In His Arms (Completed)

Chapter 7- The Culprit is Found

After separating both Cynthia and Julie, everyone departed for the mission. Julie calmed down enough to continued her task while Cynthia was sent home with Janna. “I hope the bitch learns her lesson this time.” Julie said before entering

the left tunnel with Jason and their assigned units. “Damn,” Donald said. “Shit crazy I’ll tell you.” He proceeded to walk with Lea inside the right tunnel with their units. Sasha chuckled and she and Staci walked together with Aaron and

Tyler right behind them along with the remaining units into the middle corridor. They walked cautiously inside looking and listening intensely for anything out of the ordinary. Sasha and Staci gagged as the stanched of rotten corpses came back. “Ugh, I hate that smell.” Staci said. “You’re not the only one.” Sasha said. “Let’s switch places.” Tyler said. “You both get behind us.” “Okay.” Staci said and the switch was made. As they walked a little further, a scream filled the air. “That sounded like Elizabeth Harper.” Tyler said. “Yeah, but which way?” Aaron said. Sasha listened intensely for the sound again. She heard Elizabeth’s scream and then the sound of gunfire. “THAT WAY TOWARD THE RIGHT TUNNEL!” They took off in a run stepping over cracked floors before reaching another intersection. Sasha heard the gunfire again, but no scream. “I hear gunfire still, but no screaming.” “So do I.” Staci said. Aaron and Tyler looked behind them. The other units looked closer at the intersection. “Hey!” Antoine Johnson said. “Come over here!” Everyone raced over to where he was at. Staci gasped. “What is that?” Aaron drew closer to the looming body and then, his eyes widened. “It’s Richard.” He said. “No way.” Alyson Phillips said. “It can’t be! His body was-““Never recovered.” Aaron said. “It was left inside an abandoned building such as this one.” “So Aubrey Peters killed Richard here and left the body here to rot.” Tyler said. Sasha peered closely at Richard’s body. The clothes were torn and he apparently looked ripped from limb to limb, but something glittered silver by his ribcage. Putting a pair of gloves on, she bent to pick it up. “Staci, you have those evidence bags with you?” “Yeah,” Staci said pulling a bag from her kit. “here you go.” “Thanks.” Sasha said placing the weapon that turned out to be a knife inside the bag. “What did you find?” Aaron asked. “The murder weapon,” Sasha said holding the evidence bag up for everyone to see. “Apparently, Aubrey was in a hurry and left this baby here.” Jarrod Schultz arrived minutes later with the other two teams. “What do we have?” “Evidence.” Aaron said. “And who had the bag and discovered the weapon?” Aaron smiled. “I had the bag.” Staci said “and I discovered the murder weapon.” Sasha said. “Excellent work Chavez and Mercado.” Jarrod said. Sasha tried to hand him the bag, but he told her to keep it for now. “Good work team. Now-“He paused. “Is that Richard Cason’s body?” Aaron sighed. “Yeah it is.” “I don’t believe it. Aubrey Peters killed him here?” Sasha took hold of Aaron’s arm. “I don’t think Aubrey killed Richard. I think she was covering for someone else. Someone like Andre Weston.” “And how do you figure that out Mercado?” Jarrod said. Sasha pressed her lips together. “When I picked up the weapon of interest, I examined it. The fingerprints on the knife were dirty; but that didn’t catch my attention. What caught my attention was the footprints.” Sasha walked over towards Richard’s body bending and pointing. “See how large the prints are? Aubrey’s shoe size was a size six, and there’s no six surrounding the body. Therefore, the murderer is someone else since the shoe size is eleven.” “That’s the shoe size of Andre Weston.” Jarrod said. “Exactly, but that’s just my observation.” “Good work Mercado. Now I see why you graduated top of your class.” Jarrod said. Suddenly, another sound was heard and gunfire followed it. Sasha ducked for cover with Aaron shielding her. “Come on.” He said taking Sasha’s hand. He started in a run towards the east corridor. They had their guns out as several units followed behind them. They reached a brightly lit room and in the center of it stood Andre Weston with an Ak47 in his hand. He grinned when he saw Aaron. “So you finally found me Aaron?” Aaron’s eyes burned with rage. “Is it true that you killed Richard Cason and had Aubrey Peters covered your tracks?” “Yeah it’s true.” Andre said. “I used Aubrey as a pawn in order to escape the life sentence. But thanks to your spellbinding block and her baby sister pulling the trigger, you made my job easier. “So you were planning on killing Aubrey in the first place?” Sasha said. “Of course I was and after all these years you still remember me Sasha.” Andre said grinning. “Look at you. All grown up. Do you remember the good ole days? Anyway, it’s a good thing you whopped Adrienne Peters ass at boot camp, the bitch had one coming anyway.” Sasha looked disgusted. Aaron, though, wasn’t amused. “You’re sick Andre. Why kill Richard? What did he ever do to you?” “EVERYTHING.” Andre yelled. “HE WAS IN THE WAY OF MY REVENGE ON THE FORCE. I TOOK GREAT PLEASURE OF KILLING HIM!” “You took so much ‘pleasure’ that you missed one thing Andre.” Sasha said smiling. “And what is that?” Sasha pulled out the evidence bag the chief let her keep for now. “You left the murder weapon. You didn’t killed Richard with the gun in your hand; you stabbed him to death sawing him from limb to limb. This explains why you killed him.” Andre’s eyes widened. “How did you-?” “FIGURE IT OUT?” Sasha said yelled. “I KNEW YOU REMEMBER ME ANDRE. YOU AND I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL TOGETHER. AND AT THE TIME, WE WERE BOTH SENIORS AND EVEN THOUGH WE NEVER DATED, I KNEW WHAT KIND OF PERSON YOU WERE AND THAT WAS A KILLER. YOU MURDER CHAD FAIRCHILD IN COLD-BLOOD INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM AREA. YOU THOUGHT NOBODY WAS AROUND TO SEE YOU COMMIT THE MURDER, BUT YOU WERE WRONG. I WAS IN THE GIRLS LOCKER ROOM CHANGING WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, I HEARD A HORRIBLE SCREAM AND THEN I SAW YOU STABBING CHAD REPEATING UNTIL HE DIED. WHEN YOU FINALLY SAW ME, YOU RAN ME DOWN THREATENING ME WITHIN AN INCH OF MY LIFE IF I TOLD ANYONE IN THE SCHOOL ABOUT THIS. AND GUESS WHAT? I DIDN’T UNTIL NOW. ADMIT ANDRE, YOU KILLED RICHARD NOT BECAUSE OF THE FORCE, YOU KILLED HIM BECAUSE YOU KNEW THE ONE PERSON WHO KNEW YOU KILLED CHAD FAIRCHILD BECAME A COP AND YOU WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU REACHED HER BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DID.” “YOU FINALLY CAUGHT ME SASHA.” Andre said. “I KNEW YOU WERE ALWAYS SMART, WHICH WAS WHY I ASKED YOU TO PROM IN WHICH YOU ACCEPTED. I WATCHED YOU THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE, BOOT CAMP, AND THE ACADEMY UNTIL NOW. AND YEAH, I DID ARRANGE FOR THE PETERS SISTERS TO ATTACK YOU INSIDE YOUR OWN HOME JUST SO I COULD WATCH YOU SUFFER, BUT THEN YOU CAME ALONG AARON AND I KNEW I HAD TO GET HIM OF THE WAY IF IT WAS THE LAST THING I DID.” Andre substituted the Ak47 for a semiautomatic rifle. He fired it at Aaron, but Sasha stepped in front of him taking the bullet. She screamed as she fell to the floor hard. Blood seeping through her jacket. Staci ran over to Sasha applying pressure to her wound tears falling from her eyes. Aaron’s face turned bright red as he discarded his handgun in exchange for something much better that was on his blackstrap. “WHAT’S WRONG AARON? YOU LOOK DISTRAUGHT AGAIN.” Andre said laughing fiendishly. “FACE IT AARON, YOU FAILED RICHARD AND YOU SURE AS HELL NOW FAILED SASHA!” Andre’s eyes widened. “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?” Aaron laughed pulling a semiautomatic machine gun from his blackstrap. “WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. I GOT THIS AS A PRESENT FROM RICHARD TWO DAYS BEFORE YOU KILLED HIM! I GUESS YOU CAN SAY THAT I SAVED IT JUST FOR HIS MURDERER AND THAT PERSON IS YOU!” Andre fired with his rifle to Aaron who dodged the bullet. Luckily, it hit the wall instead of a person. “You’re lucky it hit the wall, next time you won’t be.” Andre snarled. Aaron chuckled. “What’s so funny?” “You.” He said. “Funny that you think it’s going to be a ‘next time’, well I hate to burst your bubble, Andre, but next time is right now!” Andre smirked, “Go on then, hit me with your best-“Aaron fired the machine gun at Andre. Bullets rapidly fired out as Andre jerked as the bullets pierce his body left to right. Aaron grinned. “Now what were you saying? ‘hit you with my best what?” Andre wheezed coughing up blood. “…shot.” And then, he collapsed dead on the ground. Aaron ran over to Sasha. The paramedics stretchered her into the ambulance. Aaron rode inside with her. Sasha looked at him. “Aaron I-“He placed a finger on her lips. “Don’t talk. Relax.” Within minutes, she was rushed into surgery. Aaron waited outside the room for any response. When the doctor came out two hours later, he finally got one. “She’s going to be fine.” The doctor said. “Thank God.” Aaron said. “When will she available for release?” “In a few weeks. She needs rest and time to heal.” “Okay, can I go inside? Aaron said. The doctor nodded as he went to tend to another patient. Aaron sighed as he walked inside the room. Sasha smiled when she saw him. “The doctors told me you’ve been here for a few days.” “Yeah, I was worrying sick about you. Some of the force members will be coming tomorrow to visit you.” Aaron said. Sasha looked at him. “What’s wrong?” He sighed. “I almost lost you a few days ago.” “Yeah, but you killed him with what?” Aaron chuckled, “A machine gun. Richard gave me it as a present two days before he was killed. That was the first time I ever used it.” “Well, it worked didn’t it?” She said. “You should be a bit happier.” “Yeah, I should be.” Aaron said. “But, I’m not.” Sasha opened her mouth to speak, but Aaron put a finger on her lips. “Sasha, do you not realize what he could have done to you? I mean you knew him ever since high school and he watched your every move from high school, college, boot camp, and the academy. If you would’ve died, I would’ve been more than distraught in fact, I would’ve had quit the force just because I lost another partner.” Sasha’s eyes watery. “I know what he would have done to me. For Christ sake Aaron, I witness him murder a good person who wouldn’t hurt a fly.” “How did you know Chad Fairchild?” Aaron asked. “I know him because he was my boyfriend. I saw Andre repeating stab him to death and his last words before he died was ‘run Sasha run’ and I did run not just because Andre had chased me, but I have been running ever since that terrible day.” Aaron held her tightly as tears rolled down her face. “I know you miss him, but he would want you to go on with your life. Sure, you can always remember him, but he wouldn’t want you to dwell on the past. At least justice was served. We found his killer and now he’s dead.” “Thanks to you.” Sasha said wiping her eyes. “Yeah, after you got shot, something snapped and I just lost it. I was so determined to kill Andre that precious moments of your life were slowly fading away. Therefore, he had to be gone that very moment.” Sasha smiled. “You’re a good person Aaron. Like I say before, you always put yourself in danger to protect the ones you love and care the most and this time it happened to be me.” Aaron smiled. “Thanks, you know I always found a way to protect you no matter what.” “I know you will.” Sasha said. An hour later, he left for home. Sasha sighed as she dozed off remembering all that happened recently. Once morning rolled in, Sasha woke with a familiar face hovering over her. “Hey girl!” Sasha’s eyes widened. “Cindy! How did you- ?” “Aaron told me when I went to station looking for you. He told me everything.” Cindy said. “Sasha, I can’t believe Andre tried to kill you. That monster!” Sasha chuckled, “Well that ‘monster’ is dead.” “Yeah, I know Aaron killed him. In a way, I’m glad he is dead. Everyone from Camden Heights High School still remembered Chad Fairchild and now we all know who murdered him.” Cindy said. Sasha smiled weakly as several other people entered her room. “SASHA!” Staci said. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” She turned to Cindy. “Hi, I’m Staci Chavez.” Cindy smiled. “I’m Cindy Duncan.” “You both go way back?” Staci asked. Cindy chuckled, “Yeah, elementary years.” “That’s good to hear.” Staci said. “Hey crazy girl!” Julie said. “You don’t need to talk.” Sasha said. “Everyone, this is my best friend Cindy Duncan.” “Hi, I’m Julie Spencer." “And I’m Donald Fields.” “Hi to the both of you.” Cindy said. “I’ve got to work Sasha. I’ll see you later.” “Okay girl take care.” Cindy waved before leaving. Julie, Donald, and Staci kept Sasha Company until Tyler, Jason, Lea, and Jarrod came in to also keep her company. “We’ll see you soon.” Jarrod said as he left with the rest of them. Sasha smiled before falling asleep again.