What Has Fallen

7. Henry: Security

September 20th

11 AM

"Last night police found Nelson Torres, a twenty four year old college student, murdered in his apartment. No information is being released as of right now, but some are saying his death is tied to gangs. Some say he may have even been involved in the drug cartel scandal happening here, in downtown Manhattan."

"Absolutely terrible," my little sister sipped her coffee and shook her head. I looked at the picture of Nelson the news displayed in the corner of their report. He looked familiar, but I couldn't be exactly sure if I had seen him before. I grabbed a banana and started peeling it when Hailee turned to me, "Do you know anything about that?"

Chewing, I mumbled, "No. Captain Miles..."

She wrinkled her nose, "O, c'mon. Don't talk with your mouth full."

I swallowed, "Right, sorry." I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, then continued, "Captain Miles still has me on desk duty." I wiped my fingers with a floral napkin she keeps in the corner on the counter. "Besides, Manhattan is a hundred miles away. Why would we know anything about it?"

"I don't know. You're a police officer."

"Desk duty officer..." I corrected her sadly.

She poured some coffee into a cup and handed it to me, "How can you be on desk duty when you're going to be working security at the Black Bear today?"

"I'm just going to be in the security room. I only watch and report," I explained.

"Mh," she hummed, "I see."

"Captain said we'd see how today goes and then maybe I earn my way back up." My little sister rolled her big blue eyes. I hesitated to ask what. My sister is quite opinionated and I knew if I asked her I would be opening up a can of worms.

She sat her cup down and blatantly said, "Captain Miles is a jerk. And stupid."

"Hailee!" I stood looking at her in shock.

"What?! He is!"

"He's my boss." I threw my banana peel away and grabbed the coffee.

"He's jealous. That's what he is. He's jealous you're young and have a lot of potential. And you're not corrupt like half those cops. It's the only reason you're on desk duty. You know you didn't do anything wrong."

"It doesn't matter now. I'm going to work my way back up. I'm going to do better." I took a drink of my coffee and added, "And half the department is not corrupt." Her face fell and her eyes deadened. Her face read 'seriously?'. I knew the department had it's faults, but mostly everyone does their jobs right and by the book. My sister had no right to make those claims.

She leaned against the counter picking up her cup and bringing it to her lips again. After sipping it loudly she asked, "I still don't get why Alice Westford cares if you're on desk duty or not."

Because she's amazing, I thought. I looked at my little sister and sat my hand on her shoulder, "Maybe she thinks I didn't do anything wrong either."

Rolling her eyes she wiped my hand off her shoulder and said, "Right." The dishwasher buzzer went off making my sister and me jump. She placed her cup by the coffee pot, then opened the dishwasher. "Alice Westford uses people." Insistently I felt my blood boil and my stomach turn. "Her whole family does." She started putting dishes away.

I stayed calm, "Alice cares about this town. About people. A lot more than her sisters." I grabbed a plate and placed it in the cabinet to help out.

She stopped and looked at me, making me pause in place, "Alice might be better than her sisters. Nicer than Charlette. Smarter than Olive. But that's what makes her scarier than both of them."