Chapter 6

Chapter 6

           

            Scott Merkley looked at the lifeless body lying in front of him. The dead man was on his back, his lifeless eyes forever staring at the ceiling of the shower room, his right leg bent behind him with his left leg out in front of him at a ninety degree angle. There was a .38 caliber revolver loosely gripped in his right hand and a 4 inch hole on the left side of his head. There was hardly any blood or brain matter in the room. The most they could figure out is that the shower had washed most of it down the drain so the cops that arrived on scene turned the shower off to save any evidence left. Jake had been also been seen that morning at the local grocery store. According to witnesses at the store, Jake had rung a cop by the name of Evans bell fairly well. Jake dented the top of Evans cruiser with Evans’ head.

  Scott was the lead detective that’s tracking down Jake Mercado to put him back behind bars. Earlier this morning Scott was at the local gravel quarry where the body of a dead woman was found half buried under some gravel with a gunshot wound in her side, which was most likely the cause of her death. Either Mercado was on a war path or there were a lot of coincidences, and Scott didn’t believe in coincidences.

Scott was an average looking guy and a handsome one at that, or so he believed. He wasn’t conceded, just every time he went to the bar he’d have at least four or five rather attractive women come up and start flirting with him. Jake was about five feet, eleven inches tall and around one hundred fifty-two pounds. Not bad for a guy whose 35. He had dirty blond hair that he kept long on the top and short on the sides with the front waved back. Though now he didn’t much care what he looked like.

The dead man’s clothes were drenched, but Scott could make out blood stains on his clothes.

“Hey, Jones.” Scott called out to one of the CSI technicians over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving the dead man.

 “Yeah?” Jones called back. Clark Jones was trying to lift fingerprints off of the door handle. Clark was one of those guys whose teenage youth was spent into the Goth music scene. His hair was still long and dyed black and was parted down the center. He was still just a kid. Fresh out of college and at 23 he still had his whole life ahead of him.

“Hey John Doe over here has blood stains on his clothes that aren’t consistent with the Cause of Death. Wanna come over here and get a sample of it? We can get it off to the lab and processed before the coroner ever could. ”

“Yeah I would love to. Just a sec.” Clark called back.

Scott looked at the dead man a second longer then turned and walked out of the room. He walked down the hallway towards the main garage where the CSI van was parked and one of the techs was examining the tire marks on the concrete floor. Scott sighed. It was 12:26 and he was starving, ready for a foot long sub from his favorite sandwich shop Gordo’s Sub and Pub.

It was a small hole-in-the-wall place but Gordo made sandwiches fit for a man. He knew that extra meat and cheese is needed on every sandwich, and he didn’t charge extra for it. While the thought of a hot pastrami melt was on his mind, Scott’s pocket started ringing. He pulled his phone from his pocket and answered, “Merkley.”

“Hey, Detective, this is Officer Dan Penske. How ya’ doin’?”

Scott hesitated for a second glancing at the door to the room in which the dead man laid. “Well, as good as I could be I guess. What’s up?”

“Well,” Officer Penske said, “we just came across a truck, registered to a one Jake Mercado.”

“Where are you?” Scott asked in earnest as he pulled his pen and note book from inside his coat jacket.

“Between mile markers 130 and 131 on highway 126. And detective?”

“Yes?”

“We have another body.”

 

Scott arrived on scene to the parked truck and found Officer Penske leaning against his cruiser across the street from the truck waiting for him.

“You beat the CSI’s to the scene, so I guess that means you get first looks before they show up.” Officer Penske said to Scott.

Scott smiled at him weakly then said, “Who’s the vic?”

“Don’t know yet. I didn’t want to touch anything until CSI showed up. It does look though, and I’m no expert, that he wasn’t driving this truck. He was in another vehicle.” He pointed to the dirt behind the truck and Scott went over to look at it. Officer Penske followed. Scott noticed in the dirt another set of tire marks which had pulled up and then sped off. Scott walked over to the dead man and at the sight of his bludgeoned skull mumbled under his breath, “Jesus.”

“I know.” Officer Penske said, over hearing Scott. “Beat with that crow bar.” Officer Penske pointed to a crowbar that was lying next to the man.

Scott glanced at the crowbar then back at the man, then saying the only thing he could think of to say, “Well, I guess we know the cause of death.”

 

***

 

Emily hoped he would pick up. She had been calling Evan since that strange man was at the house. But again she got his voicemail.

“Hey, baby. I just want to…just want to talk to you. Please call me back.” Emily said. And after what seemed like a long pause added, “I love you. Please call me back soon.” She pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it for a second before she ended the call. As she set the phone back on the receiver she heard a loud thump come from the play room where Michael was.

“Michael?” she called out to him, but there was no response. “Michael!” She called again, this time in more desperation. As she ran to the play room the only thing that raced through her head was the man that was staring in on them, and her son alone in the play room and all of the sick, twisted horrible things that the Man could do to her sweet little boy.

As she raced into the room she noticed Michael was nowhere to be seen. Emily saw that the window was wide open. Her heart started pounding in her chest at the thought of someone taking her son, but then she heard a small, muffled giggle coming from the closet. It had slatted doors, and she sighed in relief as she opened them. As she did Michael popped out growling with his hands posed like claws. “Raaaaaaah!” he exclaimed. Emily laughed and acted like she was scared.

“Haha mommy, I scared you, didn’t I?”

“Yes you did baby!” She picked him up and held him close to her. She felt his arm wrap around her and then one little arm extend towards the door way.

“Mommy, who is that?” Michael asked.

“Who’s who?” she asked smiling as she turned around, thinking he was using his imagination. As she looked in the door way she yelled out of fright and then set Michael in the closet and closed the doors. As she turned around she pressed her back to the doors and screamed in desperation at the man advancing briskly towards her, “What do you want from us!”

Blackness.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A strong chapter. The finding of the body then the strange meeting in the house. I like the pace of the story. You give enough to keep the reader involve in the story. A very good ending to a outstanding chapter.
Coyote