Officer Jace went to the diner hoping to eat his lunch in peace. However, things took a shocking turn when a little boy approached him and whispered something in his ear. Jace immediately called for backup.
It had been a hectic day for Officer Jace. The harsh sun had beaten him, and he had to chase down multiple criminals, which had drained him of the little strength he had. So, when he dragged his tired body into the diner during his lunch break, it was a huge sigh of relief.
As he waited for his meal, Jace looked around the diner. He was a regular face; he always had his lunch break there. Many of the patrons recognized him and waved at him. He waved back with a smile. He knew just about everyone present at the diner. However, as his weary eyes traveled around the diner, he realized that there were two people he couldn’t recognize: a little boy and his father.
The boy was sitting on the chair, his little legs sticking out over the edge. Jace immediately noticed that the boy looked tired and bored. His father sat beside him, but the man was busy on a call, threatening thunder and brimstone to whoever was on the other end. The boy looked to be no older than four years old, but Jace could swear his father’s loud call was making him embarrassed. Soon, his meal arrived, and he began to eat. With every morsel he put into his mouth, he realized just how famished he was. For the minutes that followed, he focused on little else.
However, he noticed not long after that the little boy had gotten up from his seat and was watching him with the unashamed curiosity of a child. Jace paused what he was doing and studied the boy. At first, when their eyes met, the boy looked away, but a few seconds later, his eyes returned to the police officer. Jace glanced over at the father, who was still busy on his phone call.
If anything, he was getting angrier by the minute. The boy then cautiously approached Jace, his tiny little eyes on the police officer, and he was approaching him one step at a time. It was as if he was scared of Jace in some way.
Jace didn’t like that, and he wanted to reassure the kid, so he smiled warmly, hoping it would get the little boy to relax. He was wrong. The moment Jace smiled, the kid panicked and hurriedly returned to where his father was seated. Jace only chuckled, wondering what the kid had heard about cops that made him so scared of them. However, he felt that none of that was his immediate business, and so he focused on finishing his meal.
When he was done eating, he realized that the little boy was watching him again. However, this time there was something different about his gaze, something more profound in his eyes. Jace could sense that there was something wrong. The feeling was way too strong, and he knew that he couldn’t just ignore it. After a few minutes, the little boy got down from his seat and began to approach Jace again.
His father was still clutching his phone to his face, leaning against the wall as he continued his angry tirade. The man had totally ignored the little boy for the entirety of Jace’s stay. Jace said nothing as the boy stepped up to him. Remembering how it had gone last time, Jace opted not to make any sudden move. He could see that the kid wanted to talk to him, but he was either too shy or too scared. Jace didn’t want to do anything that would make him run off again.
The little boy looked uncertainly at Jace, then back at his father, sucking in a deep breath as if drawing courage from deep inside himself. He covered the remaining distance to the police officer. Soon, he was so close that Jace could touch him and even smell hamburger on his breath.
The little boy leaned in and whispered something to him. Jace turned pale. He knew that something had to be done at once; he needed to think fast. He asked the little boy’s name, and he said that he was Billy. Jace nodded in appreciation and asked him to sit on the chair beside him. He promised Billy that he was going to save his mother and wouldn’t let his father take him anywhere.
While Billy’s father was still making angry calls on the phone, Jace pulled out his radio and immediately called for backup. He gave a short rundown of the situation and told them that he needed them ASAP. He assumed that the man was armed. Moreover, there were other patrons at the diner, so the last thing Jace wanted was for the entire thing to escalate and for innocent civilians to get hurt. He was willing to hold on for backup to arrive before he made any move.
However, nothing could have prepared Jace for what happened next. A few minutes after Jace dropped the radio, Billy’s father finally dropped his phone. He had an irritated look on his face, twisting his neck from left to right to get the creaks out. He then turned and realized that Billy was no longer beside him. At once, his eyes widened as he surged to his feet, looking around.
He froze the moment he saw Billy sitting beside the cop, who was watching him shrewdly. Jace noticed panic fill the man’s eyes despite his efforts to hide it. Taking a deep breath, the man walked slowly towards Jace and told his son it was time for them to go. Billy started to stand up, but Jace held him back, determined not to let the boy return to the man until he had investigated his claims. Thinking quickly, Jace told the man, “Billy told me he’s hungry.
You forgot to order something for him. You can’t leave just like that.” His voice was firm, and his grip on Billy was unwavering. The man looked furious and told Jace to mind his own business. He demanded that his son be released at once so that they could resume their journey, but Jace refused. Instead, he asked for a means of identification.
With a grunt of frustration, the man pulled out an ID card. Jace saw that his name was Alfred and noted that he was a lawyer. At that moment, Jace felt a pang of concern that he might be taking things too far. After all, a lawyer like Alfred would know better than to break the law and could even press charges against Jace, potentially costing him his job.
What if he was wrong about the whole situation? What if this was a cruel scheme by someone else using the innocent boy as a pawn? He briefly considered letting Billy return to his father. However, one look at the boy’s terrified face changed his mind instantly. Berating himself for even considering it, Jace reminded himself that Alfred being a lawyer didn’t mean he couldn’t commit a crime. Moreover, Billy had come to him voluntarily with a complaint, giving Jace legal grounds to investigate. He knew he had to see it through.
Jace handed the ID card back to Alfred and firmly stated that Billy would have some lunch before anything else. It then dawned on Alfred that he was not going to have his son back right away. Fury contorted Alfred’s features as he looked around the diner in panic and terror. This reaction only strengthened Jace’s conviction that something suspicious was happening. Given that Alfred was a lawyer, Jace expected him to counter with his legal rights and argue that Jace had no reason to hold Billy.
Instead, Alfred’s response seemed increasingly suspicious. With one more frantic look of horror around him, Alfred turned around and ran towards the diner’s exit. However, he ran right into a backup team of police officers who immediately seized him. Alfred resisted arrest. He fought them hard with everything he had. It took three officers to eventually pin him down so that his wrists could be cuffed behind him. Then he was dragged up to his feet and taken to a squad car.
“I will make each of you pay! You’re going to regret this, losers!” he swore as he was led away. He promised that he would come back for Billy and no one would be able to stop him. Jace told the other officers to take Alfred to the station for processing. Then he turned to Billy and asked him where his mother was. The little boy, panicking, replied that she was still at home and that she was seriously hurt. Jace knew that time was of the essence, and if she was bleeding already, then she could have lost a lot of blood. Jace asked Billy if he knew his home address. The boy didn’t, but he could describe a toy store near his house so Jace could figure out the neighborhood.
Jace immediately escorted Billy to his patrol vehicle while Alfred was taken to the station. Jace and Billy headed in the opposite direction. The 4-year-old energetically pointed at the store when they saw it and gave directions to Jace on where to go to his house from there.
It was only a short drive away. Eventually, they arrived at a small house at the end of the street. Jace instructed Billy to stay in the car, which he locked, and then swiftly drew his firearm and held it ready as he briskly approached the house. The door swung open with ease, a clear sign Alfred hadn’t secured it upon leaving. Bursting into the living room, Jace immediately spotted Billy’s mom lying on the floor. The carpet was stained red.
“Help,” the woman weakly managed to get out before closing her pale, teary eyes. Jace quickly pulled out his radio. He urgently called for an ambulance and provided the address. Once finished, he knelt beside the woman and began administering first aid, working to staunch the bleeding. The ambulance arrived quickly, and by then, Jace had managed to slow the bleeding. The medics rushed her to the hospital, fighting to
stabilize her condition during the journey. At the hospital, doctors quickly took over her care.
Throughout this ordeal, Billy was crying uncontrollably, terrified of losing his mother. Jace comforted him, assuring him that the doctors were doing everything possible to save his mom. While she was in the emergency room, he and Billy waited outside. Once the little boy had calmed down, the cop felt it was the right time to ask him a few questions. Speaking softly and with care, he gently questioned Billy, mindful not to overwhelm him after such a traumatic experience.
Billy revealed that it was Alfred, his father, who had hurt his mother. He recounted seeing his father attack her, explaining how terrified he had been. Billy also mentioned that his parents were divorced and that Alfred had come to take him away. When his mother resisted, Alfred hurt her. Jace knew there was more to the story but chose not to press further. He was confident that the other details would emerge in time.
Jace was at the hospital for a few hours, making sure that Billy was okay and his mother was in a stable condition. Thankfully, no major organ had been damaged. She had only lost a lot of blood, which was being replaced. Later on, she regained consciousness, and the first person she asked to see was her son. She was so happy when Jace brought him around for her. She hugged him tightly and apologized for everything he had gone through. Hours later, while Billy was asleep beside her, Jace interviewed her. Her story turned out to be a painful and horrifying one.
She introduced herself as Jasmine and told him that, like every other newlywed, she had looked forward to living the rest of her life with her loving husband. However, things had taken a drastic turn in a way she could have never expected. Alfred’s career took a significant upturn shortly after Billy was born. He was promoted to partner in his law firm, which brought along numerous perks.
Now he earned more, but he also began to stay out late more often. He was always going on trips, and many times he stayed away from home for days and weeks at a time. It was so painful for Jasmine because she became lonely without him. What made it all worse was that when he returned from his trips, he wouldn’t share private moments with her.
He would lock himself all day in the study. When she tried to strike up a conversation with him, he would tell her in an irritated voice that she was intruding on his privacy and disturbing him. Jasmine struggled to comprehend her husband’s devastating actions. She couldn’t fathom how he had transformed from a loving and caring husband into a heartless stranger with each passing day.
When she finally unraveled the reason, she was beyond broken. One day, Alfred left for work as usual. However, about an hour later, Jasmine realized that he had forgotten his briefcase. The bag held all his important documents, and she knew just how important it was for his job. She decided to take it to him because she was sure that he was already looking for it. She tried to call him to inform him of her coming, but her call went straight to voicemail.
So, she picked up the briefcase and went to his firm. However, she got the shock of her life when she got there and couldn’t find him. His office was empty, and even his secretary was nowhere to be found. She cornered the woman cleaning the office, but the woman refused to speak.
Not until Jasmine bribed her with some money did she reveal that Alfred was actually on leave. She said that he had not been to work for over a week. This came as a huge shock to Jasmine because Alfred had never told her that he was on leave. He had been waking up every day and going to work, deceiving and lying to her. It was too fishy. She promised then to get to the bottom of the matter.
She hired a private investigator to track down Alfred and find out what he was doing. The investigation took a month, and when the PI returned, he came with lots of pictures and video evidence of Alfred cheating on her with his secretary. She saw photos of them having fun at luxurious restaurants and five-star hotels. They even went on exotic cruises in the Bahamas. These were all things that he had never done with her. When Alfred returned home that night, she threw the photos at him in anger. He tried to gaslight her by making her think it was all her fault that he was cheating. However, she didn’t fall for it. She told him that she was done with him and she was divorcing him.
“Divorce? You can’t divorce me. You’re not leaving me. I won’t allow you to,” he yelled. Jasmine told him that he couldn’t stop her or change her mind. She was leaving the marriage with their son. He then got angry and struck her. That was the first time he would ever hit her, and she made sure there wouldn’t be another. She ran away with Billy to stay with her sister. While she was there, she filed for divorce. Alfred fought the divorce using every loophole in the legal system so that he could get custody of Billy.
He couldn’t force her to stay with him, but he knew that if he had custody of Billy, she would have no choice but to remain married to him. He also knew that if she left him, he would have no one else to rely on. He was even willing to stoop as low as painting her evil and making her look like an unfit mother just so he could secure a win.
It was a messy divorce, but she prevailed. She had a mountain of evidence against him, and after more than a year of legal battle, she was finally free from Alfred. He didn’t take kindly to it, though, and he began to threaten and stalk her. He told her that no court could tell him when it was over; only he could decide that. Frightened, she returned to court and filed a restraining order against him. The court granted it, and Alfred was ordered to stay away from her and Billy. This only enraged him further. Barely a month later, Alfred broke into Jasmine’s house and attacked her.
“You think you can take my son away from me? Are you crazy? You think I’ll let you steal Billy from me?” he screamed as he struck her. He didn’t even mind that Billy was there. The little boy ran to his mom and hugged her.
“Dad, stop hurting Mom! Stop it!” he cried as he tried to shield her from his dad’s wrath.
“I’m going to find you another mommy,” Alfred thundered. Then he grabbed Billy and ran out of the house. Jasmine, badly hurt, could only watch helplessly as Alfred took her boy away.
Jasmine’s story touched Jace deeply, and he promised to help her get the justice she deserved. When he was done interviewing Jasmine, he left the hospital and returned to the police station, where Alfred was still kept. He immediately had him transferred to the interrogation room for questioning. Alfred held out for a while, claiming that he was innocent.
However, when he heard that Jasmine had survived his attack and was recovering at the hospital, he realized that it was all over for him. He confessed to everything, and his story tallied with what Jasmine had said as well. However, he added that he had his escape all planned out. He was planning to take Billy to another country where they could begin life anew in a place where absolutely no one knew them. However, his getaway car didn’t arrive.
They were supposed to meet up at the diner, but the person never showed up. It was the man he kept calling at the diner. The driver claimed that he had been delayed in traffic, which was what made Alfred so angry. That anger distracted him from keeping a closer watch on Billy, and eventually, everything was exposed. It was a painful story, and Jace promised himself that he would do everything he could to make sure that Alfred got the maximum sentence for what he did to Jasmine and Billy. He was certain that the lawyer was going away for a very long time.
When Jace returned to the hospital, Jasmine was considerably better. She had been told that her son had been instrumental in rescuing her. He had been brave enough to seek help from the cop, even though Alfred had been right beside him. Jasmine hugged her boy so tightly and thanked him. She apologized to him that he was ever in that position. From now on, she would protect him, not the other way around. Jace was glad with the way things went. Billy and Jasmine were fine, and he was sure they would recover fully as long as they had each other.
The day Alfred was sentenced to prison, both Jace and Jasmine were in attendance. They watched as he was led away from the dock by the officers, and when he was taken into the vehicle that would take him back to prison, he wept. It was a deserving end to the monster that he was.
