Unlawful Affair With Asher Williams

Rhea POV

I can't believe that I just got recruited into the team of Police and investigators in the city, and the first case I was welcomed with was a murder case.

Ever since I was a child, it has always been my dream to become a police officer in the future, and here is the future I have waited so long for.

Just yesterday night, we found four dead bodies in the woods along the desert island down in the secluded city of New York, and guess what! They all seemed weird. Three of the victims who were all men, had their blood sucked dry, and the fourth female victim was stabbed. No, she stabbed herself multiple times according to the posture she was found in by the time I and my team arrived at the scene.

We rushed them to the hospital that night even though they were already dead. We needed an autopsy report of them, so we can know what exactly happened. The news is everywhere on the internet, and I'm scared of people out there. I feel like the city is no longer safe for us. I mean, how could four people die at a spot?

"Aren't you going to get some sleep? You've been up all night," Lieutenant Dave, my colleague says to me as he walks over to the lobby of the hospital where I've been standing for hours. "I'll be fine..."

"That's what you've been saying since yesterday. I understand that you need to do your best in this case, but can you just rest already? You are going to pass out if you continue like this," He urges me, and I sigh briefly before I sit on the long bench, burying my face between my hands. The image of the corpse keeps popping up in my head, and the only thing I can think of is to catch the culprit and make him or her pay for the crime. I need to get the credit for this, and also find justice for the dead.

"Lieutenant Rhea," The doctor's voice brings me back to reality, and I quickly stand up to my feet to find him standing in front of me.

"Yes, doc?" I wait for him anxiously to say something to me.

"The autopsy result for the female victim is already here, and it doesn't shed enough light. She wasn't touched but stabbed herself. I think it's a case of suicide," He concludes, and I shake my head because that's not the case. "Who knows, maybe she was abducted by those men, and she decided to kill herself," He shrugs and hands me the file before he walks away, but there's no way I'm going to accept that.

"You have to stay around the hospital, Dave. I need to go back to the station for something important. I'll be back soon," I quickly say to him before I hurry away, not waiting for him to give his permission.

Stepping out of the hospital, my phone suddenly starts ringing and I stop to answer the call that's from Raymond.

"Hey, Ray. Can I call..."

"You didn't come back home yesterday and didn't even answer any of my calls. When did you start work that you want to start making troubles for us? Mom is sick, have you forgotten that?" He snaps at me angrily from the other end, and I sigh briefly.

"Can I call you back, please? I need to attend to something," I plead with him.

"You need to come to the hospital later. Mom Wangs to see you," He says before I finally end the call.

I saunter toward my car that's just parked at the parking lot and hop in. I start the car and try to move it, but it seems like it's stuck here I quickly hop out of the car to check what happened to it, and damn! I have a flat tyre. "Shit!" I curse under my breath, ruffling my hair crazily. I need to get to the office early, and I can't even take a cab because they may get stuck in the traffic later.

"Excuse me, miss. Are you ok?" Hearing a deep masculine voice behind me, I turn to see a young man in his early thirties, hopping out of a black shiny car. He's graced in all-black attire that makes him look extremely handsome. He's the most handsome man that I've ever set my eyes on after my brother. Yes, I can't accept that anybody is more handsome than Raymond. He has a sunshade on, and as much as I want to picture what exactly he looks like, I have no time for that now. "Is everything alright?" He asks again, and I shake my head.

"Look, I think I have a flat tyre. I have somewhere urgent to be, and I don't know what to do now," I reply to him, and he raises his eyebrows.

"You can take a cab and get the car fixed later. Do you want me to order Uber for you if you don't have the app on your mobile phone?" He asks, and I scoff unbelievably. I'm already frustrated, he should not try to add salt to the injury. "I can't take a cab there. There may be heavy traffic ahead, and I don't want to get stuck there," I reply to him, and he nods his head as he tucks his hands in his pockets.

"Alright. You just wait here, while I go get you a spare tyre. I know a place they are selling it around here," He utters, and I sigh briefly.

"Look, I'm in a hurry, and I don't think I have all the time to wait for you, okay? Can I borrow your car, please? You can have my keys if you think I won't return it. You know my car is more expensive than yours, and..."

"I have somewhere to be, and..." I snatch his keys, then push him out of the way, and hop inside his car before he can say anything else. I know this is wrong, but I have no choice at this point now.

"Hey, miss, where the hell do you think you are going?" I heard him yell after me, but there's no time to wait and batter words with him, so I drive away. I will apologize to him later when I come around... chapter 45

rhea pov

i drove roughly to the hospital, and thankfully, there was no heavy traffic jam that could've kept me on the road.

"here you are, lieutenant rhea. there's a problem," sergeant james says as soon as i barge into our large office, his face holding confusion.

"what is the problem, sir?" i ask him as i walk over to where he's sitting and staring at the desktop in front of him, but the sight only confuses me more.

"there are no records of the victims anywhere on the internet. the footage of the crime scene has disappeared, and also the photos we took at the scene," he releases the bombshell to me, and i squint my eyebrows confusingly because i don't seem to understand what he's saying. the last time i checked, the photos and videos were saved in the system for evidence, so how the hell did we lose everything?

"what are you saying? excuse me," i quickly lean forward and start to search all the hidden files in the computer, but everything is empty. there's no trace of either the videos or the photos, which means that there's a problem. i quickly pull away and dash toward my desk to check the photos i kept there. i took the hard copies for personal investigation.

i pull out the cabinet of my desk as soon as i get there, but my mouth drops open in shock as an empty space welcomes me. there's no sign of the pictures there anymore.

'the female victim may have been abducted by the male victims, and she may have taken her life' recalling the doctor's words, i slowly clench my fists and stares into space as anger and confusion spur through me. this is evidence that it wasn't an animal attack or a suicidal case. someone perpetrated the attack, and whoever the person is, was the one that took out all the evidence for investigation.

"shit!" i curse under my breath and slam my hands on the desk, but i rake my hair with my fingers frustratingly. my blood boils in rage, and my forehead is suddenly covered in sweat. it's frustrating and embarrassing that the first case i was to handle after i was recruited turned out bad. i won't ever let that happen.

"sir, i need to check the cctv footage of the station. i need to know if someone was here earlier to carry out this act," i quickly say to him, but he only sighs and reclines on the chair.

"don't bother yourself. i already tried to check the footage after i found out about the disappearance of the evidence, but there was nothing in the footage. it didn't show that someone was here," he utters in frustration, and i stomp my feet on the ground angrily.

"there has to be a way to get them back. the doctor gave me the autopsy report of the female victim, and he was suggesting that she must've been abducted, and ended up taking her life. i don't believe that," i say to him as i ruffle my hair crazily.

"that's not the case. they were all murdered, and it didn't look like a suicide or animal attack. someone did that," he replies to me, and i sigh briefly.

"sir, can you still show me the footage of the station? i may be able to get something. i'm sure someone was here, if not, all the evidence wouldn't have disappeared just like that," i suggest, and he nods his head as he stands up to his feet. "this way," he finally leads me out of the office, as we all head to the camera manager in the station.

arriving at the office a few minutes later, i set to check the footage, and just as he said, there was nothing here.

"wait!" i suddenly say to the manager when i spot something on the screen of the computer. it's the time frame. there was a time jump.

"rewind, please," i say to him, and he rewinds the footage, and just as i suspected, there's a time difference. the person came here around 3am, and while he or she was here, the camera jumped for five minutes, which only means that he or she was here for five minutes.

"damn it!" i slam my hands on the desk and take a deep breath afterward.

"what do we do now? we have to prove to everyone that they were murdered, we have to..."

"the internet, let's check if there's still news about the incident there," i cut him off as the idea struck my mind, but when i check my phone, there's nothing of such on the internet. the news has been taken down, and there's no single picture or video of them there.

"this is crazy," sergeant james mutters, and i sigh.

"at this point, i think we should drop this case since there's no evidence. nobody is going to believe us anyway," he utters as he stands up to his feet, and there's nothing i can even say as i watch him walk out of the office. he is right, nobody is going to believe us because we no longer have the evidence, but there's no way i will ever give up on this. it's the first case i'm going to handle, and i won't let it slide.

i finally stride out of the office and drag myself outside the building where i hop in the car and set to drive back to the hospital, so i can return the stranger's car to him.

as i drive on the road later, my phone suddenly starts ringing, and it's raymond. can he just understand that i'm busy with work and leave me the hell alone? i'm frustrated right now, and can't even think straight.

"hey," i finally answer the call after i pull over at the side of the road.

"what the hell happened, rhea? i can't find the news of the murder on the internet again. who took it down?" his voice rings through the phone, and i sigh briefly.

"we will talk about it when i come home later. i need to attend to something now. i'll see you later," i end the call immediately, and throw my phone on the passenger's seat.

the rest of the drive to the hospital was fast since there was no traffic jam, and i arrived in less than ten minutes.

as i hop out of the car, i spot the guy i took his car earlier, standing in front of the hospital, the same way he was standing since i left. wait! don't tell me he has been standing there.

"finally! i thought you were not going to return my car to me," he sighs briefly as he walks over to me, once i hop out of the car.

"I'm sorry. have you been standing there since i left?" i ask him curiously, and he shrugs.

"what was i supposed to do? a stranger took my car and ran off with it, so the least i could do was wait here for a miracle to happen, and it already happened since you came back now. i would've reported you to the police, but you are a police yourself, so it's gonna be complicated. anyway, thanks for returning my car," he rolls his eyes, and i sigh briefly.

"I'm sorry about that. here are your car keys," i hand them to him.

"wait a minute! how did you know i'm a police officer?" i ask him, and he scoffs.

"it's obvious on your id," he raises his eyebrow, and i realize that i have my id hanging around my neck.

"alright. thanks again. bye," i walk past him, heading to the hospital.

"don't you think you should make it up to me? you just delayed me from going to the place i intended to go," he utters, and i stop on my track.

"i would've loved to, but i'm sorry, i don't have the time to spare for anything else except work," i reply to him, and walk away, not sparing him another glance.

"hoping to see you again," i hear him yell after me before i step into the hospital building...