Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (5 page)

In the future, she hoped to make buying trips to countries like India, Hong Kong, and Brazil; but for now, she contacted dealers directly and ordered items she liked. But only one of each, never offering bulk, mass-produced items.

Her parents had loaned her the money at a zero percent interest rate, believing in her and encouraging her to follow her dreams.

It had been a slow Tuesday, as Tuesdays invariably were, she had found.

“She bought a small necklace set. Then asked me if I had any pottery from Greece. When I enthusiastically took her to the Greek display area, she shook her head and told me that she collected particular pottery."
“Get this; she collects replicas of ancient pottery, which depicts sexual acts,” Serena whispered as she stepped outside, looking around to make sure no on could overhear her.

Her brother hooted with laughter.

“Two other customers left in a hurry without making a purchase. Do you think they feared I carried erotic memorabilia?” Serena continued, as she proceeded to lock up.

He laughed harder than before, and Serena found herself chuckling at the warm and infectious sound of his laughter.

“Ms. Shaw.” Serena whirled around as a vaguely familiar voice called out.

Special Agent Glennon was leaning against a tan colored Suburban. Serena hadn’t seen her or spoken to her for weeks now.

“Serena?” her brother’s voice sounded in her ear.

“I’ve got to go. I’ve got another call coming in, talk to you tomorrow”, she said hurriedly into the phone.

“Sure, love you,” he said.

“Love you too,” Serena said, and hung up, then walked towards Special Agent Glennon, taking her zero prescription eyeglasses off as she approached her.

xxxx

Special Agent Glennon was dressed in black slacks and a royal blue long-sleeve shirt over which this time she wore a tan leather holster.

She must have one in every color.

Her belly was still flat, and she looked as annoyingly fit as before. Serena, on the other hand, still needed to lose ten pounds. She thought she could easily learn to hate Special Agent Glennon.

“Hello,” Serena said and stopped in front of her, meeting her eyes.

“I hate telling her this.” “She’s going to feel guilty, but there’s nothing she could’ve done.” “Who wouldn’t be scared hearing about the Mafia in Detroit.” “I love her shoes.”

“How are you, Serena?”

Serena shrugged, resisting the urge to look down at her shoes. She also didn’t ask pointless questions like “how did you find me?” She subscribed to the theory that Big Brother, aka the Government, was always watching and obviously they would know where to find Serena, especially with the active social media footprint she had.

“What brings you here, Special Agent Glennon?”

“Two days ago, we found Sofia’s body. She had been strangled.”

So the body discovered had been Sofia’s, Serena rocked back on her heels and closed her eyes, clutching the back of her head as a sharp, shooting pain stabbed at the base of it.
 

“Are you ok, Serena?”

Serena heard Special Agent Glennon’s voice, as if it were coming from a distance, and raised her head, blinking to bring the world back in focus.
“I saw on television, and I had a feeling it was Sofia…. who had been found.” She stumbled, unwilling to use the word “body”.

“I’ll spare her the gory details; she doesn’t need to know about the burn marks and bruises on Sofia’s body.”

Serena swallowed, her eyes filling with tears for a girl she barely knew, wondering if Sofia would still be alive if she had called 911 from the lounge while waiting for the men to leave.

But what could she have said?

Her mind played a potential conversation she would have had with a 911 operator that night.

911 Operator: 911 Operator.

Serena: Hello, two scary men entered an elevator in my apartment & got off on my floor.

911 Operator: “Ok. Are you in danger?”

Serena: I don’t think so.

911 Operator: Uh, ok. Are they around you somewhere?

Serena: No, I don’t know where they went. I’m hiding in a lounge downstairs.

911: So you are in a lounge, and you don’t know where they are, and you aren’t in any danger, is that correct?

Serena: I uhh yes..…..(stammering) then looks at her phone as she heard the sound of a dial tone.

“Serena, you look pale, are you alright?”

“Did you find the men?” Serena asked instead of responding to Special Agent Glennon.

“The two men you saw that night? No, they’ve disappeared. The sketches identified them as members of an Albanian organized crime organization, which dominates the criminal activities in the Metro Detroit area. I’m not at liberty to say more.”

I could get all the details I want, just by looking at you.
Then Serena dropped her head, feeling ashamed at her arrogance. Of course Special Agent Glennon couldn’t share details of a crime with her, a civilian, even if she was the civilian who had witnessed the crime, sort of.

So those experts on television had been on to something when they had mentioned organized crime operating in the D.

“But why did they visit her earlier, then leave, and come back at night?” Serena asked the question that had haunted her.
“We can’t know for sure but my partner thinks they were looking for her when they had gone to her apartment earlier that evening. When they hadn’t found her, they had departed, then had come back again at night, and taken her.”

Serena nodded, thinking that that made sense.
 

“What about her family? Did you find them?”

“Yes, we confirmed her identity with her fingerprints during the autopsy. Her real name is Sofia Bardha. We think she or someone changed it to Kristi, probably to Americanize her. Interpol, which is an international agency,…..”

“I know what Interpol is,” Serena told her.

“Yes, ok, so Interpol had a file on her. She disappeared from a train station in Albania, ten years ago when she was only twelve years old. Her mom told us that she had gone to the restroom, alone, and hadn’t come back out. Although the rest of her family and friends had believed she was dead, her mom had not given up hope. She was inconsolable when she heard Sofia had been alive all these years, and now dead.”

Serena looked at her, and she continued, “Her younger sister arrived from Albania last night, she is waiting for the body; we expect the autopsy to be completed next week”.

“Why hasn’t Nick called yet?” “I won’t tell her that the autopsy results showed signs of torture too.”

“What else”? Serena said, letting her gaze wander, pausing on the Escalade idling at the curb, its tinted windows preventing a view of the occupants.

“What do you mean?”

“Stop giving me bits and pieces. Tell me everything; I’m not going to faint.” Her voice sounded harsh even to her.

She felt Special Agent Glennon staring but didn’t glance at her, not wanting to hear any more of her thoughts.

“Sofia is the second girl to have been murdered in the past three months. Another victim had been found in a dumpster a few weeks before Sofia’s death, but it was near midtown, behind Motor City Brewing. We haven’t been able to identify her yet, however…” Her voice trailed off.

Serena was familiar with the microbrewery she mentioned; her ex-boyfriend had been a big fan of their beer, and an even greater fan of the bimbos who hung out there.

“Both girls had a six-digit-numbered-tattoo on their necks.”

Serena’s eyes flew to her face.

But this time, Special Agent Glennon wasn’t looking at her. Serena watched her stiffen and followed her gaze to the Escalade idling at the curb, her eyes narrowed, her body language showing an alertness that had been missing earlier, while her right hand inched slowly towards her holster.

“Are they here for you or me?”

Special Agent Glennon looked back at Serena in surprise.

“Well, I noticed them too, but thought nothing of it; parking is always a problem around here so many people let their cars idle while they run in to buy something and rush back out. But you noticed the vehicle, and had an entirely different reaction”, Serena explained.

Special Agent Glennon’s look was admiring. “You have good instincts,” she complimented Serena, and then added, “But you should get in my SUV.”

“Who are they?” “So they are here for me obviously, no one knows about Serena.”

“Are they seriously following me, an Agent with the FBI?” “Sam and I will kick their butts.”

Serena agreed inwardly, thinking if the guys were following Special Agent Glennon, they were in for some serious ass kicking.  She got in the passenger seat of Special Agent Glennon’s vehicle. A moment later, she was joined by Special Agent Glennon who turned on the engine while keeping her glance focused on the Escalade.

Special Agent Glennon picked up her radio and spoke calmly.

“11-99, I’m at a parking lot just south of Main Street on Eleven Mile Road.”

10 seconds went by before the radio squawked a reply back.

“10-29, Raina is en route.”

“I told them an officer needs backup, that was the 11-99 call, and a 10-29 means message received, and that someone was on route. Raina is my partner’s name.”

Special Agent Glennon explained to Serena.

Cool. Now when her mom says, “Are you listening Serena?” she could say “10-29”.

“I want you to get down between the seat and the dash, and keep your head down, Serena.”

“Ok,” Serena replied and crouched low between the seat and the dashboard, trying not to think about the germs and grime on the car floor.

Serena’s phone buzzed with a text from her brother asking if everything was ok. She knew he’d be suspicious with her abrupt goodbye. Hound dog instincts ran in the family!

She texted him back, “Almost home, all is well, lol”.

And of course, he texted back with, “stop texting and driving.”

“Can’t win; not with him nor with my mom,” Serena muttered to herself.

Just then, she heard the faint sound of sirens, getting louder as they came racing closer.  The cavalry was seconds away.

Serena raised her head slightly, and peered outside, curious to see what the Escalade was doing. Special Agent Glennon admonished her in a gentle voice, “Serena, keep your head down, come on.”

But Serena wasn’t too worried now and she continued peering, when suddenly the Escalade revved up, hit the car in front of it, then reversed, and leaped off the curb to speed away such that it prevented any view of its license plate.

Ten seconds later, a bright yellow older model Corvette pulled into the parking lot.  Special Agent Glennon got out. Serena too got out just as the Corvette screeched to a halt in front of them. She watched as three squad cars followed, their blue and white lights flashing, and sirens blaring; tires screeched, doors opened and closed, and what looked like a dozen uniforms spilled out. Serena watched the beehive of activity unfolding; thanking God for sending the good guys so promptly.

McHOT

Serena’s jaw dropped nearly to the pavement. She had turned her attention back to the Corvette as a man emerged from it, and began walking towards them. He was the most perfect male specimen God had ever created and quite simply the most handsome man Serena had ever seen. She sighed, watching him, her heart filled with something she couldn’t identify.
He is hotter than a habanero pepper.