Chapter 8

Catching the Rat

THE DAY AFTER

THE CLOSET in Andi Lee's room stood as normal as regular bedroom furniture should be for a whole week, and that was what terrified Andi the most.

"Pack up, Baby." Coraline Lee instructed Andi. "You're gonna run late for first period!"

"Gimme a second, Mom!"

She inspected her room the entire morning, spotting for anything that she could find. Andi lifted the pink unicorn printed trousers on the floor. She rummaged through the Dora the Explorer toy box in the corner. She breezed about the ruffles of her polka dot curtain, searching for anything that may have been caught in the window shade.

Andi even began to pick up all the pieces of Lego and returned them to their large plastic casing.

"Still don't got it." Andi Lee flopped on her bed and turned over and over. She pulled her two pigtails in near frustration, loosening the delicately braided ties.

"Why doesn't any of this make sense?"

"What doesn't make sense, Baby?" Andi Lee was caught off guard as her mother brought her hands down to her hips.

"Nothing, Momma. Gotta blast!" Andi threw a punch into the air and clipped her right hand on her waist.

She shuffled briskly out of the door frame and wasted no time galloping down the marbled staircase.

"Oh what ever happened to my rocket girl, Andi. She was always punctual to class." Coraline Lee grabbed the floral scraped photo frame on the top of Andi's desk. The girl looked a tad too pale in her baby pink trench coat and magenta coloured deerstalker hat.

"Still, I'm glad she now knows how to tidy things up." She placed the frame back on the table.

"Now it's my turn."

***

Mrs. Lee pulled over her centennial beetle a good full meter in front of Oakhills Elementary School.

She was parked directly across the flashing bright yellow and black PedXing sign and directly beside the children's crossing. Coraline Lee had carelessly made two violations in one.

As if on cue, two officers sped abruptly to question her car's positioning.

"You do realise that this is a no parking zone, Ma'am." The officer knocked on the door window.

As she rolled it down, Lieutenant Chuck took a close and good look before he had immediately recognised Coraline.

"My apologies, Lieutenant." She showed him that million-dollar smile from a woman in a colorful pop beanie.

"Chuck will do." He stated. "Okay, Ms. Coraline. I'll let you slide just this once with a warning. But next time, try moving this bad boy to the side.

"I'm truly sorry. I just think I've become forgetful these days, Officer." Coraline Lee sighed a deep sigh.

He paused for a brief moment and turned back to her.

"Wait, isn't that, like, well supposed to be a periodic thing, right? For parents at least."

"Wanna know what parenting is like?Once in a while you forget the periodic things. Chores are a handful and life isn't too easy, but when you get home, the children make your day in a split second. And suddenly, life is good and you remember why you're still here. Nothing less than dramatic. You'll know when you get there,"

The proud young officer scratched his ear, trying his best to articulate a few intimate sentences, but instead waved his white flag of defeat and tipped his hat.

Coraline raised her car window and closed her eyes, before rapidly counting to ten.

"Great, thanks to you we'll be here for a few more rounds." Dimacaya slapped the back of his buddy Chuck.

"Shut it, will you?" He fisted his chest back.

The two lieutenants continued prancing around. They teased one another and marched hand in hand towards their junior police car when a not so pretty sight came into view:

Detective Collins yanked Principal Parker from the collar outside the main entrance of Oakhills Elementary School.

"Get him in, Boys." Detective Collins addressed Chuck and Dimacaya who stood by their police car.

Lieutenant Dimacaya brushed up his shoulders before gladly opening the door to the backseat. Detective Collins grabbed his hands and handcuffed them properly before throwing him in and slamming the police car door.

Chuck came walking raising his hand. "Question Sir. What in the holy grail of Sacramento?"

"What else do you think? We got our man." Detective Collins whooped Chuck's ass in excitement.

"So soon?" Dimacaya blinked.

"Eyes here, folks."

Detective Collins reached for a 2004 Motorolla and flipped it open revealing a clear image of a worn vehicle.

"So, Parker is a trucker?"

"You sure are a man full of baloney, Chuck. Look closely, you punk. It's Gomez' truck."

He leaned the phone closer to Chuck's face without touching him. "He must've used the idiot's serial number and claimed it as his own."

"And that's not all." He added. "We found a neat set of fake police uniforms in his office."

"That fully explains Coraline's call yesterday. The nurse's assistant told her that an officer had already gone by at Shriners to ask Minerva Andrews some questions and the following morning, she died without any major injuries."

"But Sir." Dimacaya raised an eyebrow and called from behind. "How did you know it was Parker?"

Coraline Lee took her time striding into the picture and sat onto the hefty police car trunk.

"Easy. He rang the fire alarm three days ago to bring the Sacramento cops in one place, that way if a crime broke in another area in town Oakhills Elementary would raise the least suspicion since it's already been flagged down."

"Exactly. What she said." Detective Collins chuckled, tilting his head towards the lady.

Lieutenant Dimacaya nodded and lifted his chin in agreement.

"So, how'd I do?" Coraline Lee cracked her neck both ways and gazed at her newly pressed french tips.

Detective Collins smoothed his lips. "I don't know, a decent amount of stalling I suppose."

"Stalling? Have you been stalling the police?" Chuck looked as dazed as a beat up lion in a circus.

Both Detective Collins and Coraline look at Lieutenant Chuck before letting out a slight giggle.

"I think you'll become a good parent, Chuck." Coraline winked at the lieutenant as she walked back to her car.

And when the broken pieces of the puzzle begin to fit, Coraline exhales in utter relief and mutters to herself that perhaps Andi was not the only detective in the family.

How'd you like badass Coraline Lee?

Hi favorites! It was a pretty long and amazing chapter so I am really relieved right now.

Turns out Coraline is the real star of the story. Jk lol but i love my queen Coraline so much yes that is a so much better gif depiction of her young self than the last one.

Right, thank you! For well reading 'til here you lovey. Btw you can end your journey here, since there are only two more chapters. What could go wrong in a short horror story?

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