Here you go, a slightly longer chapter, enjoy
As they slowly rambled out of the storage unit having the heavily suspicious Lincoln just been revealed to them Oscar inspected the surrounding security. There was no doubt in the Federal Agent's mind that this car was linked to the now deceased Kenneth Flatley and he had to make sure it was secure. After a couple minutes of meticulous examination by Oscar, while Blane and Tom stood idly discussing the state of the car and where it was found, he had come to the conclusion that it would do.
"I'll give my colleague a call to come down to assist with the investigation." Oscar explained as he rifled through his jacket for his phone. Pulling it down, he scrolled through his contacts, dialed and then waited patiently until the long dull rings came to a stop and someone answered. "Hello?" Oscar said, Tom and Blane could only hear one half of the conversation. "It's Oscar. Rose I was hoping you could help me out." He glanced at the others and began to walk away to continue the talk in private. The others stood quietly trying to figure out what Oscar was saying. From the distance they couldn't make out much but Blane could gather some. Asking her to come down. Explaining the case. Then something about the previous case, and from Oscar's face, it didn't sound like a positive subject. Oscar finished the call and made his way back, Tom and Blane quickly looked away to cover up their prying. "That was my friend Rose, she's agreed to join the investigation but it'll take a day to get all the necessary equipment for this kind of case."
"Equipment?" Tom asked giddily, "Like CSI?"
"Almost," Oscar chuckled, "Portable forensic kits can be heavy duty and we'll need one of our mobile crime lab to analysis it all. The paperwork can be hell."
"So where should we start?" Blane asked, "Kenneth's place?" Oscar looked away for a moment.
"Yes," he began,"But first I'm going to have to get somewhere to stay." He sounded embarrassed, "I thought this was gonna be an open-shut case, I didn't even bring an close with me. I am going to have to check in somewhere. I get the feeling I'm gonna be here for a while."
"You could try the Denville Inn." Tom added
"An Inn?"
"It's really more of a Bed & Breakfast kind of place," Blane corrected, "They just decided to go with calling it an Inn and it stuck."
"That sounds like it could work."
"And if you need to you can borrow some of my clothes." Tom said, again with a tone packed with a bit too much enthusiasm. There was a moment of silence as Oscar and Tom stared at one another, taking note of the opposites height and build, particularly the drastic difference of such between the two men. Tom gave out two awkward laughs. "Maybe you could borrow Blane's instead." Blane said nothing and simply gave Tom a look.
"Right," Oscar felt awkward about the proposal, "Well if you two could show me the way I'll head head over there now and then we could can go to Flatley's"
"Or Tom could take you and I could go to Flatley's place and secure the area." Blane suggested. Oscar took a moment to run it through his head. He was leading this investigation so he should be first on site but this way he could get two jobs done at once and any evidence would be found sooner.
"Ok," Oscar conceded, "You check out his house and give me a call if you find anything." He handed Blane one of his cards and turned to Tom. "And you, you're taking me to this so called Inn."
And with that they parted ways and wandered in opposite directions. Oscar and Tom walked together through the town, now buzzing with people going about their day, the sun shining overhead. Oscar was slightly unnerved, everyone was smiling, everyone. Saying hello to one another and stopping to have a pleasant chat in the middle of the street at the mere sight of one another. A man had just died, hung from town hall and everyone seemed ok with it all. As they walked along the streets people greeted Tom with wide smiles and bright eyes, but only for Tom. People looked at Oscar with a face of caution, everyone knew everyone and nobody knew him. Having worked in big cities so much this was the type of greeting he was more accustomed to. As they continued Oscar started to think about this young sheriff who was protecting this town. Who was this guy? Who was he going to be working with? He kept the car a secret, did he have any other secrets?
"How long have you known Blane?" Oscar asked, trying to sound casual.
"Most of my life I guess. He was a couple of grades above me in high school and then he left for a while and came back."
"That when he left for the army?"
"I guess it was, Blane doesn't talk much about it."
"But you know him pretty well?"
"Since he came back and joined the Sheriff's department yeah, we've gotten to know each other, great guy."
"Do you know what regiment he served in while he was gone?" Oscar was starting to get a lot intrusive with his questions.
"Here we are." Tom called out, stopping flatout and presenting Oscar with the Denville Inn. Tall and red bricked. "Here is where I'll leave you. Just head inside and they'll sort you with a room."
"Why don't you come inside."
"I can't," Tom said with a shaky voice as he began backing away. "I've got a thing...that I need to examine...at the place." Tom was grasping at straws for an excuse now. "Just….tell Zara I said hello." And with that the doctor hurried away. Oscar laughed lightly to himself, knowing that look before.
Oscar entered into the quiet Inn and was met with the front desk, with a young woman behind it staring into a pocket mirror. She was blonde and ditzy looking. Oscar approached and only after he got right next to it she noticed him. Her eyes shifted away from the mirror and were first met by the suit. Her eyes run up his tie until they final reached his face. However she didn't say anything and simply stared at him.
"Hello, I'm looking to get a room?" He asked.
"Sure." she finally blurted, "I'm Zara." she composed herself, extending her hand to be shake but as their hands met she shook it like as if she were royale, soft and limp, which severely confused Oscar. "So what kind of room are you looking for. King size? Double?"
"Just a single bed please." He interrupted. "Zara was it?" she nodded grinning, "Tom Tupper sends his regards."
"Who?" She replied. Oscar's froze, realising the severity of Tom's predicament with this girl.
"Doesn't matter."
"Well we've got a single room available. How many days will you be staying?"
"I'm not too sure. Can I just get the room on a daily payment."
"You're not from around here are you?" She asked skittishly.
"No, no, I'm here on, business." he replied. Zara continued her smirk at him as she shrugged at his vagueness, turning around a grabbing one of the room keys behind her.
"Up the stairs and third door on the left. I'll be up in a few minutes with some towels and anything else you need." She handed him the key before quickly going back to check her appearance as he left. Oscar began to walk toward the stairs but stopped, formulating an idea and taking those steps back.
"Zara, you wouldn't happen to know a Blane Whittaker at all would you?"
"Blane Whittaker?" Her eyes widen in eagerness, "The Sheriff."
"Yeah, I was looking to learn a bit more about him. Do you have any stories about him." Oscar acted innocently.
"Oh my god yes," She began as she leant forward, getting into the gossiping position
…..
3 years ago
The dead of night. The ice on his breath. Home. Sergeant Blane Whittaker of the 33rd Infantry Division walked in solitude into his past. St. Hopes. He hadn't stepped foot in this town in 6 years and now he was back. His hefty jacket kept him warm, the jacket he had since day one of his service. He walked among the streets, empty and quiet, dark with few lights to illuminate them. In the darkness there was a light. Bright and neon, saying "Lenny's Diner." This the strong red colour and the lights inside it gave a very welcoming and comfortable vibe. Blane made his way inside. The place was near empty, just the owners standing behind the counter cleaning up and a young couple sharing at late night milkshake. A bell rang as Blane opened the door, attracting their immediately attention.
"Are you still open?" Blane asked quietly, his voice gruff and sore.
"Yeah, yeah." The two said warmly. One an aged black man, a beard with a beanie atop his head. The other a woman, ginger hair, long and curly. "Take a seat," they invited him to sit by the counter, he took it.
Sat there, hunched over the counter, hands running through his hair, breathing deeply through his nose. He could hear them again, the drums, the gunfire, the screams.
"Coffee?" a soft voice said, snapping Blane out of it as he flicked his head up to see the woman, "Do you want coffee?" she asked again after no response, gesturing to the coffee pot in her hand. Blane nodded but remained silent as she poured the cup. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Do you have any pie?" Blane grasped.
"As a matter of fact we do," she smiled, "Cherry, I'll go you a slice."
She returned a few moments later and placed it in front of him, sweet red cherry. Blane began to wolf it down, taking sips of the coffee. He had his head down eating but as he looked up he saw the man standing in front of him, cleaning a glass.
"So you're military?" He said pointing at the US Army badge on the jacket. "What you doing all the way out here?"
"I'm home. I just got back."
"Well welcome, I'm Lenny and you've already met my wife, Helen."
"Yeah, Lenny, I use to come round here when I was younger."
"Wait," Lenny stopped and took a good long stare at Blane, it was hard to see under the thick beard but Lenny eventually caught on. "Blane? Blane Whittaker? You use to play on the Football team right?"
Blane laughed softly, "yeah that was me. That's going way off."
"Yeah it really was. 6 years or so. Where you been all this time?"
"I enlisted straight out of high school. And now I'm back."
"What are you gonna do now that you're back?"
"I have no idea..."
And with that the diner door swung open and entered four rough, thuggish men. They were some guys who had shown up in town a few days previous, they were outsiders, there doing odd jobs and generally making people uncomfortable with their rowdiness and antics. They walked in silently and sat around one both, still no talking. Lenny had a look in his eye, he knew these guys were trouble but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Helen, with her coffee pot in hand approached them, looking to treat them like any normal customer when suddenly they stood from the table as one. The night took a dark turn. One drew a pistol while another pulled a knife. Helen screamed and dropped the pot of coffee. The men began to fan out the diner, covering the exit and the young couple. The gunman began to shout, demanding wallets and the opening of the register but Blane didn't hear a word. The drums were back, drilling into his soul. The gunman approached the counter, aimed at Lenny who had his hands up. He saw Blane, saw he wasn't following his orders. He pressed the barrel into his back.
"Turn out your goddamn pockets." The man whispered into Blane's ear. A switch flipped. Blane saw white.
Blane gripped his coffee mug and tossed it over his shoulder, into the man's face. the burning sizzle could be heard under the man's screaming. Blane jerked his elbow back, digging the man in the chest, causing him to drop the gun and fall backwards. He stood to be met by one of the others charging at him. Blane got him with a hook, grabbed him by the collar and flung him over a table. As he had his back turned Blane felt a sudden and sharp (yet all too familiar) pain in his shoulder. It was a switchblade that one of the thugs had driven into Blane's back. He spun around and punched the backstabber, taking him by the head and forcing his face into the counter, teeth spraying everywhere. Blane reached over his shoulder and yanked out the knife in one swift move. Holding the blood stained blade, Blane saw the previous thug getting up from the floor and charging at Blane. Without thinking Blane flung the switchblade at him. The knife speared through the air, landing in the thug's neck. Blood began to spray as he fell to his knees gasping but choking on blood. He fell lifeless and Blane looked up at the last standing who was stood by the exit. As Blane began walking towards him the final thug began fumbling, reaching for a gun. Blane hurled himself over a table to reach the other gun. Hitting the floor and sweeping up the pistol in his tight grip he fired three rounds into his opponent. Each landing in his chest, each jerking him backwards until finally falling through the glass of the main door. Blane froze for a moment, staring back and forth at the gun and the body hanging out the door. Finally he stood, placed the gun on the counter and looked around to see if anyone needed help. He saw Lenny, staring at him in shock. Suddenly the now burnt face thug barrelled out through the hole and out of the diner, stumbling down the street in pain. Blane charged out after him. He tackled the thug to the ground, turned him onto his back and punched him in the face.
and punched him again and again
….
Now
"They say after that the mayor and sheriff arranged a meeting with him to convince him to join the police force and become the new sheriff just like that." Zara rambled on as she opened the door to Oscar's room for him.
"Thank you," Oscar said politely entering and setting his briefcase. suddenly his phone began to ring. "Hello?" he said as he answered it.
"Oscar, it's Blane. You're gonna wanna get to Flatley's place."
Hope you liked it, don't forget to review
