Zara had worked for most of her life with the criminal investigations department now aged 36, her main worry was the risk of being pushed to an early retirement. Her recent cases went unsolved for over three years and she worried about this every few days. As she travelled home one evening, her thoughts wandered over the various closed cases. Zara had enjoyed an 11-year prime period, as the agency’s lead investigator. Her disguises and quick wit, won her the acclaim of the high level crimes unit. Of the 111 staff, only two were women. Her colleague Kuni Investigative partner, gave her the moral support she needed, leading to their solving the highest number of cases between them.
Learning to trust another women had been difficult for Zara, as she had a distant mother and no sisters. Her father took on her mother as a love interest and only married her, once she fell pregnant. Zara’s mother struggled with shame and the pain of her loveless marriage. They married quickly and their romance had been heady. Once pregnant, Mama Zara (Tina) was elated with his commitment to marriage. She was so sure of their happy ever after, until he had his first fling in her eighth month of pregnancy.
Baba Zara (Fred) walked into the house late one night, clearly drunk, dishevelled and collapsed onto the sofa. His behaviour had been a little off character. Sheassumed it was down to pressure at work, soon after his grand promotion. As he tossed and turned in his sleep, as Tina held his head in her arms, he suddenly stirred. With his eyes still shut, he grabbed her between her legs, blurting out how he was ready to leave his wife for her. He mumbled a few incoherent words and dozed off again. Suddenly he blurted out his plan to kick out that domesticated Tina and stop going to the brothel to look for her. His fingers roughing up her breasts. He whispered words of complete devotion, describing their new life together.
Aghast, Tina, Zara’s mother sat deathly still. Frozen in the seat, realising what her husband was planning, tears streamed down her face. By the time she made a move to shove him and his meandering hands off her, Freds eyes opened and he instantly realised his mistake. His lips forming words but no sound coming out, Fred tried to apologise. He wailed in deep embarrassment and for the instant and irrevocable pain he inflicted on his devoted wife.
Tina ran out of the room and locked the bedroom door behind her, wailing. Her trembling hands reached down over her small pregnanat belly. She slid to the floor, legs astride and silently cried, her body shivering and shaking.
At this point was banging on the door, pleading with her to open the door. She cried until she lay on the cold cement floor. She rocked herself hoping to gain some comfort.
Fred stood their banding on the door, apologising and pleading with Tina to forgive him. It was only a strange dream he had. He swore on his life and began to cry. Eventually he told her the truth and swore he would never do this again. Fred called Tina’s name over and over, making new promises and apologising for what he had said.
Tina could hear some commotion outside the front door of their ground floor flat. Must be the neighbours, wondering what the banding on the doo was about. A female neighbour, speaking from outside her bedroom window asked if she was okay, assuring her the men in their block were ready to take the front door down. She let her neighbour know all is well, quickly mentioning her water had just broken, then asking for her help to get to the hospital. This is the atmosphere Zara was born into. A world of tension and suspicion. Little had changed between her parents, since her birth into this world. Hidden thoughts that evolved into agendas was they way they related to one another.
Growing up, Zara learned that her parents had little to no trust for one another and survived as two partners, not friends. She discovered how to read her parents moods, then motives and ideology. Zara served as their sounding board, hearing far too much criticism of the other parent, in their absence. It annoyed her but she adapted and developed a skill as a mediator and low-level detective. She as able to translate their behaviour to one another and was the unlucky peg in their marriage. By 15, the burden became heavy and nearly sent her into her own depression but she found the perfect distraction: enter Mike.
Mike joined her high school class in the first term, after moving to the city to join his family. He had been raised in a distant town. He was shy and reclusive at first but warmed up to a fun class, finding his friends before the end if his first term. He was tall, athletic and was oblivious to the girls stares, as he walked around the school with his friends. Zara fell hard and fast. Mike noticed and treated her as a good friend, at first, keeping his heart safe. They got to know one another and spoke every evening on their families rotary phones, after school. Fortunately for Zara, her parents never noticed, as they transitioned into their solitary corners at home. Zara and Mike went to the same college and she joined an Investigative and security agency soon after. He was a motor-fanatic and mechanic. They settled into a comfortable rhythm and life together.
As a detective, Zara was a quick learner and enjoyed the mystery of other peoples lives. Kuni was her first work-partner and coming from a similar background, the two ladies became close friends. They got to the point of finishing one another’s sentences, as they were so synchronised in their thoughts. They became invaluable to the agency in their early thirties. Cases assigned to them became darker every few months. Their last case of the mystery killer who targeted girls in their late teens. He butchered them, then peeled off their skin, leaving dismembered body parts around the city. Some of their body parts were never found. They wondered if these were ritualistic killings or the work of a severely mentally ill serial killer.
Just last week, they had found the remains of a twenty year-old girl, who had left home to meet her new ‘boyfriend’. The girl’s sister had begged her not to leave and to be wary of this man as she barely knew him. The girl snuck out of the house to rendezvous with the soft-spoken young man. A few hours later, she called her sister pleading for help. Her poor sister still has frequent nightmares and trauma from her younger sisters blood-cuddling screams on that phone call. The young lady died a slow, violent death after hours of torture. Her sister confessed that the girl had few friends and no prospective boyfriend. Once this unknown man expressed an interest, the victim rushed to meet with him after a flurry of sweet phone calls.
The site of the murder had blood splatters across the floor, wall and ceiling. The stained wardrobe doors and corners further confirmed the extent of the butchery. Bits of clothing, sliced and diced, proving the suspect sought to cause extensive pain over the longest duration possible.
Kuni and Zara were horrified but maintained their officious facial expressions. Once outside,tears rolled down their faces they searched bags and pockets for tissues. Shaken, they left to interview the deceased’s sister and mother. The more they learned about the girl’s finaldays, the greater their urge to solve her murder. This case felt particularly close to the heart for Zara, as she thought of her two daughters at home. She and Kuni decided to use the most devious plan to catch the killer.
The following night, they dressed up as ladies of the night and went to the bar where the victim met the killer. They scanned the bar and challenged some young guys at a game of pool. Zara pretended to be the shy one. Kuni played a rough and loud drunk. They noticed a young, quiet solitary figure watching them from the black door. He kept watching the group around the pool table and eventually the two agents. His eyes wandered over their scant clothing, throwing glances at their legs and very shirt skirts and tank tops. The agents pretended to get even more drunk. The quiet man edged closer to them by the pool table, as they each chatted up the young men.
The quiet man wore a black hoodie, had on lightly tinted glasses. He had a tiny smile, barely showing his teeth. His small eyes following the events around the pool table, as Zara and Kuni laughed and made frequent eye-contact with the young pool players. Kuni bent over to tie her boot laces and the hoodie man watched, his eyes drinking in the colour of her thong and her long legs. He noticed Zara’s low cut tank top and bare tummy over her tight shorts. Her bare strong thighs moving fast,as she danced with one of the pool players. When one of them grabbed Zara’s waist and pulled her towards him, the quiet observer stepped forward to grab him.
Zara turned to him, smiling invitingly, her hand stroking his thin face. The quiet man’s eyes glared at her, then he turned in anger to the owner of the groping hands and pushed him away. Kuni let out a cackle and offered her services to the newcomer. His eyes darted between the two of them, then he silently reached out for Zara’s hand, pulling her away from the group, watching the pool gang nervously. He propositioned Zara and suggested they meet in the lodgings upstairs in the next few minutes, sharing his room number. Zara broke into a sexy smile and agreed to his terms after some haggling. He flashed a brief smile, then turned serious very quickly, warning her not to keep him wanting or waiting. Then he was gone.
Zara and Kuni stumbled into the ladies’ toilets and called for their backup to position themselves, according to their plan. Nervous, they went over the timings and made final contact with their team. Then, they parted ways, with Kuni positioning herself at the stairs.
Once upstairs, Zara knocked on the door and pretended stumble in, drunk. Quiet man grabbed her and shut the door, after checking the corridor. The red light in the room seemed to add to the smell of the dingy surroundings. He hands her a drink and she nervously asks what is is. He holds the glass to her lips and grabs her neck, as she resists. He pulls out a knife and motions her to drink up. Zara starts dancing for him, hoping her Team mates arrive soon. He orders her to sit and drink, pushing her onto the bed. He stares down her shirt sand then throws her onto her back. Just as he raises the knife over her, the door bursts open, as Kuni and four men storm the room, giving instructions in loud voices, guns cocked and pointed at quiet man.
Zara sits up abruptly, as they arrest him, while reading quiet man his rights. Shaken, she stands and follows Kuni out to her waiting car. She confesses she thought to kill him had they delayed. They both agree this was their last undercover stint and leave for their separate homes.
Short Stories & Poems by WarmBreezeBliss 