Masquerade: The Tale of Romance, Seduction and ***

May 18th 2011, 1 year later;

It was late in the afternoon, probably 7 or 8 but I didn’t care to find out. My gaze was locked with the screen of my laptop on my desk in the Police Headquarters. I was sifting through several different files on my computer. Suddenly, a hand clasped my shoulder, shocking me from my intense state.

“Hey,” Archer leaned down beside me so we were level, staring with interest at my laptop screen. “Still working overtime I see.”

I closed the laptop and swiveled in my chair to stare at him. He was wearing a casual outfit, jeans and a thin, white long sleeve. He looked ready to go out for a date or something. “And you’re still here? I thought you said you had to leave early tonight.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, leaning against the desk and staring ahead. “I lied.”

I studied his face. “Why?”

He looked at me and then a slow grin formed on his face. He clapped my shoulder a second time. “Congratulations! It’s the one year anniversary of the successful solving of our first case.”

I stared at him as it sunk in. I was on my feet in almost the next second. “You didn’t.” He grinned and quickly evaded my swipe for his shirt. “YOU DIDN’T!” I cried out again. “I told you not to!”

He laughed as I chased him around my desk. “C’mon, kiddo, I thought it’d be fun! I mean, you’re always cooped up at home or here, you never have any time to relax!”

“But a party…” I hissed, giving up. I slumped back down into my seat. “You know how I feel about parties.”

Archer had mentioned some time yesterday that he wanted to celebrate our first case with a party. I had adamantly refused. I was too busy as it was and parties… well… they reminded me too much of my sister.

“It won’t really be a party.” Archer said, sitting down on top of the desk again. “It would just be the two of us… and a few others… hanging out together at a bar. C’mon, I promise. It’ll be fun.” He then smiled softly at me. “Everyone wants to spend time with you before we leave, you know.”

I looked at him then. This would be our last night here in Falcon Ridge. Tomorrow morning we would be driving off to the police headquarters in Backwater South Coal City. My mind wandered to the earlier conversation with our supervisor this very morning.

* * *

“King, Darosa, can I speak to you both?” Our supervisor called to us. We had only just returned from a mission. I had been currently writing up our mission report when he had called us in. Archer, who was lounging tiredly at his desk looking through a file in his lap, sighed and rose to his feet, rubbing his neck.

“What’d we do?” He asked aloud. I shrugged and rose with him, heading to the office and taking a seat in one of the plush chairs across from his desk. Archer was about to sit down when our supervisor held up a hand.

“Before you sit, can you close that door, King?” He asked. Archer exchanged a glance with me before nodding and closing the door, and then finally he took his seat. I became nervous. What news could he possibly have that he didn’t want others to hear?

“You’re probably wondering why I asked you in here.” He started. I wanted to roll my eyes and say, “No duh,” but I controlled my urges, settling myself into a cross-legged position in the chair, my hands sitting in my lap. Archer, the picture of nonchalance, lounged in his seat sloppily, almost with boredom but I could tell by intenseness of his eyes that he was far from calm.

“I’m sure you’ve both heard of the Backwater Serial Murders?”

I stiffened and in the corner of my eye, Archer leaned forwards. “Of course.” He fiddled with his fingers for a moment. “What about them?”

Our supervisor studied us both for a moment before his eyes slid over to me. “Darosa, you’ve been a big impact on our department since the day you set foot here.” He looked at Archer. “Partnering you two was a great idea on my part. And it seems like it’s time for you both to go to even higher places.”

“You don’t mean… a promotion?” Archer shuffled in his seat before settling into a position with his torso leaning over his knees. His eyes flashed with excitement.

Our supervisor smiled a bit. “Something like that.” He turned to me again, his expression serious once more. “The Backwater South Coal Police Force called us to send in special agents to help out on the case. It’s been 10 years and they’re having trouble finding the culprits. Every uncover operative they pull into the case ends up going missing.” He sighed a little and picked up a document on his desk, one for each of us.

He handed one to me and the other to Archer. It felt heavy and important in my hands. The words scribbled across the manila envelope said my name and were followed by the big red letters: DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED. I don’t know why I was nervous.

“As of the moment you open those envelopes you will officially be members of the Backwater South Coal police force and under their jurisdiction and command.”

“You’re kidding.” Archer gasped lowly, staring at the envelope carefully. “Does this mean—”

Our supervisor nodded. “You are fully employed as undercover operatives for the Backwater South Coal Serial Killings.”

* * *

“Fine.” I told Archer, pointing my finger at him. “But only for a little bit. I have to get home and pack.”

Archer smiled, ruffling my hair. “Great! You won’t be disappointed, kiddo.”

I swatted his hand away. “Quit calling me that, by the way. You’re only two years older than me.”

He snickered. “Would you prefer I call you by your first name?”

“Yes! Yes I would.”

He thought for a moment before shaking his head and grinning. “Nope. I can’t do it. It’s too much fun, kiddo.” He waved to me as he went to leave. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Ugh. Alright.” I huffed. He could be a royal pain in the ass. When he was gone I opened my laptop and stared at the screen once more. The files open on my laptop all pertained to the Backwater South Coal murders. Along with the files was a familiar name.

“Kai…” I whispered, staring at her picture. She was smiling in the photo. Her entire face was lit up with happiness. I felt a twinge in my chest. “It won’t be long now.” I whispered aloud. “I’ll find out everything. All the work I’ve done up to now will come to fruition tomorrow.” I couldn’t quell my urge to touch the monitor of my laptop so I did so. My fingertip just barely grazed her picture. “Just wait a little longer.”

* * *

Before the party, I told Archer to drop me off at the hospital. He didn’t ask any questions. He didn’t need to. He already knew what I wanted to do. He promised to wait for me outside and I thanked him. I entered the hospital, smiling upon seeing Angela, the receptionist. She recognized me and ushered me passed with a small smile. I returned it and headed towards the Mental Ward section of the hospital.

I entered the room with the words, Michael Darosa, etched across. Inside was a man, barely in his fifties, sleeping in his bed. His hair was still a rich brown, although here and there were strands of gray. His eyes were closed but I knew behind his long eyelashes were a pair of blue eyes, a shade darker than my own. I sat on the bed beside his head, the bed sinking down slightly with my weight. The change stirred him from his slumber.

“Papa?” I whispered his name, gently touching his forehead.

“Mmmn?” He opened his eyes slowly and stared up at me before his face broke into a grin. “Ah, darling, you’re here.”

“Yeah, I wanted to come.” I gently ran my fingers through his hair, thin and a bit wiry from age, tracing my fingers across his forehead which was warm. “Are you doing okay?”

“Wonderful.” He gently moved into a sitting position and I leaned back to give him some room. “How are you?”

I smiled, “that’s what I came here to talk to you about. I got assigned to another mission.”

“Congratulations!” His eyes were bright. He reached over to hug me and I returned it with strength, breathing in his fatherly scent from my childhood.

“Yeah, but…” I drew away from him so I could stare into his confused gaze. “I’ll be in Backwater for the duration of the assignment… which means fewer visits.”

My father’s eyes narrowed at the name of the city and his hands grasped my own tightly. “Is it the Serial killings? Are you working that case?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“No.”

“I’ll be fine, Papa.” I gently squeezed his hands back, looking at him seriously. “Nothing will take me away from you.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You had better be careful. And take that boyfriend of yours with you.”

I snorted. “He’s not my boyfriend, Papa. How many times do I have to tell you?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what you call him, darling. But take him with you anyway.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s coming too.” I reached over to hug him again. “I’ll come and visit as much as possible.”

He hugged me back. “Don’t forget to talk to your mother as well, darling.” I stiffened in his arms and sighed.

“Yeah… okay.” I pulled away and slipped off the bed, making my exit when my father stopped me.

“Tell Cliesa to come visit too, okay? It’s been too long since I’ve seen her.” I froze in place in the doorway and turned to face my father. He was smiling kindly. “She should still be with your mother, yeah? I only get to see her on weekends now so it’s hard to get her away from her homework to come and visit once in a while.”

I was shaking when I answered him. “Yeah… okay Papa… I’ll talk to her.”

“Goodbye Kai.”

“…goodbye Papa.”

When I had exited the hospital and was sitting in Archer’s car again he turned to look at me. The first thing he asked was, “Is he any better?”

I felt my hands shaking as I tried my best to calm myself down. “N-No. He still thinks Kai is around. He’s… stuck… in the past. He still believes everything is the way it was back before she disappeared.”

Archer was quiet as he turned his gaze back to the road. I wasn’t going to cry. I’d gotten over crying years ago. But a single tear slid down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly.

Archer must have noticed because he suddenly spoke up. “Does he still think I’m your boyfriend?”

I stared at him and he chuckled, glancing at me. “I guessed he must have said something when you mentioned the case to him.”

I punched his shoulder and he groaned. “Hey! I need full control of my arm to drive safely!”

“You’ll be fine.” I smiled.