The day before, in the morning, Natalie sat at her desk, studying the notes she'd written in her notebook about Heather, the main suspect in a murder case she was working on. Judging by her clothes, it looked like she hadn't been home. Her shirt was wrinkled and a little smudged, and her long coat was a bit dirty. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was tied back in a messy bun.
"Natalie,"
Hearing her name, Natalie looked over her shoulder. Her face was tired, with dark circles under her eyes showing she hadn't slept. It was a tall, fit, middle-aged man with neat white hair, wearing a shirt, vest, and tie. He was carrying two cups of coffee and walking toward Natalie's desk.
"Chief Oliver," Natalie greeted.
Oliver gave one of the cups to Natalie, then sat in the chair next to her, crossing his legs and drinking his coffee.
"I have a tip on where Heather is. It seems she's at the harbor and has joined a gang there," Oliver said.
"Hmm? Really?" Natalie asked, drinking her coffee.
"Yeah, we had an eyewitness who said so. He came to the office yesterday to report it," Oliver said.
"Why didn't you tell me right away, Chief?" Natalie asked, full of suspicion.
"I already sent someone to investigate it. Last night, he reported that they had already left the warehouse," Oliver said.
"Okay, so why are you telling me this?" Natalie asked suspiciously.
"I want you to investigate the harbor area. Look for clues there and figure out where they went, because the officer I sent yesterday lost their trail. You're clearly more competent than he is," Oliver replied, sipping his coffee.
"Any clues about a specific location?" Natalie asked hesitantly.
Oliver took his smartphone out of his pants pocket and opened it. Then, "Ding," Natalie's phone rang. It turned out Oliver had sent a picture of a warehouse and shared its location via message. Natalie studied the warehouse in the picture and the location.
"This... is at the far end of the harbor area, practically outside the city," Natalie said.
"Yeah, that info is from the officer I sent there yesterday," Oliver replied.
"Alright, I'm going now," Natalie said, standing up.
But she swayed as she tried to put on her long coat. Oliver stood up and caught Natalie, who was losing her balance.
"Go home and get some sleep. Then you can work on it," Oliver said.
"Okay, chief," Natalie replied, standing up straight.
Natalie then left, heading downstairs. After making sure Natalie was gone, Oliver picked up his smartphone and called someone.
"Hello," said the man on the other end of the line.
"It's me, the detective on your kid's case. I've already sent her to the warehouse. She'll probably go tomorrow because I told her to go home and sleep first. Just get your men ready there. She won't bring anyone else; she always works alone," Oliver said.
"Good, my men are already on alert there. You're sure no one else is handling my kid's case? I don't want my kid to be caught. You understand, right? I've paid you a lot, and no cop is allowed to get involved with my family," the man on the other end said.
"I understand. Trust me, Zack," Oliver said.
"Yeah, thanks for your cooperation, and for telling me about my kid. Now I'm going to take care of my ex-wife. Just clean up after," Zack said.
"Got it. The fee from yesterday already included the cleanup," Oliver replied.
"Okay, gotta go. I have a lot of work to do," Zack said.
"Click," the phone hung up. Oliver looked at his smartphone, shaking his head. Then he glanced over at the stairs Natalie had just gone down.
"Sorry, Nat, but business is business. Don't hold a grudge or be mad at me," Oliver said to himself, sipping his coffee.
Meanwhile, Natalie was in her car, holding the steering wheel, thinking to herself. She took out her smartphone and looked at the location of the warehouse, which was far from everything.
"Hmm... the location is perfect for a gang hideout... but for some reason, my gut is telling me something's off about this new development... Maybe I'm just tired? The chief is right. I should probably go home and get some sleep first," Natalie thought to herself.
Natalie started her car and drove home to her apartment to rest.
*****
Saturday, the next day, Natalie arrived at the warehouse she was heading for. When she got out of the car, she looked around. The warehouse was right behind a warehouse complex located in the furthest part of the harbor area. The warehouse itself looked unused and abandoned. Unlike the other warehouses in the complex, which were clustered together, this one was completely standalone. From its location and appearance, the warehouse was indeed perfect for a gang hideout.
Natalie closed her car door with a clang. She looked around at the ground where she stood. It was covered in trash, like empty bottles, snack wrappers half-buried in the dirt, and cigarette and tobacco butts. She also noticed motorcycle tracks that looked fresh since they were so clear.
After looking around, she walked to the door. "Screech," she slid the door open, took out a flashlight, and went inside. There was nothing inside the warehouse except for the empty room.
The entire floor was covered in sand, and there wasn't a single footprint inside, which made Natalie wonder.
"This is... weird. There are no signs that anyone has been in this warehouse. The gang isn't here," Natalie muttered.
Suddenly, "Bang," the warehouse door slammed shut. Natalie immediately ran to the door and tried to open it with all her strength, but it seemed to be blocked from the outside. A moment later, she heard liquid being poured around the sides of the warehouse.
"Hey... what the hell is this... open up!" Natalie yelled.
Her voice echoed in the empty warehouse. "Splash," Natalie suddenly looked down because her feet were in a puddle. She knelt down, touched the liquid, and smelled it.
"Gasoline... I've been set up," Natalie said. "Hey! Hey! Open up! I'm from the police!" Natalie yelled.
"Clatter," a few jerrycans were suddenly thrown through a window up high. She heard the laughter of several people in front of the warehouse.
"Hey... who are you? Open up, this isn't a joke!" Natalie yelled, starting to pull out her gun.
Natalie began to look around. She saw about six large jerrycans with their contents spilling out. She raised her arm to cover her nose because the smell of gasoline was spreading and was really strong. A moment later, a grenade and a Molotov cocktail were thrown inside. Natalie's eyes went wide, and she immediately dove to the ground. "Boom," an explosion shook the entire warehouse, and fire immediately erupted, igniting all the gasoline inside from the Molotov cocktail.
"Uh... this is bad. They... they want to kill me," Natalie said, trying to stand up.
She saw the fire raging in front of her. Then she felt a burning sensation on her back. It turned out the door behind her was on fire, her pants were on fire, and she immediately took off her long coat to put out the flames. After succeeding, Natalie looked around. She started to panic because she was truly surrounded by fire and trapped. Her eyes darted left and right, looking for a way out.
The fire started to burn the warehouse walls and pillars, making Natalie's chances of survival smaller and smaller. "Cough... cough," Natalie started to cough because thick smoke was filling the warehouse from the damp wood that was forced to burn.
"Looks like... I'm not going to make it... I still wanted to do so much in this world... This really sucks... Oliver set me up... that bastard... now I know why my gut felt like something was off yesterday," Natalie said to herself.
She grabbed her smartphone and opened the screen. Her breath was coming in gasps from the smoke, and tears streamed down her face from the heat. Her fingers were shaking, and just as she was about to call her father, her consciousness faded, and she fell. Her hand fell right on her smartphone, and her finger landed squarely on the Nightmare Revenge app.
*****
Meanwhile, outside the warehouse, a few men in black jackets were standing and watching the burning warehouse. The flames were starting to come out, and thick smoke was rising. A bald man wearing the same black jacket pulled out his smartphone and made a call.
"Boss Zack, it's me. It's done," the man said.
"Good, get back to our hideout. I'm on my way there now," Zack said.
"Where are you, boss?" the man asked.
"At the cafe near that apartment. I'm leaving now. I'll give you your money at the hideout. Good work," Zack replied.
"Thanks, boss," the man replied.
After hanging up, the man signaled to his friends, and they all left in a black van, driving away from the warehouse.