The Tracks by Sally Royer-Derr (little readers TXT) 📕

She remembered something that happened when she was younger. A string of violent cases had happened around the city, targeting students. It was later revealed that they were simply prompted by “chain mail.” The precise manner in which these people had died almost felt like they were instructed somehow.

Ava absentmindedly looked at the mark on her arm with a jagged scar running through it. It was a long-lasting mark of her involvement in the chain-mail case. She wasn’t a perpetrator, no. Rather, she had tried to help a friend and instead became the victim herself. Ava shuddered. Those were memories she didn’t want to remember.

“Hey, I think that’s my file.”

Ava jumped in her seat, spilling coffee onto her pants. She turned in the direction of the voice and glared at the detective. He crossed his arms over his stomach, causing his tattoo of an eye to face her.

“Murphy! Was that necessary?” she shrieked as she grabbed at the tissues on her desk. “Turn your tattoo away. I feel like it’s looking at my failures,” she whined.

Ava quickly packed the file’s contents together and shoved them toward the detective, who had doubled over in laughter. Ava smacked him with the file.

“Take it,” she insisted.

Detective Murphy shrugged and wiped tears from his eyes.

“You seemed interested in the file though.”

Ava got up and put the file into his hands. She scoffed.

“Well, yes,” she said, laughing, “I actually read through it.”

Murphy rolled his eyes and raised the file. “I was getting to it.”

Ava laughed again. “Sure, you were.”

Murphy chuckled and walked toward his desk. Before he could sit down, Ava called out to him.

“Let me have that case.”

Murphy raised his eyebrow.

“Chief’s not going to be happy with that. You know he’s very particular with keeping everything 'in order.'”

Ava stifled the urge to snicker. She pushed it down and focused on the more important matter.

“That seems like a lot of work, Detective. Are you sure you’re up for that?”

She raised an eyebrow at the pile of paperwork on his desk. Murphy followed her eyes and winced when he saw how much work he had to catch up on. His guilt lasted all of five seconds. Eventually, he turned to Ava and shrugged.

“Let me have that case and I’ll swap it out for one of mine.”

Murphy looked suspicious.

“You’re always going after the big, bad guys. I don’t think I want any of your cases,” Murphy said.

Ava rolled her eyes. “I’ve been grounded. Chief thinks I do too much.”

Ava opened her desk drawer and rifled through her files. She had almost the same amount of paperwork as Murphy. She ignored the forms and pushed them aside until she found what she was looking for. She held an older brown envelope in her hand and smiled at Murphy. He crossed his arms with an unimpressed expression.

“Give me the five-person murder case, and I’ll exchange it for the case where your only job is to observe a house for five hours,” Ava said.

“Who’s in the house?” Murphy asked.

He was still suspicious, but the thought of spending time away from the station and having five sweet hours of doing nothing had intrigued him.

“Chief’s mom. She’s back in town.”

Murphy mulled it over in his mind before finally handing the file over. Ava took it and handed him her file.

“Chief is going to be mad,” Murphy said.

Ava shrugged, not caring.

“I give him the results that keep our station up and running.”

Soon enough, the police station was lively. Officers streamed in. While most sat down and began their work, others huddled around the coffee machine and chatted. To them work didn’t start until Chief himself walked through the doors.

Ava looked for her partner in the crowd and frowned when she didn’t see him. Last night, during the chase, he had fallen on his bad knee. Ava had tried to help him up, but he waved her off and ordered her to catch the assailant.

Ava took her phone out and dialed his number. Before she could hit the call button, the big doors opened and in walked Carl Weathers. Ava smiled immediately and hurriedly made her way over to him.

“How’s the knee?”

Carl never looked his age. The only thing that ever betrayed him was his rapidly whitening hair and now, his bad knee too.

Carl ignored her question, but Ava caught how he limped slightly. She frowned at him.

“Did you tell Marina about it?” Ava asked as she raised her eyebrow.

By the way Carl’s face blanched, he most definitely did not tell his wife about last night’s chase and his aching knee. Ava pulled a face and took her phone out.

“I’m going to tell her. If she finds out about the knee later, I’ll get in trouble too.”

Carl shook his head and attempted to wrestle the phone out of her hands. Ava dodged him and stepped aside.

Another officer holding a fresh cup of coffee walked by and expertly maneuvered himself around Carl and Ava. Most officers were used to their antics by now. He chuckled as he went past them.

Suddenly a quiet settled over the room. Even Ava and Carl had paused to look at who caused the silence.

At the sight of Chief standing by the doorway of his office, Ava quickly brought her hands down and straightened her posture. Carl laughed under his breath, earning him a hostile look from Ava.

“We’re not finished,” Ava mouthed to her partner.

Carl patted her back and said, “Sure.”

Chief looked around looking for someone. Ava shifted uncomfortably when his gaze landed on her and then Carl.

In a booming voice he called out, “You two, in my office—now.”

The crowd parted as they walked through, and some even dared to pat them comfortingly on their shoulders as they