1

York Police Station

Panting heavily, Josie Maran stopped the motorbike she had been driving very fast and came down quickly. Removing her helmet, she brought out her phone from the pocket of her trousers and dialed the last number on her call log, kicking her feet earnestly for the receiver to pick up.

“Please, please pick up.” She muttered to herself.

The call went unanswered, making her sigh in frustration, giving her no other option than to try again the second time and then a third time. She was about giving up after the third trial when her phone suddenly vibrated. Her face lit up in happiness as she quickly picked up the call.

“Hello, customer!” She spoke quickly. “I'm calling for the delivery you requested for. I'm in front of the address you gave. How do I get to you?”

“Really? Do you usually take this long to deliver?" A clear masculine voice sounded from the other end.

“No, not at all!” Josie defended quickly. “Something happened on the way, that's why I'm here this late. I'm really sorry. Anyways, how do I get to you?”

The receiver hesitated for a while before replying. “That can't be possible for now. I waited for you and I had to leave when I had an emergency.”

Sighing, she nodded as she tried to understand the situation she was in. “Oh," she muttered to herself, a bit unhappy that she didn't meet her customer. "So, customer, what do I do about the delivery?” She asked him.

“Go in and ask someone for the desk of the squad leader of the homicide department," the voice at the other end said. “Someone is waiting for me there. You can leave it on my desk or hand it over to him.”

“Should I wait for you afterwards?”

“I'd advise you not to wait because it'll take a while before I get back.”

“But customer, we don't do things that way. How about—" Before she could complete her statement, the call was disconnected, cutting her sentence short. Surprised at the sudden action which she found disrespectful, she took a look at her phone before placing it back to her left ear.

“Customer? Are you there? Customer? Customer? Seriously! How can he hang up like that?” She shouted at no one in particular as she kicked the motorbike frustratingly. Holding her phone up, she took her anger on the inanimate object. “Hey! Do you know how hard it was for me to locate this place and how hard it was for me to rush down here because of your delivery and you're there telling me you had an emergency! What emergency?!" Looking up at the police station's signboard, she raised her fist up as if to punch it.

“It's a police station, not a hospital!” She sighed again, knowing fully well nothing could be done about the situation she found herself in. She just had to do as the man had told her to.

Putting her phone back in her pocket, she brought out the delivery box from the bigger metal box at the back of her motorbike and walked into the station with it, scanning through the whole building as she entered through the front door. There, she approached an officer who seemed like the receptionist there.

"Excuse me.” She called her attention as she walked up to the officer.

Looking up, the officer stopped what she was doing. “How can I help you?”

Placing the box she was carrying on the table in front of the officer, she cleared her throat. “You see, the thing is I got a call this morning from someone here to make a delivery, but I had to make two other deliveries before this one.”

Pausing, she raised her hands up to demonstrate to make it easier for the officer to understand before continuing. “Before I got here, an accident occurred and my second customer was involved, so I had to call 911 and wait for the ambulance to get there before leaving. So when I got here, I called the customer that asked me to deliver here and he told me to walk in here and ask for the desk of the squad leader." Then she paused. "Where is it?”

Folding her hands, the officer gave her an unbelievable look with raised eyebrows. “So in essence, you're asking for the squad leader's desk?”

Josie mimicked her by folding her hands too before nodding in agreement. “Well, if that's what you understand all I have been saying as, then yes.”

“Unbelievable. I asked a simple question and just to answer that, you gave that long explanation?”

“Well, so you would understand and not ask me again.”

“Seriously?" The officer shook her head. "Anyway, what department?”

“Eh? Department? What do you mean?"

“The squad leader of what department?” She asked, looking at her closely. From the expression on Josie's face, she could tell that she did not know the department. “You don't know? You didn't ask?”

“Well, about that. . ." She muttered, her voice trailed off as she tried to remember.

Shaking her head, the officer sighed. “I should have known you don't know what you're doing. Do you know how many squad leaders we have in this police station? How do you intend to find the one you're looking for if you don't know the department?”

“Well, I was. . .” Pausing for a brief second, she suddenly remembered and clapped her hand. “That's right! Homicide department! He said homicide department!” She exclaimed smiling, but her smile suddenly turned into a weird and annoying look as if her brain just processed what the officer said to her. “What do you mean by I don't know what I'm doing? I just forgot it for a short while. No one is above—"

“Go upstairs and ask for squad leader Jared Nittolo's desk.” The officer interrupted her before picking up a file on the table and walking away.

"Whoa, look at that!” Josie exclaimed as she watched the officer's retreating figure. “I haven't even finished talking and she walked out on me. What kind of people work in this station? They have no manners at all! First one hangs up on me and another walks out on me. Is that how they serve the citizens? Seriously!”

Getting pissed off, she found her way upstairs with the box she had come to deliver, as she had been directed. Taking a few steps forward, she read the inscription written boldly at the first door; Homicide Department, before walking in. The office was empty as she scanned through, and she had no choice than to go back outside to confirm if she was at the right place.

“What's this?” She asked herself as she walked back in. A frown had settled on her face by now. "There's no one here," she muttered to herself. "Is anyone here?" She called out, in case someone would hear her and reply. "Hello? Anyone?" She sighed and gave a small hiss. "Seriously, what's this? The whole place is empty, but he told me I'll meet someone here waiting for him. What do I do about this delivery box? I can't just take it back.” She continued speaking to herself.

Turning back to leave, she found a guy standing with arms folded at the door, making her startled at his silent and sudden appearance. She jerked backwards and almost fell, but she was able to maintain her balance and to prevent the box she was carrying from falling.

“Hey! You startled me!” She exclaimed as she walked up to him. “Who are you? Are you by any chance waiting for the squad leader?”

Ignoring her, the guy walked up to the desk of the supposed squad leader and sat down, going through the book on the desk. Adjusting her hair, Josie tried to compose herself well as she followed him and stood in front of the desk, then she dropped the box on it. Still, the guy did not give her any attention. She then closed her eyes and opened it again in order to contain her growing anger.

“Excuse me, I was talking to you just now," she started in between gritted teeth. "I usually don't like asking a question twice, that's why I take my time to explain things to people, but since I didn't explain anything to you, I'll ask again. Are you the one waiting for the squad leader?”

“Uhn.” He replied without looking up at her.

“That's a relief! This. . .” She explained raising the delivery box up before placing it back on the desk. ". . .he asked me to leave it with you.”

For a brief moment, the guy took a look at the box, at Josie, and then returned his gaze to the book, ignoring her and concentrating on what he was reading.

“Excuse me, I'm talking to you.”

“Do I have to reply?” He finally raised his head to look at her while folding his arms.

“Of course! If you don't reply, how do I get what I want?”

“What you want?”

Folding her arms too, she gave him a surprised look. “What I want? I mean, do I have to spell it out? Do deliveries come for free?”

“Ah!” He exclaimed sarcastically, with a slight chuckle. “Money?”

“Exactly!” She exclaimed smiling. “Of course, I have to get the money for this.”

“But I didn't order for that.” He replied with a fake smile and she was taken aback.

“Excuse me?”

“I said I didn't order for that. Why should I pay for it?”

“How can you say that? I mean, the guy I called earlier asked me to give this to you. How then can you say that?” Her eyes went wide open as she tried to persuade him to pay her for the delivery.

“But he didn't ask me to pay for it, right? Or did he?”

“Who is going to pay for it then?” She asked, getting tired and frustrated with each passing second.

“The person who ordered for it, of course.”

“But he's your friend!”

“How can you conclude that he's my friend?”

“Then, if you're not his friend, why are you here?” She asked, puzzled.

“Are you forgetting that this is a police station?”

“Ah!” She exclaimed nodding. “That's right. That's right. Are you by any chance a. . .” Giving a pause, she closed her mouth and opened her eyes wide. ". . .a criminal?”

“What!?” He exclaimed, surprised at her sudden conclusion.

“You're a criminal, right? What is your offence? What did you do? Did you steal anything? Or did you kill someone? Or are you a stalker? What exactly did you do?”

“I'm not a criminal!” He defended quickly with eyes wide open.

“Right! If you're not a criminal, then pay me!” She snapped back at him.

“Grab a chair and sit. You have a long time to wait.” He told her before diverting his attention back to what he was reading.

"Damn it!" She exclaimed as she hit her leg on the chair in front of her in frustration. The guy however, didn't look at her. He continued reading and acted like he did not see all her drama.