Black to Blue

II. Hints for the Hunt

The sunlight struck through the window screen; the alarm beeped. Eric reached out and turned it off with his right hand. Catherine was still in her dreams on his left. He looked at her beautiful face, a silently breathing treasure. Her golden hair had covered her eyes. He gently brushed it off her face, held her head lightly and replaced his hand with a pillow.

'What's the time honey?'

'Ssh, sleep tight darling. It's 7' He murmured and kissed on her cheeks.

'Is Ben awake?'

'I'll manage that' He got up from the bed and went for Ben. He gently opened the door and found Ben staring at the ceiling paintings. 'Hi dad' He smiled. His pox was getting worse everyday. The medications were partially useless as he hasn't recovered a bit.

'Hey fella, how ya holding up?'

'It's itchy everywhere, dad. Can you remove these off me please' His hands were covered with thick cotton gloves to prevent him from scratching his body. He could see the tapes are partly bitten. He tried to get it off.

'No honey. See, it will leave marks, very ugly ones on your face and where ever you scratch. Your friends will be afraid to look at you.'

'Still, it's itchy dad. Will it ever go away? I wanna go play outside. Mike and Jenny won't bother about the scars'

'Not yet Bunny. You'll be better soon enough. Look, I'll call Andrea today and we'll see about that, OK?'

'Where's aunt Catherine?'

'She's asleep. Now, come on. Off the bed, brush your teeth. I'll make you breakfast'

He removed Ben's gloves and got him off the bed. Ben looked at his father just as the gloves were off. 'Nope, don't you even think about it'

Eric went to the kitchen and fried some eggs and roasted some bread. He made coffee and let the heat cool off a little bit. He took the bread and omelet to Ben's bedroom. Ben was in his shorts in front the mirror. He was trying to count every dots. 'Here you go Bunny' He jumped on the bed and started eating. Eric looked at him eat while he tried to scratch his neck. 'No no. Don't'

Eric's mother, Margery, came home the time both Catherine and Eric was ready to leave for work. He kissed her on the forehead and left Ben with her. They drove away as soon as the door shut before them. Eric has his police car. He drops Catherine at Sir James Nursery School and drives straight to Saint Field Police Department.

Hassan was drinking coffee at his table sitting carelessly leaning back on his chair. With the look of his face, one could tell he's not anywhere in the world right now. He is with his son, mourning for him.

The investigation hasn't got anywhere but they had a witness, Rick Jones. William had left him on charge of the store while he went abroad. Rick was a nice guy, an ordinary adult dreaming of pursuing his goal to be a well-known musician. He told everyone about the horror incident. He wasn't relieved out of it yet. The officers reported his witness records to Eric later that day. Until now, they weren't unable to get anywhere near the suspect. The mask the burglar used was found from a garbage near White Field. It was just a clue that he has escaped the town. It was a black mask with a letter 'Z' on the forehead of it. When Hassan saw the mask, he screamed violently at it. 'Hassan, keep it down. Act like an officer now' Smith, the head of the department raised his voice.

'He took my son' He wept.

'What do you think we're doing here? You know what? You must take some more rest'

'I'll be fine, I'm sorry'

'No, you're suspended for two weeks. Go mourn for your son'

Smith isn't a soft person. He usually treats every staff as his pet animal. But, somewhere deep inside there must be a tiny spark of sympathy.

Eric had to see him leave the building. He gently shut the doors one by one behind him. 'You, in my office' Just when Hassan left.

'You must control him. He is furious about the guy and he might do something stupid. He is a cop, so he also would go to that store and look for another copy of the tape. We hadn't shown him yet. So, your responsibility is to watch him'

'What about the investigation?'

'Ah' he said 'the investigation will go on. Seems like we won't be able to catch that fella. But, we could try. The kid's only seen him, and he is no more'

'What about William? I think he might know something about the burglary' Eric mentioned.

'We can't go just like that and take him. He has several connections with mafias and criminals'

Eric walked out of the room. The tape. His mind chattered. He sat in his desk and began surveying the footage. The killer's faced backwards in the tape. He saw him shoot poor Nuhman on the face. He looked terrified, but he didn't scream. The truck was black and there was a yellow stripe across the petrol lid.

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