Power (Book 1)

Chapter 20

By the time I reached the station, it was completely dark. The moon cast an ominous glow on the city.

This would be the perfect time for something really bad to happen, I thought to myself as I approached the police station.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but I saw a doorbell. I decided to ring it instead. It was so quiet out here that I could hear it going off inside the station.

A man in the standard blue police uniform and cap answered the door. "May I help you?" he said.

I was getting some bad vibes from this guy. He had a mustache, gray with age, and a beer belly that really needed some work. I couldn't help but notice his hand placed purposely on the gun currently in its holster at his hip.

"Don't you see the sign?" He pointed to a sheet of paper inside the window. "We're closed. It's after hours."

"Oh, okay. Can I come by later?Tomorrow, maybe?" I flashed a smile to let the officer know I was unarmed and not dangerous.

"Possibly, if you can come at the right time. You can read, right?" He answered his own question. "Nah, of course you can't, never mind."

He tried to close the door. I stuck my foot in the doorway to keep him from shutting it all the way. "Sir please," I tried to reason. "If you don't let me in now, I'll just come back and bother you later. So can I please come in? Just for a second? Besides, if it's after hours, then why are you still here?"

He stopped, seeming to think. "Alright, kid, hurry up. You got five minutes."

I silently muttered a thank you to God as I walked through the now open door frame. I noticed a tag that read "Officer Wilkey" labeled onto the policeman's shirt.

"What are you here for, boy?" The police officer said. He slammed the door and locked it. 

"Yes, ah, see...well," I scrambled to find words, suddenly distracted by the heaps of papers on the officer's desk. Behind it, I saw a few empty beer bottles. Now that I thought about it, the air did have a weird smell to it. "I wanted to know if you had the security footage from the Parkmans."

"The Parkmans?" Wilkey scratched his beard, seeming to try to recall something. "Oh, yeah. Another officer got it. I didn't catch where he put it, but I can put in a word," he offered with a grim smile. That was probably just his way of saying "I'm busy, go away."

"No, thanks," I declined. "I can just ask him when I see him."

His smile faltered. "Why do you want the footage?"

"I just need to see it. Maybe I can take it in to Mr. Brown himself. I don't know, but I have to get my hands on it," I explained.

"That's confidential evidence. I don't have to give it to you," he said firmly.

He obviously wasn't giving it to me, and if I tried to get it by force, he could arrest me, and I could kiss getting revenge on Metagor goodbye. Time for another plan.

"Alright then, I guess I'll just leave. I don't know why you let me in if you were just gonna kick me back out."

"Huh. I don't either," he confessed.

"I'll let myself out." I walked back through the door without so much as a "bye."

I pretended to walk away, making an effort to stomp my feet on my way out.

Of course, I wasn't really going away. I just wanted him to think I was going away. Then I would sneak back inside and hopefully get some useful information. Smart, right? As long as I didn't get caught, that is.