CHAPTER ONE
It is time, finally I am getting married to the man of my dreams, the ambience and decorations was exactly as I had imagined, a beach wedding has always been my dream, as I walked down the aisle with my white, silk, slim fitted gown, the train gathering sand as I walked towards the man of my dreams beaming with smiles and joy radiating my body, then I realized I had walked and walked but I wasn't getting any closer to him, I panicked and started to run towards him, but the faster I ran, the further he got away, 'no, no' I muttered to myself still running, I turned around and the guests faces were blank with only wide mouths occupying the void space, mouths shaped with laughter, laughter loud and scornful, I stopped and the laughter got loud, so loud I fell to my knees my hands covering my ear, that's when I heard the ring of an alarm clock. My eyes opened, I looked around and realized it was only a dream, an annoying one for that matter, why would I be having a wedding nightmare I thought to myself, I absolutely hated weddings.
I checked my alarm clock, it was exactly 6:10 am the usual time my day starts, as a detective in the Winston state police department I have to make sure I am ready physically and mentally to take up each case whenever it arises, my daily routine must be performed each day without excuses, I wake up at exactly 6: 10 am , jog around my street, come home take a cup of black coffee with almond milk and one cube of sugar, mediate, recite my daily affirmations, take a shower and I am ready for the day as it comes. I am a shy, headstrong twenty-nine year old lady, it had always been a dream of mine to become a top ranking detective, my father was the chief of police for thirty-five years before he retired, was he my motivation to becoming a detective? No, he was not, his best friend Roy was, he was everything my father wasn't, affectionate, friendly and kind. My father and I struggled a lot in our relationship as father and daughter, which is ironical because I was named after his late mother Ariadne, and from what my mother told me about her, they were extremely close and her death absolutely devastated him.
The day was bright and sunny when I got to the station the alpha male cops who think I do not belong in my position walked around me not bothering to say hi as usual and as usual I got my got my daily cup of coffee from the break room ignoring them, going through the case file I had on my desk. A seventeen year old girl had been killed and her body with unusual markings dumped in a river , I was there when the body was dragged from the river and volunteered to take up the case, not as a feminist but as a concerned member of the force nobody especially not a little girl deserved to die that way, looked up and so much time had already passed , it is 11am and therefore time to meet the victim's parents and interview them for any clue whatsoever to help solve the case, just then Cynthia, the chief's secretary walked in 'Chief Jenkins would like to see you right now' she said, 'do you have an idea why' I asked, 'why don't you come find out' she replied haughtily, well we had never liked each other even though we are the only females in the office, I never knew why she always acted that way towards me and I never bothered to find out. I walked to his office wondering why he would call me to his office, I got to his door and knocked from here I could see the silhouette of two people, one of which is the chief definitely so who is the other person? I asked myself
'come in' chief Jenkins called out, I walked in and looked at the figure sitting opposite the chief, I first noticed his blue eyes, brown skin with blue eyes an unusual combination unusual but beautiful, chiseled jaw. 'Damn' I cursed under my breath.
'This is Gabriel, he transferred from Jacksonville and I would like you to show him around' the chief said
'I am working on a case right now, why do I have to be the one to show this newbie around' i said, I definitely did not need a carry along not now at least.
'I am assigning him to join your case, so yes he will be your partner for now and show him around too' chief Jenkins insisted
'So do you think I cannot handle this case alone, is that it?'
'Ariadne, not everything I say or any decision I make is based on an ulterior motive, he transferred in and I think you both will work well together and that is it' chief replied obviously tired of my questions
'Hi, I am Gabriel Mill and I look forward to working with you' his voice sound so deep and husky like the words had fought hard to leave his throat, Gabriel said stretching his hands forward for a handshake, I hesitated then I shook his hand 'Ariadne Garcia' I said his hands felt so firm and soft my hands almost lingered in his touch, I withdrew my hands quickly and walked out the chief's office turning my head back and signaling him to follow me, and he did.
I took his to an empty table space just opposite mine 'this would be your work space, just drop everything you need to drop right now and let's go, I am headed to interview the victim's parents, her name was Ashley Peterson let's go' dropping the case file into his hands and walking out.
'Hey newbie, don't worry you will get used to her rude behavior soon enough or you can resign right now and not have to deal with her at all' Smith called out, that annoying prick just had to say something, he was as I called him the "office clown" and took joy in saying silly things and making silly jokes about me, small chuckles moved round the office, eyes glancing at me and the new guy.
'Smithy this your obsession with me needs to stop' I replied
'As if' he answered with a loud, forced laugh.
Gabriel walked forward standing between me and Smith 'I am ready to leave now' he said. We walked down the driveway to my car 'oh nice, a ford explorer 2014 I guess' he said, 'yes it is' I replied. 'I am a big fan of cars but I am more of Chevrolet corvette guy myself, I am particularly in love with the 1961' he said 'okay' I replied. We got into the car 'I see you are not really a fan of small talk'.
'look Gabriel, I have never had a partner before, I like working alone so the way this is going to work is that you just follow me around, do whatever we have to do, we do not need to talk or chat, you don't need to know about me , I don't need to know about you'
'Well Ariadne, A… can I call you A? That is definitely not going to work, I am a people's person and from what I could see back in the office having a partner to have your back would not be so bad, don't you think?
'Please do not call me A, and I do not need a partner to have my back I am well capable of handling myself, thank you very much'
'Well, I guess we will see about that'