Chapter 1

Being a cop is a dream I have since I was a kid. Whenever my parents would ask me what do I want when I grow up I would always say, I want to be a cop, nothing else. Even at a young age, I never imagined myself to be anything other than to be a law enforcer. And I did everything to achieve my dream. I worked hard to get here.

"Angeles! Missing kid at the Burton Primary." I immediately stood up as soon as I heard our captain.

"Yes, sir."

Burton Grove is a fast-growing city. Because of the great job opportunities and business ventures, our city that started as a one-horse town became an urban city where dreams can come true. But with a growing population, crimes grow too. Our once peaceful town now has a burglary, robbery, drugs, prostitution, and now a missing kid? Damn! It's getting worst.

"Oliver, stop eating. Damn it!" I grabbed my best friend and partner, Oliver McKnight by his collar and dragged him out of the station.

"Hey! I'm eating!" Oliver complains.

"Shut up and get in as I pushed him towards the car.

Oliver is a great cop and an excellent partner. He is the kind of person who could talk even to a criminal and make friends with them. I guess it's because of his calm voice and cool personality that everyone seems to like talking to him. Unlike me, who always looks serious and authoritative. People always get intimidated by me.

" Police officers are already at the school. She went missing at her first period." Oliver said as he read through the file given to me by our captain.

"Didn't she just wandered around? Or maybe left the school with some friends and went somewhere else?" I said thinking that it could be too early to say that the kid's missing.

"Nah, no one else is missing aside from her. And according to this, her teacher saw a mysterious-looking guy wearing their maintenance uniform. It says here that she saw the guy wearing a cap so low that it covers half of his face." Oliver read the report aloud.

"And she didn't report it?" Unbelievable.

"Nope, she thought something's wrong with the man's way," Oliver said laughing.

"Damn, people!" I drove as fast as I could.

When we arrive at the Burton Grove Primary, we saw some police officers interviewing the maintenance crews and other facility and faculty members. But one person caught my attention. She's beautiful and sexy but she is somehow yelling at one of our officers.

"You are all useless! Why can't just find her?" Wow! Attitude.

"Excuse me, what's going on?" I asked, I didn't mind hiding my annoyance.

"You are all incompetent and sells, that's what." I was asking our police officer but she's the one who answered me.

"Let me guess, your the missing kid's teacher?" I immediately had a hunch on who she is.

"Yes, why?" She asked sarcastically.

You're that teacher, huh. "Oh, so you're the teacher who is the mysterious guy wearing a cap almost covering half of his face? Do you know that it's your fault the kid is missing?"

"Wha—"

"Yeah, seeing a stranger within the school premise and not reporting it? Irresponsible. Now, you dare to blame us for not having enough to go on?" It was too late for me to realize that I said those words louder than I should have.

"You what?" By the look of the woman who approached us and her swollen eyes from crying nonstop, I think this is the mother. "Is this how irresponsible the teachers of this school are? My God! My daughter is missing because of you!" Damn!

Officers have to carefully take her away and calm her down. The father of the missing kid is staring at her like he's about to strangle her to death. When I looked at the teacher, she was trying not to cry but a tear escaped from her eyes.

"Get the father away from the teacher. Go." I whispered to one of the officer near me.

I wanted to apologize but decided not to. She doesn't have the right to yell at our officers and blame us. She's with the gravest mistake when failed to report the stranger. Although, I honestly felt bad for putting her in the spotlight that way.

"You didn't have to talk to her that way, man," Oliver said when we walk away from the people.

"I know, man. I got carried away." I honestly said.

We walked out of the school and stood at the side of the road. There are a lot of establishments around the school but none of them noticed anything. Who could blame them? They are all busy with their businesses. But there's one thing I noticed with all of them.

"Did anyone asked for a copy of these establishment's CCTV footage for the whole morning?" I asked Oliver who is now, eating, again.

"Do you really have to eat every hour?" I asked out of amusement. Since we were in high school, Oliver is always munching on something.

"Sorry, I can't help it." He said in between chewing and swallowing. I just shook my head in response.

"Stay here, I'll have some officers to get CCTV footage."

I walked back to the school and talk to some of the officers. I found standing in front of the principal's office and when I looked at the window of the office, I saw the teacher talking to the principal. No, she's being lectured by the principal. She's got her head down and her fingers are nervously playing on the beads of her bracelets.

We already have officers searching for the kid and I heard the family and friends of her parents are already coming up with a search party. I fear for the kid's life. We have to find her as soon as possible. This is what's hard with missing cases, especially if there's a possibility that they were abducted. If there were not found within 24 hours, the chance of finding them alive is already thin.

Eight in the evening when I decided to finally come home. There's nothing much that we could today but wait for the CCTV footage. When I arrived home, our mom is preparing for our dinner.

"Hi, Chris!" Melanie, our youngest sister, kissed me on my cheeks.

"Bro, meet my girlfriend Lindsay." Mark, our eldest brother, said as he introduced his girlfriend.

"Hi! Be careful with my brother, okay?" I joked.

"Damn you, bro." He replied laughing.

I thought our dinner for tonight will be like any other night, fun and enjoyable. But it turned into a nightmare for me when they started bombarding me with questions about my love life.

"Yeah, bro. You're not getting any younger. When do you plan on getting married?" Jeffrey, my younger brother said?

"Mind your business, kid. Now, shut up and eat."

They all laughed at how I responded to Jeffrey's question. I don't want to be too serious but it's not funny. I know I'm getting old and all, but what can I do? I haven't found the right girl. I don't want to be in a relationship that I'm not sure will last until the end. I not wasting my time on nonsense flings.