Blame: Book 2- Tick Tock (The Sequel to Book 1)

Cold Cases

     Charlie's POV

     'You'll be fine, Orton only punishes those who do shit to others,' I repeated it in my head, using Dan's words to calm my nerves as I reluctantly started my car's engine.

     It was my first day on the job as an official homicide detective for the L. P. D., but the fact that Dan was harassed on day one drove me insane. What if they did it to me? The last thing I wanted was for the senior detectives to wrap my office's furniture with bubble wrap. Maybe they were capable of doing something worse than that, like handcuffing me a table, or locking me inside a prison cell for a day. I got the jitters thinking about it. 'Guess I'll have to see to find out,' my foot hesitantly stepped on the gas pedal, making my car drive forwards past the green traffic light.

Fifteen minutes later, which was way too short of a drive to me, I slowly pulled into a parking spot, taking my time to line up my car's wheels with the white outlines. 'Anything to slow down time...' I slowly exited my vehicle, reluctantly grabbing my backpack and half-heartedly slinging it over my shoulder. There was loads of time left, so I didn't worry about anyone yelling at me, well...hopefully for today. Who knew what would happen if I wasn't ten minutes early for work? Detective Orton would probably giving me a scolding, since he was the new head of detectives.

"Charlie!" I was bombarded by a hug from the man with starry, blue eyes as I stepped into the building.

"Hi," I shyly greeted back. 'Charlie!!! What the fuck is wrong with you?! You gotta be chill around a person like Dan!!!'

"I know what you're thinking," Dan chuckled. "I'm not as cool as you think, trust me, ask Ralph and Kyle," he sheepishly laughed.

"But you've solved sixteen homicide cases so far!!!" I protested for his sake.

"Erm, correction," he gazed down sadly. "Fifteen cases."

"Huh?"

"A former detective, Detective Will Farquarson, was wrongfully convicted of first degree murder," Dan quietly said. "The real killer's still out there. But I don't even know it's gender."

"It?" I asked, confusion in my voice.

"Well it started out as unknown, to female, to unknown, and a couple of useless leads making the gender male or female. I don't fucking know anymore, Charlie...it's a cold case now."

"Why not work on it when you don't have a case to solve?" I suggested.

He brushed his quiff up before letting out a long sigh. "It's not as easy as you think. I do wanna solve this...but...what if everything points back to Will? What if the reality hits me in the face?"

     "It won't," I walked up to the armchair he was sitting on, firmly setting my hands on his shoulders and giving him a good stare in his blue oceans. "My grandfather was a Leeds detective, and his advice to me was 'Don't follow your instinct, be the boss and be the instinct.'"

     "Thanks, mate," the twenty-nine year old half-heartedly smiled, getting up and heading to what I assumed was his office. But I was proven wrong when he turned his head and gave a slight smirk. "You coming with me or not?"

     "Fuck yeah!" I yelled, grabbing the attention of the receptionist. 'I don't care what you think of me, bitch!' I smirked as my feet carried me to Dan's side, following him past his office.