Kyla hadn't slept well. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw those glowing blue eyes staring out from the warehouse window. By the time her alarm went off at six thirty, she'd already been awake for an hour, scrolling through the photos on her phone and wondering if she'd imagined the whole thing.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Josh: "Bring extra coffee. I think we're going to need it."
Twenty minutes later, she walked into the station carrying two large coffees and found Josh face-down on his desk, using a case file as a pillow.
"Rough night?" she asked, setting one of the coffees next to his head.
Josh lifted his face, revealing a red mark on his cheek from the folder. "I tried to research glowing rocks on the internet. Do you know how many conspiracy theory websites there are? I went down a rabbit hole about ancient aliens and lost three hours of my life I'll never get back."
Kyla laughed, pulling up a chair. "Find anything useful?"
"Only that apparently Elvis is alive and living on Mars with the fragments of Atlantis." Josh took a long sip of coffee and sighed. "This is really good coffee. Where'd you get it?"
"That new place on Fifth Street. Cloud Nine Cafe."
"Cloud Nine? Seriously? Who names a coffee shop that?"
"Someone who's never worked a graveyard shift, probably." Kyla pulled out her own phone. "I couldn't sleep either. I kept thinking about what we saw. Those eyes, Josh. That wasn't normal."
"I know." Josh's playful expression faded. "Which is why we need to be smart about this. We tell Chen we did surveillance, we saw suspicious activity, and we need a team to go in."
"And if he asks what kind of suspicious activity?"
"We stick to the facts. Lights, movement, possible trespassing. We don't mention the glowing eyes unless we want to get sent to the department shrink."
Before Kyla could respond, Sergeant Chen's voice boomed across the bullpen. "Reeves! Martinez! My office! Now!"
They exchanged worried looks. Had someone seen them at the warehouse last night?
Chen was standing by his window, arms crossed, looking even grumpier than usual. "We got a problem. David Ortiz, the second suspect from the bank robbery? He's asking to talk. Says he'll only speak to you two."
"Us?" Kyla said. "Why us?"
"Hell if I know. But his lawyer called twenty minutes ago. Said Ortiz is scared out of his mind and will only cooperate if he talks to the officers who caught him. Something about trusting you." Chen shook his head. "Get down there and find out what he wants. And Martinez? Try not to tackle him again. He's already in cuffs."
Josh snorted, trying to hide his laugh as they left the office. "Oh man, Chen heard about that takedown. You're becoming a legend."
"Shut up," Kyla said, but she was smiling.
The jail was a ten-minute drive from the station. David Ortiz was waiting for them in an interview room, looking like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes were bloodshot, his hands shaking as he gripped a Styrofoam cup of water.
"Thank God," he said when they walked in. "I need to tell you something. Something Marcus doesn't know."
Josh pulled out a chair. "We're listening."
Ortiz took a shaky breath. "Marcus thinks we were just collecting fragments for money. But I... I got curious. A few weeks ago, I followed the Messenger."
Kyla leaned forward. "You know who he is?"
"I know where he goes. There's a place, an old bookstore on Elm Street. Ravenwood Books. It looks closed down, but I saw him go in there late at night. I watched through the window and saw him talking to someone. An old man with white hair."
"Did you hear what they were saying?"
"No, but I saw them looking at a map. A big one, spread out on a table. It had marks all over it, just like the maps on Marcus's laptop. But there was something else." Ortiz's voice dropped to a whisper. "The old man, he took out one of the fragments and held it up to the light. And the fragment started glowing brighter and brighter until the whole room was lit up blue. Then I saw something in the light. Like... like shapes. Figures moving around."
Josh and Kyla exchanged glances. This was getting weirder by the minute.
"Why didn't you tell Marcus about this?" Kyla asked.
"Because Marcus would've wanted to investigate, and I was scared. After seeing that, I just wanted out. I was going to quit, tell Marcus I was done, but then we got arrested at the bank." Ortiz looked at them desperately. "You have to check out that bookstore. I think whatever's going on, it starts there."
After leaving the jail, Josh immediately pulled up Ravenwood Books on his phone. "It's listed as permanently closed. Hasn't been open in three years."
"Convenient place for secret meetings," Kyla said.
"Too convenient. We should check it out."
"With backup this time?"
Josh grinned. "Look at you, learning from our mistakes. Yeah, with backup. But first, lunch. I can't investigate supernatural stuff on an empty stomach."
They ended up at a taco truck near the station, sitting on a bench in the small park across the street. Josh ordered five tacos, which seemed excessive until Kyla watched him demolish three of them in under two minutes.
"Do you ever actually taste your food?" she asked, amused.
"Tasting is for people who have time," Josh said around a mouthful of carnitas. "We've got glowing rocks and mysterious portals to worry about. Food is just fuel."
"You're going to get heartburn."
"Probably. But these tacos are worth it." He finished his fourth and looked at her seriously. "Can I ask you something? Why'd you become a cop?"
Kyla wasn't expecting the question. She took a bite of her own taco, thinking. "My dad was a cop. He died when I was twelve. Line of duty. I guess I wanted to... I don't know, finish what he started. Help people the way he did."
"That's a good reason." Josh's voice was softer now. "I'm sorry about your dad."
"Thanks. What about you? Why the badge?"
Josh laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Honestly? I was kind of a mess after college. Didn't know what to do with my life. My buddy from high school was a cop, said I should give it a try. Figured I'd do it for a year, see if I liked it." He shrugged. "Turns out I'm pretty good at it. And now I'm chasing supernatural mysteries with a partner who tackles people into alleys. Life's weird."
"Life's definitely weird," Kyla agreed. Her phone buzzed. A text from Chen: "Team assembled for warehouse sweep tomorrow 0600. Be there."
She showed Josh. "Looks like we're officially investigating the warehouse."
"Good. The sooner we figure out what's in there, the sooner I can sleep without dreaming about glowing eyes." Josh stood up, tossing his trash in a nearby bin. "Come on. Let's go check out that bookstore before end of shift."
Ravenwood Books was tucked between a laundromat and a nail salon on a street that had seen better days. The windows were dusty and covered with faded newspaper from the inside. A "CLOSED" sign hung crookedly on the door.
Josh tried the handle. Locked. "Should we call for a warrant?"
"For what? Suspicious glowing? Chen would laugh us out of the station." Kyla walked around to the side of the building where a narrow alley ran between it and the laundromat. "Maybe there's a back door."
The alley smelled like garbage and old pizza. Kyla tried not to breathe too deeply as they made their way to the back. Sure enough, there was a door, and unlike the front, this one looked recently used. The lock was new, and there were fresh scratch marks on the frame.
"Someone's definitely been here," Josh said, taking photos with his phone.
Kyla tried the handle. Also locked. "Now what?"
"Now we do this the legal way. We document what we found, present it to Chen, and request a warrant to search the premises based on information from a cooperating witness." Josh grinned. "Look at us being responsible officers."
"It's a weird feeling," Kyla admitted. "I kind of want to just kick the door down."
"Save that energy for tomorrow's warehouse raid. You're going to need it."
They were walking back to their car when Kyla noticed someone watching them from across the street. An old man with white hair, wearing a long dark coat despite the warm weather. He was standing perfectly still, staring right at them.
"Josh," she said quietly. "Don't turn around fast, but I think we've got company."
Josh casually glanced over his shoulder. The old man smiled—a cold, knowing smile—and then turned and walked away, disappearing around a corner.
"Was that—" Kyla started.
"The old man from Ortiz's story? Yeah, I think so." Josh was already moving toward his car. "Come on. We need to follow him."
They jumped in the patrol car and drove around the block, but the old man had vanished. They searched the surrounding streets for twenty minutes, but it was like he'd disappeared into thin air.
"How does someone that old move that fast?" Kyla wondered aloud.
"Add it to the list of things that don't make sense." Josh pulled back onto the main road, heading toward the station. "But at least we know Ortiz was telling the truth. The old man is real, and he knows we're onto him."
"Which means he might warn the Messenger."
"Which means we need to move fast on that warrant." Josh drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking. "And we need to be extra careful at the warehouse tomorrow. If they know we're investigating, they might try to move whatever's in there."
Back at the station, they spent the rest of their shift writing up reports and building their case for the warrant. Chen approved their request and promised to have it by morning. As they were packing up for the day, Officer Stevens stopped by their desks.
"Hey, you two are doing the warehouse sweep tomorrow, right?"
"That's the plan," Josh said.
"Just be careful. I drove by there last night on patrol, and I swear I heard something weird. Like a humming sound. Gave me the creeps."
After Stevens left, Kyla looked at Josh. "Everyone's hearing the same thing. The humming, the lights, the weird feelings. This can't all be coincidence."
"It's not. Tomorrow we're going to find out what's really going on." Josh grabbed his jacket. "Get some sleep tonight. We're going to need it."
Kyla drove home with her mind racing. The glowing eyes, the mysterious Messenger, the old man who could disappear, the fragments that lit up entire rooms—it was all connected, but she couldn't quite see how.
As she pulled into her apartment parking lot, she noticed something on her windshield. A piece of paper, folded neatly. She got out and grabbed it, her heart racing.
Inside, written in careful handwriting, was a message: "Stop searching. Some doors are not meant to be opened. Consider this your only warning."
Kyla's hands shook as she took a photo of the note and immediately texted it to Josh.
His response came seconds later: "Mine too. Just found the same note on my car."
Another text: "Someone's definitely watching us."
A third: "Be ready tomorrow. Things are about to get real."
Kyla locked her car and hurried inside her apartment, checking over her shoulder twice. She locked the door, threw the deadbolt, and even pushed a chair against it for good measure.
She tried to sleep but mostly just stared at the ceiling, thinking about glowing eyes and mysterious warnings and her partner who made terrible jokes but somehow made her feel safer than she'd felt in a long time.
Tomorrow they'd get answers. Tomorrow they'd find out what was in that warehouse.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
End of Chapter 4