Authors: Jesse Abundis
“ Karen, wake up!” Peewee shouted in her face, his breath alone did the trick to awake her from the bloodthirsty nightmare.
“ What time is it?” She squinted her eyes as the sun blasted on her face, she could already feel the heat building up, it was going to be another of those days. “ How did you get in?” She remembered closing the door before she poured herself into the bottle, sleep was alluding her each night, she needed something to numb the thoughts.
He dangled a pair of her keys, the exact same ones that laid on her nightstand. “ I made backups to yours and Jamie long ago, “ He cleared his throat. “ Just in case of an emergency, of course.” And to raid their fridge, bathroom supplies when he could never make it to the store, is what he left out. “ Let’s just drop the key thing,” Already he was feeling the pressure of accusations, without a single word being thrown his way. “ Let's talk about, Vicky Smart.”
Karen buried her face to the pillow, wanting another drink as the nightmare still lingered. “ Who the fuck is that,” She mumble from under the pillow. “ And why should I care?
“ Because, she’s the dear friend of Cindy Hall, it took me all day to track down this girl. I convinced her to talk to us today, she’s the closest thing Cindy had to a family, I figure it’s the best shot in hell we have right now seeing how nothing new has turned up so far.”
Karen slowly rose half of her face from on top of the pillow. “ You were working without me?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice,” He scratched his eyebrow. “ Last I saw you, you took off running like a nut into the streets, wasn’t sure if you were all there.” He paused then asked. “ Are you all there?” He looked around the floor, a bottle of tequila and half empty vodka bottle laid near her bedside.
“ Yes, I am.” She said, knowing that was far from the truth.
“ Ok.” He took her word for it. “ Put on some underwear at least,” He pointed to her exposed body. The heat of the night became to much too bare with clothes on, half the residents were walking bare assed too. “ And let’s head out.”
She shook the cobwebs from her head and pulled herself out of bed. She wanted to bring out that spunky side of her, the one that was ready for anything, but it just felt forced. “ I’ll meet you out there .” She waved Peewee to head out to the car.
“ Dude, you ok.” Peewee could see the beaten look in her face, it reminded him of the one he saw when Jamie left.
“ Yeah, I’m good. Just go out to the car, I’ll be there.” He didn’t argue, he patted his friend on the shoulder before leaving.
Once Karen heard the door slam shut behind him, she let herself crumble. “ This can’t be happening, not now.” She pressed her hands into her eye sockets trying to keep everything in place, but it wasn’t helping, everything was getting worst by the day, she could only heave Scott’s warning, “
You can only pray you survive the outcome.
” She grab the half empty bottle on the floor and drank it whole before she walked out back in the streets.
Chapter 40
Season Of The Witch
The moment Joey King laid eyes upon her, the hot cup of coffee that he heavenly drank in sweet bliss almost slipped through his fingers and came close of scorching his crotch. “ Holy shit, it’s really her.” He leaned back in his seat, crouching down as far as he could, but with his height and frame it wasn’t aiding his attempted to remain camouflaged.
“ Call them.” He repeated to himself, trying to snap his brain out of the daze, he dug into his pocket frantically to retrieve his phone, he already had his client on speed dial for this moment, but in the mist of all the revelation he couldn’t remember what button to push. He just couldn't believe what he had done, he found someone that the world had lost track of, this was a triumph.
It took him nearly thirty seconds just to send out the call and half a second for his client to pick up. “ I found her.” He whispered into the phone, as his eyes followed the woman. “ It’s her, in the fucking flesh, she’s a bit older, but it’s her.” His client went silent. “ This is what you paid me for, don’t get cold feet on me.” His client mumbled something he wasn’t able to catch. “ She’s getting into a mustang with some weird looking guy, I’m going to follow them.” He smiled as the car took off. “ I’m not about to lose them.” He started his own car, following two car lengths behind them. “ This is just beautiful.” He said as he trailed behind them, smiling the whole way.
Chapter 41
Just Like Old Times
The hanging Christmas lights, the boring country music, the dead crowd in the bar, Karen remembered this little hideout very well. She and Jamie use to come here when they wanted to get away from everything, they would sit at end of the table, talk, flirt, hold hands and even share a kiss once they had one too many. “ We used to sit over there.” Karen said, as Peewee spoke to Vicky Smart, Cindy's dearest friend. They both paused and looked at her as she drank down her fifth shot of whiskey, pointing to the back room, barely able to hold her balance on the bar stool. “ Good times.”
“ Is she going to be alright?” Vicky asked.
Peewee was trying his best to carry along, but as this point Karen was starting to become more of a burden than help. “ She’s just had a bad day, so, tell us about Cindy.” He took the glass away from Karen, who snickered at him for doing so. “ Please continue.”
Vicky Smart worked in the Desert Island bar, outside of Coney Island, a small little dump that was home to many sad drunken souls. Vicky was the only female bartender, she wasn’t the best looking, but her double D's bust size and her petite little body kept all the lonely men coming back each night, with some decent tips. “ Cindy, didn’t have a lot of family,” She laughed and corrected herself. “ I mean, she had none at all.”
“ No family?” Peewee took out his notebook. “ She never mentioned any brothers or sisters?”
Vicky brought out a bottle of scotch and poured herself a drink. “ Detective, Cindy was a girl running from her past.” Karen perked her ears and drew her attention back to the conversation. “ Her rape case, was darker than led to believe.”
“ How so?” Peewee slumped forward in his chair.
“ The asshole who raped her was a friend of her father’s,” She held the glass of scotch in the air and drank it down, she let the alcohol run it’s course before saying another word. “ Her father, tied her down, let his friend Martin have his fun with her first, they took turns doing what they wanted, her mother knew what they were doing, but never stopped them, just ignored it. Cindy told a teacher about it, cops were called in, But, In the end they made her admit she made up the whole thing.” She poured herself another shot.
“ Why did she tell you?” Karen asked, taking the bottle away from Vicky to pour herself another. “ Give me back my glass.” She leaned over grabbing her shot glass away from Peewee, preparing herself for another warm shot. Peewee couldn’t believe he was the sane rational one today.
“ I was the closest thing,” Vicky pushed away the shot as she saw Karen gulp down another stiff drink. “ she had to a friend. One night we're just sitting outside having a smoke, and she just poured her soul to me.” Vicky said.
“When was this?” Peewee asked.
“ A few days before she went missing.” Vicky sighed
“ Who did she meet?” Karen slammed her fist on the counter, frightening the poor drunks in the back.
“ What are you talking about?” Vicky stammered with her words.
“ She let such a weight like that drop, she didn’t do it because you two were buddies, no, it was something else.” Karen pointed her tipsy finger at Vicky. “ Come clean, already.”
Vicky took a deep breath before speaking. “ She didn’t tell me about any guy or girl, all she told me was that someone took the pain away, that’s all she told me, I swear. I thought she meant it in a spiritual sense.”
“ Someone took away the pain?” Peewee chewed on those words.
“ Then a few days later I hear the same guy that did that to her winds up dead.” Vicky shivered. “ He was a bad guy, but I couldn’t stop thinking what if Cindy had a hand in it. The last thing I wanted, was to let the cops to know about what she told me.”
“ You reported her missing? ” Peewee asked
“ I did, but then she left a voicemail stating that she was leaving and never wanted to come back.” She shook her head, refusing to believe that call. “ I know she was brainwashed, she just didn‘t sound herself.”
“ The call is what ended any further investigation?” Vicky nodded her head to Peewee's question. “ Did she ever mention being with someone else?”
“ The month leading to her disappearance, she would sneak away in the middle of the night.”
“ Is there anything of hers you might have?” Peewee crossed his fingers.
“ I do, but I don’t think it’ll be much help.” She gestured them to wait, as she went to the back room. A few minutes later she came out with an old worn out notebook. “ This was Cindy journal.” She handed them to them. “ But it’s written in a different language.”
“ You never bothered to decipher it?” Karen chuckled.
“ Frankly, detective, it did cross my mind. But apart of me wonders if there’s something in those pages I don’t want to know about Cindy. I want to remember her as is.” She sighed once more. “ Look, I have to get back to work, I got a lot of things to do.”
Peewee nodded his head and tossed a few bucks on the counter to pay for Karen's drinks. “ You’ve been a huge help, we won’t be a bother.” He helped Karen off the stool and walked out of the bar. “ Karen, what the fuck is going on?” He said to her as they headed to the car.
“ Nothing, I’m fine.” She struggled to get her feet under her. “ So, you got your book, too bad you can’t read it.”
“ I can.” Karen snickered at him. “ I know French.” He grunted his words as her weight shifted on to him.
“ How that hell is that possible? “ She asked
“ When you want to read anime porn, you’ll learn a different language.” He smiled, helping her into the passenger seat. Once inside they were able to speak freely. “ Karen, what the fuck is going on with you?”
“ What do you mean?” She closed her eyes, trying to drift to sleep.
“ You were getting all nostalgic on me in there, after all the years I’ve never seen you this way.” He could tell his words meant nothing right now, as she was drifting to sleep from her drunken binge. “ Fuck me, I’m taking you home, buddy. I gotta ride solo tonight.”
Chapter 42
Death Of A Disco Dancer
It was like walking into a nightmare for Vice Detective Rita Vazquez, in her years in the force she’d seen bodies displayed in all twisted manners, but she never thought it would ever come hitting so close to home. “ Don't let it be, please don't let it be.” She caught herself muttering.
The lights and flares tossed around the area illuminated the headless body that was strapped to a swing, out in the middle of a park for all to see, sitting so gracefully in the night. Deep inside her soul Rita could feel herself running from this place as fast as she could, anything to hide this image from her head.
“ We keep asking, but everyone swears they didn’t see nothing.” Spoke officer Sgt. James Roth a fellow comrade of hers. “ We found this pinned to the body.” He handed the letter to her, but she paid no attention, her eyes focused on something far away from this scene. “ Is it her?” He asked.
“ I don’t know.“ Rita took the note from his hand to silence his voice, she moved under the yellow tape, shoving aside the forensics team that was combing through the dirt and grass for clues.
“ We still need to collect evidence.” One of the forensics seemed annoyed as Rita walked over the crime scene, but the mad dog stare from Roth was enough to shut him up.
Rita knelt down on the sand, let her eyes stare at the tattoo on the side of the dead females hip that read ,
amour, paix, harmonie , “ love, peace, harmony.”
She held her down and began to cry, never in her life did she feel such a pain as today.
Chapter 43
Come as you are
It was a hectic eighteen hours for Klecko, he spent his first hours burning the photos into ashes, making sure they could never be pasted together. The head was a tricky task, he just couldn’t leave it for someone to find, so he took a nice midnight drive near the Brooklyn bridge to expose with the item, watching it wash away slowly into the murky water, letting the salt and sewage do what it pleased with it. Once his affairs were in order, he decide to relax comfortably for awhile, let his blackmailer ease at the back of his mind, to allow some rest and relaxation with his mistress, after all a man had needs.