Freeze City Police Department, Freeze City, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.
I was in the office with Hubb, sipping my glass of whiskey and smoking as I looked at the photos of the big white dog that were on my desk.
I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the animal somehow escaped the station without being noticed. It was like it just vanished into thin air.
"Jack? Are you okay? You have been staring at those photos for hours now," Hubb inquired in concern.
"I still don't fucking get it Hubb...this animal didn't just disappear, so where did it go? And how the hell did it get out of the building without being noticed?" I questioned thoughtfully.
"Well, maybe someone did notice it and didn't report it yet," Hubb pitched in helpfully.
"No...I interviewed everyone that was still in the building last night. No one saw this animal get out of the building at all, which is something I just can't wrap my damn head around," I grumbled in frustration.
"Well, I'm going to call Cher and see if she has any ideas," Hubb notified me as he picked up his cell phone and called the lab.
"Hello?...yes. This is Detective Hubb Lebowski, I would like to speak to Dr. Cher Degre...yes, I'll hold," Hubb spoke on the phone and waited until he continued, " Hey Cher, it's Hubb...c'mon Cher, does it really matter what title they call me by?...*sigh*...there's something that Jack and I need you to see...you'll see, it's down in the morgue."
As Hubb said his goodbyes, I stood up and walked over to the coat rack, grabbing my jacket and putting it on just as Hubb put on his fedora. As we left the room, I decided to deal with this tension that was between Cher and Hubb. Ever since Hubb and Cher's marriage fell apart due to work and they divorced, there had been nothing but an awkward tension between them whenever they spoke to each other.
"So, you and Cher are friends again?" I inquired to Hubb.
"Well...I wouldn't say that we are friends again, but more like acquaintances. What are you implying?" Hubb questioned with a frown.
"I'm not implying anything. It's just that there is either an awkward silence or nothing but fucking tension whenever you two talk to each other," I pointed out as I lit up another smoke.
"Shit, is it really that noticeable? Sorry Jack, it's just been...rough...trying to patch things up with her," Hubb admitted sheepishly as we approached the morgue.
"Listen...I get that it's not easy, but it's almost been a year now. You two should just talk or hell, I don't know, go out to dinner so that things will get better," I suggested helpfully.
"Well, the anniversary of our divorce is coming up soon, so I might take you up on your suggestion to have dinner with her," Hubb agreed as we entered the morgue, and Cher looked at us when we entered.
"Hey Hubb, Jack. So, what did you two want me to see?" Cher asked as we approached and the three of us headed to a table that had a sheet covering a dead body.
Hubb removed the sheet to reveal the body of a kid of Latino decent who was about 12 years old. I shook my head slightly at the poor soul, seeing an animal bite mark on his left shoulder.
"He's much too young..." I trailed off under my breath, memories of my time on the streets coming back.
"Sorry, humans aren't really my specialty," Cher stated.
"He was one of the kids involved in the warehouse theft. He fell from the roof trying to escape," Hubb explained as Cher leaned forward slightly to get a good look, and her eyes narrowed when she saw the bite mark on the John Doe's shoulder.
"Are these...tooth marks from a dog?" Cher questioned in confusion.
"The injuries are still pretty fresh, which is why we called you to see if you had any thoughts about this. What do you think?" I asked Cher, who looked at me and narrowed her eyes skeptically.
"Jack, are you saying that the dog that escaped did this?" Cher questioned in slight disbelief.
"We don't know. We should've taken molds of it's teeth when we had the chance," I grumbled as I dropped my cigarette butt and took off my shades, pinching the bridge of my nose to ease the pounding headache that was forming and I put my shades back on.
"Hm...I wonder why it hasn't been found yet? With a dog that big running wild around the city, you'd think someone would've reported it," Cher mumbled in confusion.
"Maybe they really are trying to deceive us," Hubb stated under his breath which caught me and Cher's attention.
"Hubb, what the fuck are you going on about? Oh Jesus, please don't tell me you're starting to consider what Mr. Yaiden was babbling about," I groaned slightly.
"What the hell is Jack talking about?" Cher questioned.
"Forget it, it's impossible," Hubb said quickly, not wanting to sound crazy.
"Oh God, Hubb," Cher sighed irritably.
"Hm?" Hubb let out a noise of confusion.
"Am I down here just because you wanted to see me?" Cher asked suspiciously.
"Uh...maybe just a little," Hubb admitted in embarrassment.
"You never change, do you?" Cher asked dryly.
Cher looked at the box that had John Doe's personal affects. She reached down to examine what appeared to be gray dog hairs on the clothes, and looked at the cage that once held the big white dog.
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm getting a drink. Hubb, I'll see you later," I declared and left the morgue.
I drove to my favorite spot to think and I pulled up next to the curb, getting out and taking a quick smoke break.
As I was puffing on my smoke, I thought about the current case and the disappearance of the big white dog. From what I could gather, the dog broke out during all the chaos and somehow left the building without being noticed by anyone, and that John Doe had teeth marks on his shoulder, along with what appeared to be gray fur on his personal affects.
"What the fuck is going on? This whole thing is getting bizarre," I thought as I dropped my cigarette butt and reached back into the car to take out my bag lunch.
Just before I took a bite of my sandwich, I heard whining in front of me, and I looked down to to see a light brown dog with four silver bangles on it's right foreleg. The dog was looking up at my sandwich with a begging expression and whining at me.
"Oh...hey boy, I didn't see you there. you hungry?" I asked the dog, who's tail started to wag.
"Yeah, I thought so. Here," I said, and I broke the ham and cheese sandwich in half.
I gave the half to the dog, who ate it and I scratched the dog's neck, who closed his eyes and whined in bliss.
"You're pretty tame for a stray," I commented, and when I didn't see any collar on him, I added, "I don't see any collar, so who used to own you?"
My phone suddenly rang and taking it out of my jacket pocket, I answered it.
"This is Detective Walker, go ahead," I spoke into the phone.
"Hey Jack, it's Hubb. Do you think you can come back to the station?" Hubb asked me.
"Sure. I've just finished my break, so I'm heading back," I stated and hung up after Hubb said his goodbyes.
I started walking to the driver side door when I noticed the dog was following me.
"Sorry boy, you can't come with me. You'll be sent to the city pound if I bring you with me and I'm sure you wouldn't like it there," I said, and the dog surprisingly sat down and cocked his head at me.
"What the hell? I've gotta go easy on the fucking hooch, 'cause I could've sworn you understood me there for a second," I mumbled as I scratched my head in confusion and got into my car.
As I approached the station, I saw my fellow SWAT officers and military solders shoving well known gang members into prison vans in the parking lot.
I pulled up into the parking lot and stopped the car, got out and locked the doors before I entered the building and walked to the office.
"Hey Jack," Hubb greeted as I took off my leather jacket and hung it on the rack.
"Hey Hubb. Do you know what's going on outside? Because I've been seeing SWAT and the military out in force today," I asked.
"Apparently all the gangs in the city are being rounded up and taken into custody in retaliation for the warehouse raid," Hubb explained as I sat down and poured a glass of whiskey.
"Well shit, guess those fucking punks are finally getting what they deserve," I remarked after I took a sip from my glass.
"Yeah...anyway, I'm gonna call Cher and see if she got any results from the dog hair that was found on our John Doe," Hubb notified me as he called Cher.
"Hey Cher, I just wanted to call and see if you found anything on those hairs...a third set?...what the hell is going on? There isn't anywhere for them to hide...I'm not obsessed Cher, don't worry. I'm probably just looking for another excuse to see you," Hubb quipped and he flinched when I heard a click.
"Real smooth, Detective Romeo. So what was that about a third set?" I inquired.
"Apparently there was a second set of dog hairs next to the cage, but that isn't what's really odd. Cher did some tests and the hairs that came from the big white dog didn't match the hairs found on our John Doe," Hubb explained, and I took off my shades and gently rubbed my eyes.
"Jesus Christ...seriously Hubb, what the fuck is going on here? This case is taking a really bizarre turn," I wondered as I finished my glass of whiskey and lit up a smoke.
"I don't know, but I think it's time to track down that drunk," Hubb stated as he stood up and put on his fedora.
"Wait? Mr. Yaiden? Don't tell me you believe what that man was rambling about?" I questioned skeptically as I stood up and put on my jacket.
"I don't, but he seems to know something," Hubb said as we left the room.
When we left the building and headed to my car, I stopped when I heard howling in the distance. I felt a strange sense of sorrow as I heard the howl of despair and I shook it off as I kept walking to my car and got in with Hubb, starting the Impala and driving out of the parking lot.
It took a while, but we managed to find out where Mr. Yaiden was, and now we approached the hotel room. Hubb knocked on the door and the door opened to show Mr. Yaiden peering out at us.
"Well look who it is, Detective Dandy and Mr. Skeptic," Quent greeted mockingly. I glared at him coldly for his attitude.
"Okay Mr. Yaiden, if you're done being a smartass, we need to ask you some questions," I stated.
"And there's something you two need to see," Quent said.
Suddenly, I had a really bad feeling in my gut that something was happening back at the station.
"Jack, are you alright?" Hubb asked me in concern when he saw how tense I looked.
"I'm fine...will you have a talk with Mr. Yaiden without me, I need to go back to the station to get something," I made up an excuse.
"Okay? I'll see you later then," Hubb said in confusion as I turned around and quickly left the hotel, getting into my car and speeding back to the station.
I quickly pulled up to the station and got out, moving quickly until I saw that the power was off and a few officers were unconscious. I unholstered my P226R and I felt my gut instincts telling me to head to the lab. I cautiously aimed down every corner as I fast-walked to the lab, and I saw Cher and a few of her colleagues out cold. I holstered my gun and quickly went to check on Cher.
"Cher? Can you hear me? It's Jack," I called out worryingly as I was tapping her face for a response.
Then I felt something calling to me and I stood up, unholstering my gun and following the direction of where my intuition was leading me until I found myself outside and I spotted the two men I encountered yesterday, who were staring up at a man wearing all black and a mask covering his face. I noticed the man in black was holding the woman I saw yesterday and I aimed my gun at all three of them in turn.
"Police! Don't move!" I announced sternly, which caused all three men to look at me and everything turned into a tense stand off.
