THE GREAT DETECTIVE

The following day Henry wakes up, and Felix has made waffles. They do their usual routine every morning; reading the paper, eating breakfast, and discussing the news. At 6:50 am, Felix leaves for work and says bye to Henry. They make plans to meet for lunch. As the clock strikes 7:00 am, Henry gets up and heads to work.

As he approaches the station, he notices a black car is following him and has been following him since he left the apartment. Henry cautiously enters the station and walks to his desk. He goes over some paperwork until Chief Delgado calls him into his office. Henry walks in and takes a seat. The Chief doesn’t look happy.

“How are you doing, detective?” asks Chief Delgado. Henry is confused.

“I’m well, chief. How are you?” says Henry.

“Detective, I like to run a tight ship around here. There are rules people follow to make sure everything gets done, and we do our job effectively,” says Chief Delgado.

“Did I do something wrong?” asks Henry.

Chief Delgado looks down at his hands before answering. “I know you talked to Slade... I know you didn’t listen to me when I told you, you weren’t ready,” says Chief Delgado. Henry starts to get angry.

“You wouldn’t tell me the truth! If something involves someone and they don’t know it, they deserve to know. Especially if it’s a case they are a part of!” says Henry.

Chief Delgado looks at Henry, upset. “You weren’t ready!” yells Chief Delgado. “This case is serious, and I couldn’t risk personal feelings getting in the way. If I told you, you would go to him looking for answers and could end up being killed.” Henry sees the chief starting to choke on his words. “You are like a son to me and one of my best. The people trust you and believe that you do all you can to help them. You work hard and have saved many of us here. We would be dead, and this Precinct would not be as successful without you,” he says.

Henry feels tears developing in his eyes. He gets up and starts walking to the door. Before he opens it, he turns back to the chief. “You should’ve told me. I don’t need protecting. Everyone decides what they think I can or can’t handle. That’s up to me, not them, or you. If anything involves me, I need, and deserve to know. Don’t worry about me. I will get Slade if it’s the last thing I do.” Henry walks out of the chief’s office and sits back at his desk. Flint comes over to Henry, who looks upset, staring at his computer screen.

“You okay, Henry? What happened in there?” says Flint taking a seat at his desk next.

“Apparently, Slade’s wife is the one who found me all those years ago,” says Henry, still looking at his computer screen. Flint looks around and sees Slade’s picture.

“Really? No way!” says Flint, shocked.

“Apparently, Slade has kept tabs on me and made my life easy. School, housing, job, everything. I probably don’t deserve half of this,” says Henry, looking even more upset than before.

“That’s not true,” says Flint. “You worked hard and gave everything you had to be here. Slade’s help or not, you deserve this job and to be a part of this precinct. You have helped many people here, even when they didn’t ask. You stepped up to help make their job easier. I don’t know many people I’d trust with my life, but I know I trust you with it.”

Henry looks up at Flint and shows a faint smile. “Thanks, Flint. You’re a great partner and friend,” he says.

Flint nods and smiles back at Henry. “No problem, man! That’s what I’m here for,” he says.

Henry gathers his things and heads home. As he walks to his car, he notices someone watching him. Henry gets in his car and starts to head home, but notices a black SUV following him. He turns down an alleyway, looks back, and the car continues to follow him. He speeds up and races through traffic and alleyways, trying to evade the SUV.

He drives down East 48th Street, across 1st avenue onto the FDR Drive heading through the north entrance. The black SUV rams into him as he goes around on the exit to merge onto the FDR Drive. Henry spins and hits the side barrier to stop. He sits stunned in the seat of his car as glass and pieces of his car lay around in wreckage. His vision is blurry as he opens the car door, and he falls to the ground, his vision slowly becoming clearer. He notices a person walking towards him from the black SUV. It was one of Slade’s bodyguards.

“You think you can just walk away from Slade and him not know? You won’t be off his radar. You won’t be till the day you die,” says the bodyguard. He looks down at Henry.

“I won’t do it!” says Henry looking up at the bodyguard. “I won’t be a dirty cop. I won’t be like you!” He gets up slowly to face the bodyguard.

“If you don’t accept the offer, Slade will have you killed,” says the bodyguard giving Henry an evil look. He looks back at the bodyguard.

“I would like to see you try and stop me,” says Henry looking at the bodyguard with a brave stern face. “You haven’t seen what I can do.”

The bodyguard rushes at Henry, and he rushes at him. Once they collide, the bodyguard throws Henry to the ground and attempts to punch him. Henry, being trained in hand-to-hand combat, blocks the bodyguard’s punch and kicks the bodyguard off him, sending him flying across the pavement. Henry and the bodyguard continue their fistfight in the street. The bodyguard blocks Henry’s punch and throws him against his car.

“I don’t know why Slade wants you alive,” says the bodyguard looking at Henry with a bloody and bruised face. “I should just kill you now, and he can be rid of you.” Henry looks up at the guard as he did before with cuts and bruises as well.

“I don’t die easily you see. I would like to see you try,” says Henry. The bodyguard glares at him.

“My pleasure,” says the bodyguard. He then charges at Henry again. They fight once again, throwing punches and kicks, dodging and countering each other's advances. The bodyguard punches him and throws him back against his car near the edge of the turn where he wrecked. Henry notices his firearm in the shattered glass on the driver’s side seat. The bodyguard notices and takes out a knife, running at Henry.

He jumps on Henry, trying to stab him. Henry holds the bodyguard’s hands with all his strength to avoid being stabbed. He looks into the bodyguard's hateful eyes, full of rage and blood lust. He notices his eyes have turned a yellow-like color.

“Slade will reward me for silencing you for him. Saves him the trouble,” says the bodyguard. Henry moves his head to the side, letting go of the bodyguard’s hands. The knife misses his head and hits the pavement. He kicks the bodyguard to the edge of the turn, almost throwing the guard over the edge. He turns and picks up his firearm and points it at the bodyguard. The bodyguard gets up out of breath and looks at Henry with his gun in his hand.

“I will tell Slade my answer is no!” says Henry.

“Slade will kill you, and there won’t be anywhere to run, hide, and no one to save you,” says the bodyguard glaring at Henry.

“I will live, but sorry, you won’t be here to see it. Good day sir.” Henry shoots and kills the guard. The power of the shot flips the bodyguard over the edge falling into the East River. Soon after, police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances arrive. The police rush around to set up a perimeter and to close off the exit. While an EMT looks Henry over to make sure he has no broken bones or other injuries. Flint comes to check on him.

“You okay, Henry?” asks Flint. Henry looks at him with bruises on his right eye, the left side of his head, and a cut above his right eye.

“Yeah, just a little banged up. I got a few bruised ribs and back. Nothing major,” Henry replied.

Flint looked at Henry with a worried look on his face. “What happened, Henry?’ said Flint.

Henry looked back at Flint. “Slade happened.”

Flint looks shocked. “Slade was here?” he asked.

“No. He sent one of his bodyguards to follow me to make sure I didn’t tell someone. Slade wanted me back alive, and the bodyguard attempted to kill me. He tried, and I shot him, then he fell over the edge,” said Henry trying to slow his breathing.

“Dang, man. Glad you’re okay,” said Flint patting Henry on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Flint,” said Henry. They both looked over to see Chief Delgado approach them. They see he didn’t look thrilled.

“Flint, can I speak with Detective Stone alone for a second?” asked Chief Delgado.

“Yes, sir. Talk to you later, Henry,” said Flint leaving Henry and Chief Delgado to talk. The EMTs finished up and also left. Henry looked at Chief Delgado as he walked up to him.

“You okay, Henry?” said Chief Delgado.

“Yes, I am. Thank you, chief,” replied Henry.

“What happened? You wrecked your car, wrecked another vehicle...What did you do?” said Chief Delgado angrily.

Henry looked back at Chief Delgado, who looked at him with an angry, stern face. “Chief, one of Slade’s bodyguards, attacked me,” said Henry.

Chief Delgado looked back at Henry, confused. “What? Why would Slade send someone after you? He basically paid for everything and kept an eye on you for a reason,” Chief Delgado said, confused.

“I don’t know, Chief. That’s what I’m going to find out,” said Henry with a determined look on his face.

“Why don’t you go home, detective. Get some rest, and we’ll talk more tomorrow.” Chief Delgado turns to walk away. “Good night, detective.”

“Good night, sir.” Henry gets up and walks towards Flint’s car. They both smile and wave at each other when they meet each other’s gaze.

“Need a ride, Henry?’ Flint asks jokingly.

“Yeah, thanks, man,” said Henry laughing. Flint is always good at making Henry feel better in tough situations. Henry got in the car, and soon they were at Henry’s apartment building.

“Thanks for the ride, Flint.”

“No problem, Henry. Have a good rest of your night,” replied Flint.

“You too,” says Henry. He went into his apartment building as Flint drove off. He heads to his apartment and goes to bed.

END OF PART 2