3 CHAPTER 2

EMILY

I slowly got up from my bed, feeling the events of the early hours of today weighing on me. Six dead bodies and no killer. I made my bed while glancing at the clock on my bedroom wall..7:45.great..

I groaned internally, while making my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower, hoping to arrive just in time for today's briefing. I got dressed in black jeans, tucking the front of white shirt inside and slipped on black shoes. I quickly grabbed my badge and gun that were on the floor.

I padded my way to the kitchen, scanning my surroundings. My apartment was a nice cozy apartment in a nice neighborhood. It had two bedrooms, it had two bathrooms, one in my bedroom and the other down the hall. It had a kitchen adjoined with a living room. The walls and furniture were a mixture of white and brown.

I grabbed my phone and keys, and walked out of my sanctuary. I got inside my car and the engine roared to life..aghh I love this car..

I made it in the department just 5 minutes late. I groaned as I thought about the lecture I'd recieve from the captain. Greeting my colleagues, I made my way to my office, hoping to slip away before..

"Stone!...In my office now!"..I cringed at the Chief's tone. He really never liked my guts. He always found a way to make my day a living hell but I never let it get to me. Taking a deep breath, I walked towards the Chief's office, making sure to knock before I entered.

"Well don't just stand there..get in!"..I internally rolled my eyes and made my way inside. His bald head was the first thing I noticed, his eyebrows were scrunched up, clearly concentrating on whatever he was reading, never even sparing me a glance.

"Goodmorning chief".

"What's good about this morning Stone? I've got another dead body on the streets, same death as the others and a lazy dectective who doesn't take her job seriously". I lifted my eyebrows in suprise. Did he really think I'd just solve a series of murders proprably committed by one person in just three weeks? he must literally be insane.

"With all due respect captain, I have been working my ass off trying.."

"Well do you have any leads?" I scoffed at his tone. This guy clearly had it off for me.

"As a matter of fact I do. These murders seem to be gang relate.." He scoffed, cutting me off from my statement.

"Stone..we're not going down that road again. If you think this has anything to do with Antonio Moretti then you seriously haven't learned anything. I don't want you bothering that man because everytime you do, it comes back to bite us in the ass". I frowned at his statement. Ofcourse I wasn't stupid. I didn't think that Antonio was involved in these murders because I knew he wouldn't become this careless. I knew how his mind worked and definitely learned my lesson that day.

"Ofcourse not sir. I just thi.."..

"Well don't just think Stone, do..I've assigned officer Williams to be your partner from now...And no..I don't want any arguments about this. He's brilliant and young so both of you will do well on this case".

"How did Williams become.."

"I promoted him earlier today,. You would've known if you were there for the briefing. It seems like you're questioning my decisions now Stone. Are you?". I shook my head no and he dismissed me by waving his hand.

I took a deep breath, trying my best not to shout at my boss who was behaving like an ass. I nodded and left the office. Now that he had mentioned Antonio, I was going to investigate further on what happened 6 months ago. I knew we were set up but I never knew who actually did it. I had a feeling that it was someone from this department but I had to play my cards right. If I made an accusation without any proof, then surely I wold lose my job.

I slipped into my office and got straight to work. I added the file of the recent victim and slip his photo on my board. I only knew the identities of four out of the six dead males. The second and recent victims were my John Does. All of the victims seem to show signs of being tortured and held captive for two or more days before being killed.

A knock on the door dragged me away from my thoughts. I told the person to come in..

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my new partner Dectective Stone!".. I rolled my eyes at him. I didn't have a problem with Williams but I had a problem with having a partner.

"Don't act smart Williams..We both know I work better alone". He chuckled, pushing himself foward the room.

"Lets skip the formalities Stone. I know how dedicated you are to your job and I'm looking forward to working with you. I know this is all of a sudden but me and you we'll make a great team". I sighed and gratefully accepted the cup of coffee on his hand.

"I mean no disrespect Williams, I really don't. I..I just don't want what happened to Tony to happen to you because of me". He sighed, shaking his head in the process.

"I know you blame yourself for what happened that day. I am sorry about Tony. I assure you that it wasn't your fault. He died taking a bullet for his partner. That is a great honor for a cop to do for his partner. I'm sure you would've done the same if you were in his position."

I thought about what he was saying. Ofcourse I would've done the same, I wouldn't even thought twice about saving Tony that day. I wanted to tell him that I was digging for more information on Tony's unsolved murder but refrained from it, afterall they all believed it was a shootout. They said I should let it go because it wouldn't change anything. I couldn't let it go necause he was my partner. I loved Tony like a brother and he deserved to get justice. Something told me to keep quiet and thats what I did. I had a hunch that someone from the department wanted me fired or dead, afterall, many of my colleagues disliked me. They didn't understand why I became a dectective at a young age and how I could solve so many cases in a short amount of time.

"Lets leave that there. Fill me in about the case we're working on." I nodded and told Williams about the case, filling him up about my theory and how each murder connects with the other one.

"It seems like these murders are gang related. It makes sense since the three victims we know were smugglers and armed robbers". I nodded to his statement. Finally someone was agreeing to my theory.

"Yeah, I think we should head to Steven for the autopsy of the latest John Doe. Maybe we'll get some sort of lead". He nodded and we left my office. After a few minutes of walking, I knocked on the door and a voice informed is to come ìn.

"Goodmorning Steven"

"Dectective Stone and Williams. I have the autopsy of the victim." I thanked him, taking a seat at one of the chairs to read the autopsy.

'Marco Santana, age 27. According to the autopsy, the victim was killed a few hours before being dumped at the abandoned area. He had lost a lot of blood and suffered a concussion from being hit by something round and heavy. He suffered from strangulation but the bullet to his head was what killed him. There was a tattoo under his arm, words written in Italian..'Omerta'...

My eyes widened at the sudden realization. One of the victims also had a similar tattoo, but under his chin.I gave Williams the autopsy and turned to face Steven.

"Steve, can I see the autopsy of the previous 5 please". He nodded and pulled out the files. I quickly looķed through the autopsies, trying to find anything I missed.  I flipped through the pages, squinting my eyes in the process. They too had the same name tattoo in parts of their bodies. I don't remember seeing this when I looked at the autopsies I have in my files. Something was wrong and I knew it. Why would the autopsies differ? Someone is definitely playing with me in this department.

"This is definitely gang related. The omerta is an Italian code for silence and honor. This code is usually used by the Italian gangs or mafia meaning that  the victims were part of an Italian gang or mafia."

"Well shit just got real". I nodded at Williams's response. This was definitely serious and more dangerous than I had thought.

There was another tattoo on his forearm arm, written in codes though. I quickly wrote down the code and quickly thanked Stevens.

After reaching my office, I called my tech guy to figure out the numbers from the tattoos. He called a few hours later, informing me that it was an address, to a club in New York. We decided to check it out this weekend. This was a lead and we needed to act on it soon.

"Stone, you look like you could use a break, and so do I". I sighed, dropping the pen. I really did need a break. I was hungry and tired. I've solved many murder cases before but never delt with gang related ones.

We ended up getting lunch at a local restaurant. I was glad that I had someone to talk to in the department who didn't seem to dislike me. Maybe having a partner was not going to be a bad idea at all.