You can read early chapters in advance on my [P].[A].[T].[R].[E].[O].[N].
Link: [email protected]/Arson09
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John Nolan
It had been the most grueling day of his rookie career. Six months into the job, John Nolan thought he was finally beyond the reach of surprise, but he had been dead wrong on that front. Not only had they been forced to trek up and down the rugged hills where Rosalind Dyer had buried her victims, but they had also discovered a fresh body.
It was no older than a few days, yet it bore the exact same D.O.D. (Date of Death) signature that Rosalind was infamous for.
Before joining the LAPD, John Nolan was a forty-five-year-old construction company owner from Queens, New York.
After separating from his wife, Sarah, and seeing their son, Henry, off to college, he found his calling during the Battle of New York. Successfully taking down a stray Chitauri soldier during the invasion had become his fuel—a reminder of the necessity of doing the right thing.
"Boy Scout." That was the moniker Rosalind Dyer had bestowed upon him. She had refused to cooperate with Detective Armstrong, demanding instead to speak with Nolan and him alone.
John didn't fully grasp her obsession; perhaps it was because he had been the most talkative of her escorts—a classic rookie mistake. No veteran cop ever wanted a serial killer's undivided attention focused on them.
He stepped inside the holding cell, which had been cleared out the previous day. The other prisoners had been transported to different stations to ensure total isolation in preparation for her arrival.
John steeled his nerves, sat on the bench across from her, and began, "You asked to see me. Why?"
"I like you, John. Nick's boring. And what I am doing has no place for a mediocre man like him," Roslind replied, her narcissism reflecting in every word she spoke.
"We saw the broadcast you had your sycophant send to every news channel in Los Angeles. You got what you wanted, Roslind. You got your rise to fame. Now tell us: who killed that woman, and how can we find the one he kidnapped?" Nolan spoke at length.
Roslind ignored him and asked with a smile, "You know the best part about getting caught, Officer Nolan?"
Nolan shook his head in confusion.
"Getting to relive every detail with Nick." Roslind turned to the tripod camera in the room. He wondered how she knew that at that moment, every other officer in the station was watching this feed in real-time.
"I didn't expect that," Roslind sighed. "Seeing Nick, walking the trail with him to visit the graves... it was glorious. I enjoyed sharing my experience, seeing how horrified people were. Cops are jaded, you know? You really have to work to get a reaction from them because of the wall they put up. I remember at the trial, the jury, those horrified faces... the families. I ate their pain like a five-star meal."
Lopez was right; this woman only wanted attention, and they were wasting time here. He stood up and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Roslind asked. "I wasn't done speaking."
"I am done listening. Clearly, you are waiting for Mr. Park to arrive, but I wouldn't be too optimistic. He hasn't been spotted in one place twice in over a year; he moves around the world. For all we know, he could be in the middle of the Amazon rainforest with no cell signal," he replied.
"Wait."
John was about to leave when she spoke. It looked like she was finally coming down from the high.
"Tell me about the body we discovered," she asked. "I only saw a glimpse of her face before you took me to the van. How did she die?"
He turned to face her. "Visual autopsy showed she suffocated. Most likely in some kind of container. Her face showed signs of intradermal hemorrhage."
"Aah, stupid girl," Roslind remarked. "Wasting all that air screaming. She probably shortened her life by an hour."
"What about her hands? Was she trying to free herself?" Roslind asked with a grin.
"Yes." Nolan was starting to understand why the senior TOs kept their distance from this woman. "I imagine her last few hours were truly awful. Now that I have shared something with you, it would only be polite if you shared something with me. Who killed that woman?"
"Slow down, Officer Nolan. We are still in the foreplay stage," Roslind replied.
"How did the killer find the burial site?" Nolan asked, suppressing a shiver.
She leaned closer and whispered, "Because I told them."
"You were able to communicate? How?" It shouldn't have been possible; Roslind Dyer's communications were heavily monitored.
She ignored his question and asked one of her own. "What about you? What would you do if you were trapped like that stupid girl? Consume the air as fast as possible and get it over with, or hold on, trusting someone to save you?"
"I will hold on for as long as I can. I will give my friends a chance, the best possible chance at finding me," Nolan replied with conviction.
"Maybe that's the difference," Roslind concluded.
"Between what?" Nolan asked.
"You and me. I have always known no one is coming to save me. That is how I chose to live on." Roslind replied, then asked, "What do you think of this world, John? This world where monsters wearing human skin walk among us? An alien who can control lightning, a green rage monster who can raze a city in a fit of rage, a World War II veteran—probably a war criminal, too—a billionaire in iron suits... and then there is the Man who can heal any illness. Monsters and gods walk among us once again. Don't you feel tiny compared to all of them?"
Nolan genuinely thought for a moment, his mind recalling the Battle of New York when he had carried an injured woman, bleeding profusely from her abdomen, near the New York Public Library.
Another squad of Chitauri soldiers had descended upon them. Nolan had thought it was all over and went to cover the bleeding woman with his own body, but the next moment, hundreds of rabbits had emerged from the ground and swept the area, clearing out the Chitauri soldiers.
Hell, these same rabbits had used some form of disc to save the dying woman. Later, he had found that these rabbits followed orders from Ethan Park.
He hadn't had the chance to meet Park face-to-face—the man had left to volunteer for search and rescue—but from the tales he had heard, the man was no monster.
"I don't feel tiny, Roslind—I feel inspired. Among those gods and monsters, there are still people choosing to do what's right. If they can, why can't I?" Nolan replied.
"You are unbearably naive," Roslind sneered, her nose scrunching in disgust.
"Maybe," Nolan answered calmly, "but that is how I choose to live on."
Angela Lopez
Officer Lopez had been on edge all morning. She was in charge of the detail responsible for transporting Dyer—or at least, she was yesterday. Only now did she finally have a moment to relax and switch uniforms inside the locker room. They had been ambushed the previous day during the trek through Griffith Park, and it was her bullet that had neutralized the attacker.
Detective Armstrong had seemed eager to speak with her after learning the shooter was the husband of one of Rosalind's victims, but the man had ultimately held back.
After changing, she returned to the bullpen. It was still early morning; she hadn't gone home last night. There, she saw her rookie approaching from the side. Officer Talia Bishop had recently resigned from the LAPD after being issued a blue card, and Lopez had taken over her training until a suitable replacement could be found.
"Officer Lopez, sorry about yesterday," he said, clearly referring to his overtalkative nature during the transport.
She observed Nolan for a moment. She had let the matter go, but the older man was often far too friendly with criminals. She decided it was time to remind her rookie exactly what was at stake.
"It's over, boot. Like she said, it doesn't matter if she knows our names, but you need to reconsider how you interact with that monster. You saw how she reacted... how proud she was of that body we found," she explained. Nolan had the right heart; he just needed the right mindset to become a great cop.
"I know. For a brief moment, I forgot how dangerous she was. I spoke to her earlier; she seemed so normal, except for the fact that the topic was murder. There's no remorse in her at all," Nolan concluded.
"That's how psychopaths are." Lopez had experienced her fair share of them—specially 'The Purple Man' while visiting her aunt during her academy days.
"They aren't like the movies—exaggerated and acting like the source of all evil. They are friendly, warm, and even charming as they draw you in." Her mind flashed to the things Kilgrave had made her do—things she had done willingly. The disgust must have shown on her face, as her rookie visibly recoiled.
She shook her head to clear the memory and asked, "Any updates on the Park front?"
"No, the news about Mid-Wilshire has been running all morning. We've got a crowd outside the station waiting to see if Mr. Park arrives. Captain Andersen and Sergeant Grey have been in her office all morning, taking calls from the higher-ups." She raised an eyebrow at that; a rookie shouldn't have access to that kind of information.
Seeing her reaction, Nolan quickly added, "Smitty might have eavesdropped on them while hitting the vending machine on the second floor. Which is every five minutes."
That made sense. She simply shook her head, and stifilled a laugh, though a movement from the side caught her attention. The Captain and Wade were making their way toward briefing room.
"Let's go. It seems they have something."
She followed her rookie into the expansive briefing room, characterized by its sleek glass walls on three sides. Taking a seat beside her colleague, Bradford, she observed as the Captain and Sergeant began adjusting the settings on the large monitor. Before long, the room was packed to capacity, with those who didn't secure seats forced to stand along the perimeter.
"Listen up," she began, her voice level but carrying to the back of the room. "I just got off the phone with the Chief. This comes directly from the brass, they want Ethan Park to have absolutely no contact with Roslind."
Immediately, the room erupted into a low, concerned murmur.
She and Bradford shared a knowing look; this was clearly a case of heavy-handed politicking. Ethan had brazenly refused summons time and time again from the High Court, the Supreme Court, and even Congress.
Within just a single year, fifteen summons had been issued, for him to be present infront of a committee and not one had been answered.
The primary focus of this relentless inquiry was his uncanny ability to heal any and all illnesses. In fact, Justice Kayla Wallace, presiding over the supreme court, had openly criticized Ethan, claiming he was hoarding a method that could revolutionize modern medicine and save countless lives.
But this scrutiny didn't stop at the courtroom. Initially, following the Battle of New York, nearly everyone around the globe was grateful to the Avengers; they had halted the Chitauri invasion, after all.
However, voices like Justice Wallace's soon began calling for accountability from each member. Every single Avenger had a dark past they couldn't escape—except for Ethan Park Of course.
All that existed of his record was his graduation from Midtown Elementary in New York and Palisades High School in Los Angeles. Beyond that, there was nothing. He was a ghost and So he has been Targetted for what he did do.
"What do we do if he actually shows up?" Nolan was the first to break the quiet murmur of the room, directing his question toward Grey.
Grey looked uncomfortable for a moment, glancing toward the Captain before turning back to Nolan. "Well, technically... there are several bench warrants issued in Mr. Park's name, not to mention the Contempt of Congress." Indeed, in the eyes of the law, Ethan was a criminal.
"Refusing a subpoena from Congress can lead to a 'Contempt of Congress' citation—a misdemeanor punishable by one to twelve months of imprisonment and significant fines. Congress has enforced this via criminal prosecution by the DOJ, civil lawsuits, and even their own 'inherent contempt' power to detain individuals like Park" Captain Andersen finished, noticing Grey's hesitation. "This has forced our hand. We are to arrest Ethan Park if he steps foot in Mid-Wilshire."
Just then, a sudden breeze flowed through the room. It was jarring; there shouldn't have been a draft in an air-packed, sealed briefing room.
Tim Bradford was the first to react. "ABOVE US!" he shouted.
Standing there upside down on the ceiling of the briefing room, as if gravity didn't apply to him , was Ethan Park.
Lopez and every other officer stood up abruptly, scrambling to create distance with their hands hovering over their holsters. From his perch, Ethan looked directly down at Captain Andersen and Sergeant Grey.
"And how, exactly, do you plan on accomplishing that?"
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A/N: So how was the chapter?