POV RILEY:

I move my arm, hitting something and the sound of papers awaken my slumber. I groan out loud, feeling how stiff my body is. Jesus Christ... did I fall asleep in the office again? I lift my head off the wooden desk. A paper is stuck to my face and I peel it off with an annoyed grunt.

"Shit..." I sit up straight, cracking my back. My fingers scratch my tousled hair. Another groan greets me from where my partner sits. I guess we both were focused on our work to forget the time.

Hal faces me but doesn't sit up. He mutters out, "The painkiller..." I shot up out of my seat, understanding the urgency. I grab an open water bottle lying on top of one of the filing cabinets. I circle around Hal's desk so I can reach him. I ask, "Where?" His eyes motion to his left, meaning his left pocket. I slide my hands into the coat pocket and pull out the prescription.

I set the stuff on the table and help Hal sit up straight. My partner curses through gritted teeth as I gently pull him up from his hunched position. After a couple of minutes when he downs his dosage, Hal finally relaxes in his seat, rubbing his side.

"Sorry," I frown. "It wasn't a good idea to keep you held in the office for this long while you are still injured."

"Heh. I'm good, Riley. I got swept in the working mood," my partner answers.

I lean back on his desk, glancing at the pile I've given him. The results I've found were just as vague as the official report. The whole thing is mind boggling because how can something like a drug bust get sweep under the rug without some higher up questioning it.

Yes, Pilocke and the Jackson brother's last arrest turned out to be a drug bust; the drug was Daze. The three boys were caught in the basement touching the stash. Most of the reports end there or talk about being unable to find the owners of the home. The boys were arrested but they never name who.

I ask Hal, "You find anything good?"

He shakes his head, playing with his prescription bottle; his hazel eyes won't meet mine. Before I can push any further, a knock at the door catches our attention. "Come in," I call, turning my focus away from Hal when the door when it opens. Our rookie, Jack, enters, looking at the two of us, "Wow, you guys are here early. I wasn't expecting many people here. The chief, Jenkins and Dick are busy so I didn't want to bother them. I'm glad to have found you guys."

I grin, "Working hard by coming early, Jack?" I return to my seat and continue, "What do you need?"

"I just got assigned to a missing person case. Dick told me the lady I'll have to deal with is a bit on the nutty side. I don't know how to deal with that without someone as backup," explains Jack.

Before I can speak up, my phone rings its normal ringtone. The caller ID reads Mabel and I quickly take the call; she had to be contacting me because of Samuel. "Hello?" I answer. I hear Mabel shouting at someone in Spanish in the background. Unfortunately, I don't know the language.

"Hey Riley, I finally got ahold of Samuel after he dashed off on his last tab. You better get your ass here and do whatever you got to do because he's already begging for alcohol so damn early in the morning!" I can imagine her scowling on the other end. She sighs, "The pendejo- Manny!! Dejas el borracho en paz!" Manuel is her employee on the morning shift. The young guy is full of mischief.

"I'll come over. Tell him to stay for me and I'll pay his tab," I tell her. She drops the call after agreeing.

Hal asks, "We got Samuel Pilocke?"

"We got him," I nod.

Jack intervenes, "Who's Samuel? You guys have a suspect for the Hangman case? Am I bothering you, guys?" I know the rookie could probably handle the crazy old lady, Mrs. Witherspoon, on his own but it wouldn't be safe to leave him without someone else. I've dealt with her once and after that I didn't want to deal with her again. I cross my arms, thinking how we should pursue this.

Hal speaks up, "Hey Jack, how about I take you on that favor and join you?" I raise an eyebrow at my partner. I thought he wanted to listen to what Samuel has to say about his last arrest? I observe the ginger's physical actions; I didn't pick up useless skills after five years of being an investigator. Everything about him is tense and I know he had something he wanted to say, going back on the lie he told me previously.

I hope he knows what he's doing; if I discover it to be crucial... he'd wish he didn't leave the hospital.

Jack faces me as if waiting for my approval. His hesitant expression makes me wonder if him and Hal are still on bad terms. I shrug, "What the hell. Go for it, Hal. Just make sure you watch out for her tiny ass chihuahua."

The two nod before Hal gets up from his seat. He slips something I can't identify into his pocket and heads out the door with Jack.

Time to get answers from Samuel.

The drive to Mabel's bar is silent even with the rock music on. The absence of someone sitting in the passenger seat is lonesome. I don't know what changed me; is it the fact that I have a longer case and a new partner with me? It's different when George is my partner. We only get a day of working together until the case is closed and I move on to my own case that I can handle.

When Hal's with me... I feel a lot more alive, like I have the same mindset as my old self when I first joined the force. I have no idea what it is- this feeling, for some charming guy I just met three weeks ago. The desire for him to stick with me is foreign to how I work but it increases every minute I spend with him. Did the chief know I was going to end up like this?

Minutes after contemplating about my life in the car, I arrive at the bar no later. Manuel peaks from the kitchen when the entrance bell rings. Mabel appears in a second, walking out the kitchen door. "I have him at one of the booths over there," she points to a more secluded part of the bar. Before I approach the table, I give her my thanks while she mutters about how much I owe her.

Samuel is hunched over the table again but this time with an empty hand. I slide into the seat across from him and the man looks up; he must have been deep in thought a second ago.

"Hey cop," he grunts causing me to roll my eyes.

For someone younger than me, I can hardly see it with how he acts. Maybe his childish actions are the only thing making him act more of his age. I ask him, "You feel like talking with me now?"

Samuel chuckles, turning his gaze away, "I don't think I'll ever be but... I got to let it off my chest somehow." He sits up straight, revealing more of his well-built form. I'm surprised he hasn't form a potbelly from all that booze he consumes on a daily basis. Samuel continues, "For so many damn years, I couldn't tell my friends... my family... I was scared- well I'm still scared even now"

"What are you afraid of, Samuel?" I feel like I'm playing a shrink if my questions are like this.

"Justice," he simply states with his eyes boring into mine. Samuel cuts me off before I can ask him what he meant by the word. His hands clasp over the table, letting his thumbs fiddle. With a tight jaw, Samuel sighs, "I'll tell you the whole thing. Where do you want me to start?"

Wow. Just like that? The man did say this ordeal weighed heavily on him. There's only one way to find out.

"I read a few reports. I understand you were arrested near a drug dealer's house. I want you to begin when you boys first got the idea of wanting to break into the house."

"Okay," Samuel nods. He lets out a deep breath, running a hand quickly over his face. He starts, "Nathan and I caught wind of a new drug that was being used in the city. All the other kids at school knew what it was. Daze. They said that the drug put people in a relaxed state- you know, that's why they call it 'Daze.' It was said to make all your fears disappear."

Daze was already in the city during that time. In that month, I haven't entered the UCPD yet which explains why I haven't heard about it until now. I knew the quantity from the report but how much were still out there after that drug dealer disappeared?

Samuel continues, "So the two of us already knew where the dealer lived in the east outskirts of the city. We were making a full plan to break into the man's house and get some Daze for ourselves. Ethan heard our plan because Nathan never kept secrets from his brother. Ethan tried to convince us not to go but, because we were really stupid teenagers, we went. Ethan followed us."

I asked him, "How long did you guys plan for this?"

"Two days. It was so fucking stupid now that I'm older. Our minds and egos were way up high. I don't think no one could have stopped us," Samuel frowns, his eyes downcast to the table. "At night, we left our homes. I took my dad's car and we drove down to the east part of the city. It wasn't long till we stopped in front of the man's house. Nathan brought all the tools for our break in. He even carried his dad's gun for safety reasons."

When Samuel falls silent, I speak up, "I'm not going to say it wasn't your guy's fault because it is. But from the looks of it, the incident changed you, matured you, into who you are."

"It changed me a lot," Samuel emphasizes. "It wasn't the arrest though, it was what happened during the arrest." I take out my notebook, waiting for the information I've been dying to find. The vagueness of the reports irked me.

"We broke in like we planned. We believed we had luck on our side because the drug dealer wasn't at home. What we didn't expect were the police to burst in the front door. We were in the basement with the drugs at the time so we only heard a loud sound upstairs. Ethan began to freak out but Nathan tried to assure him that we could get out easily. There was a window that led to the outside from the basement. We got it open. I climbed out first to check if the close was clear. Then I heard the door to the basement smash open. I yelled for the brothers to get out of there. I heard a gunshot- more than once actually. My heart seemed to stop at the sight of Nathan on the ground with the gun in his hand."

Samuel takes slow breathes; I watch him blinking back tears. He continues with a shaky breath, "A pool of blood formed around Nathan. Ethan was crying over his body. I knew one of the police officers shot him on sight. I wanted to run, man. I wanted to dart away from the scene."

The officer must have been alarmed to see Nathan with a gun and shot him. I understand why the officer had a gun out in the first place because it's necessary to be prepared when entering a drug dealer's home. But shooting people on sight is the last resort. We usually warn the hostile a couple of times before pushing further with lethal weapons. This is an inexcusable conduct of an officer.

"Ethan and I got arrested and like always our parents bailed us out. Weeks later after the funeral I couldn't bear to go to, Ethan said he was leaving Upside because his parents wanted to discipline him for his misbehavior with boot camp. That was the last time I saw Ethan."

"But you've emailed him?"

"Yes, I was in contact with him. I wanted to be his moral support after what happened. I felt like if I hadn't gotten Nathan into that stupid plan, he would still be alive..."

I set down my notebook after writing down what I can. I settle back in my seat, observing Samuel. Past mistakes can bite anyone in the ass.

I ask him, "You have a photograph of Ethan?"

Samuel nods, pulling out his wallet. He takes out a folded photo and lays it out the wood. "I don't have anything recent for obvious reasons but here's a picture we took when we were younger."

My stomach dropped and my heart races a mile a minute. I stare at a very familiar face- but not just one... but two.

I'm reminded of the car ride not so long
"A twin brother."
"Wow, are you guys identical?"
"Yup."

Damnit! Don't tell me my partner held back their photos from me! Ethan was among us this whole time!- And fuck, I left him with Hal!!!

......[(( _ _ ))..zzzZZ(( _ _ ))..zzzZZ]......
A/N: Vote & Comment if you are still here! It's already the third week since I've started this story. Hot damn we are coming to a close soon.