Chapter 1
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Los Angelas, it was a nice place to live, once. Perhaps I was biased, I had a pretty good life. I had an amazing wife, two great kids, and a job I was proud of. I'm a cop, my name is Bill Gannon. It was a hard job, long hours, endless paperwork, and the pay was good enough to live on, but I would only see Europe on my television set. Still, I was proud of my work, and I had some loved ones waiting for me at home. Then, everything changed. My beloved wife Eileen, she just disapeared. Three years ago, if I said my wife disapeared, people might think she ran off with a younger man. Except this was the same day that millions of people dissapeared all over the world, including every child, my sons. There was no shortage of theories as to why everyone dissapeared, from nuclear disaster to the christian concept of "the rapture." I'm not sure anyone knew for certain, that didn't stop people from talking about these theories. A fair amount of police officers dissapeared, a lot of those who remained seemed to be the bad apples. Those willing to use police brutality, or take bribes. Me and my partner, Joe Friday, seemed to be the exception. Crime also increased, when the dissapearences happened there were quite a few whose first instinct was "Noone's guarding the stores right now." All police had to put in extra hours, in a way that was a blessing, it gave me less time to sit in my empty house and fall asleep watching home movies.
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7:38am
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It was cool in Los Angelas. Joe and I were called in to investigate a homicide. A 13 year old girl had been shot and killed in her own bedroom. Joe and I arrived and met the father of this girl, Michael. He seemed understandably angry.
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Michael: How could those bastards do this to her?
Joe: Sir, could you tell us what happenned?
Michael: I just went to wake her up for breakfast, and she was dead.
Joe: Who else had access to your house?
Michael: This house only has one floor, I guess anyone could have crept to her window. I noticed a hole in her window.
Bill: May I ask where her mother is?
Michael: She's dead. When the dissapearences happenned, a car was suddenly driver less, crashed into her. It was just me and Bianca.
Joe: Do you have any idea who would want to hurt your daughter.
Michael: Oh yeah, I have some ideas. Bianca was pregnant.
Bill: At 13?
Michael: Yeah, I guess it happens. She didn't tell me who did it to her, not sure I wanted to know. Obviously she couldn't be a mother before she graduates grammer school. Yesterday I took her to get an abortion. There were these religious fanatics harrasing people there, screaming at my daughter for "Killing her baby." I wouldn't put it past one of those lunatics to kill my daughter.
Joe: Do you know any of their names?
Michael: No, but I think there were cops providing security there. They're probably more familiar with those people than me. Wait a minute, one of those freaks actually gave me her card. I think I have it here, yeah. Her name is Chloe Steele.