Old Memories

Bryan stretched his body as he rolled on the soft king-sized bed in his hotel room. He sat up leaning on the head rest while admiring the large room which was reserved for him by Haston city's police department. He felt elated to be staying in one of the best hotels, Sapphire hotels, in Haston city; but sadly he didn't plan on staying here for long.

Getting up, he walked to the floor to ceiling window which overlooked the western areas of the main bridge in Haston city. He could also have a good view of the train station just by the far side of the bridge. He could see people walking, talking, and playing around. Some were rushing for their work places. It had to be noted that Haston city was a very populous city and hence people preferred walking to driving in order to beat the heavy traffic, which was particularly bad on the main highway.

It didn't bother Bryan so much since he had a sports bike that could go through most shortcuts.

He stood by the window for a long time taking in the view of this magnificent city which was twice as large as Wakeville. Although he did much of traveling from place to place, he never got the chance to visit this city. He went to popular cities like Mizzleport, Maple city and a few others. All these places had their peculiarities. Mizzleport was a Centre for business, and was filled with large companies.

One thing that made Haston city a top city was their local dishes. The downside of staying here, however, as Bryan just discovered, was its odd weather. He could feel the cold seeping into his skin.

"This is September for God's sake!" He hissed. At this time, Wakeville would be warm and flourishing. Haston city's weather changed occasionally like a traffic light. Just unpredictable!

Bryan finally pulled himself away from the window as he got ready for the day's work. He called room service and asked for a cup of hot tea and some sea foods; he had been craving this since he arrived.

He got into the shower and opened the tap to let the hot water flow down his skin. As he enjoyed the hot bath, his mind drifted to the smiling psychopath....

He flinched as he felt the water on his skin turn cold. He took a deep breath. It wasn't the water that went cold, but his body had developed goose pimples sending shivers throughout his body. He quickly dried himself up and put on his clothes. This serial killer made him have a new perspective on his line of job. This was the more reason he couldn't stay in this grand hotel for long. He needed to keep moving.

Back in Wakeville, he had handled a case of disappearance. As he dug deep into the case, he realised more secrets regarding a highly respectable and very powerful tycoon. This not only put him in trouble with the inner circle and of the rich people in the city, it also led the offender, who was responsible for the disappearances to pin him down at his house. He barely escaped the strong menacing man who attacked him that time. He later changed residence twice while handling that case, resulting in him attracting the attention of a dangerous gang; which he discovered were the actual perpetrators of the crime! What they did was kidnap the people, take them underground; the reasons were unknown, though the gangsters confessed that they sold them off as labour to foreign countries. The gang also had deep ties with a rich family in Wakeville, who covered up their trails and provided a safe route, through his reliable private airlines, for the offenders. This was why he vowed never to stay still while on a case, back then he only escaped because all other parties were so bent on killing him personally that they fought off each other.

"I guess I have a thing for courting dangerous cases." Bryan mocked himself inwardly. This new case he was on was not only dangerous, but could put him in a bad spot, hence, the need to seek out new places to live.

....

Bryan arrived at the Police station by 8:45 a.m. He first went to his desk, after saying "hi" to a few officers he was acquainted with from the previous day, and retrieved some files he left there. On his way out, he saw the girl from yesterday sitting at the open area that was labelled "coffee and drinks". This was like a cafe for the officers to take a break. One had to pass by the cafe before going out of the main door.

As he observed her, she seemed fine today; no eye-bags. She smiled at him and he nodded in acknowledgement and moved away to get the chief and Jason.

They boarded the police van and drove over to ma'am Janet's house. She was the mother of the seventh victim, Angelina Ezekiel.

Once they arrived, they stood outside knocking. It took time before someone opened the door. It was ma'am Janet with swollen red eye rims, pale face and parched lips. She seemed to have been crying all through the day. The trio drew in deep breaths, who wouldn't be broken by the death of an only child? All they could do was rein in their sympathy and focus on bringing the killer to book.

"Good morning ma'am..." Bruce didn't get to finish as ma'am Janet lashed out while blocking her door, "what do you want?" Her voice was hoarse.

"We want to ask you some few questions." Jason stepped in as Bruce and Bryan fell silent.

"Haven't you asked enough? Huh? You come here, the media comes here, every ill motivated person comes here in the name of questions!" The woman's voice broke through the neighbourhood.

"I'm so sorry for your loss ma'am, but this is a necessary procedure for us." Bryan tried to soothe the raving woman who now had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Don't talk to me about procedure! Where was the police when the sixth person died? Why didn't your 'procedure' capture the killer?

My daughter was so young and had a whole life in front of her, she died; just like that, because the police couldn't do their job!" Her tone was changing from that of pain to anger as she upbraided the three men.

"I know the police have failed you; we have even failed the city, but we still have a chance to bring this killer to justice" It was Bruce who swallowed his pride to say those demeaning words about the police. Bryan and Jason were surprised that the police chief would admit to failing, but to ma'am Janet, this was just a sugar coated statement, taught to every police, intended to melt her heart and make her cooperate.

"Good you know." She said in a muffled voice and went back in slamming the door shut.

"Whoosh! That was intense." Jason stroked his temple.

"We can wait and come back later." Bruce said looking listless. He felt pain. Partly because the police had to watch families cry like this every time yet couldn't do anything and also partly because he was a father and could definitely feel the pain of loss. His blue eyes dimmed and he rubbed his receding hairline....

"I understand her, I can relate with her experience to some extent." Bryan said taking a deep breath as memories from his youth flashed through his mind.

"You've had similar experience?" Bruce beat Jason to the question; both of them looked at Bryan as they walked back to the van.

"Yeah, mine was the loss of a mother..." Bryan's voice broke off making him stop to draw a breath.

"She died?" Jason scratched his head feeling that his question was a little too forward.

"No. She was taken." Bryan began, "when I was 15, my mom had an argument with my dad and went out to take a walk. She never came back. My father refused to investigate the matter. I called the police, I tried hiring private investigators but I couldn't because I lacked money.

"The police searched and discovered that she was found with a man the day she disappeared; after the fight with Dad. I started at that age to investigate her disappearance. That man, h-he was very rich." Although his voice broke, there was no trace of tears. He rubbed his chin and continued, "I later found some evidence that this man had actually forcefully taken my mom hostage. I went to the police, they told me that my mom was a prostitute who went with the rich man and that I was too young to understand it. The truth was that not even the police dared go against this man. I never saw my mom again."

"That's sad. Have you tried investigating the issue again?" Bruce asked with concern. He was starting to see this "detective" in a new light.

"All my life, I've never given up. It is what fuels my passion to take cases. Whenever I see people cry because the police can't do anything for them, it gives me a feeling of déjà-vu."

Bruce nodded at the answer. He could imagine what it's been like for him.