Baldwin Has Fallen

PART 2 AFTERMATH

It didn't take long for the Medical Examiner and hommicide detectives to arrive. Everyone had to give statements, suprisingly the officers outside hadn’t seen much.
Apparently, whoever had taken the shot had already been in position in the building across the street.

Tori was too numb to even process what had happened. Fran was crying so hard that almost everyone who wasn't on duty was crying with her. When the Medical Examiner had come and removed Baldwin's body, the anger hit Tori like a hammer.

His brother had been murdered and offically there was nothing he could do about it! Tori would not be allowed to work on the case. He was pretty sure he knew who had done it and he wanted revenge!

Uncle Logan had to pay! If Logan went before a jury of his peers there was always the chance he'd get off if his lawyer was good. There was the risk that even if their uncle was convicted of murder, he would get a reduced sentence! Anything like that would be too good for a nut like that! He had killed Baldwin out of some twisted logic! He deserved to die!

Tori sat down on his mother's sofa, hanging his head so he looked at the floor. He was carefull to stare directly at his feet, if he looked up, he kept looking over at the blood stain on the carpet. Tuning everyone out, he tried to think hard.

He couldn’t do anything about it as a police officer. What about as a private citizen? He'd have to be careful not to draw attention. As long as he did that, Tori could conduct his own investigation. He rose from his seat and went to find his father.

Owen Asheir was sitting out on the front stoop looking lost. As quietly as possible, Tori went over and lowered himself onto the step next to his father. "How are you doing, dad?" He asked. "Not good," Owen said. "I can't believe your brother is dead. It seems like only yesterday he was a little boy and now--" the old man made a digusted noise. Tori did not like to see his dad in such a state. "Look, dad, I think I might turn in my shield;" he said. "It's not that I’m scared or nothing; it's just I want to investigate on my own. See if I can't get Baldwin's killer and get some justice on my own!"

With his good eye, Owen turned to regard his son. "You know what you're doing is dangerous:" he said. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes;" Tori decided as he tried to keep sadness out of his voice. "Baldwin means a lot to me, pops. I think he did to all of us! I know who is probably behind his killing. I have to do this." His father looked at his remaining son, struggling to keep his emotions in check. Owen was tempted to tell Tori to just keep his badge. Let him investigate secretly. The commishioner inside knew that wasn’t protocol. If any member of the family were to do work on this case, Internal Affairs would eventually find out.

"Son, hand me your shield;" Owen said. "Just promise me you'll fill out the paperwork at some point." Tori put a hand on his father's shoulder, trying to convey his gratitude. "Here;" Tori said as he handed over his badge and gun. "Been a pleasure to serve under you, Sir. I think I'd better get Sylfia and the kids home. 'Night dad."

Father and child went their seperate ways for the night. Cops and chaos over, Tori drove home in a state of shock and numbness. By some miracle, the family all made it home safely. Tori's gut would not let him sleep.

He lay next to his wife with his eyes wide open for a long time just thinking. Why had Uncle Logan singled out Baldwin? Why wasn't he going after the rest of the Ashier family? Logan obviously blamed them for his being a convict. Tori's gut told him that this murder wasn't the last thing his Uncle would do to them. This was really what worried him most and he fell asleep and had terrible dreams.

In them, the scene flashed between his mother telling his brother nothing was going to hurt him, then Baldwin laying on the ground bleeding and asking why nobody had stopped him from being killed. Last of all he saw a silhouette that somehow he knew was Logan laughing as he held a sniper rifle in one hand. The shadow raised its gun and prepared to fire.