Chapter Six:

I woke up to the sound of my phone going off the next day. Winter reached over. He sent whoever was calling to voicemail. He held me close. "Go back to sleep."

I sighed. I settled down further in bed. Winter cuddled more into my chest. I rested my hand behind his head.

Water surrounded each side of the vehicle. I banged against the window harshly. The window was breaking. Water was starting to fill. My partner sat panicking. "Malcolm! Hurry!" he shouted.

I banged against the glass again. "I'm trying!"

Water kept filling the car. I banged on the glass one last time. It finally shattered. I swam out first. My partner tried to but he got stuck. I went to go free him. My lungs aching for a breath. He put his hands on my wrist. He looked up at me sadly when he realized his fate. He shoved my hand away from him.

I reached out towards him.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I panted harshly. I found it much more harder to breathe than usual. Winter sat upright. He wrapped his arms around my stomach. "Easy big cat. Slow your breathing down a bit."

I gripped the sheets. I zoned out for a moment. I could still see the car sinking faintly in my vision. One of my arms went up like I was trying to grasp something. I felt Winter hold me down gently in bed. He planted his lips on mine firmly.

I gasped as I kissed him back. His touch was what brought me back to reality. I held him close. His mouth melted into mine. I could smell the oranges on his breath. I pulled away. He searched my eyes. "You okay?" he asked.

I nodded quietly. We stayed staring at each other for a bit before Winter climbed off me. He reached into the drawer on his side of the bed. He pulled out a plastic pill bottle. He set it down on his nightstand. "I hate to do this, Babe, but you need to take your medication again."

I waved him off dismissively. "I'm fine."

"No you're not. Take it." He hands it to me. "I'll go and get you some water."

He headed off downstairs. I sighed. I stopped taking my pills once my symptoms were stable enough. I really didn't like having to take it only because it made me numb and tired. Winter came back. He handed the glass of water over to me.

I shoved the pill into my mouth. I used to the water to wash it down. I handed the empty glass over to him. He put the empty glass on the nightstand. We ended up embracing each other again. I rested my head on Winter's shoulder.

I checked my phone to notice a missed video call from Anika. I redialed her number. Anika appeared on screen. Hey Malcolm. She greeted.

"Morning Anika. What details do you have for us?"

It didn't take me long to run the DNA from the prints you gave me. They're a match from the Popsicle stick that was sent in. I have a feeling that Mr. Inglewood could be our mastermind.

"But Crompton doesn't appear to be the leader. From what we know, he seems to be more of a follower." I argued.

Fair point! I'll keep searching. I still can't find much in a way of a work history for him though the name "Pol-Tec" keeps coming up.

"Pol-Tec?" prompted Winter.

Let me do a quick Google search here. I watched as Anika glared at her screen. Pol-Tec. Pol-Tec. Ah-ha! Here we go. It says here that they are a brand new tech company. Their name has recently appeared in the database. However, the only thing they have is a mouse deterrent that has a one-star review.

"Does it say who runs the company?"

Uhh, let me see. She eyes her screen a bit more. Damn, talk about Eighties hairstyles gone wrong. It's owned by a chick named Polonium. Looks like her and this Crompton guy work together.

I nodded. "Thanks Anika. I'll pass that information along to Rose."

Glad I could be of service. Anika hung up the call. I put my phone back on the nightstand.

"You know, Anika really kicks ass at this sort of thing." commented Winter.

"I know. Now we know who to look out for. However, we aren't sure what they look like."

"Fair point. Oh! Before I forget, can we please head out and grab some groceries? Our fridge is looking a little scarce."

I sat upright in bed. "If that's what you want to go do."

"Yeah. We aren't due to work until the Afternoon hours so."

I tossed the blankets off me. The both of us got changed into our casual wear. We went down to Dilys' Cut Price shop. A short, pudgy man was inside buying a box of ice lollies. I recognize them as being Strawberry Supremes. Hang on a minute. Every stick I've found on the scene has been from a Strawberry Supreme. Could this be Crompton? I wondered.

The man paid for his ice lollies and left. Winter noticed his walking pattern. He giggled. "He has a funny walk."

I smirked. "That he does."

However, his walking pattern doesn't match the tracks that were found on Charlie's boat. I thought. I kept the image of the man in mind but shelved the thought of him being Crompton.

Winter pulled out his phone. "Let's see we need eggs, bread, milk, etc."

I grabbed a basket from beside the counter. "Just call them out as we walk."

Winter nodded. We began doing our walk. The both of us heard shuffling near the counter. I glanced over the top of one of the rows to see Dilys setting up a stand. The stand had items pertaining to Flying-Man on it. I groaned inwardly. Count on everyone to become obsessed over this Flying-Man. I grumbled.

Winter giggled when he saw me do my "One-Thousand Yard" eye roll. He went over to his mom. "Mom, what are you doing?" He asked.

Dilys jumped. "Winter! You mustn't sneak up on mother dearest like that!"

He laughed. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

"I'm setting up a merch stand to sell Flying-Man themed items to our customers." explained Dilys. She then pointed to a large box of potatoes. "Plus it gives me a chance to finally get rid of these potatoes."

"I see..well have fun with that. Malcolm and I are going to finish our shopping."

Winter walked back over to where I was. He shot me an apologetic look. I patted his head. We went back to shopping.

Winter paid for our stuff. We both spotted Trevor's bus go past. It had a big red banner with Flying-Man on it. Winter shook his head. "We'd better see what's going on."

I nodded. I followed Winter to the quay.

There was a small crowd gathering. "Flying-Man Fishy nibbles! Get your fishy nibbles here! On sale now!" chanted Bronwyn.

Dilys showed up. She set down a sign that had Flying-Man on it. "Get all your official Flying-Man merchandise at Dilys' Cut Price Store. Free Potato with every tea towel."

Trevor then rode past in his bus. "Roll up! Roll up! Come see where it happened! Take Trevor's Tour of PontyPandy!"

I literally felt my jaw drop a bit. Winter exchanged a sideways glance with me. Penny and Ellie were looking at the chaos. Penny had a rather defeated look on her face. I walked over to them. "Does this thing always happen in PontyPandy?" I asked.

Penny did a "maybe" motion with her hand. "The last time PontyPandy had this much fuss was when Buck Douglas was in town."

"Don't forget Hollywood too, Penny." added Ellie.

"That too." Penny placed her face in her hand. "I don't think I can facepalm any harder."

Ellie patted her shoulder. I chuckled softly. "Hopefully this "fuss" should wear off soon."

Winter and I headed back to our place. Winter began putting the stuff we bought away. He tucked a box of Fruit Punch flavored lollies away into the deep freeze. His phone started to go off. He took it out of his pocket. "Yes mom?"

He nodded. "Sure. When does he want to go out?"

He nodded again. "A couple of days from now sounds fine. I shouldn't have work that day. Love you. Bye." He hung up. "Mom's wanting me to take Norman and James up into the mountains on my day off. I'm starting to think she doesn't trust those two alone."

I folded my arms over my chest. "To be honest, when can Norman ever be trusted."

Winter thought about it for a moment. He chuckled. "True. It's amazing that my mother lets him get away with shit."

I ruffled the top of his head. "Try to enjoy your day off after you're done helping your brother with whatever scheme he has cooked up."

"I'll try to."

"Do. There is no try." I purred.

He kissed me on the cheek. He headed off to get lunch sorted.

Rose was in the investigation room. She was examining all the photos and samples we had. I cleared my throat at her. She turned around. "PC Malcolm, so nice of you to show up."

"Trying to profile our suspect?" I questioned.

"More like trying to find a connection between all of this. Every time I do, my mind draws a blank."

"I might be able to help. Profiling is kind of my thing." I looked at the evidence she had on screen. "Let's start with the battery. We know that it was stolen by a man named Crompton. He also works for a company called "Pol-Tec" according to what Anika told me. Crompton works for a female by name of Polonium."

I pulled up the picture of Charlie's boat. "Fireman Sam told us that the fire aboard the boat was done on purpose. The DNA from the footprints matched the DNA found on the Popsicle stick from Joe's Garage. Both crimes were done by Crompton."

I then pulled up the picture of Flying-Man. "That just leaves the Mystery of Flying-Man. Rose, do you still have that audio that I recorded from the cave?"

"Absolutely." Rose plugged a USB stick into the console. The computer pulled up the audio file. "From the audio file, we know that the owner of the suit is female. We just don't have a name for our other Un-Sub yet. It'll be hard to get one without proper DNA evidence to back it up."

Rose nodded. "Would you say our female Un-Sub is an inventor of some sort?"

"Possibly. I want to find the Flying-Man suit and swab it for evidence."

"Do that and we may just know the name of our Un-Sub."

I grinned. We were so close to cracking PontyPandy's first big case. I heard a yelp outside of the room. Rose and I ran out to see Winter with his foot caught in the door to the lounge. I grinned and folded my arms over my chest. Winter smiled at me sheepishly.

Rose cleared her throat. "Officer Price, do you require assistance in getting out?"

Winter thought for a moment. "Um, if you don't mind."

I heard Rose sigh. She walked over to him. She unwedged him from the door. Winter smiled. "Thanks Sergent."

"You are very welcome. I would advise watching your corners next time, Officer Price."

Rose then headed off to her office. Winter and I both looked at each other. "Right. Let's get started on our evening patrol."

Winter nodded. The both of us left the station.