“Next to nothing. He had no ID on him. Working class. We won’t know the exact cause of death until the ME does the autopsy, but so far it looks like the third murder like this.”
“So, it is a murder.”
“Yeah. For sure. Definitely not an accident or anything.” I added.
“You start the paperwork?” He almost sneered with the way his smile creeped in.
I shook my head and laughed without humor. He knew exactly what I was in for. I imagined it only gets worse the higher up you get, though.
“About to. Oh, we do have a witness,” I said as I stood up to leave.
“Really?” His brows rose up as he looked shocked. I was surprised by it too. “That fast?”
“Actually, they were the 911 caller. I’m bringing them in shortly.” I answered.
“Good. Maybe this will catch us a break, hopefully they saw more than someone in a navy hoodie.” He scoffed. I nodded in agreement and took my leaving.
Once I finished the damned paperwork and had a slight lunch, I called the witness in. I was surprised it was a woman, and was intrigued from the get-go with how sexy her voice sounded. I immediately dismissed that thought; there was no way I was lucky enough to catch that kind of break.
Chapter Five: Rose
I never thought I would be like the people I saw on television. I hated to think it, but I just felt so important since that 911 call. By the time I got home, the case was already on the news.
I was shocked, to say the least.
“Sit, boy.” Parker was being so rowdy, but I realized it was just because he was hungry.
I made him a good bowl of wet food, and sat in the living room with my own bowl of oatmeal.
Every channel was littered with news of the park murder. I hadn’t realized someone had died. I just assumed they were injured. And to realize I was there—that I was face to face with a murderer and in such a dangerous situation, it sent chills down my spine…and I almost felt sick to my stomach. I felt lucky, for one, to even get out of the situation.
The longer I had watched the news, the more worried I got. Everyone already had their own take on what was happening. One of the channels was even calling it a serial murder already; I couldn’t believe it. I always kept up with the news, so I knew exactly what they were talking about when they brought up two other murders in the area. Who would even target these types of men? I kept wondering to myself, and was nearly giving myself a headache.
I had to change the channel to some trash television, so I could relax before work. Parker came up for snuggles and I let his rumbling breathing calm me down. I hadn’t realized how bothered I really was by the whole situation. I wondered why I had to be the one to be in that situation, to find that man there. I was surprised they didn’t need more from me. I was watching my phone expecting a call up until when I got ready for work.
I took another hot shower to calm myself down enough to be focused for my day. I didn’t have the kind of job where my mind could be somewhere else. I got dressed in my scrubs and sneakers, and tied my hair back. It was odd being an apartment complex with a dog, because I couldn’t let him out while I was gone; but my neighbor across the hall was a nice old lady that didn’t mind checking on him.
She had a key to my place, and I always reminded her when I was leaving. Parker needed to be fed once while I was gone, and then put in his crate for the night until I got back.
“Honey, you look like you haven’t slept at all!” Martha looked at me with her motherly face and smiled. I just smiled back and shrugged.
“It’s been a long day,” I didn’t go into all the details of witnessing a murder and all.
“Oh, okay. Are you going in early?” she asked me.
Martha had very signature looks. Her hair had gray streaks and her wrinkles were more like makeup than signs of aging. She always had the most comfortable looking sweaters on, always in earth tones. It was dark blue that day and she had tights on too; needless to say she was pretty hip. She was also a retired nurse, so that had been the beginning of our unique friendship.
“Yeah, I have the afternoon shift instead of the usual.” I normally worked what we called the dead shift, which was at midnight and onward. I was lucky to just be doing the night shift this time, because I was still so worked up about earlier.
“I see. So, when should I put Parker up?” She leaned in her doorway. I shifted on my feet and tightened my bag around my shoulder.
“The usual is fine. He was pretty worn out today.” I smiled softly.
“Okay. No problem. You have fun at work, honey.” She tapped my shoulder softly and I smiled in appreciation.
She was pretty much the only person in my life that worried about me. Dad was gone, Mom was never really around like she should have been.
“Thanks.” I took the short walk to the subway, and even greeted some of the regulars. I couldn’t help but notice a change in my demeanor. Looking over my shoulder, looking at people twice. I was being paranoid. Any time I saw a dark hoodie, I thought it was that shooter. I still had a chill from it.