Faceless Instincts

Partners in Crime

I returned home determined. I knew I had just pushed away my biggest support system, but I had to walk forth and carrying baggage that can not prove to be helpful would only slow me down. I understood Dorian was gone but the question was, where?

I took out his form from my bag and scanned it through, there was no new detail.

Ashford Dorian, 34. I raised my eyebrows in amazement more like impressed, I didn't know he was thirty-four, only three years older than me, he's ageing like wine. I moved down to his permanent address that only specified, Goldbridge. It wasn't enough, he had left any contact details blank and there was little to no extra details. I inspected further down, His name, home town, family.

Family. His brother, what if he went to him? I looked through the section but only his father's name was presented in the space. Neither did his mother's or brother. What, but why? The question pricked my mind as I grew more frustrated with every dead end. I ran my palms on my face and closed my eyes.

I found nothing valuable in the record except for a clue where he lived. I leaned back on the couch when suddenly a thought popped in my head, what if he hadn't left yet?

I bounced from the couch and instantly regretted it as a sharp pain ran across my legs and back. I held on to the couch for support and leaned on to it. After the pain subsided, I grabbed my bag and called a cab.

Getting inside I took out my phone and tried calling Amy, but the call went straight to her voicemail. I leaned back in the seat and looked out of the window. Winter prevailed at its peak. Everything was white and gleaming. I was appreciating the beauty of winter when my phone buzzed, it was a text from Amy. Sorry, I am assisting Mr Russell. Ttyl.

I sighed deeply and looked out again. We were about to cross the city and enter the old neighbourhood when I noticed the barricading. "What's that?" I asked the driver.

"Looks like they are searching through cars" he replied, bring the cab to a halt.

"Will it take long?"

"Depends on the type of search."

I nodded and sat back. With every passing minute, I was growing more anxious. The cab was crawling forward at the slowest speed possible.

I started to look at my phone and found more about Goldbridge when I heard a tap on the window. I looked up and saw a familiar face frowning down at me.

"What are you doing here?" His voice got muffled through the glass so I lowered it down.

"Hi Nikolai," I said.

"Hi, what are you doing here I thought you said you wanted to rest, why didn't you call me?"

"I...." I looked at the other cop, "I am going to meet a friend."

He looked at me suspiciously, "in the old neighbourhood?"

"Yes," I said.

Nikolai looked at me nervously, "are you.." he paused and motioned the other cop to go ahead, "are you going to meet Dorian?"

The words caused a feeling of uneasiness in my chest, and I felt guilty, "yes"

He nodded gently avoiding eyes contact with me. He looked far ahead, thinking and then out of the blue he opened the car door, "come, I'll take you."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, I will take you there." He looked at me, "I mean..this could take a lot of time and it's not good for your health to just sit here."