It all starts with goodbye

Chapter 1

1985, Summer

Today was not a good day. I scratched my beard, remembering the last time when I had a moderately nice one.

Walking home to the scene of my wife cheating on me with her boss was a huge milestone. After that moment, every day was as shitty as it could get.

The ride was seated by my side, talking, to no one's surprise. It's all he would do. Talk and eat.

I get it; we are cops. It doesn't give us a free pass to eat donuts as if there were no tomorrow.

I was not paying attention to whatever he was mumbling about, but the single sound of his cheerful voice made me cringe with anger. Of course, since the fateful evening, I became an angry man.

"Can you shut up for like, one second?" I said between clenched teeth. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel until my fingers went white. We were patrolling as usual. Nothing ever happened in Halley, more than a cat that climbed a tree and could not go down alone. Still, we patrolled, and while doing so, I had to stay locked in a car with Ride, chewing donuts and talking nonstop.

"Wow, man. What's up with you? It was an awful thing that happened to your marriage, but hey, it would be better if you talked about the matter instead of just being a grumpy, mad man."

"Leave me alone." His pitying look didn't do much to moderate my anger. Luckily, the radio played before I had a fit of rage.

"Guys, we received an anonymous call reporting a kidnapping. Your patrol is the nearest one, but we will send enforcement. Do you copy?"

"Ten. Nine." I hit the transmit button but waited for a couple of seconds before asking him to use a code to 'repeat it.' Radio takes a moment to start transmitting, and I knew it would cut my first words if I started talking right away.

"Copy. Someone was kidnapped. I'm sending you guys the coordination, but don't approach them alone."

"I heard you the first time, Jason. Don't you have anything better to do besides playing jokes on us? Copy." I said every word carefully; otherwise, all that Jason was going to hear would be garbled mud.

"John, this is a real situation. Now get your ass there, but do not get close. Wait for backup before knocking on their door."

"It's a kid's prank. I can bet a cup of beer on that."

"Wait. For. Backup. Do. You. Copy?"

The ride took the radio from my hands and answered our boss.

"Wilco. Copy." This literally meant 'I will do what you want me to do.'

Silence crept through the car.

"Look, I am not going to wait for enforcement, okay? I am tired and want to go home. I'm going to tell you what we are going to do. We will show up, scare the life out of some kids who won't dare to prank cops again, and go home to a hot cup of coffee." My voice came out as angry as I felt inside.

"You heard Jason, man. He told us to wait."

"Okay, get down." I stopped the car and unlocked the doors. Ride stared at me, so I lengthened my arm and opened his door. 'Come on, get down before I force you out of this fucking car."

"You are fucking up big-time now, John." He shook his head. "I don't have to deal with this."

The ride took his belt off and got down. I closed his door and threw the doughnut boxes out the window.

"We are not in a fucking movie. Stop eating this shit; it will ruin your teeth," I said before starting the car.

Our boss, Jason, was a good cop. He came from a big city to finish his brilliant career in Halley, the smallest town he could find where nothing ever happened.

Waiting for backup was just stupid. My shift was already ending, and I didn't want to wait who knows how long for a bunch of soft asses to go and fight with children.

I drove fast to the address Jason had given us. It was pretty much out of town, in the middle of nowhere. Good, I enjoyed driving when I had to think.

Having a cup of coffee was not my primary motivation to go home today. Raellyn—even saying my wife's name was hard—said we needed to talk.

I didn't want to. After what she did, why would I?

When I found her making out with her boss three months ago, our marriage was over, and I haven't seen her since then.

At the same time, I wanted to. I had fantasied about the day where she would cry and beg me to go back to her.

I wanted to let Raellyn know how much I was hurt and angry, but how could I? I was not good at showing my feelings. When I found them, and she dared to blame me for the situation under the excuse that I was not 'emotionally available,' I didn't deny it. I left and never went back.

I didn't need her. Fuck, I didn't need anyone. Raellyn could go to hell. I sank my foot on the gas and saw the dirt road dust rising behind me. I was getting close to the place Jason indicated, and there was no one around, so I just drove faster.

A small old house appeared when I rounded the corner, and I slowed down instantly.

I stopped the car about fifty feet meters from the entrance to the house; I wanted to surprise whoever was the kid behind this. I didn't want the little brat to run away unpunished.

I took long, decisive steps, quickly covering the distance between the patrol and the porch. I climbed the stairs carefully, and still, the wood cracked under my feet with a loud sound. I raised my hand, ready to knock on the door and announce it was the police, but the thought of waiting for backup crossed my mind.

So I took my gun out and peeked in the window next to the door. It was dark inside, and it took my eyes a couple of seconds to get used to it. There was just a table, a couple of chairs that had been dragged as if the people who were sitting had got up in a hurry—also a refrigerator and a mattress thrown on the floor.

As my eyes got used to the darkness, I could see what looked like a pistol held by someone partially hiding behind one of the doors. Then I spotted someone with what could be a shotgun trying to hide behind the old fridge.

I took a step back very slowly without taking my eyes off the window until I got to the stairs. I felt all the blood in my body pumping into my ears, but I remained calm even though my hands trembled while holding my gun.

I hurried down the steps a little faster as I heard voices shouting something inside the house. I didn't understand whatever they were saying and didn't even try to. My focus was on getting to the car. They outnumbered me, and although I was stupid enough to go there alone, I did the only smart thing to do and ran toward the patrol, searching for refuge while holding my gun ready to shoot.

Before I could get anywhere near the patrol, I heard a shot and immediately felt my right shoulder burning. I took a step farther before hearing a second shot.

The bullet reached my left leg, taking me down to the floor, screaming in pain.

I heard the footsteps approaching and tried to reach my gun using the hand on my unaffected arm. It was all happening so fast; still, I felt as if I were moving in slow motion.

A hooded man I was unable to recognize reached me in seconds. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head before the darkness completely engulfed me.