Rescue Operation
(Continuation from here and closed to askthatoden)
The park was a busy place, most days. But given this time of night, it was empty and eerie. All around him he could hear the sounds of the city. Even if Akatsuka had grown, it still managed to retain a bit of its quiet neighborhood vibe. He could hear distant traffic, muffled talk of families through open windows, and an odd dog howling at the skies followed by the screech of a cat.
He loved this city. What he didn’t love was the criminals residing inside. Those who would hurt a child. Those who would steal a child and not order any kind of ransom. It was that part that terrified him most. It had been hours. Missing children, if not located within the first 24 hours.... rarely were found alive, if ever again.
And Katsumi wouldn’t allow that to happen. Not in his town. Not to Chibita’s daughter. Not to Momo. So here he was, doing flat foot work. Going around every immediate house around the park, knocking on the door and handing them pamphlets to the people who answered and asked if they’d seen the little girl. If they had seen her image on the news. All of them said yes, but so far none of them had any information.
Until one apartment. The old man said he’d heard a lot of screaming from the house across the way, but it had quietened down by now. Another couple next door to him confirmed it, too. But it hadn’t been suspicious enough to call the police, of course. Some people just wanted to avoid trouble entirely it seemed. Even if a kid was in danger.
Katsumi thanked them, and went to the area they’d been talking about. Honestly, being an officer as long as he had, working the jobs he’d done, he knew it when a place felt wrong. It was like knives being dragged up his spine, icicles striking his teeth and his stomach felt heavy as he approached the fairly average looking apartment. Honestly it was how normal it looked that made him uneasy even if he knew even normal places could be dangerous.
He knocked on the door. It was opened, a crack, by someone inside who kept the lights off. Even with the lights off, when Katsumi spoke to him about the missing child he could all but see the fear. And, maybe purposely, he talked a little bit louder than he should have.
“Are you sure you haven’t seen her?” he asked, loudly, “She was last seen in this area. And she’s fairly easy to spot thanks to her white hair and marks on her cheeks. Please, remember if you saw her the girl’s father is wrecked with grief over her disappearance.”