The Baker Shop [ON-GOING]

Chapter 7

Jessica's POV

I drove a Ford black police car around town, trying to find the Midnight Ivy nightclub where my supposed partner, Deacon Hickman usually hangs out to drink his sorrows as told by my coworkers.

Earlier, Oliver Conway has told me that the most unsolved case and mystery that the Aeredale Police Department has ever tackled was the case about "The Aeredale Burglar" a thief in town who manages to sneak past all security and steal money and belongings in a flash and slip away from the police everytime for almost 10 years.

The burglar has had the reputation of having ninja-like skills from agility and acrobatic performance when he breaks into the houses of his victims.

Multiple detectives have taken the case and none of them managed to catch the infamous thief. And from what I heard, Hickman has also handled the case before and was unsuccessful in his attempts to take him down.

Deacon Hickman; Aeredale's most prominent detective and investigator, graduated from the same academy I trained in the city and was on top of his class. Every case and mystery he has ever held has been uncovered and revealed in more ways than one.

His reputation as an all-serious and bad cop attitude has granted him attention as a "person you shouldn't be messing with". I beg to differ.

The morning stench of alcohol raged through the air, the club was mostly empty with staff workers mopping pukes on the floors and cleaning whatever wickedness was left behind in this place.

A man sat on a stool in the bar area drinking Scotch by himself, wearing a blue jacket, I could tell from behind that he is already in his middle years in life.

I calmly approach him and stood beside him close enough for me to see his face, his hair was messy and graying as well as his thick beard. He looked bored and uninterested in a loth of things.

"Deacon Hickman." I spoke, he ignored my presence and continued to drink like I wasn't even there,"The others have told me that this is where I would usually find you." I stated.

He disregarded my statement and was blank as a board,"I am Officer Jessica Flynn, your new partner. I arrived in Aeredale yesterday and was assigned here from the city." I declared.

He grabbed the bottle of Scotch and poured himself another drink when he noticed his glass was empty.

He continued to take no notice of me so I knew I had to pull his strings a little,"Do you always drink here, detective?" I asked, earning a slight glance from him,"I could tell this is a place someone like you would visit from time to time or spend an entire day-off in." I stated to him.

He gave no reaction to my statement,"Wait for me in the car." he instructed in a croaky tone after downing his drink, not even bothering to look in my direction.

"No, I want to talk to you now." I refused.

"What the hell do you want?" he irritably asked, his voice was gruff.

"Tell me about the Aeredale Burglar," I mentioned,"You've handled the case before so I want to know where you left off so I can bring back the case and start my investigation." I demanded.

He laughed loudly like it was the best joke he's ever heard,"That fucking burglar?" he said and continued roaring with laughter, even some of the staff workers stared at him looking like a maniac.

I stayed quiet beside him, this is no laughing matter but to him, it is.

After a while, he finally stopped and spoke,"I've been onto that son of a bitch for a decade already and I still haven't caught him even fucking once." the anger in his voice was obvious,"If I couldn't do it," he peered over his shoulder and finally faced me,"What difference would you fucking make?" he said and turned back to his drink.

"We both want to catch him, detective." I assured,"But unlike you, I won't rest until that bastard goes to prison and brought down to justice." I asserted confidently.

"Hate to break it to you, kid," he spoke,"But you're trying to catch a ghost." he stated.

I have my reason to finish this job and I'm not gonna let this man or anyone get in my way from achieving my goal,"You're right, detective." I said and calmly sat down on the stool beside him,"Because ghosts aren't real,"I declared."But some people still believe in them," he looked at me with a piercing stare,"What do you think?" I asked.

He went silent and just gazed sharply into my eyes like a knife through butter before hopping off the stool and staggering to the door.

I followed after to the parking lot,"Let me drive." he ordered, almost stumbling to the ground.

"No, you're drunk." I said,"I'm taking you to the station as my partner, not as a convict." I stated and went to the driver seat.

The ride didn't take long but it felt forever because of the ever growing silence in the car as I drove to the station.

We both exited the parking lot and went inside, Hickman has already sobered up since the ride and had a mild headache because he claimed that my driving was making him sick. If he didn't drink then maybe he would say otherwise.

"Hickman, so glad for you come by. Hope you didn't drive drunk again." Officer Delgado greeted as we approached the information desk.

"Shut up, where is Wilkinson? I want to talk to him." Hickman demanded with a gruff tone.

"He's in his office. Why are you gonna talk to him?" Officer Delgado asked him curiously.

"I didn't agree on taking care of another 'nosy' of a partner." he answered, obviously referring to the one standing beside him. Officer Delgado glanced at me from the side of his eye.

"Well, I'm sure the old man won't be happy about it again." Officer Delgado said.

Hickman and I made our way to Chief Wilkinson's office and stayed silent because of his comment earlier about me being nosy.

To be honest, it's not that I like to intrude into other people's personal space and private information but I think it's only fair if I get to know a little bit more of the person before I meet them face to face. Some people might call it shameless and rude but it's only my belief.

He noticed that I went quiet beside him and ordered me stay outside until he comes back so I followed. Standing in front of Chief Wilkinson's office, I heard them arguing about assigning me to be Hickman's partner.

If I had the choice to not have a partner anyways, I would chosen that instead of having to stick up with his attitude everyday. He seems like a total drunk who would just disturb me from making progress in my investigation because it would hurt his ego that I will be able to catch the Aeredale Burglar before he does.

Men are always like that, they hide their hatred and true intentions so they can secretly get rid of those that they perceive as a challenge to their social status or achievements because they can't stand the fact that other people might succeed in doing what they can't.

I bet Hickman is in there convincing the Chief right now to dismiss my favor of bringing back the Aeredale Burglar case because he's afraid I might actually catch the thief before him.

I smirked at thought and lowly chuckle, he doesn't know anything about me if he thinks I would just give up the opportunity of something like this.

I've never backed down from anything in my life and I'll gladly take it head on if I have to, so long as I get what I want and what I want is to get out of this town for good.