Red Alarm [A Detective/Thriller Story] DISCONTINUED

Chapter 18

The morning after the creek incident took place, she was much better after a good night's sleep. But after rubbing her drowsy eyes, she was back at it again, tracking the Grim Reaper's prints and now her four wheeler vehicle.

"Are you seriously kidding me?" Atarah was ranting over the phone, shifting positions from leaning her back on the wall to sitting on a swivel chair. She'd forgotten her car parked at a lot of a sushi restaurant near city hall. She asked Malory to move it back to her apartment but to her surprise she'd taken it out on a stroll. Not just a stroll but to a three day trip to New Jersey.

"The reunion was urgent and ... yours is better than my pickup," pleaded her sister. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"How can I disagree with you?" She grumpily uttered. "You've already taken it out for a drive."

"Thank you! Just this once. You're the best," she replied with a victorious tone before ending the call.

She sighed. She'd disagree with her Malory's, 'Just this once.' If it was so then 'once' may mean multiple times in her dictionary. The first time Atarah took count was at Lesommes Junior, their dorky days of grade school. She recalled borrowing a book at Madame Celine's Library.

The night when she was so preoccupied by the savoring smoky-sweet taste of honey drizzled ham, had she soon realized the book vanished from her bag. Figured she might've dropped it, she spent a whole day tracing back her steps and writing her letter of apology for the librarian. The school girl rendition of herself expected to wish her piggy bank goodbye, not until she caught the petty little thief snuck up on her room. They didn't talk for days but the tantrum faded out after that. She could see she didn't change a speck from before.

"How's it doing there?" she focused on the case instead of her sister.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant. The dashcam broke from the water. I can't get a single read," replied Sam with a frown.

"Looking into the dash cameras won't help either," Detective Carter positioned a piece of text on the desk. It also displayed an image of a tiny gizmo with an opal shaped gemstone, glinted red of ruby. "This was found lying underneath the stirring wheels."

"Self operated mechanism for cars?" Sam's eyes widened. "The Grim Reaper seems to be one powerful person."

"He's also sly for choosing the areas," Atarah mingled the mouse over files of CCTV footages. "This was the drive up the mountains. From this point over there are only views of trees and no cameras."

"Did you check the footages after the car drove in there?"

"No one went back. He must've took another route away from the main road."

"Don't worry. We'll find him soon," Cole cheered the team up but his eyes were glued to their team captain.

"I know," Atarah responded trying to muster up a smile.

"News from the mayor," Khen entered the room, avidly swinging something on his hand. He was like one of those delivery boys shouting at your front yard while you're having a hot cup of coffee for breakfast. "The mayor wants to give his thank you for finding his wife."

He handed over an opened brown envelope. The stamped seal was gone, suggesting the officer had already removed it along with a strip of the paper in the process. Inside was one of those perfume scented stationary papers. It smelled of citrus lemon. The letter read:

To the NYPD and SSO,

In honor of my late wife, I would like to express my gratitude to the police who found her. I hope to see your faces in the Capitol this Sunday at 8:00 p.m.