“Are you doing alright? You’ve been off lately,” Mary asked, as she handed John a cup of coffee.

“I’m fine and thanks for the coffee,” John said already walking away.

“You know, John, if you ever need to talk to me, you can. We’re partners at work, but we’re friends too,” Mary said.

John paused and said, “Yeah, I know. Just some stuff… I’ll tell you later. Alright? I have to go now.”

Mary shrugged her shoulders as John walked away. He used to be on top of all their cases, but lately, he had been almost unconcerned with solving cases. She couldn’t really help him if he didn’t want help, but they had been friends for so long, so she knew something was different about him. She trusted John, so she just sighed and slumped back into her chair, attempting to tackle the mountain of paperwork that had piled up. This was her least favorite part of the job.

Mary stretched her arms over her head and looked outside. It was already dark out and most people had left the station already. She finally finished all the paperwork. All she had to do was take some of the files to the storage room and then she could go home. She turned the knob to the storage room and found it was unlocked. She rolled her eyes. They had just hired some new people, and they were working in the storage room. She had to give them a stern talking to about leaving the door unlocked.

She walked inside the dimly lit room. “John?” She called out in surprise, seeing a familiar figure. She heard no answer.

“Is that you, John? I thought you already went home,” Mary tried asking again.

“Yeah,” John mumbled.

“What are you doing here?” Mary asked.

“Um, just checking some stuff,” he replied.

“John,” Mary said in a stern voice, “Don’t lie to me. What are you doing here?” She stepped forward.

“Don’t come any closer!” John warned.

“What…” Mary began to say. “What are you doing with all these files? They’re classified!”

“Mary, please. Why did you have to come here?” John asked, his voice trembling. “Why couldn’t you have just stayed out of this.”

“John, I don’t understand. Talk to me, please. Just tell me what’s wrong. You know I won’t judge you,” Mary said calmly.

“You won’t understand Mary. You won’t,” John said, his voice getting shakier. Mary tried to take another step forward. “Stop!” John yelled, his shaky hand reaching for something.

“John, don’t!” Mary yelled, seeing the gun.

“I-I won’t hesitate to get rid of you, if I have to,” John mumbled.

Mary gulped nervously, beads of sweat starting to run down her face. “John, just tell me what’s wrong. This doesn’t make sense. You’re not this type of person,” she said, trying to remain calm.

“Do you even know me Mary?” John asked in fury. “You know nothing about me.”

“I thought I did. We’re friends,” Mary said, her warm, honey-brown eyes showing genuineness. “Just tell me what you’re doing with all those classified files.”

John bit his lip, turning away from Mary. “You just don’t understand Mary. Don’t you see how corrupted this whole station is?”

“I know that John. That’s why we were going to fix this station together,” Mary said, a light smile on her face.

“Really, Mary!” John retorted, a fanatical look on his face. “It’s stupid to think that we can change this rotten place. The corruption runs so deep, it’s beyond fixing.” He picked up the files in one hand. “See these. The best we can do is ruin this place. It’s past the point of saving.” He chuckled. “You know what Mary?” His hands began waving around as he was talking, gun still in his other hand. “This place. This place is the reason why my parents died.” His eyes were rimmed red. “I bet you didn’t know that,” he said. “And these files, I’ve been spreading them. The officers that were missing. I did that. They’re dead. I killed them. All the strange things happening here are my doing. The criminal you’re looking for? It’s me.” Are you happy now Mary?” John practically yelled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Mary began to say.

“You’re sorry?” John sneered. “You probably think I’m the bad guy. You’re a goody two shoes who will probably turn me in the second I let my guard down!” John yelled, clenching his hands, not thinking about what he was holding. His eyes widened and he froze as he heard a loud pop noise. He came back to his senses, suddenly feeling the cold piece of metal in his hand. He dropped it as he ran over to Mary.

He dropped to his knees, holding Mary. “No, No, No. I didn’t mean to do that. I was never going to hurt you,” John muttered as salty drops of water fell from his eyes.

Mary took deep breaths with difficulty. “I know, John. I know you’re not that type of person,” Mary said, struggling to get the words out.

“Please, stop Mary. Don’t speak. You’ll exhaust yourself. I’ll get you help,” John said.

“No, l-let me speak,” Mary said, putting her hand gently on John’s arm. She knew she wouldn’t get help in time. “Y-You should k-know that I t-trust you. I-I never would have b-blamed you.”

“Mary, stop,” John pleaded.

Mary gave John a weak smile and said with difficulty, “I-I would have been on y-your side. We could of h-have been p-partners in crime. L-Like Bonnie and C-Clyde.”

She let out a weak chuckle, her eyes growing heavier. “You o-ought to turn t-this place around. Y-You owe this to me.”

“Mary!” John called out sobbing, his hands shaking.

Mary couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. As she let them close and she let out a final whisper, “P-Promise me. Okay?”