Fallen To The Red Gaze

Chapter Ia.

They tell you to never get too close to the case, don't let it become personal. You don't know the victims. Until you do. The case was solved and closed, but it was too late.

Thunder roared above, as lightning flashed across the starless night. I walked down the lonely road surrounded by the indecent folk. Life had dealt them a hard hand. I wondered if they'd like the ending to come sooner. Such a simple blessing one could give to end the suffering. I felt a slight vibration in my pocket and reached for my phone. My thoughts flew back to the past, as I saw the message I had seen so many times in nightmares but only once in reality. He was following a dangerous lead, but it was the only one we had.

I got in my car, hoping I would get there before him. Turning upon streets, I came upon the dark alley where so many had disappeared. I held a flashlight in one hand and my 9mm pistol in the other, keeping my wrists crossed.  A sound echoed into my ears from the future of this reality, as the light found him and another. My gun fell from my hands, going off as it hit the ground. I knelt down to him, taking note of the crimson fluid trickling through his hand. I saw his lips move, but could no longer hear the words. I didn't want to hear them, knowing they would be his last. I turned away from his sightless eyes to the other body. The case was closed, and he was gone.

~~~

"Warren, Honey its time for breakfast. Make sure you get some before you leave for work." She called to me from the kitchen. I slowly rose from my bed,  taking in the silence and emptiness around me. There was a soundless pounding in my head. I looked at my desk where they laid. I hadn't taken them last night that explained a lot. In a while the pounding fleeted away and I quickly got dressed before heading to the kitchen. She stood at the stove, while the youth sat in her booster seat. I ruffled the child's hair, "Yay! Daddy's awake! Are you staying home again?"

"No, Kimi, Daddy's got to go back to work today." I spoke to the young girl. Her eyes looked up at me sadly, and she pouted silently.  "Mommy, will be staying home, so don't be sad. You two can have a girls' day." I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out to glance at the message.

"Are they already sending you a case, dear?" She spoke, as she came out of the kitchen and placed the last plate of food on the table.

"Seems so, but I should have enough time to eat before heading to the crime scene. They're cleaning up, and George said he'll let me know once they have it all set up for me." I took a seat in front of the empty plate and started putting the food on it.

"It's a good thing they're willing to work with you after all these changes." She spoke solemnly.

"Yes, it is,  Alexa." There was a bitter-sweet feeling in my chest. It's hard to move on from past, but I had to keep going. He wouldn't want me to stop because of what happened to him.

I drove to the scene. Yellow tape surrounded the alley and three of them stood still. I got out of the car and he walked towards me. We had worked together many times in the past, so I knew him well. However, it was strange knowing that he was the permanent replacement. "Hey, George, so what's the story?"

"These two officers found the body, while doing their morning rounds. This place is known for finding drunks passed out, but this guy had a gun shot wound in his neck. The officers called it in and the sheriff called me. That was about five hours ago." He was willing to keep going, but I held up my hand.

"I'll figure out the rest." I stepped into the yellow barriers. My eyes glanced straight at the white tape. The body laid there. Red string traced out the splatters of blood, but every drop had been cleaned away.

"This is the detective that we had to have a whole clean up crew come out before he got here. This Detective Harmin better be a god damn good detective for our department to do all this work." There was that name. It wasn't mine but his. My body reacted and I found myself confronting them.