A Descent into Darkness

Bilal's Update

There's a knock at the front door as I pack my laptop into my bag for school in my room.

"Ned, can you get that?" come's Mom's voice from her bathroom.

"I could," Dad replies from downstairs.

"Will you?" Mom asks, clearly annoyed.

"Of course, my love." Dad's clearly laughing. I grin a little myself. I always find it so entertaining when my parents take these jabs at each other.

I hear the front door open, and then a voice I recognize. "Ah, Mr. Rivers. How are you, sir?"

I stand up at that voice. It's Detective Mohammed. What's she doing here? Well, I don't hear any mention of a warrant and, I peer out the window, no backup to be seen. She's not here to make an arrest.

"Nate! Susan! Liza! Everyone to the living room!"

"I'm naked!" Mom calls back.

"It's okay, my husband's very open minded. He wouldn't mind if I saw another man or woman naked," Detective Mohammed replies up the stairs.

Mom hesitates to reply, apparently unaware someone else was in the house. "Hang on, I'll be right down," she finally replies.

I check my watch. It is early for a house call from the cops. 7:15 am. Though maybe she came because she knew it was the only time we'd all be here today. Liza and I do have to leave soon.

I leave my bag and head out of my room, as Mom exits her room into the hallway behind me. She clearly just threw on a t shirt and sweatpants.

We head down the stairs and into the living room where Dad, already in his scrubs, and Liza, still in her pajamas, are seated on the couch, across from Detective Mohammed.

"Ah, Nathan, sorry, Nate, good to see you again," she nods at me.

"Ditto," I reply, trying to hide the unease beneath.

I sit on the couch, next to Dad and Liza while Mom takes her spot in the chair next to the couch.

"So," Mom says while crossing her legs, "what can we do for you at this ungodly hour?"

"Yes, forgive the early visit," Mohammed replies, sympathetically. "I just figured this would be the only time I could catch all of you."

"Has there been a development in the case?" I ask.

"Not yet, unfortunately," Mohammed replies. "Which is why I'm here. I felt it was my responsibility to tell all of you, to your faces, that it's looking increasingly likely we won't be able to crack this one on what we have. I also came to talk to you about the next steps in this situation."

"What do you mean next steps?" Mom asks. "You just said you're giving up."

"Not giving up," Mohammed corrects her. "Just making sure you have a realistic idea of whether or not we're going to be able to solve this one. This isn't CSI or 24. We 're bound by reality. And the reality is, in cases like this, where it appears targets are randomly selected, and we have so little to go on, we can't narrow down the suspect list in a metropolitan area with five million people."

"So, what are you saying we should do?" Mom asks. "What if this person comes back?"

Mohammed sighs. "I understand your frustration, Ms. Moss. I truly wish I could do more. But the truth is, we still have no way of knowing for sure if this was an attempted sex crime, just a break in, or something much worse. Roger, the other detective you guys met, from homicide, is at the home of the Dunbars, giving them the same report that I'm giving you. And yes, you're right, the higher ups want to pull the unit from outside, especially with Queens Park looking to take a blowtorch to our municipal budgets. I'm sorry. But we never can leave a unit outside a victim's house indefinitely. With the new security, and these call fobs, I truly believe you will be safe."