Behind The Flames: A Detective Chineke Series

Chapter 5

Tarah and I reached the spot where the shots came from. It appeared to be an abandoned barn house that we came across.

"I'll check around the back." Tarah commented.

"Here, take this gun with you." I suggested as I handed the gun to her.

"Thanks!" Tarah replied as she grabbed the gun.

I nodded and made my way to the front of the house. Shortly after I peeped inside the windows, I heard Tarah yell.

"Drop the gun!" She yelled loudly.

I ran to the side of the house where I ran into her holding the gun at a wounded Jeff.

"What happened?" I asked both.

Jeff was sitting up against the wall of the barn house with one hand covering his wound with a piece of cloth. In his other hand, he had a black semi-automatic handgun.

"Sorry, I didn't think anybody was around." Jeff responded to Tarah as he dropped the gun.

"What the hell happened?" I asked desperately again.

Jeff slowly raised his hand to point in the direction of some shrubs nearby.

"I saw those bushes moving. I...thought it was wolves or something, so I shot...to scare them away. Or whatever it was." Jeff responded exhaustingly.

Tarah lowered the gun and we both walked closer to Jeff. He attempted to stand but nearly fell over some old tires.

"Woah! You need to let your body heal." Tarah told Jeff.

From the looks of it, Jeff's abdominal area had been punctured by something from the car crash.

"I'm fine. Just getting used to the pain." He responded slowly.

"What were you doing here?" I asked curiously.

"Trying to find help. I almost didn't believe I would find any until you two showed up." Jeff replied with a smile.

"Didn't come to help you." I whispered sarcastically.

Tarah being the only one to hear me poked her elbow in my side.

"What?" I spoke clearly.

"We need to get inside. It's getting dark. Is this your place?" Tarah asked Jeff.

"Ha, I wish! I stay further out from here." He replied.

I figured he didn't. Seems like Tarah was just testing his honesty. She never trusted anyone no matter their situation ever since that job we both did with the others from our past crew.

"Tarah, we need to wrap this up." I mentioned to her.

It constantly felt like I was racing against time. Every second count and I didn't want to stress myself. The more time passed, the more I became anxious to escape. Live the rest of my life on the run. Off-grid maybe.

"We haven't got what we came for yet." Tarah replied looking back at me with an ulterior look in her eyes.

As usual, I let things play out. I knew something was running through her mind. I didn't trust most people, but I trusted Tarah.

"What you came for? You two are here to rob me! Oh, hell no!" Jeff reacted carelessly as he reached for the gun.

PA! Quickly reacting to Jeff, Tarah right kicked him in the face and he fell unconscious to the ground.

"Damn! You hit harder than you used to." I commented surprisingly.

"Better him than you right? Besides, I still owe you for knocking me out." Tarah responded jokingly.

I couldn't do anything but laugh.

"Fair enough. Help me get him inside." I told Tarah.

"Sure, I guess it would've helped if I told him we're detectives." Tarah mentioned.

"We are not detectives! We're just doing a one-time job." I responded anxiously.

~~~

A few moments later, we had Jeff in the barn house sitting on the couch. Luckily, the lights were still working.

"Jeff! Jeff! Wake up!" I yelled at him.

His eyes opened and he looked surprised as if we were going to kill him or something.

"What do you want?" Jeff replied angrily.

"Well, if you haven't noticed...You're not tied up. So, we obviously don't want your money." Tarah responded sarcastically.

"We were wondering if you've seen any kids around here." I asked clearly.

"Who are you? Their parents?" Jeff said angrily.

Then, Tarah took her gun out and pushed the barrel in Jeff's wound.

"Ahhh, shit!" Jeff screamed painfully.

The veins in his arms and neck began to surface from the agony.

"We're the detectives looking for the missing kids." Tarah replied seriously.

I pulled Tarah back to calm the situation. I had to admit, I liked her bad cop side. It was interesting to see.

"Fine! Yes, I saw a few kids." Jeff responded.

"Where are they? Where'd they go?" I asked loudly.

"They ran off further into the woods...After something began chasing them." Jeff replied.

Tarah glanced at me for a second. I was nervous about what he was going to say next.

"So, what else? What direction did they go?" Tarah asked softly.

Jeff looked as if he didn't want to give any more information. Without hesitation, Tarah stepped towards Jeff again.

"Look, all I know is they were coming to help me but, when they ran off after some animal started chasing them. I tried to get out and stop the animal. My seatbelt was jammed so I cut it. By the time I got out, I couldn't find them." Jeff explained anxiously.

"Yet, you couldn't go far due to your blood loss from your wound." I mentioned it casually.

"Exactly." Jeff responded.

Then, he sighed and shook his head.

"It's my fault why the kids are missing. If I never crashed my car, none of us would be in this mess." He continued.

"Don't blame yourself." Tarah said to him.

"Well, he's got a point." I commented truthfully.

I looked outside and it was pitch black. There wasn't much we could do at night.

"So, what will you two do now?" Jeff asked softly.

Tarah was already making herself comfortable before I could answer his question.

"Being that it's nighttime, this beauty queen is going to need her rest. So, I'm camping in the master bedroom." Tarah responded casually.

Jeff was already on the couch, so he just laid down there.

"Help should be here by morning. I'll call the department." I told the two of them.

"Good! I don't feel like moving right now anyway." Jeff replied.

"Don't stay up too late, Chineke." Tarah demanded playfully as she made her way to the bedroom closing the door behind her.

I knew that was her way of saying I should rest. I was never a big sleeper. I would always stay up extra late and still manage to wake up early.

"Yeah, I'm going to check for more clues outside." I whispered to myself as I walked out the front door.

"Weirdest partners ever!" Jeff commented clearly after I was outside.