Blaze

By Kenneth Jeffres

Blaze and Hawk are sent to Greenburg City to investigate the disappearance of a lady named Lilly Trust who was last seen with the governor’s son. While they were being briefed about the case, they are told of a murder that the police believe is connected to Lilly’s disappearance. With so many questions and not enough answers, they start their investigation, which leads them to a plethora of evidence that not only points to the governor’s son but also points to a mysterious tall man that steals their powers and has his own agenda.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662455483

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Blaze

Kenneth Jeffres

Copyright © 2021 Kenneth Jeffres

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-6624-5546-9 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-5548-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

1

Blaze walked into the conference room at the First Strike Force building. It was a normal room. Two-person tables lined the back, and there was a big wooden table in front that sat five people. A skinny young man in a black suit sat in the middle chair. His dark-brown hair was combed back, his brown eyes stared at a paper in his hand, and he had a goatee. Blaze walked up to the table and bowed. Good morning, Apollo, he said.

It’s been a morning, said Apollo as he put the paper down. I don’t know about the good part though.

Blaze let out a chuckle. He went to say something when he heard the door open behind him. He turned to see his partner coming into the room. Hawk was his code name. He was in black jeans with a plain red shirt on, he had short brown hair, he was clean-shaven, and his greens eyes looked worried. Sorry, I woke up late, said Hawk.

It’s okay, I just got here myself, said Blaze.

Hawk came over to the table and bowed. Apollo stared at him for a moment, then nodded. Moving on, then. I have a new case for you two. Go to Greenburg City in the south and investigate the disappearance of a lady named Lilly Trust.

Is there anything we should know?

The only information we got from the GCPD is, they think magic is involved and that Lilly was last seen with the governor’s son. He paused for a moment. When you get to Greenburg, talk to the officer working on this case, and go from there.

Blaze and Hawk bowed, then left.

2

The train barreled down the tracks; its destination was Greenburg Union Station. Blaze was sitting next to the window, looking at the rolling grasslands whiz by. He had brought a book with him for this long train ride, but his mind was focused on the case at hand. He had never been to Greenburg City before, so naturally, he was excited for this new adventure, and he gets to explore a new city. He turned to Hawk, who was sitting across from him. He had his laptop on the small table, and he was typing something. Next to the laptop was a little notepad with a pen. Blaze had seen Hawk write stuff on the notepad, then go back to the laptop. What are you doing? Blaze asked curiously.

I’m trying to get the hotel booked, he said, rubbing his chin.

Blaze opened his mouth but closed it when a stewardess in a blue train uniform walked up to the table. She had a red ascot around her neck and a blue hat on her head. Good morning, gentlemen, she started. I wanted to let you know that the train is going to be delayed by an hour. There was a storm that hit Falcon City just an hour ago and caused a tree to fall on the track that we need to connect to. So we’re going to be making an emergency stop at a station just outside of Falcon City.

Thank you for the heads up, said Blaze. She winked at him, and he stared at her as she walked away.

That’s perfect, he heard Hawk say. I can get this hotel booked before we get there.

Blaze turned back to the window and stared out it. A short while later, the train came to a stop. Blaze got up and said, I’m gonna step outside for some fresh air. He looked at Hawk, but he was too busy with the computer, so he left him. He walked into the next train car and saw a few people. Some were reading, some were talking, and others were on their phones or computers. He went into the next car and found the stewardess from earlier. Blaze approached and said, Excuse me.

She looked at him and said, Hello again. How can I help you?

So the train is going to be here for the next hour, right? She nodded. Okay, is there a bathroom on the train, or do I have to go into the station?

She smiled at him and said, The bathrooms are right this way. They came up to two silver doors at the end of the next train car that had a black sign on them that said Restrooms.

Thank you, said Blaze as he walked toward the door.

He was halfway into the restroom when he heard, You know, because of the situation, I technically I have an hour break.

He turned to her and eyed her up and down. He went to say something, but she pushed him into the restroom and closed the door behind her.

3

Ninety minutes later, the train started to move. Blaze had made his way back to his seat with two bottles of soda in one hand and a bag of food in the other. Hawk had put his computer away and was reading a book. It’s about time this train started moving, he said, looking up at Blaze.

Yeah, said Blaze, sitting down. He put the bag of food on the table and pulled out a foil-wrapped burger, then passed the bag to Hawk. He unwrapped the burger, then took a bite and asked, Any luck on the hotel?

Hawk closed the book and looked at the bag, then pulled out another foil-wrapped burger. I was able to get the hotel booked, but because of the delay, we won’t get there until seven in the evening.

How long do we have until the reservation expires?

Until midnight.

Oh, that’s plenty of time, said Blaze, taking another bite from the burger.

Hawk unwrapped the burger, then looked at it for a moment. Where’d you get this from?

Blaze looked up at Hawk, then looked at the plain bag, then shrugged. It was some burger joint inside the station.

Hawk looked at the burger once more, then took a bite. It’s not the greatest, but I’ll take it.

The rest of the train ride was quiet. A few hours later, the train pulled into Greenburg Union Station. It was a small station from the outside, but then again, they just pulled up to one platform. Blaze took a breath as he watched everybody get up and head for the doors. He turned to Hawk, who was putting his book back into his bookbag and getting ready to get up. Blaze reached under his seat and pulled his bookbag up. It was a plain black bookbag that only had his clothes and some other important stuff in it. He was always a light traveler. Hawk was the one who usually brought everything else and then some.

After a few minutes, the walkway finally cleared, and Blaze got up. He started for the doors when he saw the stewardess again. She was standing in front of the doors, saying goodbye to the passengers. He walked up to the doors and stared at the stewardess for a moment. Thank you for riding with us today, she said. We hope to see you again soon. She looked at Blaze and smiled.

Oh, no, said Blaze, thank you for the ride. He winked at her before he got pushed off the train by Hawk.

Sorry about that, said Hawk, he gets like that after long train rides.

She let out a hushed laugh and said, Have a good day, guys.

Thank you.

Hawk stepped off the train, and they headed down the heavily populated platform towards the stairs in the back. Above the platform was a long glass tunnel that probably led to other platforms or the exit. This was their first time being in this train station, so they had no idea where they were going or where the exit was. They just followed people where they were going.

They climbed the brick stairs and followed everyone going through the glass tunnel. Blaze looked out of the tunnel and saw the stewardess standing on the platform talking to the other stewardesses. God, she was amazing, he thought. He hoped that she would be on the train ride home—whenever that would be—so he could have her again. He turned back to the crowd, and they continued to walk hopefully to the exit. A short while later, they came into the main hub. It was a massive area that had brick columns scattered around the floor. There was a big clock at the top of one of the columns that reminded Blaze of the clock tower back in Kell City. Just like most tier ones, he hated Kell and that damn auction house. When he got promoted to tier two last year, he was so happy because he didn’t have to go to the auction house anymore. He remembered going out to celebrate his promotion and waking up the next morning in his bed with a naked girl on either side of him and nothing else. He still, to this day, didn’t know how much money he spent, but he’s not complaining that much since he got his happy ending even though he didn’t remember it.

Anyways, they moved to the exit and entered the city. It was a large city with many tall buildings, and Blaze heard a siren in the distance. Ah, it feels like we’re back home in Imperial City, said Blaze.

Yeah, but there would be more than one siren going off, said Hawk.

This is true. He looked at the large skyscraper in the distance. Dark clouds had formed above it, and it had created an ominous glow around it. How far is the hotel?

The only one that was available is on the other side of the city.

Okay, let’s get checked in, then go get some food and explore a little bit.

4

The taxi pulled up to a five-story, tall building that had a covered car port in front of the doors. Hawk paid the driver, and the two got out. They entered the empty lobby. There was a sitting area to the left just past the doors, which had some chairs and a little table in between the chairs. On the right was the big check-in desk that had a middle-aged lady standing behind the counter. She was wearing a black polo, her reddish-brown hair was tied up,