Not wanting to get up yet, but knowing she should get started on the case, Kenzie yawned. She knew she should get up, but she couldn't do anything on little to no sleep. So she burrowed back under the covers and closed her eyes.
It was nearly noon before Kenzie woke up, and only then because she heard Jillian's knocking on the door.
"Are you okay in there?" she was asking.
Kenzie sat up and stretched. "I'm fine, I just didn't get much sleep last night."
"Me, either. I just got up a little bit ago myself. Want some breakfast? Or lunch?"
"I suppose."
Jillian shuffled off and Kenzie pushed herself off the bed, still slightly groggy.
Her first step after breakfast would be to go talk to the police chief and see if she could get any leads on things that had been stolen from people's houses. She hadn't been invited to solve this case by the authorities, but it was a case nonetheless, and surely they'd want her help.
Even if she didn't get anything out of the police chief, he or she would at least be made aware of the situation, so that when Kenzie did bring in evidence, the Komodo Dragons would go to jail (hopefully).
Kenzie got dressed in a pink sleeveless shirt and looked herself over in the mirror. She didn't want to be bothered with makeup today, yet Jillian's expertise from the night of the beach party had made her want to wear it more often. She truly did look great in it, even if she didn't particularly believe in it. To her, makeup was a mask that hid one's true beauty. But if used in small, light portions, it could be used to simply enhance what was already there, rather than hide it.
So Kenzie put on some makeup, but only a fair amount. Then she went into the kitchen and saw that Jillian had made simple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"I hope this is okay," Jillian said upon seeing Kenzie enter the kitchen. "I need to go to the store and pick up some things."
"It's fine. I'm not particularly hungry anyway."
Kenzie took a seat and Jillian sat next to her. As they ate, Jillian began apologizing like crazy.
"I'm so sorry about all this. I should have just told you the truth from the start, but I was so scared."
"I understand that, but you know you can trust me with anything. You could have told me at any time instead of me finding out the way I did."
"I know, and I'll never forgive myself for any of this. For getting involved with Drake, for taking the money he's paying me off with, for getting you involved...if I hadn't dated him in the first place, none of this would have happened."
"Well I hope you meant what you said last night, about how you're going to turn your life around and find decent guys."
"Yeah, if I look for any guys at all for a while. I think I should start focusing on my career instead."
"Probably a good idea."
Kenzie hated to ask, but she had to know. They were best friends, after all.
"Jill, I have to ask you..."
"Anything. I'm still scared but knowing you're going to do what you can makes me feel better."
"Well, you're going to hate this because it has nothing to do with the case."
"What is it? Best friend curiosity?"
"Yeah...you said you dated him for a month. Did you..."
"Yes."
Kenzie choked on her sandwich.
"Oh, Jill..."
"What? We're both adults, and like the idiot that I am, I thought he cared about me."
"Did you ever think of getting to know a guy better before you woo with him?"
Jillian slammed her fist on the table. "I already said I'm sorry, okay? I feel bad enough."
Kenzie sighed. She knew asking that was a bad idea. Curse her curiosity!
"And what about you, Ms. Innocent?" Jillian demanded. "Who have you woo'd with lately?"
Kenzie choked again. "Uh...no one."
"Really?"
"I swear on my life, I haven't woo'd with anyone since...um...Bryce."
Now it was Jillian's turn to raise her eyebrows. "You mean to tell me you haven't woo'd with anyone since college?"
"I've been very skeptical of guys since then."
"You can't swear off all relationships because of one bad one."
"I know that, but I think having my career is more important than having a guy that could stab me in the back."
"Kenzie, as your best friend, I have to tell you that you should move on. Bryce was a cheating jerk, you didn't deserve what he did to you, but you can't just...brush it off, wish it away like it never happened. I've tried that, and trust me, it doesn't work."
"Can we please change the subject?"
"There you go again, shoving it under the rug. You have to deal with it."
Kenzie stood up and carried her plate to the sink.
"I did deal with it. I was a wreck, remember? You and my parents helped me get through it, and I graduated top of the class with honors and got my dream job. Where's he now? Probably the father of how many illegitimate children, since he couldn't even graduate with us thanks to his womanizing."
"Notice you said I and your parents helped you get through it. What would you have done without us?"
Kenzie spun around to face Jillian. "Are we talking about the case here, or my past?"
"You brought it up!"
"I asked one question about a guy who's threatening you and paying you off. You asked me something completely unrelated."
"We're talking about woohoo, I ask about woohoo, and it's unrelated?"
"I know I'm stupid!" Jillian shrieked. "You don't have to rub it in!"
"You're not stupid, what you did is!"
Jillian's cell phone rang and she answered it.
"Hello?" she said in a not-so-chipper voice. Her tone changed a moment later when she said, "Okay, I'm on my way."
She turned to face Kenzie. "Well, I'll leave you to do what you want with my 'stupidity'. I have another client."
"Jill..."
"Save it. I don't need my best friend telling me how foolish I am when I already know it."
With that, Jillian spun on her heel and headed out the door.
Kenzie felt hurt and angry. Jillian made this mess herself, and she basically expected her best friend to clean it up for her. Was Kenzie really that weak?
Yes, she thought as she began to cry, she was.
*****
The police department wasn't too far from Jillian's house. Kenzie had passed it on her way there. Fighting back more tears, Kenzie gripped her steering wheel as she drove toward the station.
She wasn't even sure who the police chief was or if he or she would be in, but she had to do something. A gang was on the loose, robbing houses and threatening her best friend. She couldn't stand idly by and do nothing.
When she arrived at the police station and went inside, she was greeted by a reception desk, as was the custom for every police station she knew.
"Hello," she said to the officer behind the desk. "I'm here to see the chief, please."
The young officer looked her over and asked, "And you are...?"
"I'm Kenzie Howell."
"Where do I know that name?" the officer seemed to be thinking aloud.
"Probably from the papers. I'm a detective from Riverview."
"Oh, right!" the officer snapped his fingers. "Yeah, you're one of the best detectives out there. You just cracked a case in Bridgeport didn't you?"
Kenzie tried not to cringe at that memory as she answered, "Yeah, I did."
"That sounded like a really scary case, what with all the people dying without blood in their bodies. Bet that was scary, huh?"
Kenzie was losing her patience. She hoped this officer was a new one and not responsible for protecting Sunset Valley.
"Anyway, I need to see the chief please," she said, ignoring the redundant comment about how frightening her previous case had been.
"Oh, right!" The officer got on the phone and punched in an extension.
"Yeah, Chief? You're never going to believe who's here to see you. Kenzie Howell from Riverview! What? No, I didn't ask. Sorry, sir, it won't happen again."
Kenzie knew this guy was new. He was obviously on desk duty for a reason.
"Yeah, okay. Will do."
The young officer hung up the phone and said, "He wasn't too happy since you don't seem to have a scheduled appointment with him, and I didn't ask what you needed to see him for, but he said he'll see you briefly since, well, it's you."
"Sounds good. Where's his office?"
"That door to the right leads to a hallway. His is the sixth door on the left."
"Thank you."
Kenzie left the strangely star-struck officer and disappeared behind the door. The hallway wasn't very long, and it, just like the front area, had a sickly lime green linoleum floor with pasty white-yellow walls. She imagined the Sunset Valley police department to have more taste than that.
She found the sixth door on the left and knocked. She heard some shuffling inside and the door was answered by a hefty man who appeared to be in his 40s. He was muscular and had stubble on his chin and his reddish-blonde hair had tints of gray.
"Hello, Ms. Howell," he said in a husky voice. "I'm Chief James Hudson. Come on in."
"Thank you," Kenzie replied as she followed him in. The two shook hands as a more formal greeting.
"Have a seat," James said as he sat behind his desk. Kenzie sat in one of the yellowed leather chairs, trying not to cringe at the bright green floor.
"What brings you to Sunset Valley?" James asked, getting right to the point.
"Honestly, I came here to visit my best friend. But it's come to my attention that there have been a string of crimes in this city, and, being an avid upholder of the law, I wanted to offer my services."
"String of crimes? Like what?"
"Gang activity. More specifically, robberies."
"We've had several reports from people about missing items, but we haven't had any leads."
"Are you not aware there's a gang on the loose in your city, stealing property and selling it?"
"If we did know, they'd be behind bars. They're obviously working around us. Plus, surely you of all people would know, that we'd have to have evidence to arrest them anyway. Simply being in a gang isn't grounds for that. Where did you get this particular information?"
"An anonymous source."
"Uh huh. And where does this gang supposedly hang out? And what do you know about them?"
"Just that they're known as the Komodo Dragons, you can identify them by green dragon tattoos on their left arms, and that they steal and sell things to make money. Oh, and that their headquarters is the warehouse on 66 Sunnyside Boulevard. I'd like to help you put a stop to this."
"What? That warehouse is abandoned."
"Or so you think. Gangs and criminals have been known to make their headquarters in places thought to be abandoned."
"Well, we haven't had any leads in these theft cases, so it would make sense if a gang was responsible."
"Well, my offer is still open. I'd like to help you catch the culprits."
James took a deep breath. "I appreciate that, but I'm afraid our city doesn't have the kind of money to pay for one's services such as yourself. You're far too...shall we say, qualified, for this job."
"I don't care about the payment," Kenzie heard herself saying. "I'll do it for free."
James almost fell over in his chair from the looks of it. "Since when do top-notch investigators do any job for free? Especially one as dangerous as gang involvement?"
"I...I'm not like other detectives. All I care about is keeping the streets clean, and that means putting criminals behind bars. I don't want these people on the streets stealing things from people and scaring them."
"And if we don't pay you, you can turn around and sue us."
"You actually think I'd do something like that?"
"I've seen a lot of weird things in my time, Ms. Howell. I can't afford to take that chance."
"Fine, then I'll look into this case unofficially. I'm not technically on it, but I'll dig up what I can. That way, you can only pay me for what I did help you with, if you insist that by not paying me, I'd turn around and sue you."
"Do what you want, you're a detective, I won't stop you. But you aren't officially hired by me, or the city of Sunset Valley."
"Fair enough. So I suppose you won't give me access to any reports you have about the stolen items?"
"I'm afraid not. But I can tell you the basics of what I know."
"That'll have to do. I'm listening."
"We've gotten several reports over the past few months of people who've had things stolen. Even if people have security devices, they get tampered with and shut off. Someone in that gang must be pretty handy to disable those. Things that have been stolen ranged from furniture to paintings to electronics. There's really no particular type of object these guys steal, they just have to take it, and apparently, according to your anonymous source, sell it."
"Why don't you go to the warehouse, now that you know where it is, and put a stop to it?"
"Proof is needed to arrest anyone. If they're constructing some sort of crime ring in such a public place, presumed abandoned or not, I guarantee they wouldn't leave all their stolen property lying around for anyone to see."
"Well, not all gangs are known to have particularly smart members, either."
"True, but I bet if they are selling stolen items, they're doing it in under 24 hours. That's very common for gangs too - strike fast and get rid of the evidence even faster."
"I'm aware of that. But since you also know it, you could just go check the place out."
"That would require a warrant, and we don't have enough reason to get one. Someone's word alone isn't enough. You do what you want Ms. Howell, but I have a lot of other things to tend to and don't have time to chase after assumed criminals. You yourself haven't given me any proof, and you won't even tell me who gave you all this information. Again, you, of all people, should know better than that."
"Maybe I had too much faith that the police department would hear me out, since everyone seems to be so familiar with me and what I do, and they'd look into what I had to say."
"Hey, don't try to tell me how to do my job." James looked angry now. "I'm not saying you're lying, but I am saying that in order to look into something, I need more than a person's word. No matter who that person is."
Kenzie stood up. "Well, thank you for your time Chief Hudson. You'll be seeing me again."
James stood up as well. "As you wish."
"I'll let myself out," Kenzie said, not bothering to shake the man's hand.
Before the door closed behind her, she heard James mumble, "Kids these days."
She resented that. She was younger than him, but she was hardly a kid.
Now she had a real problem on her hands. Without evidence, the police wouldn't even look into the Komodo Dragons or their warehouse. She really had put too much faith in them.
She had to find evidence to get anyone arrested, or even get the police involved. If the police wouldn't do anything about this, then she'd do something herself.
No comments:
Post a Comment