Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “She wouldn’t just run away,” said Joey.

  “I know. Do you think she’s gone to Atlantis to help Eric and Vik?” asked Emma.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. There’s something in these files that made more sense to her than us,” said Joey.

  “I don’t know how long I can wait anymore,” said Emma.

  “We wait till noon tomorrow. Else we go back to Atlantis,” said Joey.

  “I’m so scared,” said Emma. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Joey hugged her.

  “It’s going to be alright,” said Joey.

  The next morning, they reached the police station and saw Eric sleeping on the couch.

  Emma and Joey were elated. They approached him, while the other officers looked. Eric didn’t look like he had been out fighting a battle for the last few days. His face was calm, and his body was unscathed.

  “He was already here when I came in this morning,” said Adam, to Joey.

  “Should we wake him up?” asked Emma. Joey went closer to Eric to check if he was still breathing.

  Joey coughed a couple of times in Eric’s ears. He woke up.

  Emma hugged Eric when he sat up. Joey joined in too. Eric smiled, initially surprised.

  Eric got up and thanked everyone for the welcome after they gave him an ovation. He went to his office after shaking everyone’s hands. Emma and Joey followed behind.

  “Where were you?” asked Emma.

  “Atlantis. Long story,” said Eric.

  He glanced at the letter he had written and tore it apart, before throwing it in the dustbin.

  Joey was happy.

  “Where’s Vik?” asked Emma.

  “I don’t know. He told me to leave. I left,” said Eric.

  Emma noticed Eric was acting strangely, but she attributed it to a tired mind and body.

  “One thing I know for sure,” said Eric.

  “What’s that?” asked Joey.

  “He wasn’t in his mind. I mean, you could tell he was a good guy, but he had lost his way,” said Eric as he sat on his chair.

  “Was?” asked Emma.

  “He wasn’t planning on coming back,” said Eric. “He was miserable. Perhaps he found his peace.”

  “You’re talking like you think he’s dead,” said Emma.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he is,” said Eric. “Can you get something for me to drink? I’m thirsty.”

  “Okay,” said Emma.

  She and Joey looked at each other and went out of the room.

  “I think he’s the one who has lost his mind,” said Joey.

  “Maybe he’s tired,” said Emma.

  “Yeah, maybe,” said Joey. “Should we tell him about Katie or Kate?”

  “Perhaps later,” said Emma.

  Emma asked Officer Mortan to stock up Eric’s supplies. They kept a check on Eric by going to his office under different pretenses. Eric was looking into old case files, which surprised Emma.

  A few hours later, Joey got a call from a mystery number asking him to come alone, with an image sent as an attachment. Joey opened the attachment and realized it was clicked near the TS – 19 bridge.

  He rushed out of the precinct, but Emma saw him. He couldn’t hide it from her, and they drove to the bridge.

  Joey was worried as was Emma. The caller had mentioned it was related to Kate.

  He drove as fast as he could on the narrow, curvy roads surrounded by greenish-yellow vegetation. They reached the spot in twenty minutes.

  They saw a black van speeding away while they were heading for the bridge, almost running Joey off the road. There were no plates on the vehicle.

  “There!” said Emma as she spotted someone lying on the grass near the bridge.

  Joey stopped the car near the body. Emma got out of the car immediately and hurtled towards the body.

  Emma rolled over the body and saw it was Kate. She felt her pulse. It was weak.

  “She’s knocked out,” said Emma.

  Joey picked up Kate and put her in the backseat.

  Emma looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but couldn’t see anyone. The surroundings were silent. The fence on the other side of the bridge was visible through the thick vegetation and trees.

  “Hurry, let’s go, Emma!” shouted Joey.

  She got in the car, and Joey drove away.

  It was late evening when they arrived at Morrow Hospital. Kate was taken into OR while Joey and Emma were asked to wait outside.

  Emma made a call to the sheriff and apprised him of the situation. Eric showed up an hour later.

  He looked concerned, which was an encouraging sign for Emma and Joey. The doctor informed them about some strange medication that he had found in Kate’s system.

  “We’re running tests on it. Someone also injected her with a serum to knock her out. She should wake up soon,” said the doctor.

  “Can we see her?” asked Joey.

  “I’d advice against it. Let her rest,” said the doctor.

  He took their leave after instructing the nurse about another blood panel that had to be done on Kate.

  Emma, Joey, and Eric watched from outside as Kate was sleeping on the bed. Joey knew she was alright, but seeing her in an oxygen mask and tens of fluids hanging around her, made his stomach crawl.

  Kate woke up the next morning in an unknown bed and saw Joey sleeping on the couch in her room. Emma and Eric were also asleep in the room. She realized she was in a hospital.

  She pulled off her oxygen mask and tried to breathe life back into her body. She tried to remember how she ended up in the hospital, but couldn’t. The last thing she could remember was being in the precinct, checking Olivia’s files on Anton.

  She tried to remember a vivid dream she had about Sarah blaming her for betraying her family. Remorse filled her heart, and she started weeping.

  Joey woke up from the sound of Kate’s yelping and went over to comfort her. Emma and Eric also woke up from the commotion.

  “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe,” said Joey as he consoled her, lying next to her.

  Kate calmed down as she observed her surroundings. She felt safe.

  The nurse came to check on her, allowing Joey to take a deep breath himself. When the nurse left, Emma, Joey and Eric gathered around the bed hoping that Kate would have answers to their questions.

  “How are you?” asked Joey.

  “I’m fine,” said Kate.

  “What happened?” asked Joey.

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember,” said Kate as she rubbed her forehead, trying to think.

  “What do you remember?” asked Emma.

  “Nothing much. It’s all just a blur. I remember reading the files,” said Kate as she started crying again.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” consoled Joey.

  “We’re here for you, Kate,” said Eric.

  The doctor came and told them that her reports were fine, but warned that Kate might face some symptoms attributed to hormonal imbalances for the next few days.

  Kate was discharged in the evening. They were told that the hospital was waiting to hear from the lab about the contents of the medicine found in her blood. Eric filed the paperwork mentioning the reason as ‘injured on duty’, to make sure that the town was billed for the expenses when the hospital informed that Kate didn’t have valid health insurance.

  When Eric mentioned that to Emma, she told him that it was probably because Kate wanted to remain off the grid as much as possible.

  Joey took Kate to her home and laid her on her bed.

  “I’ll be right outside,” said Joey.

  “Okay,” said Kate.

  Kate couldn’t sleep all night. She tried to remember the dream she had. It was intense enough to be real but impossible to have happened. Her head would hurt when she would try to force her brain.

  She also had a strange idea in her head of leaving the county and going someplace far away. She felt restless
whenever she thought of leaving her life in Morrow behind her.

  The next morning, she got out of bed and saw Joey was preparing breakfast for them.

  “What are you cooking?” asked Kate.

  “Good morning to you too,” said Joey. “Nothing. Just some pancakes.”

  “Pancakes sounds delicious,” said Kate as she smiled.

  Joey smiled back.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Joey.

  “I don’t know. I’m alright, I guess. Maybe I need to put the last few days behind me and start afresh,” said Kate.

  “Yes. It’s over,” said Joey.

  “What’s over? What did I miss?” asked Kate.

  “Nothing much. I don’t know. It feels like the worst is behind us,” said Joey.

  “Yeah, me too,” smiled Kate.

  Joey brought over the breakfast to Kate, who was sitting in the dining room across the kitchen. They had their breakfast where Joey would occasionally flirt, and Kate would flirt back.

  “I was scared when we couldn’t find you anywhere,” said Joey.

  “As long as you are around, nothing can happen to me,” said Kate, touching his hand.

  She got up from the chair, leaned forward, and kissed Joey, who kissed back. Their moment of happiness was disturbed when he got a phone call from Emma.

  “What?” yelled Joey when he picked up the phone.

  “Whoa! What happened to you?” asked Emma.

  “Nothing,” said Joey, sighing.

  “You’re strange. Anyways, Sheriff wants everyone to come in early. Got a few announcements for the future, he told me,” said Emma.

  “Okay, I’ll be right there,” said Joey.

  “See you,” said Emma, and hung up.

  “What happened?” asked Kate.

  “Nothing. Sheriff wants everyone early at the station,” said Joey.

  “Let’s go,” said Kate.

  “Where are you going? You need to rest,” said Joey.

  “I’m fine and bored. I need to get some air,” said Kate.

  “You didn’t look bored a few seconds ago,” smiled Joey.

  Kate punched him in the chest.

  “Oh, you’re fine, alright,” said Joey, rubbing his chest.

  They drove together to the station. Emma hugged Kate and expressed her happiness on seeing her, almost bear hugging her. Kate was happy too.

  A few minutes later, Eric emerged out of the hallway and asked everyone to gather around in the main hall.

  “I’ve asked all of here today to talk about the future,” said Eric.

  “What future? I took this job because we didn’t have one,” whispered Officer Mortan to Trent. He shrugged.

  “A lot has happened in the past few weeks, not only here in Morrow but other towns in the county as well. I believe that the worst is behind us. The evil that roamed the streets of New Frontier has left us in peace. Today, we get a chance to start afresh and need to make the most of it. For that to happen, we need to rebuild everything. Be it as tangible as the infrastructure of the town, or as intangible as the trust and respect between the people we serve and us. Officers, it’s time to hit the reset button. Hope you’ll do me proud,” said Eric.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Get back to work,” remarked Eric, when he finished his short speech.

  Everyone looked a little motivated, which was what he intended to do.

  “Where’s Vik?” asked Kate, when she was with Joey and Emma.

  “No idea. Sheriff won’t talk about him,” said Emma.

  “Why?” asked Kate.

  “Beats me,” said Joey.

  “There’s something else,” said Emma.

  “What?” asked Kate.

  Emma looked at Joey and smiled. She took out a photograph and showed it to Kate.

  “Recognize her?” asked Emma.

  Kate saw the photo and took it from Emma’s hands.

  “Where did you find this?” asked Kate.

  “In an old abandoned house in the forest near Old River. We got there, but they had already left after destroying everything,” said Emma.

  “Does this mean what I think it means?” asked Kate. “Could it be?”

  “Yes, this picture is only a few months old. She’s alive, Kate. Katie is alive,” said Emma.

  Kate sat down on her chair and broke down in tears. Her heart opened the floodgates that had been holding back the river of her emotions. Emma tried to console her, but Joey stopped her.

  Eric saw Kate weeping and approached her.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Eric.

  “She’s alive,” said Emma.

  “Who’s alive?” asked Eric.

  “Jay..Vik’s daughter. Katie,” said Emma, smiling

  “What?!” blurted Eric.

  “Yes!” said Joey.

  “I can’t believe it,” said Eric, looking at the photograph that Kate gave to him.

  A distinct smile appeared on Eric’s face. He was overjoyed.

  “I wish Jay was here,” said Eric. “He would’ve found a new purpose in his life.”

  “Where is he?” asked Emma.

  “I didn’t see him afterward. I haven’t heard from him either,” said Eric.

  “What happened at Atlantis?” asked Joey.

  “Come with me,” said Eric.

  They went to his office for a private discussion.

  “He reduced it to dust,” said Eric.

  “How?” asked Kate.

  “He had this stuff with him. Lethal stuff. Like he had planned it for a long time. He lied to me. I don’t even know if he made it out alive,” explained Eric.

  “Even if he did, he might not have a reason to come back here,” said Joey.

  “We need to find him,” said Emma.

  “We could start with Emily,” said Kate. “She’s the only one Vik has ever trusted outside of us.”

  “Let’s go,” said Emma.

  They drove to Emily’s in the other part of the town. The conditions were overcast, the wind was pleasant and soothing. Upon arriving, they saw a large crowd had gathered in front of the restaurant. Eric led the way while Emma, Joey and Kate followed, looking around. When they reached the main door, they saw Emily sitting on the pavement, next to a body lying on the ground. The body was wearing the same clothes as the other waitresses that were sitting next to Emily.

  “What happened?” asked Eric.

  Emily looked up at Eric but didn’t say a word.

  Eric and Kate began examining the body while Emma started asking questions from the waitresses. Joey went back to the car to grab crime scene tape to cordon off the area after calling for an ambulance.

  “Don’t touch her,” shouted Emily, when Eric began moving the body’s head.

  “Who did this to her?” asked Kate.

  “Couple of dickheads showed up with their guns and machete,” said Emily, sniffling.

  She was trying to hold back her tears.

  While they were examining the body, Emily received a phone call. She quickly got up and went inside the restaurant.

  Kate noticed Emily, who was crying while talking on the phone. The conversation lasted for a couple of minutes. She came back out and sat next to the body again.

  After a few minutes, the ambulance arrived to take the body to the forensic lab at the police station. The crowd parted to make way for the ambulance, and Eric instructed Joey to go with the ambulance driver, but Emily objected while they were moving the body.

  “Stop,” said Emily. “Don’t touch her. A friend is coming. He needs to see the crime scene.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. But we cannot allow civilians to examine the crime scene and the body, no matter how qualified they are,” said Joey.

  “Who called you here, anyway? Come back after an hour,” said Emily.

  “Sorry, we can’t do that,” said Eric. “I don’t care if you trust us or not.”

  “Well, I’m not letting the killer get away with it, not when I know who the
primary suspect is,” said Emily.

  “Who?” asked Eric.

  “You and your team,” said Emily. “Now excuse yourself. I’ll only allow the other cops to take the body.”

  “You realize that falsely accusing an officer of the law is a crime?” said Kate.

  “Not as per New Frontier’s Rules set by the Mayor,” said Emily.

  Her voice had a charm about it. The crowd had become restless. Every other second, an occasional chant of ‘Screw the Sheriff’ could be heard. Emma had joined the group after doing her interviews.

  “What is happening?” asked Emma.

  “Emily is being Emily,” murmured Joey. “So much for solving trust issues with the public.”

  A stand-off ensued shortly after. Eric and the team had no choice but to give in to Emily’s demands.

  Suddenly, the sound of tires screeching could be heard a short distance away. Eric could see the crowd move as a guy made his way through the crowd.

  Chapter 4: Inclusion

  Emma gasped when she saw Vik making his way out of the crowd. Joey and Emma stepped forward to hug him, but he went straight to Emily without looking at Joey and Emma.

  She got up and hugged him while everyone looked. He kissed her on her forehead and wiped away her tears. He looked at Sandy, who stepped forward and took Emily with her.

  Vik looked at Eric posing questions with his face, while Eric’s face was exhibiting mixed emotions. He went to the back of the ambulance and took out a pair of rubber gloves.

  “See? He’s not a civilian,” said Emily.

  Vik went to the body to examine it.

  Joey and Emma requested the crowd to move on. Some grieved with Emily and went their way, while some others stayed back.

  Vik examined the bullet wounds on the body and the blows to the head. There were also some deep cuts and bruises on the arms and stomach.

  Vik looked around for the weapons, but Kate told him that the killers took off with the weapons.

  Emma was happy to see Vik as was Kate and Joey. They couldn’t wait to tell him about Katie, but knew it was the wrong place and time.

  He saw tire marks on the road and followed the direction they went. Sandy came up to him while he was walking down the road to see how far the tracks went.