The Dirty Cop

1 I became a wisp of smoke, hovering in the interrogation room. Below me, Gideon, the countrys most wanted drug lord, was finally caught. He used to be my boyfriend. Everyone was searching for me, the dirty cop who went rogue for love. The department even live-streamed the interrogation. The lead interrogator was my fatherthe narcotics captain who swore to arrest me himself. He slammed the table, roaring, demanding to know where I was. But Gideon just laughed, tears streaming down his face. You hate her? he asked scornfully. Without the intel she gave her life to pass, how could you have caught me? I thought she loved me completely. I never imagined she was undercover! His eyes were red, almost bleeding. I couldnt bear to kill her, but she was so damn tough. I had to break her bones, one by one, to make her crack. Then Gideons tone changed. Captain Stevens, the text that sold out your daughter it was sent from your phone. Your precious adopted daughter did it. The broadcast fell silent. My father laughed sharply. Nonsense! Lies even now! My traitorous daughter put you up to this! I watched the disgust on his face and screamed without sound: Dad, hes telling the truth. In the end, they didnt leave me a single whole bone. Captain Stevens, I feel sorry for Kate. Does her death not even earn a shred of your sympathy? Youre still protecting that adopted girl of yours. Gideons laughter was choked with tears. My father shot to his feet, but his deputy grabbed his arm, holding him back. Captain, were live. My father braced his hands on the interrogation table, his voice low and dangerous. Ill ask you one last time. Where is Kate? Tell me, and Ill get you a lighter sentence. Ive got enough on me to be executed ten times over. What do I need a lighter sentence for? Gideon sneered. But I do want to see you suffer for the rest of your life. The abandoned mine at Black Ridge. Gideon wiped the tears from his face, his smile that of a madman. Go take a look, Captain Stevens. See if you can piece your daughter back together. My fathers pupils shrank. His hand froze in mid-air. Lies, he rasped, his voice unrecognizable. Kate isnt dead. This is all a setup. The wicked live long lives. He repeated it, as if trying to convince himself. She was always so afraid of pain. Theres no way she could have survived torture. Thats right, Dad. I was always so afraid of pain. When I was little, a scraped knee was enough to make me cry until you comforted me for hours. But Dad, when I was strapped to that iron chair, I shattered three of my own molars from biting down so hard, and I never said a single word. It wasnt that I wasnt afraid. It was that I couldnt be. Because I am a police officer. You taught me that yourself, Dad: to serve and protect, to lay down my life for my country. The deputy jotted down the coordinates. The live feed was cut. My father strode out of the room. Nina saw him storming out and cautiously offered him a glass of water. Dad, have a drink. I brought you some soup. The tension in my fathers face eased slightly. He took the glass and patted her shoulder. Good girl. Don't hang around the station. Go home and wait. Ninas eyes welled with tears. Dad, I swear I never used your phone to send any messages! Gideon is just trying to turn you against me! Kate didnt even care about getting revenge for Mom, who was killed by drug dealers. She was determined to run off with that monster. Now Gideon is probably just trying to clear her name, making up this horrible story about her being dead and in pieces just to break your heart! The anger my father had just suppressed erupted again. Dont mention that traitor! She deserves to be dead, and if she isnt, Ill shoot her myself! Everyone, get ready to move out. Im going to see what kind of sick game shes playing! I floated in the air, a sharp, stabbing pain piercing my non-existent heart. It hurt more than when Gideon was shattering my bones. It was always like this. All Nina had to do was shed a few tears, whisper a few poisonous words, and everyone would rush to her side. When I was sixteen, I took a knife for Nina, and it went clean through my shoulder. But Nina just cried and said, Kate was the one who insisted we take that dark alley. And my father slapped me so hard my ears rang, calling me a reckless troublemaker. That slap hurt, but not as much as this. Two young officers walking by exchanged a glance. One of them whispered. Nina is such a good kid. She failed the police academy entrance exam twice, but shes more devoted to the captain than his own daughter. And look at Kate, a dirty cop, a disgrace to the force. Shes dragged her fathers name through the mud. The other one nodded. Dont even talk about her. People like that deserve to die. The world of the dead is so cold.

2 The abandoned mine at Black Ridge. The team swept their flashlights across the underground passage. The ground was littered with shattered white fragments, mixed with dried, blackened blood. The medical examiners voice was hoarse. Captain, this could be Can you tell if theyre human or animal bones just by looking? my father cut him off. The M.E. looked down. The fragmentation is too severe. I cant find a single piece larger than two centimeters. Well have to take them back to the lab for DNA analysis. My father looked away. Send them for testing. Ill only believe the results. The team began collecting the remains in silence. My father walked toward a corner, his flashlight beam still searching for any sign that I had staged the scene and escaped. The light fell upon the base of the wall, and he stopped dead. Carved into the stone was a sunflower. The lines were crooked and distorted, etched deep into the rock. The edges were crusted with blackened blood and bits of flesh. When I was nine, my mother was killed in the line of duty. My father, a man of few words, could only point to the side of the road to comfort my sobbing self. Mom became a sunflower, hed said. Shell always be watching you grow up. Every year after that, on the anniversary of her death, we would plant sunflower seeds under the oldest cypress tree in the state forest. It was also where we had buried a time capsule together when I was twelve. The deputy approached him. Find something, Captain? Notify the local precinct. Seal off a two-mile radius around the oldest cypress tree in the forest. Kate is trying to lure me there. Were heading back to the station to sort through the intel first. My father turned his back to the others, but the fists clenched at his sides were trembling uncontrollably. Dad, just go look under the old cypress tree. Theres a gift there I left for you. Back at the station, everyone was buzzing about the bone fragments. They have to be fake. Its a smokescreen planted by Gideon. Exactly. What if theres a tracker hidden in the bones? The Captain said the symbol points to the old tree near his place. Its definitely a trap. I thought I had become numb to the pain, but their words still cut deep. I knew every inch of this place, every face. And they were all cursing my name. He sat in his office, staring blankly at our old chat history on his phone. Over a hundred messages from him in the past three years. The first few were angry: Get your ass back here and face the consequences. Later, they became more formal: Ive signed your arrest warrant. Dont say I didnt warn you. The gaps between messages grew longer, until finally, there was just an occasional, desperate question: Where the hell are you. He scrolled through them again and again. Finally, he locked the screen, turned the phone face down on the desk, and buried his face in his hands. I drifted over to him, wanting to give him a hug. But my form passed right through him. I couldnt even do that one small thing for him anymore. Dad, I always wanted to reply. But I couldnt. Im sorry, Dad. I let you down. The office door creaked open. Nina came in with a bowl of soup, her eyes red. She pretended to tidy his desk, but accidentally knocked over the only framed photo of my father and me. Im sorry, Dad Im just so scared, Nina sobbed, covering her face. Kate isnt dead. Those bones are just a trick to fool you! Just now, she had someone send me a message, saying shell never let me go, that shell kill me to get her revenge Enough! My father shot up from his chair, his shoe grinding the shattered photo into the floor. Faking her own death, threatening her family shes completely lost her mind! My fathers fists were clenched, his jaw tight. Dont you worry, Nina. This time, Ill tear this city apart if I have to, but I will drag that monster back here myself. He picked up the internal phone line. All units, assemble. Were heading to the state forest. Full-scale search. Dad, you still believe her so easily. Why couldnt you ever believe me?

3 Captain, were five hundred meters from the forest entrance. Should we send in a drone for recon first? No need. My father racked the slide of his pistol. The metallic click was sharp in the night air. If shes in there, box her in. If she runs, Ill take her down myself. I floated beside him, a bitter smile on my lips. Youll never get the chance to shoot, Dad. Im already dead. One of the younger officers, Chen, followed behind him, hesitant. Captain what if theres no one in there? No one? My father sneered. Ill catch her eventually. The convoy stopped at the edge of the forest. Flashlight beams cut through the trees. Report, Captain. No signs of any human activity within the forest. Thermal imaging is also clear. After the bomb squad gave the all-clear, a forensics team began to dig. A shovel hit something hard. It was my time capsule. The metal box was pried open. Inside lay a police badge, and beneath it, a piece of paper with my childish handwriting: I want to be a hero, just like my dad. The moment my father saw the badge, a look of pure disgust crossed his face. He snatched it, threw it to the ground, and ground it into the mud with his heel. Keep digging! He was the one who had pinned that badge on me. Now, he thought I was unworthy of it. On my graduation day, after hed pinned on my badge, he had hugged me tightly. You make me so proud, hed said. Always act in a way that honors this badge. He had been beaming all day, telling everyone he met, My daughter takes after me. Dad, I never once disgraced the badge you gave me. My memory was interrupted by a technicians excited voice. Weve found something critical! It was a metal box, wrapped in three layers of waterproof material. Inside was a fully sealed, electronically locked crypto-case. The technician examined it from every angle. Captain, this is high-level encryption. We cant crack it in the field. We have to take it back. My father gave the box a cursory glance. Take it back to the station. Tell the tech department theyre all working overtime. An emergency meeting was called as soon as they returned. Everyone was convinced the box contained a list of Gideons accomplices, or a backup of his distribution networksomething Kate had left for herself to leverage a deal. The deputy chief slammed his hand on the table. If this box contains a list of the network, it means Kate didnt just go rogueshe was actively involved in drug trafficking. Stevens, if the evidence is conclusive, well issue a global arrest warrant immediately. My father sat at the head of the conference table. His shoulders slumped, then he nodded. Issue the warrant if you have to. When did my father start to lose faith in me? It began during my first month on the job. I was leading a stakeout, and my phone was on silent for eleven hours straight. When I got home late that night, exhausted, I was met with his fury. Do you even remember youre a police officer? I stood in the doorway, bewildered. I found out later that Nina had mentioned something to him in passing. Shed been walking past a bar and saw me arguing with some guy with bleached-blond hair. Coincidences like that started happening more and more. A designer watch Id never seen before would appear in my locker. My work computer would be left open to some disgusting online forum. And every time, Nina would use the most innocent tone, the most delicate words, to convince my father that I was the one responsible. In his eyes, I went from being a promising young officer to a corrupt parasite on the system. Its not that I didnt try to defend myself. But he never believed me. After Nina framed me one time too many, we had a massive fight. That was the day my life changed forever.