03: Don’t Lose Your Head pt. 3

Mike gained speed tossing his siren on the dash as he turned a corner and barely avoided hitting a parked car near a stop sign. He rushed through a four way stop into another intersection as drivers pulled off to the side to let him pass, moving quicker as he found a small area with less cars. “Do you know where you’re going?” Victoria asked as she held on for dear life around another corner.

“Benny’s place. It’s the last place Sunny would have been and I want to try and retrace her steps if I can.” They drove for a few minutes more before Mike pulled up to a small two-bedroom condo arranged near three others of similar color and exited the driver’s side. He trudged up the stairs, pulled at the handle and let himself inside the home.

Victoria followed behind him but stopped as a shadow ducked behind the side of the building just to her right. “Hello?” she asked and drew her weapon as she moved silently along the narrow corridor and toward the back of the building. “This is the Avondale Police, come out with your hands up.” She waited a moment for the person to respond before rushing out into the backyard. Searching quickly, her eyes roamed over the areas of the small lot. A tiny barbecue grill sat on a flat patch of concrete near the iron fence beside a child’s swimming pool and picnic table. 

Nothing else seemed out of place and there weren’t very many trees in the area to conceal any one behind. Believing the movement was her imagination she turned with a sigh and nearly jumped from her skin as she came face-to-face with a man standing beside a tree. He towered over her with his hands folded in front of him and a look of amusement on his face. She lifted her weapon toward him and again identified herself. “Who are you?”

“A friend,” he responded putting his hands up in defense hoping the detective would lower her weapon. “I’m unarmed.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Curiosity. Which I decided to satisfy.” He noticed the confusion on her face and it brought a sinister smirk to his own. Taking one step closer, Victoria made a motion again with her weapon stopping him in his tracks.

“Keep your hands where I can see them! This is a potential crime scene; you have no business here! Up against the wall,” she instructed and waited for the man to comply.

“I told you; I’m only interested in…”

“MOVE!” 

The power in her voice aroused her partner just inside and the sound of the backdoor opening shifted her gaze briefly and she looked toward the stairs. Turning back in the direction of the suspect, Victoria lowered her gun in shock and quickly scanned the area. Within her brief loss of eye contact the man had fled the scene.

“Vik?!” Mike called as he stepped out with his weapon at the ready. “Are you alright back here? I heard yelling.”

She examined her surroundings once more before holstering her weapon and nodding at him. “I’m fine, it was…nothing. Find anything inside?”

“Yeah.” He turned back toward the door with Victoria on his heels. “I think she was hiding here,” he pointed at a small cubbyhole beneath the stairs. “I found a barrette and fresh marks in the dust down there.”

“You think she saw when her mother was taken?”

“Taken?” Mike asked catching Victoria’s gaze.

“Yes. The patrols found no signs of a fire on the property and we know she was set ablaze at some point during her murder. They must have taken her someplace else to do it.”

“Well, if that’s the case then Sunny would have probably been scared. There’s no telling what she may have done if…” his words caught in his throat as he noticed a picture of his niece on the sideboard near the door.

“We’ll find her, Mike. Is there any place she would go when she’s scared? Somewhere close perhaps?”

“No. None that I know of. My brother only moved here within the last month. She hasn’t been here long enough to know anywhere except school or…my place!” He looked up again at Victoria and jumped to his feet. They both rushed for his truck again and Mike wasted no time speeding across town to his loft.

He didn’t miss a beat as he took the stairs to his front door two at a time and thrust his key into the lock. “Sunny? Sunny, are you here?” He heard noise coming from his hall closet and moved forward. As the door sprang open, the little girl jumped out at him and he immediately scooped her up into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re ok!”

“They took my mommy!” she sobbed and buried her face in her Uncle’s neck. “She was yelling at them to stop but they took her anyway!”

Victoria moved closer hearing the girl’s recollection and a million questions popped into her head. “Did you get a look at them? The people who took your mom.” Mike released her slightly to look into her face as she answered but she shook her head no.

“It was dark and I was scared. I heard them come in and mommy screamed. I went and grabbed her phone from the table and dialed 9-1-1 but they started toward my room so I ran and hid beneath the stairs. I heard something fall and then something break. They came to the stairs again. I think they were looking for me but I didn’t move. I was really quiet and I kept hoping they wouldn’t find me. After a while, they left and mommy wasn’t screaming anymore.”

“You were really brave, Sunny. You did a good job.”

“Uncle Mike, where’s my mommy?” He looked up at his partner and she returned his solemn look unsure of what to say. 

Victoria’s phone rang and she stepped away from the two to answer it. “Carson,” she responded and listened to the voice on the other end for a moment. “Have we gotten in contact with the owner to obtain it?” She paused again and waited for her answer. “Great! I’ll be in soon. Also, Cappy, you can cancel the Amber Alert for Tina Rizzitello. We found her hiding at Mike’s safe and unharmed. I’ll give you the details when I get back to the house.”

She hung up and smiled seeing Mike with his arms wrapped around the little girl and slowly started back toward them. “I’m gonna catch a cab.”

“There’s no need, I’ll drive you.”

“I think it’s best you stay with your niece for now. She needs you more than I do.” Mike looked at her tiny face again and nodded.

“Thanks, Vik. Call me when you get anything.”

“I promise.”

Victoria exited the home and walked a little way toward the corner. A flutter of air behind her caused her to turn and she watched a dark figure step behind the back of Mike’s place. Noticing the familiar black coat from earlier, she rushed after the man and caught him near the fence. “You!”

“Now wait a second before you go pulling your gun on me again.”

“What are you doing here? And don’t feed me some bullshit about your curiosity. Who are you and why are you here?” He stared at her in silence and started backing away. She unclipped her holster and he nodded his head no. “I’m placing you under arrest.”

“For what? Walking on the sidewalk? I didn’t realize that was illegal these days.”

“Funny. Get your hands above your head.”

“Now, normally I prefer my dates to buy me a drink first, but…since you asked so nicely.” Slowly he lifted his arms up and Victoria moved cautiously forward. The headlights of a speeding sedan turned onto Mike’s street and a large blast erupted from the front of the house.

Within seconds the stranger had Victoria gripped tight against his chest. He dove forward behind the fencing landing hard on his back as gunfire sounded just off to her right. She lowered her head to his body as his arms wrapped around her and he rolled once to protect her from falling debris and flying shards of wood and glass.

She heard Tina scream inside and her eyes moved toward the front yard. The stranger held her closer as he felt her try to pull away, keeping her from rushing into the line of fire. “I have to get to them,” she moaned and pushed at him.

“Stay down!” he whispered against her ear and tucked her into another roll as a large piece of the fence started down toward them. 

The sound of peeling rubber turned up the adjacent street and the car’s taillights disappeared. Once the shooting was over, the stranger rolled her to her back and brushed the hair from her face. “Are you hurt?”

“What? No, I’m fine. You weren’t hit, were you?” The man shook his head no and leaned closer toward her.

“Your pupils are dilated, pulse is skyrocketing; your skin is hot to the touch,” he stroked the back of his hand along her cheek as he continued assessing her condition.

“It’s just the adrenaline, I’m fine. The shooting was mostly at the front of the…Mike!” she quickly pushed him away and jumped to her feet. 

Victoria rushed toward the front door. Barely touching it caused it to fall from its hinges to the floor below. “Mike?! Mike?!” She entered the living room and took in the havoc the bullets had wreaked on his walls and furniture but saw no signs of her partner or his niece anywhere. “MIKE?! Answer me goddammit!”

“In here!” he yelled hearing his partner standing in his foyer. Victoria ran through the hallway and into the kitchen just as Mike was stepping from out of his pantry with his niece clutched in his arms.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re fine. FUCK!” he growled and pounded his fist into the wall knocking a frame to the floor. “Did you see what happened?”

“Dark, late model sedan; it turned too quickly I didn’t get the plates. I ducked for cover in your backyard but I couldn’t return fire.” She looked at Tina who had fallen into a catatonic state of shock. The events the child had witnessed within the last few hours were enough for a lifetime of nightmares. “She’s in shock. I think she needs a doctor and we need to get out of here before whoever that was decides to make a return trip.”

Mike exited with Victoria through his backdoor and they headed out of his yard and down toward the nearest convenience store. Daylight was peeking over the mountains creating the perfect mixture of purple and blue sky that was being overrun by beautiful shades of orange and pink. Victoria gave pause for a moment as she thought about the stranger again from Mike’s place. What is his connection? They made it to the store and called for a cab. After dropping Mike and Tina at the hospital, Victoria swung around and picked up her jeep from the warehouse and started in to the station.

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