The killer detective

1 - Sand dunes

The wind was blowing gently. It carried sand grains and made the strands of my hair dance around me. The air was dry and I could smell the hotness of it. Each breath I took was making my nose and mouth burn. Each breath changed my throat into a dry desert. I had to swallow a couple of times to make it wet again.

The scarf, which I had pulled up to my eyes, was making it harder to breathe. But at the same time, I didn't inhale any dust. I could feel my clothes burning my back and the rest of my body with it. Even though the clothes were all wet from my sweat. My muscles were tense, making sure I don't miss my chance. My breathing was getting faster as my heart was excitedly beating.

I blinked several times to get sand out of my eyes. It was scratching and burning. I couldn't see anything through the spontaneous tears that were trying to clean my eyes. 

"The wind could stop blowing finally. Nothing is visible," I murmured to myself as if cursing the weather. After a few more gusts the wind was finally losing its strength. 

I could see what I needed.

A guy was walking on the abandoned road out of the city into the desert. Sand dunes were relaxing in the scorching morning sun in the distance. He was alone, I could see his silhouette now quite clearly. I was waiting for you.

"Just a bit more..." I held the rifle firmer, pushed my feet more to the ground, and narrowed my eye to the sight. I needed to control my breathing; I needed to calm down my mind. I took a deep breath. Another one.

Calm down, will you... Another deep breath. But my heart was still excitedly beating making me breathe fast. One heartbeat wrong and I would miss the target.

"One... Two..." I was chanting while slowly tapping the trigger. My mind was getting sharper and I could only see the silhouette of the person on the road. I didn't pay attention to the sun nor the clouds that were running in the sky one by one. Nor the awful heat. My whole body and mind were focused on hitting the right spot. I tensed my muscles again after they relaxed a little. Waiting for the perfect chance.

It's really close. Less than 500 meters. 460... The wind was slowly picking up the speed again. I breathed in.

A big wind gust came towards me. It made metal roof plates of the close buildings rattle. Old rusty metal towers that stood along the abandoned road screaked hard the moment I pulled the trigger. Nothing was visible because of a thick sand screen, which got carried there by the wind.

"Did I get him?" I was still staring into the sight, trying to see through the thick sand screen.

The wind calmed down, sand grains fell back to the ground. The man was writhing in pain and holding his leg. Right! My mind went blank. I quickly got up, folded my rifle, and hanged it on my right shoulder. All done. I checked the watch on my left wrist and got to know it was quite late. I needed to get out of this roof quickly. I pulled the scarf from my face to the neck and ran down from the rooftop full of sand. I made my way through the inside of a suburban abandoned ruin and sneaked into a narrow long alley, that was connected to the beginning of the main street in this desert town.

Many people were walking on the main street, chatting could be heard from every corner, where people were buying or selling their goods. AC machines were rattling on the walls of houses that were lining the street. It was really busy and the wind was only blowing above the roofs, sometimes bringing more sand to fall to the ground. I blended myself in the crowd and was slowly walking through it to the other side to another small alley in between houses.

There, next to an old motorbike, that was covered by a tilt, stood a sky blue bicycle leaned on a stone wall. On the ground, there were many crates and I reached among them. I took out a case. From that, I grabbed a newer rifle with a laser pointer and replaced it with the one that was hanging on my right shoulder. The case closed with a clack, I put it back in place among the crates. Then I headed back to the main street to blend into the crowd again.

I walked around people carrying M 9 pistols, M 16...

Oh wow, the old M 14! I looked back at the person, who was carrying this one. It was quite a rare sight to see it nowadays. Most of them were rusty or dismantled as their production and service were finished long ago.

I was passing by other types of weapons in the crowd, which was typical for this area. People in white or ivory gowns and checkered headscarves were all around me, having tea in the corner of the small alley, chatting at spice stands, shouting at each other from the ground and in the windows. The mint smell was filling the place, coming from a tea shop at the corner. In another, there were many spice powders on colorful trays and women were standing there discussing who knows what. I took a turn at the next small alley, where they were selling great flat cakes with vegetables, but I wasn't there to eat.

The sand grains on the stone-paved road were crunching under my feet as I was walking past the flat cakes stand and smelling the great fried fragrance. The stone houses with flat roofs were casting a nice shadow in the alley with no balconies. It made the place feel a bit more bearable. Only small windows could be seen in there together with wooden side doors to enter inside.

I pushed one of the doors open, which then closed with squeaking and a bit of cracking. The sand must have gotten in the hinges again. I was standing in a small room, not bigger than one square meter, which had nothing, but stone steps leading upstairs. I continued my journey...

"Where the hell have you been so long!" I could hear a man's voice at the last step I was supposed to take before I even opened a smaller wooden door. He knew I was there already.

"Where do you think we can get coverage of the area with Isaac, Althea?" He paused for a while. "Pull it out of our asses?" He was still in a rage.

I took a step inside and gave him a top-down screening look. The small room with two old wooden tables and a stone floor, with some sand on it, looked very old. The windows were wide open and curtains were moving in the wind. Isaac was standing at one of the windows with his foot in the window frame, looking out to the street.

"Did you perhaps sneak out to eat chocolate, so your lazy ass could get even bigger? You should hit the gym more often, being a girl." Basil was still mad and started walking around the small space between the wooden tables that were just opposite of each other filled with many papers. It was unbelievably hot in the room. The roof fan was broken and there weren't enough electric sockets to plug in a standing one. And plus the electricity wasn't really working all the time. His sturdy boots were making a lot of sound on the old uneven floor.

Isaac gave me a very bored look and didn't say a thing. As he always did. I was standing there silent, just watching Basil's acting skills, amused.

"Where is your..." Basil was continuing his own monologue: "Oh, on you. Then we can get going, get your vest."

Basil always loved talking. I knew he was smart, the round glasses up on his nose definitely proved that. And he also loved stressing the glasses out by pushing them up most of the time. Or maybe he got them in the wrong size and they were sliding down all the time.

He threw me a black bulletproof vest with the system's military sign on it. As I was putting it on,  Basil standing in front of me was still lecturing me with his nose tip up high and eyes looking down. Isaac's hand suddenly touched his shoulder from behind.

"Wait," Isaac finally spoke.

"What again?" Basil turned to him, visibly annoyed that he spoiled his grand time when he could lecture me.

"All signboard posts are saying that the guy isn't on the list anymore. Someone took his points," Isaac said in his deep bass trembling voice.

"Wait... What... What do you mean? That's not possible," Basil replied with a non-believing tone and a frown on his face. "Come on, who else will do our work for us? He was worthless!"

"Read."

Isaac pushed the phone in front of Basil's nose tip. He had to take a half step back and read it out loud.

- Central Point Register -

Jacob Bay. Points: 58.

Hit in the Achilles tendon.

Weapon: Unknown.

Points transferred to the register.

"Wait, so we were on him for a couple of weeks for nothing? Like, really?! But no one here can see the list!" Basil exclaimed, being visibly fired up. I caught my breath.

"Really. Who would even go after a guy without a price? Another team?" Basil held his chin between his thumb and index finger and got absorbed in his thoughts. Isaac was already calling, going back towards the window to put his foot up again and stare out of it into one of the less busy streets.

"No, check it out. Don't tell me that it's only us in the area. Someone wrote the guy off and on top of that he is now completely worthless," Isaac was calling the Central point register, which had a list of everyone in the world and the points they owned. It also kept a record of wanted individuals with a price listed if killed or shot in a certain body part. "No, I don't s**t-care about that. Check it out, search it, look at it. NOW."

"So, we are going home?" I asked in a hopeful vision I could finally have AC and not sweat like a pig being roasted on the sun here inside this sandpit.

"Well, what else do you want to do here? Alth, pack up." Basil gave the order.

"You know..." I spoke up.

"What?" Isaac asked me.

"Em... Vegetable flat cakes? I'm kinda hungry. I'll be back in no time and we can go!" I blurted out. Isaac nodded his head, Basil was busy packing all the papers. I ran out of the house.

- Central Point Register -

Your target: Jacob Bay.

- Central Point Register -

Information about the target: target shot by an unknown firearm. Number of points: 0.

Isaac threw the phone on the table. "Basil, move it, pack up."

All the army equipment, which was lying around the room, had to be packed and loaded into a car.

"Yes, sir!"