6 Chapter Six: Cold Trails

BLAKE'S P.O.V.

Morning came as the sun shined through the blinds of my bedroom window. The birds outside my window sang as they flew by and landed on a branch in the tree next door. It seems today would be a good day. Still feeling exhausted and feeling the usual morning headaches I got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Popped open the medicine cabinet door and took out two pills of aspirin and swallowed it with the aim of relieving the pain.

I got into the shower, turned it on and stepped under as the cold water rained down on my body washing the tired away. I got out of the shower and slipped into a black trouser and white long sleeved shirt and a black jacket over it.

I went downstairs and went straight to the kitchen to make myself something to eat but breakfast was already served. It seems Christina is here

"Good morning sleepy head" She said from behind me

"Morning princess" I replied as I turned around to look at her

"I didn't want to be the one to wake you up so I let nature do it for me" She said with a smile on her face

That would explain why the blinds in my room were up

"When did you get in?" I asked taking my seat on the island in the kitchen

"About an hour ago" She said as she poured me a glass of apple juice

"I think I’ll prefer coffee this morning" I said "I'm still feeling rather exhausted and my head is killing me" I added

"Hmm coffee it is then" She said drinking the glass of apple juice

She turned around and place a mug in the coffee machine as it poured the dark coffee in it. She grabbed the mug from under the machine and turned around to look at me

"Sugar for my sugar?" She asked winking at me

"Two please" I said as I laughed at her attempts to flirt

She picked up two cubes of sugar and added it to the cup of coffee before stirring it with a spoon and placing it in front of me

"Thank you" I said as I picked up the cup and took a sip "So what did the bride to be need yesterday?" I asked as I placed the mug down and turned to look at her

"Oh she just needed me around to talk about some things concerning her wedding" She said

"I needed you too" I said mumbling into my cup of coffee

"Did you say something?" She asked as she took a seat besides me

"No, nothing" I said

"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately" She said to me as she held my hand "I just want to make sure that Marina doesn't do this alone" She added

"I understand" I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked

"Yeah" I said

I did understand but sometimes I wished she'd choose to be with me rather than Marina and sometimes it gets really lonely here. We sat down in silence as we ate the toasted bread and eggs that she made when she arrived

"We have a few minutes before we'll have to go to work. What do you want to do?" She asked as she dumped the empty dishes into the sink

"Well I can think of a few things that I’ve been dying to do to you" I said smiling as I walked towards her

"Oh yeah?" She asked as she wrapped her hands over my shoulders

Pulling her close I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her close to me "Yeah" I said before placing my lips over hers. Our lips still connected I picked her up and placed her on the island and moved my hands around her hips.

We were at it, kissing intensely before the front door of my house swung open and Nate walked in with a huge smile on his face

"Good morning lovebirds, hope I’m not interrupting anything?" He said still smiling as he looked at us

"For the love of..." I groaned "Don't you knock?" I said as I shot him an angry look

"I did but you didn't answer so I let myself in" He said

"I didn't hear you knocking" I said to him carrying Christina down

"I can see why" He smirked "Anyways I just got a call about a dead body they just found" He added

"You're kidding right?" Christina asked

He said nothing looking at us with a cold expression

"Fuck!" I exclaimed

Nate and I got into his car as he drove us down to the scene while Christina went down to the station. We got down from the car and followed Officer Peterson who led us up to the room where the body was found.

"Damn it" Nate sighed as he saw the body

The body laid flat on the ground with vertical incisions on both hands. A part of her white hair now red as she fell on her side onto the pool of her own blood. Her eyes now white and her body cold

"Any I.D?" I asked turning to Officer Peterson

"Yes. We went through her bag and found a drivers license" Officer Peterson said as he handed me the license

I put on a pair of gloves and took the I.D from him "Annabella Peterson" I said reading out the name on the license "Who made the call?" I asked

"The motel manager" He said pointing me to a man in his late forties. He seemed shaken up from the sight. It must have been the first time he's ever seen a dead body

"Good morning sir. I'm Detective Blake Hunter and my associate Nathaniel Ross. Can you tell me what happened here?" I asked

"She came here last night with a man and paid for a room. I didn't question I just gave her the keys and pointed them to the room. They both left and then this morning I sent a cleaning lady to go up and change the sheets in the rooms but she came back and told me that when she knocked on their room no one answered. So I went up by myself and knocked still no answer. I opened the door with my spare key and there she was laying dead on the floor" He said

"What about the man?" Nate asked

"I don't know. I never saw him leave" He responded

"Did you happen to see his face by chance?" I asked

"No sir. He wasn't with her when she paid for the room but I did see them go up to the room together

"Did she by any chance pay with cash or credit card?" I asked the manager

"She paid completely in cash" He said

"Can you describe how the man looked?" Nate asked

"He was tall about you and your partners height. He had on black clothes. I couldn't see his hair colour because of the black cap he was wearing" The manager said

"Alright thank you" I said and turned to Nate "We weren't even close to solving the first murder and now another one is up" I said

"Any idea why?" He asked

"No idea" I sighed.

I heard Officer Peterson call on us from upstairs "Detectives"

"We found something" He said as we arrived on the scene "It's a note" He said

I grabbed the note from his hand and took a look at it

"What does it say?" Nate asked pointing to the letter

Thank you for staying with me and looking out for me. I'm sorry but I can't carry on anymore knowing that monster would find me and continue treating me the way he does and blaming me for what isn’t my fault.

You might think I’m a coward for taking the easy way out but I’m already at my limit. Please live on and know that I’m grateful that I got to meet you when I did -ANNA

I read the letter out loud and realized that this wasn't murder but rather suicide

"She killed herself?" Nate asked after I finished reading the letter out loud

"It seems so" I said "But we can't be too sure. Now we'll need to find out who was the man that was her" I added

"Check with the manager if there are security cameras around" I said to Officer Peterson

I pulled out my phone and texted Christina

ME: Hey. I need you to run a search on Annabella Peterson and let me know what you find. I'll send you a picture

She sent a text a few minutes later

C: Is she the victim?

ME: Yeah

C: Alright. I'll send you what I find

After that I slid my phone into my back pocket and watched as the forensic team took more pictures of the room and of Annabella Peterson. As I stood there watching I wondered what would've happened to her that would drive her to take her own life. I wondered who the person she was with last night and how I was going to find him when I don't even have a proper description of the man.

I was snapped back to reality from the vibration of my phone in my back pocket. It was a call from Christina. She probably found something

C: Okay, I found our victim. Annabella Peterson, Age 22. Apparently she's the adopted daughter of Damien and Martha Peterson. Unfortunately Martha died a few years ago

ME: Okay thank you. Text me the address of Mr Peterson

I said to her as I hung up the call. I left the crime scene to let the forensic team take pictures and bag up the body to finish up their work. I walked out of the room to talk to Nate who was standing outside and dwindling with his phone.

"Texting on the job I see" I said to Nate trying to take a peek "Who are you texting? I asked

"I'm not texting anyone" He said as he tucked his phone into his pocket

"Why are you so nervous?" I asked

"Who? Me? I'm not nervous" He said with a smile "Any lead on the victim" He asked changing the topic

"Uhn yeah. Christina is about to text me an address and we'll go check it out" I said

A few seconds later my phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from Christina came in with the address of Mr Peterson

"I got it. Lets go" I said to Nate shaking my Phone in the air

It was about a twenty minutes drive before we got to the entrance of the front gate of the house. I got out of the car and observed the quiet environment

"He must have really loved his peace and quiet to have decided to live here" Nate said as he got out of the car

"Maybe" I said as we walked through the open gate towards the front door

"Is anybody home?" Nate asked knocking on the front door and looking through the peep hole "If you're in there open the door. We want to ask you a few questions" He added

While he was still knocking I walked to the side to check if I could see the inside of the house through the window. It was quiet

"We should go. I don't think he's home" Nate said as I walked back to the front door

"Wait what is that?" I said pointing to the red stains on the floor

I crouched down and touched the stain with my thumb and smelt it. "Blood" I exclaimed looking at Nate

I got up and pulled out my gun from my holster, Nate followed suit and pulled out his gun as well.

"We're coming in" I screamed before kicking the door open

We both moved inside with our guns pointed forward locked and ready to fire. Nate moved towards the kitchen and was there for a few seconds before shouting clear as he walked out. I looked around the living room area to see drops of blood leading up the stairs.

"There's more blood here" I called out to Nate

He ran back from the kitchen and regrouped with me in the living room before we both walked up the stairs. We followed the blood trails as they led us to the entrance of a room.

"What do you think we'd meet at the other side of the door?" I asked Nate as we got to the door

"A dead body tied up" He said

I counted down from three before we kicked the door open to meet Mr Peterson tied up to the edge of his bed and his throat slit

"Fuck" Nate said as he lowered his gun

I walked up to the body and placed my fingers on his neck checking for a pulse. There was nothing "I'm going to go call it in" I said to him.

"Alright" Nate said as he continued to look at the dead body

I stepped out of the room and called in the paramedics and also radio in the incident. A few minutes later, I came back and I saw Nate as he stared deeply at the now deceased Mr Peterson. His shoulders stiffened as he clutched his fists hard.

I stepped in and called to him from behind. “Hey Nate, are you alright?" Left unchecked he might have punched the dead body

He didn't respond until I tapped his shoulder "Dude are you okay?"

"Oh sorry, were you talking to me?" He asked

"Yeah you were staring at the dead body like he’s owing you money" I said with a slight laugh

"Oh" He chuckled "Just got lost in thought" He said "Was wondering why someone would kill an innocent man and not feel any kind of guilt"

I turned to look at Mr Peterson as his lifeless body sat on the ground covered in blood with his eyes staring upwards as if he had been looking at his killer in the eyes before taking his final breathe

"Yeah" I said removing my hand from his shoulder

A few minutes later I could hear the police sirens as they blared from a distance and got louder the closer they got to the house. The compound was now covered with police officers as they patrolled the compound looking for clues or anything that would give us a clue as to who killed Mr Peterson

"Two dead bodies found in a single day" The captain said as he walked out from the building "Just who is this guy?" He asked

If only I had the answer to that question the person would have been behind bars now with a black eye and a few broken ribs

"Someone who's always careful enough to not leave any trace behind" I said not making eye contact with the captain

We both stood there for a few minutes and watched the paramedics as they passed with a stretcher and then back out with the body inside a black body bag

"Captain, Blake. You're gonna want to see this" I heard Nate as he called out to the both of us from behind.

We walked into the house and followed him from behind as we walked up the stairs and towards the room where the body was found. We were both handed a pair of gloves as we entered the room. With the body no longer in the room I could actually focus more on the details of the room. The walls of the room were painted Pink with a few posters of the popular Korean band BTS. The dark marble floor at the foot of the white framed king sized bed was now red. A picture frame sat comfortably on the white wooden bedside shelf. Inside the picture was a girl with long white hair wearing a red dress making a heart with her hands as she smiled from end to end. This must have been Annabella's room

"I found this under the sheets as we were looking around" Nate said snapping me out of my thoughts

"What's that?" Captain Adam asked

"It's another letter to you" Nate said as he handed me the letter

Raising an eyebrow I took the letter from his hand and glanced through the content of the letter

Hello Detective Hunter. It's a pleasure writing to you again after all this time. If you're reading this letter now it would mean that you've found the body of Mr Peterson the rapist. The man before you is guilty of physical, emotional and sexual abuse towards his daughter Anna. This is me doing your jobs for you. This was just a little deviation from my plans but I’ll be back to it in no time. I look forward to the day you realize who I am

Till then lets both enjoy our game of cat and mouse

Your loving dance partner,

GHOST ;)

Mr Peterson, a rapist. The few times I saw him while he was still alive, he never gave off an abusive vibe so reading that a serial killer killed him because he had abused his daughter is something straight out of Hollywood. I handed the letter back to Nate and turned to look at the captain and the expression on his face looked like he was thinking the same thing

"We need to catch this guy before another body touches the ground" The captain said before turning to leave the room

Nate and I followed suit a few minutes later with empty expressions on our faces

"I guess he was a monster underneath the suit" Nate said as he placed the letter inside a transparent bag as we got outside the house

"What do you mean?" I asked

"Pretending to be upright to society but you're just one of the bad guys in hiding" Nate said

"I hope you're not in support of this?" I asked

"Of course not" He said handing the letter to one of the officers outside the house "But in a weird way this is justice" He added as we walked and sat down in his car

"Jus-" I scoffed "Justice?"

"The poor girl took her life because of him" He said turning to look at me

"This is complete murder Nate. No one has the right to take someone else's life" I said

"If I knew Anna and she told me everything that he did to her, trust me I’d have done the same" He said with a dead look in his eyes

Listening to the way he way spoke just now made me question his loyalty to the force and also his motives and intentions.

"No matter what the circumstances may be no one is allowed to take the life of another person" I said in a harsh tone "And I’m going to make sure I put this ghost behind bars no matter who he is" I added

There was silence after the comment I made as I watched Nate sit back in his driver seat and grabbed the steering wheel tight. The drive back to the station was quiet and somewhat slow as I stared out through the window and watched everyone move about their daily business.

I stepped out of the car the moment we got to the parking lot and walked into the station leaving Nate behind as he sat back into his seat and with his eyes closed. I went straight into my office and took a seat behind the table, laid my head down and took a little nap because I was feeling a bit exhausted.

The sounds of knocking coming from the door jolted me up as Christina walked in with a cup of coffee in her hand

"Everything alright?" She asked as she placed the coffee cup in front of me

"Yeah, why do you ask?" I responded placing a hand over my mouth to cover a yawn

"Well for one you’re sleeping on the job and I noticed Nate isn't looking too happy either" She said

I guess he finally decided to come out of the car and work

"Yeah we just had a little....." I paused "I don't even know what to call it" I said taking a sip from the cup

"Over what?" She asked as she took a seat in front of me

"He sees Mr Peterson's murder as some form of justice for his vile acts against his daughter" I said

"And what about you? What do you see it as?" She asked

Obviously I see it as what it is, Murder

"Well...." I sighed "I see it as a man that just lost his life by the hands of a mad serial killer who thinks he's doing a one time justice"

She looked at me and smiled as she grabbed my hand

"The sooner I catch this criminal the sooner the streets would be safe again" I said

"Well then let's get this killer out of the streets" She said. She got up from her chair and walked round the table "Come with me" She said with an extended arm

"Where to?" I asked raising an eyebrow

"Just come with me" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat and out the door

She led us out of the police station, walking on the sidewalk next to the busy road beside us without a word being uttered between the two of us. The silence was somewhat comforting.

We soon arrived at the destination she probably had in mind because I doubt that we arrived here by accident. "Mario's Ice cream parlor" I whispered

She looked at me and smiled before pulling me in through the double glass door. The doors intensely held back the sweet smell of chocolate and vanilla that seemed to envelope the whole place because you wouldn't be able to smell anything unless you came inside. The red leather seats and brown wooden tables definitely complimented the white walls

The scenery in this place felt so surreal that unless you saw it in person you wouldn't believe that something so ordinary would look and feel so extra-ordinary.

"Hello and welcome to Mario's House of cream" One of the girls that worked there said as we walked in "Please follow me" She added leading us to one of the empty seats by the east end. We took our seats and it just dawned on me that since we left the station we'd being holding hands.

I smiled at the thought that she never once let go of my hand

"Why are you smiling?" She asked noticing the curve on my lips

"Oh... Uhn.... Nothing" I said trying to think of what to say "This place just brings back memories" I said

"Good memories I hope?" She asked as she scanned through the little pocket sized menu in front of her

It's weird how its an Ice cream place but it has always been treated like a fancy five star restaurant

"I wouldn't be smiling if they were bad memories now would I?" I smirked

The waitress who brought us to the table came back to us with a smile on her face "What would you guys like?"

"Vanilla and strawberry mix for me" I said putting the menu down

"And chocolate for me" Christina said flashing the waitress an adorable smile that made me smile as well

The girl left and after a few minutes she came back with our Ice cream's on a black tray before setting them down in front of us

"Ice cream!" Christina squealed as she took several spoons full of her chocolate Ice cream and shoved it in her mouth

"Careful so you don’t get a-

"Brain freeze" She gasped as she threw her hands up and grabbed the sides of her head

I couldn't hold in my laugh nor could I hide it by covering my mouth with the back of my hand

"Don't laugh at me?" She pouted her lips

"Sorry baby" I said stilling chuckling

She looked at me and smiled "I'm glad you're laughing. I hate seeing you sad"

I looked at her and smiled. Even in pain she was still thinking about me and I can't begin to imagine how I’d survive without her

"Remember the first time you brought me here?" She asked as she licked ice cream off her spoon

"Yeah" I said looking over my shoulder "It was our first date.

"We were still at the academy, no way to enjoy ourselves in there and then you made me sneak out with you" She said

I laughed "You were so quiet I basically did all the talking that day"

"Not completely. I still said some things" She said

"Yeah right, unless you're counting your smiles, laughs and nods as words then yeah you said a lot" I teased

"And then we went to the pier. Remember the clowns that ended up fighting each other because one of them made everyone laugh and he had more attention compared to the other?" She laughed

"That brawl got so intense they had to shut down the pier for the night" I said shoving ice cream in my mouth

"And when we got back to base we thought we were sleek but we got caught anyways" She chuckled

"Yeah they asked us to clean the stalls" I said

"Wasn't Nate punished with us?" She cackled

"He was" I chuckled "Punishment by Association they said, because he knew us" I said laughing hysterically

"He didn't talk to us for a week. We had to do a lot for him to forgive us" She said as she gradually stopped laughing

"Those were the best days" I said with a smile on my face

"And I’m glad I got to live through those days with you by my side" She said as she reached for my hand

"Me too" I said before kissing the back of her hand

We talked some more, licking ice cream and laughing at our marvelous misadventures back at the academy and thankfully there wasn't that much people there to see us laughing like kids. When we finished our Ice cream we paid and walked out of the Ice cream parlor

"Do come again" The waitress said as we walked through the doors

We walked back to the station hand in hand with our fingers intertwined as we talked and laughed at everything and nothing

"I'm glad we got to spend some time together. We rarely get to do that these days" I said as we got back to the entrance of the station

"Yeah me too" She said

"We rarely get to spend much time together with everything going on with the investigation and Marina constantly taking your attention" I said

She looked at me briefly with a sad look in her eyes before flashing me a smile "I promise I’ll make it up to you"

"And when do you plan on doing that?" I pouted

"Soon babe" She said kissing me on the lips

We walked into the building just as Nate was going out, not saying a word to either of us nor making eye contact but he looked really serious and a little sad

"Hey Nate" Christina called out to him

He turned around and looked at us before raising his pointer finger in air and moved in a circular manner signifying he was going to be back soon and then he turned on his heel and continued on his path to his car, got in and drove out

We just stood and watched as he drove out of the parking lot and onto the road

"Do you think he's okay?" Christina asked

"He just needs sometime alone to himself. He'll be alright" I said before walking into the building with Christina following behind me

We met Officer Mark and Officer Peterson talking by the front desk and greeted them before walking towards my office

"Detective Hunter" Officer Peterson called

"Yes?" I responded turning to face him

"I've been trying to reach you since you left the crime scene where we found the girl" He said

"Oh sorry I wasn't with my phone. Do you have any updates?" I asked

"Well I spoke to the manager like you asked me to but the cameras in the building were under maintenance that day" He said

"How convenient" I scoffed "Keep looking and tell me if anything comes up" I said before heading towards my office

"Are you going to be alright?" Christina asked as she leaned on the door frame

"I'll manage" I said taking a seat behind my desk

"Alright. Lemme get some work done" She said blowing me a kiss

"Okay" I said to her as she closed the door behind her

Now I was once again alone in my office with various thoughts running through my mind. Like for one why did Ghost kill Allison? What was the motive behind it?

From the letter he left at the house of Mr Peterson his motive was revenge for Anna so why kill Allison? There has to be a reason for it. If only her mom was awake I would have been able to get the name of the friend she mentioned before we took her to see the body

Speaking of her mom, I haven't heard anything about her condition since I left the hospital that day. I picked up my phone from the drawer and called the hospital where she was admitted

Hospital Nurse: Hello, Good evening

ME: Oh uhm good evening. I called to know how a patient is doing

HN: And what is your relationship with the patient?

ME: No relation. I brought her in a few days ago after she suffered from a heart attack

HN: Oh! You're the man from that day

ME: Yes I am. Could you please tell me how she is doing?

HN: Hold on...

I could hear the keys on her keyboard as she typed into her computer

HN: She is still unconscious at the moment and there hasn't been any development in her condition

I sighed as I massaged my forehead with my fingers

ME: Please let me know if there's any progress

HN: Would do sir

ME: Thank you very much

I said to her before hanging up. Whoever ghost is, he sure is one lucky bastard to have committed two murders and somehow not get seen or caught in any of the security cameras within the crime scenes. I just want to catch this guy and throw him behind bars already.

The day seemed to take another poor turn when my phone buzzed in my hand from receiving a text message. It was from Christina

C: Hey baby. I just left the station. I got a call from marina and she needs my help with something. I'm sorry

At this point I’m not even surprised that something like this happened. I was kind of already expecting it. I took in deep breathes and then exhaled before responding to her text

ME: Its fine. Just be safe

C: Will you be okay tonight?

ME: Yeah I will. Don't worry about it

C: Alright. I love you and goodnight

ME: I love you too

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