A Cop's Duty

Chapter 1

My name's James, James Smith. My wife Jane and I live in New York with two sons, Jimmy and Jack. My everyday life consists of doing police work on the New York Police Department. I can't remember most of my life. I was told I developed amnesia in my early 20s so everything from the past is a blur. Everything except three letters, RHW. I live a normal life unless you count the behavior from my sons. Normal until April 15th.

It was an ordinary, sunny Thursday morning. I was doing my regular patrol around town when a perplexing message crackled over the radio.

"Help... No hope. All is lost. Help..."

"Hello?" I said.

No response.

"Hello?" I repeated, even louder this time.

There was still no response. I was confused because no one could call through the radio except other cops, and that wasn't any cop I knew. I tried calling Chief Morris to report the strange call, but I got no response. This worried me because the chief was never out of the office. I pulled over to see if there was something wrong with the radio when I heard a faint noise.

Tap, tap. Tap, tap it went. I got out of the car to find the source of the sound. It grew louder as I walked toward a dark alley. It figures, a typical dark alley. Using the flashlight on my phone, I found the source of the noise. A man that appeared to be in his early 30s was rapping his knuckles against the side of a cardboard box whispering something. He was wearing a dark red suit with three letters stitched in gold thread, RHW.

"Excuse me sir. May I ask what you are doing?" I said calmly.

He looked up at me suddenly. At first he said nothing; he just knelt on the ground. Then, he got up slowly analyzing me.

"Well well. Long time no see James. We've been wondering what happened to you after the accident," he said with a sneer on his face.

"How do you know my name?"

The man smirked, but didn't reply. Without warning, he ran down the alley. I chased after him until I came across a dead end. The man was nowhere in sight. Puzzled, I went back to the box where the man had been. I opened it up and found a boy, crying. I recognized that boy to be my son.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" I said in alarm.

He looked up at me, his eyes all red and puffy. A look of relief swept over his face.

"Dad, thank goodness you're here. Those men, they… they..."

He broke down crying, even harder now.

"They did what?" I asked.

"They took Jimmy!"

He was sobbing uncontrollably now. I had no idea what was going on. I hate it when that happens. I knew my first priority was to get Jack home safe.

"Come on Jack. We're going home."

I picked him up out of the box and carried him to the car. By the time he was in the seat, he had cried himself to sleep. I was worried about Jimmy and Jane. Jimmy had stayed home sick with a stomach bug so the men must have broken into the house to get him. Jack should've been at school.

I tried calling Chief Morris again on the radio. There was dead static on the other side. Something was definitely wrong here. Who were these strange men? Where happened to Jimmy? Why was Jack in a box? Why was the chief out? I felt like I was in one of those mystery books.

When I pulled into the driveway, the first thing I noticed was that the front window was broken. Not a good sign. I left Jack in the car (he was still asleep). I proceeded with caution not knowing what awaited me in the house. The first thing was the blood.

I opened the front door and there it was. A trail of blood was leading to Jimmy's bedroom. I followed it and found Jane. She was lying on the floor unconscious, her head was bleeding.

"Jane!"

She didn't respond. I knelt down next to her, fearing the worst. She was breathing. That was a good sign. She started to stir, opening her eyes ever so slightly.

"James?" I heard her whisper faintly.

"It's okay. Jack's in the car, he's safe, but what happened to Jimmy?"

Jane looked up at me with a sad look in her eyes. I feared and expected the worse.