Red Alarm [A Detective/Thriller Story] DISCONTINUED

Chapter 3

The place was filled with silence on all sides. Dead meat hanging on the warehouse as the detective hid behind one of them. The dim orange light cast an eerie glow as footsteps along with the whistling sound grew louder. The man slowly turned the knob revealing a girl in a muddy dress covered with duct tape on her mouth. He leaned in closer at the girl slowly, with a grin on his face.

"Be a good girl if you don't want my machete to land on your face," he tucked a strand of her hair."You don't want that do you?"

The girl nodded as her body was shaking in fear. The butcher got the tape out of her mouth. The girl gasped out of thin air, breathing heavily as she thought about her life.

"I p-promise I won't tell the police ab-b-bout this. P-p-please don't kill me," she stuttered.

The man laughed at how pitiful the sight was. She wouldn't seriously believe he'd fall for her trick did she? He held his machete up in the sky ready to hit the girl.

"Stop! Put the weapon down!" Detective Carter pointed his gun at the butcher.

The man stood there for a second. He grabbed the girl by her arm, as he held the sharp object against her neck. The detective tightened his grip on his gun as the man walked slowly towards the door, confident that the police wouldn't shoot with the victim as his hostage. As soon as the door was opened, he pushed the victim as she stumbled on the ground. The detective cursed as the culprit made his escape.

"He's heading out!" he talked on the radio while following his tracks.

The man ran over the alley with the sound of the sirens following him around. He stopped on his tracks as he saw the detective aiming his gun at the end of the block.

He turned around as he heard the sirens getting near him. Sweat dripped off his body as he swung the machete towards the detective. Cole hovered his body, avoiding the object as it made a clatter on the ground. He tilted his head signaling the man to raise his hands.

"Crap," he surrendered himself unwillingly.

The detective went towards him, cuffing his hands as he forced the man down. "Harold Franklin, you are under arrest for the murder of Tina Clifton as well as the abduction of Madison Murray. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a Court of Law." Backup arrived and within a few moments later, the place was filled with people.

"Detective Carter is it true that you solved this case only for four days?" a reporter asked.

"How did you manage to gather clues to prove Franklin was the killer?" another one added.

Police Officer Khen Milllard shouldered the flocking media that blocked their way to the police car. Cole kept his mouth shut while the reporters bombarded him with questions and praises about the arrest of the murderer.

"This day sure is hectic," Officer Millard stretched his arms out trying to ease the aching sensation of his body. "Where to detective?"

"Main station," he briefly replied.

It had been a year since the unsolved case of the deputy chief. Adam's family opened up a small restaurant since no one will support their family after their loss. The rest remained the same but not Cole. His demeanor, his eyes were always stern - everything about him changed. He wasn't the typical out-going officer that he was. He became the serious-matured type that his chief wanted. So much that he wanted to tell his senior, 'Hey, I made it!' But it was too late. He needed to experience sadness in order for his success to pave in.

The woman was handing out the morning coffee for every officer in the 911 room. The room was a joint force with the SSO team. Since they handled red alarm cases - gruesome acts of serial killers, and victims that required immediate action. The SSO did poorly with consecutive cases after their team captain was gone. However, after Detective Carter was assigned by Chief Camembert in the team three months ago, things were looking up after that. Even the higher ranks praised him for his knack in field works.

"Did you told the barista to put extra cream?" Officer Gonzales reminded the cadet.

"Yes, maam," she saluted. "Caffe latte with extra cream."

The officer smiled at the newly cadet. She was Olivia Lee, a police in training at the Gilsborough Police Academy and also the stations newest coffee server.

"Is that Detective Carter?" she stared with awe at the sight of the man walking into the room, her face looked red as a tomato.

"Girl that guy is the ice prince," she joked at Olivia who made a frown of disappointment. "If you need anything else just ask me."

"Thank you, Officer Gonzales," the cadet bowed before handing out the last coffee.

The detective was cut off by the cadet on his tracks.

"Good morning, Detective Carter. My name is Cadet Olivia Lee. I hope we could all work well in the station together," she looked at the ground, hiding her embarrassed face as she handed out the coffee to the detective.

"Thank you," he took the coffee and headed to his desk.

"That was it?" Officer Millard whispered to him. "You really don't know a thing about girls, do you?"

He handed out the coffee to his partner who gave out a chuckle of disbelief. "Take it. Im not thirsty for caffeine," he focused on typing his report.

"Sheesh, you really are something," Khen remarked as he blew on the hot drink.

A man stomped inside the headquarters. All eyes were on Detective Hopkins as he gave out a smell of trouble to his co-workers. He hit the desk, drawing in Coles attention. He pointed his index finger at him, moving it in an up and down direction.

"I am done with that attitude of yours detective!" fumed Hopkins. "You fled the scene without even informing your teammates and now look at you acting like you own this place!"

"I do whatever my gut tells me to, Hopkins," he calmly replied. "Don't give a fuss about childish things like whoever arrives first."

"You jer-."

They were suddenly cut off as the presence of the department chief made the room silent with standing officers forming a salute. He gestured the officers to continue with their works. The chief smiled as he approached both detectives.

"A friendly rivalry I suppose," he remarked at the two. His eyes tuned into Detective Carter. "Detective, may I have a word with you in the office?"

He nodded, following the chief behind his back.

"Congratulations on the case, detective," he acknowledged him.

He bowed at him to show respect. "The receipt found in Madison Murrays grocery bag was from the poultry warehouse of Harold Franklin, he explained. Our team found out he was involved in previous stalking cases so I decided to put him on crime watch. He matched the description of Clifton's killer - five and a half tall with a bulk appearance. The blood sample from the victim was mixed in with animal blood -."

The chief raised his right hand, sending him a sign that he did not called him in to explain the whole case. Then, he slowly clapped his hands and went back to sitting peacefully on his chair.

"Your instincts truly are marvelous, he praised. But I wanted to talk to you about something else. This is with regards to the SSO."

He was puzzled. Truly the SSO didn't have any problems with the cases they've handled for the past months, so what did the chief needed to talk about?

"I believe it is time you have a new alpha to lead your pack," he announced.

"With all due respect chief, but were doing fine without one," he optioned.

"The team worked well with Mcintosh maintaining order the last time, why not now?" he reasoned. "She's a lieutenant. I'm sure you'd do well together."

"I'll tell the others," he replied.

Cole bid goodbye after hearing the news. He stood outside the chiefs office. He leaned against the hard cemented wall, breathing in a heavily sigh. It looked like he needed to make changes for his plan.