The Samantha Rain Mysteries

Chapter 12

12

The metal gate slammed shut behind Samantha as she left the Fickle estate. She glared back at the mansion, just in time to see the curtains ripple as if someone just left.

She shuddered and tightened her coat. What a creep.

Part of her wished she headed Lilith’s warning and had never crossed paths with the man, but what was done was done. This wasn’t the time to unstick her nose and get intimidated.

Her phone chimed, tearing Sam out of her thoughts.

The precinct.

Of course.

The Pixie killings were related to the Nox world, but their identities were still part of the human world. If she was going to the precinct to find information for Catalina’s mystery appearance, she might as well look for the two missing bodies. Two birds, one stone.

On her way to the precinct, she ran through the conversation with Fickle, committing it to memory. He’d admitted his involvement, that wasn’t the issue. It was convincing Lilith and the Nox that what he did was wrong. With their questionable morals, it wouldn’t be an easy task.

Samantha was hopeful she’d get through them somehow. While the line between right and wrong wavered and stretched, it never broke. Beyond the white and grey, an all-consuming black existed, desperate to devour everything in its path. The battle wasn’t over until that corruptive evil was driven back and the light was allowed to shine. And as long as white and black waged war over the hearts of men and women, Sam would fight alongside right to make the world a better place.

She checked her surroundings and ran the conversation through her head one more time. There was something that didn’t make sense and she couldn’t figure out why. If Fickle had no problem confessing to the murder of the man, Oliver, why would he deny his involvement in the death of the woman? If he didn’t believe he’d done anything wrong, there was no reason to hide.

And yet… he had.

Why?

Samantha groaned, her stride just a tad erratic. Why didn’t it make sense?

She shook her head and climbed the steps leading to the precinct. Without more information, it was impossible to connect the dots. But she wasn’t about to give up. She still had…

She checked her watch, her eyes widening.

Less than nine hours.

She hurried up the stairs, passing a cop in uniform on the right and a civilian on the left. The smell of stale coffee and disappointment greeted her at the door and Samantha took a deep whiff.

“Ahh…”

Now that smelled like home.

With an extra bounce in her step, she made her way to the info desk. After all this time, she wasn’t sure she could just waltz past without signing in.

“Well, well, well.” The receptionist lowered his glasses to glare at her. “Detective Rain.”

Samantha grimaced, her moment of excitement shattered. “You know I’m off duty, Leonard.”

“Right. What can I do for you, Miss Rain?”

Miss. Not Mrs. So talk about her divorce had already done its rounds through the station. As expected. She’d forgotten what a gossip hole this place was.

She mustered a fake smile. “I’m here to see Rick.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Really?”

The receptionist cowered under her glare. “Sign here.”

“Thanks.”

She didn’t mean that.

A couple of old colleagues passed her, but only one of them had the decency to mutter a lacklustre greeting. The other two just ignored her, not like Sam had expected anything else.

She made her way to the second floor and searched for Rick. Desk duty was supposed to be a great equalizer, but there were definitely a few people in the station that got out of it much quicker than others.

She spotted her friend hidden behind a couple of monitors and waved. “Hey!”

He looked up and smiled, the relief clear in his eyes. “Samantha! My saviour.”

Sam weaved through the desks and pointed at one of his screens. “What’s up with all these?”

“I’m going through surveillance from an old case. Two hundred hours worth of videos.” He cracked his neck. “Someone’s got to do the slog. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been…” Samantha thought about her answer. “Actually, I’ve been okay.”

“I’m glad to hear.”

“Did you tell anyone about my separation?”

Rick looked away. “I might’ve mentioned it at the coffee machine.”

“Tssk.” She shrugged. “Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like most people would be surprised.”

“Unfortunately not. You were married to the job.”

She chuckled softly. “I guess I was…”

“Hmm… Can’t say I don’t understand.” Rick cleared his throat. “Anyway, what can I do for you?”

“This might be an odd request…” Sam lowered her voice. “Could I have a look at some recent missing people reports?”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “Missing people? Samantha, what are you up to?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why don’t you check the public database?”

“We both know that’s not up to date enough. I’m looking for more recent reports.”

He shot her a suspicious look. “This is a strange request.”

“I know it is.” She leaned against the wall. “What did you do to get desk duty anyway?”

“Nothing. Just a little misunderstanding. It’ll be cleared up in no time.” Rick dropped the pen he was fiddling with and growled. “Alright, a suspect accused me of improper demeanour during an assessment, but I wasn’t looking at her cleavage. I wasn’t!”

Sam shot him a smile. “I believe you.”

“Thanks. It’s just taking a while to get the charge processed. In the meantime, I’m here.”

“Hmm…” Sam let a couple of seconds pass before she spoke again. “So… About the reports?”

“I don’t know, Sam.”

“Come on? I did you a favour not that long ago.”

Her friend groaned, the hesitance flickering through his eyes. “Alright, fine, but don’t do anything stupid. It’ll be on my head.”

“I won’t,” she promised.

“Right. I’ll be back in a sec. Don’t touch anything. If I find one of my pens moved, there will be hell to pay.”

Samantha chuckled. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good.”

With Rick gone, Sam leaned on his desk and had a look around. There were a handful of officers hard at work. Some were lost in conversation, others in a phone conversation, or handling notes and documents. There were old mugs on almost every desk, sometimes more than one.

Sam smiled. The uniforms, the terrible coffee, the ambient chatter. It brought back memories of a good time, a better time. When her career was promising and her marriage still loving. If anyone had told her that was the peak of her life, she’d never have believed them. And yet…

She looked down, the reality of the matter all too apparent. No real job, no uniform, no wife. She had to rely on a friend just to see some reports and after all this time, she couldn’t enter the precinct without people whispering behind her back. Some things never faded.

“There we are!” Rick announced, thudding a bunch of files on his desk.

Sam jumped, her heart missing a beat. “You startled me.”

“You were always a daydreamer.” He pushed the folders across but didn’t let go. “These don’t leave the precinct. No pictures, just notes.”

“Understood.”

The two exchanged a tense look before Rick released his grip. Samantha shot him a grateful smile and took the folders to one of the empty desks. With a deep breath, she collected herself before she opened the file and stared in the dark eyes of the first missing person. Male, early thirties, reported two weeks ago. Last seen at his gym after an altercation with another member. He had a wife and two kids waiting for him. No new leads.

Sam’s chest tightened as she closed the file and moved on to the next.

This was going to be a long day.