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Adina Hale: 9/6/2023

"So what if I have training? we yolo it Ads, you should know that. I brought candy as well. The dog. You can't eat this one." I laugh in response to his ironic comment and let him and the dog in.

Max almost immediately looks up from his bed and flies over. His tongue panting in excitement while he and Candy dance.

The smile on Azza's face is priceless. His face then turns to face me, followed by "Are you ok?".

"Do I look that bad, I just woke up from a nap." I chuckle to myself.

"Nah, I think you're still waking up." My attention turns to face the dogs for a moment when I hear a growl from Candy. I then realise that Max has stolen poor Candy's toy.

"Max, drop it." He instantly listens and his eyes widen as if to say sorry.

"Do you wanna go get some ice cream from Maccy-D's?" I hear a peep from the other side of the room where Azza somehow managed to sneak off too.

"Um, yeah. Just give me a minute to finish off my email, and I'll be out in the car in no time. Do you wanna chuck the dogs in while I do this?" Azza just nods enthusiastically in return. Practically instantly calling the dogs to the front door.

Then all of a sudden my eyes scanned an email. Marked "IMPORTANT - ADINA HALE REPORT IMMEDIATELY. CONFIDENTIAL. Email will be removed from the database at 11:59.59 10/6/2023"

A look of curiosity turned into a scowl as I read further into the email. An investigation had begun, and I was now labelled head detective of it. The weight now piled on my shoulders, as the thought of how serious this might be. What happens if I stuff it up? What happens if I arrest the wrong people? What happens if I don't arrest anyone?

Then I slowly read the email out loud to myself; "IMPORTANT: Miss Adina Hale,
Victorian Police acknowledge you as a committed and bright young lady. Therefore, we inform you that the newest unsolved case is hereafter, yours to complete. The case is attached below, but you will have to use a lot more than your training to work out who is responsible for the repeat offence of stolen cars. We can say with confidence that all cars stolen in a Williamstown-Newport way in the past 48 hours are certainly linked. You will have all the resources needed to help complete this, so don't hesitate to ask. Formerly, Inspector Of Melbourne West Police, John Steller."

It's not very often that a case just gets handed to you. Usually, within the building, people will brawl over cases. But this one must be confidential. I'm not sure why they didn't wait for me to come in to tell me, but it must be important. I downloaded the document before shutting my laptop and locking up the house.

"You look flustered, are you sure you're ok?" I suddenly turned into a bull looking at a red flag.

"Oh my fucking god Az! Yes, I'm fucking okay. Now stop fucking asking me that." my top just flipped. I felt bad, but at the same time, I didn't. I don't know if I should spend my time getting in my head about feeling guilty, but all that was spinning around my head was the case.

I was assigned it all by myself. So surely, it shouldn't be too hard. It's just my first formal case, it's more my nerves speaking. I hope.

The remainder of the car expedition was spent in stillness, I stared out the window at the passing streetlights. Picking out the curb numbers going up, one by one.

"Hello, welcome to McDonald's. How may I help you today?"

Az looks at me, and I just nod my head yes, before he speaks after a short delay "Hey, can I please have two large chocolate hot fudge sundaes with 2 pumps of chocolate syrup in both,"

"Yeah, no problem. Your total will be $10.10. Drive through when you ready." He looks at me once before taking one hand to the wheel and cautiously turning into the first window.

Az pays for both, as we get handed our ice creams, I place them both in my lap and wait for him to drive toward Williamstown Beach.

It was a short drive that turned into a long one. The lack of conversation added to the length and the tension in the car hurt us both.

"C'mon Candy. C'mon Max." I Pat my leg as I watch both the dogs jump from the boot onto the dark concrete lit up by the moon.

The distant horizon sent chills down my spine. In a good way. Azza grabs both leashes as I hold onto the ice cream and shut the boot.

A spot vacant at the top of the beach surrounded by shrubs and sand catches our eyes. Our spot. We walk in silence and he unclips both of the dog's leashes allowing them to roam around the desolate shore.

"I'm sorry. I'm stressed, yet that's no excuse to treat you that way. My case hasn't even begun and I'm freaking out." my curtain of anger had now lifted and I had finally had the confidence to admit to my wrongs.

"It's ok, I deduced something had happened. Let's not trepidate on it, and let's just enjoy our ice cream." his blue eyes look from me to the beach where the dogs pounce around. The natural beauty of nature shines its way through the darkness.

I soak up every minute I have with Azza, as I know the footy season will only get more hectic from here. I love spending time with him, but it just feels like something's missing. As if I know he can only ever be a friend to me. He doesn't have the things I need in a boyfriend. Which, as rude as it sounds, makes me realise I want more than him. Azza is more like my brother than anything else, even if we joke around sometimes, we both know that at the end of the day. If we were the last people on earth, we wouldn't ever touch each other in that way. As selfish as that sounds. We would just end the earth's population right there.

Before we know it, it's 2 a.m., and the dogs sit beside us snoring. I look up at Az, and I nod. We get up to slowly awaken the dogs, before putting the leashes on them and grabbing our rubbish.

We make our way back to the car, but something looked different about the car. Although we were alone, we didn't feel alone. I looked straight to Az, who was already starting at me.

The front door of the car was open, and the centre console was flung open. The boot was also open and the car looked like it had been clawed.

"What the fuck."