Last Seen Alive

Chapter Twelve

@PhoenixAqua This one's for you!

Song: Our House (The Mess We Made)- You Me At Six (I love these guys!)

Michael was all too familiar with the early signs of a bizarre case and the Jane Doe one was headed fast in that direction. Nothing about it made sense, kind of like the case of the Bandieer Slayer. And it didn't help that there was a Bandieer mixed in with all of this somehow.

He was driving back to the station, mulling over everything Debbie had said. She was absolutely certain the woman he'd recently known as Amanda Desser was actually Rachel Fletcher.

She'd been more than happy to talk to him about her, throwing in some tidbits about some of the other tenants from time to time. He'd ended up spending three hours there, listening to every word even though he wanted to bang his head against the wall every time she veered off-topic.

When he asked her about Rachel, Debbie told him she was one of the sweetest people to live in the building. She always stopped by to say hello on her way in from work or whenever she came down for her mail. She'd only stayed in the building for 6 months and left as suddenly as she came, which had been a surprise to Debbie because of how courteous she'd always been.

Rachel sounded like a pretty normal person. But if she was, why did she have two identities? A terrifying thought hit him and he slammed the brakes, coming to a screeching halt. Was this another Tasha-Claire scenario? Maybe one had killed the other because of a really bad case of sibling rivalry?

He shook his head. No, that was crazy. The chances of that happening twice in one city had to be one in a billion. He eased back onto the road and continued his journey, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd stumbled onto something big and dark. Now he really needed confirmation of Jane Doe's identity. If she really was Amanda Desser/Rachel Fletcher, things might start making sense.

A block away from the station, the portable police scanner sitting on his dashboard burst to life and interrupted his thoughts. Kelsey's voice came through the speakers, catching him off guard.

"Shots fired on 5th and Main. No other information available. All units in the area, respond. I repeat, shots fired on 5th and Main. All units in the area, please respond."

Michael listened attentively as he waited for the last set of robots between him and the station to change. He was on Causeway street, five blocks over from the location Kelsey had announced. He hadn't heard any gunshots, but he was either too far or too absent-minded to hear them.

No one had responded yet, so he switched on his siren and drove fast towards main, reaching over to pick up his scanner and inform her that he was responding.

"This is Unit 201. Show me going," he said, accelerating to overtake traffic as the siren blared, drowning out all other sounds.

"Okay, 201. You have permission to use lights and siren," she responded, then hastily added, "Uhh, 10-39!"

He smirked, amused that she'd slipped in the code. The same code that had gotten her into trouble only a few days back. He almost made a comment on it, but another unit called in, reminding him that it was an open channel.

"221, show me backing."

He knew most of his station's units by heart, but he still had to rack his brain to remember who 221 was. He was almost certain it was Naomi, though. Since her partner, Daniel, was on desk duty, did that mean she was heading for a shooter alone? Fuelled by that thought, he floored the gas pedal and drove even faster.

He pulled into the nearest parking spot on 5th and Main, stopping to grab his gun and scanner before he went towards the large crowd gathered at the corner of the street. Static crackled through the scanner, then Kelsey's voice came through again.