INSOMNIAC: ALAN SMITH #2 (Alan Smith series)

by ARKOPAUL DAS

  The man turned back to face him and Ryan and others, as they understood that they found the right man. This was the man who left his fingerprints in Jade Carter’s car.

  ‘Yes?’ the man said with a blank surprised face.

  ‘Henry Roberts?’

  ‘Yes, that’s me....’

  Alicia showed him the badge and said ‘NYPD, we need to talk’

  The man didn’t say anything he just took one look at the badge made a face full of terror and to their surprise started running down the side walk pushing the other people out of his way.

  ‘NYPD, stop!’ Alicia yelled again but it was no use. They soon took their gun out and started running behind him. They didn’t have any other option. And they could not afford to lose a vital suspect at this moment.

  They ran behind him holding their breath and galloped through the sidewalk where it was even tough to walk , they had to run .They felt more hot as they ran, Ryan wore a Navy blue blazer and Kevin wore a jacket, so did Alicia, which was trapping more heat and making them feel warmer.

  Their target had no intention to stop and give him away; he continued running and ran hard. He might be a little short in height but he had good solid legs, which carried him swiftly, even Usain Blot or Yohan Blake would not be able to run in this position.

  The crowd and the cars were bored, but soon they all came alive .Now more or less everyone was standing outside their cars and was watching them chase their target.

  A suspect or fugitive running away and some agents or detectives persuading him, you don’t see this kind of thing often.

  But they were not paying attention to the people who were stupidly looking at them without trying to help them stop their suspect, they ran behind Roberts holding their breath and pushing people away by any means possible.

  The man now took the main road, maybe he was also feeling tired running in the sidewalk that’s why he decided to run through the main road where at least a 100 cars were stranded at present. But it seemed like he was used to this kind of running, he was not having much problem dozing the cars, sometimes jumping over them and overcoming the incoming obstructions, .But it was more difficult for the detectives to do so .They were often getting hit, sometimes they were tripping and falling down, but they chased him anyway.

  Kevin was the fastest in their group so he took the lead and ran behind him without fumbling much. Ryan and Alicia were clearly having a hard time and they could feel their legs giving away, and they were feeling so hot now that they would gladly welcome a sunstroke rather than running one more mile.

  But their opponent was still fit and was still ahead of them, there was not a sign of panting for breath or something like that.

  Alicia only once stood and aimed her gun at Roberts’s leg and took a shot .But the bullet missed the target and bounced of hitting the roof of a car. The owner came out and yelled at her. From then on Alicia never stopped to take a shot, as she knew it would not be helpful.

  Alicia and Ryan felt more irritated because if all those people had contributed in stopping their suspect rather than watching them, as if a movie shooting was going on, then it would have been much more easier.

  Henry Roberts knew that these cops couldn’t outrun him .But he just could not continue like this. He needed to lose them and stop this thing. He looked around thinking about where could he go next, and nearly fell being hit on the head by the rear of a car, but he managed to stand up and continue running anyway.

  He looked back once and saw that he was still some metres ahead .He increased his speed further more with sweat dropping from his forehead. He turned to the left side. He took the footpath beside him again .He started pushing the people away again.

  ‘Hey stop’ Kevin yelled this time as he was the nearest to the man and one time he nearly caught the hood of the man.

  No way, Henry thought .He could not give himself away after fighting for so long .He suddenly saw a bend in the footpath. He came at the front and saw an alleyway that was deserted .He felt well. He could take this alleyway and run freely without any problem .It was also dark when compared to the main road which was burning hot, but it was more cooler as the buildings on the both sides were acting like a shade.

  Henry looked back at the cops for one last time before taking the alleyway. This was his chance, he couldn’t miss it out.

  Alicia yelled to Ryan. ‘Which way did he go?’

  ‘There, there’ Kevin was shouting from the front. ‘The alleyway .He went in there’

  Kevin and others quickly entered the alleyway and chased him again.

  Henry understood that the cops were still following him, so he took another alleyway to his right and ran as fast as he could. He knew he might even reach the Grand Central Terminal through these alleyways. From where he would take any train and escape.

  The alleyway was empty and dark unless you look up at the sky, which was blazing blue and would make your eyes watery if you look at it for a long time. But he didn’t look up, he just followed the straight path and ran. He was not sure now if the cops were still behind him or not. But he was not going to take any chances against the police.

  Ryan also entered the street soon followed by Kevin and Alicia and fired a shot. He knew he had to injure him by any means, as there was no other way to stop him. But unfortunately for Ryan, he missed, and the bullets got shattered in the wall and fell on the street. He took two more shots, but still got the same results. He started running again finding no alternative.

  Henry Roberts smiled to himself as the bullets missed him and looked straight ahead. The whole path was empty and dark except for one man who was walking, gently keeping his face on the street and keeping his hands inside the pullover jacket pockets that he was wearing, though it was too damn hot.

  Henry Roberts thought that this time also this man will just look at him with a surprised face and let him pass, but to his misery, it didn’t happen the way he wanted.

  The man quickly came in the middle and blocked his way, so Henry Roberts was bound to slow up a little. Then when they came near each other Henry tried pushing him away, but the man who was slim and tall and gave him a solid punch with his bony wrist, as Henry fell flat on the ground.

  But he could not just lie like this, so he stood up again pushing the other man and tried returning the punch he got, but the man dodged the shot too easily, got hold of his hand twisting it painfully and also gave a hard kick with the edge of his boot on his knee that made him cry out and fall down again becoming physically immobile.

  The man, as his work was complete, just stood up normally and removed the dust from his pullover like nothing happened.

  ‘Who the fuck are you man?’ Henry Roberts held his leg tight as the kick was harder than the twisting of the hand. The man just stood back and watched him.

  ‘Someone you’ll regret meeting in your life’ came the instant reply from the tall white man.

  But they didn’t get any more time to talk. Ryan, Kevin and Alicia all three of them came and joined them .They just had to jog to do so this time.

  ‘What happened to him?’ said Alicia who stopped and caught her breath for a few seconds before saying this.

  ‘Seems like he’s hurt’ said Ryan and stooped to see what happened to him.

  Kevin had no tenderness in him .He held Henry Roberts collar tightly and said ‘Get up you moron’

  But the man was too heavy, and he didn’t want to move his leg .So Kevin left him and stood up.

  ‘Something happened to his leg, I think’ said Ryan ‘Maybe he fell down and got himself hurt’

  ‘No that’s not what happened’ Henry Roberts yelled out ‘This asshole stopped me and beat me up’

  They soon came to realize that there was also someone else present in the street. Alicia looked up and saw a man standing a few yards away and watching them carefully. He was tall, much taller than all of them, was extremely slim and had a bushy hair with a tinge of brick colour in it. He wore a black pullove
r jacket, which just hung in his body. Another black dusty shirt could be seen within with a pair of trousers of the same colour. His hands, the wrist part, the only part that was visible were pale and white with blue veins and bones covering the upper region. He had a white clean-shaven face with blue eyes.

  And the most weirdest thing was that he had not even sweated a bit, even when he was wearing black clothes.

  Ryan was the first to say ‘Hey, thanks for stopping him’

  Ryan looked like the shorter version of that man. And another difference was that he was perspiring.

  Ryan held out his hand for a handshake, and the other man shook his hand and smiled, didn’t say anything.

  Alicia now came forward and said ‘Actually he was our suspect, we need him for some questioning’

  ‘He was running away’ said the man, not a hard but a cold voice. ‘Why?’

  ‘We don’t know that’ said Alicia giving another glance at Henry Roberts who had a frown in his face. ‘Thanks anyway’

  The man started to turn back and walk away but Ryan caught him again as he said ‘Yes?.’

  ‘But I would like to know that why did you stop him?’ said Ryan ‘I mean how did you know that he’s our suspect’

  ‘Who says I knew he was your suspect?’ the man continued ‘I was walking by the street when I saw him running away from something and my instinct told me that there was a problem. If he’s running away from something then he needs to be stopped. And I also heard you all chasing him .So I figured he might be some sort of fugitive .And I stopped him like that’

  ‘Who says I’m a fugitive?’ Yelled out Henry.

  ‘So that’s why I stopped him’ the tall man said ignoring Henry Roberts ‘And when he tried to push me and escape, I made sure he can’t do that’

  ‘Oh, that’s great man. Good job’ Ryan remarked again as the tall man smiled for the last time and walked straight past them. They looked at his back for some time until the alleyway bended and he vanished.

  After sometime, Ryan said ‘Great man, isn’t he?’

  ‘Nothing great’ said Alicia ‘More awkward’

  ‘Okay, I am gonna lie here while you guys will chat and pass time, right?’ Henry yelled for the third time.

  ‘Shut up, Henry’ said Alicia as she turned to Ryan ‘I don’t think he will be able to walk for sometime’

  ‘Right, we need a stretcher maybe?’

  Alicia took out her phone and dialled a number. ‘Let’s call an ambulance then’

  ‘No no no’ Henry said ‘I don’t need any stretcher or anything. I’m fine .I’m fine’

  Kevin muttered ‘If you’re fine then why don’t you try standing up?’

  He tried as Kevin suggested but fell back again. ‘It’s just a muscle pull, I think .I will be able to stand but I need some support’

  ‘Fair enough’ said Alicia and kept the mobile back in her pocket ‘If he says he can stand then, fine. Ryan, Kevin, you two just hold him and see if you can make him walk a few metres ,I will go and see where we left our car. You just bring him at the edge of the alleyway. Okay?’

  ‘Got it’ said Kevin. Alicia left them as they both stooped down, gripped Henry’s shoulder and tried to pull him up. It was tough at first but they managed it anyway.

  SIXTEEN

  It was half past 1 in the noon when they came back to precinct. When they went inside, the main lobby was nearly empty , so was the first floor of the department which usually overflows with people .It was officially the lunch time so most of the officers and uniforms were out for some fun, eating, except those who had something damn important to do just like them.

  They sat on the chairs in the main lawn at the right corner as it was empty so not much people would bother them around and it was near to the air conditioner. They had to prevent themselves from a getting heat stroke.

  There was a coffee and a cold drinks machine nearby but Alicia preferred water to coffee while Ryan and Kevin helped themselves with a can of diet coke.

  They made Henry sit on the sofa, the only sofa that was available there, some officers came and went looking at them as Ryan, Kevin and Alicia made themselves comfortable sitting directly under the AC.

  Ryan suddenly noticed Luke, pouring himself coffee from the coffee machine as Ryan called him.

  ‘Hey Luke’

  ‘Wassup man?’ he answered bringing the cup with him.

  ‘Come here’ Ryan said.

  He walked to them and said ‘Man, you all look like you’ve ran a thousand miles under the sun, making you all tired and exhausted.’

  ‘You would not believe us’ said Ryan ‘But that’s exactly what happened.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah...okay I need you to help us with something’

  ‘What...hey look man I’m really hungry and I’m going out for some snacks .I really can’t...’

  Ryan cut him short ‘Just listen. Look at that man’ he said pointing at Henry Roberts.

  ‘Who the hell is he?’

  ‘He is one of our suspect and the one that made us run a thousand miles....well he is a little injured you might say, so I want you take him to a hospital or anywhere possible and see what happened to his legs’

  ‘But—’

  ‘See if you can’t do it then find Trevor, I think he’s off duty now’

  Luke shrugged and said ‘Alright I will see what I can do’

  He went over to Henry Roberts and said ‘Get up man; we are goin’ to have some fun outside.’

  ‘I can’t walk’

  ‘I will hold you, come on’

  ‘I’m fine. Just leave me’

  ‘Nope, you’re not fine, see......there you’re limping’

  After Luke took him out, Alicia stood up and said ‘Okay I think we should get back to work now’

  ‘Aren’t you tired?’ Ryan asked her surprised.

  ‘I’m. But work is more important’ said Alicia and walked to the elevator area and clicked a switch. ‘Come on; let’s see if Henderson got anything on Paul Brown for us’

  ‘Yeah’ said Ryan ‘From where does she get so much energy?’

  ‘No idea’ Kevin replied as they joined her in the lift. The lift went up just to pause at the respective floor .The door opened, Alicia was the first to move inside, and Ryan and Kevin went in.

  Alicia went near the white board and started reading the summaries again just to see if there was any clues left in there , unnoticed . There was a picture of Henry Roberts, Paul Brown and Jade Carter, their original victim with a lot of descriptions written below them. He wrote the letter ‘Found’ ,crossing out the 'missing' word below Henry Roberts picture.

  Some more officers filled in the area, some drinking coffee, she thought how they could drink coffee in this weather? It’s too unhealthy for health.

  ‘Hey man,’ Ryan just found Trevor sitting alone at one corner and typing something rapidly in his computer. ‘I thought you’re off duty’

  ‘Not a chance’ said Trevor in a tired voice ‘Still got some files to check out. I am all packed up’

  ‘I see’

  ‘Yeah desk job. Boring as ever’ he said removing his eyes only once from the computer just to look at the keyboard.

  ‘At least you’re getting to sit in a AC room’ said Kevin ‘You’ve no idea how hot it is outside .And we had to run some miles in the sun chasing a suspect .Can you believe it?’

  ‘Not too good’ said Trevor with a gloomy face ‘I know how it is outside because I can feel it myself. And just to keep you informed, the AC of this floor is out of service’

  Ryan and Kevin soon realised that he was right, the ceiling fans were on but they were hardly of any help. It was too hot here, too.

  ‘Damn!’ muttered Ryan.

  ‘Hey guys’ Alicia called them.

  Ryan and Kevin turned back to her table.

  ‘What, you got somethin’?’ asked Kevin.

  ‘No’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘B
ut I found something on someone else’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, what is it?’

  ‘Look’ She showed them Henderson’s room.

  Henderson was talking to someone quite happily but that man’s back was facing them through the blinds so they couldn’t see his face.

  ‘Who’s he?’ asked Ryan.

  The guy wore a black pullover and rusty black trousers.

  ‘I can’t say that I have seen anyone like that man in this department before’ said Alicia not moving her eyes from Henderson’s room.

  ‘You’re right. Me too’ said Kevin.

  It seemed like the man was now telling him some facts or maybe a story and Henderson was listening to him patiently throwing an occasional laugh or sometimes a gesture, seriousness in the middle.

  ‘Whoever it is, Mr. Henderson knows him’ said Alicia. ‘Look he’s talking like they are some old friends.’

  ‘Yeah, I can see that’ said Kevin. ‘Let me go and check’

  ‘No, just see what he does. He would eventually have to come out’ said Alicia.

  ‘Then maybe it’s true about what we think’ said Ryan. ‘He is indeed a friend’

  ‘Then it got to be a new friend’ said Kevin. ‘I know most of Mr. Henderson’s friend or families, I don’t recall anyone who looks like this’

  ‘Newly recruited officer maybe?’ Ryan tried another suggestion.

  But Kevin denied again. ‘Can’t you see, he’s talking to him like he had known him for years. If he was really a new recruited officer, then Henderson would have been more professional with him’

  ‘Hmm’ Ryan leaned on the chair stroking his chin.

  Alicia remained quiet and watched; she didn’t want to make any improbable suggestions like them.

  Kevin asked ‘What do ya’ think?’

  She didn’t say first, she had to make up her mind about this. Then she copied Ryan’s style of standing and said ‘He’s tall isn’t he?’

  ‘Yeah’ Ryan replied absent-mindedly.

  ‘And he’s wearing the same pull over’

  ‘Yeah...wait what?’

  ‘See the pull overcoat he’s wearing. Doesn’t it look like the same one that the man in the streets wore?’