"Man! I'm beat." Paul mumbled as he sat down in the chair and sighed.
Damien was going through some forensic reports from the crime scene. Much to his dismay, he couldn't find anything. Not one lead. The only way he could get new information on the case was through one person.
Danica Evans.
And she is linked to this. So there's no way she's gonna give something away.
Dammit!
"Rough night, huh?" Damien smirked at him.
"You bet!" Paul smirked back,
"Your girlfriend kept me up all night." He added with a cheeky grin as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Yeah, you wish." Damien scoffed jokingly, "As if she'll fall for you."
"I am not trying to make her fall, bruh. Or else she would've left your grumpy ass a long time ago." Paul laughed and stuck his tongue out in a childlike manner and Damien rolled his eyes.
Paul just chuckled at him and took out his phone and started to play some game.
"Hey, like I asked you before, are you keeping an eye on Ms Evans?" Damien asked him after a while as he looked up from his reports.
"Mm-hm" Paul hummed ignorantly.
"And?" He implored further to get an answer.
Damien waited for his response patiently but Paul wasn't giving attention to him. He was so immersed in his game, he forgot his surroundings.
Damien walked over to him and a hard smack on his head brought Paul back to reality as he cried out in pain, "Hey! What was that for?" Paul whined as he rubbed his head to ease the pain,
"This is physical abuse. I can report you to my boss you know!" He muttered.
"I am your boss, you idiot," Damien replied sarcastically.
"Huh. As if! I also have a boss above you, who is also your boss." Paul remarked in a snide tone.
"But first you have to go through me," Damien said in a challenging voice as he folded his sleeves up and rose his eyebrows and Paul gulped nervously.
"It's okay. I'm a man and I'll let it slide this time." Paul surrendered which made Damien smile in satisfaction.
"I asked you to follow her. What are you doing?" He rose his eyebrows at him again.
"Geez. I put up some officers on the task, okay?" Paul rolled his eyes at Damien's impatience.
Damien shook his head at him in disappointment and asked, "So, anything suspicious?"
"She has been going to different places far from town in search of something. And when I tell you they are shady, trust me, they are very shady...like abandoned houses, secluded alleys, warehouses and what-not." Paul shuddered at the memory,
"But that's it. She's just been visiting them, not doing anything."
Damien then abruptly remembered Danny telling him about how William asked her to deliver packages to places far from the city.
There has to be a reason why she's going.
So, she is planning something big, maybe.
Damien was now pleased that they could catch her red-handed if she tried something.
"Where is she staying?" Damien knew she had nowhere to go. He was curious.
"A motel nearby I think, I don't know," Paul answered him and went back to his game.
Damien just nodded and went back to his papers.
"So what do we do next? Do you think anyone is behind all this?" Paul asked him after a while as he pushed his phone inside his pocket.
"There definitely should be someone," Damien replied,
"We just have to find some evidence. The forensics show nothing. His phone is dry. He didn't have many contacts and his messages were also clean. He must have been deleting them frequently. We need to find out who he was selling the drugs to."
"Didn't he have many missed calls from a particular number on that day? Did they find out who that was?"
Damien shook his head, "It doesn't exist now. The person must've destroyed the SIM card. They don't run a drug business for getting caught."
"Do you think this is connected to the case the Chief told us about?" Paul asked with suspicion.
"I did think of that. But we can't know for sure." Damien let out, "This woman has something to do with this. Are you sure they're following her all day?"
"Yes!" Paul said loudly as he got a little disgruntled, "You're so obsessed with her." He muttered under his breath to himself.
"What's that?" Damien asked him as he leaned towards Paul, his eyebrows raised in challenge.
Paul laughed nervously as he shook his head vigorously, "Nothing."
"Let's see how well you've done your job!" Damien said with a smirk as he got up from his chair and fetched his car keys.
* * * * *
After she made the list of all the places she had to go to, Danny freshened up and quickly made her way out. She went towards her car at a brisk pace and got in and set the directions on her phone for the location.
As she drove towards the location, Danny couldn't help but wonder to herself as to why she was doing this. She knew that William was very clever and he would never give her places that gave away anything about the drug business. She felt foolish to even think she could find something by revisiting those places.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
You didn't know there was a meth lab at his place and now you're going after a clue. Ha, what are the odds?
The first few places she went to gave nothing but disappointment. There was not a single thing or someone to her use. As she drove, she felt weird. She felt like she was being watched and it made her insides churn a bit.
It's just your imagination, Dan.
Though Danny did not have a normal childhood and life, she never imagined herself being in such a situation. She was always sure to stay miles away from trouble even though somehow problems always found their way towards her.
Danny's mind wandered to what her life would have looked like if her parents were still alive and if Michael didn't make his way into their lives and this only made her tear up a little. Right after her father's death, Danny knew her life wouldn't be the same but she never deduced that her life would be with no one to turn to.
After around 20 minutes, she reached the place and stopped the car. There stood the same lonely warehouse with chipped off paint and broken windows as she remembered when she went to the place to give the parcel. William had instructed her to go in and hand the package to whoever there was inside. That thought only made her shudder.
She shook her head and calmed herself and got down the car. Danny made her way inside as she looked around to find someone but to no avail. The place looked deserted with no one around. She slowly opened the gate which made the creepy creeky noise. She walked towards the door and knocked on it but there was no answer. She waited for a few more seconds and pushed the door this time to which it opened ajar.
There was a deafening silence all around her which made the hair on her body to stand in chills.
She made an 'oooooh' sound with a spooky voice hoping she would get something in return. The only thing she got was the echo of her voice.
'How dumb are you, Danny?'
Her conscience asked her.
'What did you expect, Danny? You think your boss would sell drugs to ghosts?'
"Hello! Is anyone there?" She spoke into the stillness with no response in return.
As if they'll answer.
So she went inside to find everything shattered and broken to pieces with no sign of any human being. She went further inside in the hope of finding something or anything. There were files and papers scattered all around. Danny went through some of them and opened all the drawers and cupboards in search of a clue but got nothing but dissatisfaction.
She searched the warehouse for a few minutes before she gave up and went back out. There was still not one human in the surrounding.
She sighed in defeat.
Why am I even doing this?
She hoped the man who was William's friend would show up. She couldn't help but remember how scared she was when she saw the man. She couldn't remember his face clearly. She was very bad at memorizing faces.
Maybe he would know something. But she had no idea how to find him. Or where to find him. Or who he is.
All of a sudden, she heard something rumble behind one of the trees. She whipped her head in the direction but found nothing but silence again. Her heartbeat quickened. Her hands felt clammy and she didn't want to stay in that place anymore. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.
Danny started to walk towards the gate anxiously when she felt a presence behind her. She glanced behind as she turned her head a little and saw a figure behind her.
He was dressed in all black and had a black mask that covered most of his face. Danny watched a lot of shows to know exactly what a killer looked like.
The masked man quickened his pace and lunged towards her with a knife.
Oh no. Not today, Satan.
Her eyes went wide and she hoisted herself from the spot and started to run.
The man fell on the ground as a result and groaned in annoyance.
She pushed the gate open hastily and ran in the direction of her car.
She could hear the footsteps behind which only made her body shake in fear.
Her legs felt wobbly and her mind went blank. She was terrified out of her wits. She struggled to quicken her pace.
She could hear the footsteps close to her as the man neared her. Soon enough, a hand yanked her back with force and made her stop as he held her tight from behind. She closed her eyes as tears started to flow down.
"Please, please! I don't have anything! I'm still very young, sir. Please let me go." She chanted while the man just came close to her and chuckled wickedly.
She could feel his face near her which made her tremble in disgust and panic. She could feel the knife as it poked into her back.
"Say hello to God for me, eh? Or not." The man grumbled in her ear which brought goosebumps on her skin. She felt the knife press into her back a little more.
She didn't want to die like that. She didn't want to die at all. However hard life was, Danny, didn't want to die. Her body and mind felt numb. She had so many unanswered questions and so many thoughts.
Abruptly she worked out her emotions and mind and swung her leg back and hit the man right where the sun didn't shine.
"You bitch!" He wailed in pain and let go of her from his hands and she heard the knife hit the road.
Yep. Take that!
Ninja Hattori back in action.
Danny took that as an opportunity and started to run again.
As she ran, she picked up a hefty stone and plunged it towards him. The stone hit the man somewhere and he fell to the ground in pain. Again.
Goal.
She reached her car and looked back. She saw the man as he toiled to get up. Danny struggled to unlock her car, but the button wasn't working. She pressed it hard many times but it wasn't working.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" She cried out as tears stained her face.
There were millions of thoughts that sprinted across her mind.
She started to open the car with her key but her trembling fingers made it impossible for her. She was too terrified to get her mind straight.
Just as she finally opened the door to get in, the man had caught up to her and yanked her away from the car. She cried out in pain as she fell to the ground in a thud.
As the man started to near her, she tried to crawl back with all her might. Her whole body ached in misery and pain.
She looked around to find something or someone for help but she was helpless. She was cornered.
This is it. My life is going to end. I'm so dead. She thought.
She was alone. Like she always had been.
"Nowhere to run now?" The man said with an unpleasant voice as he raised the knife in his hand.
God, if you're looking to give me something good in my life, this is the time!! Please!
Danny closed her eyes as if she was getting ready to die and remembered her father one last time and waited for the impact.
I'll see you soon, dad. Finally!
That was when she heard it.
A gunshot.
__/\__