For Pixie - After Dark (First Published 2023)

 

AFTER DARK

WILLIAM POWELL

Copyright © 2023 by WILLIAM POWELL

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

____________________

To Nanna June, Granddad John and Uncle Wynne. I miss you everyday.

Works in the Justice Universe include:

 

William Powell

 

45 Days (2013)

Descent Into Madness (2014)

When Justice Comes Calling (2015)

Unsettling Differences (2020)

After Dark (2023)

Damien Gayle 

 

Encore (2016)

CHAPTER 1

Her name was Jessica Loren and she had been a cam girl. Her screen name had been Jessie Pus, but her favourite sponsors called her Jes.

She'd been found sprawled on the floor of a grimy apartment building, her eyes wide open in shock like she was more surprised than anyone that she had passed away. A dirty kitchen knife jutted out awkwardly from her back; it was unclear what had killed her first, the blood loss or tetanus. 

Her limbs were twisted at an odd angle like she'd tried to do an odd dance while pressed against the floor. As a cam girl, it wouldn't have been too improbable had it not been for the lack of any propped up cameras. Her dance had been a struggle, a fight that she had lost. That was why she lay there now on the dirt covered floor, her blood seeping deep into the wood, creating a mark that would be near impossible to clean. A testimony of Jessie's life, maybe the only one. Jessie had no mourners, only the ants crawling along the floor paused to examine her deceased body but that was just to aid their hunt for food. A quest for survival in a cruel world that favoured the strong and preyed on the weak. 

Jes had failed to stay alive but the curtain would not close on her life just yet. Jessie's story would not end in a dingy apartment in the middle of London, because she'd been discovered by a detective.

The tall man that brushed his hands over Jessie's eyes, guiding them closed so she could rest in peace, was a lead detective of the London Division, referred to as Divs for short by those on the streets. Those in the cam industry would call them enforcers, viewing them as oppressors and those trying to take away their freedom and liberation.

The tail end of his dark brown coat swept the floor in his crouch to properly examine the body. Jessie had been dead for two days before she'd been discovered, her neighbour complaining of a thick scent coming from her apartment. To think the door he'd broken down would open on such a sad scene.

It was many years after the start of World War 3. The other countries, united by their alliances and pledges, fought a war outside of the United Kingdom's borders. A war that waged fierce, or so they heard. No actual news of the war was being reported inside of the UK anymore. People only knew there was a war because of the dome and the Nuke, neither of which would exist without the other.

First had come The Nuke, several years after the war began. The Nuke was a huge landmass many miles long that had been created when a stray missile landed in London. The damage it wreaked caused millions in property damage not even counting the loss of lives. The terrain was changed, creating a deep valley like a bowl in the centre of what used to be London. A vast and wide bowl with a very deep bottom. The Nuke was as big as a small town which is just as well, because even in the darkest shadows, people would thrive. Attempts by multiple construction crews, estate creators and business men had resulted in various mismatched buildings sprouting in the area that had now been renamed The Nuke.

The valley area was dangerous and difficult to access. Once in, it was difficult for anything to come out. Despite this, many people called the place home. Detective Logan Hetfield, he was one of the many who had attempted to thrive in this brave new world.

People called The Nuke the land of opportunities because anything could happen here. There was no job that was too illegal and no act that was too frowned upon. A seedy pit that encouraged every form of vice with barely any virtue to be found. In a place like that, murder was no novelty, but there was something about this murder that struck him the wrong way. The girl was young but many died young in the Nuke. It wasn't the fact that she was young that bothered Detective Logan. It was so much more.

The Detective inclined his head a little towards the door behind him when it opened. He had no reason to tense as he recognised the heavy footsteps behind him that eventually came around the room of the murder.

"Sorry, I'm so late. I got your call, it was just a little difficult figuring out which apartment you wanted me to meet you at," Officer Harry Lerade said, bursting into excuses the second he walked in through the door. He had to pause to place his hands on his knees and catch his breath. Each breath came out heavy and fast. "Did you know that all these buildings look the same? It is so hard to find anything here. Impossible even."

Lerade had the decency to pause in his excuses when he saw the body on the ground.

"How long has that been there?"

"Since you walked in," Logan said dryly as he kept scanning the room. He was a tall man so he could do it standing in one place, his hands in his pockets as grey eyes took in every detail before him. "The murder weapon of choice was a knife pulled from the girl's own kitchen."

"It could be a crime of passion then. Angry ex maybe? We get those a lot," Lerade mumbled.

"It's not impossible," Logan said carefully. 

However, that was almost too easy.

"There are no signs of struggle in the apartment. Who walks in and picks up a knife without the young girl realising?"

"Maybe a psychopath," Lerade said honestly as he pushed himself up. "I don't think any bloke gets tested for mental health in The Nuke. Do you get tested, Detective?"

The Detective smirked. 

"Why test anyone when we're all mad" the Detective said and Lerade snapped his fingers in triumph.

"Exactly!" Lerade beamed.

The Detective moved slowly around the apartment, taking in everything he saw, the sound of his boots hitting the hardwood floor being the only sound breaking the silence around him.

The more he looked, the more he could see the scene play out. 

"The attacker stabbed the girl from the back. The person in her apartment was someone she felt comfortable around. This wasn’t a break-in. It could have been perhaps....a friend."

"What kind of friend would do this?" Lerade asked doubtfully.

"Someone she considered a friend," the detective explained. "Someone she trusted… and someone who betrayed her anyway."

Lerade adjusted his police cap, grimacing at the dark picture being painted, the dead girl still laying on the floor serving to darken the scene they gazed upon. Something had happened in this apartment. 

"Do you really think we can find out who killed her?" Lerade asked after a moment of silence. "This is The Nuke after all. Crime takes place everyday and we have enough problems with the brawlers that are murdering in plain sight."

"The brawlers are for the regular patrols to handle. We’re different," Logan scolded gently. 

Despite the anarchy that The Nuke appeared to be, there were no guns allowed. Guns, explosives. Anything that could do significant damage that cannot be repaired by the bioengineered regenerator was contraband and anyone found with it was immediately put down. Not even the Divs were allowed to carry guns, but that wasn't so surprising considering the fact that they were not an institute that had been founded by the state. 

The Noose was a private organisation that had sprung up from need of order in The Nuke. A group of people who'd stepped up to make a difference in their own little part of London. The Noose was funded mostly by donations from people who also wanted to live in a safe and serene environment, or as safe as The Nuke could possibly be, but there had been one benefactor (who had opted to remain anonymous) who far exceeded all other donors by a large margin. 

"Maybe the truth about this case is hidden in plain sight, or things are not as they appear," Lerade sighed tiredly and rubbed the fatigue from his eyes. "If you insist on investigating this one, you know it's going to take ages to find out who did this."

"Then let me help your investigation move faster." 

In stepped a tall blond officer with short bangs that fell partly over her face to cover one eye. Officer Lydia Woods pulled out her processor, equipment specifically designed for investigation. It was worn by enforcement officers on their wrists and it had a multipurpose design, including pulling up documented information on the people that dwelt within The Nuke.

"The victim is a cam girl. Her username is Jessie Pus," Officer Lydia read out. "Despite the fact that she's only been a cam girl for one year she quickly became popular and cashed out big enough to afford the fancy security lock on the door."

As she spoke they all turned to look at the lock. Lerade strode to it quickly and surveyed its status.

"Doesn't seem to be broken or have been hacked. No force was applied entering the apartment," he hummed.

"So, whoever came in and did this, she let in herself. Poor girl," Lydia said but there wasn't a lot of sympathy in her voice, just empathy. 

"Detective Hetfield suggests it could have been a friend," Lerade piped up. It was seeming more and more likely. "Despite how cheap the items in the apartment are, the door has a security lock that can only be opened with a key card. The dead girl had no expensive goods to protect, besides herself. She must have used her earnings to buy this lock."

"But where did the rest of her money go?" Logan asked, voicing the question they all had in their heads.

It was a crime scene like any other. There was truly nothing particularly noteworthy about it and that was precisely the problem. It was too clean, like someone had gone through the trouble to ensure that no evidence would be left behind. That wasn't normal for a place like The Nuke because crime happened everyday and it was barely getting punished. At best people get put in the slammer for some time, at worst execution for consecutive kills. 

A kitchen knife in the back was way too odd.

"Run a fingerprints check around the whole perimeter," Logan instructed. 

"Roger that sir," Lydia said and typed a few things into the processor to switch its functions. The scanned activated and she ran it over the walls and floor as she moved slowly around the apartment. She didn't have to worry about leaving footprints because the shoes they wore as enforcers were specially made and designed to leave no tracks, making their investigation easier. 

While she did that, Lerade activated his own processor and scanned for footprints. Anything that could indicate that someone else was here. Someone they could trace. 

"Results accumulated," Lydia announced.

"And?" Logan asked.

"The prints match the victim," Lydia said and scanned the room again. "However there are no recent traces of a second. Nothing to lead us to a killer or a suspect."

It was clean, far too clean. Logan could not rest easy with how flawless everything was.

"Does the victim have any contacts, associates or family?" Logan asked as he raised himself from his crouch.

"Just the audience she’d cultivated on her personal website. She was cashing out big time from her feed,"  Lerade replied. He could still see the videos from her account. The short videos she didn't do live, just pre-recorded and uploaded steadily to keep punters gagging for more. Jes had millions of followers and the amount of points she'd made was insane.

Lerade clicked on one of her videos and whistled.

"Don't watch that stuff. It's disgusting," Lydia scolded with a scowl.

"Isn't this supposed to be like body positivity or something?" Lerade chuckled.

"Body positivity is accepting people as they are and not socially pressuring them to change," Lydia said in a clipped tone. "This is exploiting the youth for change."

"That's a lot of change," Lerade whistled when he hacked into her account and saw her earnings. Lydia and Logan crowded over to see as well. Five hundred thousand pounds? It was more than a cam girl should earn.

"How did she get that kind of money?" Lydia gaped. 

"Someone must have gifted it," Logan said as he walked around the room slowly. "Where was the victim's phone?"

"It wasn't on her," Lerade provided. "Chances are it was taken, which reminds me." He raised his footprints scanner once more. "All of the fresh markings match the victim… however we do have one lead."

He'd found a pair of footprints, old but different. 

"Her name is Harper. She is....also a cam girl. She's not as popular and has been in the business longer than Jessie has. Chances are they're friends," Lerade looked pointedly at the other two. "You know, someone who the victim felt she could count on. Someone she trusts."

"You think it's her?" Lydia strode forward to examine the picture in the frame. The girl they found themselves looking at looked normal with dyed purple hair and blue highlights.

"She's the only other person here," Lerade shrugged.

That was precisely the problem to Logan and something just wasn't adding up. As a matter of fact, many things were not adding up.

"You two keep looking. Call as soon as you get a match," Logan said as he turned away. "Search the apartment. See if you can find a secret stash of money or anything expensive she might have spent her money on. Search for drugs or signs of smuggling."

"Where are you going?" Lerade asked surprised and Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to look outside, there's something we're failing to see," Logan mumbled.

He yanked the door open and was just about to step out when he saw her. 

Harper. Her hand was outstretched and her eyes widened as she'd been reaching for the door just moments before he'd opened it for her. He was coming out and she'd been trying to go in. 

Seeing him, realising what he was, she panicked and bolted.

"Wait!" Logan cursed and raced after her.

"Boss?" Lerade called as he poked his head out of the house. It sounded like Logan was in distress.

"Stay there! I've got this!" Logan called.

Lerade and Lydia exchanged looks but they stuck to what Logan had assigned them to do.

CHAPTER 2

Harper ran like the devil was on her tail. Her legs were kicking almost up to her chest with each leap she took, dodging and weaving between buildings so she could lose him and escape.

She stumbled a bunch of times and even ran past speeding hover vehicles but Harper couldn't stop. Enforcers were always bad news. Jes had really done it this time.

Harper ran into an alley breathless, taking huge gulps of air as she glanced behind her. There were dirt stained gravelled walls and people going about their daily life, walking past the alley as it was of no importance to them. She'd escaped. She'd gone undiscovered. 

Harper breathed a sigh of relief but when she turned she froze. It turned out that she hadn't been alone in the alley. A man floated a few inches off the ground right behind her on a hoverboard. It was the man she'd seen at the door just earlier. He was tall and that was even more apparent with him floating before her. His posture was confident as well as determined.

"I just want to talk," the Enforcer said and held up his hands in a sign of peace.

"Wh-what do you want to talk about?" Harper demanded as she tried to guess how much time she had to run.

"The murder of Jessica Loren."

The man's words stole the breath from Harper's lungs and for a few seconds she could hear no sound. There was a ringing in her ears like a loud noise had struck and rendered her deaf. She had to be deaf, because she could not believe the words that this stranger had just said. 

"What?" Harper asked breathlessly and Logan noticed the tremble in her hands.

"I think," the Detective started, "That you need to sit down for this."

*******

Logan Hetfield studied the girl who sat beside him at the local diner they'd stopped at to catch their breaths.

Harper had been quiet since he'd broken the news to her. Her figure was slouched and bent protectively over the burger she'd ordered, as if the burger was her dead friend that she needed to look after. Her expression was desolate though she shed no tears. The hungry girl took quick bites out of the food on her plate, looking around as if in fear that someone would snatch it away. Her fingernails were polished in pinks and purples with a few gems glued on them. Her hair matched her picture, dyed the same colour of purple and blue. She had a heart shaped face and looked younger than she'd appeared on her profile picture. The only known suspect of their current investigation, Harper No Last Name Known.

"Was Jessie known to have any friends or enemies?" Logan asked and Harper frowned and shook her head.

"Jes was very closeted. She wasn't the kind to mix up with the wrong crowd. The only people she was close to are family and they cut ties with her since her business was made known," Harper replied as she toyed with the straw of her milkshake.

"That was just a year ago," Logan noted.

"A year is a long time. They haven't been in contact or spoken to her for all that time. Those lot don't care about Jess," Harper said.

"And you do?" Logan asked curiously.

"I've been her friend for longer than she's been a cam girl," Harper replied and they both glanced at each other.

"So you inspired her to get into the business?" Logan asked.

"Maybe I did," Harper said with not an ounce of regret in her voice. She even glanced at him like she was daring him to make a big deal about it.

"What if that business is what got her killed?" Logan asked and noticed the small tremble of her hands when he said that. Her jaw was raised in defiance and she looked away from him with a pained laugh.

"You make it sound like being a cam girl is such a terrible thing. What, are you one of those judgy types like some of the folks around here?" Harper muttered with disgust. "Jess has only been a cam girl for a year, I've been doing it for three. We make a lot of money from this work and dupe a lot of stupid men, young, old and everything in between, who are willing to pay big bucks to watch a girl prance around her apartment. It's a decent job that allows us to buy anything we want."

"Shelter and healthcare is guaranteed in The Nuke," Logan mumbled.

"As long as you have an occupation," Harper reminded. "And in case you didn’t know, being a cam girl is the most popular occupation down here."

It was. Within The Nuke there was nothing that was marketed more than sex. Sex drugs, sex toys, sex videos, inappropriate public sex. It was done on the streets and within enclosed tight spaces, sex was performed like a stunt with some people breaking records and winning prizes for having intercourse in the most dangerous and unbelievable places. Just like Harper said, they did make good money from it and people paid big money to see them perform. A cam girl could make it bigger than even the most fortunate in The Nuke. It seemed like one girl had, and she'd gotten killed for it.

"The Nuke has rules just like any place else. Food is not for free so that's what most people spend their money on," Harper said. "There's cameras on every street capturing everything that happens so people are remotely safe. Everyone knows you don’t walk the streets of the Nuke at night. No one knew that better than Jessie. You lock the door and you only open the door if the person who calls out is a friend. Jessie doesn't have a lot of friends. Who could have done this?"

Harper's expression was one of genuine confusion and pain. The Detective saw a sheen of liquid over her eyes like she was fighting back tears. He considered gifting the girl the handkerchief in his back pocket, but he thought better of it after a moment. Harper wasn't ready to mourn just yet.

"I don't get it. Who the fuck would kill Jes?" Harper muttered in disgust.

"Someone who wanted her dead and was willing to see it through," the Detective said simply. Most people thought of murder, especially in a place like The Nuke. It was probably considered once or twice but very few people would push as far as actually committing the crime. Now that it had happened, it was his job to find the person who did this in such a calculated manner and ensure that it never happened again.

"I've already paid the bill," he said as he slapped the receipt to the table. "You can stay as long as you like."

"Where are you going?" she asked, surprised.

Why did people keep asking him that? Logan thought.

Harper barely had time to reply before she hopped to her feet.

"I'm coming with you," she said immediately.

"Civilian, you will stay," Logan scolded gently.

"What if I get killed ‘cause you're not around? Wouldn't that mean you caused my death?" Harper protested. She was hoping to rile him up but he barely blinked an eye at her words. 

"You're more experienced than she is," Logan replied. "I’m sure you can take care of yourself."

"Fuck you. I need to find out what happened too!" Harper demanded and followed Logan out of the small diner. "She was my friend. What if they come after me next?"

"We can keep you secure at the station if that is what you need," Logan said and finally drew to a stop to glare at the stubborn lady.

"I want to find out who killed Jes," Harper said through gritted teeth. The girl had no intention of backing down.

Logan sighed. "An investigation like this is not child's play."

"You're right. It's not. But I happen to know everything about her," Harper smirked proudly. "Even the stuff the government doesn't know. The transactions that happened offline."

That made Logan pause. His hand remained in his pockets as he considered Harper's words. Realising that he was now paying attention, Harper quickly kept talking.

"If you really want to bring this piece of shit to justice, you'll let me help you," Harper said and Logan finally made contact with her. She could see the resignation settle in his shoulders as he sighed and joy filled her heart. 

"Okay, partner?" she grinned and stretched out her hand. He didn't exactly take it, but he didn't try to push her away anymore.

"What's your first lead?" Harper asked curiously.

"Her phone is missing," Logan mumbled. 

"I noticed I couldn't call it this morning," Harper admitted with a frown. That was the first thing that had her worried.

"We'll go to the place it was registered and figure things out," Logan said as he walked and Harper followed quickly behind him.

*******

"Yeah, I don't know how to break this to you but we can't find your phone," the guy at the counter said with a deadpan expression of disbelief.

The phone shop didn't look fancier than any other shop within The Nuke, it just specialised in phones. Upgraded devices mobile devices that had basic unlimited storage space for videos, pictures as well as apps. The techs in The Nuke were highly skilled. Harper liked to believe they were more skilled than anyone else in the country.

"It belonged to Jessica Loren," Logan said in a way of explanation.

"Yes, that is all well and good but once it's been deactivated it's as good as gone," sighed the phone shop employee. He looked wary as he eyed Logan and his long coat with suspicion. "Why are you looking for a girl's phone?"

"Where was the last time the device was detected?" Logan asked, ignoring the man's question. Logan's appearance was intimidating enough that the man did not feel the urge to repeat his question.

After a few minutes, he could help them but unfortunately for Logan and Harper, the location he gave them was not very encouraging.

*******

Logan stood with his colleagues, hands in his pockets overlooking the Great Dump, which was what the citizens had nicknamed the junkyard of The Nuke. A toxic area that was overrun with all of the rubbish that The Nuke could no longer recycle into workable parts of a new machine. Most of the truly toxic shit got melted to nothing with an acid spray but that didn't really help to make the environment any more habitable. If the junkyard was the last place the phone had been seen then it didn't give them a lot of hope.

"Someone clearly got rid of the evidence," Lerade hummed as he looked out at the mountains of rubbish and scrap before them. Everything from food to plastic bags to broken electronics.

"It's definitely suspicious isn't it? How did the phone of a girl that died in her apartment somehow end up here in the dump which is miles away from that apartment?" Lydia mumbled. She was starting to understand Logan's scepticism. The story around this murder kept spinning round and round.

"We'll have to do more research," Logan said and turned to Lydia and Lerade.

"I want you to see if you can get the feed from the cameras surrounding Jessie's apartment. Everything from three days ago till the time of the murder. We can break down info from anyone we see go in."

"People like us aren't allowed access to the cameras, we'd need the Chief's permission for that," Lerade pointed out.

The Chief of the London Division for the Noose Organisation. He was a smart and kind man. Logan believed they would have no problems.

"Then get his permission and get me the information I need," Logan said and turned away. "Check the cameras surrounding the area. There should be traces of anyone who went in and out of that location."

Lerade gaped at his back. 

"You've got to be kidding me?" he groaned while Lydia just nodded at Logan's request and said "Yes, Detective."

"Are you serious?" Lerade groaned. "We'll be searching the camera feed for years."

"I'm counting on you," Logan replied without even looking back, walking away with Harper skipping behind him on his trail.

"And what will you be doing while we're doing miles of paperwork just to access those videos in the first place?" Lerade muttered.

"Following any other leads," Logan said and disappeared back onto the streets of The Nuke.

CHAPTER 3

It was time to explore other angles.

"Do you know where her family is?" Logan asked and Harper glanced at him.

"Yeah, but they wouldn't have anything to do with this," she said and shook her head, her lips drawn into a thin line.

"You sound sure," Logan raised an eyebrow.

"They wouldn't kill her," Harper drawled as she rolled her shoulders and adjusted her green jacket. The girl had a weird sense of fashion.

"She's bringing disgrace upon their name," Logan pointed out.

"You know how families work in The Nuke?" Harper asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Not particularly," Logan admitted and she cocked her head at him.

"Don't have one of your own?" she asked, surprised.

"Not interested," he said and she smirked.

"Alright tall, dark and lonely," Harper laughed and Logan scowled at her. She kept grinning, amused by his annoyance. 

"Most of us here are orphans, I for one have no memories of my parents, Jessie was the same," Harper said. She spoke like she was narrating someone else's story or she was so emotionally detached from her past that she no longer cared. "She was one of the luckier lot, got pulled into the family of a sweet couple."

Harper smiled wistfully. She was happy that her friend had been adopted but also a little jealous. 

"They looked after her until she went independent. Families fade as fast as they form in The Nuke," Harper informed Logan, looking at him earnestly. "She ceased to exist from the moment she started that website."

"Why did she go down that road anyway?" Logan asked.

It almost seemed odd that Jessie had died one year after creating a cam girl page. Perhaps one of her clients had killed her? However, from what Logan was hearing, if Jessie hadn't put up that page at all then perhaps she could have kept living a calm, oblivious and safe life with her family. So why the sudden shift?

Harper paused when he asked that question, her eyes landing on a garden of blue flowers with red petal tips.

"Did you know that Nukeia flowers only grow in blue?" Harper asked softly.

"It's almost a given to know that," Logan said, though he was a bit annoyed that she was pointedly ignoring his question. "They are the only flowers that grow in The Nuke."

"Exactly," Harper said and she smiled softly. It was a smile that betrayed an innocence as well as happiness that she could have had. 

"All the other flowers couldn't grow in the toxic area created by The Nuke, not even plants are doing well. Most of our food is imported from the Surface because nothing else can grow here. Nothing...but the Nukeia flowers that keep fighting even in a ground that would rather smother them."

Harper turned to Logan.

"Jessie and I are just like the Nukeia flowers. We are fighters with dreams. Dreams that are way bigger than you, me and The Nuke. Jessie's dead, but I'm still here and I'm clutching to those dreams with both hands and just like these flowers, I will never die. As long as I live, those dreams will live on."

Logan stared blankly at Harper, understanding that the determination and fire burning in her eyes meant that she did not trust him enough to share exactly what this dream of hers was. It could be a lead in the investigation but he'd question her later. Not right now. Logan's eyes instead drifted to the blue flowers that Harper adored so much.

"I've never liked these flowers," Logan mumbled as he kept walking forward. Harper looked aghast at this declaration and Logan wiped at his nose in annoyance.

"They make my nose itch."

"Sensitive guy who's weak to pollen huh?" Harper teased.

"It's the only pollen in The Nuke," Logan muttered. "And what do you know, it's just as annoying as you are."

"Fucking jerk," Harper grinned and Logan actually quirked his lips in a little smile.

*******

Their next destination was a cyber cafe. If the phone was a no-go then they had to find a different means to determine who Harper considered a 'friend'. They were going to try to log into her cam-girl account.

"She uses the same app that I do," Harper explained as she logged into a computer. Logan just stood nearby her. She glanced at him, curiously searching for something.

"What?" Logan asked.

"Where's your hoverboard?" Harper asked curiously with a shine in her eyes.

"It comes when I call it," Logan muttered.

"Ooooh, like a good doggy?" she teased in amusement. "You didn't strike me as the skater type."

"It makes it easier to move around," Logan said simply.

"Sure, big guy," Harper grinned then turned back to the computer. "We used Beverly because it's good at keeping important information hidden like your real name and your phone number as well as your address and various other items. It's a well secured site so it's not easy to get in. Luckily for Jess and I we have really pretty faces."

"There are a thousand careers you could have chosen within The Nuke, especially with boarding and treatment free," Logan said.

"I know," Harper shrugged with a smile. "But cam girls make more money."

Her fingers moved over the keyboard fast enough to pull up Jess' page. "I helped her come up with the name," Harper said proudly.

"It's not very creative," Logan deadpanned.

"Whatever, hater," Harper rolled her eyes with a smirk. 

"Did you help her come up with a password too?" Logan asked as he saw Harper easily fill in that information.

"Nah, but it's Jess so it's an easy guess," Harper said with a small frown. "It was her brother's name."

"Biological?" Logan asked curiously but Harper shook her head.

"Adopted as well," Harper replied. She said no more on the subject as she successfully logged into Jessie's account but gasped in shock when she found nothing.

"What's happening?" Logan frowned as he leaned in and saw nothing on the girl's page. That couldn't be right. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Harper protested. "I logged on easily. There was barely any resistance."

"There were videos on her page this morning," Logan scowled. He wouldn't have been so sure had Lerade not been taking a shameless peek at them a few hours ago. Now the entire page was blank? "Someone is trying to cover up something."

"Hold on, I might be able to retrieve her information," Harper muttered as she tried to back the account. The feed on the screen glitched and Harper slammed her hands on the desk.

"Dammit!" she cursed. "It's not working. What do we do?" 

Logan sighed and straightened himself. The story kept twisting and turning into the abyss with so many pieces missing from the puzzle. If someone wiped the information there then it was because it was information worth having. Which meant that he'd have to do something that he would rather not resort to.

"I know someone who can help."

*******

They strolled down the dirty streets of The Nuke. Harper was clearly agitated that someone had wiped away Jess' page.

"It's like they're trying to erase her existence. Like she was nothing," she complained. "Jess was something. She was everything to her fans. To me. To her...."

Her words trailed off and she shook her head, kicking lightly at the ground and cursing. 

"Someone wants to keep her death hidden as much as possible," Logan mumbled.

"Then we'll just have to stop them," Harper said and tugged her phone from her pocket. She opened up her camera and pressed record.

"Hello my fans, what's up? Sexy Vixen at your service!" she laughed playfully and ran her tongue over her lip in a seductive motion.

"Harper, what are you doing?" Logan frowned. 

"Today, I'm playing a fun little game. A friend of mine has been murdered," Harper gasped dramatically and posed seductively, letting her jacket slide off her shoulder a bit to expose some skin.

"Harper!" Logan cursed and tried to grab her phone but she hopped away from him and kept recording.

"So, if you happen to know anything about the death of Jess Pus then please contact me...." Harper burst into laughter and smirked seductively. "Contact me right here with any information. Anyone who finds the killer is allowed to make at least one request. I'm coming for you murderer and I'm going to bust you like a nut!"

Logan snatched her phone away from her. 

Harper gaped but giggled because she'd already pressed send.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Logan scolded, disappointment in his voice, but Harper didn't care.

"What?" Harper shrugged and smirked at him nonchalantly with mischief shining in her eyes. "I'm helping you but I still have to work. Remember? Cam-girl?"

"Is this investigation a joke to you?" Logan asked darkly.

"How can it be a fucking joke?" Harper glared back. "My fucking best friend is dead!"

"Then you should be working to catch her murderer instead of creating nonsense like this," Logan glared 

"But we don't even have a lead," she laughed out loud. "At least now we have what can serve as decent bait."

"Do you think she'd be thrilled that you died too?" Logan glared.

"I'm not going to die, I have you," Harper said softly with her eyes focused on the ground.

He had no words to respond to that and she smirked because she knew she'd caught him off guard. That somehow irritated him even more. He pressed her phone into her hand and stalked away from her in anger.

"Forget it," Logan muttered as he made his way to his destination. "Just walk."

Harper knew what she'd done was reckless. The light breeze tugged at the purple strands of her hair and she let out a small sigh of relief that Logan was no longer yelling at her, though he still seemed mad.

"So, what's your friend like?" Harper asked curiously.

"Just stop talking," he muttered. She pouted but fell silent. He was quiet for a while but then whirled on her, surprising the girl who'd been silently following behind him. Harper cocked her head in question with a smile but he was still glaring.

"Okay," she laughed and played with the stands of her hair. "What did I do wrong now?"

"You said that the winner of your new stupid detective game would get the chance to make a request," Logan said.

"Huh?" Harper raised an eyebrow. "It's not like I expect them to actually find the murderer."

"And what will you do if they do? Do you have any idea how much danger you've put yourself into?" Logan demanded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What will you do...if they request for you to slit your throat?"

The air became colder as she glared at the detective, who glared right back at her. She didn't like the disappointment she found in his eyes. Harper uncomfortably shifted from foot to foot though her gaze remained stubbornly defiant. She turned away from his angry gaze and tugged at the strands of her hair.

"What is up with you? It feels like you're accusing me of something," she muttered.

"I know cam-people are prone to evolve into Adventurers. If that's a part of this dream that you have then I can’t just look away," Logan narrowed his eyes.

"You shouldn't get away with insulting people like that," Harper hissed and yanked her shoulder out of his hold. "I am no Adventurer."

Adventurers. Just as the detective had said, they often started out as cam people; cam boys and cam girls. People who loved to smile for the camera and get an applause or people who were just not interesting enough to keep the audience's attention so they got desperate enough to take requests. These side quests often started out a little harmless. Sometimes the audience would suggest that the cam person play a part of a role. They request all sorts of pictures or videos in order to satisfy strange kinks. Many innocent cam people got lured into that scene slowly because of the recognition and popularity that it brought into their life. Before they knew it, they were taking requests that ranged from bizarre to downright deadly.

Requests to put on a show in front of an incoming train right in front of the tracks, requests to hang upside down from the window of a very tall building, requests to jump from one speeding car to the other while naked, requests to cut themselves, requests to kill. Of all the crimes that were caused within The Nuke, Adventurers were responsible for 80% of them. Especially the Adventurers that took on assault like it was an exotic game of tag. That was why no one dared go out at night. Adventurers were the most threatening beings to a life of tranquillity within The Nuke and sometimes they didn't stop until they were dead. They were the kind of people that Harper hated the most. To be accused of being one of them was too great an insult.

"Then that's all the more reason we find the killer first now isn't it? Stop wasting my time detective," Harper muttered. 

Logan glared at her one more time before turning away and leading her on.

"Just making sure," was all he said and Harper got the strongest urge to kick him. She would never be an Adventurer.

CHAPTER 4

Detective Logan led them on, trudging through the streets of The Nuke with Harper following along behind him. She talked animatedly into her feed, taking videos of the things happening around her.

"Let's uncover this mystery together and bag that criminal," she grinned and raised her fingers in a peace sign.

"Has being a cam girl always been the goal?" Logan asked with a tired sigh after hearing Harper giggle into the camera for the fifth time. He paused when he saw her trying to sink the lens into her chest, exposing some of her boobs to the pleasure of her fans. At his judgemental gaze she smirked.

"It makes the most money," Harper replied as she raised the phone from her chest.

"Is money everything to you?" Logan asked softly. "Are you not too young to be thinking this way?"

"Twenty-three," Harper smirked. "I'm an independent woman."

The Detective considered the fact that Harper had been a cam-girl for three years.

"You've been doing it since you were twenty," he noted.

Harper flipped her hair with a smirk.

"Since you insist on being so sappy right now," she smiled as she walked on, happily kicking her boots into the air. "I wanted to be a computer engineer at first."

"What stopped you?" Logan asked and Harper burst out laughing. 

"No way, it's way too hard," she grinned. "Even if I did become a great hacker I'd still be in a pretty low rung. Climbing up that ladder doesn't come easy, but as a cam-girl, all I have to do is flash some skin and I've got worshippers calling me a deity. Isn't that just liberating?"

Harper grinned and whirled around to face Logan with a bright smile on her face.

"I can just be anything my fans want me to be. Especially thanks to this," she beamed and raised her finger.

It was then that Logan noticed her Illusion Ring.

"Must have cost a pretty penny," he noted.

"And it was worth it," Harper smiled. She wiggled her fingers teasingly before hovering her hand over her face and slowly moving it downwards. As her hand moved down, her face transformed. Then her body and Harper went from a sparkly purple haired girl to a dark skinned blond. She dragged her hand back up and she became a peppy red head. A giggle and another raise of her hand and she'd become a man. Logan raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"I don't judge," she said in her usual voice. "I can even alter my clothes without having to buy new ones. Watch."

Again her hand moved and she was back to her regular self but in a maid dress.

"Young master, is there anything I can interest you in?" she flirted, moving into Logan's personal space but he stopped her immediately.

"You'll only attract unwanted attention in that outfit," he scolded. "Switch back now."

"Aaaawww," Harper teased but she did as she was asked, tugging at her hair and glaring at Logan. "You're no fun Detective. Do you ever get your end away?"

"There are things so much more important than sex," Logan said firmly and Harper stared at him in so much shock that he frowned.

"What?" the Detective asked and Harper giggled.

"You have got to be the only person in the entire Nuke that has ever said something like that," she said with her eyes wide like saucers, before she raised her phone with a sneaky grin.

"I have got to take a picture to document this. This must go into a book of records!" She started taking pictures like crazy and Logan shook his head, annoyed that he'd bothered taking her seriously.

"Fuck you," he muttered.

"Oi detective, where are you running to? Come back," she laughed as she hurried after him. "Seriously man, are you impotent? Hey, stop walking so fast."

*******

The Detective knocked three times on the red door situated in the midst of a dark alley. The door was embedded in the wall like it led to nowhere or like it was a false entrance, but that was just how it was made to appear. There was silence at first followed quickly by a question.

"Password?"

"The eye of the needle can allow the crafty serpent," Logan whispered. 

Harper raised an eyebrow when they heard machinery and wheels turn behind the wheel and the door swung open.

Logan walked in and Harper followed after him into a dark tunnel with only lanterns hung up on the walls. 

"Your friend sure lives in a creepy place," Harper remarked but Logan didn't reply. The end of the tunnel opened up to a dungeon. A dungeon equipped with so many odd weapons that it made Harper pause.

"Logan," she asked anxiously. "Where are we?"

"Logan?" a voice said from within the dungeon and then Harper saw her. 

She was beautiful, curvy, with long blond hair that hung down her back. Her black dress was right and hugged her parts but it stopped just halfway up her thighs. Her smile was seductive, her red lipstick making the bright blue of her eyes shine. A woman confident in her ability to seduce and dominate. Harper would be impressed, if not for the crossbones and skull tattoo that the lady had plastered on her shoulder.

Harper's eyes widened at the popular pirate flags design. This woman.

"You're an Adventurer," Harper gasped and took many steps back. She reached out for the closest weapon she could grab but Logan grabbed her hand and made her stop.

"My informant," Logan said very slowly and Harper gaped at him like she'd been betrayed. He let go of her and walked forward while she stared at him in disgust.

"Your informant is an Adventurer?!" Harper demanded.

"Logan, you've brought a spit fire tiger into my den. How feisty! Is she by any chance, for sale?" the blond woman purred.

Logan walked over to her, taking her hand in his before delivering a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. 

"Lizzie, your glow has not dimmed since the last time I saw you," Logan mumbled as he dragged his lips over her hand.

"You know I'm the never dying fire," Lizzie giggled before glancing at Harper. "And who's this?"

"Harper is assisting me in my investigation," Logan said.

"I never took you as the type who took on partners or apprentices," the woman asked with a smirk.

"I don't. We need your assistance today," Logan said. "There's an account that's been erased and we need to retrieve the information within it."

"Is that an official request?" Lizzie purred and Harper stiffened, wrapping her arms around herself. She didn't like being in this Adventurer's den. To think, after Logan had lectured her, he was bringing her to something like this.

"It's a personal request," Logan confirmed, looking Lizzie in the eyes and Lizzie grinned.

"Then let's see how much you will pay," Lizzie purred.

Her computers were pulled up and Harper typed in the details on Jessie's account. She typed it really fast, sitting stiffly the entire time.

"Not bad child; do you fancy yourself a hacker?" Lizzie asked with a smirk.

"Maybe, I'll learn and I'll be better than you," Harper drawled.

"Maybe, but you'll have to work real hard to achieve something like that," Lizzie purred.

"We're in," Harper said and stepped back. Lizzie hopped forward to examine the empty account.

"Well?" Logan asked.

"It's there. Hidden underneath the surface," Lizzie mumbled as she poked at the computer screen. "I would have to access the main server and bring up any deleted information. That's something that won't come easy. The fee is going to be big."

"What do you want?" Logan asked so that they could get it over with. Lizzie smiled.

"I know you don't have that kind of money, Logan and the fact that you're hopping around with her instead of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum means you're not getting state funding for my information either," she said.

"Tweedledee?" Harper frowned.

"Lydia and Lerade," Logan muttered. "If you know I don't have money then why don't you say what you want to say, darling."

Lizzie smirked.

"I have a request," Lizzie grinned and Harper stiffened.

"What kind of request?" Harper asked with a frown.

"Not anything that concerns you little lady, we need a big strong man for that," Lizzie smirked. "All depending, of course, on how badly you want that information detective, and how hard you're planning on working for it."

Logan leaned forward so his face was mere inches from Lizzie before turning his head and breathing in her ear.

"I accept."

"Logan!"  Harper gasped, concern flashing in her eyes. He didn't even know what Lizzie wanted yet. He was the one being reckless now.

"He doesn't accept!" Harper countered. "Not until you tell us the quest."

They couldn't take risks at this point. They weren't any closer to finding out who had murdered Jessie.

Lizzie smirked.

"No need to fear, no one dies on this quest," she smirked. "Then again, that does depend entirely on how long he can hold his breath."

CHAPTER 5

The quest today was waterboarding.

“Good day ladies and gentlemen and hopefully there are no boys and girls on our feed today. Are you ready for the sexy quest of a lifetime?”

An artificial cheer rang out in the background, activated by Lizzie's audio selection. While Lizzie posed for the camera that she had set up, Harper stared at the Detective.

Logan had gotten on his knees in front of a water-barrel with his arms tied behind his back. He was stripped of his shirt, staring face forward as his skin exposed various scars that he'd gotten during the line of duty as well as his strong muscular chest that moved up and down slowly with each breath he took. He wore a mask to hide his identity. Logan looked rigid, kneeling there with his back straight and posture poised, waiting for the madness to strike.

"Let the quest begin!" Lizzie laughed and she fixed her hand behind Logan's head, pushing his face into the water. He did not resist. Despite how small she looked, Lizzie had a very firm and strong hold on Logan's head that was boosted by the gloves she wore, giving her enough strength to push his head below water. Logan managed to stay five whole minutes before his body began to fight for air. His muscles tensed, body spasming as he tried to raise his head from the water but to no avail, Lizzie kept him down. Harper could see that Logan wasn't trying that hard to break free, her eyes widened and her arms clutched her skin tighter. Eventually, Lizzie finally let him up for air.

"And that is rooooouuund one!" Lizzie posed before the camera and the artificial cheering roared in approval.

There was water dripping down Logan's face, sliding down his cheeks and some into his open panting mouth as wet sticky hair hung over his eyes. The way he had to brace himself with his chest because his twitching arms were tied firmly behind his back. He'd barely taken two gulps of air before his head was forced down again.

"Stop!" Harper cried and Lizzie raised an eyebrow at her but she didn't stop. Instead, her eyes met Harper's and she saw right through her. Harper looked away, pointedly trying to pretend there was something else that had her attention. Not Logan's groans underneath the water or the way his legs kicked in protest. Those strong muscular legs.

"Fuck," Harper said and whirled around with fire burning in her eyes. Lizzie watched her with a seductive smile. The Adventurer did not flinch as the cam girl approached, her hand remained punishing on Logan's head but she could see the desire within Harper's eyes.

'Do you want to try?' the Adventurer mouthed and Harper remembered her silent promise about never becoming an Adventurer.

"Once can't hurt," Harper sneered and she sunk her hand into the barrel of water. Lizzie smirked when Harper's hands found hers and their fingers locked around Logan's strands of hair. Harper's grip was tighter than Lizzie's and Logan groaned in pain.

"You have to be gentle," Lizzie scolded gently. She guided Harper as they raised the Detective's head from the water. This time she could see his breath as he panted and understood that the water was freezing. Logan had such a high tolerance rate. There was water dripping down his chest and he looked so mesmerising.

"Is he....aroused by this?" Harper asked curiously.

"Some men are," Lizzie shrugged and smirked. "All the people on my feed like this. But Logan's always been different. I don't think he feels sex."

"What does that mean?" Harper asked, as Logan still struggled to catch his breath. Possibly so he could berate them.

"You-" Logan grunted but he didn't get far, letting out a cry of pain when Lizzie swiftly kicked him between the legs. 

"What the fuck?" Harper gaped.

"See," Lizzie shrugged and smirked. "He's not hard."

Harper was still gaping.

"Usually men get hard at this point," Lizzie explained as she leaned down and kicked the cold water off Logan's skin. "Men with desires that are hidden in plain sight. Women lulled by the mesmerising call of The Nuke. Everyone fucks in this place no matter how much they resist. It's like the very walls of The Nuke demand it."

Harper understood what she was talking about. Even since she'd started hanging out with Logan she had longed....to touch him.

"You can if you want to," Lizzie smirked her eyes shining as she whispered to the lull of Harper's guilty pleasures. "Come on, he can't bite. And if you're scared..." She gripped Logan's chin and dug her nails into him playfully. "I can always muzzle him."

"What a sweet offer," Harper chuckled as her eyes met Logan's. Logan's eyes were lacking desire. He stared back at her as empty as he'd often looked, well besides when he yelled at her. Harper smiled gently and cupped his face. He didn't pull away but he seemed to be glaring extra hard.

"I could really do anything to you right now," Harper mumbled.

"As much as I'd allow that is," Lizzie giggled. "Excited?"

"Only a little," Harper smiled before pulling away. Lizzie raised an eyebrow at her and now it was Harper's turn to shrug. A pained laugh leaving her lips as she turned her back to the sight behind her.

"Ah," Harper said with regret in her voice. "It's almost a shame that I have a conscience."

Logan was in this position trying to help her find the monster that murdered her friend. She couldn't take advantage of him in a moment like this. So she turned away while Lizzie shrugged and said "Your loss".

Harper knew that though. She knew it was her loss. 

Once again, Logan's head was forced into the water and Lizzie cackled happily. 

"Time for round three!" she cried.

That demented bitch took Logan for seven more rounds before she released him.

By the time she did, he was covered in water from head to toe. Harper helped hand him some dry clothes while Lizzie got to work on retrieving the information they'd asked for.

"Some people go to desperate lengths just to have their fantasies fulfilled," Harper remarked as she watched Logan clean himself with the towel. "That doesn't explain you though." She frowned. "Why would you...go this far...just for Jessie?"

Logan pulled on his clean clothes and glanced at her. His eyes didn't seem as cold and as empty as before. There was life within him, it was just different from what Harper was used to. Different from the dark hungry gaze of lust. Inside of Logan's eyes was hunger of a different kind.

"Everyone would go to extreme lengths just to achieve something that they desire," Logan said. "For me, that desire is to solve this case. A case like this one feels like an itch in my subconscious." He frowned as he dressed. "All the pieces are there but none of them are adding up. There are missing parts of the puzzle that I'm yet to unlock. This straightforward path has many curves and many gardens, some of which are filled with thorns. There's a story that isn't being told."

Logan was fully dressed now and he settled himself on a bench beside Harper who stared at him in awe. 

"So you're going this far just because you're obsessed with being a detective?" she asked in disbelief.

"I'm going this far because no one else would in the pursuit of the truth," he said softly. "And no one else should."

Harper stared at him, touched by the lengths that he would go to just to help. All of this, just to give Jessie the justice she deserved.

"And here I thought you were just another jerk," Jessie said playfully and the detective smirked.

"Who says I'm not?" he said and Harper rolled her eyes.

They fell silent for a while, Harper resting her head against his shoulder as she gave him some time to catch his breath. Logan might be an insane guy who'd do anything to solve a case, but he was still human and he needed to breathe.

"You know," Harper said after a while. "People say The Nuke is the greatest form of freedom you can ever find within yourself. The sexual freedom granted is insane. No one will judge you for uploading or profiting from your body… and yet, it still feels suffocating."

Harper admitted that softly in a voice that only Logan could hear. She didn't look at him, even if she knew his eyes were on her as she spoke.

"Jessie and I, we made a promise to get away from it all. That's why she became a cam-girl. It's easy to get into The Nuke. No one even knows how. You just wake up here and it becomes your whole life. This unending marvellous world of high tech and rich sex. But it's not enough," Harper said as her hands dug into her clothes. "I want more, and so did Jessie. Cam-girls have a higher chance of getting out of here. If we make enough money we can buy our position as Surface citizens. That's what Jessie's brother did, so we've seen it happen before. He got a lot of good cash from his tech job but it took a long time. We don't have that kind of time with Adventurers all over the place."

Harper glanced at Logan who was still listening. 

The Surface was the land of the UK that existed outside of London, above the ground where The Nuke had landed. There was barely any talk about what existed out there. Most people believed it was a barren wasteland, but to Harper, that place was hope.

"The best bet for any cam-girl is for someone on the Surface to choose you as a Happily Ever After."

"Happily Ever After?" Logan asked softly.

"It's like a Cinderella thing," Harper laughed as she ran her hands through her hair with a tired sigh. Pressed this close to Logan she got butterflies in her belly. "A prince sees you and whisks you away to a life of prosperity and you live happily ever after."

"Sounds like slavery," Logan narrowed his eyes.

"Well, to us it sounded like a chance," Harper said with a determined frown. "Jessie found her Happily Ever After."

"What?" Logan asked surprised and stared at Harper who pointedly looked away.

"She was supposed to leave the next day."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Logan asked in bewilderment. Harper shrugged, smirking as she turned back to look at him.

"I didn't know if I could trust you. I've seen a lot of corrupt Enforcers before," she said.

Logan stared down at her and looked away. He could accept her explanation but this changed things.

Jessie was scheduled to leave The Nuke the day before she was murdered?

"You're sure her family didn't know about her sponsor?" Logan asked.

"Yup," Harper mumbled. "And even if they did know, why would they kill her? There's lots to benefit from someone from the Surface World."

"Like the benefits they get from her brother?" Logan asked and Harper thought about it, her lips pursed thoughtfully.

"Actually, we haven't heard from him since he left," Harper admitted.

Logan looked like he wanted to say something.

"Okay love birds, stop whispering!" Lizzie called and they both pulled apart. Harper was a little startled by how fast Logan sat up but she pouted and accepted her fate.

Lizzie grinned at them both.

"I've got the information you want to know."

*******

The username of Jessie's Happily Ever After was V10L3T and their account is where most of the money that Jessie earned came from. They'd really maxed out a lot of funds as Jessie's biggest fan. They were the one that claimed her and stated in Jessie's previously deleted DM that she had to come to the junkyard the next day to pick up her 'birthday present'.

"And there is no indication of what this 'birthday present' is supposed to be," Harper groaned. "The whole thing is shrouded in mystery."

They had long since left Lizzie's place behind. In Harper's opinion, they couldn't put enough distance between themselves and that crazy woman that nearly got her into something nasty.

"How are you doing?" Harper asked as she eyed Logan in concern.

"What does that mean?" Logan frowned and she rolled her eyes.

It was her fault for caring in the first place.

"Hello, Lydia," Logan said into his communicator.

"Lydia speaking," Lydia replied.

"Was the search through the cameras fruitful?" Logan asked.

"It was exhausting. Had us turning and whirling back and forth through every feed we could touch," Lerade complained.

"Lerade?" Logan frowned.

"He's with me, detective," Lydia replied and Harper grinned.

"Taking a little 'break' together?" Harper teased.

"Hey, I see you still got your little minx detective," Lerade spoke up.

"Shut up you idiot," Lydia scolded while Logan groaned internally.

"I hope you two completed your assignment before going for a tumble," he glared.

"We sure did," Lerade said cheerily.

"And you will not believe what we found out," Lydia said softly. "Are we on speaker detective?"

Logan stiffened. Harper's eyebrow went up when suddenly the volume from the call was cut off and Logan had a very hushed conversation with the other officers.

"What?" she asked curiously and tried to get closer to hear what was happening. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, for now," Logan said and he cut the call before moving at once. "Come on, let’s have lunch."

Lunch was a little quiet. There was not a lot of talking done while they ate. Harper was fine though, just enjoying the good food. It had been a while since she ate out, most of her food was home delivered since she'd rather feel safe than go outside and risk an unfortunate encounter. 

"Want to order any drinks to go with that?" Harper asked curiously.

"Just a bottle of water will be fine," Logan said as he finished up his pancakes.

"Alright Tiger," Harper smirked and hopped away. Logan was glad that Harper would be occupied for a few minutes. He could feel someone watching them. Logan's posture remained the same and he continued to eat his meal till someone briskly sat next to him. A glance informed him that the Chief of Police had taken a place by his side.

"Sir," Logan gave a curt nod and the Chief laughed.

"There's no need to be so formal, Logan. I heard you made a request for the feed of certain cameras," the Chief said.

"I appreciate you granting such a request," Logan thanked him with a nod. It would at least provide video evidence of the perp.

"Think nothing of it," the Chief smiled and raised an eyebrow. "But it is curious to see you pursuing such a small case."

"Sir?" Logan asked in question. Was it really that odd?

"The death of a cam-girl isn't very noteworthy nor will it particularly add anything to your career if you solve the mystery behind which of the drunks that live here killed her," the Chief pointed out. "Anyone on the team can follow this case. It just feels like a waste of your skills and time. 

"This is more community service than anything," Logan said softly. "A good amount of funding comes from cam performers who need our protection."

"You've always been that kind of guy," the Chief chuckled and shook his head. "I won't try to make you stop but I must warn you to be careful."

His eyes trailed over to where Harper was, who was animatedly engaged in conversation with the people at the counter. 

"These people are good at getting what they want out of others and leaving them run down and dry," the Chief warned with narrowed eyes. "Cam performers need our help but who says they haven't done a few performances of their own?"

Logan cocked his head. Performances? The Chief meant Adventurers then.

"She's not like that," Logan said softly.

Harper was no Adventurer.

"Maybe she quit," the Chief shrugged, still not buying it. "Or maybe she performed one last show."

That was an interesting theory.

"You think she killed the victim?" Logan asked.

"Maybe she was jealous," the Chief said with a frown. "The other girl was making progress while she was stuck in the same old miserable position. Maybe she hired someone to do it for her. It's like they say, cam girls make a lot of good money."

"She isn't the kind to take life," Logan defended but he still considered the Chief's words very carefully.

"I should hope not," the Chief said with a grunt. "Be careful with that one detective; you don't want to end up pushed into backing the wrong side of order in this place."

With that the Chief nodded and took his leave, giving Logan a chance to chew over his words.

Harper came over with their drinks moments later.

"Your friend left before I got here," she noted.

"He just wanted directions," Logan replied.

"Uh-huh?" Harper said in disbelief but Logan didn't give her room to question it.

"Let's go," he said and got to his feet. Their next destination was the Junkyard.

CHAPTER 6

Harper very rarely had dreams but when she did she remembered people that were important to her life. She remembered Jessie.

When they had flipped through the last conversations Jessie had had on her page, Harper recalled looking through the messages they had sent each other.

That night, the night Jessie had gotten murdered, Harper had reached out to her.

'Jessie let's go out and party. Let's celebrate your big day' her message had said.

'You're always a wild one aren't you?' Jessie had replied with a laughing emoji. 

'All you want to do is party every day.' - J

'Naturally, don't you want to have fun.' - H

Harper recalled that she'd been smiling when sending that particular message. She'd been so happy for her friend.

'Not tonight. I'm sleeping in.' - J

Sometimes Harper wondered if she should have insisted. If that would have kept Jessie alive.

'Big day tomorrow, shooting for the top.' - H

Jessie had sent a note of herself laughing and Harper had smiled.

'How could I forget? Tomorrow, everything changes.' - J

Then Tomorrow had come, and the sun had risen over Jessie's dead body.

*******

Harper blinked open her eyes, realising that she'd fallen asleep dozing against Logan's back. The Detective had pulled up his hoverboard and flew them to the Junkyard. Resting against his back felt warm, comfortable and safe. It had been a long time since Harper felt safe with anyone. 

"We're here," Logan said and Harper raised her eyes to the place they'd begun. The Great Dump didn't look any greater from the last time she'd seen it. 

"Do you really think we'll find any clues here?" Harper sighed tiredly. If the murderer was around these parts or had told Jessie to meet them here then why would they still be here?

"Remember, we're not just searching for a criminal but answers that could lead us to one," Logan said gently as he helped Harper stand. "Someone here might have seen something that can point us in the right direction. All we have to do is ask the right questions."

"Right, okay," Harper said with a nod. Ask the right question. "What are the right questions in this context?" she frowned.

Logan raised his hand to show Harper the digitalised name of Jessie's sponsor.

"Any information that can bring us closer to finding this person," Logan explained and Harper nodded with a frown.

They began their search.

It was not easy searching a place like the Great Dump for useful information. For one thing, there were very few people here and it was just the right place to run into an Adventurer. For another, the Dump was overrun with all sorts of waste from metals and plastics to organic. Also, the Dump stunk heavily. It stunk worse than almost anything else imaginable.

"I swear the things I do for you, Jessie," Harper groaned as she walked around with her arm raised to cover her nose. Not even Nukeia flowers wanted to grow here. The important thing was finding the birthday present. It could be another clue.

Logan had wandered off a little further away, remarking that splitting up would help their search go faster. Harper sure hoped so because the sooner they could leave this place the happier she would be.

A light glinting at the top of a heap of trash caught her attention and made her pause. Was it some kind of signal? She studied it for a while and noticed that the light shone regularly blinking on and off. It was like something was beckoning her.

"Hey Logan, I see something," Harper called as she started walking up the heap.

"What is it?" Logan asked but she was already halfway up there. 

"It looks like a sign of some sorts..." Harper said as she hurried with a smile on her face. "I think I found the present."

"Harper, come back!" Logan called as his eyes widened in realisation. The shiny light that Harper had seen wasn't a signal or a hidden present. It was the beckoning call of a knife's sharp blade glinting in the sunlight.

The loud wild laughter of an Adventurer was the next sound Harper heard before a stranger burst out of the heap of rubbish bags with his knife raised. Harper's eyes widened in horror and fear. The Adventurer's arm swung down and Harper dodged, throwing herself out of his reach while his blade violently plunged into the trash but that didn't deter him. With a laugh of triumph the Adventurer resurfaced but Harper had already started running to Logan.

"Well well well, this is my lucky day!" the man laughed wildly. He was dressed from head to toe in things that had been tossed in the junkyard. "If it isn't Detective Harper, the hero of justice."

"What?" Harper gasped, surprised that he knew her name.

"Oh we know all about you honey, we saw your video," the Adventurer grinned. "And I have to say, most of us are pretty impressed with your daring challenge. What say I team up with you and we find the killer together?"

"Sorry, I only acknowledge solo acts," Harper grimaced. She wanted him nowhere near her.

"Well, that's too bad," the Adventurer laughed. "Because there's another game going on, it looks like you've got competition."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harper demanded.

"There's a bounty on your head for who can take you down before you solve the murder. All us Adventurers are gunning for that kind of wild money," the man laughed.

Harper was shocked and Logan frowned.

Someone had put a bounty on her?

"Sounds like the sick kind of thing an Adventurer would pull as a joke," Harper hissed in disgust.

"Perhaps," the man shrugged and grinned. "But who can turn down such a nice amount of money? So, be a sweetheart and let me harvest your soul. Then I'll be sure to solve the murder for you, but no promises."

"Fuck off!" Harper cursed.

"Wrong answer!" the maniac laughed. He leapt at Harper who raced behind Logan. Logan tried to slam the attacker with his hoverboard. It almost hit the attacker’s face but he bent suddenly, as flexible as paper and his upper body slid across the ground while bent. Quickly, he raised himself again and leapt at Harper.

Harper screamed and dodged to the left.

"Fuck," Logan cursed. With the Adventurer's  back turned to him, Logan delivered a swift kick to the assailant. He fell, eyes focusing on Logan and grabbed him by the leg then rolled even faster and dragged the Detective down with him.

"Officer Officer," the Adventurer laughed. "You can't possibly intend to beat me on my own playing field."

"Fuck!" Logan cursed when he fell. "Get off!" 

"Nah, pretty boy!" the crazed man laughed suddenly hopping onto Logan's back with a knife to his neck. "I think I'll kill you first."

"Let him go!" Harper screamed and threw a can at their attacker. He just laughed at how ineffective it was.

"Wow," he laughed. "I'm going to really enjoy killing you."

"Get down!" A female voice screamed. Harper didn't even know where it came from but she didn't hesitate before hitting the rubbish surrounding them.

"There's more of you?" the Adventurer asked animatedly and was just turning around to see who it was when a bullet went through his forehead.

Both Harper and Logan's eyes widened in horrified shock to see this happen. Guns had been banned in the Nuke for years. The bullet flew right through the attacker's skull, splattering his blood like it was a fountain. Harper was laying down but she felt queasy like she was going to throw up. Logan got the most of it on him but he seemed fine. The limp body rolled right off him, falling against the rubbish with a thud. Logan and Harper lay on the ground for a few minutes, neither of them willing to stand and face a person with a gun.

Slowly Logan turned his head as footsteps approached. Harper reached out and wrapped her hand around the mouth of a broken bottle, her heart beat faster and in fear. The person came closer and closer. Logan braced himself.

"Are you two okay?" the female voice asked. 

They both raised their eyes to see no sign of a gun, not anymore. The lady who looked down at them was gorgeous. Her brown hair rolled down her back in soft curly waves as she looked left and right. To Harper she looked like an angel because no one in The Nuke wore such beautiful well made clothes of strong quality. Clothes that didn't look like they would fall apart at any second. There was a soft scent coming from her hair.

"What is that smell?" Harper asked softly.

"The rubbish?" the girl asked and Harper was tempted to smile.

"Nah....the other one," Harper mumbled.

"Oh," the lady realised and then smiled. "Violet. It's my favourite."

*******

They'd found Violet in a rather unconventional way but neither of them were really complaining. She led them out of the Great Dump, which was a great relief on Harper's nose; it had smelt like many things had died there and Harper could guess why now.

"Who are you?" Harper asked as they followed her into her motel for a wash and possible change of clothes.

"Violet," the woman said with a chipper smile. Harper wondered if she got her name from the shade of her eyes.

"Thank you for saving us," Logan mumbled when they got to her room.

"It's the least I could do," Violet said with a smile.

"How are we even sure that you're actually helping and not another attacker in disguise?" Harper narrowed her eyes.

"It's a risk you'll have to take," Violet said with a shrug. "For the record I have no idea who the two of you are and I don't know why that guy was trying to kill you. Did you guys do something?"

"Yeah, actually," Harper said as she eyed Violet who moved around the room like she was taking care of guests. Getting them towels and pointing them towards the bathroom.

"Are you guys a couple?" Violet asked excitedly and Harper blushed.

"No," Logan said.

"Yeah, no," Harper mumbled.

"Oh, sorry, my bad," Violet giggled and grabbed some medicine to clean Harper's wound. There was a small scratch on her hand from gripping the bottle. Harper hissed and pulled away in pain.

"I'm sorry, do you want to wash first?" Violet asked curiously.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" Harper asked in suspicion. She didn't trust nice people. Only Jessie was truly kind in a place like The Nuke and it had killed her.

"The truth is, I'm hoping you'll help me find someone," Violet admitted and Harper narrowed her eyes. Just as she had suspected, Violet had something that she wanted to gain.

"Who are you looking for?" Violet asked curiously. Logan also paid attention.

"Her name is Jess," Violet beamed and her guests froze in shock.

"I call her Pussy for short," Violet beamed with a happy smile. "She’s my girlfriend."

Harper could not believe it.

"You...you're her sponsor."

"You do know her!" Violet beamed and took Harper's hands in hers with excitement and joy flashing in her eyes. "I knew I made the right call saving you two. Where is she? Have you seen her? I told her to meet me here but it's been a while. I mean it was supposed to be just her present but I hope she didn't see me and chicken out. I haven't been able to contact her in days and I got so worried..."

"She's dead," Logan said, his words cutting through the air like a knife.

Even Harper flinched at the harshness of his words. Violet stared at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean… that she's dead?" Violet laughed with pain in her voice. "No… no she's not. She's… she's supposed to be here... Waiting for me. I don't... I don't understand."

As Violet spoke there was confusion in her eyes.

"We will have to explain later," Logan said.

"You can't just say that, explain now!" Violet demanded and she pulled her gun from nowhere on the both of them.

"Hey easy, easy," Harper said as she raised her hands to the air.

"What do you mean she's dead?" Violet demanded. "Did you kill her?"

"Of course not, I'm her best friend," Harper glared. "Me and this guy, we're trying to find the secret behind her murder."

"Murder?" Violet asked in absolute confusion. "Murder, what does that mean? I don't remember signing up for a murder plot."

"Excuse me?" Harper started, "A murder plot?"

"I'm only interested in the romance genre. Jess and I, we re-enact romantic situations. I would never pay for a murder. Did my Dad put you guys up to this?" Violet asked with a frown.

"What are you saying?" Harper quizzed because something was not adding up here.

"We don't have time," Logan reminded them both and raised his hand to show off Harper's wanted poster. Harper frowned when reminded of the money being offered for her death. 

"One million dollars?" Harper scoffed in annoyance. "I just know I'm worth way more than that."

"This is no time to be an idiot," Logan scolded and smacked her on the head.

"Ow," Harper sulked. 

"Thanks to your video, Adventurers line up at your door to use you as target practice," Logan glared.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Harper groaned.

"Wow, you guys take your job so seriously," Violet mumbled. Once again Harper looked at her in confusion.

"As exciting as this all is to watch, I need to find Jess or at least someone that can help reboot her," Violet said and the weird feeling had started again in Harper. Something wasn't adding up.

"Do you know anyone that can raise the dead?" Logan asked coldly and Violet faltered.

"Forget it," Logan said. "First we need to get to somewhere safe. Is there anywhere you know that we can hide?"

"Why would I help you?" Violet frowned.

"Because I'm trying to find out who murdered your girlfriend, that’s why," Logan said.

"Yeah, we are working on that together," Harper piped up and Logan sighed. 

"So you can help us and we can all get to the bottom of this," Logan said. "Or you can let us die and you might never hear of your girlfriend again. Your choice."

Violet stared at them for a few minutes just staring at them in awe before a big smile spread on her face and she laughed.

"What?" Harper gaped at her reaction.

"That was so cool," Violet grinned. "That was intense. It was like there were real stakes. You are such a good actor. Do you have a cam account? What's your username?" 

"I'll tell you when you're safe," Logan muttered.

"Deal," Violet beamed. "Come with me!"

Violet led them to the back of the motel where to their surprise they found a beautiful bedazzling car.

"Pink," Harper gasped.

"It's her favourite colour," Violet beamed.

This girl really knew Jessie well, Harper thought. She and Logan were smuggled into the back of the boot and they heard the sound of a window break in the motel.

"What's that?" Harper whispered.

"Adventurers," Logan grimaced.

Violet stepped on the gas pedal and got them right out of there. She was driving for quite a while and Harper felt her heart beating fast. She had no idea where she was going. She had entrusted her life to a crazy stranger. Never had she taken this kind of risk before. It was scary. Logan held her hand and squeezed gently to give her comfort. It brought Harper great relief that Logan was there. Before she knew it, she found herself drifting asleep, dreaming of Jessie and the friendship that they had shared.

CHAPTER 7

When Harper woke, she was surprised to find herself on a bed so soft that it felt like she was melting inside of it. Her eyes fluttered open and everything smelled clean like soap.

"You're awake," Logan commented and Harper sat up immediately with a gasp. 

She was awake.

"Where are we?" Harper whispered and Logan smiled, the side of his lip curling slightly. 

"Why don't you see for yourself?" he said.

Whenever Harper drew back the curtains to look out on a scene in The Nuke it was always the same. Neon lights lighting up dark streets and dark hallways. Even in the daytime the streets were covered in dirt and black. Dark depressing colours that were covered up by the lively people who moved about their day to day lives with boom boxes on some shoulders as they danced to trendy tunes.

However, this time, when Harper pulled back the curtains, she saw the sun. It was big, bright and beautiful as it touched upon everything outside. The sky was full of happy sounds of people laughing. Everything looked bright. So bright that Harper had to close the curtains immediately to shield her eyes. She gaped at the scene outside once more and whipped to face Logan, her mouth agape. Logan nodded an amused confirmation of her suspicions.

"We're on the Surface," he said and she nearly fell over.

*******

The Surface World had always been Harper's dream but she couldn't believe that it was possible, that she was actually here.

"How is this possible?" she asked and Logan explained everything.

It turned out that Violet had truly been from the Surface. She was Jessie's Happily Ever After and she'd come to The Nuke to collect her Cinderella.

"The stories were real, all this time," Harper breathed softly, her hand covering her mouth as she felt tears near her eyes. "Jessie was about to get her happily ever after."

"Yes, but it gets worse," Logan said grimly.

"How?" Harper asked in confusion and Logan sighed.

Then he explained how Violet had truly believed that her relationship with Jessie had been fictional. Jessie, of course, lived in The Nuke but none of the scary things that happened there were real. Violet thought that everyone in The Nuke were actors playing out a fun script for the Surface entertainment. Everyone on the Surface thought that way.

"That's why she wasn't taking what we were saying seriously," Logan explained gently.

"You're kidding," Harper said with a small pained laugh. "A movie? What did she think that guy who attacked us was?"

"A thug," Logan said gently and rubbed slow circles on Harper's back. "I've explained it all to her so she understands now. She's been in mourning over Jessie for the past hour. She’s very broken up about it."

"I want to be mad at her," Harper admitted with a sigh. "But I can't say that she was a bad partner."

She'd come all the way down to The Nuke to find Jessie and pick her up.

"Now that we're here, we should tell Jessie's brother," Harper mumbled. 

"First things first," Logan said. "Violet wants to help us."

*******

When Harper once again saw Violet she was not the happy chipper girl she'd met when she'd come in the first time. Violet was a bit more serious and determined to make things change. She led them to an engineering room and introduced them to a computer genius.

"This is Raven," she said. "He is in charge of monitoring camera feeds in The Nuke. There is nothing that happens there that he doesn't see."

"All this time I thought I was monitoring the grandest reality television show in the world and it was people's lives," Raven said and shook his head sadly. "There's not enough to atone for what I've done."

"The general belief in our world is that AI assists actors to enact fantasy porn of the most amazing kind," Violet explained. "It is a very popular form of entertainment here, you can even select the kind of package you want from daring and dangerous to romantic fantasy. Jessie and I had the sweetheart package...."

"It doesn't matter how cute it sounds, those are people's lives," Logan said with a glare. "People are dying for the sake of your fantasy porn."

"Yes, we know," Violet hung her head in shame. "But that will all end today."

"I'm going to cut off the feed from all the cameras as a first step," Raven said and turned to his keyboard. He tapped on a few buttons and also pulled a few levers under his desk.

"If you had access to all the cameras in The Nuke then how come you didn't realise that all of it was real?" Harper asked with a frown.

"Have you seen technology these days?" Raven pointed out. "Anything can be possible. All you have to do is dream it to make it happen."

He pushed back away from his keyboard and stared at the blackout screen silently for a few minutes. Then he smirked.

"But to say I had no idea what was going on, well… I will admit little lady, that is a lie."

"What?" Violet said in surprise.

"Seriously Violet," Raven said with a sigh. "I created the system. Do you really think I had no idea what was going on?"

"Then why are you helping us?" Harper demanded and grabbed his collar.

The scientist just smiled. 

"Who said I'm helping you?" Raven asked.

That was when they realised to their horror that smoke was coming from the entire room. It was sleeping gas!

They all tried to fight it but they soon crumpled to the floor and fell deeply asleep.

CHAPTER 8

Logan awoke, tied up in a room. It was dark and he didn't know where he was but he had a good guess.

"I see you're awake," a voice said and Logan slowly raised his head to see a man he did not recognise. The man stood tall and proud with a cane in his hand. He was old. Not old enough to be ancient but still old and the look in his eyes were cruel.

"You must be Violet's father," Logan mumbled and the man smiled in amusement.

"I've never met a stupid detective before so I can't say that's a lucky guess," the old man remarked as he took a seat in front of Logan. "Mr. Alexander Ford, at your service."

"Mr. Ford," Logan mumbled as he hung his head tiredly. "I can't understand why we must meet this way."

"Oh, I think you know why," Mr. Ford smiled.

"Hmm.." Logan mused. "Well, if you're the one in charge of The Nuke then it means that you're profiting somehow from everything that goes on within."

"That is correct," Mr. Ford said.

"But why?" Logan cocked his head because something wasn't adding up. "Why would a rich and powerful man like you go through all the trouble to end the life of an inconsequential girl? Was it just because your daughter was into her and wanted to bring her to the Surface? Or is it because there is no actual Happily Ever After."

"You're too smart for your own good," Mr. Ford adjusted his hold on his cane and smiled. "But you are correct. I've run this country since even before that missile landed and killed a good number of our population. I’ve profited off of sex, war and everything between for decades now. When a great man gets a hold of a great idea he holds on to it and never lets go."

"So you turned The Nuke into a giant sex pit?" Logan glared.

"It wasn't easy. A small population of people moved there, driven to build somewhere with the unavailability of land and space. We could lure them in with the offer of free healthcare and free shelter. Still, the population had a slow growth," Mr. Ford admitted.

"So you started kidnapping children from the surface," Logan growled and Mr. Ford smirked.

"Yes," he said. "Orphans or children who were very young who would be susceptible to memory wiping drugs. I had my men steal two children every year and place them within The Nuke. No one who entered The Nuke was allowed to leave. We kept a steady population of dreamers who believed they could be anything they wanted. Who felt free of parental control, who believed that this empowered them."

"You encouraged them to sell their bodies for entertainment then you sold that feed to the people who had money to pay for that. People on the Surface," Logan said through gritted teeth. 

"There are laws on the Surface," Mr. Ford shrugged. "Laws against certain sexual acts. Laws that surround consent, as well as minors. Laws like that which do not exist in The Nuke." He smiled wickedly. "I only created a playing ground for the youth to express themselves. That's all."

"Except that it's not limited to the cam girls is it?" Logan glared. "Performances are not limited to anyone who has a camera and an account, because why else would Adventurers roam the streets without a camera and still get paid for their performances? I always thought it was suspicious that we were never allowed to access the feed that was gotten from the streets and the Chief never gave us permission. You channel the feed of every single sexual act that happens on the grounds of The Nuke and sell it for profit. You promise them the gift of freedom if they impress the Surface watchers but that would interfere with your great plan wouldn't it? If the Surface realised that the people that fulfil their sexy fantasies are real, then the legal system can get involved and shut down your empire. The fact that Jessie died that night was because no one ever gets a Happily Ever After. Anyone who crosses to the Surface from The Nuke is put to death, but you don't let The Nuke know this. You make them keep dreaming and hoping for a salvation that will never come."

Logan laughed darkly.

"You are a very...disgusting man, Mr. Ford."

"And you are a very bright man, Mr. Hetfield. Listening to you stirs something deep within me," Mr. Ford smiled. "It feels like I could listen to you all day, but there's two more pieces of the puzzle that you're missing. Go on and see if you can solve it. If you can, perhaps there will be a reward."

Logan glared at the man, arms flexing in the binds that held him. He glared at Mr. Ford in hatred but he got to thinking.

"The Chief..." Logan mumbled. "He's been working for you all along. That's why he protects the feed. He hid the cameras away so that you could approach. You used your daughter's user name and account to find Jessie. Then you killed her."

"Close but not exactly," Mr. Ford smirked. "I didn't kill Jessie."

Logan frowned then he laughed darkly in realisation.

"The Chief," he muttered.

Of course. Only those in the London Division wore shoes and gloves that left no prints.

"And the last mystery?" Mr. Ford asked.

"What mystery?" Logan frowned.

"Come on now, why do you think the young people in The Nuke are always dying to get it on no matter the location or the situation?" Mr. Ford smiled.

Logan frowned.

"I don't know, Mr. Ford," Logan said. "Teenagers can be very energetic."

"That much is true, but that's not the reason they're addicted to sex," Mr. Ford chuckled.

He raised an image and Logan's eyes widened.

Blue flowers with red tips at their petals.

"The Nukeia flowers," Logan mumbled.

"A special breed of plants that spray special aphrodisiacs into the air every once in a while. The smell is not easy to detect and all residents are oblivious to its existence. Even you," Mr. Ford said proudly. "Though you are one of the unique citizens with a unique biological system. The aphrodisiac doesn't affect you and you are untouched by the need to fuck everything in sight. I think it's a shame. You would be a sell-out as a cam performer."

"Don't get my hopes up Mr. Ford, you'll make me think that I might live," Logan muttered.

"What makes you think you won't?" Mr. Ford asked with a smirk and Logan raised his head in surprise.

"Why would you keep me alive?" Logan asked, truly confused. Mr. Ford did not strike him as the kind to show mercy. 

"Your resistance to the flower's aphrodisiac is due to your unique biological system, something not even the Chief possesses. This resistance is something more unique, something you and I share," Mr Ford explained with a smile. "If we were to work together I could utilise you within The Nuke. I can grant you your greatest desire. All you have to do is work for me."

"What about Harper?" Logan cocked his head.

"She'll be sent back to The Nuke where she will live her life peacefully," Mr. Ford smiled and Logan could not hold back his sardonic laugh.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Logan chuckled. Even Mr. Ford smiled and shrugged.

"Take it or leave it, Detective. I can grant you anything but no miracles," the wicked dictator said.

Mr. Ford didn't have to put it into words. Logan knew he was going to kill Harper.

"Should I give you some time to think about it?" Mr. Ford asked.

"No, it's fine. I accept," Logan said.

Mr. Ford smiled and snapped his fingers, the ropes falling from Logan.

"I knew you were a smart man, detective," Mr. Ford smiled. "Welcome to the family."

Logan stood up and punched that wicked man so hard that Mr. Ford's body was propelled backwards. Logan had never hit anybody harder, of that he was sure. He crashed into the wall, groaning in pain. Immediately, Logan jumped to his feet and ran. He didn't have time to talk to a greedy old man or care what happened to him. He had to save Harper!

Logan raced out of the room, not really knowing where he was going but knowing he would need weapons. He took the security men guarding the door by surprise and knocked their lights out. He took their guns as his own and headed into the a room down the corridor. Inside was Raven, looking shellshocked.

"Where is Harper?!" Logan demanded.

"It's too late," Raven stammered. "The Chief has taken her. They're already on their way to The Nuke."

"You're the one who sold us out to Violet's father aren't you?" Logan said as he glared at Raven. "You built this sick system that exploits children and monetizes sex."

"There's always the belief that everyone is having sex," Raven said unapologetically. "But that's not true. There's many people that can't have sex. There's many people that are considered repulsive by the opposite sex. The media wants people to believe that everyone can have sex."

"And what do you believe?" Logan demanded.

Raven grinned.

"Me? I believe that those who can't have sex should at least get something out of those who are."

"Then I hope you enjoyed your last wank, you sick bastard," Logan said coldly and pulled the trigger.

*******

Running through a maze of corridors, he found Violet in the garage.

"I can't find Harper," Violet cried.

"She's already on her way to The Nuke, just drive!" Logan commanded.

Violet did as she was told. Flooring it, they soon found the Chief of Police's car speeding down the highways. Violet swerved to try to overtake the car but the armed guards aimed guns at her.

"You know you can't shoot your boss' daughter, Chief," Logan smirked.

"You're right, but I can shoot you," the Chief grinned. "Stand down Logan, you've done enough."

"I don't think I have," Logan growled. "The people trusted you to protect them."

"The people?" The Chief scoffed. "The people assault each other for fun. I'm just cashing out from their madness. What's wrong with that? I'm not the one asking them to go nuts!"

"Bastard!" Logan growled. "Harper are you there?"

"I'm here!" Harper cried, poking her head out the window but the Chief pushed her back.

"You can't shoot us without shooting her," the Chief grinned. "She's chained to the car. Stand down detective."

"You heard him, stand down!" Harper cried.

"You should listen to your girlfriend," the Chief mocked and Harper laughed.

"You know Logan, I've always wanted my happily ever after to come true," Harper said softly and Logan's eyes widened as she spoke. 

"I wanted it to come true for me, for Jessie, for the sake of everyone that I loved."

It had sounded like a dream where everyone would be happy. 

"I dreamt of running down fields and fields of grass and flowers, including the beautiful Nukeia. I wanted to make a flower chain and put it on Jessie's hair like a crown."

As she spoke, Violet felt tears in her eyes.

"The world above The Nuke was supposed to be a miracle but it was as ugly as everything else down there," Harper said in a pained laugh.

"Harper!" Logan cried.

"I walk my own path, detective!" Harper screamed as Violet slowed down the car and let the Chief’s car go ahead.

"The only way now is forward," Violet continued. "For all of the sick bastards that profited every time we suffered."

Tears came to her eyes as she recalled the cold cruel way that Jessie had died. Jessie had always had the most beautiful smile. There was no time Jessie couldn't make herself smile. Even the time when they'd gotten hurt by Adventurers; Jessie had picked her up and laughed. It was time for Harper to do the same.

"This one is for Jessie," Harper growled.

The Chief, who had been so focused on making sure his driver had put his foot down, turned in horror to see that Harper had stolen a grenade from one of the Surface Officers. He tried to get out of the car but she grabbed him, a vice-like grip around his entire body.

The car swerved, the guards around the Nuke dove and ran as the car rammed right into the boundary wall that surrounded The Nuke and brought a section of it down.

Logan watched, his gun lowering and pain in his eyes as the grenade went off.

The explosion rocked everything.

*******

Weeks later marked a weekend of Detective Logan Hetfield standing over the grave of two girls buried side by side. He stood by them with Violet at his side until the sky turned dark. Violet had come with a bouquet of various beautiful flowers from the surface.

Logan had come with just one kind. They were special flowers that had the ability to grow in one place only. When Logan and Violet left, the signs of their visits remained. Bouquets of gorgeous flowers of different shapes and sizes, and another smaller bouquet of tiny blue flowers with red tipped petals.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

 

William Powell is a self-publishing author from London, England. An avid film and novel lover, William has been writing for as long as he can remember. Drawing influence from various artistic works over the years, William hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams, just as he has his.

 

His previous works include two short stories, 45 Days and Descent Into Madness, both prequels to William’s first full-length novella When Justice Comes Calling. Both prequel stories were published individually on Kindle and collectively on paperback as The Justice Anthology – Part I, whilst the full-length novella When Justice Comes Calling is available on both Kindle and paperback; his latest release Unsettling Differences hit Kindle and paperback in Spring 2020. Also available is This Is Not An Exit, a 4th-wall breaking meta-story detailing the trials and tribulations of bringing these stories to life. All five  of these publications are available via Amazon.

 

You can follow William on Twitter at @SaveUsWP, on Instagram at @SaveUsWP2.0 and on TikTok @_saveuswp.