Greenlight

Chapter 1

This was going to be a terrible day, one of those days when it's best to stay in bed because everything is going to turn out bad. Of course, I didn't know that then.

It was the second week of summer. You know, the usual children running across the Sunkissed beach without a care in the world. That's how I saw our neighborhood. Yes, it's only a holiday home, but there hadn't been any significance in events, until now at least.

My brothers and sister had already left for training, and Mum and Dad had already left for business, leaving only a note on the fridge.

Whilst fixing breakfast, I got a phone call from my friend Amanda.

"Girl, where are you?"

"Good morning to you too" I replied sarcastically.

"Now's not the time! It's already 8:30, you have 10 minutes before you're late. Boss said that one more strike and you'll be on D-Duty.

D-Duty, also known as Debris Duty. The one thing that brings fear upon me and my colleagues. Besides my Dad of Course. I began searching my bag for some coins for a bus ticket when I remembered that my twin brother, Ray, used them up the previous day. So, I sprinted out the door with my longboard and headed straight for the beach. I was 2 minutes late but luckily, Chris hadn't arrived yet either, he's my boss. Why was he late? Oh, he lives quite far from the beach, and last night he stayed behind to do some extra work, so I think he overslept, but he won't admit it. Why? Well, he's 20, so only a year above me. Some of my colleagues are even a few years older than him, yet he's our boss. You see, the guy in charge of the beaches and lifeguard posts in the area, personally appointed him. I don't think he wants to show any weaknesses, so we just kept quiet about any tardiness. It's kind of hard to take him seriously, but he tries. Anyway, since he wasn't there, I quickly went on water patrol. And this is when things started getting bad.

As I was on patrol, I started to notice blood in the water. At first, I was going to go back and get help, but I thought "If someone's really hurt, I'd better bring them in as fast as possible". So, I followed the stream of blood and flinched as I saw the source of the blood. It wasn't a human, but a dolphin. It had been stabbed on its side near the tail, presumably attacked and was struggling to move. I quickly got the rubber rope from beneath the seat of the jet ski and fastened it onto the dolphin. It was wary at first and winced in pain, but eventually calmed down. I attached the rubber rope to the ski and headed back towards the beach.

I began to speak into the walkie talkie.

"Guys, I'm going to need the A.P.E – Animal Preservation Equipment, I've got an injured dolphin and I'm bringing him in. Do you copy? Over."

"... Yes, we copy. Over."

We pulled the dolphin in and Andy, who knows a lot about marine animals, looked at the Dolphin. I petted him whilst Andy treated his wound, but then the dolphin spat something out. It was a phone. I quickly ran to the main building, put it in a plastic bag then put it in my bag. Why didn't I report to the police or register it as lost and found? Well, to be honest I figured the police would just take it and never tell me anything if I asked, so I planned to investigate it later. As I ran towards the beach, I saw someone dragging someone else somewhere. It looked kind of suspicious, but I ignored it. Why? You see, I have glasses, but I don't wear them on practical duty because they could break, and I'm saving up for contacts. So, I figured that it wasn't anything dodgy, just me and my eyesight. You want me to describe any features I may have seen? The suspicious person was already behind a wall, so I only saw what I assume was his face. Whilst the person being dragged seemed like a normal guy who came to enjoy the beach. Oh, he had black hair, I think! Or maybe dark brown.

I ran back to where the dolphin was and ran into my boss on the way.

"Ryanne, are you just arriving?" He eyed me suspiciously.

"No, I actually got here earlier. When did you get here?" I retorted. He followed my witty remark with just a silent dirty glare.

"Sorry boss". I quickly apologized and explained to him what had happened concerning the dolphin incident. As we walked towards the others, Amanda ran towards us.

"Rye! Oh, Morning Chris. Andy said that Sean will be okay and just needs to be kept under surveillance before being let out." She exclaimed.

"Sean?" I asked. "You've already named him, and Sean was the best you could come up with?"

"Well, I was going to name him Sandy, but then Andy said he wasn't a girl. And besides, what's wrong with the name Sean?" She asked. Me and Chris looked at each other, looked back at her and shook our heads.

"It's a dolphin named Sean Amanda. Do I really need to say anymore?" Chris asked. Amanda began to pout, and Chris left us to our blabbering.

After this, the day seemed to be going back to normal, but I counted my eggs way too early. I packed my stuff and put away my red whistle and life vest and put on my black bomber jacket as it was getting darker and colder outside. I got on my longboard and headed straight for the café. No, I didn't go there to drink coffee, I was going to try and open the phone. Whilst drinking hot chocolate.

When I arrived, I made my order, settled down and began transferring information from the phone to my computer. How did I know to do this? I do computers and programming at school, I don't like it, but it's helpful. What did I find in it? Well, apparently the phone belongs to someone called Ash Reighnton, and he's loaded, but has been missing for the past few days.

He was kidnapped! Wow. This is more serious than I thought. Well, I'm one hundred percent sure that the phone is his. I checked the last post on his Instagram, and the caption said he was going to visit some dolphins, but obviously he didn't put which beach he would go to for privacy reasons. So then when I looked at the last picture on his phone, it was the same one.

"Look, my parents will be home soon, and I have things to do and places to be. Here, these are printouts of everything I found on the phone." I stated as I passed a file folder across the table. Yes. I was in an interrogation room, in relation to the case of a missing person.

"Sure, you can leave now, here's your phone. Please keep it with you at all times so we can contact you if we need any more information." The first detective began. "We would also advise that you're cautious from now on. We can't tell you much because it's classified, but what we can tell you..."

"... Is that you should be wary from now on. If we found your relevance in all this, we're sure He must have as well." The second detective continued. "We have some leads that imply that he is a stalker of a woman. who is a companion to Mr. Reighnton. Anyway, we thank you very much for your cooperation today Ms. Evergreen." Both men offered their hands, and I shook them firmly.

I proceeded to walk out of the police station, but as I left the building and crossed the road, I couldn't help but feel an uneasy pit in my stomach. What I originally thought would be a simple small matter turned out to be a potential murder case. Yes. Murder. I hadn't told them everything I thought I knew. Only what I knew was true. As I reached the other side of the road, I followed the direction of my sixth sense and turned around, towards the other side. I made eye contact with a tall man, with his eyes hidden by his baseball cap. I stared him down, but he showed no sign of relenting. I returned his penetrating gaze with a grin on my face. Then suddenly, a truck sped by, breaking our concentration, but when I looked back... he was gone