Chapter 10. What’s going on?

A streak of sunlight ripped the heavy clouds that hovered on top of Chicago since yesterday. It crept through a tiny window and disturbed the woman cradling herself on the single bunk. As reality settled in, the momentary satisfaction of a familiar dream dissipated. Her arms once again felt empty.

She rolled out, bones cracking in her lower back just like the board underneath. It had rained so much, the lingering humidity and dramatic cold definitely did not make a good combination. Everything thudded inside her, shoulder, wrists, neck, nothing seemed to be in proper place.

As she stood, a wave of acute headache swept through her nerves, so she sat back. Some footsteps appeared outside the door. She peered at the emptiness of her room. The person walked down the corridor again. She sighed, and looked at the pale blue sky. It was still early, the trees shadowy, streets quiet with a couple of lamps shining faintly. To prepare herself for the day, she lay down again uncomfortably, trying to get some shut-eye for another hour or two.

——

By the time her alarm went off, Tina had brushed her teeth, dressed, and fed herself a bowl of Mac&Cheese. She was having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and was running out of it. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to take care of herself, she simply had no interest in doing so. She stopped by the mirror, and scrutinized the purple shades under her eyes, worse than usual. She decided to put on some powder to cover it up. And with that, put an end to her monotonous morning routine.

Her right eyelid jumped, as if something was about to happen today. Yet it seemed to be just like any other day, she came in, exchanged a word with the front desk officer, and got harassed by Kate for a bit. She made it to lunch uneventfully.

But just before she took a thirty-minute break, Lieutenant Kroll called her over, “Officer Kennard, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“A suspect is transported yesterday from Huntsville, and is coming in this afternoon.”

“From Huntsville, Texas?”
“Yeah. And word is, it’s connected to Iowa drug cartel’s case. But the other two suspects mentioned Pulpo and his wife in the exchange. The bureau is investigating, we’re gonna assist. I just want you to take a glance see if you recognize the suspect.” Kroll chose her words with caution. Though she had no idea what was the problem, she knew the case had not been easy on this young officer. “You won’t have to interact or confront anybody. Sergeant Sweeney will have an entire team on deck.” She assured that Tina’s identity would remain protected from potential retaliation.