The Saviour Of The Oxford Street?

Chapter 1: The Moment

Warning: I'm not an expert on Police and how things are done and I don't know if I should update this or note, please review and tell me what you think.

These were the moments that Inspector Arthur Kirkland lived for.

The frill of the chase, the hunt and the knowledge that he was a part of the great New Scotland Yard, responsible for keeping the streets of London safe from criminals and lawbreakers alike. Despite his young age of 30 he had climbed up rank after rank in the police force and hoped to be a Superintendent with a few more years of hard work but that wasn't what was important, he was on a case.

For the past four months a string of murders had taken place on along Oxford Street which was well known for its upmarket shops. However despite it being one of the biggest shopping streets in the country someone had the guts or stupidity to commit four murders, one for each month. All of the victims were young men ranging from ages twenty to twenty five, neither victims were connected and only similarity they had was that they were all worked the nightshift and they all worked part time at different shops on the high street.

All four were murdered by a single bullet to the head.

The victims hadn't been robbed either which made the police think at first glance that the first victim had been killed with a sniper but after examining the bullets and rest of the crime scene the victim seemed to have been shot with a pistol and at close range at that.

However the most incriminating evidence was on the CTV camera's which were set up behind these shops.

The first victim had come out of the shops backdoor on August 24th at 9:00 pm sharp to put the rubbish. While the young male was doing that a hooded figure in a ski-mask calmly strolled up to the victim and without hesitation or even looking at the boy he shot the store worker in the head. The only sound being that of the gun shot. The gunner also didn't stop to take aim, he just lifted the gun up, shot at his victim and then carry on waking like nothing happened. It was like watching a screen from those crappy Hollywood movies that Arthur's younger brother liked to watch, but the police knew that they were dealing with someone with excellent gun skills and they were also looking for someone with the build of a high school jock, more likely to be a man.

The other three murders showed the exact same thing but with different stores, the same man of the same build doing the exact the same thing and since there was no connections and the fact it was a cut clean murder that happened on random dates Inspector Kirkland and the rest of the police force had little to go on.

However five days after the forth murder, on the 2nd of December the police received an anonymous tip that there will be a fifth murder behind one the sports shops, at 10:00 pm closing time on December 10th.

Arthur was skeptical at first but the chief told him to send some men out anyway just in case so as instructed he warned the manager of the shop and convinced him to close the shop early. Next he had to set up his men and have them lie in wait as he watched everything from the CTV control room. Since they were only targeting one man Inspector Kirkland stuck to the basics, four men one the ground and spilt into two with one group taking care of the entrance where the culprit was sure to come in through, and another group on the exist. There was also eight other men looking down from the roof, including one of the inspectors friends, Sergeant Toris Laurinaitis.

His heart was thumping as it always did in these situations, even though he was not the one down there chasing the culprit he still felt the anxiety, the frill and excitement of the outcome. Though he missed being on the battle field and since become inspector the opportunities to do so were now limited though it still felt like a hunt, as if he was the player and his men were the chest pieces.

At this moment, on the clear dark night of December 10th Kirkland's men surrounded the roof tops and were hiding behind the boxes and bins that littered the ground. They had a minute until 10:00 pm, but would the culprit come bang on time? Arthur doubted it but he was proven wrong when the numbers on his digital watched struck the time and one of the lead Sergeants reported to hear footsteps.

"Stand down Sergeant Laurinaitis" Arthur ordered, he wanted the culprit to come into the camera's line of vision and he wanted to see what he would do when he saw no victim to shoot at. The inspector didn't have to wait long until the black figure in his ski-mask and dark hoody appeared, walking past his first set of officers. He didn't stop walking and was about to walk past the second lot.

Arthur got another radio signal, it was Laurinaitis again.

"Sir he's leaving, give us the order" The Lithuanian whispered with a hint of urgently and panic in his voice however Arthur was confused, something wasn't right. He put the radio to his mouth and spoke carefully and calmly to his most trusted officer.

"It's not our man" Arthur spoke as the cogs in his head were turning.

"What?" Laurinaitis gasped "What do you mean? How can you know that?" He demanded to know and the inspector leaned forward in his chair to get a better look at the footage, even the officers around helping Arthur stopped what they were doing to listen.

"You won't be able to see from up on the roof but that man has a completely different build to the one on the old security footage" And it was true, the man in past security footages had been tall, well build with mussel however this new guy was shorter and leaner and the way he walked was more casual unlike the march that the other guy had.

"Sir you don't think…" Laurinaitis stuttered

"We've been set up" Arthur answered, the moment he said that the TV screens that showed the CTV footage shut down but that wasn't all, the lights shut down bringing the whole control room into total darkness. Next the burger alarms placed around the shop suddenly set off making a loud high pitched beeping sound that made Kirkland and the men around him wince but he didn't let the noise distract him.

"Hurry up and call an electrician and call for back-up!" Arthur ordered, shouting above the noise of the alarm and he heard the footsteps of the officers around him starting to move. Felling proud of his men and woman for keeping so calm in the situation, Arthur who still had his hand on his radio pressed the button to get in touch with the Lithuanian sergeant however all he got back was static. The Inspector gritted his teeth in frustration and angrily stuffed the radio in into his blazer pocket. At that moment they emergency light switched on, but it was still to dim and the alarm wouldn't shut up.

Only three officers were with him in the CTV room, one was demanding back-up from the police force; the other was getting an electrician over here however one of his officers, a small lean lad with light brown hair and a cow-lick, probably only in his early 20's was shaking with his back against the wall look like a lost sheep not knowing what to do.

Arthur marched his way over to the stand in front of the pale looking man.

"What is your name?" Arthur asked

"Sergeant F-Feliciano Vargas, but just call me Feli!" the Italian saluting to the inspector and Arthur remembered that this was the new boy that the chef had hired. The Inspector forgot that he was meant to be watching out for him.

"We need to know what was going on outside" Arthur confirmed, "And I will need back up while Jia Long and Yi Ling take charge here, can you do it?"

"Si..si yes sir!" Feliciano saluted and followed the inspector at the heals out of the control room to the dimly lit corridor. Arthur kept a fast but steady jog though the corridors, impressed that the Italian could keep up with him. He let his sharp green eyes scan the area as he ran, keep a look out for traps or a sign of an ambush.

"Sir" Feliciano started "do you hear shouting from outside?" The Italian was right, though hearing a commotion outside wouldn't be that much of a shock. He told his men before the mission that if anything happened to him they still had to catch their target and that Laurinaitis would be in charge however there was no reason for him to hear multiple sounds of gun shots and cries unless…they were being attacked. Did their target have a group?

They turned a corner, this would take them outside where the fight should be starting. "Take your gun out sergeant and be on your guard!" Arthur ordered Feliciano without turning to face him "We don't know…" However he was interrupted by the sound of a bullet, and not by the ones outside, this one sounded close, to close and it was followed by a shrill scream of pain and the sound of a person crashing to the floor.

Arthur turned and slid to a stop, Feliciano was laying on his side, clutching his leg in pain keep the tears from his eyes at bay. The Italian had been shot behind his left knee, Arthur had to attended to him however he took his gun out and held it out in front of him read to take aim at the shooter who stood there with his gun in hand still pointing at Feliciano. Arthur couldn't help but be impressed however, The Inspector had the sharpest eyes in the force and he had been careful to look for signs of human life which could be seen as a shadow, a trick of the light or a flash of black however despite the shooters big build he managed to hide from Arthur's sight until now.

"Drop your gun and put your hands up!" Inspector Kirkland ordered, hoping that the authority in his voice and the fact that the shooter could get shot himself was enough for the criminal to back down. However Arthur was sure that this was the same shooter who killed those young men other the past four months and if so, a simple order and a point of a gun probably won't be enough, this shooter was confident, it showed in the way he killed the victims and the way his body was slouched like a typical teenager which suggested the target had a plan or didn't expect Arthur to shot.

The only thing the Inspector could do was stall time and wait for back-up however how long could he wait until Feliciano bled to death?

"Or what?" The shooter asked in an American accent however his voice sounded deep and robotic, he must be using a voice changer, Kirkland thought. The American turned his head from the Italian to the Inspector "I have a hostage now" Not taking his gun away from Feliciano who was using both his hands to stop the blood flow. "The next bullet can go in shoulder, then his arm, leg, and his hands until he dies slowly of blood-loss"

Arthur didn't say anything, he turned his head slightly to see that the back door was behind him yet the sound of his men where sounding fainter and the consent ringing of the alarms wasn't helping but where were the back-up? They should be here by now. The only hope he had was if his men from the CTV room would come here to check what was wrong.

"Forget about back-up" American yarned still keeping his gun at the Italian "I have friends too, they will keep the guys outside busy and at this moment some of my best friends are in the CTV keeping the rest of your friend's hostage. This place is ours unless you do as we say"

"What do you want?" Arthur demanded to know.

"Why isn't it obvious…don't you watch Hollywood?!" The American said before laughing, his laugh loud and obnoxious that made Arthur startle, it sounded nothing like the villainous chuckle he had come to expect from these guys. After a second he stopped laughing, Arthur knew that under that mask was a big grin.

"I want you" the black figure stated, it was then that the lights of the shop flicked on, it was like someone has shone a touch in Arthurs face and noises from the alarms stopped suddenly. Someone must have fixed the electric however no other thought crossed the investigators mind before he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.

It all went black…