Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
The doctors were with Ethan for over an hour while Mia sat outside impatiently waiting. She paced the tiled floors while hoping that nothing would happen to him. She didn’t bother looking up when the double doors slid open “Mia!” Doug called for her attention. She turned with worried eyes “How is he?”
“I don’t know.” She said with frustration “It’s been over an hour.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll be okay.” He assured her.
“I didn’t know he was afraid of heights.” Her head swinging side to side while her ponytail shifted over her shoulder.
“He’s not.” Doug frowned at her.
“Then why…they said he had an acute heart attack.” Mia explained.
Doug shook his head “That’s not possible. What did you guys do?”
“He took me on a hot air balloon ride. He said it would help me with my fear of heights. I vaguely remember being afraid, but I was more excited than afraid.” Mia shook her head over and over as she pictured what happened.
“Oh…that’s why.” Doug nodded, finally understanding “That dork.” He muttered under his breath. Mia turned to him, wrinkled face and he smile and began to explain “Ethan is not afraid of heights, but he cannot be anywhere with an elevation higher than 5000 feet. I found this out back in high school when we had that senior trip to Beijing. You didn’t go but I did. I remember Ethan fainted and the plane had to turn back because he was hyperventilating. After that, they diagnosed him with Acute Heart Failure meaning if his blood pressure elevated, he would eventually die.”
“Oh my God…I never knew.” Mia breathed.
“He didn’t want anyone to know. He was afraid that people would call him a freak.” Doug shook his head sadly “I guess dork worked well for him.”
“He’s so stupid.” Mia turned away with concern “He did all that for me?”
*********
Erin and Ted were at the old school looking around for hours and still they did not find much. Only signs of Brad’s blood still there. They didn’t do a good job cleaning it. They must have walked around the fifth floor a hundred time before giving up “There’s nothing!” Erin said in defeat.
He turned to her “Don’t give up yet. Let’s go down the next floor.”
She nodded and followed him, just then she slid on something on the ground. Ted’s quick reflexes stopped her from toppling over “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded and bent over to pick up the little object “It’s a bullet.”
He knelt down next to her “Let me see.” She handed it over and he observed it through the little light “I’ll take it back to the department and find out where it was originally sold.”
“They still let you come back?” Erin asked.
“Yeah. As long as I have good reason. Plus the old sergeant likes me.” Ted smiled and nodded at the door “Come on.”
There was nothing on the fourth floor but there was something on the third that they both found to be odd. The ropes that were left behind “Is this the same one that tied one of the killers?” Ted asked and Erin nodded “Why didn’t the police take it back?”
“Maybe this is a trick?” Erin wondered out loud.“They think we’ll come back and leave a clue?”
Ted shook his head “It’s not likely, they’re not stupid.”
“Then how do we explain it?” She couldn’t help but feel aggravated.
Ted smiled warmly “Don’t get impatient. We’ll find him.” She nodded and began roaming the area to see what else she could find. It was then that his cell phone rang, echoing throughout the room “Hello?” he answered. It was the police department. His search for the Honda Accord was narrowed down “Great, I’ll be right there.”
Erin turned to him with curious brows “You have to go?”
“WE have to go." He corrected. "Come on, I’ll explain as we go.” When they got in the car, he told her briefly what the police told him “If you could see his face again, would you recognize it?”
“Even if I was blind.” Erin gritted her teeth. The two drove together to the police department. Ted was as eager to see the results as Erin, he checked in at the front and got Erin a visitor badge. They entered the private room they often shared when researching on cases. It reminded her of many memories but she knew it was not the time and place to be reminiscing.
“Here’s the list.” Ted logged into the data base and a long list of over 200 people were found. “I can’t guarantee that the guy is in here, he might have used someone else’s car.”
“I don’t care, I just want a lead!” Erin snapped. She realized it after she said it “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“You know better than to apologize for being you.” Ted scolded lightly “I know what you’re going through. Just let it all out, I won’t take it personally, I promise.” He crossed his heart.
Erin smiled apologetically “Thank you for being so patient. Any girl would be lucky to marry you.”
His eyes darted away but his head gave a quick nod. He returned to the screen and continued to scroll down waiting for her to stop him. Minutes soon past and before they knew it, darkness had fallen. Ted covered a yawn “I need some coffee. Do you want some?” Erin nodded and he got up “I’ll be back.”
She took over the mouse and searched it on her own. By the hundredth person, she was staring face to face the killer. His eyes deceiving and his smile reminded her of a rat. He was actually quite handsome but for Erin, he was nothing less than human. Her body began trembling as she read his information. “Tay Keung, 32 years old. Lived in Sa Tin for 10 years and moved out to Kowloon after a fire incident.” She couldn’t shake the eerie feeling she had in the pit of her stomach “Another fire.”
“Did you find him?” Ted asked. She didn’t realize he came back and was startled out of her seat “Are you okay?” he placed the drinks down.
Erin reached out and took a hold of his arms “I found him, Ted. It’s him.” She pointed to the screen.
He nodded and waved her to the next seat while he did some more searches. He pulled up the guy’s records “Clear. No felonies or traffic tickets.” Ted shook his head at Erin “Are you sure it’s him?” he wanted to be sure, not that he didn’t trust her.
“On my life.” Erin was solemn as can be and he knew that they had found the culprit.
“Okay. Let’s find his home.” Ted did a little more digging but there were no addresses or contacts “He’s homeless.” Ted sighed tiredly.
“What now?” Erin handed him the coffee and he took it while warming his hands with it “We can’t let him get away.” She said a matter-of-factly.
Ted shook his head gravely “I wouldn’t let it happen. The most we can do is have a red alert to all the patrolling policemen to leave a heads up for the car. We have the license number now, he’ll have to drive around somehow.”
“True.” Erin nodded. She leaned back and felt her shoulders weighing down “Thank you, Ted. I always drag you down.”
“Don’t be silly. I wouldn’t want to be dragged down with anyone else.” He teased but she saw up uncomfortably, he quickly covered “I was just kidding.” He smiled nervously. She smiled shortly and sipped her coffee “How about dinner?”
She shook her head “I want to go home. It’s been an exhausting day.”
“Of course. I’ll take you home.” Ted offered.
“No.” she declined politely “It’s okay. I’ll take a cab. You go home and rest.” They parted ways as she called for a cab. Her eyes moved up when she saw Ted drive off and she turned to the driver “Sorry. I’m going to walk instead.”
“Crazy…” the man muttered as she closed the door.
Erin took a walk along the busy downtown area, where the night never ends. People were partying, eating and mingling. She took the same steps where Brad and herself use to go. She came upon a little food stand by the fish market. Her eyes in a daze as she recalled the incident as if it was yesterday. They were talking about an old ancient dagger that she had bought for Brad but he wanted to buy it from her. She wouldn’t hear of it and made a lame excuse about giving it to him for his birthday.
“You could get run over like that.” She turned and spotted their new lieutenant chewing on crab legs. His lips oily and he nodded to the empty chair in front of him. Erin took a seat silently “What brings you here…Mia, right?”
Erin smiled “You don’t have to pretend. The rest aren’t here.”
Chuck grinned as he nodded “Smart. Joe told me so much about you, Erin. Only good things. I had no idea you could see through me.”
“You had me for a bit but I realized that it was just a barrier you put up to see us interact naturally. We would be too stiff and polite if we knew you were capable of the job. Then again, Joe knew better to send a goldfish to a pool of sharks." Erin observed carefully.
He frowned at her “I always hated metaphors.”
She laughed for the first time in a long time “You would get along well with Mia.”
“So I heard.” He nodded and pointed his eyes to the full dish of crab legs “It relieves stress.”
Erin tilted her head “How so?”
“It doesn’t make you full and you can take out your anger on it.” He reached out and put a leg into his mouth and bit it open. He spit it out and smiled at her “See?”
“How often do you ‘take out your anger’?” Erin was curious to know.
“Once a week.” Chuck shrugged.
She smiled “It’s no wonder you have that belly.”
“Hey! The women love this belly.” He patted himself making her giggle “There, I knew you had it in you. Smiling can help relieve stress too you know.”
“Okay, now your just bullshitting me.” Erin lifted her left brow up.
He widened his eyes “Joe didn’t warn me about your potty mouth.”
“I’m 27, not 14. Live with it.” Erin smiled, showing that she was indeed joking with him. For some reason, his presence made her feel better or maybe she just needed company.
“Well, come on.” He urged the dish at her “I’m out of stress, your turn.” Erin reluctantly picked up a crab leg. She paused for a few seconds and with one more nod from Chuck, she took a big bite and crushed the crunchy skin into the sweet natural flavor of crab meat. He laughed when she spit out the shell “Yeah, that’s the bad part of your life. Don’t keep it in your mouth.”
“You’ve got a strange way of dealing with things…but…I have to admit. It helps.” Erin smiled as they picked up a leg and clinked it like it was a glass of champagne.
********
Ethan woke up in a hospital bed and Mia beside him. He noticed she was asleep, her face angelic and lying next to his bed. He tapped her on the face gently “Hi.” He whispered.
“Oh my gosh, you lost your voice!” she widened her eyes.
Ethan coughed out the scratch in his throat and appeared his regular voice “I’m okay.” He smiled.
“Sheesh, you scared me. I thought I would have another deed on my conscience.” She clutched her heart and helped him to sit upright “Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t be in high elevations?”
He shrugged “I didn’t want to frighten you. Plus I thought it would help you with your fear of heights. And you seemed so eager to go on the ride.” He laughed “You were like Freshman Mia all over again.”
Mia frowned “It’s not funny. You could have died.”
“But I’m not.” He insisted. His eyes caught on a figure at the door, an instant smile came on his face “Darren?”
Mia turned and she quickly stood up “I…uh…how…” she stuttered to get the words out.
“Doug called me.” Darren explained “You okay?” he nodded at Ethan.
“A little woozy but it could be the jello.” Ethan joked. He reached over and patted Mia on the arm “It’s late, you should go home. Darren can take you home.”
“If you want.” Darren nodded calmly.
Mia glanced from Ethan to Darren “Okay. I’ll come back tomorrow to visit you.” She said to Ethan.
“Okay.” He smiled and watched the two walk out together.