The Answer

Chapter 6

David saw Gerard's dismayed expression through the glass and chuckled to himself. He remembered a time when the Captain looked at Gerard and Travis that way. It took the two of them a while to gain to Captain's trust, but when they did they had also won the precinct's respect.

It was unusual for someone to get detective at the age of twenty one, but Gerard and Travis weren't your usual cops. They were smarter, sharper and much more nimble than most of the detectives at the time, which kept them ahead of the game. They took on mobsters, a serial killer and more than a dozen mind bending cases in their twenty years of partnership. Most of those cases were things nobody else would've dared touch, but the mere fact that they took them on made them people of interest.

They were an unbeatable force until they were abruptly separated by Travis' untimely death. Gerard quit the force shortly after and the captain spent his time trying to convince him to come back. Eventually, the captain gave up and took a transfer to Dallas. He left David in his place and for the last year he'd been doing everything to fit in his predecessor's shoes.

The two years since the tragic incident changed the way the SFPD looked at their jobs. Most of the higher ups wished they'd found more dream teams like Gerard and Travis before they became history, some were glad to have them out of their hair. The one thing they could agree on is that the force needed to pave the way for more good detectives like them to be made.

Sure, it was annoying to deal with all these raw cops who came through the Young Detective Program but David hoped there would be a payout soon. The Program was simple- rookies with potential were allowed to shadow detectives on one case a month, if they could keep up and even contribute to the case in a constructive way they'd be allowed to apply for detective directly.

It was easily any rookie's dream to get through the Program, nobody likes patrol duty or addressing noise complaints. No, everyone wanted a taste of the action. Getting in was all based on their performance at the academy, if they showed traits of a detective early on they were a shoo-in for the Program. It got cadets to take the academy more seriously and though it seemed like the young cops in the room didn't care for anything else but their millennial crutches, they were sharp and ready for anything the case was to bring.

Gerard was listening to one of them explaining the Program, as David walked in the room. Suddenly, the entire room stood straighter out of respect. David waved his hand, walking to the podium.

"At ease, everyone. This is Detective Gerard Sanders, he will be in charge of the case."

David shot Gerard a glance, he knew it meant to go easy on them. Gerard relaxed and closed his eyes briefly, the darned tingling and headache that nagged him all day was getting to him. Sweat glistened on his forehead and a burning pit was at the bottom of his stomach- a sadness he didn't have time to feel. He buried it deeper until the burning blended in with the annoying tingling.

He opened his eyes and David began, "I know you've all been itching to aid the investigation on the Golden Gate Bridge bombing. Here's your chance- you've been chosen for the task force on the case."

Eager titters filled the room and some knowing eyes darted towards Gerard cautiously. Gerard ignored them, but he could feel the weight of their stares weakening his strong facade.

David waved the room to silence and continued, "we have footage from when the bus in question was left unattended."

He played the tape on the projector and everyone began to watch it intently, some people took down notes. Once that was done, David gestured two men to bring in the evidence collected from the bomb site. The evidence was circulated across the room and more notes were jotted down. As more information poured in, the silence remained and the notes increased. Gerard wouldn't have pegged any of them for taking this as seriously as they did, perhaps David really did know what he was doing.

This fact gathering went on for a while and after that, theories and suggestions as to what their next move should be was discussed. At this point, Gerard wasn't listening anymore- he was exhausted and just wanted to go home. He snapped back to reality when David dismissed them all, after which it felt like the entire lot of them poured tiredly out of the station. It was dark and the traffic had sort of slowed down. Gerard looked at his watch- 11PM.

A lone light or two remained illuminated on the large offices around the precinct, a reminder that they weren't the only ones working late that night. Gerard sympathised and hailed himself a cab.

The ride was silent, cabbies in the city understood the value of less talk. Big city people generally had a lot of their minds and didn't appreciate chatter. The driver looked at him a few times through the rear view mirror, studying him and trying to gauge what he was thinking about. Gerard was too tired to care, the weight of the day's work was getting to him and the gravity of his loss had him sinking further and further into the back seat with each passing minute.

He replayed the day in his mind, it stung that Carol was gone but it was somehow more terrifying to him that Max was possibly still out there. He wanted to protect him, he only hoped it wasn't too late.

The cab came to a slow halt, Gerard paid the driver and over tipped a little grateful for the silence. The driver nodded knowingly and went on his way. For a few moments, he stood in the quiet of the night. It was dark, cool and it felt like the city of still. He took a deep breath in and considered going to the nearby gas station to grab a beer. Maybe a six pack.

He blocked those thoughts, shutting his eyes tightly. He felt the tears stream down his cheeks, utterly frustrated and feeling broken by everything that was happening. He blinked out the tears and walked though the gate of his home. It was dark and cold to him, a place he once found warm and comforting but now just felt abandoned.

He strolled in, switching on a light and gasping at the mess he found. There were beer bottles everywhere, the television was still on and the takeout he was planning on having the day before was there- I touched and rotting in its place. He really was a mess.

He wandered around the house, the faint scent of Carol's cleaning still coming from the odd spotless corner he hadn't managed to ruin yet. He lingered in those corners, feeling his eyes tear up each time. A long while later, he put on his kitchen gloves, grabbed a trash bag and began cleaning up after himself. He wondered if Carol was watching over him, amazed by him finally deciding to clean up his act. He still wished it hadn't taken something so terrible to make it happen.