Thirty Six Hours Later
Down at Gryfton Police Department, there was a buzz of activities. People walking all over. Phones ringing all the time and at the far end corner of the room was Ethan Graves, a man who knew his next few days were going to be hectic.
Inside his small office, a call about the disappearance of David O'Daniel had been made and Ethan knew that it was just a matter of time before he was summoned by his Chief Commissioner.
Looking outside through the window to the open office, he could see Jenna approaching his office with a case file in hand.
'Here we go,' he sighed to himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow, using the back of his hand.
After a knock, Jenna opened the door slightly and poked her head through the narrow room she had made.
"He's calling for you," she informed him.
Without questioning, Ethan got up from his chair and went to the door where Jenna handed him the case file.
"How is this possible?" Ethan asked Jenna as they were headed towards the commissioner's office.
"That's what we're supposed to find out," she responded, trying to catch up with Ethan's pace.
"His name is David O'Daniel. Age sixty and a biologist in a Research Facility in the Iron Gate District. He's a well known successful man, lives in The Heights District. Has a wife and one son. The call came in early this morning from the wife, saying that it's been over a day since she last had contact with him." She said as she updated him on the case.
"This is a big fish. I'm guessing it's why the commissioner wants to see me?" He asked her, hoping that she had any clue as to why he needed briefing from above before taking the case.
"Probably that or something else. He seemed more jumpy than usual." She answered, not knowing anything else she could add.
"And do you have knowledge of what the something else is?" Ethan quipped.
Jenna looked at him and shook her head for a no as they finally reached the office. With the door wide open, he didn't need to necessary wait outside.
"Thank you Jenna. I'll handle it from here," Ethan instructed Jenna as he went into the office.
The commissioner, setting his phone down ending the call he was in, called out,
"No need for that. She can stay. Besides, she needs to know how everything works around here,"
With this, Jenna turned around and walked into the office. Closing the door behind her, she stood as Ethan took a seat opposite the commissioner.
Jenna, who was still new to the team, was a recruit and assigned to Ethan who was the lead investigator at Gryfton P.D so that she could pick up on a few things firsthand.
"Commissioner," Ethan said to get his attention, "I already know that this is a high profile case, but that can't be the only reason you asked to see me."
The commissioner, smiling at Ethan for knowing him so we'll answered, "Of course not, not only is this a high profile case but also a special requests case."
Jenna, still standing near the door, looked at the commissioner, puzzled.
"What does that mean, sir?" She inquired, hoping that he'll shed some light to that.
"You can call me Marcus, I'm not used to the whole sir thing. And what I mean is that the wife to Mr O'Daniel has made a request to the Gryfton P.D and we will make sure we abide by it," Marcus answered. Searching through one of his drawers, he pulled out another file and placed it on the table, next to the O'Daniel case file.
"And what's her request?" Ethan asked, waiting to hear some absurd request or a justified one.
Well, what he got was nothing close to what he expected.
"She asked that we put our best men and women on this case. She wants her husband found and the perpetrators brought to justice." Marcus answered.
This made Ethan raise a brow to him as Jenna stood there confused.
"Isn't that what we were going to do?" She asked in a low tone, knowing she sounded too oblivious to what they were going to do.
When Ethan placed his hand on the file on the table, Marcus raised his finger prompting Ethan to pause.
"She asked for a specific person to be help in the case," Marcus answered Jenna as he gave Ethan a go ahead to open the file.
As soon as Ethan saw the first page, he dropped the file back on the table and with a frown, he asked,
"Are you kidding me? Him?"
Marcus nodded and answered, "It's her request. She's from The Heights. You know how those people want to be treated as royalty. If she asked for Santa, believe me when I say I would've found him and put him on this case. So, yes. Him,"
Confused and full of questioned, Jenna stepped forward and picked up the file to look at it. Opening it, she couldn't see anything that rang a bell. It was just a picture of a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties with details like his last known residents and the like.
"Who's Alex Kane?" She asked, reading his name on top of the file.
"He's retired. I'm here and he's retired yet she asks for him? Didn't he say that he's done enough for Gryfton P.D?" Ethan asked Marcus, completely ignoring Jenna.
Jenna could tell that Ethan was clearly infuriated by O'Daniel's wife request. She hadn't heard about the name Alex Kane, but something told her that the name was familiar. She just couldn't place it.
"Besides, he's gone. No one has heard from him in years," Ethan added.
"That's why I called you here. Brief your team on the case then you and Jenna will go to his last known address and convince him to come back," Marcus instructed.
"He won't listen to me," Ethan huffed, trying his best not to have Alex Kane involved.
"He will when you tell him that he has a chance to finally close his last case," Marcus argued before releasing Ethan.