Victims of the Crimes(on-hold)

Chapter 7: The Detective's Place

~Meryl's POV~

Kaz was driving while I was leaning at the door. The whole time we exchanged no words. I was too tired to talk. A faint sound of music was playing from the car.

I was staring through the window, observing the buildings and houses in the night. The full moon shared its light, shimmering the street in its ways. The rain was pouring lightly and scarcely.

My eyes would almost shut then barely open. I had that red-haired doll by my hand. I held the doll like I was carrying a baby and gently brushed her hair by my fingers. Then I held the tiny hand and moved it in a way that looked like she was waving at me. After a while, I gradually hugged her. She was comfortable, soft and had a sweet scent. For some reason, I felt a whole lot better like this. My eyes were deeply shut, and all the tension was slowly lifting from my body. I felt calm and relaxed... and even safe.

"Meryl..." a call interrupted my moment of relaxation. "Meryl. Are you asleep?" I opened my eyes and looked at my left. The detective was looking at me. "We're here," he said. I glanced by the window to see a one-story house.

We got off the car. The showers sprinkled on my face which refreshed me. Kaz headed to the front door first and I followed behind. He began unlocking the door while I stood by the doorsteps and waited. "There," he said, once he unlocked it. "Get in."

I entered first then he followed, closing the door. "You need a room to stay in. Follow me. I'll take you to the guest room," he said and headed left. We walked by a narrow corridor. There were four doors: two to the left and the other two to the right. "That one at the left corner will be your room," he pointed and instructed. "The door next is my room. And that one at the right corner is the bathroom." I nodded. "You can see your room. Until then I set up my laptop." He went to his room, leaving me alone in the corridor.

I held the doorknob to my room, but before I opened it, I took a look at the forth door. He didn't say what that room was for. Maybe it's an extra room.

I got inside the room and switched on the light and see the contents. It had a bed and a night table. The window was covered by a cream-colored curtain. The wall was painted in light brown color. There wasn't that much interesting stuff to see, but it was good for a guest room. I lay my bag and the redheaded doll on the night table then sat at the bed. The bed was spongy and comfy.

"Meryl! Come to the living room," Kaz called out. When I entered the living room, Kaz was already there with his laptop on the table. "I've prepared everything to see the contents of the flash drive and the CD," he said. "I felt like you would want to see what's in it... that is if you want to see. I won't force you." "It's fine. I want to see it. I want to know what my father is involved in." I said as I tried to bring a brave voice. I didn't know what I might see. It could be anything... anything good or bad. I was scared of what I might see, but I had too.

"Alright then," Kaz said and plugged in the flash drive in his laptop. Folders dated by months were displayed. "Let's go to the latest," he said and opened the folder and click on the newest video file.

The video was the front and back view of the driver's perspective which didn't have any use. But the audio came in handy. Half of the video was dad driving while the radio was reporting. There was nothing interesting, that was until dad reached a destination. It was the same place where the people took Chloe.

The sound of a door opening came then followed a greeting. "Damien!" a soothing yet anxious female voice called my dad. "Kara! Oh my! I so glad to see you!" my dad exclaimed. Then another door opened. "Chloe, get inside," Kara said. "Chloe... wow..." my dad whispered in a raspy tone. Both doors closed. "Damien! I'm really happy to see you again after a long time," she said then introduced dad to Chloe.