The shadow of Silas

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Derick was sitting on the couch watching one of his favorite thriller/action detective movies when his phone rang.
It rang the first time but he didn't pick but he didn't pick it up, because he was engulfed in the movie he was watching.

Derick was a former detective. He was the best at his job but the last case he had made him lose his job and family.
For years, Derick struggled to leave the detective life behind, months after losing his job, and he still was trying to solve the mystery behind the case.
It was hard to change but he finally did. He opened a library in a small, peaceful, and quiet town he moved to and started a ne,w, quiet life there.

The phone rang for the third time, and Derick decided to check who it was; he hadn't received any calls with his new and boring life of books, so he wondered whom it was blowing up his phone.
He picked it up and it was a private number. Suddenly something in him stirred. It was the urge to once again return to his old life, the little mystery behind the unknown number was like an addiction trying to come back.
He put the phone on silent and turned down the phone. This addiction made his family leave him because they thought he loved his job more than them—his wife, teenage son, and daughter; he wasn't going to go down easily.

The next day, Derick was in his bookshop admiring the new batch of books he just received when the doorbell jingled.
It was a young, beautiful lady with her outstanding red silky hair; it was his former protege, a sharp young detective back then who looked up to Derick.
Immediately, Derick made the connection— for the first time in months, he received a call, and it was from a private number, and then Elen showed up—it had to be connected. Just then, Ellen walked up to Derick and greeted him.

"Hi," she said with a bright smile as she picked up a book from the pile.

"Elen what a pleasure, such a nice coincidence," he said. Derick could see through her smile; he could see every tiny detail of stress on her. Her eyes lacked sleep, and the wrinkles and paleness were never her normal feat. It reminded him of his condition during his last case.

"I need your help," Ellen said.
"Let's sit," Derick sighed, he saw it coming.

Ellen explained her predicament, how her brother Silas had gone missing a week ago, and the police wrote it off as a typical runaway case because it fitted his nature. But she found some evidence possibly tying Silas to a dangerous organization, the same one Derick investigated years ago.

"I am sorry I can't help you; I am done with that life," Derick said.

But Elen begged him reluctantly. Derick knew Elen looked up to him. So, against his better judgment, he agreed to help. He took it as him just doing her a favor.
Derick began going through the evidence from Elen and uncovered a link to a nightclub known to be a front for criminal happenings.
Derick dug deeper and realized this case wasn't just about Silas.
The nightclub ended up being connected to a drug smuggling operation—the same one that cost him his job and family and almost his sanity.

During the investigation, Ellen started to get very invested in her emotions, rushing to conclusions without thinking them through in haste to find her brother as soon as possible.
One night, after a close call during a confrontation with a suspected informant, Derick pulled her to a corner.

"You have to control your emotions and not the other way round," he said.

"You mean like the way they controlled you and ruined your life," Elen shot back.

Her words were hurtful but the truth hurts. He was so engulfed in his last case that he didn't realize he wasn't himself anymore. He swore never to go back, but still, he now felt that old fire burning within him.

Finally, the turning point came when they found Silas, or at least what remained of him. The crime scene was a brutal one in a shallow grave far outside the town. Elen broke down completely as she blamed herself.
This reminded Derick of why he walked away.

"It is not your fault," Derick said with a soft voice, comforting Elen.

Determined to get justice for Silas, Derick pushed forward. He pieced together all the clues revealing the mastermind behind everything—it was the same person he picked out years ago, but he had no evidence back then.
The final confrontation was intense and very brutal; Derick and Ellen confronted the criminal in an abandoned warehouse.
The case left them physically and emotionally scarred but it brought closure and justice for Silas.

When it was over Jack went back to his bookstore, more determined than ever to leave his detective days behind. Meanwhile, Ellen vowed to honor her brother’s memory by becoming a better detective. As Jack watched her leave his store for the last time, he felt great pride. He saw himself in her, but it was a stronger and better version of him.