The Black Heart

The girl ran through the dark forest. She heard voices yelling behind her. She had to hide it from them. She quickly dug a hole with her hands and placed the heart necklace inside. She then covered it quickly and continued running. Hoping no one would find her treasure or the secrets that lay inside. As she ran, the voices drew closer and then she heard a gun shot and everything went dark.
“Detective Luka?” I turned to the officer,my eyebrow raised in a question.
“We have a murder scene?" He nodded. We drove to the crime scene and he filled me in on the details.
“A hiker found her in the woods. She was shot in the back. The corner will have to tell us the time of death.”
“Was there any ID?”
“The hiker didn't check. She said she didn't want to mess with the crime scene. We do know the Hiker's name, Ashley Heart.” I nodded, just as he finished we pulled into the parking lot of the hiking trail. I follow him up the path to the crime scene. Chief Cassidy was already there and comforting a girl who I guessed was the witness. It seemed like they knew each other. I walked over to them.
“Anything else I should know. Officer Riley filled me in on how the body was found and the victim died.” Chief Cassidy nodded.
“I knew the victim. So an ID won't be necessary.” I could tell from the look in her eyes she was barely keeping it together. I found out why when she said the name.
“Phoenix Cassidy.” My eyes widened and so did Ashley's and Riley's.
“She's my daughter. This case is personal. So please solve it as soon as possible. I'm going home to tell the kids. Ashley, you may join me if you want.” Ashley nodded. She could tell Detective Cassidy needed her as much as she needed Detective Cassidy.
“I don't know how well you know Anna, but she cares a lot about all her children. So please get her closure as soon as you can.” I nod and watch the two leave. My face instantly turned to determination. Chief Cassidy was the best boss our station could ask for. Although her family disowned her for wanting to be a police officer. Her brother married her ex, and Phoenix and Raven’s father, which only added to the tension between them. We became her family. One of the former officers, officer Inferno, and her were married. That was before he died in a shoot out, saving Anna’s life. Like everyone else said, I needed to solve this case fast. The Chief has been through enough already. I walked over to the body and studied every detail. It looked almost early like the Chief. Except she had black hair instead of blonde. She had the same crystal blue eyes although they looked lighter due to her death. She was a little tanner than Anna. She had the same round face. She looked about the same height too. The corner walked over to me.
“Any estimation on the time of death?” He looked over the body and nodded.
“Around 11:00-12:00pm.” I nodded at that.
“Phone?” He nodded.
“The Chief unlocked it before they left.” I nodded and he handed it to me. I scrolled through contacts and noticed an odd one. The contact's name was “Black Heart”. I read all the messages and they seemed fine. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the name. Still my gut told me to follow the lead. I decided to call the number and the person on the other end answered instantly, although they used a voice modifier.
“If you know what's good for you Detective Luka, you'll drop this case.” The person hung up and I felt a chill run down my spine. This was not going to be an easy case. Officer Riley and I drove back to the station and I pondered over the conversation I had with this Black Heart. Whoever they were, they were clearly involved in Phoenix’s death. Whether they were the cause or not was what I intended to find out. I didn't even know officer Riley was trying to talk to me until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I snapped out of my train of thought and turned to look at him, my eyebrow raised in a question.
“I just asked if there were any leads on who killed Phoenix?”
“I got a mysterious call from someone who goes by Black Heart and it was either a threat or a warning.” The officer’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“I've heard about them on the streets, I don't know much though. Just that there are rumors that he is a new crime boss.”
“I’ll talk to the chief to see if her daughter mentioned him at all, I also will take a look at her personal effects and see if we can find anything in there.”
“Want me to drive you to the chief’s house?”I nodded. When we pulled into the drive way we noticed the chief sitting on the porch talking to Ashley. I got out and both figures turned to me.
“Any leads?” The chief voice was hopeful. I nodded.
“Did Phoenix ever mention a person called Black Heart?” The chief thought for a second then shook her head.
“She did have a heart necklace though that I didn’t give her that she always wore. When I asked her about it she said it was from a friend. She would panic anytime she thought she lost it.” I turned to officer Riley who had walked up behind me.
“Was a necklace in her personal effects?” He shook his head.The chief’s eyes widened at this.
“Thank you for this information Chief.” She nodded. I then turned and walked towards the car.
“Time to pick up Storm.” (He is our K9 dog). When we got to the station I walked over to Storm and his handler.
“We need your two’s help tracking an item that a victim lost.” The handler nodded and we got in my police car and drove back to the crime scene. Once we got there I gave the handler an item of the victim’s for Storm to scent. She held it to the dog’s nose and he sniffed it. We then got out of the car and walked to the crime scene. When we got there the handler told Storm to track the scent. We all raced through the woods following the path that Phoenix likely followed to escape whoever was chasing her. I could see it in my head now. Suddenly Storm stopped and sniffed frantically in one spot. I walked over and began to dig with my hands in that spot. I felt something metal while I was digging. When I picked it up I saw a heart necklace shimmer in the sunlight. I noticed it was a locket. I carefully opened it to see a flash drive inside. Just then I heard a gun shot. I spun around to see the handler injured and bleeding out. I quickly kept myself low and made my way towards her as fast as I could. I heard more gun shots and Storm barked aggressively. I managed to get to the handler and we made our way towards the car making sure to make ourselves moving targets. When the three of us got in the car we got in quickly and shut the door. I drove us to the hospital in silence. Whatever was on this drive it must be important enough to kill an officer for. When we got to the hospital I quickly took the officer to the emergency room. There the doctors took her away on the stretcher. The dog barked and whimpered while I paced back and forth. I decided to call our tech guy and see if he could bring something so we could see what was on the drive. After that call I decided to fill the chief in on what happened. Her voice was clear in the phone speaker.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Chief.Just wanted to fill you in. Keira has been shot. She is in the emergency room right now. We got a drive from the necklace that clearly someone didn’t want what was on it to be found.”
“Thank you and keep me updated. Also let me know how Kiera is doing when you know.”
“Will do, chief!” I hung up the phone right as the tech guy walked in. I handed him the drive and he worked on decoding it. When he finally decoded it he gasped. On the drive was a list of dirty cops. As well as the identity of the person behind it. Turns out this Black Heart was a double agent that worked closely with Phoenix. The person behind all this’ name was Mathew Cassidy. The Chief's older brother. Just then the doctor came out and walked over to us.
“Officer Kiera is stable now and you can go see her.”We both nod and give the doctor a grateful smile. When we walked in my heart sank. Storm had run ahead of us and was now sitting beside the bed getting head pets from the officer. She had all these tubes connected to her and a ventilator. She looked at us with a weak smile.
“We got some answers on the person behind this.” I saw hope and curiosity mix in her eyes.
“It’s the chief’s older brother.” The expression shifted to a sad one. I turned to our tech guy and smiled.
“Please stay with her. I’m going to bring in Mathew.” He nodded and I walked out of the room and towards the exit. When I got into my car I gave the chief another call.”
“Kiera seems to be doing well,but I don’t think you’re going to like the identity of the one behind your daughters murder.” There was silence. I could tell something was horribly wrong. I switched my direction towards the chief’s house without letting whoever was there know that I was onto them.
“Everything seems to be falling perfectly into place.” I say and get silence in return. I park on the street a little ways from the chief’s house and sneak around back.
“Well I’m here I best get going.” I hung up and took several deep breaths before entering the house. I can hear someone yelling as well as children crying. I slipped into the room where all the noise was coming from. Ashley had an unconscious Anna in her arms. The chief looked hurt badly. Two children were behind the two. I guessed these were her two adopted children, Alex and Janner. I held up my gun at the figure who I guessed was Mathew. He still hadn’t spotted me. I shot him in the arm where he was holding a knife. The figure cried in pain and released the knife. I quickly ran to him and handcuffed him. He glared at me spitefully. I recited his Miranda Rights.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. “
A Few Months Later*
“Good to have you back chief and officer Kiera.” The others nodded as we raised drinks for a toast. We had decided to throw a surprise party after our shift. It had been a ruff through months. Between The chief and Kiera’s recovery, weeding out the dirty cops, and Mathew’s trial. We all needed this to refresh our spirits.
The End