Chapter 26

 

“Dead?” Kevin exploded.  “Who is it?”

 “They wouldn’t release that information to me Mr. Richardson.  All they told me was that Mr. Littrell was found and that 2 people are seriously injured and one died instantly.”

“You better be finding out Daniels or...” Kevin started to say before he was pulled back by a concerned looking Howie.

 
 “Calm down Kev this isn’t his fault.  Let’s just go down there and see what happened, Brian probably wasn’t even hurt at all and is just waiting for us to come pick him up.”  Howie explained, trying to cover his disbelief in his words by a strong voice.
 

“But there is a problem with that, I can’t take you to the crime scene, you will have to wait here until we get finished gathering information.”

“You are wrong Daniels, we are going whether you like it or not.  You can either cooperate with us and take us or we will flag down a cab and follow you there, take your pick.  For your sake I hope you pick the first option.”

 
 “Woah what a minute Kev.” AJ said for the first time contributing to the conversation.  “You don’t need to sound like you are going to kill the poor guy.  He probably can’t take you for your own safety.”

 “Yeah I know AJ.  But I just need to be there for Brian.  If he is hurt, he will freak out if he doesn’t recognize anyone.  I know if I was in his situation I would want someone I know to be there with me right away.”  Kevin explained emotionally, his usually straight posture slumped over in defeat and his arms hanging lifelessly by his side until he raised one hand up to his face.

“I’ll tell you guys what, I will probably get written up for this but only one or two of you can go, not all three of you.  Just make sure when you get there you stay out of the way, ok?”
 
Everyone nodded in agreement then looked around the room at each other with nervous eyes.  “I will stay with Nicky, you two go and be sure to tell Brian we are glad he is back.  Man, at least one of our worries will be solved.”  AJ said.
 
Kevin and Howie nodded as they followed Officer Davis out of the waiting room and rushed towards the elevator, seconds later running to where the police cruiser was parked.  AJ watched silently from the window as they pulled out of the parking lot at a neck-breaking speed.  “I just hope Brian is alright.  Please let him be alright.”

***

 

Approximately seven minutes later, the police cruiser approached a small, secluded neighborhood.  It look just like any other peaceful neighborhood except there were several police cruisers and two ambulances and even one CHANNEL TEN NEWS van parked in the street.
 
“Damn.” Kevin cursed as he jumped out of the police cruiser even before it had come to a halt.
 
“Mr. Richardson, wait!” Kevin heard Officer Daniel’s voice call and he slowed down his walk, giving the officer and Howie enough time to catch up.
 
“You two will need to wait over there,” he explained as he pointed to an area of spectators to the
side.  “They are getting ready to transport the victims out of there.”   Both Kevin and Howie nodded and slowly walked over to the side where they were indicated to go, both casting looks over their shoulders with every few steps.
 
Once Officer Daniels made sure the two young men who arrived with him were at a safe distance away, he broke into a run and dashed into the house, quickly running down the stairs to the basement ready to assist in any way he could.
 

***

After a few minutes of pacing, Kevin let out an aggravated sigh, suddenly there was a loud shout
from the crowd and Kevin looked towards the house entrance, seeing a group of officers and paramedics pushing two stretchers out.  Both people on the stretchers seemed to be alive for both were slightly moving.  Kevin broke away from the crowd and ran towards the two stretchers, his heart falling once he saw the two men, none of them were Brian.  He looked quickly around to make sure that for some reason in all the excitement he had somehow missed Brian coming out of the house.

“They are bringing the fatally wounded victim up here next.” a young paramedic announced from the side of a large, aggressive looking man lying on the stretcher.
 
Kevin gasped when he looked at the entrance and saw Officer Daniels and another officer pushing a stretcher with a small figure of about a 5'7" height on the stretcher with a sheet pulled over the body, signaling that the person was dead.  Kevin felt his breaths come in gasps when he realized who the person under the sheet was and he let out a scream, deep in anguish straight from the depths of his soul.