“Mr. Reed... I want you to stay calm,” the nurse urged as the doors opened.
“You... don’t understand….” he said before he passed out.
“I think it’s futile,” the doctor said looking at the amount of blood loss.
“You’ve been shadowing me for three weeks now,” Jake said to the young agent accompanying him, “Carlson should see improvement in your performance by now.”
The young agent looked at Jake and smiled. Jake stopped and turned to him. “What was that?”
“Well, you want Carlson to see improvement in my work, but, I have learned nothing from you. In fact, it’s the other way around,” he said and smiled again.
A flash of anger crossed Jake’s face hearing his words. “If it weren’t for Carlson’s orders, I would’ve thrown you out the first day itself.” His words made no impact on the young agent, though, as he walked closer to Jake.
“It’s no picnic for me either. I came here with high hopes, but I had never imagined that I would work with an agent who doesn’t even know the basic rules of law enforcement. And, the appalling thing is that you aren’t even ashamed of your ignorance. Even a school going kid knows more about the law and regulations of this country than you do. So, if it weren’t for Carlson, I would’ve left you the first day itself.”
“Okay… you asked for it. Once we’re done with this meeting, I’ll show you how things are taught here. This meeting is your last chance to save yourself. So, chose your words wisely while speaking to him,” Jake said and gave him a wild stare. It worked as the young agent looked down at the floor. It gave a sense of control to Jake, who walked towards Carlson’s office.
Special- Agent- in charge Carlson looked at Jake and Ryan as he removed his glasses. A file with worn out edges was lying on his desk. A faint smile covered Jake’s face sensing a potential case – an old unsolved case.
“Agent Carter and Agent Davis - how is the training progressing?” he asked while looking at both alternately.
“It’s…” both said together. Jake gestured Ryan to go ahead who motioned him to go ahead.
“It’s going great, sir,” Jake said with a smile. “The first week was more of an introduction to the department. I shared the organization structure with him and introduced him to the other department’s key personnel. However, the last two weeks have been the most fruitful. We’ve even discussed some of the live cases, and I think Agent Davis has learned a lot of things that’ll definitely help him once he gets on the job.”
Ryan Davis looked at Jake in disbelief and then gave a forced smile as his eyes met Carlson’s gaze.
“Agent Carter has been handling cases in the field for over ten years now. Make the most of your time while you’re here and learn as much as you can from his experience.”
Ryan Davis gave a muffled chuckle at the word ‘rich experience.’ Jake noticed that but ignored it for the moment. He looked at Carlson and then at the file.
“Sir, you called for something specific?” he asked.
“Oh... yes,” Carlson said and opened one file. Jake’s enthusiasm evaporated as he noticed it wasn’t the old file that Carlson was reading earlier.
“A man named James Reed died in the city hospital last week. The doctor’s report says excessive blood loss as the cause of the death, but we think there’s more to it. It’s as if the whole blood had been sucked out of his body. And, yesterday, two more deaths were reported in a similar fashion. What connects these three murders apart from the blood loss are their last words.”
With that, Carlson pushed the file towards them. Ryan leaned forward, but Jake pulled the file before he could have taken it. Carlson noticed that but said nothing.
“The eight Suns?” Jake read with confusion.
Carlson nodded, “Yes… and there’s another commonality amongst the victims.”
“What commonality?” Jake asked while placing the file on the table. Ryan dragged it immediately towards him. Carlson noticed that but ignored once again.
“Their background,” he said, “James Reed had done time thirty years back for stealing a bike. The second victim has charges of tax evasion, and the third one was fighting a case for a forged fire insurance claim. In short, all of them had a brush with the law in the past.”
“They have another thing in common – none of them had a family,” Ryan said as he glanced at the report.
“That must be a coincidence,” Carlson said and turned to Jake. “There’s something else that would be helpful in investigating this case.” With that, he pushed the old file towards them. Jake gave a faint smile. “Finally,” he mumbled.
“We had a similar case seven years back, wherein another person claimed to have seen the ‘eight Suns.’ Luckily, for us, he survived. I want you to speak to him. This file has the details of that case including his present address. His name is Donald Coleman,” Carlson said. “He was found on…”
“On the way to Arizona,” Ryan interjected. “That’s why ‘eight Suns’ sounded so familiar.”
“So, you already know this case? That’s great. I was getting late for a meeting, anyways,” Carlson said and got up. Jake looked angrily at Ryan who looked at Carlson. Carlson had enough of it by now.
“You wait outside,” he said to Ryan, “I need to talk to Jake.”
Ryan left at once. However, before leaving, he made sure he carried both the files with him. A streak of anger crossed Jake’s face. Carlson noticed it.
“What’s happening?” he asked, “You don’t like him?”
“He gets a little difficult to handle sometimes,” Jake answered diplomatically.
“What do you mean?” Carlson asked while looking at his watch.
“He is more interested in reading the manuals than learning from my practical knowledge,” Jake replied. “I feel he isn’t interested in learning from me,”
“Or, maybe you aren’t teaching him properly,” Carlson said, “Because, I see a lot of potential in him. Look how he connected these cases with an old case within a second.”
“I didn’t mean that…” Jake tried to defend but Carlson cut him short.
“See, I don’t have time for this. We had a deal. You solve this case with him and then go back to your old partner provided she solves her case with her new partner,” Carlson said and took out his journal. “Is that understood?”
Jake nodded and stepped aside. Carlson looked at his watch one more time and left.
“This nightmare isn’t going to end soon,” Jake mumbled looking at the swiveling door.
As he stepped out, he looked at Kiara’s desk that Ryan was using. He gave a muffled grunt, “Kiara, where are you?”
“You understand that I haven’t slept in the last twenty-four hours? I look awful,” the young Agent said while looking himself in the rear-view mirror. Agent Kiara Davenport didn’t pay heed to his words. Her eyes were fixed at the main entrance of the swanky hotel at the other side of the road.
“He went inside with a bag and the way he dragged it, I believe it had a lot of cash in it,” she said, “I just need a lead, and he’ll be in our clutches.”
“Then why don’t we go inside and catch him red-handed?” he asked in frustration.
“And, then what?” she glanced at him momentary before going back to her position, “We have to find the source of his illegal investments. Catching him now will mean alerting his handlers. He is just a pawn. We need to bring down the whole syndicate and….”
“There he is. We have to follow his car. Drive slowly keeping a safe distance. Do you understand?”
“It’s quite complicated, but I’ll do my best,” he said with irritation, “Now, where does this key go?”
His mocking had no impact on Kiara, however. She didn’t want to lose the sight of her target, who waited for his car at the hotel entrance. He was still carrying the bag, but it looked empty now.
As they took a U-turn, Kiara lost the sight of the hotel entrance for a moment.
“Move
fast,” she shouted.
“Fast or slow? Make up your mind, lady,” he shouted back.
Kiara shook her head as she saw a car coming out of the hotel main gate. “I will make your life miserable if we lose him.”
“It can’t get worse than this,” he replied, and before Kiara could have retaliated, he increased the speed.
“There he is. See, we didn’t lose him,” he said pointing at the car that was entering the main street.
As they went past the hotel, Kiara noticed the security guard talking to the hotel owner. She ignored it and looked at the road.
“Where is he going?” the agent asked while looking at the signboard, “He lives in the upper west, right?”
“Maybe, he is going to his restaurant,” she replied.
“But, he goes there on Tuesdays and Thursdays and today is Wednesday?” he asked again.
“Yeah… let’s find out,” Kiara said while looking at the car that was getting into the heavy traffic.
“That’s some busy street,” he said with a faint smile.
“And, it doesn’t bother you why he chose it?” Kiara asked while shaking her head, “Will you be able to navigate through this traffic?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you drive?”
Kiara took a deep breath, “See, Jason, it will only work if you try to understand the severity of the situation.”
Jason nodded, “You’re right. The situation is getting out of our hands.”
“What?” she asked with confusion.
Jason pointed at the traffic signal that had turned red. The car they were chasing had crossed the signal, leaving them stranded on the other side.
“Don’t stop,” Kiara said hastily.
“I can’t do much,” he said, “These cars aren’t going to get aside by themselves.”
He was right. The honking bothered no one. Instead, they got a few stares in return. Kiara remembered she was not in her official car.
“Worst day to go undercover,” she said in frustration.
“I think it’s futile now. Shall we go back to the division or our apartments?” he asked while making some calculations. “The bar must have opened by now.”
“Unbelievable,” Kiara said in disbelief, “Why did you even join the force if you didn’t want to chase the criminals?”
A streak of nervousness flashed across Jason's face, but it left as soon as the signal turned green.
“Which way should we go?” he asked trying to avoid the discussion.
“He turned right; I guess,” she said with little confidence.
“Right it is,” Jason said and signaled.
By the time they negotiated the vehicles coming from either side and took the right turn, the car they were chasing was nowhere to be seen. Jason slowed down while Kiara kept scanning all the streets on both the sides of the road.
“It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Jason said in frustration.
“There it is,” Kiara said and looked at the car parked outside a building. She got down as soon as their car came to a halt. She stopped a few yards before it and pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket. While pretending to talk on the phone, she walked to the front and tried to get a glimpse of the inside of the car. The driver was reading a newspaper while the backseat was empty. She looked at the building. The ground floor had a salon – ‘Blue Door Salon & Spa’ and the floor above it had an antique shop – ‘The Crystal Shop.’
The antique shop drew her attention, but before she could have planned her next move, she heard the sound of the car engine. She looked at the car for a moment, and as she turned around, she saw a woman in her thirties holding a large red leather bag with golden pattern stepping out of the salon. Before Kiara could’ve made any sense out of it, she got inside the car and left.
“Shall we follow them?” Jason came out and asked hurriedly.
“It’s the same car. Where did he go?” she said in confusion and then closed her eyes as soon as she understood what had happened, “He knows we are keeping an eye on him. Our cover is blown.”
“We’re losing time here,” Jason reminded her.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Our cover is blown. The show is over,” she said. “Let’s go.”
“Where?” he asked
“Where else?” she said and got inside the car. Jason shook his head and followed suit.
While Kiara had involved Jason at every step of the case, Jake was thinking of different ways to keep Ryan away from his case. But, his luck ran out eventually.
“Don’t you want to discuss the case?” Ryan asked Jake, who was trying to avoid this conversation for last hour and a half.
“I’ll go through the files tonight. Let’s talk about it tomorrow morning,” Jake replied without removing his gaze from the computer screen.
“Don’t you think we should meet this guy Donald Coleman first thing tomorrow?” Ryan asked with a hint of astonishment at Jake’s lax behavior.
Jake finally looked at him. “Then we’ll discuss it during the drive. And, that’ll also help us pass the time. It’s a two-hour’s drive from here. Right?”
Ryan didn’t respond, and Jake thanked his stars for that. He went back staring at the computer screen. Ryan walked to his desk startling him. Jake closed the browser window at once. Ryan didn’t notice that and kept looking at Jake with some hesitation.
“I... I know you’re avoiding me. I understand that… I’m used to that, in fact,” he said in a measured tone. “I’ve found something in the files and wanted to talk about it with you. Moreover, I think it shouldn’t wait until tomorrow. This guy… Donald Coleman holds the key. We have to frame our questions beforehand and by beforehand I mean today.”
Jake looked blankly at Ryan, “Who is this guy?” he thought and feigned a smile.
“What’s on your mind?” he finally asked what Ryan wanted to hear. Ryan sprang into action at once and rushed to his desk. Jake looked with bewilderment as Ryan fetched his journal. Jake got a glimpse of the notes he had taken. He knew it was going to be a long conversation. He dragged a chair from the adjacent desk for Ryan.
“This case is a very popular one. I followed it as a kid from the beginning to the end. It was everywhere: TV, newspapers, magazines; you name it,” he said with a childlike enthusiasm.
‘This guy, Donald Coleman was going to Arizona when his car broke down a few miles before Sedona. He thought of getting help. But, he had only walked a few yards from his car, when the aliens allegedly abducted him.’
“What bullshit?” Jake said shaking his head, “That’s the notes you’ve taken?”
“I knew you would behave like this. Please, hear me out completely before making any judgments,” Ryan said and looked at Jake in anticipation. Jake nodded and gestured him to continue.
‘Donald doesn’t remember how he was abducted as he believes it was erased from his memory. He only remembers seeing the eight Suns.’
“Yeah, but the doctors found that he was high that time plus the heat also played a part in messing with his head.”
“It’s not that straightforward, and that’s what I wanted to tell you,” Ryan said and looked around. Once assured that no one was listening to their discussion, he pulled his chair closer to Jake. “The report says he was clean. The department wanted to avoid any controversy. Donald has a background of drug abuse, and they used it for their benefit. The media bought the story, and the case was closed with no further investigation.”
“Are you sure?” Jake asked with surprise.
Ryan nodded, “It’s right there at the end of the report.”
Jake thought for a moment, “That’s why Donald and the other three guys were chosen for this experiment or whatever was done to them?”
“What do you mean?”
“They were chosen based on their backgrounds. The idea was to do the experiment and then kill them. If a situation arose where the victim escaped alive and reported the authorities, no one would believe
his story…”
“Because of their background,” Ryan finished Jake’s thought. “You’re right. Donald was blamed for being a drug addict although he was clean. The other three were also on the wrong side of the law. So, even their stories wouldn’t have been given any weight in case they had filed a complaint.”
“But, that raises other questions,” Jake mused, “Why kill three people at the same time? That will definitely create some noise. Also, if you want to kill your victim; why leave enough life to them so they could leave a message about seeing the eight Suns?”
“That equally stumps me,” Ryan said.
“Anything else?” Jake asked.
“No, haven’t read the full report yet,” Ryan answered.
“I’m glad we had this discussion,” Jake admitted reluctantly, “It’ll definitely help in tomorrow’s meeting with Donald.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said.
“Great,” Jake said and started working on his computer. After a few seconds, he noticed Ryan was still there. Jake looked at him. He had said that he had nothing else to discuss, but his body language said otherwise. Jake knew Ryan would not tell until he asked him.
“You want to discuss something else?” he asked.
“No… it’s just a wild thought,” Ryan said and gave a faint smile, but still didn’t leave.
“What’s it? Come on. There is no need to be formal with me. You may not agree to it, but I’m your mentor.”
Ryan looked at Jake’s face for a moment as if having last minute thoughts.
“Come on, man,” Jake said again.
“Why are we keeping an eye on Donald’s movements for the last seven years?” he asked finally.
“What do you mean?”
“The news always maintained that no one could reach out to Donald as he left his house the day his past was made a public fodder. But, we kept track of his movements without disclosing it to anyone. There has to be a reason for that.”
Jake shook his head. “You are over-reading the whole situation. He has always been a person of interest just like the people in other unsolved cases. That’s why we have kept an eye on him. Don’t interpret things your way. Let’s meet Donald tomorrow with an open mind. Right?”
Davenport Mysteries 03-Perfect Crime Page 21
