B. Gunner

My name is Brian Gunner, one of New York's PD best officers. After i found out from an anonymous letter that my parents death wasn't what everyone thought it was, i've decided to dig more in to this. My little brother John Gunner joined the army the same day i got in to the police, our relationship was fading because we both blame each other for our parents death because we were the ones that convinced them to come and pick us up. He doesn't know that i got a letter from i don't know who, and the letter says some things that no one knew about.

I wasn't sure who sent me the letter but i was doing my best to find out! I went to my precinct and asked Angela White, our best forensic scientist to check the letter for unknown fingerprints or something that might help me get to him.

Since the letter, i can't sleep properly, can't eat or focus on my job. The tought that my parents were killed is eating me alive.

I keep thinking if i should tell this to my brother, the fact that we don't talk anymore will make this so difficult. I guess i will try to get some sleep and decide tomorrow if i will tell him or not.

The alarm starts ringing at 6 pm, i stop the alarm and try to get up. My 3 hours sleep weren't enough, but i have to wake up.

Finally managed to get up, go to the bathroom and wash my face. I am so tired and such in a bad mood. I get dressed, take a couple sips from my coffe and start walking towards the door. By the moment i touch the door handle, i get a call from my partner, Dean Black.

I go outside and jump in to the car, he was waiting me with some fresh coffe.

- Come on, partner! Rise and shine!

He says to me with a big smile on his face.

- I am doing my best, Dean! Doing my best.

He starts driving around for a while, so we can enjoy our coffees. By the time we got to the precinct, i get another call. This time it was from my brothers superior, he got himself caught in to a pretty bad situation. He didn't listen to his team and went in to a building by himself, got caught in a gun fight with some terrorists. Damn he is a stubborn guy, always by himself since he was a kid!

Fortunately he manages to escape with a bullet in his shoulder, that's pretty lucky i would say. I hang up the call and go in to the station, everybody is pretty happy today. I am not sure why, but i am about to find out.

My captain, Frank Knowles asked me to join him in to his office, i was pretty damn surprised.

- Officer Brian, please take a seat. I want to tell you some news, good ones i hope!

So i sit down with a weird look on my face, wasn't sure what he might say.

- I just want to congratulate you for your good work that you've done these years, from now on you will be detective Brian Gunner!

- Just don't get too cocky, i am still your superior!

I was shoked, didn't know what to say. But i was happy, i had acces to so much more! Now i can really do my best to find out what happened to my parents.

- Thank you sir, i won't disappoint you!

Shaked his hand and walked out. When i got out from his office, everyone was cheering and applauded me! So that's why everyone was happy this morning?!

- Thank you guys for your support, thank you so much!

Dean comes towards me and gives me a hug, damn it's a strong one!

- I am proud of you, dumbass! Just don't forget about me, i will kick your ass!

He says to me with tears in his eyes.

- Thank you, partner! You already know i won't.

I got a week off to celebrate, it was the best party in years.

After a couple of days, i get a knock on my door. Guess who it was? My dear little brother!

- Long time no see, little brother! How is your shoulder?

He didn't even look at me!

- Yeah, what ever. It's fine.

He throws his backpack in the hallway and jumps on the couch.

I wasn't expecting more, he didn't want to see me but he has no other place to go.

I show him his room and i go to take a shower, long ass day.

Meanwhile i was in the shower, he is looking for something to eat. The fridge doesn't have anything in it, except some beers. He grabs a beer and turns on the TV. While he was watching TV, he sees the letter on the small table near the couch and starts to read it.

I took it back, the only fingerprints on the letter were mine.

"Hello Mr. Brian Gunner, i hope your having a good day! I'm saying that because i am about to make it into a bad one, a really bad one! My name is not important for now but what i am about to say is really important. I know about your parents, i know everything about you and your brother. I know what you do, what you eat, when you wake up, when you go to sleep. I know absolutely everything. I know that your parents died some years ago, so tragic! But the accident, wasn't an accident! The car crash was planed, a pretty good plan i would say! Both dead, no one knows the real reason, no one knows that the accident was more than that. I hope this will make your day!

PS. I almost forgot, i killed them! Hope to see you soon!"

Suddenly i hear some loud noises and glass breaking. I jump out from the shower, put the towel on and ran in to the kitchen. The moment i get there, he starts yelling.

- Why the fuck didn't you say something?! Are you really that selfish?! How could you hide this from me?! HOW!?

I didn't know what to say, i was mad too.

- I wanted to tell you the day you got shot, but i didn't. I was to afraid to say something, you were already doing stupid shit! I didn't want you to go in to some suicidal state of mind! We didn't talk or see each other in a long time, but you are still my little brother!

He starts punching the table, his anger was growing stronger. I tried to calm him down but no chance.

- Listen to me!

He keeps punching the table, his fists were bloody.

- I said, LISTEN TO ME!

He turns around and looks straight into my eyes.

- I am trying to find out what happened with them, i just got promoted to detective! This means i have acces to everything i need for this case, everything!

He keeps looking at me with tears in his eyes, cleaning his hand with his shirt. I went back to finish my shower, got dressed and searched for the first aid box. I've told him to sit down on the couch and give me his hands.

- I will do everything in my power to find out who did this, i promise you that! I have to find out, even if it's the last thing i will do! Even if it's the last thing...

He was still angry, still crying. Tried to calm him down by saying this things, i believe in what i'm saying and i do what i say!

- I want to help! And i won't take "no" as an answer!

I can't let him do this, he is not at his best right now. And his gunshot is still healing.

- I can't let you do this, you have to get better first. Just take a rest and talk tomorrow morning, ok?!

He starts grabbing my hand and keeps saying that he wants to help, i don't want him to get hurt in any way.

-They are my parents too! How can you say no?! I won't stay and do nothing!

Says to me with anger and frustration.

-Ok, you can help me. But to do so, you must promise me that you won't do anything stupid and you'll listen to me!

He looked at me and and puts his hand on my shoulder.

- I promise! Just let me help you!

I get up from the couch and let him rest, he is exhausted and too mad.

I take my phone and order some takeaway, we are both starving. After half an hour, the delivery is here, i open the door, take the food and pay the man. Put the food on the table, some plates and some 2 beers. John wakes up because of the smell and joined me. We eat slowly and keep thinking about what to do next, i can't wait to go back to work. I kinda have some ideas about what to do, but i am not sure if its the right thing.

I can take the letter to my office and open the case or i can do this off the books, just me and my little brother. Kinda hard to decide but i don't have much time, i have to be sure of what i will do next. We finished eating, we had a couple of beers and i think it's time to go to bed.

I wake up somewhere around 7am, go in the kitchen and make a coffee. John was still sleeping like a baby, he was too tired and drunk.

I get a call, i look at the phone and see "Captain". I am wondering why is he calling me in my off week. I pick up the phone and answer.

- Good morning, detective! I'd might have a case for you. Wanna get back to work couple of days earlier?

I stayed and think about it for a second, wasn't sure if i am ready.

- Hello? Are you there? Damn this signal!

He closed the call and tried again.

- Detective Gunner, can you hear me?!

- Yes sir, i can hear you now.

- Do you want to start work a couple of days earlier? I have a case for you, pretty big one.

- Yes sir, i will be there first thing in the morning!

- Perfect, talk more about this tomorrow. Enjoy your day, detective.

- Thank you sir, talk tomorrow.

I hang up and sit down wandering why the hell did i say yes! Doesn't matter now, i have to be ready for tomorrow. It's my first case since my promotion, i have to focus.

John wakes up and comes in the kitchen, pours himself a cup of coffe and turns on the TV.

- How was your sleep, little brother?

- Pretty good, i still have a headache.

- Take some painkillers, you'll be fine.

I put on some clothes and go out to do some shopping, the fridge was empty. I buy some groceries, a pack of beer and head back home.

When i get near the door, i see an envelope in front of it. I am wondering what's with the envelope there, i have a god damn post. I take the envelope and go inside, leave the bag on the floor and open the envelope. Again a letter from the person that killed my parents.

"Hello again, detective Gunner! Congratulations on the promotion, how is your brother's shoulder?! I just wanted to congratulate you, bravo! Have you heard about what happened to your partner?! I feel so bad, i really do! R.I.P."

I throw the letter on the table and call Dean, no one is answering! What the hell happened to him?! I try again, and again, and again, i get only the voice mail. I decide to call captain, he has to know something.

- Captain, sorry to bother! I don't know where Dean is, he is not answering his phone! I thought tou might know something.

- Detective Gunner, that is your case for tomorrow! He is missing for 3 days, didn't you talk to him in the past 3 days?

- No sir, my brother came back from the army and i've spent some time with him.

- Well now you know what's your case about, come to the precinct to check everything we've got so far.

I hang up, called a taxi, took my badge and my gun and left.

I get to the precinct and ran straight in to captain's office.

- I am here, sir!

- Good, now set your ass down and let's talk.

- This morning we got a call from Dean's wife, she said she didn't hear from him since he left from the party. She said he doesn't have any enemies, at least she never heard him say anything about any problems. She called him that night and he told her that he is too drunk to drive and he will take a cab. Since then, no one knows anything about him. No phone calls, no nothing. We even tried to track his phone, nowhere to be found. I suggest you to go and try to find some witnesses, that's our best way to find something that can actually help.

- He called me after he left and said something about " Partner, we might have a problem.", something like that. Everyone was drunk, no one really understood what he was trying to say. Drunk people say all kind of stupid stuff, i don't know. I will just go and try to find a witness or something.

I left the office and went back to the bar where we celebrated my promotion, i have to find something there! I get there with a picture of him and start asking the staff if they saw him, the taxi or anything. No one knows nothing, i ask for the CCTV footage, maybe i will find something there. The only thing i've found, was him crossing the road to his car. He took or left something there and than started walking down the street. I went and checked if there were any cameras around the area, found just an ATM and a bank. Checked those too, he didn't apear on any of the cameras, like he vanished in to thin air! That's pretty weird, there were some cars passing by, but not even one taxi. That wasn't the only problem, the cameras couldn't catch not even one registration plate.

Now what the hell am i suppose to do next?!

I keep searching, asking people around the area, no one heard or seen anything. I think it's time to go back to the precinct and ask for some help or something. The day passed and i didn't find a single clue. I need to go gome and eat something, maybe get some rest. I am too tired and stressed out, i need to calm down a bit! I have to grab a beer, but first i will check on John.

No one is the room, where is he?!

-John, are you here?!

No answer, should i worry?! I wonder where he could be! I didn't ask him for his phone number, if he has one. What ever, i really need to eat right now.

Just finished eating, the door bell is ringing. Maybe John is back, i am not expecting any guests.

I open the door but there's no one, weird. Maybe someone rang at the wrong door, i don't know.

I randomly look at the doorstep and i see another letter, i hope it's not that psycho again. I take the letter and go back inside.

I sit on the couch and open the envelope, doesn't seem to be the same type of letter.

"Big brother, sorry if i didn't say anything before i left! I really needed to ease my mind a bit, too much for me at the same time. If you read this, i am already on my way to an old friend of mine. I really need her help right now, she is the only person that can help me! Hope to talk to you soon, i took one of your suits too look good. Hope you won't get mad! See you soon, big bro!"

At least i know that he is ok, but still no contact number or a name. I wonder what is he up to!? I hope he won't get him self into trouble! This dumbass!

I have to get some rest, tomorrow i will have to get back to the case. I really hope i can find Dean, i still don't understand how he could vanish like that.

I lay down and instantly fall asleep, too tired...

I wake up pretty late, didn't hear the alarm! Damn i'm stupid, i have to hurry and get to the precinct as fast as i can.

I get up, go to the bathroom, was my face and my teeth and take a quick shower. I run in to my room, get dressed and call a cab. I get in to the cab and rush to the precinct.

Captain was waiting for me patiently and pretty pissed off.

-Good morning, detective! Did you sleep really that well?!

-Good morning, Captain! I sure did, wasn't intentionally. I was too tired and stressed out, i really needed a good sleep, sir.

-What did you find so far? Anything interesting?!

- I've checked all the CCTV's in the area, i just saw him go to his car and leave or take something from it and then just went down the street. No cab, just barefoot. Then i went and cheked the ATM camera, nothing. I went to the bank to ceck the outside cameras, nothing. No cabs, just random cars and no license plates were caught by the cameras. He just vanished in thin air. Pretty god damn weird!

- So your telling me that he got abducted or some shit, by god damn aliens or what?! From now on, you will need a partner. You have to pick one as soon as possible! You choices are: Steve Fletcher, Johnny Wheeler or Isabella Valdes!

I kept thinking, who the hell should i pick?! I think i will go with Isabella, she is pretty smart and has some experience in missing person cases.

- I think i will go with miss Valdes, sir.

- Good choice, detective! Just don't get under her skirt, she is you partner not your prise!

He asks her to come in to the office to tell her the news, she was pretty shocked. I kept looking at her and she is so damn fine!