CHAPTER TWO

South San Francisco police department

Sarah walks into the station with her head in the clouds, still playing the incident that took place at her husband's office, wondering why Ben of all people is keeping a secret from her.

She walks past her partner unconsciously, who called her and waved like he always does everyday, but she doesn't seem to notice. She walks into her office and pours herself a cup of coffee, the steam of her coffee as she pours it fills the air as it hits her face, the mist leaves an invisible mark but it seems not to hurt her.

As she pours her coffee, Michael walks in without her noticing, her mind keeps drifting to the incident of the day, wondering what her husband was hiding, not listening to Michael calling out her name. Instantly, she recalls a memory that happened years ago in her home, she thinks, a glimpse of it, images flashing in her head of a piece of memory which was forgotten, a memory she didn't think was hers but another.

She could see herself holding a baby closely, as she sees a whole house broken down, walls shattered and fire everywhere, she consciously shouts the name of her husband, crying and searching with her eyes to see if Benjamin was close by injured or worse dead. She senses a feeling behind her and immediately becomes tense, a hand reaches to touch her shoulder, she turns around and pins the person to a wall with a gun in her hand.

"Parker it's me" her partner Michael calls out "chill"

She huffs a sigh of relief, lowers her gun and returns it back to her holster "I'm sorry, you scared me"

"Really" he scoffs "I thought you weren't scared of anything"

But she didn't respond, still wondering where the vision came from and how she got it

"Hello earth to Sara"

"Sorry Mike, you were saying"

"What's up with you?" He asks her taking a seat behind her desk "is something bothering you"

"Ben and I had a fight" she says sitting next to him

"Really" he says surprised

"Yeah, a huge one"

"My god, I'm sorry to hear that" he apologizes then looks at her "you good"

"No, he's hiding something" she says then stands up to pour both of them coffee

"What are you thinking?" He asks

"I don't know, I think it's something huge and he doesn't want me to know" she says as she hands over a cup of coffee to Michael

"Is he cheating?" He asks taking the cup from her

"No, Ben doesn't know any type of woman"

He chuckles "look I know you trust your husband and everything but a guy like him could definitely be cheating"

"Have you meet Ben?"

"Yeah a couple of times"

"No, aside from the husky good looking intelligent guy who works as an FBI agent, I mean have you meet the real Ben" she takes a sip from her coffee "even I would feel sorry for the girl he is cheating on me with"

Michael chokes on his coffee as he laughs

"No this is serious Mike, Ben is hiding something way bigger than just some girl, I can feel it" she says but before he could respond a junior officer, Diana brown, walks into her office

"Detectives, the chief wants to see you both in his office right now"

"Why, what happened?" Michael asks

"Unfortunately there has been an accident on Bush street downtown, they say the truck had no breaks"

"'They'...who?" Sarah asks

"The reporters"

"The reporters, but how did they know about a case we just found out" Michael says

"That's why the chief wants both of you in his office" Diana says about to leave "he looked pretty ticked off"

"Wait brown, when did this happen?" Sarah asks

"This morning" she answers before she walks away

"Is this the best time to give him the 'I love you' mug I bought for him this morning" Michael asks as he looks at his partner

Sarah shakes her head at him and pushes him towards the chief's office "let's go"

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO HIGH SCHOOL....

"Urghhhh...that was the worst eight hours of my entire life" Paris says

"Actually it's nine hours, we close 4:00pm" Rebecca corrects

"Even worse" Paris states

"okay, little red riding hood, where to next?"

"First of all, don't give me nicknames and second, I'm going home" Rebecca says "you should too"

"But wait, you promised me a day to show me around San Francisco" Paris whines

"Nope, don't remember"

"Come on Rebecca, just this once, I promise" Paris begs then breaks down to her puppy dog face "please"

"Fine, just this once, okay"

"I promise" Paris says in a babyish voice which causes Rebecca to roll her eyes

"Rebecca" someone calls out before they could even leave the school "Rebecca wait"

They turn around to Eric hale running towards them

"Oh no" Rebecca says under her breath

Paris looks at her worried "what?"

But Eric had already caught up to them, He stared at Rebecca, as she stares back, She could not help but remember how she fell in love with him, they did not utter a word as they gaze intently into each other's eyes, she remembered the last time she saw him, two years ago, after the incident happened. All her friends left her, especially him. When the memory came rushing back, she averted her gaze from his and looks elsewhere.

"What do you want Eric?" She asks feeling rather uncomfortable with the fact that her long life crush and supposed to be best friend is standing right in front of her.

"I came here to see you, I've wanted to talk to you for so long"

"Really, the last time I checked, you walked away from me" Rebecca says sounding hurt "I can't even look at you"

"Rebecca please let me-" Eric tries to say but was interrupted by Paris

"Hi Eric isn't it, the name is Paris hardwood, nice to meet you" Paris says stretching out her hand to shake

Eric shakes her "hardwood, does your dad happen to be Thomas hardwood"

"Why yes, of course" Paris smiles

"Eric hale, both our dads are friends"

"So, you are Eric. My father made mention of you, said you were cute" Paris says which makes Eric blush

"yeah I'm not too sure about that"

"Um, Paris, it was really nice meeting you, but I really need to speak to Rebecca"

"Well, Rebecca promised me a visit to McDonald's and my father always says that promises should never be broken, you know, friends always keep promises to stick together no matter what happens, you should know about that Eric, you are 'the' friend " Paris says then looks at Rebecca "shall we m'lady"

"We shall" Rebecca laughs as they both leave the school together holding hands

As they head out, Paris speaks up

"what was that about anyways?"

"It's nothing" Rebecca says putting her bag in the back seat

"Well I kinda helped you out, soooo"

Rebecca slams the door, "yeah and I appreciate that, but you don't know me and I don't know you, so let's keep things mutual, okay"

"Fine"

"But you know, you owe me a visit to McDonald's right" Paris states

"Yeah, yeah, whatever...let's go" Rebecca says as they both enter and drive off

AT THE CRIME SCENE....

"So" Sarah enters the crime scene holding a paper cup and donut "what are we looking at?"

"Do you really want to be eating a donut beside a body bag" Michael asks still looking at the body bag

"Of course I'm a cop, what's gonna happen?" She says

"Okay 'cop', come check this out" he says nodding towards the bag "this looks like a mystery only you can solve"

"Elaborate?" She asks

"Okay, here's what we got from the suspect" he begins as he opens his notebook

"A young girl, red hair, looks the age of 16 to 18, walks up to the suspect, who was coming from the gym last night, he says they met up around that turning and immediately she sees him she changes her direction to the road" Michael explains

"That's strange" she says as he closes his notebook

"Not done yet, she doesn't speak at all, every warning he gave, she didn't listen, meanwhile a truck is coming at full speed and the victim keeps standing on the road, the truck comes to view and that's when our suspect starts panicking, begging her to leave the road, but still doesn't listen, then as it was getting closer, she turns and smiles at the suspect, before he knew it the truck collided with her and sends her flying to the traffic light, which punctuated her face" he narrates then turns to look at her and asks "what's your theory on this?"

"That You should definitely consider writing a book" she says

"Why thank you" he agrees "but not what I was planning on hearing"

"It does look like a mystery" she says

"it looks like she wanted to die"

"Or somebody made her" Michael adds

"Or she was drunk" Mason Andrew, another detective adds

"Well, there goes my interest" Sarah says as they both turn around to face Mason "what is it this time Andrews?"

"Maybe she was heartbroken and you know drank herself to death" Mason says

"The suspect says she was perfectly fine when he saw her" Michael says

"So you asked him" Sarah eyed Michael

"What, I had to be sure"

"Come on guys, look at it yourselves, she was walking on this pavement all alone, immediately she meets the guy, she changes her direction and then...'kpow' she get hit by a truck"

"Which means?"

"She was heartbroken"

"That was the most idiotic thing I have ever heard and I can't believe it came out from your mouth" Michael says before looking closely at him "are you drunk?"

"A little bit" he answers

"Maybe after she broke up with her boyfriend, she started hating guys, especially men" mason says eating a piece from Sarah's donut

"I don't know, I just wanted to act like a detective, you know be more inside the case...been feeling more detective lately"

"Okay Mason, get your head out of your ass and actually contribute into this, we can't be the only two serious ones here"

"Fine, Sheesh Parker, what side of the bed did you wake up?"

Sarah rolls her eyes as she looks around the crime scene "where's our suspect?"

"He is over there with James still having his interrogation" Maya Winfield, an assistant to the main forensic scientist Dr. Jane Marshall. "Isn't he hot?"

"Hello to you to maya" Sarah waves "what brings you here?"

"Him"

"I never knew you had an interest for muscular guys, Winfield" Mason says

"Well now you know" she states without looking at him, which makes Sarah and Michael chuckle

"Damn, you better add that on my list of dates for tinder, cause imma be swiping" Jordan parks, a police officer, states

"All of you are a bunch of girls" Mason states rolling his eyes

"Are you jealous that no one is taking a second glance at you Mason dear" maya asks

"What, no, I'm not, even though he looks like he has been working out lately with that dumb handsome face of his" Mason whines

"You want a picture" Jordan smirks "it will last longer"

"But to come to think of it, he does look like his been working out lately" Michael mentions

"Yeah Michael, he literally went to the gym last night before the incident" Sarah states

"He looks like a professional boxer" maya states

Sarah scoffs "professional my ass...he doesn't even look like he can take me down"

"Ohh yeah, that's true, just you and him, one on one, I'm sure as hell you're gonna beat the crap out of him"Michael laughs

"Yup and when I'm done, I'm gonna post it on YouTube" she answers making the others laugh

"okay ladies, let's get back to work before the chief takes off our heads"

"Parks, what could you get from him?" Michael asks

"Same old, same old" she says "he was coming from his gym, when he sees her walking towards him, she turns to the road and dies"

"Yeah, like that makes sense" maya rolls her eyes in annoyance

"Parker" Michael calls which makes her turn to him "how about we talk"

They leave the group

"what's up?" She asks

"I don't know, I just feel uneasy with what's happening right now" he says

"You know, with the whole, kidnapping and suicides. I just feel our girls are not safe"

"I know, I have the same feeling" she says "just breathe, nothing is going to happen to Hannah, I can promise you that"

"Thanks" he says then hesitates

"i also wanted to tell you something"

"What is it??"

"Hey guys" maya calls out "come check this out"

"What's up?" Sarah asks as soon as they got to her "what did you find"

"We just heard from the police that the victim, might have come from the hospital not far away from here" Mason says

"It's a maybe" Michael says trying not to get his hopes up

"It's actually true" Mary, a hacker in SSFPD, states as she types away on her laptop "it says here that the hospital on next street has patients, who, they believe, are possessed with an inner voice that speaks to them, that makes them act out of order"

"Really" Sarah says surprised

"Surprised...you shouldn't, cause that's not all" Mary says as she tries to hack into their database "it looks like they don't handle it in the hospital, they do it in their main office"

"Where is that?" Michael asks out of curiosity

"I have no idea, but I'll keep looking"

"I trust you would" Sarah says then looks at everyone "okay everyone listen up, this case is very important and we need to do it, cause if we slack in this, I'm afraid the FBI would want to take this case in"

"No offense detective, but I have always hated them" Jordan states

"Me too" Sarah agrees which makes all of them except Michael shocked "and that's why we can't let them have this...it's our problem, not theirs and that means rechecking crime scene for any little detail or evidence we missed. No joking around, we need to be serious, agreed"

"Agreed" they all chorused

"We prevent things like this happening to our youths in our society, that's why we are police officers" Sarah says before smiling "let's get back to work people"

McDonald's....

"Thanks" Paris says eating a thin piece of French fries

"For what?" Rebecca asks

"For today, I don't really go out anymore"

"What do you mean you 'don't go out anymore'?" Rebecca questions

"Don't worry, it's nothing" Paris assures her "just accept my appreciation"

Rebecca hesitates for awhile, wondering what may have happened to her, but decided against it, remembering her words earlier

"okay, if you say so"

"So, are you gonna introduce me to your friends" Paris asks sipping from her smoothie "or are we not going to talk about them too?"

"We could, but they are no longer my friends" Rebecca states

"Does it have anything to do with...Amy?" Paris asks pretending to look at two couples, who are having an amazing time together

Rebecca hesitates, looking away, debating if it was okay to tell her new friend everything, before she could stop herself, she utters "yes"

"Hmmm...that sounds messed up" Paris states, then looks at her

"are you okay?"

"You don't even know what happened"

"Doesn't matter, you look hurt. Every time I bring up the questions, don't know why I just feel you aren't to blame" Paris says eating her French fries.

"Thanks" Rebecca says as she gives Paris a small glance and then continues to look around McDonald's

"So" Paris begins, which makes Rebecca look at her fully "where to next?"

"How about we head home, you could come over and we could watch a movie" Rebecca suggests

"This invite looks like you don't do this quite often, so imma accept the invitation" Paris smiles

Rebecca laughs "come on, let's go". They were about to leave when Rebecca got a message.

"Who is that?"

"My cousin, Jason" Rebecca mentions "he asked me to come over to his house"

"Why?" Paris asks grabbing her leftovers and heading towards the car

"I have no idea, but he says it's important, soooo"

"Okay, let's go then"

"Let's?"

"Yeah, you promised movie night, it's either that or we go together to his house and have our night out there" Paris suggests stopping in front of Rebecca's car door "you choose"

Rebecca inhales "fine, let's go" emphasizing the 'let's'

"Good" she smiles entering the car, leaving a frowning Rebecca

Little did they know someone was watching from the woods.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO POLICE STATION....

Sarah walks into the station with her mind in the clouds, analysing the crime scene in her head, hoping they didn't leave any piece of evidence untouched.

As she heads for her office, she's pulled into a room. She pulls out her gun and point straight ahead at the stranger, who held her arm.

"Hey, it's me" her husband, Benjamin, states putting his hand in the air, surrendering

"I know" she mentions still pointing the gun at him

"Sarah, do you mind" he says gazing at her gun, then looks at her "please, we need to talk"

She puts her gun down and looks at him dead in the eye, with disgust "what do you want Parker?...I have things to do"

"Parker'....well that's new" he smirks

"You don't have that much time"

"Okay, I heard you and your team are working on a new suicide case" he stated "wanted to ask if you needed help with it"

"No Benjamin, I don't need help" she says out of bitterness "especially yours"

"I already have my team...beside you have a lot on your plate"

She makes an attempt to leave but was held back "Sarah please"

"Why are you so suddenly interested in my case?" She asks pulling her arm away "Is it part of the secret you're hiding from me"

"No, I just feel like this case is dangerous and you may need back up and as a husband, I want you to be safe"

"That's none of your business" she says leaving the room "both as an FBI agent and a husband"

"Okay fine, you wanna hear it"

"Hear what?" She asks halfway to the door

"The 'secret', you think I'm hiding from you"

Sarah gives her husband a 'go ahead' look, Ben sighs looking at the floor before glancing up to his wife

"It all started when I became Head in the organisation" he started after he hesitated "me and the mayor made an encounter with a group of strangers"

Sarah kept quite for her husband to continue, locking eyes with him, not knowing what he was going to say next, but hoping it's not anything bad or horrible.

"They are called...The Outlaws"