The Midnight Within

Chapter 8

Detective Cooper sat in his car drinking cold coffee as he looked through his notes. There was a little coffee stand across from the bookstore that he had been going to for as long as he could remember. He saw Zakk's car parked next to Darkwind's and watched as Britt and her friends went inside. From what he gathered, Daniel and Britt had been off and on for some time. Jack hated him and maybe that was why she was so attracted to the kid. As far as Cooper knew, Daniel and Zakk had not been friends with Sam or his brothers. They had been friends with Thane though and that bothered him. He looked down at his notes again, looking for something he might be missing and without warning a giant crow landed on the hood of the car. Cooper jumped as the bird squawked at him, ruffling it's large wings. His coffee spilled, splashing across the page of notes. He cussed as he scrambled to grab some napkins. Fucking Bird! He growled at the crow. As he was looking at the bird he saw the bookstore door open and the group of girls come back out. They lingered for a few minutes before piling into someone's BMW parked behind Zakk's Mustang. Mia came out a few minutes later, looking around as if she was expecting someone to jump her. He watched her light up a clove and walk away up the block towards her house. The crow squawked again and was gone in a flutter of black wings. Daniel and Zakk came out of the bookstore about ten minutes later and Cooper left the parking lot. He pulled into the open space in front of Zakk's car and honked his horn. Both boys gave him a look and he knew they were debating blowing him off. Finally Zakk walked up to his open window." You my friend are hard to get a hold of. " " Yeah well. School and all. " " You got a minute. " " Not really Detective. " " Don't make me haul your ass in. Both of you. You have been avoiding me for far too long. Now haul your ass over to Chin chins and meet me there." " Right now? " Zakk looked skeptical. " You saying your not hungry? " " Fine but after this you have to back off us. Is that a deal? " " Talk to me and and I will think about it. " Zakk shrugged and went up to Daniels open window. Detective cooper watched them until Daniel got sulkily out of the car. He then drove over to the small parking lot and went into the small Chinese place across the street. It wasn't the best buffet but it was the only decent one in a ten mile radius and the prices were good. He paid for their lunch and found them a booth towards the back. They came in reeking of weed and Cooper had to shake his head at them. He had to tell himself that he had been young once too but he had never had missing friends either. He told them to eat and chuckled when Zakk made a beeline for the hibachi station. Daniel got himself some noodles and rice and was first to be back at the table. Cooper had coffee and was still looking at his now stained yellow legal pad. " How is everything? How's Nick doing? " Copper watched Daniel's fork freeze for a second. " He's an abusive dick. " " You know there are places you can go..." " Right. Like last year when he tried to put me into therapy to get me sent to St. Peters? " " Well your almost eighteen. You just have to hang in there a little longer. "Zakk joined them with a huge mound of food and the table fell silent. Cooper sighed and ran his hand though his thinning hair. " So as you both may know I am working on the Sam Fire case. He's still missing as is your friend Thane. " " He wasn't my friend. " Daniel snorted. " I told you. We have no idea where he went. The last time we saw him he was beating on this kid we know and I stopped him. He left in a huff, he was drunk and that was it. He was never heard from again, although his uncle Chester keeps the light on for him just in case he comes back. " " You stopped him how? " " I bashed his brains in with a shovel. " Zakk rolled his eyes and continued to eat. " Do you think he raped your friend Mia? " Daniel slammed his fist onto the table, making them both jump. " He raped several women and you didn't do shit about it. " " No one came forward. I can't arrest someone without a witness statement can I? And he was dating you at the time? " Cooper looked over at Zakk. " We were over by that time but yeah we had a thing for a while. " " Did you know he was bi? " " What kind of question is that? " Zakk's eyes darkened. " Well if you didn't know he was bi...." " I didn't kill him. " Zakk looked sad. " I thought you were working on the Sam Fire case? " Daniel tried to change the subject. " I am. Sam was also last seen out at The Haunted Farm. Almost a year ago to be exact. " " Maybe they left together? " Daniel smiled. " So I hear. Somehow I don't think that was the case. Sam and Thane were not friends. Know who was close to Sam? " " Don't go there. " Daniel set his fork down and pushed his plate away. " You know she could get into big trouble for what happened don't you? " Cooper scribbled down on the legal pad. " I hear it's not the first time she's had a relationship with a student. " " Look. Whatever your trying to say is bullshit. Leave her alone, leave us alone. Don't talk to me and don't talk to Mia either. " " Alright. I didn't mean to push your buttons. I just want to tie up the lose ends and close this thing for good. " " Thanks for lunch. " Zakk scraped his plate clean and wished he could go back for more but Daniel was pissed and getting up. " If you think of anything at all them call me. " " Will do detective. " Zakk sighed, pushing away from the table. " I assume you have grilled Sam's brothers? They didn't have the best relationship either." " I have. On multiple occasions. So I guess I have hit the wall and I should focus on other stuff. You guys wouldn't know anything about a satanic cult would you? " " Seriously? " It was Zakk's turn to roll his eyes. " Be careful out there OK. " Cooper watched the pair go and wondered not for the first time if they really didn't know anything or were they trying cover something up. He checked his phone and swore softly. The captain wanted him at yet another murder scene. It was starting to feel like they had a serial killer right there under their own noses and he was out here chasing ghosts. Getting up he went out to his car and headed back to the bar that was starting to feel like a second home.