Cold Case

A Bump in the Road

MIDORIYA'S POV

"How's it going?" Bakugo stepped up behind me.

"Both kids have talked about seeing a man a lot, but they don't know who he is." I sighed. I've been listening in on the detective who has been talking to the kids.

"Were they able to give a description?" He asked.

"Yeah, but it's shaky at best. Kids process memories differently. The only thing they remember for sure if he was taller than a car and had a long black beard and long black hair. Oh, they said he was fat." I explained. Kids don't know to look at his exact height, shoe size, eye color, or anything like that.

"Did he have any tattoos or other body marks?" I brought my hand up to my ear and pressed the button on my earbud.

"Can you ask about tattoos or scars?" I asked. Bakugo went silent while our detective asked the kids.

"This man, did he have any drawings on him or any injuries?" He asked while rolling a pair of dice for the game they were playing.

"He had something on his arm, but I don't remember what it was." The elder of the two boys said.

"I was big. It went from his wrist all the way under his shirt." The younger added.

"Hopefully their mom can think of something with that." Bakugo groaned. If it weren't anybody she knew, it would be impossible. Trying to find someone who fits their description isn't going to be hard, but there will be too many men. Too many to question, too many to interview, and too many possibilities.

"Want to go with me to ask her?" He asked.

"Yeah. He'll tell me anything else he gets out of them." We walked down the hallway to the other interview room. To no surprise, May was crying when we walked in.

"I-I'm sorry," she choked back a sob.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Bakugo whispered. His sudden soft voice surprised me. He's been quiet with her and the kids because of his tone and how he talks. Maybe listening to the interviews and writing notes helped him more than I realized.

"We were just listening in to your boys' statement, and we were hoping you could help us with something." I smiled softly while taking a seat across from her. Bakugo sat in the empty chair next to me.

"They described a bigger guy with long black hair, a long black beard, and some kind of wrist-to-shoulder tattoo. They also said he was taller than a car, but that doesn't narrow it down too much." I explained. Hopefully, so knew someone who would match that description.

"Oh my God," she mumbled. Her eyes were wide in horror. Her shaky hands pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled for a minute before sliding the phone across the table.

"Can you ask my boys if this is him?"

"We can do a picture line-up." I replied while picking up her phone. I quickly emailed it to Bakugo and slid the phone back across the table. "Can you go get one ready? I'm going to ask her a few more questions?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in a little while." I waited for him to leave and shut the door behind him before turning my attention back to May.

"Who is that?" I nodded my head to her phone. "It could be a possible match for who they saw."

"It's their father." She mumbled. "I got a restraining order after our last child was born. He lost permanent custody, but he's been fighting to get them back for a while." Her tears fell on the metal table while she choked back a sob. "Oh, my God!" She exclaimed loudly.

"What?" When people react suddenly like that, they've remembered something. Hopefully, it's something that will help us with the investigation.

"She started asking about him a few weeks before she was murdered!" She dropped her head on the table and wailed loudly. My heart broke as I watched her. Maybe I didn't want kids as much as I thought I did.

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"He hasn't used a credit card, he doesn't have a bank account, he isn't working, he doesn't have any bills in his name, we have no way to trace him." Bakugo groaned as he threw the file on the desk. "What the hell do we do now."

"Kindly explain to May that we are setting her case aside while we locate her ex-husband. When we find him, we'll bring him in for questioning. Until then, we pick another case." Cold cases weren't easy. Sometimes, they still took years to solve. I hope this case isn't like that. I don't want to wait years to give May the closure she deserves.

"There's nothing else we can do?" He asked.

"Not at the moment." I opened the drawer of my desk that held the cases we were going through. I picked a random one from the stack and set it between our desks.

"Does this mean we have to wait to get new coffee?" A thud echoed through the room as he dropped his head on his desk. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips.

"No, it does not." His head snapped up. "Let's grab a late lunch, and then we can stop and buy coffee."

"Where are we going for lunch?" I'm not sure when we stopped fighting, but I couldn't complain. It was nice to work with someone who was on the same page as me.

"How does pizza sound?" I grabbed my wallet and phone and stood from my chair.

"Can we go across the street and grab a coffee first?" He groaned. "I need caffeine." I chuckled and extended a hand to him.

"Come on," He grabbed my hand and let me pull him up. "Coffee, food, and then a new case."

"And after we look at the new case, maybe we can go to the bar." Although he was standing in front of me now, he didn't drop my hand. His adam's apple bobbed as several different emotions flashed through his red eyes.

"We don't have to work tomorrow, so why not?" I shrugged. "It'll give us a chance to unwind and get to know each other a little better." Despite spending the last week by his side, I still don't know a lot about him. I know he's gay and sexy as hell, but I want to know more than that. I want to know what makes him tick. I want to know if there is anything that can break his harsh attitude. I want to know if there's a way for him to open up.

Not only do I want him to open up more, but he needs to. For his team, for his friends, and definitely for his job. He's learned so much in the last week, but there's still much more he can learn. I can't wait to be a part of the process in every way.