Chapter 2 : It's Not Mr, it's Detective.

My mom raised me in her own unique way, gave me all her good qualities, and taught me all the lessons about being a good human but also having some edge so that I didn't get bullied.

It was tough for us to get by, but she managed to take on a second job, and for as long as I remember, she was always exhausted. But she gave me all the love, care, and attention in the world! She claims it's because she knew I needed it, but it was obvious that she was trying to give me love on the part of a father as well.

I finished school, got through my teenage years okay, and after a couple years of training and studying, I finally got accepted into the academy, and then shortly after, I was officially a police officer. Now, if there's anything that I had absolute passion for in this world, it's police work! Justice! And I always serve justice. I guess I'm just a good cop. It had all been a breeze until I found a certain case that seemed familiar, the case that changed everything!

Now, usually, in the force, they advise you not to take any cases that are personal in any capacity. They do this because they know that in such cases, your emotions may cloud your judgement. But I just couldn't control myself when I found this case that was like 30 years old. It read "Jason King Sr. murdered after trying to help an old lady, mysterious thug and old lady disappear" for a moment, I think my heart stood still - could this be possible? My dad didn't leave me? He was killed? Why would mom not tell me the truth? I rummaged through the file, and it only made me want to solve the case more than ever. As it turned out, all this was a surprise to mom, too. Who I had called immediately afterwards to ask why she had lied to me. I knew I had to get to the bottom of the case, but from the look of things, someone in the force had stopped the case from being solved before, so I knew I was on my own.

I decided to pay the old woman a visit first, her name was stated in the file. But the only thing I had of the suspect or rather my father's killer was a sketch, a sketch that was very old.

All those years ago, and this comes up now? I guess justice is timeless.

I wasted no time on Tuesday morning, I got my latte and went on my way to Victoria Langston's home(the old lady). Surprisingly. She was not that hard to find... It was almost suspicious. Almost as if she wanted to be found. But she had probably forgotten about that incident. It was years ago, she had to be really old by now. Anyway, I knocked on the door and she was very nice and invited me in for a cup of tea, which I had to refuse kindly but she sat with me to talk.

" I don't usually get any visitors around here, except for my kids and the grandchildren. How may I help you, sir?" she said politely while she sat down.

"I'm Jason King Jr. I would like to ask you a couple of questions about something that happened a couple of years ago..." I said with authority before she interrupted.

"Wait, did you say 'King'? Are you...are you...his son?" she said as I watched her face change drastically.

"Yes. Detective King, actually. I'm here on official business." I said after a bit of hesitation.

"I can't believe it. It's been so long! the last I heard about this case was that it was closed due to lack of evidence even though I cooperated with the Officer and also described how the whole thing had gone down and they had a sketch of the thug done - which I confirmed that it was him!" Mrs Victoria said.

At this time, tears were forming in my eyes. Is this fate? Is this why I was always drawn to being a police officer? So that I could avenge my father and solve this case once and for all? Well, let's find out.

"I uhm..erm do you mind if I have a glass of water?" was all I could let out. This was what I had already made out from the file, but hearing someone say it and prove me right was overwhelming. I stood up and got a glass, filled it with cold tap water, and sat back down. I then took a couple of sips and continued.

"I have spent all my life thinking my dad left me and my mom because he was a coward, but now this. This changes everything! And I...I was wondering if you could help - I am willing to pay you for your help, please, " I said, looking at the floor, hiding the tears that had started forming in my eyes

"I know it must be hard, and I am willing to help, I promise I am. But the last time I attempted to help with this case, my family's safety was threatened. How do I know that it won't be any different this time?" she replied.

"Because I'm working alone, no one at the headquarters knows about this, not the captain, not the chief and not even my partner! Nobody even knows I'm here! So please just give me all the pieces i need to this puzzle. You seem to have most of them after all" I begged.

"Well...I do think taking your word for it is idiotic. BUT... this whole thing has been weighing on me ever since that day, so the only reason I'm helping you is so that we can both get the peace that we both deserve back in our lives. I'll tell you everything!" she said.

"Thank you! I promise your family will be protected" was my next sentence, but she interrupted...again.

"Please don't thank me. I'm only doing the right thing!"

I almost scoffed a bit when she said that.

I mean, the "right thing"? you'd think she would've done that years ago right? Then maybe by now I would've known the truth and learnt to live with it and accepted it. But no, she was selfish enough to... Nevermind that. We're getting sidetracked! She's not the bad guy anyway. She was threatened.

She gave me all the information I needed, where the Incident took place, told me about the guy who did it, the officers who were given the case up until the case was mysteriously put behind the shelf. Knowing what I know, I managed to make all this make sense. But there was still some outstanding information. It was time to find this mysterious thug.

The only way I could do that was to use the computers at the headquarters, these computers have databases of all people who ever lived in our town. Dead or alive.

It would give me the man's background and tell me whether the man was still alive or not. But I was under pressure as I had to do this alone. Meaning I had to sneak around and be stealthy, I couldn't afford anyone finding out what I was up to.

My gut told me that the man had some Inside help. So that means there must be a "dirty" cop in the HQ. This means there's a cop that works with criminals. Well, maybe it's not even just one dirty cop... there could be dozens.

I snuck into the HQ once the darkness of the night covered the city. It was almost too easy...or maybe I was just too good. I ran the search on the computers and just as I had found my guy and taken a picture. My partner walked in on me.

"Hey, partner, working late?" he said out of nowhere.

"I uhmmm yes, crime doesn't sleep and so I will not!" I said this while switching off the computer. I did this so that he did not catch a glimpse of what I was doing.

"Well, that's odd, but you've always been the odd one. You wanna grab a beer and let off some steam? I'll pay." Pat said. (that's what I called him, his name was Patrick)

"Sure thing bro, let's move" I said with a brief smile.

We took a mid-night drive and had a few cold ones at our local pub. We parted ways at about 23:30 and I headed home to get some rest.