My Kevlar Surrounded Heart

Getting Closer

"We got him!" Dan calls out as he's walking into the break room, "Alexander Weath. He's a 28-year-old man who's been caught multiple times on drug charges, as well as assault and kidnapping."
"Have we found his apartment?" I set my coffee down, looking over the report Dan hands me; Now that I could clearly see him I could tell that he looks slightly like Ray, but I try to write that off as my brain playing tricks on me.
"Yup. I already sent Rico and Richardson to go get him."
"Great." I hand the report back and pick back up my coffee.
"How are you holding up?" He leans against the counter, frowning at me.
I just shrug, "I'm alright, Dan. You don't need to keep checking up on me."
"But..."
"Dan, I'm not a child that needs to be taken care of. I can take care of myself."
"But we all know how hard his death hit you, and I could tell you're mad-"
"Dan!" I cut him off, sighing, "I'm ok. Yes, it's pretty upsetting that he faked his death and disappeared on us, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just shut down."
"I know I know... just checking up on ya, Kid."
I chuckle lightly, "Stop talking like a grandpa."
"But It's fun!" He laughs, smiling at me.
I roll my eyes and sip my coffee, "Do we have any other leads?"
"We're trying to track the store where Ray got his outfit because I find it very hard to believe that he already owned that, as well as all the tattoo parlors around here to figure out who did the tattoos."
"Alright. Great. Update me if you find anything." I leave the room and sit down at my desk. I stare at the orange file that was sitting there, slightly wishing my gaze would cause it to go up in flames and all of this would be a bad dream, but it doesn't, so I decide to read through it for the 100th time.

Raymond Willam Hart
Birthday: October 30, 1987

(Supposed) Death date: February 13, 2014.

Death:

Caught in a bank during a bank robbery and was locked in a room with the rest of the hostages. A bomb went off in the room, killing all inside.

Body: Not found. Only his badge and shredded shirt were recovered.

I sigh as I read over the last line; Of course we couldn't find his body. He wasn't dead. I should have been suspicious of that. The bomb wasn't in the same room, and we found pretty much everyone else's burned corpses, but not his.
"Lyra?" A voice that sounds like Ray's asks.
I turn around at lightning speed, sighing when I see Cody, one of Raymond's younger brothers, "oh, Cody. Hi. Everything alright?"
"I heard that you guys think that Ray's dead." He grabs a chair and drags it over, sitting down next to me, "Is that true?"
I nod a little as a response, "Yeah. He... He's alive. I guess that means you have no idea where he is?"
He shook his head, sinking in his seat, "No... he... I can't believe he'd do that to us."

I still remember his funeral, if you could even consider it that. Only immediate family and the force knew there was no body in the casket, and even though a lot of people showed up, it felt wrong. It felt wrong that we were lying to them and telling them that he was in there.
But then again... He lied to us, so I guess there's no point in feeling guilty anymore.
Cody and his twin, Caden, were devastated. Ray wasn't just their older brother; He was their hero and best friend. It was really hard to be there with them knowing that I could have saved him.

"I know... we're also pretty shocked. But we're going to find him and figure all of this out. I promise."
"Alright... don't hurt him too badly, alright?"
I nod a little, "We won't."

"Good..." He got up, "Update me, please. I want to know all that I can."
"I will." I stood up, "Have a great night, Cody."
"You too, Lyra." He shoots me a small smile before leaving.

Dan walks over, asking, "Why was Cody here?"
"He heard about Ray." I turn to him.
"Must be hard on him..."
"Yeah..." I sigh, "any news on Alex?"
"Yup. He was found at his apartment, Rico is on his way back with him."
"Great." I grab the picture of the crime scene and the one of Raymond.
"You joining the interrogation?"
"If you don't mind."
"Go on ahead." Dan smiles at me and walks back to his desk.
I smile slightly as I continue getting the files together, heading to the interrogation room, since Rico will be back any minute with Alex.

Just as Dan said, Rico walks into the interrogation room with Alex just a few minutes after I did. Rico locks Alex down into the chair across from me and then sits down next to me. "I assume you've been informed of your rights?" I pick up the folder. "I know how this works, Lady." Alex snaps, glaring at me. "Great. Do you know this man?" I slid the paper of Ray over to him. Alex studies it for a minute, then says, "Never seen him before in my life." "Ironic considering we have security footage of you two getting him a new driver's license together." I slid a new paper over to him, this one now with a screenshot of the two of them in the DMV. I watch his eyes as he fumbles for another lie. He turns back to me, making eye contact, "He's a friend. He told me his license expired, so we went to go get a new one. Is that a crime?" "No, but it is a crime for him to be your getaway driver." I grab the laptop sitting next to me and hit play, the audio recording of the two of them in the DMV starts playing. He glares at the computer, before turning to me, keeping his mouth shut. I pause the recording as I push the picture of the crime scene over to him, "We have reason to suspect Raymond is involved in this. We're already testing your prints against others on the body. Were you, or were you not, involved in this?" Alex stares at the picture, "No. I wasn't involved in this." He leans back in his chair. "Where were you at 2:30 am last night." I put the pictures back in their respective place, keeping a soft glare on Alex. "Home. with my girlfriend." "What's her name?" "Astra Patricks." "Great." I stood up, "Officer Harp will lead you to your holding cell." "What?! You're keeping me here?!" "We know you're working with Ray. And we don't want information getting out." I turn and nods at Officer Harp, she smiles at me and goes in. I make my way over to my desk, sighing at the growing clutter. "Rico. Find Astra Patricks and confirm Alex's alibi. I don't trust him, nor his girlfriend." "On it." He walks off to get her address. I sit down and put my head in my hands. "Sorry, we didn't get anywhere with Alex." Dan shoves his hands into his pockets, a worried look in his eyes. "I don't want pity, Dan." I turn to him, "I want to find him and bring this girl to justice. So quit it with the pity and get me more information." Dan nods slightly, trying to hide the hurt on his face, "Alright. I'll see what I can do." He turns to leave, but then he stops, "You're letting this overtake you, Lyra. Don't make this be the reason you get kicked off the team." He then walks away without waiting for my answer. I sit there for a while, staring at the empty spot he left behind; I wasn't letting this overtake me. I'm just working hard. That's all. They can't kick me off the team for working hard. So it's fine. Everything is fine.... Right?