I woke on the couch. Jack was asleep on the arm of the couch. I got up and walked to the leave because the house was already surrounded by my team.
"Hey, where you going?" Jack said.
"Station," I said.
"What time is it?" Jack asked.
"Six. Go back to sleep," I said.
"Got it, boss," he said.
"Don't call me that. It makes me sound old," I said.
"No Scar. No boss. What is there left? How about..." he said.
"Scarlet's good," I said interrupting. "Bye."
"Good day," he said as I walked out the door.
"So what happened in there?" Dan said.
"Nothing," I said through my teeth.
"Fine. Fine, no need to get angry," he said. My phone began to ring. I answered with no clue who it was.
"Scarlet Rose," a deep man's voice said. I began to snap at Dan to get him to record the conversation. "We're gonna strike again. A week from now. If you don't stop looking. Jack was your first clue to stop. Though he still lives. Next bullet will be aimed for you. Good day Ms. Rose." He hung up.
"Dan, we have to stop them," I said.
"They're going to kill you if you don't stop," he said.
"Who's killing who?" Jack said walking outside.
"No one go back inside," I said.
"No, you're gonna go home and stop," Dan said.
"What going on?" Jack said.
"Nothing go inside," I said.
"I'm not a child! I said what is going on!" Jack said angrily.
"Fine, their gonna strike again and if I don't stop looking for them their gonna kill me," I said calmly.
"You're gonna stop, right?" Jack said.
"What do you think?" I said walking toward my car.
"You're not going," he said.
"And who's gonna stop me?" I said getting in my car.
"Then I'm coming," Jack said running to the car and getting in.
"No you're not," I said.
"Watch me," he said.
"Fine but you're not going to be glue to my side," I said. "Just don't stray to far."
"See I knew you cared," he said staring out the window. I rolled my eyes. "You okay?" Jack said.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I said.
"You just received a death threat," he said.
"I'm good but you're the one shot," I said in a cracked voice.
"Okay, but remember I'm here for you," he said taking my hand.
"I know," I said taking his. We pulled up to the station but to our surprise the whole team was outside.
"They're waiting for you," I told Jack.
"Turn around," he said quickly immediately hiding his face.
"What? Why?" I said.
"Susan. I broke up with her over a month ago but she just keeps randomly showing up at my house," Jack said. I hit the brakes yards away from the station. "Please back up," he said.
I reared the car backwards. I spun the car around and drove back unto the road.
"Thank you. I will never be able to repay for that save of embarrassment," Jack said.
"No need," I said.
"I've got it," he said.
"What?" I said.
"It's a surprise," he said.
"Fine keep your surprise but what're we supposed to do if we can't go to the station?" I said.
"Well home?" he said.
"Fine but my house," I said.
"What why?" he said whining.
"One word internet," I said.
"That's three syllables," he said. I looked at him confused. He shrugged his shoulders. I drove for about five minutes still miles away from my house.
"Someone's following you," Jack tilting his head toward the back glass.
"Look at the side of the car," I said knowing it was a police car.
"Oh, is that Dan?" he said.
"Seriously him again," I said.
"Hey Dan," he said waving at the back glass.
"You are like a big child," I said putting my hand on my head. I pulled into the driveway but before I stopped Jack was out of the car.
"Wow," he said staring at my house. I got out and walked up to the door. "This is huge. My house must look like an ant compared this monster. Gosh," he said as he walked to the door still looking up. I walked inside the house and he followed now looking around inside. I walked to my bedroom and got my laptop. I walked into the living room and gave it to Jack.
"Hold this I'm gonna get my white board," I said.
"What kind of geek has a white board at their house? I mean that would be..." I stared at him wanting for him to finish. He caught my glare. "w-would be really smart," he said awkwardly smiling.
I went and got the white board. It was full of lines and pictures of victims and suspects.
"Why am I up there?" Jack said as he studied the pictures.
"You're a victim," I said sitting on the couch.
"Okay so all our suspects are Ken and Jamison but both their alibis check out," Jack said.
"Ken could have hired someone like he did Jamison," I said.
"Could and we would have phone records," he said.
"Of course we'd need a suspect first," I said.
Jack opened the laptop and starred at the board.
"Now searching Ken Granger," he said. Police records pulled up. He scrolled down the list. "Once, twice, three times. Wait, here we go. He was arrested with a Fern Copper," he said.
"Wait wasn't that one of Ginger's fake names?" I said. He had already pulled up a page of Fern Copper.
"Did we forget to look at this page?" I said not recognizing any one except Ken on the page.
"No I looked at it I just thought it was random people but I guess Ginger didn't just have fake identities she had stolen ones too," he said.
"So this is the girl Ken was arrested with?" I said.
"Yeah and they look like more than just cell mates," he said pointing at a picture. "Looks as if her and Ginger could have been jealous."
"Looks like they were," I said pointing at a picture of them fighting. Jack scrolled down to a whole new page. It was filled with tons of videos of the same thing.
"Well this looks promising," Jack said as my phone rang.
"It's Captain," I said to Jack as I answered the phone. "Hello," I said nervously.
"Rose, your co-worker was worried and told me about that phone call," Captain said. "I am disappointed that you didn't tell me. Several men saw you pull in but they said you speed away quickly."
"Sorry about that but I'm working here at home," I said.
"That's exactly what I was calling about. Your partner has already been down and that phone call doesn't help you. I don't want you on this case," he said.
"But Captain," I said.
"You're my best officer and I don't wont another man down. You're off. The case is closed Rose no buts about it and you're your house will be surrounded by our best men no way in or out. Our men are on the way they'll be there in less than thirty minutes," he said.
"But," I said but the line was disconnected. "What time is it?" I said to Jack.
"Five. Can you believe it five thirty and it's almost pitch black," he said.
"We have to go they're coming," I said.
"Who? The murders?" he said.
"No our guys. The police." I said grabbing a coat and heading to the door.
"Oh, me to," Jack said grabbing a bag and stuffing the computer in. I walked to the door and waited for him. "Okay seriously how much did this cost?" he said walking to the door.
"When I'm dead and buried you'll find out," I said.
"That's not funny," he said.
"It was just a joke," I said.
"But you could actually be dead in a week or even in hours," he said.
"Sorry, but know you know how I felt when you died," I said.
"Wait, I died," he said.
"Yeah you did. You didn't know?" I said. He shook his head. "It's all my fault you were in there. It's my fault."
"No I told you it's not your fault," he said as he walked over to me. I was still standing by the door. He came closer then a foot from my face.