Elizabeth McKinley crossed the threshold of the police station with two plastic bags in one hand and her handbag in the other. She was around thirty years old, rather tall, thin, blond, blue-eyed and beautiful. She was used to hearing she would have been better off as a model than as a police inspector. She had learned not to pay attention to those kinds of comments.
She hurried down the hall to the elevator and pressed the button impatiently. She usually arrived first at the office in the morning. But today, everything had gone wrong.
It began with her alarm clock ringing at three in the morning. Why did it ring that early? She didn't know. But she had a hard time getting back to sleep. Later, this meant she had a hard time waking when it was time to get up. The shower went well, but finding the clothes she wanted had been a quest. Then, she burned her coffee and had to make it twice before she could drink any. She probably should have given up at the second try, because when she finally had her cup full of good coffee, she spilled it on her blouse. So, she had to change her blouse and she still hadn't drunk her coffee.
When she was finally ready to leave, she noticed she had not seen her cat that morning. This was unusual: Lily was used to meowing loudly in the kitchen as soon as Elizabeth was up. So, she began to search for her in her apartment. As the cat wasn't answering her calls, she started to worry that she fell down the building from the balcony or some other horrible thing like that. She had finally found her sleeping peacefully in the linen closet she had left partially open the night before.
She should have known her car wouldn't start on the first try on a day like this. It was classic. For a moment, she feared she wouldn't be able to start the engine at all. But she finally succeeded after she had tried too many times for her to count.
An unusual traffic jam had been in order before she finally reached the police station. But it was her turn to get donuts for everybody. It was traditional and she wouldn't fail tradition. Better to arrive late than without the donuts. So, she had to go to the bakery on the other side of the street before finally entering her building.
That day wasn't about to be a normal one she thought. That was for sure.
When she finally reached the third floor and entered her office, all her colleagues were already there.
"Hey! Liz!" exclaimed a young man. "We were about to lose any hope of seeing you today!"
He was tall, dark-haired, tanned-skinned with big gray eyes. His face was round and smooth. He almost looked like a teenager.
"No chance Mark," Elizabeth replied, grinning.
Two other people were gathered in the room: a man in his late fifties and a woman around Elizabeth's age.
The man, John Roberts, was half-bald, middle-sized and lean. He looked severe, an impression only confirmed by the small glasses and the dark suit he was wearing.
The other woman – Marina Elfey - was a little shorter than Elizabeth, with short, brown hair. She was drinking her coffee and appeared to be highly amused by Elizabeth's desolate look.
"Hi boss," Elizabeth said, addressing the older man. "I'm sorry, I…"
"Not a problem McKinley," He interrupted calmly. "You're not that late and you've got the donuts. Everything's fine."
Elizabeth smiled and put the bags of donuts down on the table. Mark Khan considered the size of the two bags and whistled with admiration.
"Neat! You know how to be forgiven!" He grinned.
He stretched his hand to seize a donut but Roberts removed the bag from his reach.
"Take them with you," he explained, then added, turning to Elizabeth. "Attack in Kenton Park. We're going."
Elizabeth nodded and reached for the remaining donut bag but Mark was quicker.
"What kind of attack?" Elizabeth asked as the whole group headed for the door.
"Young people jogging in the park. They were attacked by a small group and robbed."
Elizabeth nodded again and the group disappeared into the elevator.
Policemen were already at work when they reached Kenton Park. An ambulance was parked in front of the park and many people were fussing around. After Mark parked the car, Roberts gave his orders to his team:
"McKinley and Khan, you two go to the crime scene and try to get anything useful. Elfey, go and talk to the victims and take pictures of their injuries. I'll talk to the patrol officer. Okay?"
Everyone nodded and the group split up, everyone going to his task. Roberts went to meet the police officer and asked about the statement of the attacked while Elizabeth and Mark Khan entered the park.
Marina Elfey headed toward the victims. They were sitting near the ambulance and medics were taking care of them. There were two: a boy and a girl probably around twenty years old. Both their faces and limbs were bruised. Marina came closer to the ambulance and waited patiently for the paramedics to complete their work. She stood a few feet away from the victims and looked around distractedly in the meantime.
The ambulance and the police cars were blocking part of the street which was now saturated with cars. Marina recognized the trademark impatience left by a traffic jam on the drivers' faces. She waited a few minutes before the paramedics were done with the young people and gestured for her to approach.
Marina complied and questioned both the victims about their attack before photographing their many injuries. She talked finally to the paramedics and left to meet her colleagues in front of the park's entrance.
Elizabeth and Mark were the last to come back. They both looked bored and defeated.
"No witnesses," announced Mark. "No one saw anything."
"There's nothing much to see in the park," added Elizabeth. "Traces left by a fight, trampled leaves. Nothing else."
Roberts nodded gravely.
"We're probably dealing with the same group as usual," he sighed. "Their description matches the other attacks."
"What now?" asked Mark.
"We're going back." Roberts answered. "The victims will come in a while to compare the identikit from the previous attacks."
"Whoa! " Faith exclaimed as she looked around her at the Portland towers through the car's windows. "Been a while that we haven't gone through a city this big!"
"You avoided all of them since we left Cleveland," remarked Tara quietly.
Faith grinned widely and shrugged.
"Was good to see some country, wasn't it?"
Tara nodded and smiled.
"You missed town?" the witch asked.
Faith laughed a little at this.
"Well," she began. "Kinda." She finally admitted.
"I don't know exactly why, but I'm not surprised." The blonde grinned, turning to Faith.
"Ouch," The Slayer grumbled a minute later. "Well, here's one of the reason I liked the country."
Tara turned back to the road and saw a long line of cars stopped in their lane.
"Traffic jam," voiced the witch philosophically.
"Great!" Faith groaned, rolling her eyes.
She slowed down and finally stopped the car behind the lineup.
"Great," repeated the Slayer. "It'll take us hours to cross town."
"Well, it's not like we've got things to do." Tara said.
"Speak for yourself." Faith replied. "I've been driving for hours, I won't say no to a shower. And I need to find a job to get some money if I wanna have some fun around here."
Tara bent at the window to try to see in the distance if something specific was slowing down the traffic.
"Then, be happy," she told Faith. "It will be over soon. There's probably an accident or something, I can see policemen over there."
"You can see the cops and you're telling me to be happy?" Faith asked ironically. "You're kidding me, right?"
"What?" Tara asked blankly.
Faith rolled her eyes and started the car as the line advanced slowly again.
"How to put this?" Faith tried to explain. "When will you remember that I am a wanted fugitive?"
Tara shrugged and bent slightly at the window again.
"Don't be so nervous," Tara said in a soothing tone. "They're not here for you. They seem to be pretty busy."
"What happened?" Faith asked, craning her neck to see the roadside.
"An accident I think." Tara replied. "There's an ambulance too."
"Try to be discreet Blondie, I really don't want to have a run in with the cops."
"I'm discretion itself." Tara assured.
"Then, stop watching them like that." Faith said. "You look like the perfect criminal to me."
"The perfect criminal wouldn't look at them like this," Tara countered. "And not looking at them at all is what YOU are doing by the way."
Faith rolled her eyes and Tara chuckled.
"Okay, you're right." The Slayer admitted. "Look at them as much as you want then."
"Show's over," Tara said, sitting back straight onto her seat. "Look, road's clear now."
"Cool," Faith nodded and sped up again.
"See?" the witch added. "They really don't care about you."
"Yeah, let's hope it'll last." Faith replied casually.
"So, where do we go?" the witch asked as Faith accelerated to pass the car in front of them.
"First, we find a cheap motel. Second, we settle down and shower. Then, I'll try to find a job while you…"
She wavered a second and gestured vaguely.
"Well… I guess you'll get some more sleep?"
"I have to admit I feel a bit tired." The blonde answered.
"See?" Faith grinned. "I knew it!"
"Wasn't too hard," Tara said with a grimace.
"Right," admitted the Slayer.
They fell silent for a moment and Tara looked down at her fingers linked together.
"Well…" she began eventually. "I w-was thin-thinking…"
She kept quiet, cursing silently her stammer.
"You're were thinking?" Faith repeated distractedly.
"Well, maybe we…" Tara resumed. "May-be we c-could stop by a boo-bookshop."
Surprised, Faith turned to the blonde.
"Wanna buy some books?" she demanded.
Tara nodded timidly.
"If you d-don't mind."
"Well, as long as you're not buying some expensive first edition, I think we can afford a book or two." Faith answered, turning back to the road.
Tara's face lit up and she nodded with enthusiasm.
"No first edition, I promise."
"Well then." The brunette replied. "I'll stop when I see a bookshop. Okay?"
"Perfect, Faith." Tara responded. "Thank you."
The Slayer faced the witch again and smiled.
"S'no big, Blondie." Faith declared. "S'no big. We should find one on our way."
"Got something new about our perps?" Mark asked as he entered the office, a bag of donuts in his hand.
This room was larger than the one where the team had met in the morning. There was a big round table in the center and several desks against the walls were covered with computers and other electrical peripherals.
Marina was bending over the table in the center. Upon hearing Mark's voice, she looked up from her task and shook her head.
"Nothing," she answered. "By the way, I'm not really searching, I'm just classifying the photos in the dossier."
Mark Khan went to the table and glanced at the amount of photos spread on the table.
"What a wonderful job you got!" He emphasized. "Those damn photos won't ever be useful anyway," he added in a disgusted tone.
"They'll be useful for the victims." Marina replied calmly as she went on with her duty.
"God, look at this!" She added asecond later, gesturing at a particular photo in her hand. "Those guys really worked that couple over."
Mark came closer and looked distractedly at the photo Marina handed him.
"Yeah." He said simply.
He put the photo back down on the table and sat on it to Marina's disagreement. He was about to take a donut from the bag but Marina stopped him.
"Mark, in case you didn't already notice, I'm working." She scolded him. "Move your ass."
"Easy, Elfey!" Mark said as he stood. "I'm moving."
Roberts and McKinley entered the room at that precise moment.
"Hey guys," Elizabeth said. "It's time for lunch. We were thinking about getting Chinese, the one on the corner."
"I'm not sure Mark needs to go for lunch!" Marina declared ironically, indicating the bag the young man was holding and the donut still in his hand.
"Don't be mistaken," he protested. "I can use a good Chinese meal."
"I bet!" Marina concluded.
Roberts went to her side and looked at the photos still lying on the table.
"Are you done?" He asked.
"Nearly," Elfey answered.
"There're just a few remaining to classify." She specified.
Elizabeth came to join them and glanced at the photos in turn.
"I'll help you finish." She suggested.
Marina smiled gratefully and pointing to the right side of the table.
"The photos from the boy." She explained.
Elizabeth nodded and started to gather the photos.
"Well, you took shot after shot of them." She chuckled.
"She's hard at work." Mark commented.
"Yeah." Marina said and rolled her eyes.
"So, did you notice something interesting?" asked Roberts quietly.
"No, I didn't…" began Marina.
"But I do." Interrupted Elizabeth suddenly.
The three others turned to her as one.
"What?"
"Here." Elizabeth replied, pointing at two photos she was staring at.
Her three colleagues went to her side and looked at what she was showing them.
"What?" repeated Mark.
Elizabeth put her finger on a car in the background. A dark-haired girl was driving with an obvious pout on her face.
"I know that girl," Elizabeth explained as her finger traced the photo to finally rest on the girl's face.
"Wonderful!" Mark exclaimed cheerfully. "And who's that? Lemme guess: your sister? Your cousin? Maybe your…"
Elizabeth shook her head and the serious look on her face was enough to make her friend stop rambling. She appeared to focus on the girl's face, seemingly searching to recall exactly who the girl was, what her name was.
"Who's that?" Roberts asked after a silence.
"Faith." Elizabeth replied finally. "She's Faith Lehane."