Always By Your Side (Jack Archer x Mithran Ganesh)

Chapter Seven

After last night's amazing date with Mithran I woke up refreshed and ready for the day while walking through the halls of HQ towards Chief Ripley's office but for some odd reason I had a strange feeling that something crazy is about to happen I can't really describe it not with words or actions I'll need to be on my guard one hundred percent after arriving I knocked on the door waiting for a few moments before hearing a come in as I opened the door only to be met with Mithran staring at me followed by a soft smile. "Archer please come take a seat there's a serious situation we need to discuss with you." I nodded taking a seat next to him. "What's going on is everything okay Chief?" Without saying another word reached into her desk pulling out a folder followed by a picture at first, we were baffled. "I just received a call from the local hotel there's been a murder the young woman's name is Ashley Douglas and her fiancé Calvin James both of them are actors of an upcoming movie the hotel is asking us to keep things under wraps and to make sure no one gets wind of it okay?" We nodded grabbing the folder off the desk and headed out the door. "Hey Jack, have you seen any of their movies?" I shook my head looking through the information. "Nope besides I rather see a movie we'll both like." From the corner of my eye, I saw Mithran smiling at me. "We better get going it's going to be a very long day." He nodded as the two of us headed out of HQ towards the parking lot only to stop when we saw Carmen and Michelle standing near the cruiser. "What took you guys so long we need to hurry and get to the hotel right away!" Without saying a single word, the four of us hopped into the cruiser speeding out of the parking lot along the way I couldn't help but to start picking on Carmen which for me is fun. "Archer, I'm telling you right now if you don't stop, you'll be in a world of hurt." It was a chance I was willing to take. "Hmm... Let me think about it... Nope!" While being a pain in the butt to Carmen I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Mithran and Michelle talking in the back and looking at his phone probably getting some ideas for our next date. "Hey Jack for our next how about we go see a movie." I nodded smiling. "Sounds good to me babe." From the corner of my eye, I saw Carmen looking at me with a smirk across her face. "Don't even say it, Carmen." As we finally arrived at the hotel only to hear screaming without wasting any time hopped out of the car with weapons drawn. "Thank Goodness you're here there's a person hiding in one of the rooms with a crowbar!" I nodded motioning for her to get back. "Let's go Jack!" I nodded as we headed inside while looking around, I heard glass breaking followed by an alarm. "Carmen meet me back outside and hurry!" Quickly bursting into the room saw the guy trying to escape. "Don't move!" At first, he just stood there for a few moments but before he could even move, I rushed over grabbing him by the collar of his shirt pulling him back inside. "You're under arrest for trespassing and breaking and entering." He didn't say anything instead just stared at me then it suddenly hit me it was Kayla's Hayes ex-boyfriend Logan Williams. "Logan what the heck are you doing here?!" A small nervous smile appears over his face. "Secret Agent Archer I can explain see after being released from jail I decided to get a job here as a janitor the opportunity was just too good to pass up, so I took the job and let's just say I messed up big time." I went silent for a few moments before helping him up. "Hey Carmen, can you have the hotel manager come up to room 118 please thanks." I sat him down in the chair luckily it wasn't long until the manager arrived completely shocked and furious. "Logan what the heck why are you breaking into rooms for this is a very serious offence!" He just kept looking down not saying a single word. "I already promised your mother that I would straighten you out besides I told you that you are not allowed to enter any rooms now wait for me in my office." He nods making his way out of the room. "Thank you so much for helping me is there any way that I can pay you back?" I nodded pulling out the pictures of the victims. "Yes, you can we received a call about two murders of famous movie celebrities." The manager quickly nodded. "Oh yes I called it in earlier they were supposed to check out at 11:00 AM but when didn't show up I figured they were still asleep, so I tried calling them up it went unanswered, so I decided to up to their room and knocked on the door but stopped when I stepped in something warm and wet without wasting any time, I used my card key to open the door and saw them both deceased it was so horrible!" I nodded taking notes. "I'm going to need a list of all the guests' employees' names timecards and the master key, and please don't let anyone leave, okay?" She nods heading out of the room about a few minutes later I heard a knock at the door looking up I saw Mithran standing in the doorway with a soft smile across his face. "I'll be honest with you this day is about to get crazy." He nods in agreement it wasn't long until the manager came back with the lists and the master key. "Here you are I'm afraid that's all I could get due to an accident which wiped out our hard drive completely." I nodded taking the list and master key. "If it's possible, can you contact the owner and see if we can with their permission to take the hard drive." The manager nodded leaving the room. "Alright let's start searching the sooner we find our victims the better." He nodded as I texted Carmen and Michelle letting them know where to start after splitting up into teams each of us taking a room one by one, we started opening all the doors only to discover that all of them have been broken into. "This can't be normal what the heck is going on here?" As we made it to the final room on the floor only to find that the door was completely gone swallowing the lump in my throat I slowly but carefully made my way towards the room being extremely careful not to scare the murderer my heart was close to beating out of my chest without wasting anymore time pulling out my weapon. "Come on out with your hands up now!" Carmen slowly made her way towards me pulling out her weapon as well preparing for the worse to come after a few moments of intense silence it was safe to say no one else was inside putting my weapon away I headed inside only to discover that this was in fact the crime scene. "Looks like we found the right room let's seal it off and get to work." Carmen nodded as we started closing off the entire floor pulling on some gloves me, and Mithran headed inside while the girls started questioning the guests while he was looking around the room, I kneeled in front of the female victim only to discover a strange mark on her upper arm and ankle. "Hey babe come here a second." He made his way over towards me. "Did you find something?" I nodded pointing towards her upper arm and ankle. "Yeah, some strange marks maybe a tattoo?" He kneeled down beside me grabbing a camera taking some pictures. "Did you check the male victim?" I shook my head turning towards him while doing a thorough search I found something odd sticking out of his pocket reaching into the case I pulled out some tweezers and an evidence bag being careful not to damage any evidence slowly but carefully slipped it out. "What is it a business card?" I shrugged placing it in the bag. "I'm not sure but if I can decipher the name, we'll have a new suspect in the meantime we'll send the bodies off to Grace what about you any luck." He nods pointing towards the bathroom. "There's a bloody handprint on the base of the sink and a fore finger and thumb print on the faucet unfortunately the fore finger and thumb print were smudged but I did manage to isolate some DNA off of it if we're lucky we might get some of the killer's DNA." That was very smart of him. "But that wasn't all while searching through the bathroom I discovered that some of Calvin James's belongings are missing his clothing shoes wallet watch you name it." When he said that it sparked my interest. "What about Ashley Douglas's belongings any luck with that?" Carmen pulled on some gloves being careful not to damage anything begin searching only to see everything still there. "Nope her things haven't been moved or touch." That's strange why would the killer take Calvin James's belongings but not Ashley Douglas's we still have so many questions but not enough answers while looking down I spotted something hidden under the bed with my curiosity I slowly but carefully lifted up the bedding up without a moment something darted out quickly followed by a squeal all four of us went absolutely silent before the three of us started to chase it but no matter how hard we tried it was impossible or so we thought because the next moment Michelle kneeled down holding out her hand as it stopped we realized that it was a baby piglet scared and confused on what's going on. "Shh it's okay your safe and sound nobody's going to hurt you." The three of us are absolutely amazed Michelle definitely has a soft spot for animals. "Wow Michelle, I didn't know you loved animals so much this is a side I never seen before." A light blush appeared over her face. "Well, when I was growing up my dad took me to a farm." I couldn't help but smile even though she had a tough childhood I'm glad that she's part of the team. "We need to see if we can find the next of kin hey Mithran can you contact Elliot and see if either victim had siblings also any luck with the guests?" Carmen pulled out her notebook. "I'm afraid not looks like everyone had a locked-up alibi all except one a middle-aged couple who apparently heard what sounded like arguing then a loud crash followed by screaming then silence but other than that they didn't see the killer." I sighed rubbing the back of my head. "But they did give me crucial piece of evidence during the murders they could hear the killer mumbling something under their breath from what they said was I'm so sorry please forgive me." That immediately took us by surprise. "So, the killer felt remorse for what they did but still so many questions left unanswered which reminds me." As I pulled out the list of guests. "Since you and Michelle already spoke to the guests on this floor me and Mithran will head to the second floor and speak with the guests there." Both Carmen and Michelle nodded in agreement. "We'll continue to look for clues here once were finished we'll meet up and discuss the next move right away." After leaving the room I continued looking around making sure we didn't miss anything as we entered the elevator, I felt his arms around my waist his touch always makes me feel safe and secure but knowing Carmen she was going to tease me later about this after arriving on the second floor we begin knocking on every single door hoping to interview some other potential witnesses and just as luck would have it a young man in his early twenties came out of his room. "Excuse young man may we have a moment of your time?" He nods closing the door behind him. "My name is Secret Agent Jack Archer, and this is my partner Lab Chief Mithran Ganesh we're investigating the murders of Calvin James and Ashley Douglas did you see anything out of the ordinary?" We watched as he started pacing back and forth before nodding. "Yeah, I'm a waiter at the Red Rooster Restaurant on Hollywood Avenue anyway I was taking orders when I noticed them enter at around 7:30 PM a lot of people gathering around them asking for autographs all except this one person who just didn't seem right in the mind." I nodded as Mithran continued to right down important information. "Did you by any chance get a good look at them or what they were driving?" The young man shook his head. "I didn't see what they were driving but as for the person they were wearing a black and blue baseball cap some type of suit fancy dress shoes." They sparked our interest. "Does the Red Rooster Restaurant have a strict dress code?" The young man nods again. "Absolutely we don't allow anyone to enter if they don't meet the dress code." Now I was completely interested in what he had to say. "Were you the one who served them?" Again, the young man shook his head. "Not me but a friend of mine did his name is Cole Soho, I can give you the address but if he isn't there then he's probably at the Red Rooster Restaurant as for the bouncer his name Noah Cox." We nodded as he headed back into his room looking back at Mithran I could help but smile as I leaned down gently kissing his temple it wasn't long until he came back out with a piece of paper. "Here's the address to my friend's apartment as for Noah he should still be at the Red Rooster Restaurant." I nodded handing Mithran the piece of paper. "Thank you for your time I just have one more question to ask you if that's okay?" He nods leaning against the doorway. "I was wondering if we could get your fore finger and thumb print so that way, we can eliminate you as a suspect." He nods as I reached into the case pulling out a piece of paper and ink being careful not to smudge pressed his fore finger and thumb print which came out perfect. "Thank you for your time we'll let you know anything." He nods heading back inside closing the door behind him. "I'll have Elliot run these prints through the database as for the crime scene I just received a text message from Carmen apparently while searching the room more thoroughly she discovered some blood on the tile floor she's sending it to Lars to find out if it came from either victims or the killer." Mithran nodded as the two of us headed back up towards the third floor after arriving Carmen's phone starts going off while she's taking the phone call me Mithran and Michelle started going through our notes trying to piece together a timeline of when the murders happened about a few minutes later Carmen walked over with notepad in hand. "Who called?" She looked through her notes. "Elliot, he managed to hack into the security camera of the hotel using BOB and surprise it's the same person a black and blue baseball cap some type of suit and fancy-dress shoes." At this point all of us were shocked. "Did he manage to get a look at their face?" She shook her head. "I'm afraid not but we do have something he managed to get a good look at their height after an estimate it's declared that the killer is 6'2" tall." That was an amazing start. "Alright the young man on the second floor gave us a couple of new suspects to talk to a certain Cole Soho and Noah Cox which one should we go speak with first?" After a discussion we immediately headed towards Noah Cox's apartment while making our way towards the cruiser I couldn't help thinking that I'm luckily to have amazing friends and an amazing boyfriend what more could I ask for.