Hail's Storm

Chapter 5: I Barely Even Knew Her

Someone said that life is fair because it is unfair to everyone but I seemed to have gotten the short end of the stick when it came to this thing called life. I left the library and headed home. My brain could not have handled another class.

"Mum! I'm home!" I called out when got home.

"Sweetie! I'm in the kitchen," she replied.

I made my way to the kitchen where I found my mother in a deep conversation with a stranger who was clearly to be a police officer. It hit me that I was supposed to meet Officer Ryan that evening but I did not think he would come to my house.

"Hello young lady," he greeted officially.

"Hello Sir," I said as I reached for a glass to fill it with water.

"You were meant to see Officer Ryan later today in the evening, right?"

Wait, this is not him?

"That's correct."

"I am Officer Steward, his partner. Unfortunately, he was found dead today morning in his office down at the station. Some of the files and documents on the case were gone. The ones that belonged to me are hidden somewhere safe. I held my breath.

He continued, What he needed you to know was that the head of the police had cancelled any autopsy that was to happen on the body the day Hail died. They just called it a suicide and closed the case which was quite suspicious to both Officer Ryan and me. Obviously, there is some sort of a cover-up and I have come to terms with it. Consequently, I will have to leave town immediately for my safety. Stay safe and I feel horrible even suggesting this but make your peace with this case. You would not want to be next "

I don't know how but the glass I held slipped out of my hand and shattered into tiny pieces as the officer's words faded into whispers until I could not hear him. I let out a breath I did not even know I was holding.

Officer Steward proceeded to tell me that the surveillance cameras in the station were disabled at around three a.m. which meant nobody saw who went inside and murdered Officer Ryan.

Nothing that had happened that day, from my morning encounter with Tom to Parker showing me a page in the journal and to the news of the death of my only hope of finding answers, prepared me for the challenges that would crop up later which were about to cause destruction but at that time, all I could do is sit, wait and watch silently. I had no idea what was about to come.

**************

The next morning, I called Tyler up and asked him to meet me at Coffee Mates – our favorite café. I was surprised he picked up as we had not talked since the week after the funeral. We sat at our favorite isolated booth that was next to the large window. The whole world stopped for a second when Hail, Tyler, and I would sit there. This time, it was just the two of us and that broke my heart. Our exuberance was killed by the tragedy that loomed over us.

It was raining outside. I loved watching the busy people of Gammery town trying not to bump shoulders under their umbrellas rushing to get to where they needed to go despite the heavy rain. The rain ricocheted off their umbrellas and the sidewalk glowed from the street light reflecting on the wet pavement. Even though it was almost 7 a.m, the sky was very dark thanks to the coverage of the grey clouds. I loved the rain. I found peace in the rain. I enjoyed watching it rain and I didn't mind being in the rain.

"Hey, are you listening?" Tyler asked plucking me out of my thoughts.

I looked at the boy across the table whose name I had known for years. He was my best friend and even though we hadn't talked much after Hail's death we knew there was that unspoken concern that we would always have for each other.