10- The Imposter

10.

 

When Ross opened his eyes, he was laying on his couch. His heart was pounding and his palms sweaty, realizing that it had all been a bad dream into which he was driven due to the sufferings he was crossing through. He sat up and took his head in his hands as few drops of sweat rolled down over on the carpet. Maybe he could use a cold shower and some food.

Ross stood up to fetch himself a glass of water from the kitchen. He walked to the kitchen to get himself something to drink. He swigged every last drop from the glass. A fresh glass of water calmed his nerves but he still was pretty tense. He headed upstairs for a shower.

For a moment, he stood by his door, gazing down the hall, thinking about the dream he just had. Telling himself that it had just been a dream, he carried on.

 

Ross was returning back to his tempestuous state because of his impuissance for not be able to help his family who were still in the captivity of Amila who had been such a barbarous woman that could have been up to any damn thing.

He was making his way upstairs in a regular pace as he was just awakened by a weird chilling dream. He climbed upstairs and made his way into the corridor where he stood by the second room on his right as he placed his hand on the knob but before rolling it, he stared the door at the end of the hall which was of the same room he entered in his dream but as it was just a dream so without giving much importance to it he walked on inside the room.

The room had everything intact at its respective place. There was a clean bed with a thick white mattress covered by a shiny cream bed sheet. The floor was shining with sufficient cleanliness. It was nothing new to him…

Was he still in his dream or was it really happening? He walked towards the cupboard on one side of the room and withdrew another forty-two caliber gun which he stared at for a minute without fluttering an eye.

He had to decide whether to make a choice between his son and wife or play this game by his own rules. He was up to something he was not sure about.  He knew that to get his family back he’d have to fight his way to them so he tucked the gun in his jeans and without wasting another minute, he left the room.

 

Downstairs, he settled back on the couch. The countdown was on the verge of beginning. It was his final hour to make the decision. Amila’s summon was expected any minute after this hour. The tension he was feeling was at its peak.  It was not a reasonable choice he was given but he had lived his life for his wife and son. He had always dreamed to have a normal life with his family and things had just recently changed for the better. He was ready to sacrifice his own life for Eliza and Hamid.

By sundown, people were all beginning to get ready for the upcoming storm. Sounds of roaring thunder and the bursting clouds were the evidence that the storm was near.

In the intervening time, Detective Vaughn was two pages away from finishing Denver’s diary.

Continuous reading and fatigue; he was tired and hungry, and hadn’t eaten properly in days. This case was certainly driving him crazy.

Vaughn had always been an enthusiastic and a dedicated Detective throughout his life. He might have had some bumps in the road here and there, but had always proved himself a valuable asset to the department. Before his posting there in Fairfax police department, he was a homicide detective and had been one of the most rational detectives in the history of Fairfax police department.

He was one of the resources the whole police department was proud of, but this time he was in a middle of a very sensitive case. Only this time his wisdom was not sufficient to untie this mystery.

He carefully made notes of the things he was reading. The diary would perhaps prove useful in untying some of the knots he needed undone.

Vaughn was about to turn to the next page when suddenly Officer Allison barged in his cabin with a file in her hand, still bearing her gun at her side.

“I think I have something of your interest” She sighed

It was enough for her to get Vaughn’s attention. He looked at her when she added

“The delving I did. We have always been going in the wrong direction”

“What do you mean, Officer?” Vaughn dryly asked.

“I mean we have been walking into the dark since the very beginning. We have been misled this whole time detective”

“Misled by whom?” Vaughn putted another question

“As it seems sir, the person whose name is registered for The Denver’s house is Brock Ashroff.  But what I don’t have the answer for is why would he present himself as Ross Denver when he is not”

“It seems like we have a case of double identity…I don’t understand this either but what I can be sure about is that whatever is happening had already happened before” Vaughn said

“I don’t get you, Detective” Allison asked confusingly.

“You see according to this diary Ross Denver used to work for the mob,  just like It says on the information you gave me on that paper earlier” Vaughn said as he stood up from the chair handing over the diary to Officer Allison, he walked over to the glass window on the other side of the office.

“As far as I remember we did not have any picture of him but we did have his record as a member of the mob. He did a pretty good job staying in the shadows, never showing himself.” He added as he settled his gaze outside the window. He took a pause and turned to Allison.

“Allison, Ross Denver died a year ago” Vaughn added. “The bodies found at the warehouse number twenty-one. One of them was Ross’s.”

The disbelief caused Allison to bite her tongue. She could utter not a single word.

Allison stood there quietly for a second and then said

“How can we be so sure that one of those corpses was Ross Denver?” She asked

“Well I have a few sources in the FBI but that’s not the point. The point of concern is why this Brock Ashroff is pretending to be Ross Denver when he is not and what actually baffles me is whether this guy is doing this for fun or is there some  explanation he can provide when we are going to talk to him” Vaughn said

“He better have something even remotely reasonable to say” Allison said

‘If this Brock guy is just playing us then he’s going to have to answer to me. I’ve already wasted too much time on this case.”

‘Perhaps we can go check his place again. He must be back by now’ Allison said

‘We don’t have anything strong against him yet. If this is just his playtime it won’t be long before he’s released and out there again.”

‘I have given the evidence we found at his house for lab testing and once the blood on that knife matches the old couple’s DNA from Braddock Farms, we will have the green light” Vaughn said looking at the ceiling in exasperation…

‘I know you will, Detective’ Allison muttered

Allison left the room to dig up more on this case while Vaughn stood there for a minute. He then sat down and stretched his legs, taking a deep breath.

It was quite a relief for him that they were finally getting somewhere but there was still lot of searching to be done.

While he was leaning back on the chair with his thoughts tangled up with the leads on this case, somebody knocked on his door

“Come in”

It was Allison

“Detective, this gentleman has a piece of mail for you but he would not allow me to deliver it. He wanted to come in himself”

“Thank you Allison. I’ll see him. He can come in”

The courier guy entered the room as Allison left. He nodded silently and handed Vaughn a brown-colored envelope that was addressed to him. He asked for a signature on the receipt form then left. 

Reviews

[Prritiy]

While he was leaning back on the chair with his thoughts tangled up with the leads on this case, somebody knocked on his door

“Come in”

It was Allison

“Detective, this gentleman has a piece of mail for you but he would not allow me to deliver it. He wanted to come in himself”

“Thank you Allison. I’ll see him. He can come in”
The courier guy entered the room as Allison left. He nodded silently and handed Vaughn a brown-colored envelope that was addressed to him. He asked for a signature on the receipt form then left.

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pretty interesting, new twist with every chapter.

best wishes

[Gaurav Walia]

I'm glad you like it.. thank u for reading it..

[Prritiy]

:)........

[Ohhhwillow]

Good ratio of narration to speech - lovely chapter here :)

[Gaurav Walia]

Thanks a mill, Willow... :D