Camp NaNo July '24: The Shadow League

As she walked inside the police bureau to her office, she greeted one of the police officers with a light moustache and a bald head. "Morning Karl. Did you get me the papers I asked for?"

Karl turned around and replied, "I'll have it sent up with Fillip in a second, Detective Gonzales."

Ema's eyes widened, and she said a bit harshly, "It is Detective Baker or Ema."

The mere thought of walking around doing her dream job with the name of the man she married but doesn't love gave her the creeps. Karl nodded and quickly made his way out of her sight to avoid any other questions.

Ema walked up the stairs and proceeded to the room in the back with glass walls.

"Detective!" someone yelled after her, almost making her trip over her heels.

"Jeez, Cynthia." Ema exclaimed.

The woman was around Ema's age but with a lot more makeup than she used. "The name labels are finally here. Let's see what you think of it."

Ema walked together with the brunette to her office. Cynthia took off the label and exclaimed, "Tadaa!"

There was written: Detective E. Gonzales.

Ema was pissed.

"Buenas noches," Renato called out.

Ema glanced up, shaking her head in acknowledgment, and then quickly fixed her gaze on the television again.

Renato put his suitcase down and made his way to the kitchen. He was greeted by a mountain of dirty dishes piled high in the sink. Empty bottles of vodka, red wine and packages of fried noodles on the counter. He sighed heavily and walked back to the living room.

"Ema, everywhere is a mess! I wasn't even gone for that long, it was three days!" he exclaimed, as he threw his hands in the air.

Ema shrugged, still focused on the TV. "Sorry, was busy. Lots of bad people to catch."

Renato rolled his eyes, clearly frustrated. "You're such an ass! I guess some things don't change."

Ema looked at him, a smirk forming on her lips. "Aw, you missed me then. How was your little trip?"

"Forget the trip! I come back, and it's like a tornado hit the place!" Renato shouted.

Ema leaned back, blowing a smoke ring into the air. "Relax, Renato. It's not the end of the world. Just a few dishes."

Renato's frustration boiled over. "A few dishes? The kitchen looks like it exploded!"

Ema laughed and said sarcastically, "Welcome back to reality, Office."

Renato's face reddened with anger. He stormed off to his room, muttering under his breath. "You know, Ema, sometimes I think you do this on purpose just to get under my skin," he said.

Ema smirked. "Now, why would I do something like that, dear husband?"

Renato didn't respond. He just headed for his room, slamming the door behind him. The loud crash that followed made him stop in his tracks. He turned around to see the door had broken off its hinges and was now lying on the floor.

"Fuck you, Ema! My door!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the house.

Ema glanced over. She took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke towards the broken door. "Sorry, needed something for an experiment to solve a murder."

Renato stood there. "You're impossible," he muttered.

Ema chuckled, "Missed you too, Renato."

Renato grabbed his suitcase and stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind him. Ema leaned back on the sofa, a smile on her face as she took another drag from her cigarette.

Ema came home one day, exhausted again. After taking a shower, she crashed on the sofa, scrolling down Netflix. Renato walked into the living room with a stack of papers as Ema said, "Afternoon."

Renato responded annoyed, "Esta Noche (*It is night). Anyway, there is a letter for you."

Ema frowned, "A letter?"

"Sí," he said, handing her a green envelope.

Ema opened the letter and read,

Dear Detective Baker...

Ema smiled and said a little loudly, "She wrote Detective Baker." Renato rolled his eyes at this remark and grabbed the TV remote.

"Hey!" Ema said.

"Read your letter." Renato said, putting on a series he liked.

Ema read further,

One of these days, I will be murdered in my own house. I want you to be the one finding out who my killer is. There is a key in the envelope; do not come searching for my house until I am dead. If you try to save me, I will make sure you get killed. Lots of love, yours.

Ema didn't know what to think. She checked the envelope, and there was indeed a key in it.

Mary was very much in shock, why didn't her father want them to go see mother? Did her mother really look that bad? This made her think even more that he was behind it.

'He promised!" she yelled at Alex.

'Calm down, it's not like I did it,' Alex said, 'eat quickly.'

''I'm not eating!" she yelled at her brother.

"As you wish" he said to her with a mischievous grin.

'Are you hiding something?'

Alex said, "No, I might have invited Jake to go to the river with us.”

'The river?'

'Yes, that same river.'

Mary rubbed her hands with enthusiasm, "I'll go get something to eat."

'Thought so.'

'Shut up, Lexi.' Mary teased Alex.

Alex shook his head and continued scrolling on his phone.

Mary walked to the kitchen and looked into the big pot that was the gas stove. She removed the lid from the pot and a whole cloud of steam escaped. She pulled up her nose. "Has dad been cooking again?" she asked Alex.

"Why do you think I ate peanut butter with jam?" said Alex jokingly.

'Lamb soup, are you kidding dad?" she asked herself.

Carla saw that Sia was busy talking to the owner of the tavern and Reggie was taking a five again. She quietly got up thinking, Enough is enough, You can’t keep running, just take the diamond and disappear. She started tiptoeing away when Reggie grabbed her by her wrist.

‘Where are you going, princess?’ Reggie asked.

‘For starters my name is Carla not princess. Secondly, I’m not staying on the run with you two.’ Carla explained as she tried to get her hand loose from Reggie’s tight grip.

‘I don’t know if you forgot, but we kidnapped you. You need to help us a little more before we let you go. You’re staying with us.’ Reggie said and fastened the cuffs to her hand again.

Carla rolled her eyes, ‘If this is your second kidnap, you suck at it.’

Reggie chuckled. ‘Oh I know you enjoy it too. No need to be so aggressive, princess.’ He grinned.

Carla sat back on the chair annoyed and irritated with herself. She tapped relentlessly with her boots on the ground and looked around every two seconds while Reggie took a short nap.

Lara had turned her gaze away from the phone and looked at Mary. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you.

Mary smiled understandingly at her. 'No problem,' she replied. 'Who are you talking to?'

'His name is…’ Lara was about to answer but got interrupted.

'Julian,' said a young man with a heavy Spanish accent.

Lara smiled at him and said, 'Julian? Are you serious?’

He forced a laugh through the phone and said, "Yeah, leave it like that."

Mary couldn't help but smile. She had never thought that Lara and her boyfriend got along so well.

"You're MaryAnna right?" asked Julian suddenly.

Mary thought her name sounded different with a Spanish accent, it had a kind of ring to it that she had never heard from her name before.

'Yes,' Mary then said confused that Julian already knew her, but then again with the realisation that Lara would have told him all about her.

Mary then asked Lara, 'Does he know about...' She didn't finish the sentence and Lara nodded.

'It's very nice of you to support Lara in her studies,' Mary said as she leaned slightly over the phone to get a better look at Julian, but he was sitting or lying in the dark, so she couldn't see his face clearly, she did see that he had shiny brown eyes.

'Of course, Lars is very special and deserves the best, though some people don't see that.'

Lara blushed when she heard Julian say that, 'It's okay, I also have to accept that I'm like that,' Lara said as she smiled.

Mary gave Lara a poke in her side and asked, "It's Lars now?

Lara said, "Stop it," and smiled with red cheeks.

After a few minutes of conversation that Mary could follow, she crawled back under her blanket and fell back into a deep sleep.