Chapter 5 What's going on

Detective Bartolome stood from his chair. The four walled room with its flickering light bulb and cold metal chairs has never felt so life draining.

He pulled out a pack of cigarette from his pocket and lit one, while throwing the woman on the other side of him a glance.

"What happened next" the detective asked as he puffed a cloud of smoke from his mouth.

The woman who's head was bent and resting on the cold metal table looked up at him. Her blood shut eyes and deshiveled look was pitiful and the detective wants nothing more but to send her to a hospital before continuing with the interrogation, but the circumstances that led her to the police station forbids even the slightest delay of time.

Loosing his patience, the detective slammed his hand on the table, causing the woman to flinch but immediately regretted it.

"Look, I know how difficult this is but if a life is at stake, you must tell us everything we need to know.

"I.. I can't talk about it anymore"

"You have to, don't you want to save Trisha?"

Immidiately, the woman shot him a horrified look, "Trisha, oh my god Trisha... You have to save her!"

Detective Mathew Bartolome began his day with his usual routine, he got out of bed, took a shower, dressed himself, drove his car to his favorite donut stand and grabbed a box before finally taking his seat inside the police station. The day went on, as normal as it could be. There weren't enough cops in their precinct that day, given it was February 14th and everyone was busy with Valentines. Only him and four other lonely singles agreed to spend hearts days inside a lonely building. The coming storm also provided some of his lazy colleagues an excuse not to come to work.

It was six in the evening when a distress call came to them, something about a woman covered in blood walking on the side of highway 28. Him and another cop responded. And what greeted them was an old couple who had their RV parked on the side of the road. The couple immidiately ran to them when the police vehicle curved to a stop.

The man who introduced himself as Antonio relayed the story of how they found a woman whom they thought got into a car accident, given the amount of blood and wounds she had on her body. But according to Antonio, when they asked her what happened, she started screaming about being held captive and how another girl was left behind.

Detective Bartolome immidiately asked for the woman's whereabouts and Antonio guided him inside their RV. There, the detective found a woman sitting on a couch wrapped in a pink fleece blanket, hugging what looks like a black and white cloak. He slowly walked up to her and introduced himself. His partner by then had called for paramedics. Bartolome tried his best to coax the woman to talk but her eyes where glazed and blood shut, she was groggy and body twitching which the detective presumed to have been caused by a heavy sedative.

He took the woman into custody and that's how he found himself listening to a detailed rape and murder.

The sudden knock on the interrogation room gave the detective relief. His partner Marcus peeked inside and motioned for him to follow. Detective Bartome did as he was asked, leaving the woman who introduced herself as Avery.

"Got anywhere yet?" Bartome's partner asked. The detective shook his head in response and ran a hand through his hair.

"The hospital called, they said the storm is too strong, they can't send an ambulance."

"Did you tell them about the woman's condition?"

"I did, but they said she received first aid which means she can hold out until tomorrow."

"God damn those people!" detective Bartolome couldn't help but curse at the idiocy.

"Look, keep trying to get a hospital to send an ambulance here. This woman needs medical assistance and although I want nothing more but to pry her for information. Anything we get out of her now would be rebuked, given her incoherent condition."

"Fine, but don't curse, it was you who insisted on getting her here first, we could have dropped her straight to a hospital before the storm."

Bartolome threw an annoyed glance towards his partner before heading back to the interrogation room.

"Please, you have to help her..help Trisha! He will kill her!.. The woman screamed at his face the moment he stepped back.

" You have been saying that in the last hour, now tell me where to find them, is there anything about the place you remember? Was there a sign? Any street name?

" No.. No.. I can't.. I can't!

Detective Bartolome sat in front of the frantic woman, keeping his cool, praying to God he still had some left in him.

" Give me something, anything. Your words will not help her unless it actually gives me something i can use.

" You have to help Trisha.. Please!

Bartome once again slammed his hand on the table, frustration written all over his face.

The woman before him flinched and stared at him in horror. She left the chair she was sitting on, ran towards the far left corner of the room and crouched down then began to cry hysterically.

Detective Bartolome, although worried at the scene felt nothing but annoyance towards the woman. It maybe insensitive of him to not offer an apology, but she had been blabbering nonsense. She wants them to help her friend but offers nothing to them that could help find her.

The door to the interrogation room suddenly burst open and his partner Marcus stepped inside throwing him a condescending look.

"I'm tired, take over" Bartolome said as he walked out of the room, leaving the woman still crouching and crying on the floor.