Free Legacy by Ian Haywood

onslaught.
                  “I want to know right now and you are not leaving this room until you tell me everything! Whatever is going on, it’s endangering the lives of this force and I am not going to stand back and do nothing while more lives are being lost! Every time I see you, there’s nothing but death and destruction!”
     
    Short had to step in and physically pull Harran back, giving me a moment to readjust after once again being face to face with an angry man – but a part of me knew that Harran was doing so for the right reasons, not like the man who tried to kill me outside me house.
     
    But another part of me did become scared because I don’t know if I can ever trust another man again.
                  “Sir,” Short said as he calmed Harran down a little, “losing your temper is not helping matters right now.”
     
    It was at this very moment that the emergency alarm that had been continuously ringing in the background ceased, filling the air with an eerie silence and sighs of relief, but as each officer stood down, it became apparent that there was bad news.
     
    The man who helped me in the car park was dead, and his attacker had managed to flee the scene without even being captured.
     
    A female police officer stepped into the room to tell Harran and Short the bad news and without saying another word to me, Harran walked out of the room.
     
    Short looked over to me with a look of displeasure as he followed Harran, leaving me alone with the female police officer and I began crying like I had never cried before.
     
    The whole station stood united in shock and grief at the news and immediately the hunt for his killer was underway and while I sat in a small room crying in front of a complete stranger, the forensics team were once again called upon to gather as much evidence as possible from the car park while Harran and Short checked out footage from the closed circuit cameras to see what happened and hopefully obtain a good image to identify the killer.
     
    What was on the tape shocked everyone who saw it and those who did, found it incredibly difficult to believe what they were witnessing on the screen.
     
    Harran and Short looked at each other in complete and utter disbelief at what they had just witnessed and if they thought that the killing during the night was strange, then this one was bordering on paranormal.
     
    No amount of police experience or detective training could ever prepare anyone to rationally explain what they were actually dealing with right now.
     
    Two killings in less than 24 hours and they had no leads to go on whatsoever.

 
    Harran turned to Short and began speaking quietly, checking that nobody else was within earshot.
                  “Short – be prepared because the amount of shit that is going to come from all this will be immense. It’ll be flying from all directions, it it’s not the public baying for blood, it’ll be from within our own ranks. Everyone will want answers there and then and we haven’t got a bloody clue what’s going on ourselves! We need to get hold of ourselves and make some sense of all this so we can comfort the public and not cause mass panic.”
     
    Short nodded his head.
                  “I understand, Sir.”
     
    Harran drummed his fingers on the desk for a few seconds – something he always did when he was slightly anxious.
                  “Short, you’re a great police officer and whatever happens in this case, I know you’ll give me 100%”
                  “You can count on me, Sir.”
     
    Harran stood up and stretched his arms into the air.
                  “At this moment in time Short, you’re probably the only one I can trust. Whatever the outcome, I’m under extreme pressure to close this case as soon as possible or face the wrath of the old boys network who will have the greatest of pleasure in choosing me as the proverbial