Evan Chilvers’s house was uptown. According to the information Brian managed to gather, the man was morose and grumpy, lived alone and worked as a head of the local hotel’s security.
Since Amanda drove to the diner in her car, they decided to not take the police van and talk to Evan off the record. “It’s very surprising Brian agreed to it so easily”, she thought, “following rules seems to be his motto”.
After she started the engine, they drove in an awkward silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Only the quiet hum of the radio interrupted the quiet.
“You know”, Amanda finally said, “tomorrow there will be a press conference in the town hall”.
“I know. Henry talked my ear off about the importance of security at this event. Will there be an after party, like you rich folks love?”
“There will be a gala. Since my Mum is the one organizing everything, my Dad and I will be present there, too. So if you want to go somewhere tomorrow, I’ll be unavailable. Sorry for being so formal”, she forced out an easy-going smile.
“What, your boyfriend will keep you busy after that gala?”
“No, he won’t be there. We’re doing the long distance”.
“Huh? Doesn’t look like you”.
“How so?”
“You seem to be the type to take the bull by the horns and destroy any hindrance on your way to be with the man you love”.
“Haha, thanks for the flattering words, I guess”, she laughed, “that almost sounded like a complement. But I don’t think I’m so assertive”.
“So why isn’t he here? Your parents couldn’t find a place for him in Moon Chasm?”
“No, they couldn’t. There are some things that are out of their hands”.
Brian didn’t understand why she was still giggling.
“Like what?”
“Like the future. I’m in a long distance relationship because my boyfriend lives in the future, dummy”, Amanda burst out laughing, “you should have seen your face! I could almost see the gears turning in your head!”
“Very funny. You got me there, I admit”.
“What about your personal life? I still know next to nothing about you while you are already aware of my family and my relationships. My curiosity needs to be satisfied. Otherwise I will die of it. You don’t want that, do you? It would mean that my dad will skin you alive”, she made a puppy dog face.
Brian rolled his eyes. It amazed him how skillfully she used his own words against him. However, he hated talking about the past. Especially since there was nothing pleasant in it. Just darkness and sorrow.
“Curiosity killed the cat, you know?”
“This cat has long claws, sharp fangs and a course of self-defense under her belt. She can stand up for herself. Come on, I’m not making you spill the state secrets”.
Amanda started to lose her patience. She will get at least something out of him today!
Brian sighed.
“Fine. But it’s neither entertaining nor joyfull. I won’t captivate you with an epic tale”.
“I’m not a little girl, Brian”, she said, “I understand very well that your job isn’t rainbows and unicorns. I asked about you, not about what you do for a living”.
“My job and I can’t be separated”, he smiled, “it’s both a blessing and a curse. Few people can boast about having the job of their dreams. But there are also few people whose life gets entangled with their job so much that you become a shadow of your former self”.
“Sounds depressing”.
“It is what it is. I’m not sorry about my choice, I am sorry about decisions I made and my poor judgement”.
“Care to share? You seem like you’ve been bottling up too much stress, maybe that’s why you blow up from a single word”, Amanda stopped short, “sorry, didn’t mean to offend you”.
Brian just sadly looked at her. There was a grain of truth in these words. After Liz died, he lost his only confidant. Not that he told her everything about his life but they could discuss things not related to their countless cases. Both of them were comfortable with that. Once he even asked her for relationship advice. It was a long time ago when he was much younger. Now he doesn’t need any advice on these things. But he does remember how she laughed and told him to not overthink it and follow his heart. The cheekiest advice he could ever get. Needless to say, they didn’t get together with that girl. He doesn't even remember her name now.
“... Brian? If you ever want to tell me anything, I’m a good listener. Besides, sometimes it’s easier to open up to a complete stranger”.
“You’re not a complete stranger to me anymore…”, he thought.
“You have a secret about your partner or an ex-partner, I’m sure”, Amanda tried to encourage him, “am I right?”
“Yes, you are”, he muttered unwillingly, “how did you guess? Your psychological tricks again?”
“No, just as us rich folks have our own stereotypes, the same goes for policemen. Even movies show the same story in various decorations”.
“You have a point. I did have a partner. Her name was Liz Kelly”.
“Was?”
“She died during a drug dealer’s arrest. One of yours”, he couldn’t but specify this detail. An apology was already on the tip of his tongue but then he noticed that Amanda didn’t react to his last words in any way. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m sorry for your loss”, she said suddenly.
Brian didn’t expect that at all and sharply turned his head towards her. Amanda had her hands on the steering wheel and looked straight ahead. Her wavy hair framed her face beautifully and her green eyes were trained on the road. She looked like that model from a new car advertisement, or even better. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't find a trace of famous women’s “war paint”. Only her lips were a tender red colour. He involuntarily compared her to his ex Rosalie. She loved spending an hour or two in front of the mirror every time they were going out. It drove Brian crazy.
Amanda noticed Brian’s attentive gaze in the rearview mirror but said nothing. Opening up requires tremendous effort from him, every time he looks like he is on the scaffold. It would be better to give him time. Usually she hated long trips but now it was to her advantage. Brian has nowhere to go. He won’t jump out of the car on the go. So he will talk. Her zest to solve him like a puzzle evaporated, but it was replaced with a simple desire to help him fight his demons. It took her some soul-searching to understand what feelings Brian evoked in her. His charcoal eyes burning with anger in front of any unfairness, his passion when he talks about his job, his attention to any details (which was both frustrating and amazing). At first she thought it was just respect. However after some pondering, she surprisingly realized that she liked him. Not as a detective who she worked with but as a person! Fancy that! How could that happen in two days? They aren’t even friends!
“Or are we?”, she threw a quick glance at him, “I can’t read him, it drives me crazy!”
“Amanda, the petrol”, his voice threw her from her reverie.
“What?”
“It’s low. There’s a petrol station nearby, we should make a pit stop”.
“Oh, right, okay”, she turned on the GPS, “where is it exactly?”
“It will be faster if I just guide you”.
Finally it got to her.
“Anything so as not to talk about your past?”
“How did you…?”
“I’m not blind. If you are so afraid of appearing vulnerable…”, she used the trick that always worked on men.
“I’m not!”, he raised his voice so much she winced, “it’s just too long and it shows your family in a bad light”.
“That’s a very poor excuse. Can you calm down, please?”
“I’m cool as a cucumber, just at peace with the whole world!”
“Yeah, it shows”.
Her condescending smile cooled him off immediately. He even got slightly embarrassed. Nevertheless, he has apologized enough today.
“You overreacted and you want to apologize”.
“No, I don’t”.
“Yes, you do”.
“No, I don’t”.
“You do”.
“Stop it!, he exclaimed, “if it shuts you up, I’m sorry, I overreacted, happy?”
“Yes”.
Surprisingly, she buttoned her lip indeed and took to searching for a petrol station on her phone.
After some silence, Brian blurted out unexpectedly even for himself:
“Liz came to our PD 10 years ago. She was a lone wolf at first but then she made a lot of friends among the officers. She was amiable, easy-going and affable. I didn’t know her well at that time but 7 years ago Moore paired us up. That was one of his best decisions. Our efficiency was one of the best in the division”, he smiled to his memories.
“Did you two…?”
“No, I never saw her that way. Liz didn’t, either. But the whole department shipped us together. Liz had a daughter, Estela, she was the apple of her eye. Her husband left them when the girl was only 8”.
“Let me guess, Estela had a crush on you when she was a teenager”.
“Something like that. Liz would always tease her about it. But Estela was like a little sister to me, nothing more”.
“Sounds a lot like you”.
“Why?”
“You would never push on anybody who doesn’t return your advances. And you will never give false hope. That’s commendable”.
“How is that relevant?”
“Just an observation to boost your confidence. Sorry for interrupting”.
Brian rolled his eyes but smiled. The next words poured out of him as if a dumb broke down.
“We had been tracking down a drug dealer, Caleb Mathews. There wasn’t enough proof but he bought the cheapest stuff from your people and sold it for a price of real medicine. We were discussing the plan of his arrest when Liz got a call. I don’t know what he told her but she turned white as a sheet. She didn’t say a word to me and hurried somewhere. I hadn't immediately put two and two together until I got her voice message. She said Caleb kidnapped Estela and demanded Liz meet him. He wanted to be let out of the city in exchange for the girl”.
15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LjXJg9xCL
****
Liz Kelly was standing near the entrance to the old dilapidated house in the outskirts of Moon Chasm City. Caleb Mathews, the bastard who had kidnapped her daughter, was talking to her looking out from the window.
“Call off the search and let me escape! Then you’ll get your girl safe and sound!”
“If even a single hair falls down from her head, I’ll kill you with my own hands!”, Liz shouted, grabbing her gun.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, he smirked disgustingly, “you’ll shoot yourself in the foot”.
With these words he disappeared from the window only to appear there again with Estala in front of him. He grabbed her neck and squeezed. The girl neither cried nor screamed which annoyed the drug dealer. But her scared eyes brought him almost euphoric pleasure. The stressful situation didn’t help his psychotic mental state.
The second Liz saw her daughter, all the fight left her. Only the desire to safe her child remained.
“What do you want? Let her go and we’ll talk!”
“That’s better”, he pushed Estela and she fell on the floor, “now you will slowly put your gun and car keys on the ground. Slowly! So that I saw it. Now back away! I’ll hold your girl at gunpoint…”
Liz slowly followed the instructions. Estela’s well-being was much more important to her than Caleb’s fate. When the dealer was about to leave the building, the wail of the police sirens rang out. The SWAT team led by Brian was hurrying to their position.
Caleb’s crazy eyes flared up with hatred and fury.
“So this is how you tried to play me?! You signed your girl’s death-warrant! I won’t go to jail, cursed Capianos will get me there!”
Maniacally grinning, he took out the lighter and threw it at the old furniture. The rickety chairs easily caught fire. Desperate and livid, Liz ran up to Brian who was already close to her, and backhanded him. Not expecting that, he wobbled and almost lost his balance.
“Liz…”
“You! It’s your fault!”, her eyes watered with furious tears, “her death is on you! And mine, too!”
With these final words, she slapped him again and rushed to the raging fire.
“Liz, no! It’s suicide!”
But it was too late. Her small figure disappeared in the smoke. It seemed to him she flipped him off but then he convinced himself it was just an illusion. The next moment, the roof of the building collapsed and three agonizing screams pierced the silence. The fire had burnt them forever.
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