GIVE ME A DAY

Episode 5

Bent over his keyboard in their third-floor office, Scott Walker inspected the files on his deal before moving over to his computer. He was concentrating so hard that he jolted a little in his chair when his door opened and a frustrated Sparkle stormed in. He frowned. He never got instant messages at work. No one was allowed to barge into the chief's office. Well, Sparkle was an exception. She didn't give a f**k.

Due to the unannounced intrusion, Mr. Walker's heart rate kicked up a notch.

Scott Walker was the Chief of Sparkle's division. He has been around the place for so long, doing a spectacular job. He was a calm, logical and calculated man, although he took it out on his staff sometimes when they weren't up and doing. Advanced in age and physical appearance. His intellectual capacity was beyond amazing. He was like a father figure to Sparkle aside, his mentoring involvement in her life. Sometimes, when necessary, he still put away the love he had for her and treated her harshly. He believed that he was moulding her for the unfairness of the world. Mr. Walker had always seen Sparkle taking over his place but felt that her kind heart would be the end of her. To survive in this kind of job, you need to use your head and not your heart most times.

When Mr. Walker worked, everyone knew that he disposed of disturbance and disturbance from all angles.

“Sparkle, you know the rules,” he said with a huge sigh that followed with him pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need my concentration while working.”

“Sorry to breach the rules, sir. This can't wait. It is urgent.”

“What is it, Sparkle?” He dropped the folder he had in his hands and linked both hands in front of him. “What is so life-threatening that it can't wait until afterwards?”

Sparkle, although owning a successful business that made her comfortable, still had a passion for the force. She knew all her life that she wanted to make a difference in the world, and that included joining a larger organization that gave her access to do so.

“I wanted confirmation, sir, that the robbery suspect will face the law accordingly. Information reaching me is that he is allegedly meant to join the special unit. How so?”

Heaving a sigh, “Sparkle, we have more critical cases to face. If the higher-ups think that adding a junkie will make a difference, that is their business. You can't oppose their unanimous decision.”

“With all due respect, I joined this force to curb crab like that. They can't turn this reputable sector into a laughingstock. I can't-”

Raging, “then take your grievances to them! There's nothing I can do. My hands are tied. You can't tell them what you like and don't like. They call the shots, we follow.” Settling back on his seat, “dismissed.”

Still standing her ground, “but sir-”

“Dismissed!” He repeated in a harsher tone.

Sparkle left with so much anger back at her.

Booting her coded computer, it signalled an instant message with a loud ding.

She frowned. Sparkle never got instant messages at work. Only at home when she was communicating with one person in particular. Her heart rate kicked up a notch. When she read the username along with the message, written in Spanish, her insides tightened.

Is he here?

It was him. Sparkle almost couldn’t believe it.

They’d never attempted to contact her here at work before, but cryptic messages were her contact’s preferred method of communication. The man was paranoid about phones being tapped and e-mails being traced, so he was always sending messages via different usernames and accounts to avoid detection and tracking.

Sparkle straightened and considered her reply. Whatever the contact network wanted, it must be important for them to take the risk of contacting her here.

Still, the possibility of being caught in communication with them made her heart thud, and her palms turn sweaty.

Casting a surreptitious look around her to ensure that her coworkers at the Investigation unit weren’t close enough to see what was on her screen, she hunched over her keyboard and typed out a brief answer.

“I don’t know.”

A few seconds later, the terse reply came back. “Find out and contact me immediately.” The man signed off.

Sparkle blinked. That was it? No further information about why they wanted her to do the checking—though she suspected they were planning an operation of some sort—or what they planned to do with the information when she reported back to them. Probably just as well. The less she was privy to about their plans, the easier it would be to claim her innocence if she got caught later on. She wanted to help the cause, not become a martyr for it.