Who Was That?!

We stood for a moment on the doorstep, allowing our eyes to adjust to the darkness inside, before stepping in to the house. Then we looked at each other in shock.. though the outside looked abandoned and scary the inside was well maintained and welcoming even!

"This has to be it, they must have been meeting here otherwise why would the outside look like that.."

"Even if that's true - which Blade I do agree - but without evidence it's meaningless."

Blade smiled at me, though it was really more a baring of his teeth

"Then get looking.. turn on the overhead lights I'm gonna see if they're visible outside. It'd be much easier to search if we didn't need to use the torches."

Blade sent a quick text to Nate telling he and Lane to meet us here ASAP and then went outside and shut the front door. If it was possible it grew even darker inside but no way was I admitting to Blade I was scared!

Waving my torch around the walls, looking for the light switch, I faltered when what looked like a person stepped forward from the wall in front of me to the left.

Oh boy, I'd love to tell you that I girl powered through it, shone my torch where I saw the movement and beat some ass. Unfortunately, as much as I love Buffy and She-Ra, I let down women everywhere and screamed the house down.

Blade crashed back through the front door towards where I stood screaming and beating the air with my torch. Grabbing my arms he shook me slightly trying to calm me down which is when I realised we had both dropped our torches and I reached for mine where it was spinning on the floor.

As I stood up with it in my hands, Blade still asking me what had happened, I was suddenly, viciously shoved back as someone ran past me, I was forced back into Blade and we both ended up tangled on the floor.

Blade recovered in seconds and sprinted after our mystery attacker but returned a few minutes later empty handed.

"Who the fuck was that? Did you see their face?"

I looked up at Blade from where I stood on the front step, so ashamed that because of my ineptitude a solid lead just escaped us.

"I don't know, I was looking for the light switch and my torch caught the movement and I screamed and then you know the rest."

"Ok, what about height, weight, anything that could identify them. How big were the hands, did it feel like a man or woman?"

I wished that I could answer all his questions but I just wasn't sure, it had all happened so quickly and with the dark and everything else I was disorientated.

Hugging my arms around myself I hissed slightly at a sore on my rib. Blade looked at me his eyes alight then took my hand and dragged me back into the house.

Shining my torch around he quickly found the light switch and flicked it, illuminating the hallway. It was a large marble walkway with the stairs in front and the living room through an arch to the right. Blade led me into the living room, the lights in there also shining, then laid me down on one of the comfy fabric sofas before pulling my shirt up to my neck.

"Yes baby this is brilliant!"

"What is?"

"You have marks on your ribs, by the size of the bruise and the cut there I would say it was a woman with long nails who just ran out of here."

We smiled at each other, any lead a good thing, not thinking about the tens of thousands of women who lived in City A and how it could have been any one of them.

"Thank God for these disguises they won't know who was here hopefully they'll think it was a couple of squatters?"

I looked at Blade hopefully but he didn't seem convinced.

"Woah Night! Do you wanna put Tasha's top back on or am I gonna have to show you how we Lane's throw down?"

Hastily pulling my top back down I ran and threw myself into Lane's arms.

"Laney it was so scary, I'm so glad you came, baby me for a while!"

"What did he do to you? Nate baby I love you but I'm gonna beat your cousin's ass!"

"If he hurt your girl I'll help"

"Awww thanks Daddy I knew you loved me! But no Blade didn't do anything!"

After we had caught them up on what happened and a stone faced Blade had been cleared of wrongdoings we all got busy searching the house for anything that could be of use but Blade called us back to the living room in frustration only minutes later.

"This is no good, it'll take us days to get through all this. Nate can you get together about 50 of your men to come and secure the property and to bring dogs or whatever else they need to go over this property with a fine tooth comb? Tell them to box up everything and take photos and then we can all meet and go through everything once it's gathered in one place. I also need a team to get me all CCTV images within a miles radius of this property covering the last 24 hours see if we can get a face. If we get a face run it through a facial recognition software. Also get them to check the CCTV within a miles radius for the three months before Flo died see if she or Jasper came near here."

This was powerful President Blade talking, though he had many resources at his disposal, he was so worried about letting anything slip about what he was trying to do that he didn't bring in any outside help so this proved he felt there was important evidence in here that we could miss.

"Of course, I'll call them now and wait until they get here"

"Thanks, Tash you come with me I'll get your ribs looked at by my doctor."

Arguing with him was pointless, he had decided I had a cracked rib and I must see a doctor! We parted ways agreeing to meet up to go over everything tomorrow.