses that I most likely, slightly, am ¾’s of the way telling the truth. She looks back up at me, which causes me to raise my hands a bit more. I stare at her. She's gotta believe me, she has to! My eyes then widen as she raises her pistol back up at me.

‘I still don’t trust you…’ This causes me to sigh. Welp, she might as well shoot me. As long as these feelings-

‘But since you…have something to do with my father. I’ll help, but I’m included, got that?’

I blink vigorously before nodding my head. As long as she doesn’t get in my way, I’ll be perfectly fine.

‘Yeah, of course. I just have a question.’

‘Nope.’ I raised an eyebrow at what she said. ‘Wha-’

‘First, empty your pockets, and everything that you could be hiding in your clothes.’

I just stand there, looking at her. Is she…well, she doesn’t trust me…

‘Do it!’

‘Okay, okay!’ I began to pat my pocket, taking out the two phones I had, checking my back pockets, then sweater pockets, before coming to the back of my pants. I grip the item behind there before slowly taking it out, showing her my pistol.

She furrows her eyebrows at me. ‘Drop it and kick it to me.’

Okay, now I’m not perfectly fine. And the fact that she doesn’t trust me means I probably won’t see this gun for a while…I sighed. It’s either that, or a bullet in my body, or jail. I dropped it and kicked it to her.

She kept looking at me, as if waiting for a single movement, either to run away or towards her, before she bent down and picked it up, throwing it on the couch beside her.

‘Alright. Ask away.’

I sighed. ‘Okay, you said that you hope I’m not the murderer looking for you and your sister, right?’

She nodded, her eyes trained on me. ‘But apparently, he wants my sister instead.’

My eyes widened. Perfect, I can use her to locate Chosen, and use her sister to bait him out also, maybe the universe is working in my favor after all. ‘Y-your sister? Where is she right now?!’ I walked slightly closer to her,

Which caused me to back up and pull down on the trigger, making me stop advancing, and instead raise my hands, also backing up. ‘Sorry, sorry.’

She squinted her eyes at me before loosening her finger. ‘She’s with the cops.’

Just wonderful. I quietly groan, dropping my hands as I did with my head. Yeah, let me just waltz right into the place as a suspect and ask for someone who’s included in a string of murders. I-I don’t even know if my mom called them and put me in as a suspect.

She scoffed mockingly with a smirk. ‘Yeah, it’s not gonna be so easy, is it?’

I look at her, showing her that it’s not funny at all. ‘You’re supposed to be helping.’

She shrugged, a slight smirk on her face. ‘Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be helping with.’

‘Well, first of all, you can help me- actually, you go into the police station.’ Maybe the universe isn’t so bad…

She raised an eyebrow, lowering the gun, tilting my head. ‘Me? Go into the police station?’

I nodded my head, looking for any sign of agreement with her face, or eyes, or body, or anything! ‘Think about it. You go over there, asking for her, and the detectives will most likely say she’s busy or something. Then you ask them if it will be okay if you take her over to your house, to be safe.’ I slightly smiled. This better go well.

She squinted her eyes at me, searching me also for anything communicative body language that would expose me as a liar. As she finds nothing but a trustworthy man, or that she has no body language awareness. She sighs and lowers her gun. This causes me to sigh in relief as I too lowered my hands. Okay, this is progress. She’s pretty intimidating with that thing.

‘You’re coming with me. I don’t trust you alone here.’ She said, staring at me with a straight face.

Welp, now I have to tell her. ‘I…I can’t.’ I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

She raises an eyebrow at me, the sudden grip on her pistol slightly tightening. ‘And why not?’

I looked down at the grip of her pistol, then at her. She’s too intimidating. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve never been held at gunpoint before, or the of what might happen if I piss someone off, or say the wrong thing. But I just need to relax and calm down. No need to be more suspicious than I already am. I sighed, letting the breath out of my mouth.

‘I’m…I’m a suspect.’

She sighed, frowning a bit. ‘You know how to make it easier for me to trust you, don’t you?’ She said with a bit of venom. I kinda tipped the scale of trusting, to if I tried anything remotely funny, I’m a goner.

‘Look, I know, I know. If anything, you can leave me here.’ I smiled a bit, but if anything, it made it worse. Making anything better would be impossible for me, wouldn’t it? She squinted her eyes at me.

‘And leave you with that?’ She said as she nodded her head backwards slightly to the pistol lying comfortably on the couch. I darted my eyes at that, then back at her.

‘Well, you could bring it with you…’ I didn’t say, but offered.

That raised eyebrow she caused to happen already told me enough. ‘And leave you here…?’ She probably didn’t say, but instead questioned.

This was getting too annoying. Too much time is being wasted; just think of something. Then it came to me. I’m such an idiot. My eyebrows raised

‘Look, how about you leave both of the guns here, and we go over to the station?’ My eyebrows still raised, but with a smile, a more genuine one than the one from before.

She bit her lip, looking at me, then at the gun, then back at me. Her eyes darted off, before she closed them and stopped her lip, sighing.

‘Fine…’ She then threw her gun on the couch. She then looked at me, still doubtful, saying, ‘But you’re staying infront of me as we walk.’

I just nodded my head. As long as I get what I need, I’m fine.

***

We then walked out, walking in order as she said. When we were walking down to the double entrance, I don’t know, but I could feel her eyes staring at me, or I think she’s staring at me. It’s like a housefly. And the silence didn’t make it anything better, well, those few minutes of silence.

‘This killer…what does he have to do with you, which is somehow connected with my sister…?’

Should I answer that? I know my part, but her sister’s, I couldn't care less. And if I told her my part, she’d try and bargain me out of this. If she cares, that is.

‘Everything…for my part.’ I just say.

She narrowed her eyes at the back of my head like she was staring at my face. I just kept walking, trying not to look as interested in the conversation. Maybe she’d drop it if I did.

‘Did he hurt you, someone close to you?’

She didn’t drop it. ‘Does it matter?’ I question back, keeping my head ahead and not looking back.

‘So he did hurt your family-’ ‘I never said-’ ‘Well, you implied it. Cmon, you dodging it is not gonna help me trust you. So who did he hurt…?’ She then slightly frowned, her eyebrows slanting outwards. ‘Your mother? Father? Relatives? Siblings-’

I stopped right there. Maybe if I answer, she’ll leave me the hell alone and stop looking at me so weirdly. She only wants to know who the bastard hurt. ‘It was my brother. Are you happy now?’

Then she just looked up at me, staring at me, searching for an answer with just my eyes. And behold,

‘You’re seeking revenge.’

I sighed. She doesn’t understand either. What am I talking about? No one does. I turned around and walked. Her eyes widened as she got her ‘answer’, and quickly walked up to me, and…next to me.

‘So, it is revenge!’ I kept walking, but slightly faster. ‘It’s not revenge-’ ‘It is! You’re doing this because someone killed your brother, even though it’s not right to get revenge, if anything, it goes to show how much you loved your brother.’ I stopped, and she faced her. ‘I’m not doing this for my brother! It doesn’t matter that he died…!’ Saying that, my eyes darted. It felt weird. A bitterness on my tongue like a baby tasting lemon. It’s that weird feeling again, the heart-twisting feeling. ‘I’m doing this…because of what happened to me, because of the result of that…’

Her sympathy faded away. She frowned, her tone getting a bit louder with a bit of annoyance. ‘So, what? Because of the pain YOU felt, that’s why you’re going to kill him? That’s worse! I-it’s selfish!’

I faced away from her and kept walking. I don’t care if it’s selfish; isn’t everybody else selfish? I’m just wasting time talking to her. Then she ran up and stopped infront of me. ‘Don’t act like what I’m saying doesn’t matter! You could be serving justice! Instead of serving yourself, think about how many other targeted people you could save by not serving yourself!’

I walked past her, not saying a word. I’ll save them indirectly anyway. And if I don’t…oh well, people die. She doesn’t understand either, not that I’m surprised. She looked at me, frowning, sighing. She ran up and caught up to me, walking beside me instead of behind me.

***

Shawn made it first, and he made them park in front of the precinct, not taking any chances that anything might happen if they parked in the back. Shawn was the first to exit, quickly and surely helping Nami out before they jogged to the entrance, which two officers was standing right there, one to the right with his thumbs in his belt, which held a pouch that held his gun, as if ready for the sign of any suspicious activity, the other to the left just had his arms crossed, looking around. As Shawn went up the steps to the entrance. He looked at the first officer, nodding. The officer nodded his head at Shawn, then Shawn nodded his head at the second officer, then he returned the gesture, which was what Shawn did. But for Nami, she just looked at the two officers, then looked down. The officer opened the door. embracing the loudness of keyboard-pressing, voices, and fax machines. He guided them to the right side of the double doors, and backed up nearly to the wall was a station where a colored-woman sat, and another officer next to her. The officer who guided the two left back to his post. She looked up from her computer and smiled, her aura slightly uplifting the area.

‘Good morning! ID please.’

Shawn dug into his trench coat, taking out his wallet and handing the good woman what she needed. She muttered a beautiful and genuine thank you before opening the drawer, which held what seemed to be a scanner, and a string of wires; two wires were showing a bit. She placed the ID face down, where the information was not showing, on the scanner. The red light in the scanner did two laps up and down before the notification beeped up on the monitor, prompting the woman to look up at the monitor. She then leaned up and tapped the top of the camera, as she said,

‘Face the camera and smile.’

Shawn looked at the camera, then at the woman. The woman just smiled at him, showing her kindness, but also what to do. Shawn sighed and bent over slightly to face the camera and let out an involuntary smile. The same red light that came from the scanner, doing the same lap, but across Shawn’s face before it snapped. The now taken screenshot of Shawn is now placed next to the ID card. It takes a few minutes of analysis before it dings, turning green. The woman took the ID and gave it back to Shawn, who put the ID back in his wallet, then his wallet into his trench coat.

‘Have a good day!’ The woman says, but Shawn, not wanting to use his words, just nodded and left with Nami.

They walked to the back doors, their ears catching conversations after conversations. Some about lunch, home, and many other things. But that didn’t matter, for they had already reached the interrogation room. Shawn opened the door for Nami and walked in after her. She sat down on the stainless steel stairs, her feet already tapping against the floor as she crossed her arms, fidgeting and playing with her flannel shirt. I guess this is what she gets for trying to forget everything. She wonders what her husband would think about this- wait, her husband! What happens if her husband comes home and sees that she’s not here? She bites her lip and looks at Shawn, who leans against the wall, before darting her eyes somewhere. Then Shawn looks at her before looking at the chair across from her, seeing there’s only one chair, and knowing that they’ll be here for a while, he leaned up against the wall and began to walk.

‘D-do you know when I’ll be able to get back home…my…my husband will be home soon…’

This caused Shawn to stop walking as he grabbed the doorknob. He doesn’t turn to face her. ‘What time does he get off work?’

‘Around 3:00…’ She almost immediately responds.

Shawn then checked his watch, seeing that it just turned 10. He puts his arm down.

‘He might have to come to the precinct also…’

She just stayed silent, letting out a little sigh as her left foot slowed its tapping.

Shawn opens the door, but stops. ‘Call him around the time you say he gets off. Tell him what’s going on. I’m gonna get another chair.’ He then left, shutting the door as it caught the sound of his footsteps, very hollow footsteps. She sat in her silence, looking around, then at the one-way mirror, staring at it like it was a memory. Seeing herself, but not her present self. More of her past self. Maybe a fond memory, or a bad memory, or maybe a memory she just wants to forget…

The mirror became less one-way, instead clear as both sides would be able to see each other. The young girl was seated in a colorful chair and at a colorful table, surrounded by a colorful room. Red, blue, green, all you can think of it’s there. There, seated on the colorful table, was a pencil and paper, on which was written on it fill in the blanks information. But she didn’t fill in the blanks, nor did she pick up the pencil; she just stared at the paper, especially at that which said “full name here,” followed by a line, instructing where to put the name. In the corner of her left eye, two men gazed at her whilst also conversing with each other.

‘It makes sense if she doesn’t want to do anything…things like that, really take a toll.’ A man in a white trench coat said to the man in the black suit.

The black suited one was just smiling with his hands in his pockets.

‘Oh, Neem, have you learned nothing of what I taught you?’ He then walked up closer to the mirror, causing the girl to look up and turn her head at the man.

His smile is too open, too comforting, too expecting that nothing will go wrong when you’re with him. He waved at her, but she just ignored his response, looking back down. He then put his hand down, still ever smiling, as the same hand went into his pocket.

‘There is no such thing as luck or coincidence, it’s…’ He leaves the rest open for Neem.

‘All part of God’s plan- yes, yes, I know.’

The man smiled before walking past the man, leaving the area, but not for long.

Neem raises an eyebrow as the man walks right past him, turning his body to follow him, saying, ‘Where are you going?’

‘You saw her. We’re gonna need to do something to cheer her up, and show her she’s in good hands.’ Then he made a right, turning his back to the entrance that led inside the room she was in. Neem looked at where the man had once walked before turning his head to the mirror only to see the girl looking, then realizing she’s been caught, looked away instantly, as if not to be caught eavesdropping.

Her eyes darted around a bit before landing a sentence on the piece of paper. “If you could’ve had everything you ever wanted, but you could only choose one, what would it be?” Who knew a paper could evoke such memories? Baking with mommy and getting the dough stuck on her nose, drawing with daddy, his drawing skills are horrendous, but it makes her laugh. And her bike, when she fell off it and scraped her knee, and she cried, her parents went over to her, and her dad told her to be strong.

Then a droplet hit the paper, forever staining it as a memory that’ll never be forgotten. Then the door is open and the man in the black suit steps in, his right hand beside him, and as for the left, behind his back. He walked up to the girl who rubbed her eye and pretended to yawn. She only faced where she wasn’t looking at the man as Neem watched. The man kneeled beside her, still with his hand behind his back. He turned his head to her face, which caused the girl to turn her head the other way, and she used her arms as a headrest. He’d slightly smile, nothing he couldn’t handle. His eyes then found the wet spot, and he took the finger of his free hand and pointed at it.

‘What’s this? Were you crying?’ He then turned his head to her.

‘No, I wasn’t.’ She said, keeping her head away.

He’d smirk. ‘So, this is just drool? C’mon, you gotta try and write something! There’s even drawing on the back, maybe that’ll make you feel better-’

‘That paper isn’t making me feel better, and you’re not making it better either! Only…’ She turned her head, but not to him, just making it face the wall across from her, before he continued. ‘Only mommy and daddy can do that.’

He then resorted to his last option. From behind his back, which was what his hand held, which he was keeping a secret, a teddy bear. A clean, nice teddy bear at that. He then looked at her with a smirk.

‘Look at what I found…’ He shook the teddy bear in a playful motion. ‘You’re teddy bear…’ He then sniffed the teddy bear. ‘We didn’t have to wash it.’

Her head turned to her beautifully soft brown teddy bear. He holds it out, saying ‘hm’ as a gesture for her to hold it in her arms once more. She looked at the man, still with a smile, then at the bear before reaching out, her fingers spreading as her palms opened, stopping her hands midway, slowly reeling in her fingers to nearly enclose her palm. She looks down. All it would do is remind her of what happened…

‘I’ll take care of it, whenever it’s dirty, or it’s ripped, or anything…we’ll take care of it, just as we’ll take care of you. I promise, you’re in good arms.’

This man’s word brought something stubborn out of her, causing her to slowly take the bear and start caressing it. Remembering everything that had happened, but now knowing, as the man said, she’s in good arms. He smiles, the delight of his perusading with children flawless as ever. He then reached over and squeezed the teddy bear’s nose, causing her to giggle. Neem, from behind the mirror, watches with mild surprise, which was combined with non-surprise. The man in the black suit always had his way with children. If he told a kid they couldn’t die, they’d probably believe it until proven wrong.

He then stood up, holding his hand out. ‘C’mon, let me introduce you to the other kids. They’ll love you.’

His smile, ever present, as if he lost everything, his smile would be the thing that’ll carry him. She stopped her giggles and looked at him, then at his. She stuck her hand out and hesitated again It’s gonna be okay, he said, it himself. This is probably what her parents would’ve wanted her to be, if anything ever happened to them. She then smiled and gave in.

***

The loudness could be heard outside of door, still muffled, but the sounds of shuffling and little ones yelling. Then they stopped infront of the door, which had held the loud noises. The man then let go of the young girl’s hand and opened it, and opened it wide enough for the young girl to walk through first. As the door opened, she wasn’t blinded by the lights but by how lively the room was compared to the room she had just in. It felt more full, literally and figuratively, it’s like what that other room needed…was some loudness, something to distract, to take the mind off of, and she got just that. The man walked in after her, closing as he stood next to her, looking at the staff watching the kids as they ran about, drawing, playing with toys, and just playing in general. But there was a stain on the white t-shirt, which didn’t blend into the crowd, nor a part of the crowd. He was a part of his crowd, which consisted of him, Him, and Himself…and the wall. He faced the wall with his knees up to his chest, head down. The man scanned the room before landing on the kid. He smiled and put his hand on her back, gently pushing her forward, pointing at him as he bent over to her level.

‘How about you start with him?’ He looked at her with a smile. She looked at where the man pointed, then at him. ‘Him…?’ She said, almost said in a waver, holding her teddy close to herself. He nodded. ‘He’s just like you. He too lost his parents.’ She then looked back at the boy. Something about him…she then walked up to him slowly, gripping her teddy bear tighter. As she appeared to him, she just stood there before she tapped his shoulder, and in a low voice, said, ‘Hey…’

The boy then turned around.

***

Shawn was outside the interrogation room, walking to his station to grab his chair, when, finally, Rich opened the doors to the precinct, causing Shawn to look up. When they both caught eyes, Shawn nodded his head to the door that led to the interrogation, whilst holding the chair up, Rich nodded back before heading to the station where the nice woman was. As the door opened, Nami snapped her head back, only to see Shawn opening the door, pushing it back wide enough to slip the chair in. Nami just watched the man as he sat the chair down across from her, next to the chair that had already been there. He then sat down, saying,

‘We’re just waiting for my partner.’

Nami just nodded, her left hand coming to rub her right. Then Rich walked in, causing Nami to look back at him. Rich walked to the open chair and sat down. The room was the opposite of the room outside this one. Silence was its main contributor, waiting for someone to speak at a time, in turn.

‘Okay, let’s start…’ Shawn reached into his trench coat pocket and took out a notepad and pen. He placed the notepad and held the pen in his hand, looking at Nami before continuing. ‘How do you know Chosen? Was he a friend? A brother? Anything can and will help.’

Nami looked away from the men and breathed in and out, steering herself for a trip down memory lane. ‘He…I-I…I met him in the orphanage I was sent to…when my parents died.’

Shawn looked down and wrote it down as Rich nodded, then spoke. ‘What did he look like…?’ They both started intently at her, causing her to look away.

‘Well…there’s a before and after…’

Shawn raised an eyebrow as Rich furrowed both of his. ‘Before and after? Like before, he became who he is?’ Rich inquired, but instead raised his eyebrow.

Nami shook her head. ‘No…before-’

But the reveal was cut like butter, the knife being that of the ring that is coming from Shawn’s pocket. Shawn looks down into his pants pocket before putting his pen down. He then takes the phone out, checking the contacts only for it to be bare numbers. Seeing has no time for this, he hangs it back up and goes to put it in his pocket, only for it to ring again, checking it again only to see the same number. He sighed deeply before standing.

‘I’ll be right back…’

Shawn then excused himself, leaving Rich and Nami in the room together. As Shawn is outside the door, he answers the phone, putting it to his left ear.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello…is this Detective Shawn?’

‘Yeah…’

‘I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m William’s mother.’

Shawn raised both of his eyebrows. Does the mother have something to say on top of them already having someone who already knows the culprit? ‘I remember. Is this related to the-’

‘Yes, it is.’ She said, cutting himself instantly as if she wanted to get this over with and not simmer in it. ‘I have reason to believe that my other son, Joseph, was the man who broke into the room where that woman and her child were.’

Shawn’s eyes widened. Now this just got real, the victim’s brother broke into Mill’s home? What for? Maybe a way to get revenge? No, he wouldn’t get revenge on Mill. Maybe…maybe he thought the killer was going to be there. A thousand thoughts ran through Shawn’s head as he thought about it before remembering the room, and looked out the one-way window.

‘Detective?’

Shawn’s head snapped away from the mirror. ‘Yeah, yeah. Uhm…I-I’m not trying to doubt you or anything- as a detective myself, I do get suspicions and reasons to believe certain stuff, but how do you truly know it’s your son…?’

‘Detective…it’s MY son. I know him from the scar on the left side of his neck, to the face that I haven’t seen smile in a while.’ She then looked at the picture of Joseph and the drawing of him.

The detective looked down, putting his free hand into his pocket, then looked up at the mirror to see Rich and Nami talking, Rich writing on the notepad.

‘Alright…I’ll put him on the list.’

‘Alright.’

Shawn then hung up, walking back to the door, opening it to poke his head in. ‘Rich…’

Rich looked up from writing and saw Shawn’s hand in a waving motion towards him. Rich raised an eyebrow before standing and looking at Nami, saying, ‘We’ll be back’ before following Shawn out the door.

Rich then closed the door, looking at him. ‘What’s up…?’

‘One of the victim’s mothers just called.’ He says, not looking, Rich, but hearing him as his mind goes off on a tangent.

‘Which one?’

‘William. The guy who seemed to be connected with Mill’s murder. His mother called, saying that the unknown person over at Mill’s house when the shootout happened was William’s brother…’

Rich’s eyes widened. ‘What…?! W-what he’s doing there?!’ He had so many questions. Was he the one who helped kidnap Mill? Is he a part of this, too? IF so, why would he come after his flesh and blood?

Shawn looked towards, putting his back against the wall as he rubbed his chin. ‘That’s what I’m wondering…’

Rich sighs and looks to the ceiling. They stood in silence, well in their thoughts, until Rich bent over and picked up a thought, tilting his head down from the ceiling to face Shawn. ‘What if he wanted to get revenge on the killer?’

Shawn looked up to Rich with furrowed eyebrows, crossing his arms. ‘Well, it almost got him killed from what we heard.’

Rich interlocked his fingers together and then put them on top of his head. ‘I don’t think he will go back home after that. People in the home saw him…’ Shawn just nodded before Rich continued. ‘I would also say that he has valuable information to know Chosen was going after Mill first…’

‘We need to find him.’ Shawn interjected, looking up at Rich’s bowed head. Then Rich himself looked up, dropping his hands from the top of his head.

‘What about her…?’ Rich jerks his thumb backwards, towards the mirror. ‘It won’t be easy finding the victim’s brother. Plus, what if she has info that’ll give us a shortcut to finding this guy, then he has? Honestly, let’s make use of what we have now, then look for him.’

Shawn looked at the woman who just sat there, staring at nothing as she rubbed her arm, lost in thought. Shawn then nodded, pushing up from the wall. ‘Let’s head back in.’

Rich’s left corner of his mouth pulled upwards as they began walking to the door, but as so, the intercom came on…

‘Shawn Ellis and Richard New to the receptionist desk, Shawn Ellis and Richard New to the receptionist desk!’

Shawn and Rich looked at each other before they made their way over to the receptionist's desk. As they exposed their ears to the busyness of the precinct, and over to the receptionist desk, there the woman was seated, holding a phone. And when she saw the two men approach her, she held it out.

‘He said he has something to aid you in the case you guys are doing.’

Shawn raised an eyebrow before slowly taking the phone and putting it to his ears. ‘Hello…?’

The other line was silent. Dead silent until a voice pierced the left ear of Shawn. ‘Is this Detective Shawn…?’

‘Yes, this is Detective Shawn. May I ask, who are you…?’

‘Somebody who knows you has Nami Ellis.’

This caused Shawn to furrow his eyebrows, his mouth slightly parting. Rich caught Shawn’s expression and stood beside him, leaning into the phone.

‘How did you-’

‘I have her husband…’ Then there were muffled movements before a voice rang out. ‘Help! He’s-’ Then more muffled sounds rang over the phone before the voice that cried for became quiet. ‘Don’t track this phone number, for I will already tell you where I am. I’m at Nami Ellis’s house. Bring me Nami Ellis or her husband WILL die. Bring nobody else, other than you two, three counting Nami. I hope you comply with these terms. I don’t want to kill him, and you guys and I know she doesn’t want to lose her husband.’

Shawn’s heart raced a hundred miles while Rich was just speechless.

***

A woman, seemingly in normal clothing, got out of her car, which was in the land of the cars. She walked past other cars that drove by that were looking for open parking spots. As she reached her destinated, she walked through the door, only to be instantly met with a beep from the walk-through metal detector. Two officers, armed and secured for anything that may happen, came from beside the metal detectors and stopped her. The woman sighed, rolling her eyes.

‘It’s just my necklace.’ She said, taking her necklace from out of her shirt, waving it spitefully to them.

One of them pulled out a handheld metal detector. ‘We can’t be too sure, ma’am. Arms out.’

She quietly groaned but complied. The officer then did his job, slowly but surely scanning her body with the thing, as nothing beeped from her legs to her waist and her stomach, when it came to her chest, it beeped.

‘See?’ She said.

The man nodded, moving aside to let her walk. She then walked to the entrance ticket desk to the right, where a woman was seated. She looked up at the woman who came up to her and smiled at her.

‘Ticket.’

The woman went into her pocket and handed the ticket to the woman. She took it and turned it over, which revealed numbers that she typed on her monitor. As a bunch of information popped up, she nodded and gave the ticket back. The woman took the ticket back, stuffing it in her pocket before walking again and making a right turn. This time, she slowed down her steps and slowly opened the door. As the door creaked open, it revealed a crowd of people in seats, two seats behind a fence with an entryway in the middle. And past that fence is a two-desk desk, and to the left is a stand where the jury’s seated. And in front was where the judge was seated. Next to the judge’s seat was a woman with a desk and a stenographic machine on it. But the door wouldn’t let it be sneaky, as it cried because someone opened it. Nearly everybody looked back before looking forward. The judge looks at her without a smile or a happy expression, and with his hammer, points at the empty seat in the spot of jury spot. She nodded and walked past the entrance to take her seat, which she did.

‘Look, a face that can probably relate!’ The attorney who stood in front of the seats of the jury said, holding his hands out towards the woman, before continuing. ‘You’ve had a boyfriend when you were in high school, right? Don’t tell me no, now.’ He finished with a smirk.

She raised an eyebrow. ‘Yeah…?’

‘And you…’ He looked around the court before slightly leaning in, putting his hand on the left side of his mouth to whisper something. ‘This might get a little personal…’ He said in a quiet voice before removing his hand and backing up, and saying it in a normal voice so that the judge and other people may hear it. ‘And you’ve…per se, had “fun” with your boyfriend, hm?’

She recoiled her head back a bit as he put her on blast like that. Even though it’s kind of personal, he’s also using her to get his point across. She then looked at the judge, then at the crowd, before looking at the attorney, nodding.

He smiled and leaned against the railings that separated him from the jury. ‘Okay, let’s say you and your boyfriend are at the peak of your hormonal levels, and you want to go and show your love to each other. But there’s a problem, your boyfriend can’t go out late at night, and neither of you definitely can’t go over to each other’s houses…’ He clears his throat, putting his fist to his mouth, then removing it. ‘Because it’s a Sunday and your parents are home. So you decide to go out with him. First, you ask your parents if you can go out with your boyfriend, they say yes, and you go. Then you decide to go to a slightly secluded place with your boyfriend. And you park next to a car that seems vacant, then you guys get it on. And as you guys are getting it on, a mother and her two children walk towards their car, which you parked next to. She and her child see what’s going on and are disgusted by what their child is seeing, so she sends you to court for public indecency. The question…’ He pushes himself off the railing and rests both of his hands on it.

‘Don’t you think that the mother should have a bit of empathy for these young adults?’ He says, pointing his hand at the boy and girl who sat on the right side of the court, looking down as the attorney called them out.

The woman looked at them, then at the man. ‘I…guess…?’

‘You guess?’ He laughs, looking at the jury, then at the crowd, lastly at the judge, but seeing none of them enjoy his humor, he stops laughing. He stands infront of the jury, facing them all. ‘C’mon, they’re young! Underdeveloped! Hormonal! Common sense comes on the tierlist in their brain! We’ve all done some dumb stuff in our youth, eh?’ The jurors looked at each other, some nodding, others doing a shake of their heads

The judge then pounded the gavel. ‘That’s enough, Mr. Ellis.’

Ellis then walked back to the empty seat next to the two kids, sitting down as he leaned back against the chair. The prosecutor then stood up, walking to the infront…

‘The place they did it at was a public place, where anybody could park, and must I also say it was near a park. If anything, this was a sign from God not to have sex before marriage…’

***

Mr. Ellis walks into the bathroom, grumbling a bit as he mocks the prosecutor. ‘No sense of shame…’ He puts his briefcase behind the urinal flusher handle before zipping down his pants. ‘A sign from God- who cares if it’s a sign from God, it should be a sign from God for you people to have empathy. I bet that woman only did it to get money outta their parents…God made sex for a reason, they were most likely gonna get married anyway…’ The pee then released from penis, hitting the back of urinal as it came out. The wooden door then creaked open as someone else walked in, whistling whilst doing so before walking up to the urinal next to Mr. Ellis, and taking a leak. The man looked over at Mr. Ellis before looking back, but then looked over again, eyes widening as he is revealed on who he was looking at.

‘H-hey! You’re Mikan. Mikan Ellis!’

Mikan didn’t even care, for the only thing he listened to was the sounds of him mocking the prosecutor. ‘Yeah, that’s me…’ He muttered, barely finished the sentence as he zipped up his pants and went to the sink. The man looked over his shoulder at Mican before zipping up his pants and walking over to Mican, who’s washing his hands.

‘Hey, what’s got ya so down?’ He leaned against the sink, looking at him.

‘Some stupid case…doesn’t matter anymore.’ He looks at himself in the mirror, turning his head side-to-side.

The man looked down and nodded his head before lifting it. ‘But hey, I need your help with something. It’s better if we talk on the phone, do you have your business card?’

This then brought the man out of his grumpy mood as he leaned up, smirking slightly. ‘What man would I be if I didn’t?’ He says as he goes into his suit jacket, taking out a business card, holding it out to the man in between his index and middle finger.

The man smiles and takes the card, looking at it before looking at Mikan, nodding. ‘Thanks.’

‘Anytime.’ He smirks as he walks away, but snaps his fingers, turning around slowly and walking back to the urinal, grabbing his suitcase that was behind the urinal handle. The man looked at Mikan as he was about to leave, before smirking.

‘On a second thought, how about I come visit you instead?’

Mikan stopped not too far from him to where the man couldn’t reach him. Visit him? Like, visit his law firm? He furrowed his eyebrows but didn’t turn to face the man, but instead checked his watch.

‘My law firm? Sure, I guess we could drive there-’

‘No…’ He says, stalking forward as if to play with his prey. He then continues, slowly. ‘I mean…211 Saints Avenue.’ He says as he’s right behind him. Mikan can just…sense him behind him.

Mikan's eyes widen. ‘How did you…’ But as he turns around, the man sticks a needle into the attorney's neck, releasing the toxins into his neck, putting him in a state of tipsiness. Mikan drops to the floor, his vision blurry like a drunkard. His body hits the ground, looking up at the man. The man kneels to him and smirks before unloosening his tie and suit jacket.

***

The man opened the back door using his right hip, leading into the side parking lot with Mikan leaning into and against him like a lover. The man puts Mikan’s arm around his shoulder. The man had on Mikan’s clothes, and Mikan with the man’s clothing. Which made Mikan look like a regular civilian who works a simple job.

‘Erm…I want…home…wife…’ Mikan slurred, trying to move away.

But the man stopped him, putting his arm around his midsection to keep him still.

‘Ah ah ah. You’ll get home. But your wife is a different story.’ The man looked around, seeing a lot of cars, but barely any people on the streets. There was one person, a smoker, looking down at his phone. He tightened his side hug on Mikan, shaking him playfully a bit. ‘Cmonn, you got this…’

They then kept walking, but Mikan, with all his little strength and might, pushed himself off the man. The push was barely a push, more like a playful push, but because Mikan couldn’t balance himself, his arm hit the ground. The smoker then put away his phone, looking up only to see from across the street, a man on the floor as another man went up to the man on the floor to pick him up. The smoker furrows their eyebrows as they take a drag off their stick. It’s not every day you see something like this. Interest was in his eyes and eyebrows. When the suited man picked up the apparent drunken man, and putting his hand on the man’s cheeks, shaking his face back and forth playfully, saying words before smiling, then putting him in the position they were before, the suited man caught the eyes of the smoker looking at them. The man points at Mikan with his free hand, then shrugs with that same free hand to the smoker, as if to say he’s just out of it. The smoker just slowly nodded before dropping the cigarette, stomping it out, and walking away. The man looked over to Mikan with a wide smile, a too wide of a smile. Mikan looked over at the man before looking ahead.

‘Ho…me…hoooommmmmeeee.’

The man didn’t reply to his tipsy, but instead carried him over to a car which was parked on the street, as the courthouse was. He slowly put the man in the car, strapping him in before closing the door. He got in his seat and then just drove off…