Tiger Woods appeared to be staring at Carter from the Wheaties box. Carter picked up the Wheaties box and moved it closer to his bowl to admire the professional golfer. He and Travis were supposed to go golfing today and Travis would show up at his door step any minute.
Carter shoved spoonfuls of Wheaties into his mouth as fast as he could. He didn't much care for the taste but he had to eat fast before the cereal would become soggy. In fact he hated Wheaties but he was a health nut and coerced himself to eat them.
The doorbell finally rang and Carter knew it had to be Travis. He scurried through his apartment to answer the door. To his dismay a big bald burly African American dressed up as the mailman stood on his porch with the sunlight bouncing off his glossy head. The man looked like a character from the movie Matrix with a deadpan look on his face. The mailman had a name tag half peeling off his uniform which read " Tez". The light blue collared shirt and dark blue Dickies pants clung to his body so tight he wondered how Tez could breathe.
"I've got a package for you." Said the man from the Matrix movie. He handed the 16" by 16" package to Carter who almost dropped it after receiving it.
"This is heavy." Carter said with mirth in his voice to lift the big man's spirits. When Carter looked up from the package the mailman disappeared without a trace. Carter peered around the corner but the man had vanished like a ghost. Carter wondered what was in the heavy package. Maybe a bowling ball from the chick at the health club he was dating. Travis would probably show up any minute but he figured he had time to open the package. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a pointy pair of scissors and cut into the package. Carefully he pulled back the flaps of the cardboard box and placed his hands in the box.
A pungent odor emanated from the box and he quickly covered his nose. When he peered into the box he felt Wheaties burn through his throat and exit out of his mouth. Inside the box was Travis' severed head covered in blood. Carter dropped the box on the floor and tottered backwards while holding his chest and gasping for air. A huge white flash engulfed the room and then everything went black.
BEEP!*BEEP!*BEEP!*BEEP!* Went Carter's annoying alarm clock. Carter sat up in his bed breathing heavily and sweating. He hadn't had a bad nightmare like that since his mother died in a terrible car accident 2 years ago. Carter pounded the alarm clock with his fist and the beeps ceased immediately. The alarm clock showed that it was 6 AM. In two hours he would be meeting his new partner. Today was going to be a big day for him. The kidnapper would be calling for the ransom and probably opt to do the drop off at night time.
Carter stepped into the shower and used a huge handful of shampoo to wash his curly dirty blond hair. He always washed his head first and then worked his way down. After 10 minutes of a piping hot shower Carter turned the shower temperature down as cold as it would go. He often did this on days that he really needed to be awake.
He got dressed and made his way out into the kitchen. He pulled out a box of Wheaties from the Lazy Suzan then quickly put the cereal back after seeing Tiger Woods' million dollar smile. The nightmare had spooked him and he was feeling dejavu. Instead he grabbed a box of cherry pop-tarts and popped them in the toaster. He looked at his watch. It was 6:50 AM and he knew he better get going if he wanted to stop off at Starbucks on his way to work.
*****************************
Max Trowell sat hunched over at his cluttered desk massaging his temple while compartmentalizing everything that had happened since the kidnapping in his mind. Today was going to be their only shot at catching this ruthless kidnapper in which they had few clues to go on. There was a rat-tat-tat at the door and Max looked up at the clock which read 7:45 AM. Carter never came to work early but since his screw up at the cabin in the woods he had a lot of butt kissing to do.
"Come in." Said Max putting down a picture of the aftermath of Vincent's booby trap in the woods. Carter humbly approached his boss while taking delicate sips of his double shot espresso. Max stared at the Starbucks cup in Carter's hand and then looked at his own cheesy cup of coffee on his desk from the vending machine.
"So where's my Starbucks?" Asked Max. His green vein throbbed prominently from his forehead already.
"Oh I'm sorry boss, I didn't know you wanted one. Next time I promise I won't forget." Carter seemed to be dressed a little neater than usual. His jet black double breasted suit looked like it had just been purchased and there wasn't a single wrinkle in his navy blue tie.
"Today is the big day. Are you ready for this?" Asked Max chucking his 50 cent cold coffee into the waste bin.
"Oh absolutely I'm ready." Replied Carter like a football player talking to his coach.
Max clapped his hands together and stood up from his desk." Good, let's go meet your new partner."
Carter followed his boss down the corridor and into the elevator like a lost puppy. Max pushed the button for the 3rd floor, one of the very few places Carter had ever been. They departed from the elevator and entered a room full of cubicles. Pretty secretaries were scurrying about with stacks of papers in their hands and phones were ringing. Max quickly peered into each cubicle as they made their way to the back of the room. A foxy brunette in a red dress winked at Carter as she walked past him. Max stopped dead in his tracks and Carter nearly tripped over his boss.
"This is it." Said Max extending his arm to signal Carter to enter the cube. Carter cautiously peered around the corner like a child seeing his long lost mother for the very first time. Max cleared his throat and the agent looked up from his neatly organized desk.
"Paul, I want you to meet Special Agent Chris Carter. He's working the Tina Anderson kidnapping case." Said Max. Carter reached over the desk to shake his hand. Paul dropped his pen on top of his sudoku puzzle and shook Carter's hand. Paul's hand was icy cold and his handshake was weak like a woman's.
"How do you do? Paul Newman. I just go by Paul."
Carter surveyed the inside of his cubicle with furtiveness. There were no pictures of wife or kids but rather unique poetry surrounded with cherubim hanging from the cubicle walls. Next to his computer was a completely solved Rubik's cube. Paul was a little shorter than Travis and a lot more feeble looking. His dark black hair looked like it had recently been cut and neatly combed to the side. Carter wondered if Paul ever had to shave because his face was so smooth like a baby's face. There wasn't even the slightest trace of stubble on his face. Paul was in fact 32 years old but he looked only 17. Carter's throat tightened up when he saw the sponge Bob sticker on the bottom of the computer screen. What a dork he thought to himself.
"So what's the first order of business?" Asked Paul. Max started to walk away.
Carter said," Well...." He paused staring at the sponge Bob sticker," I guess we need to pay the ex-city councilman Patrick Adamson a visit."
Paul spritzed some hand sanitizer on his girly hands and rubbed his hands together revealing perfectly manicured finger nails. Two thoughts bounced around in Carter's mind. Homosexual or metrosexual? He was definitely hoping the latter. Paul pulled out several sanitary napkins from underneath his desk and placed them in his pocket.
" Okay I'm ready to go." Said Paul trying to analyze Carter's dumbfounded look.