More Short Stories!- Kai Ships Only

Yeonkai- Falcon Heights

7am. The sun was just rising over Falcon Heights. A perfect small town where everyone knows everyone. Red brick buildings adorned the streets below the hill. A river ran next to the town on one side with a vast meadow on the other. The crown jewel was the large hill that contained a small state park. It was covered in pines trees making up the forest that encased the whole region. At the top of the hill was the best viewing point. That's where Kai was sitting as he watched the town below him wake up.

He listened to the call of baby falcons in the branches above him. Their mothers were surely nearby. Their fathers? Who knows? Probably hunting a forest mouse or an unlucky rabbit. Kai swayed his feet off of the large branch he was sitting on. He wondered how this town seemed to maintain their economy when the rest of the nation seemed to suffer under the growing inflation.

His assignment was to go undercover here. Not to see how their economy stayed consistent, that was his own curiosity, but to see why a child goes missing every season. One was always found dead by the 72nd hour of disappearance.

Kai didn't have much with him. Just a bag of personal belongings he brought with every undercover assignment. A momma falcon landed right on it. It curiously looked at Kai then started pecking at the bag. "Hey! That's my snacks!" He grinned as he opened the zipper. He then held the plastic bag of trail mix open for the bird to eat. The falcon flew off. "Huh. Guess you didn't want it from me then."

He looked back down towards the town to see cars gradually come onto the road. A big yellow school bus drove away from the center. His eyes followed it until they couldn't anymore. It was probably picking up farm kids.

According to his phone calendar, today was the first day of spring. A child was going to go missing. Potentially killed. He wasn't leaving here until he could figure out who was responsible. Kai hopped down from the tree to find his new place. He then started to drive into town in the pickup truck his squad set him up with. He hated the damn thing. Used more gas than it was worth.

The address was to a small white house. There was someone gardening out front. That made him question the address. When he confirmed it was the right place, Kai stepped out of the truck and asked "hey. Is this 321 Hazel Street?"

"Yes!" The guy wiped his brow off as he stood up. He used a headband to push back his silky black hair then made his way over. "I'm Yeonjun Choi! You're Kai right?"

Kai awkwardly shook his hand. "How do you know my name?"

Yeonjun dropped his hand. "They didn't tell you? I'm undercover here too. Your department thought we could compare notes."

"No. They did not tell me." Kai worked best alone. Other people just distracted his thoughts. He loved his team back home for a reason. They were the only ones he trusted and listened to. They understood exactly how he operated. It was never like them to leave information out like this. Kai reluctantly walked into the house. "Which department are you from?"

"Sorry, probably should've introduced myself with that first. I'm the deputy for Crestwood."

"Really? Didn't know this jurisdiction was yours."

"It's not. My town has more officers than criminals. I figured I could help so I requested a transfer."

Kai grabbed his phone. He called his contact to request more information. No one was supposed to know his real name in this state. The power suddenly shut down for the entire town. His call went dead. He looked down the hall to see Yeonjun smacking the generator. He warned "hitting it won't do anything."

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah. Wait for the power company to turn the lights back on."

"Great. I'm living with a smartass."