The Sight (Title Pending) Chapter 2

Tom took out his pistol from his uniform’s holster, he stared at it blankly as he set it down on the fence. He put on protective glasses and headphones, looking down at his paper target as he did. He tenderly picked his pistol back up and aimed steadily, inhaling until suddenly he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. He jumped slightly and took his headphones off. As he turned slowly, his eyes met with Captain Caine’s.
“Ah, I didn’t mean to startle you!” Caine exclaimed, putting up his hands. “The Chief thought you went home already but some of your desk mates said you come here before you leave all the time. It’s just that, we didn’t properly introduce each other earlier, I’m Captain Sean Caine of the-“
“Elusive East Precinct, yes I know who you are, Sir.” Tom interrupted. “I’m Officer Thomas James.”
“Our reputation precedes us,” Caine replied, smiling slightly. “Want to get a drink after you finish up here? I want to get to know my candidates better, a year is almost upon us.”
“I don’t drink.” Tom said bluntly.
“Oh, then perhaps a meal, my treat.”
Tom hesitated then nodded. “Let me empty this clip, first. It’s only six bullets anyways.”
Tom put the headphones back over his ears and aimed his pistol at the target. Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang! All six bullets were shot in rapid succession. Tom slowly lowered his pistol as he pressed the button to return the paper target back to himself. Once it was close enough Tom took it off the wire, examining it carefully. The corners of his mouth formed an ever so slight smile, and he looked up at Caine.
“It’s a perfect score,” He said, handing his work to Caine as if he was a child showing his dad a drawing he made at school.
Caine looked over the sheet, his nose scrunched slightly. “You missed three shots, but the other three are headshots.” He said.
“Look again.” Tom replied.
Caine looked closer, and that was when it hit him. His eyes widened and looked at Tom. “You matched the other three into the holes almost perfectly.”
Tom smirked slightly as he put the headphones and protective glasses in a bin, all the while holstering his pistol. “Told you it was a perfect score,” He said, starting to walk towards the exit. He turned to look at Caine. “You said something about a meal, now?”

Tom and Caine walked into Forsen’s Pub, a jaunt across the street from the North Precinct. The bartender nodded at Caine as he waved at him, and both Caine and Tom took a seat at a booth. Tom opened the menu, holding it just right so his face was concealed. His style of clothes didn’t change so much, he was still wearing the black tank top and the dark blue jeans. However, instead of his flashy white leather jacket, he opted wearing a blue polyester zip-up hoodie with synthetic fur lining the hood, and blue and black sneakers to match the hoodie. Caine looked at him as he opened his own menu, and started to tap on it as he averted his gaze down to the menu.
“What do you like to eat, Tom?” Caine asked.
Tom shrugged. “I’m not picky nor do I have a set diet, I guess.” Tom lowered the menu slightly. “Why do you ask?”
“Wanted to know if you had any restrictions. I want to get an appetizer. What do you think of these short rib bites?”
“Sure, I’ll eat a few.” Tom replied, putting the menu down.
Caine watched him and smiled slightly. “I read some of your files. Your academy records are interesting, since you almost didn’t pass your physical tests. Though your academic test was almost 100 percent. But I’d rather talk about what brought you here, your past basically. Your files go through some of it but not everything. I thought you could fill in the blanks for me?”
Tom looked at him. “You’re serious?” Caine nodded, Tom sighed. “I didn’t really have too much of a childhood. Miranda wasn’t very stable herself.”
“You call your mother by her actual name?” Caine asked.
Tom shook his head. “She’s not my mom. I’m illegitimate.” He said bluntly.
Caine blinked. “But you’ve mentioned your brother in transcripts.”
“Half brother, though neither of us knew until we were a little older.”
A waitress stopped by their booth and smiled. “Are you ready to order?” She asked.
“Yes, I am.” Tom said, not making any eye contact. “Just get me the grilled cheese and tomato soup, add fries.”
Caine looked up at the waitress and smiled back at her. “I’ll take the short ribs for an appetizer, and get me the cheese and bacon burger. Could I also get a lager?”
The waitress nodded. “Absolutely sir!” She replied, glancing at Tom as he kept looking forward. “Anything to drink for you sir?” She said hesitantly.
“Water and lemonade please.” Tom said, not turning his head to look at her.
Caine waited until the waitress left, then looked at Tom again. “You were talking about your brother?”
Tom nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “I like to think Mark and I were close as kids, but between discovering that I was his half brother and Miranda and our dad’s divorce, he slowly stopped talking to me.” He looked at Caine. “You’re sure you read my file, right? You’d know he died in a car accident.”
Caine nodded. “Yes, I remember reading about that. But he died while you were in the mental clinic, yes? What was that experience like?”
“I was originally there because of Miranda. They were worried I’d get PTSD or something so they put me under a month’s supervision. But after a while they suspected I had schizophrenia and what was supposed to be a month turned out to be 3 years in that hell hole.” Tom looked up at Caine, surprised by his own profanity. “Excuse my language, Sir.”
“It’s okay!” Caine replied. “What about after you got out of the clinic, though? You went to high school right?”
Tom shook his head. “This is ridiculous, is there a reason for this line of questioning?”
Caine caressed his index finger with his thumb and sighed. “I wanted to know about your school life before, well, the case.” He replied.
“I studied, that’s basically it.” Tom said. “I had a study partner for math and we started going out, then the case happened.” Tom said mockingly as he put up his hands and bent his fingers to make twos in each hand, curling the fingers to make a quoting gesture. “It doesn’t bother me anymore.” He continued as he put his hands back on the table. “It used to, but I’ve accepted that she’s gone forever.”
Caine nodded as the appetizer and his drink arrived. He smiled at the waitress as she set everything down, and waited before she left once more to speak. “But seeing the remains of your murdered girlfriend, it must still affect you, right?”
“Let’s just say I was happy that he was found with a hole through his head.” Tom replied.
Caine’s eyes squinted. “You were happy he was dead and didn’t want him to face the law?”
“I may be a cop, Captain, but I may not share the same morals as an average one.” Tom muttered, reaching for a short rib. “The judicial system can only do so much, sometimes ‘divine intervention’ is necessary.”
Caine watched as Tom took a bite of the appetizer. He started to reach for a short rib when a curious thought entered his mind. “Was the Mutilator’s death divine intervention?” He asked, looking at Tom as he stopped moving entirely. “I thought the ruling was a suicide.”
Tom’s eyes gazed at Caine’s, his lids slightly widened, then quickly looked back down while taking a sip of his drink. “I assumed it was. For the Mutilator to shoot himself, it didn’t seem like his M.O.”
“So you think it was something completely different?”
Tom shrugged. “Who knows.”
Caine hesitated, wanting to ask further but ultimately deciding to change the subject. “Then let’s talk about today. That jewelry thief.”
“What about him?” Tom asked, taking a bite of a short rib.
“I read the report you typed up and said you were in pursuit the moment you heard it announced on the comms.”
Tom tilted his head, perplexed by this new line of questioning. “Yes, I did.”
“But the Chief said you were scanning for speeders before that. About 7 miles away, right?” Caine leaned forward, with a sly grin on his face. “So how did you get to the scene so quickly?”
Tom’s expression darkened ever so slightly. “I put my sirens on and drove as fast as I could. Why, how would you say I did it?”
“Tom, even if you speed through traffic like a madman, it would take at least 6 minutes to get to the scene. I’m not even accounting for when you would have to get out of the car and pursue on foot.” Caine ate a short rib to pause a moment, but his smile seemingly grew as he swallowed. “You were on the scene in 2 minutes. Can you explain that?”
Tom threw his hands up. “You caught me, I left my post and was driving through the streets. Happy?”
Caine’s eyes squinted, skeptical by his answer. “Why would you do that?”
“I was bored, and was looking for criminals.”
Caine’s smile only grew wider, knowing the officer before him was lying through his teeth. “If you say so.”