Her Knight and Shining Skirt

[ JACK ]

I'm back here at the NYPD, staring at this evidence board that I assembled just now. Some calls this the "link board" or so, where we pin down relations between one act to another, as it is connected to the crime. There's a picture of Dr. Gutierrez lying on the floor full of blood, linked with a red string to that picture of a sword in Han Dynasty, linked to a picture of his only son, John Bryan Gutierrez, and is now linked to a sketch of the woman who bought the sword at PawnDawn.

There are still a lot to consider before I could find this woman whom the employees have described. According to the witnesses Tristan and Daniel, the woman who bought the sword was wearing a shoal covering her head. Not entirely, but half. They also said that her hair is blonde. But the most distinct of it all, she has a scar on her face. These are somehow making things raveled.

We dug into our previous cases and no one of them matched with these descriptions. It's the first time in a while that we had a female murderer in the hood. It kind of made me feel like this killer is somehow new to this kind of business because she did not clear all her pathways back. Her work is flawed somehow. We could almost trace her and I can sense that if there are leads to get us going, it'll take us to her before this month ends.

"Excuse me Jack, a call from the crime lab unit said that the results of the forensic examinations regarding the murder of Mr. Gutierrez can now be taken."

Shawn, one of my colleagues, interrupted my deep thought by the sudden news.

"Thanks bud." I replied and hurriedly went out to drive my cop car.

Days are just passing us by with the murderer still on my hood. I was never easy about this case, I'm trying to fully understand what the motive of the murderer was. Is she even related to the Gutierrez? or just a random murderer seeking for victims? I never slept straight because of the ideas coming into my head.

After minutes of driving the long road of the district, I am now here at the Crime lab unit. I hopped off the cop car and hurriedly went inside. The guard knows me well since I am in and out of their building often so he never asked for any identification card to fully inspect me.

As I entered the restricted area of the building, Marie Zinger welcomed me. She is one of the founders of the lab and the ones running the forensics.

"Good day, detective Hoffman. Here's the result of the examination regarding the DNA match with the murder weapon, in relation to John Bryan Gutierrez's suspicion of murder."

She stretched her hand towards me and hurled with it, is an envelope with a tag of Dr. Gutierrez's case number. I took it from her and started opening it, scanning the entire document for the results.

"Negative." I whispered.

"Right detective Hoffman. The DNA from the sword blade matched Dr. Stefano Gutierrez's DNA but the chromosomes at the handle did not match with John Bryan's."

As she said those, it made me feel accurate about what I just thought. John Bryan did not kill his father. I know right from the start he's telling me the truth.

"Yup, I knew that boy will never do something horrible to his own dad. He seemed nice. I knew it - my gut feeling never left me unhinged." I replied.

"And also, as to the chromosomes we got on the DNA from the handle of the sword, we can definitely tell you that the murderer is a male."

Marie Zinger made me feel uneasy for a second. A male? But according to the witnesses at PawnDawn, the one who bought the sword was a female.

"Marie, are you sure it's a male? Our current lead right now entailed a woman. She bought the weapon at the PawnDawn and people saw her."

"We are very certain about this, Detective. We ran different test and identified the biological sex of the one holding the weapon as an XY, found at the 23rd pair of his chromosome. A confirmation that he's a male."

I cannot believe what I just heard. This cannot be true. The one who held the weapon is a male, but the one who bought it is a female.

Now it's giving me a bigger picture. Is the killer not alone on planning all of this? Whoever that is, he might have an accomplice.

***

[ BECCA ]

We just went out of the South Coast Medical hospital. Gina took me out in wheelchair and paid my hospital admission like I was her daughter. I felt like a liability as she pushes me down the hallways. Again, she saved me.

I can stand by my own feet if I could right now - but she insisted to have me on this wheelchair so I could regain my strength in dribs and drabs.

I am starting to feel regenerated of my strength and we are now back here at Gina's apartment. We are laying our bodies on her bed, trying to calm ourselves after the sudden commotion.

I knew what I had, the bleeding, was just because of the stress and all the things that are happening for the past few days. I never had enough sleep and enough vitamins and minerals for almost a week. My mind is full of collision, this and that. One after another, I was devoured by it.

I could never make it without Gina. If she is not here, I could have gone insane.

"Are you feeling alright, Becca?" She asked me without looking. Her eyes are fixed on the ceiling.

She is very thoughtful of me. She always puts me first. My heart is melted by her gesture and nothing in this world can be better than her. Gina is my only friend and my strong fortress. I might be bitchy to her at times but I cannot deny the fact that she's one of my necessary medicine to keep my head cool.

"Yeah. I feel great. Thank you, Gina. Everything is not possible without you." She smiled after I said those.

"I'm glad you're feeling great, Becca. I will always fight for you. But.. I'm feeling doubtful of the next days to come. We're both running out of money and food. Plus, I went AWOL at work. I honestly don't know where things are gonna to take us." She replied.

"This is insane, I know. But don't worry, this is going to take us.. to freedom, Gina."

"Yeah. I know that. It will take us to your freedom. All for you. And I will be here no matter what."

I tilted my head towards her as she said those. That hit me. I know all the things that are happening, it only concerns my own dilemmas. She's right. This is all for my freedom. Not even an inch for her.

I feel like a burden. This is getting right through me.

"I'm sorry, Gina. I never wanted you to be in this kind of fucked up situation. I - I always feel like a burden to you, and I live up to that everyday. But I cannot dwell with this on my own, Gina. You're stronger than me. You're my knight in shining skirt, remember?" I smiled as she looked at me. To be honest, without this girl, I could have died days ago. She saved me multiple times I don't know how to pay her back.

"You know how much I love you, Becca. I'm always here. We can get through this, aye?"

She lean her head towards me. It made me feel secured and safe. Whenever I'm with Gina, my mind is just wandering in happy thoughts. All the positivity and calmness that I experience when I'm with her, almost like a birthday to me. Once in a blue moon.

She is the only one I have.

"Gina.. I could never make it here without you." I took her hand and placed it in my chest. "I love you very much." I added.

I took inches towards her and held her hair. I felt every strand of it as it intertwined with my fingers, like shiny, black threads of a weaving loom. She looked into my eyes as if it's a message that I need to decrypt, hugging my soul into taciturn. I'm feeling calm like a pond in midday sun, soaked with love and affection by this girl in front of me, making my heart throb in thousand ways I cannot contain it.

And then, our feelings intertwined. I felt my body quiver. Her heat makes me feel safe.

As she pulled me closer towards her, I felt a sudden initiative to be submissive into her call. I felt her lips inching nearer to mine.

Then, as the day run us by, I felt everything she promised me.

I took her head closer to mine.

And then, We kissed.