Broken Heart (Broken Heart #1) (8 page)

Cassandra got all of her information from the men on the job. I really didn’t know that men gossiped that way, and I was surprised with how much they knew about Dave’s personal business. 

According to Cassandra, Dave’s ex-wife, Sophie, was a New York City schoolteacher and a good woman. This was his fourth marriage. She divorced him after three years, and he never remarried

again after that. I have to say that would be pretty hard to swallow if I were his wife, too…no pun intended. No one ever mentioned Dave having any kids. But they did say he always told everyone

he never wanted any. I guess he never settled down long enough with one woman to make a family. I wonder why they were all married to him for such a short amount of time. 

She talked about how Dave was a very handsome older man. In my eyes, he was much older than me, late fifties, but you wouldn’t know by the energy he had. He reminded me of my father, tall,

stocky and piercing dark brown eyes. Dave had a way about him, though. He was a smooth talker. He made you feel comfortable yet fearful at the same time. Having issues with trusting men made

me skeptical about a man, a stranger, who wanted to help me so selflessly, but he made everyone feel at ease, including me, and somehow that made it a little easier to open up…just a little. 

He was the boss, and he made everyone fully mindful of his administrative presence. He was highly respected and everyone knew not to mess with him, but they all seemed to enjoy his company at the same time. It was weird. I can’t explain it. 

“It was nice talking to you. Maybe we could grab dinner some time.” She forced out another smile at me as she waited for my response.

“Absolutely, it gets a little lonely back here.” I nodded my head as she walked out of the office. For some reason, I wasn’t truly convinced about her intent. I didn’t really know her. I was cautious…I felt like I needed to be. I grabbed one of the files from the desk and started to look

through it.  I was hoping to use my forensics knowledge from Penn State somewhere at this job, and analyzing the files seemed like a good place to start, especially the cold cases. When Dave

walked in and saw me reading the files, I wasn’t sure how I was going to play it off. The files were confidential. There might have been a hidden camera in the office, so I closed the file and

continued to clean up. I looked forward to two in the morning when Nick was taking me home, and that was the highlight of my night.

CHAPTER 5

I only heard from Uncle Mike once after I moved to New York. He texted me and asked how I was doing and said he had finally moved. He didn’t ask for my address, and I just dialed his number

to call him, and it was out of service. So much for caring about what happens to me, that was short-lived. Now I could see I really had no one. No one to call my family, except my cousins in

Brodheadsville and that blew up in my face when I told Aunt Stephanie I was selling the house and moving to New York. 

School and work were overwhelming, and I couldn’t believe the amount of paper work in the precinct. It was ridiculous. Working with Dave was grueling because he was very demanding and didn’t leave much room for error. I know he expected a lot from me. Maybe he thought I was smart

and even though I didn’t like his moodiness, I really appreciated his friendship, and I began to feel safe and secure with him. This was the first time ever that I put my trust in any man, a stranger, no

less. My father ruined me for any other man, and even though I wasn’t interested in Dave that way, even as a friend, it was hard for me to trust him. 

As my boss, he was a little bit of a tyrant. While I worked all of those hours at night, I was usually alone. Dave was out of the office most of the time; he hardly ever called. He was the captain, and

I thought they wouldn’t have to be out of the building so much. So many times people called looking for him, and I had to make up one excuse after another as to where he was. You would

think no one called during those hours, but that phone rang until the sun came up. I guess I shouldn’t complain. It paid the bills, and it was my job to be his secretary, and that’s exactly what

I was. I needed the money. The life insurance money was dwindling little by little, and to top it off, I needed to see a therapist about my nightmares. They were out of control.

I walked into the office, perusing the room looking for Dave. Dave was missing in action again and had a pile of papers and folders stacked to the ceiling waiting for me to file. I’m surprised they didn’t topple over. I wasn’t in the mood to file a million papers tonight, so I decided to read through

the files. I opened the first file, taking a quick glance towards the door to make sure no one was around to witness my snooping. I sat and read the details, sliding over the lamp to get a better look.

Cold Case incident# 12-35768: Homicide-Margaret Blair

The first incident report was written by Officer Nicholas Riso, badge #79586 on 10/04/2007. 

Dispatch had received a 911 call, Time: 2017, Dispatch Officer Brian Johnson from Daniel Blair where previously police had intervened. The first incident report lists the previous dates where police had arrested Margaret Blair on grounds of domestic violence. 

Oct. 12, 2007 at approximately 1745pm, Margaret Blair stabbed several times, mostly in the head and neck. 911 report #26. Two neighbors gave similar information. Nobody actually witnessed the stabbing, heard screaming, called 911. 

Oct. 12, 2007 at 1800pm, Blair pronounced dead. Autopsy but no copy in file. Officer Steven Bell described autopsy in report #198 dated 10/12/07. 

My heart began to pound rapidly as I continued to read the contents of the file. Poor Margaret, stabbed in the head and neck not once, but several times. I wonder if she had any kids. I wonder if her husband killed her. The desk lamp gave me just enough light to read but not enough to light

up the room. I felt uneasy. To top it off, our office was so far down the corridor from the front desk, it would take me at least five minutes running at cheetah speed, to get the hell out of here. 

I’m assuming I have to file all of the cold cases tonight. Dave left them piled meticulously in alphabetical order reminding me to file them the way he left them. He’s so anal. I just don’t see

how I could do all of this tonight; there seems to be ten times more than there were the other night, how could that be possible? I filed Margaret Blair then sat at the desk and went over the next file.

Stabbed? Multiple times? Oh my God, what a nightmare, I thought to myself. I kept going through the files without filing them. I was intrigued by the gory details, and my curiosity could not be confined. I continued reading,

Angela Claudio, Single gunshot wound to the face. 

The contents of the files became more gruesome as I continued to read. I noticed some other files were mixed in the cold case files. A knock on the door startled me, causing me to jolt in my chair flinging the file up in the air and watching the papers free fall everywhere. 

“Hey, Jenesis!” Stevie shouted happily.

“Jesus Christ, Stevie! You scared the hell out of me!” I shrieked. 

“Holy Shit, woman! You look as white as a goddamn ghost!” he chuckled as he bent down to pick up the papers and the file from the floor, and then handed them to me. “What the fuck is wrong

with you?” he asked harshly staring at me with glossy covered light brown eyes. I could tell when Stevie had been drinking. He’s loud and obnoxious when he’s hitting the bottle. “Do you always

have to curse, Stevie?” I said as I grabbed the files from him. “Thank you…and…nothing’s wrong. I’m just really busy,” I snapped back at him.

“Slow your roll, woman. I just came by to give you some bags, but I see you really cleaned up this shit hole.” He crackled and snorted a laugh as he tossed Dave’s two-day-old cup of coffee from the windowsill into the trash.

He glared at me up and down as I stood sliding the papers inside the file.

“You gotta talk to your boss; he’s a goddamn pig!” He looked over his shoulder with his shiny eyes wide open, making sure no one was around to hear him.

“Will do…now…I have to work.” I tilted my head and motioned with my eyes towards the door, hoping he would get the hint to get out. I gave him a half gentle smirk and lowered my head to continue reading the files. 

I sustained a steady gaze on the file reading until I finished it and opened the next case. My eyes were worn-out, and I decided that this would be the last file I read. I began to read.

Cold Case Incident #: 12-47932 Homicide – Miriam H. Hunter 

On Sunday, September 17, 1991, at approximately 2143 hours, the Delaware County’s Sheriff Office in Pennsylvania, responded to the area of Delaware River in Marcus Hook near the banks. Deputies made contact with a Private Investigator, who reported that she had received information

from a confidential informant, who provided her with the location of bones, that he believed to be fully decomposed human bones. Upon conducting an inspection of the area, several bones, which

appeared to be of human origin, were discovered, with the xception of the skull. Attached to the bones were what appeared to be two pink socks, and a black, name brand sneaker was also

discovered over one of the socks. The Private Investigator advised investigators that she discovered the bones with the confidential informant on Saturday, 09-16-1991 at approximately

2330 hours. The Private Investigator stated that she and the confidential informant then left the area.

The identity of the skeletal remains was later determined to be that of, one;

Miriam H. Hunter, White, Female, 31 YOA, DOB: 11-21-1963

Who was reported as missing in August 1990, a case which was being investigated by the Delaware County Police Department. A subsequent examination by the Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be a homicide. 

The Detectives followed all of the leads that developed for several years. However, there appeared to be no conclusions reached as to a prime suspect in Hunter’s death.

It should be noted to this date Hunter’s skull has never been recovered.

That was it. The shooting, the stabbing, the raping. Now beheading. It was just too much. Not to mention this poor woman had the same birthdate as mine. Why didn’t I listen to Dave when he

told me not to read the files? The cases were in order all the way to the letter y. Jesus, all of these women and men dead and no one knows who killed them? I started to file them knowing that the

clock was ticking, and I made the attempt to file them as quickly as I could. Dave would have daggers for me if I didn’t at least file some of them. 

I was exhausted, and I only filed to the letter J. Dave’s going to have a hissy fit. I’m sure he doesn’t think I’m reading the files one by one. I’ll just give him some cockamamie excuse as to why I

didn’t finish. It was 1:45 A.M., and Dave strolled in with his eyes pinned on the file cabinet, a file in his hand, his hair disheveled, and his boots muddy.

“Hey, you’re done filing?” he said abruptly as he walked in and sat in his chair not giving me any eye contact. He turned on the radio to his favorite

80’s station…I think it was 106.7. Really? 80’s music…it’s like reliving my childhood again.

“Hi…you okay? Is it raining outside?” I tilted my head to the side trying to read his face.

“Um… no, not exactly…and…do I look like the fucking weatherman to you?” he snapped. “You had more than enough time to do your job, Jen. I don’t ask for much you know.” Really? I glanced over at him and met his eyes for a moment. I looked away quickly to avoid eye contact and not to

mention the fact that his anger towards me was resonating quickly over his face. He was PISSED. “I really need these filed by Friday. I hope by then they’ll be complete. The city is coming in, and

I don’t want to be audited.” I knew he was serious, and I didn’t want to stay a minute longer in his presence. He stared at me for a moment and then shook his head in disgust.

I was internally wounded and decided to grab my purse and head for the door.

“I’ll finish it tomorrow. Promise.” The words were pushed through my lips as I turned around for a moment to look at him once more. “Dave, you’re bleeding! What happened? Where were you?”

I noticed blood on his hand, and I rushed over to his aid, even though I felt like a child who had just been scolded by her father. 

“I’m fine, Jenesis. Don’t fret over me. I cut myself on that goddamn cabinet in the front office grabbing a file. Someone should really throw it out already!” He reached for a paper towel and wrapped his hand then picked up the phone on his desk. “Yeah, Nick, it’s Dave. Take Jenesis

home. She’s walking up the corridor now,” he said as he pushed the files on his desk to the side and motioned with his hand for me to move along.

I walked out the door practically holding my breath because I didn’t want to burst into tears. Dave said nothing to me, and he was bleeding. He was hurt. My heart stung a little. I felt rejected, and I

immediately developed a lump in my throat that I knew I couldn’t swallow. I met Nick at the front of the precinct, and he then proceeded to drive me home. The ride was awkwardly silent until Nick

said, “Jenesis, you look really pretty tonight.” I could feel his eyes gazing at me from the back of my head as I stared out of the window, trying to swallow the lump that was choking me.

I turned my head to meet his handsome, flirtatious blue eyes that twinkled at me as his lips pressed together into a devious smile. I wished he would stop the car, grab me, and kiss me…hard…really hard. 

“Thank you,” I whispered softly as the lump subsided miraculously from my throat.

“I’d like to take you out but…” his voice trembled nervously and his insatiable grin turned into a tight line.

“But?” I batted my eyelashes at him hoping the next words that rolled off of his tongue were “but I can’t wait…to kiss you.”

“Dave said not to mix business with pleasure and to steer clear of you.” He glanced over at me quickly then returned his eyes on the road.

“Oh, he did? Did he say why you should steer clear of me?” I shook my head not understanding why the hell Dave would say anything to Nick.

I’ve never told Dave I was interested in him. I don’t remember asking Dave’s permission to date anyone either. 

At that moment, I was turned off by Nick’s lack of balls. I know Dave is his boss, but he let Dave boss him around in his personal life, too, and I was done.

“Not really,” he said, embarrassed.

“Thanks for the ride, Nick...and…thanks for the invite, but I think Dave is right.” As much as I wanted to go out with him, I wasn’t going to. I took a deep breath and gave him a peck on the

cheek. He stopped and stared at me lowering his eyes to my lips. We stared at each other for a moment, while his disenchanted blue eyes stood gleaming at me. I looked away.

“I’m sorry, Nick.” I lowered my head and got out of the car. I walked towards the building as he sat in the car waving at me. I waved back as he drove off down the street. I waited for him to turn

the corner so I could cross the street and walk over to my apartment building. I walked up the stairs and rummaged through my purse to get my keys. I wish I didn’t have to think so hard about dating

anyone. Maybe Dave was right…mixing business with pleasure always equals disaster, but it was a lonely road…and I was getting tired of being alone.