The Answer

Chapter 3

It was an usual sensation to be doing the job he thought he wasn't fit to do anymore, but Gerard had to power through the coursing emotions and the simmering doubt that crawled under his skin. He stared at his hands, feeling them tingle. It was probably the withdrawals, considering he was used to getting fairly drunk in his lunch break.

Gerard pulled out his phone and rung up his editor.

"Hey, Gerard, how are you doing?" A cautious voice responded.

"I'm managing, they've asked me to come back to help with the case."

"I see.." the voice hesitated, "does that mean you'd like to stop writing for us..?"

"No, no, Ethan, I love writing for you." Gerard shifted in his seat, " I was just hoping to take a little break from interviewing while I work the case."

"Of course, we'll shift as many interviews as we can until you can come back."

"Thanks, but I really think Samatha is ready to take on the job while I'm away."

"Alright, but I'll hold you accountable if things go wrong."

"Sure, Ethan, you have my word."

Gerard places the phone down and took a sip of his espresso. He relished the bitter taste and the searing pain from swigging the hot beverage. This was the closest he'd get to a buzz until this case was solved.

The thought about what it would've been like if none of this had happened. He'd probably be at happy hour in the bar across the street from work, scribbling questions for the next interview onto his little notepad. Gerard believed his draft work was best with a little intoxicated vertigo.

Though he did have a imminent drinking problem, so far he'd managed to curb it on days he had to conduct an interview. He'd met many influential people because of his work and none of them suspected he had a problem.

Gerard however was cautious about giving away his full name, for many knew of his work back when he was a cop or worse, they most likely knew of his spectacular failure.

But here he was again, doing a job he didn't know if he could see through and just wishing things were as simple as writing down a stimulating article about someone else's life which didn't really impact yours directly.

He pulled out his little notepad and looking at the last few pages of questions he'd been jotting down.

"No time for this anymore," he muttered, ripping and disposing of the used sheets.

He began to scribble down a few things he thought were important from his various interviews earlier that day. In time he hoped that these pointers would give him a lead in the case. It was going to be a tricky one, if he couldn't find anything soon it would be hard to stay ahead of his person should they try to pull another job like this again.

He placed some cash on the table and grabbed his sandwich, heading back to the station.

Curious eyes followed him again, as he strolled into David's office.

"Did you see the tape?" He asked, getting comfortable on the couch across David's desk.

"I did, you're going to want to see this."

David placed the tape in the player and hit play. The video spluttered to life, showing a young blonde boy running around a small lawn in a baseball outfit. He swung his bat and laughed gleefully, "Mama, I'm a sportsman!"

"Yeah, you're a very good sportsman!" A woman's voice replied enthusiastically from behind the camera.

David looked confused and turned to look at Gerard who was as white as a sheet.

"Do you know this kid?" David asked.

"That kid is me." Gerard muttered, "how the hell did someone get their hands on this?"

"I don't know," said David, now more concerned than ever, "but we do know that this attack wasn't randomly motivated- it has something to do with you."

Gerard started at the screen until the tape fizzled to white noise.

"Do you think.."

"We can't be sure just yet," David interjected cautiously, "we don't know enough to ascertain that this was to kill your family."

"We also don't know enough to not assume that." Gerard stormed out.

David watched him leave, gesturing for Kevin.

"Follow him, he might just do something he'll regret."

Kevin nodded and casually strolled out of the station, carefully following Gerard out of his sight.