'Late One Night' Sneak Peek

A sneak peek from one of my short stories to be featured in 'Timor: Volume II'. Parts of this particular story were inspired by real events.

Day 1

            Satch looked out his front window to see three cars parked out in front of his house on the dark street.  Upon squinting for a closer examination, he could make out a capital ‘P’ and ‘K-9’ on the side of one vehicle - police cars.  He looked back inside across the room at his clock.  3:47 A.M.

            It was the sound of a dog barking nearby that had first roused Satch.  Sure, his neighborhood had dogs, but the sound had seemed to come from right out on his own lawn.  He had decided to ignore it, thinking that surely a neighbor’s dog had gotten loose, when he heard the murmur of voices.  He had gotten up, curious, and walked into his living room to look out the front window.

            Now, amidst the cars he could make out the silhouettes of three figures - two men and one woman from the look of it.  They were shining a flashlight at the house across the street, specifically at a flatbed trailer that housed two dormant jet skis near a shadowed crook in the wooden fence enclosing the spacious backyard.

            “There, I see it,” he heard the woman saying.  One of the men murmured a reply and the pair walked toward the fence and aquatic vehicles.

            Satch stepped away from the window for a brief moment to get a glass of water and when he returned, all three officers had vanished from sight.  He stood there a moment longer, and then the first two emerged from the shadowy crook of the fence, turning off the flashlight as they neared the parked cars.

            “I swear I saw it,” the woman was saying as the third officer appeared, walking along the same path not far behind.

            The three stood in a circle for a moment, exchanging a few words, then abruptly but calmly climbed into their cars, driving away one by one.  The street was quiet and still once more.

            Satch thought the occurrence was strange to say the least, but promptly returned to bed at 4:10 A.M.

 

            Satch’s alarm clock screeched, dragging him out of a peaceful slumber.  He slapped the snooze button.  He was exhausted, his eyelids heavy.  His muscles ached, his joints popping as he stretched.  7:30 A.M. came too early as it was, aside from late night disturbances.

            The alarm sounded again.  Had five minutes already passed?  Satch opened his eyes, sunlight leaking in through a gap in his drapes.  He turned off the alarm and sat up, groaning at his stiff back.  He threw off his sheets and swung his legs over the side of the bed, exhaling heavily before standing and waddling stiffly to the bathroom.

            He switched on the light, leaning on the counter.  A young man of twenty-seven, his ginger bangs spilled over his forehead and into his dark brown eyes.  The lower half of his face was dotted with the beginnings of orange stubble.  As he grabbed his electric razor, he could feel it in the air - something was amiss.  It could have been his imagination running rampant after the strange nightly occurrence, but he was sure of it - something had happened.

            He finished his shaving, patting his face dry with a towel and running a comb through his hair.  He walked into the living room and tapped his mouse to awaken his computer from its sleep mode.  And there it was, in his inbox, an update from the local news he was subscribed to.

            “Police Officer Found Brutally Murdered” the subject line read.  Satch clicked the link to read the full article:

            “Officer Linda Fullhurst was found dead in her police cruiser at approximately 5:10 this morning.  She had been stabbed four times in the chest and once in the neck - the latter appears to be the wound that proved fatal for Fullhurst.  Earlier in the wee hours of the morning, she and two other officers had responded to a call on Edwards Avenue.  They all were to return to the station, but after an hour, Fullhurst had yet to return and was not answering her radio.  After tracking the GPS on her cellular device, the two other officers - Patrick Davis and Richard Lakely - found Fullhurst’s car pulled over to the curb on Elm Drive with her dead body inside.

            “‘It almost looks as if she pulled over to talk to someone, potentially the killer.’  Officer Lakely told reporters.  When asked about the nature of their prior visit to Edwards Avenue, both officers said that the information concerning that dispatch was classified.”

            Satch thought that was an odd choice of words, but continued reading.

            “The murder weapon was not found and the killer is still at large.  Anyone with any information is requested to please come forward.”

            Satch closed the browser window.  He was now even more curious about the strange nightly visit of the three officers to his neighborhood.  

Author's Note

Parts of this particular story were inspired by real events.