It couldn’t be true. How was this possible?Jain didn’t want to believe what she was seeing in the image. The face of Stanley dressed in black was on the screen. And on the rim of Lana’s glass was the bottle of option being held by his right hand. Jain felt she was refusing to believe the truth. But there were a lot of things that didn’t add up. Like how Stanley was left-handed and not right-handed. Her mind raced as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together. Her mind led her back to the first crime scene she had stepped into in Los Angeles. It was with Stanley, and he had been there on time. Stanley was always there on time. He always showed up earlier than her. Could that be why? He would perform the killing and would call everybody to arrive. Jain remembered Tristan’s crime scene. She had been at the precinct when Stanley had called her. When she got to the crime scene, Stanley had already been there. It was starting to make sense now. Her mind also took her back to the first
FOUR HOURS AGO. Miss Lopez watched the video once more to confirm her suspicion, and she could recognize those walking steps anywhere. She had worked in the Los Angeles police department for too long not to be able to recognize those footsteps. They could only belong to one person alone—Detective Stanley Rogers. Her heart was thumping fast as the realization hit her. Why would Stanley do such a thing? Miss Lopez hated the fact that she was right this time. She had some doubts when the first results from the analysis came out saying that the bullet was from a registered gun in this department. Why would Stanley make such an obvious error? Surely he must have known that he would be caught when the bullets were finally analyzed? Miss Lopez didn’t know what to think anymore. She was glad that Jain hadn’t told him about their discovery. He would have killed her too. It was only now that Miss Lopez understood why there were so many closed cases of the Valdez cartel. It had been so su
“What is it, son?” Mr. Lucius asked Rylan who was staring at the screen completely dumbfounded. Rylan opened his mouth to speak but now words could be fathomed. He was still in shock. Rylan had always been suspicious about Stanley. He never liked him from the start and he knew the feeling was mutual with Stanley. But there were so many questions running through his mind. Why would Stanley do this? And did Jain know about this? Even the video had some questionable scenarios like why Lana was looking at Stanley as he headed towards her. Back at the party, he had thought she was staring at the jazz band. But he was wrong. It seemed Lana knew Stanley was coming for her, and that shock must have glued her to the spot. Rylan took a step backward and began rubbing his chin. He was contemplating his next move. Should he tell Jain? He didn’t know. He pulled out his phone and went to the speed dial. He dialed Jain’s number and placed the phone on his ear. The line rang but no one picked it
Melissa was rounding up for the day when a figure stepped into the room. She was surprised to see Stanley in here. He rarely came in here. The last time he had stepped into the records room was to get information on Jain. That was the first few weeks of her arrival. He had told her he was curious about his partner and wanted to know more about it. Stanley smiled as he stared at Melissa who seemed shocked. He hoped she didn’t know anything about this yet. “Detective Rogers,” Melissa called in shock. “What are you doing here?”Stanley chuckled to himself as he walked forward. It was a strange occurrence today. First, Jain had stepped into the office trying to place back the cases, then she had found out about the other unsolved cases. Melissa had watched Jain leave the office in a hurry after looking at the files. When Melissa had looked at the files, she had noticed something as well. The cases were all closed by Stanley himself. It was suspicious, but there were a lot of suspicious
When Rylan stepped out of the video game store, it was already dark. He wondered how much time he had spent there. He had spent over eleven minutes trying to calm himself down after realizing that Stanley was the murderer. Rylan was still contemplating his next move. Should he find Stanley first, or should he phone Jain and tell her of his discovery? The latter seemed like the best option. They were working together now, and he had promised to help her get revenge on the man who had murdered her. That was after he had gotten him in Tristan’s killer. And luckily for him, it was someone he hated—Stanley Rogers. He pulled out his phone from his inner suit pocket and dialed Jain’s number. He was getting her voicemail. Frustrated, he rubbed his forehead thinking where she could be. He tried calling her again and he still referred to her voicemail. Rylan knew something was up. There was a possibility of Jain being captured by Stanley. He had to find her as soon as possible. As he thought
Detective Jain Reynolds gulped hard as she stared at the barrel that was pointed at her forehead. Her heart was thumping hard against her chest as she stared at Stanley. His face was lit in the bright living room and it displayed a malicious smile on his face. Jain already knew what he was thinking. Her eyes fell to his finger that was gripping the trigger and it was trembling. It looked like he was fighting himself from pulling the trigger too soon. If there was one thing Jain had realized, it was that Stanley was going to kill her. She wasn’t going to make it out of here alive. Stanley had known that Jain would be here. She couldn't just resist being nosy. She had come here a couple of times, the other time he had been here searching for any clue that Tristan had fixed the video, but he had only stumbled across Jain who had also been in there. He had wanted to keep this away from her, but she had always been Tom persistent. She had a knack for nosing around, and that was going to l
Rylan glanced at his Rolex impatiently. It was getting late, and he wondered what was going on. Williams had told him he would find Jain’s last location and send it to him but had no response since then. He feared that Jain could be in danger, and with each passing second, she could be on the verge of death. There was a satisfying feeling that came which cured the anxiety Rylan had felt a few hours ago. He was aware that something bad was about to happen, and it did now. Jain was missing, and Stanley had been found as the killer. There had to be one thing that could lead Rylan to Jain, but he was far away from home, and it would take so much time to go back there to find her. He was going to leave all the work to Williams. He knew what he was going to do. A few minutes later, his phone rang and he looked at the caller’s ID. It was Williams. He quickly picked up the call and placed the phone in his ear, hoping that he was going to get some good news. “Hello Williams? Did you find he
“And when I mean big, I mean something huge,” Karen McCullough said. Frederick leaned against his chair and rubbed his chin as they brainstormed. His daughter had just opened his mind to something they hadn’t thought of until now. Carlos Borges was part of the Valdez cartel a few years ago, and so was he. That was where they had first met. He had left the cartel long before the feud between him and Ernesto escalated. What Fredrick didn’t understand was why Ernesto had left San Diego to Carlos’s control. He was the stronger and the most influential of the two. At least that was what he had thought. But tonight, Karen had opened his eyes to the bigger picture. There was a possibility that Carlos had wanted to rule San Diego by himself, and when Ernesto didn’t budge, it led to the separation. Ernesto had fled to Los Angeles while Carlos had remained in San Diego where he had become a menace. The cops couldn’t put him behind bars because they were never able to find incriminating eviden
VENICE, ITALY6 MONTHS LATER. “Stay away from me!” The man yelled as he ran through the dim streets for shelter. Behind him, a man dressed in a black suit with a black mask was running after him. In his hand was an FN 5’7. The man in black pursued him endlessly. When the Italian man stopped for shelter, he pulled out his gun from the pockets of his leather jacket and aimed at the man in black. “Rylan. Watch out,” Williams called in his ear. “Holy shit!” Rylan yelled on his breath as the man pointed the gun in his direction. Two shots were fired and Rylan managed to dodge the bullets before they could hit him. “Are you sure this is our guy?” Rylan asked. “Affirmative. Dominic De Rossi,” Williams replied through the comms. “I just hope you’re right.”“When have I ever been wrong?”Rylan rolled his eyes and fired back at Dominic. The shot whizzed past Dominic’s head and he scrambled to his feet immediately. Rylan saw this and decided to go after him. They were on the main stre
“They let you in?” Jain asked. “Of course they would.”Jain sighed and drank her cappuccino. They were both seated at a table in the cafe. It was at their favorite spot—the table by the window. It had been two days since Rylan had spoken to Frederick. He could still remember the shock on his face when he told him he had forgiven him. It wasn’t something that Frederick had expected. Frederick was aware that he despised him, but there was no need to keep that grudge anymore. The battle had been won. The best thing he could do now was move on and that was ok his agenda. Jain shook her head in disbelief. She was baffled that they would let Rylan into the prison to speak to Frederick McCullough. Well, he was Rylan Daystar. “So what did you tell him?”Rylan lifted his cup of cappuccino and took a sip from it. His eyes went to the parking lot outside the window. The morning sun washed all the cars there with its glorious light including his black Audi. “I told him that I forgave him.”Ja
The door opened and a figure dressed in suit stepped into the facility. The sounds of footsteps echoed through the hallway as the figure made its way toward the door. When it arrived, a guard was waiting by the door who was heavily armed. He opened the door and stepped forward. He had a grim look on his face. “Welcome, Mr. Daystar.”Rylan smiled at him and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Where is he?” He asked. “Waiting for you, sir.”Rylan nodded and stepped forward. He was in a prison facility, one of the most dreaded in the country. Rylan was here to see someone special to him. He would call it a mockery, but there was something he would love to say. This was the last thing on his bucket list before he could tag this mission as a success. They arrived at a room and the guard opened the door for Rylan. Inside the dimly lit room, a figure was sitting at a table dressed in orange. Rylan clenched his jaws and stepped into the room. He turned back to the guard who was still sta
“I thought we were going to head back home?” Jain asked as they headed into their Airbnb. “Well, Los Angeles is a two-hour flight back, and my pilots are off duty for the night,” Rylan said, closing the door behind them. Jain sighed and rubbed her neck nervously. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been in a room alone with a man. That had been with Jacob; five years ago. Rylan took off his suit jacket and hung it on the cloth rag before folding his undershirt. “If this makes you uncomfortable I could get a different room for myself.”Jain turned to him. “You could do that?” She asked. “I mean, there’s no need for that.”Rylan arched an eyebrow at her as he folded his sleeve once more. “Okay. If you say so.”Jain nodded and proceeded to the fireplace. She was gazing at the crackling fire as she held her shoulders. It brought her soothing warmth. There was a center table in the small living room and on it was a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne sitting in it. “Wou
WASHINGTON D.CRylan dropped his fork and reached for his napkin dapping his lips softly. Jain who was watching him had a glass of red wine in her hand. They were surrounded by people who also stayed in an expensive diner. One only Jain could dream of having. Rylan had changed her perspective on things over the last few days. She had managed to see the world through another pair of lenses; the expensive kind. Jain never knew that Rylan could be such a sweet person. She could vividly remember the first day she had met him. She and Stanley had been trying to solve the shootout that seemed to have happened to his club. When she had first laid eyes on him, she knew he was trouble. From the way he talked and moved, she assumed that he was as narcissistic and arrogant as the rest of all the billionaires in Los Angeles. But now as she sat across from him in an expensive diner, she couldn’t believe that she had been wrong the whole time. She had missed judging him, and that was fine by him
The party was lavish. There were lots of special dignitaries who filled the scene. The paparazzi wouldn’t stop flashing their cameras at them. This was the biggest party in the city. It was an awards party which would explain why there were so many famous people. A black Lamborghini arrived at the scene and halted on the red carpet. The door lifted and a figure stepped out of the car. It was Rylan Daystar who was dressed in a charcoal black suit with floral patterns and a shawl which was tied at his waist. He looked like a Frenchman. He moved to the other side of the car and opened the door. A woman stepped out of the car all dressed in a white gown. It was Jain, and she had a new look. Her platinum blonde hair which was always long was cut short now making her look dangerously beautiful. Rylan smiled as he watched her close the door of the Lamborghini. A valet came forward and Rylan threw the key to him. “Make sure you take good care of her.”“Yes sir,” the valet said, getting in
Rylan opened the door and stepped into the house. He had a grim look on his face. Arlene, who was seated on the couch engrossed with the television, looked up and saw him walk in. She immediately turned off the television and smiled at him. “Rylan. You’re back.”Rylan nodded. “Mom I’d like for you to meet someone,” he said standing aside from the door. Arlene raised an eyebrow at this. “Come in,” Rylan appeared to be speaking to the door until a figure stepped into the room.As Arlene saw the figure, she immediately flashed back. There was no way this was happening. He was real, and he was still alive. He was Paul Richmond. Arlene tried to speak but no words could converge. Paul looked at her and smiled. “Hey, Arlene,” he greeted. Arlene tried to look away but she couldn’t. His voice brought back so many memories. Like when Lauren had first told her that she was pregnant die him. Or when he had tried to combine her right outside the Vice chancellor’s office to come with him. Th
“I’m telling you son, the Los Angeles Angels might win this,” Paul said as he stepped out of Rylan’s Lamborghini. “Well, I hope you’re right, Dad. Because I have put a lot into this,” Rylan said, shutting the door of the car. Paul came to his son and wrapped his hand around his shoulder. “Trust me, son. You’ll see.”Rylan scoffed and they walked towards the entrance of the stadium. They had their seats reserved in the executive box. Rylan was here to watch his football team win the title. He was supposed to be here with Leah, but she told him she had some other pressing business to attend to. And so he decided to go with his father instead. There were now a few things left for Rylan before he could cross off his bucket list. Everything was going according to plan. “I saw you receiving the key to the city,” Paul said. “I couldn’t be more proud of you, Rylan.”Rylan turned to him. “You saw that? How?”Paul chuckled and patted his shoulders. “I was there.”Rylan’s eyes almost bul
“Do you have jitters?” Detective Jain Reynolds asked. Rylan turned to surprise. “Of course not.”“Well, you’ve been talking about your thigh for the last two minutes.”“I’m just anxious.”Jain turned to him. “About what?”Rylan kept silent for a few minutes to think about it. “About this, I guess?”Jain scoffed at his words. “You’ve been in front of a crowd a million times. This is the same thing.”“Well not exactly. I’ve never been in front of a crowd filled with police officers.”Jain laughed at his words. “Rylan Daystar is being intimidated by a crowd of police officers. Who would have thought?”Rylan rolled his eyes and placed his hands before him. They were both standing in a room alone. In a few minutes, they would be taken outside to be handed the key to the city. Rylan wasn’t exactly sure why he was there. When Jain had first told him about this at the cafe? He quickly declined the offer. The city saw him as a hero. But he wasn’t. He had so many flaws that would prevent