occasions, just to be sure of the word he was reading. Every now and then he peered up to the wall, his eyes reading the emotions upon the Wolf’s victims faces. He hated the man, despised his kind, and last night he took the opportunity to assist in cleansing London of that scum. He saw his feeble efforts as helping Richard, although there was little partaking from himself. He thought about the methods that his new colleague used, the things he had only seen in films, words spoken in random chat about the myths of interrogation. Last night was no myth, he remembered it well, too well for his liking. He had seen pain inflicted upon many people, one of whom was himself, but the type of torture he witnessed that evening had been the worst he had ever seen. He contemplated that the events had maybe triggered the haunting nightmare to strike with a fierce touch. His attention was given back to the file.
***
Jack awoke with a thudding skull. He had drooled upon the floor, again. His alarm had beeped on several occasions and he chose to ignore it. He had shot up when realising that his fellow co-workers would soon be entering the building, seeing him in the current state would really effect his position and rumours would begin to circulate like wild fire. It was one of those environments where people knew your personal business before you did. He pulled the sleeping bag from his legs like a butterfly escaping its cocoon. His arms stretched out wide, testing his wings for the first time. His back ached at the base of his spine, he laughed at the memory of Nathan whining at him to ‘stop being spineless’ and ‘man up’. He missed the banter they held, he missed his only friend. He made the decision to call him after freshening up, he had to sort himself first before anybody witnessed his appearance. He shuffled to the toilet, the sleeping bag wedged firmly back into the drawer. His face looked similar to the blurred reflection he cursed the night before. His skin cracked around the mouth, the neck sagging slightly. He filled the sink with cold water and removed his t-shirt. He sunk his head into the pool of chilling liquid, the throb under his skull slipped to the rear of his head, banging harder. The slow trickle chilled his neck as he stood, the droplets snaked down onto the neckline of his clothes. He felt a little more awake, but still looked terrible.
‘Shit Jack………what are you doing to yourself?’ he asked the mirror.
The heavy feeling in his stomach gained air and flowed up through his guts, he turned quickly and embraced the toilet. The bile exited his mouth, the tears formed in his eyes.
‘Jesus’ he panted between breaths.
His face was submerged once again in the sink. He needed chewing gum quickly, before someone made the huge mistake of starting a conversation with him.
***
Nathan had flipped through a specific story several times, the details caused his brain to tingle. The information was of a murder scene, over ten years ago. The date was placed as
He moved from the bed and grabbed his phone, Jack’s number sat illuminated ready to call. He stopped, thinking about his actions.
He sat, his elbows rested upon his bent legs.
‘I can’t call Richard, there’s no details for him’, he pondered for a solution.
He grabbed the folder from behind him and opened it to the front page, the note from Lillian sat before his eyes. He removed the page and located her details at the top right hand corner.
‘You star!’ he smiled, reaching for his phone again.
Lillian answer her mobile phone with curiosity, not knowing the caller. She kept one hand on the steering wheel and placed the phone to hear ear, pressing the answer button on the way up.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Lillian?’ the deep voice asked
‘Yes, who is it?’
‘It’s Nathan, Nathan Cawley, Jack’s friend!’ he explained
‘Oh, Nathan, I’m just on the way to work now, I’ll get Jack to call you’
‘No it’s fine, actually it’s you I need to talk to, I need a favour!’
‘Okay’
‘It’s quite urgent, but also I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell Jack!’
‘Right, I’m not sure….’
‘I know, I apologise if I’m putting you in an awkward place Lillian!’
‘It’s okay Nathan, what was it you needed?’
‘The folder you sent me, I need some details from one of the cases, it doesn’t have much with it’
‘Oh, sorry’
‘No it’s not your fault, it was withheld for normal viewing, it means that there is more to it in archives’
‘Right, do you think it could be a match to the case now?’ she quizzed, intrigued by the request.
‘I doubt it, it’s just a hunch really, it’s what happens when you get old!’ they laughed together, his attempts to sweet talk the information from her was working.
‘Well, if you text me the case number I will get onto it once I’m there. It’s quiet in the morning so should be clear’
‘Lillian, you are a star, I owe you’ he thanked
‘It’s no problem Nathan, fire me that text and I’ll get what I can sent over to you, I’ll ask Jack’s driver to bring it’
‘Thanks again’
‘Bye Nathan’ the call was ended. He placed his phone in his hand and began typing the details in, his fingers making mistakes as he rushed it, he back tracked and corrected them. The text was sent and he sat impatiently waiting for the reply. His fingers fiddle as he gazed at the collage of crime scene pictures, tonight was the night the Wolf would take another life. The young girl would run for her life with false hopes of freedom, the beast would give chase, arousing him as he stalked her through the trees. He will kill her under a beautiful sky, a sky she should be allowed to watch every night for the rest of her life, a sky she can show her own children one day, a sky that would be filled with the howl from her killer. He knew that if the information he requested from Lillian was that of the Wolf, he would have to make a decision. Give it to Jack and let the law take the beast in, or, give it to Richard and let him catch the beast and cause an imaginable amount of pain and suffering. Whatever he decided, one thing was certain, he would have to leave today, he would have to gather his belongings and board the next plane home. The outcome could be very messy and with Lime publicising his past, he couldn’t stay in London, he had to leave.
***
Lillian arrived at the Metropolitan Headquarters, her car parked in the usual space. She locked the driver’s door and headed for the entrance, her phone vibrated within her pocket. Her cold hands pulled it free and she fumbled with the buttons as she opened the text.
