The parents of Amanda Hayes were in tears after Chief Chevenix personally delivered the news. He promised to do his best to find the killer, even though he himself doubted it.
He went back to his office, seemingly in deep thought.
"Detective Parker, report to my office right away."
The detective came in. "This is tricky business. Three murders in the span of a week, two of them right here in the headquarters."
Gary nodded. "We have absolutely no leads. The bastard made sure to erase them all. Which means, we have nowhere to start from, even if we try."
Detective Parker replied, "I don't know if this is a lead or not, but I think you should know."
Gary's ears perked up. The detective continued, "I did a background check on the three victims, Raymond Hall, Cliff Sands, and Amanda Hayes. There was a link among the three of them. The three of them were alleged drug dealers, part of the Scorpion Gang."
Gary sighed,"Another unsolved case. That gang's been nothing but trouble. So you're saying the three deceased were members of the gang?"
"Yes, Chief. Amanda was a supplier of drugs within the police force. A few officers admitted. Cliff and Raymond were street sellers."
"So you think that there's a link between their history and the murders?"
"I'm not sure, sir, but its possible."
Gary got up. "Well, I have nothing do do anyway. Let's go investigate."
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Ethan was finally dismissed from the hospital, with an amputated robotic hand. He smiled, "This is one of the benefits of being rich."
He was walking with his father, Tony Hawk, business tycoon.
"Dad, why can't you deal with him? You're one of the most powerful men in the city!"
Tony looked at him and replied, "I'll be risking myself by going against powers you can't comprehend."
Ethan gritted his teeth. 'That bastard broke my hand and I can't even do anything about it!'
His frown soon turned into a smile. 'Dad said he couldn't because he's afraid of the so called 'higher power', but he didn't say I couldn't do anything about it!'
Tony looked at his son. "It seems you've finally figured it out," he said.
Ethan nodded. Tony said, "Send me the bill later, I'll give you the money."
Ethan grinned evilly. 'Brat, you will regret what you did!'
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Saturday, 23 June
Jayden got out of the house, feeling a bit more energetic than usual.
"Aunt Erica, Davina, I'm going out for a bit!"
"Where are you going?"
Jayden replied, "I'm just taking a walk down the hill." Without waiting for a reply, he dashed off.
Erica smiled,"Today's the day, my nephew. At least you don't have to hide from them."
Jayden heard her and wondered how he heard that, and what she meant.
Aiden woke up and called Maya and Austin. "Hey guys, why don't we take a walk into town?"
"Sure!" "I'll be there in a minute."
A few minutes later, Aiden, Austin and Maya met up at Aiden's place.
"Shall we go?" He asked and they nodded.
Austin heard something and looked to his right.
He exclaimed, "Isn't that Jayden?"
Maya and Aiden looked and sure enough, it was their pal.
Jayden couldn't stop himself now that he was running down a steep slope.
Aiden waved at him. "Hey, pal!"
Jayden racked his brain, thinking up multiple ways of preventing himself from injury, and that's when he saw Aiden waving at him. His lips curled into a smile.
Jayden suddenly deviated from his original path, aiming for Aiden.
The unsuspecting Aiden kept waving, and then he realized Jayden's plan. But it was too late. Jayden pounced on him and they rolled down the hill together.
They stopped about fifty meters later. Aiden got up, incensed.
"Dude, what was that for!?" He was about to berate him even more when he noticed Jayden's arm was bleeding. "Oh my gosh, you're bleeding!"
Aiden helped him up and carried him to his place, and all the while, Jayden was protesting.
At Aiden's place, Aiden personally cleaned Jayden's arm. When he rubbed the wound for the first time, he was like, "Eh?"
Jayden looked at his wound and there was nothing there.
'Shoot, how do I explain this?'
Jayden smiled and said, "It was tomato sauce, man. I tried telling you."
Aiden smacked Jayden with the towel and yelled, "I brought you all the way here for nothing!? Why didn't you tell me?"
Jayden was speechless. Aiden berated him for another good three minutes. Maya and Austin were standing at the side, smiling at Jayden, who looked no different from a six year old kid being scolded by his mother.
When Aiden had calmed down, he asked, "I have a question. What were you doing on the hill? This place is out of bounds."
Jayden replied with an odd expression, "Out of bounds? But I live here!"
Maya, Aiden and Austin were gobsmacked. ' There are only four houses on this hill. Austin, Maya and I occupy three. So is he saying....' Aiden asked, just to be sure, "Where exactly do you live?" to which Jayden replied, "The big house on the top of the hill."
The trio felt like passing out right there. 'He's the Prince!?'
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Maya replied, "Why didn't you tell us?"
Jayden replied, "I was coming to tell you. I was about to call and ask when I missed my step and started running downhill. If I stopped I was gonna get seriously injured."
"So that's why you were running. I thought you were being chased or something," Austin said.
Maya and Aiden felt like slapping the guy. Aiden then said, "Well, I guess its time we tell you who we are, as well. We were gonna tell you after our friendship truly solidified, but that's before we knew who you are. I'm from the Walker Family, Maya's from the Steele Family, and the bonehead comes from the Kingsman Family. We are pretty much the three wealthiest families of Phoenix City, with the Greystones above us."
Jayden had no idea about money and stuff, and what it meant to be rich, but he played along.
"So, Your Highness," Aiden said in a teasing tone, "would you like to grace us with you presence, as we walk into town?" "Quit it, My Loyal Subject. Of course I'm coming."
Maya spoke up, "Not like that," pointing at his dirty clothes.
Aiden said, " Don't worry, I got you covered," as he took him to his closet.
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Meanwhile, in an abandoned warehouse, in the manager's office, a young teenager was sitting, with a smile on his face.
The manager asked, "So you want me to kidnap the son of Adrian Greystone, and risk the lives of my gang members?"
Ethan replied," The only child of the Greystones is named Davina. And she's a girl. Nobody among the nobles has ever heard of the Greystones having a son. That enough for you?"
The manager said,"Unfortunately, I will have to..." His speech was cut short as Ethan placed a was of cash on the table.
"That's $20 000," he said.
The manager smiled. "Consider it done, Mr Hawk."