Mangled

by Zachary Prescott

  He had three problems now to deal; the Captain, the murders and whoever was messing with him.

  ***

  Wiping his face with the back of his hand and blaming himself someway for agreeing to go on the date, Jake walked across the street he had been standing on for the past thirty minutes. It wasn’t a usual habit to keep a lady waiting but he had decided to get there sooner, and wait an extra five minutes after Sarah arrived and took her seat.

  Sipping from her wine glass in her gorgeous and lovely looking red gown, she continued to stare at her watch until she saw him walk through the door. Donning his favorite tux and bearing an apologetic smile, he approached her table.

  “I am so sorry for showing up late”, he apologized immediately. “Something came up and I had to rush through it”.

  Bobbing her head and chuckling softly, she responded, “I was thinking I’d have to finish the bottle of wine myself”.

  Jake laughed and cleared his throat before ordering for a wine glass.

  “So, how are you dealing with the Captain’s death?” Jake asked.

  Taking in every emotion smitten on her face, he couldn’t help but wonder what affiliation she had with the Captain.

  Close to tear but fighting it back, Sarah answered. “It has been hard… seeing it splattered all over the television and across every newspaper I walk past since this morning has been draining”.

  The press had moved fast and almost as if they had been saving a special page on their news networks for the Captain’s death.

  “We have everyone working around the clock on this or at least around the clock after using the night to sort through their emotions”, Jake reached for her hand across the table in assuring words.

  Sarah slowly retracted her hand and ordered for the menu.

  “So, anything from the forensic team yet?” she asked Jake.

  Jake shook his head and sighed. “I hope to get something from them tomorrow but you know the turmoil surrounding this murder would only bring more pressure”.

  Sarah nodded and took another sip from her glass before picking up the menu the waiter had dropped minute earlier. Both sitting in silence, awkwardly and seemingly unsure on how to proceed, Jake wondered if it was a good idea agreeing on the date, considering all he had to lose and everything he had to hide.

  Knowing fully well the easiest way to get himself caught off guard would be to allow himself feel or groom any form of emotion or relationship with anyone, the front door to the restaurant began looking appealing. His face continued to drown in sweat and he tried hard to keep his demeanor calm but it just wasn’t working as he would want it to.

  “You don’t do this much do you?” Sarah spoke.

  Barely hearing what she had said, he adjusted his tie and allowed himself some breathing opportunity before looking in her direction and finding her staring blankly at him.

  “What?” he asked nervously.

  In a slight chuckle, she asked again. “You don’t do this often do you?”

  Laughing away her insinuation and groping his wine glass aggressively, he found no words to defend himself with. Yet, she continued to linger her gaze on him; almost as though she could or was trying to look into his soul. Her deep blue eyes and perfectly lined lips caught his attention, followed by the slowly growing smile across her face as the waiter brought her food over.

  “I ordered for us both if you don’t mind”, she muttered.

  Staring at the pasta with meat balls before him, he wondered if it was simply a coincidence or she indeed knew just to order his favorite meal. Having not taken notice before, Jake smiled softly upon realizing they were in an Italian restaurant. Seemingly silly not to have noticed it earlier, but with the flood of sweat hovering above his eye brows, he didn’t really pay attention to details about the restaurant but more on what he would do when he walked into it.

  “I go on lots of dates… lots and lots of dates”, he spoke out in hurry.

  Sarah simply nodded and stuck her fork into a meat ball before slowly leading it into her mouth.

  Jake found himself begin to overcompensate. “In fact, had you not reached out to me, I would have been on a date with a woman tonight… a pretty woman… someone really gorgeous”.

  Sarah burst out laughing immediately before reaching for his hand with her left. “I can only hope I’m not a disappointment in comparison to these gorgeous ladies you’d have gone out with”.

  Making a humor out of his overcompensation didn’t make him comfortable enough, but he nodded and shredded the feeling of discomfort down his throat with some well chewed meatballs. They would both send the next few minutes eating in silence with the occasional stare mostly from her than him but his lasted longer whenever he decided to have another look at her ruby colored lips.

  “Are you bothered by the Captain’s loss?” she asked without looking at him.

  He had not thought of it much but everything about the incidents definitely bothered him. “It is always a terrible thing to lose someone in the force and even more your boss”.

  It was how best he could describe what he thought and he hoped it wouldn’t come out as insensitive to the lady.

  She agreed with a simple nod. “First we have a female undercover cop killed and then the boss fucking her gets whacked”.

  Looking up at Sarah and wondering if she was well aware of her words, he lady simply continued with her meal and wiped her chin clean before resting into her chair without a look of worry in her eyes.

  “I’m not much of a drinker you know, but my life crazy and you wouldn’t even begin to belief half of it”, she drew closer and whispered.

  Perceiving just about enough stench of alcohol on her breath to know she had been drinking before showing up for their date, Jake nodded, took a look at his watch and shrugged.

  “I’m not much for alcohol either, but I’d indulge you tonight”, he smiled.

  Sarah lifted her wine glass to meet with his before taking a heavy sip from it. Jake sat there wondering about the little information she had insignificantly handed him through her intoxicated breath might help shed some light on the current conundrum he was faced with.

  “What was she doing undercover? Why didn’t the Captain tell me this? How long were they being involved for?” he asked himself inwardly while playing the part by downing more alcohol.

  Jake sat there wondering if the lady before him had more answers to a lot of question that he could imagine. It gave him reason to stick around some more and hopefully strike gold with her loose tongue if possible.

  “To an adventurous night”, Sarah cheered.

  Smiling her way and thinking to himself, he simply replied, “You have no idea”.

  Chapter Eight

  F

  eeling her soft lips threaten to melt in between his, he groped her by the back of her neck and drew her closer. Her warm breath breezing past his lips and nose intermittently sent tingles down his spine, while he felt himself harden in between his legs.

  “I missed you”, he heard himself muttering with his eyes closed.

  With a smile that warmed his heart and a soft peck on his cheek that left him hoping never to get that spot cleaned, he flipped her around dominantly and assumed his position atop of her while they locked each other in gaze and ran their fingers in each other’s hair. Hers, silky and smooth felt like a slice of heaven flowing through his fingers and he savored every moment of it dearly as though it might be his last.

  Chuckling and planting soft kisses on his arm, she brushed aside his overgrown hair and toyed with his beard some bit.

  “Why did you leave me?” he asked in a subtle tone bearing enough hurt in it.

  It was a question he had been aching to get an answer for and he wouldn’t want the opportunity passing him by.

  Closing her eyes and leaning closer so their lips could lock once again, she slowly slipped her pair out and headed for his right ear as she whispered, “Ask
Hammon”.

  Drawing away from her gently and with a slight frown growing on his face while his lips parted to ask, “What does Hammon have to do with this?”

  A rather loud and distorting noise came badgering through immediately from the distance. The grounds began to shudder in similitude to an earthquake about to happen, before cracks slowly grew from the north wall towards the ground and heading for their bedside immediately. Too stunned to move and in fear of aggravating the disturbing occurrence, the duo remained still and slowly began to move on the bed.

  Without notice, the bed broke in half, caved in and the walls began to crumble as the ceiling followed suit. Rolling on his side and to the section of the floor still standing, his heart began to race as copious amount of adrenalin came coursing through his veins immediately.

  “Susan!” he yelled. “Take my hand! Take my hand!”

  Susan stared back at him, clinging to the bed and hearing the earth beneath them both rumble as it threatened to give way some more. Her eyes shone brightly but bore the expression of fear mixed with a sense of betrayal.

  “You always leave me!” she cried. “You always end up leaving me!”

  Shaking his head, he hoped to dispute her claim and replied, “I would never leave you… you are my life and I will never leave you!”

  The ground between them tore further, setting them apart with the growing seconds.

  “Please Sean… Sean! Please!” Susan’s cry grew as the floor beneath her gave way completely.

  Pangs of uncontrollable guilt riddled his heart, while his eyes widened in fright as the floor finally collapsed and sent him sprawling to grab hold of her hand but to no avail.

  “No!” he cried aloud, ramming his fist into the ground upon which he sought shelter.

  Sitting up in his tiny bed and feeling beads of sweat running down his face and back, Sean looked at the walls surrounding him before casting his gaze to the ground too.

  “It was just a dream… it was just a fucking dream”, he reassured himself before yanking at the sheet he had snuggled underneath in bid to shelter himself from the cold.

  Wrapping the sheet over his head and reminiscing on how lifelike Susan’s face had been in his dream and still looking as beautiful as the last time he had seen her, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt ride his soul there and then. She had accused him of leaving her and as much as she had been the one to in fact walk out of his life, she was still right.

  “Maybe I could have chosen better”, he thought to himself underneath the sheet.

  Every assignment and decision taken over the years only made things worse for his relationship and he never gave it good thought until it was a little too late. Still drowning himself in guilt and wondering what he could have done different and whether his actions would have prevented Susan from coming to work where she had gotten killed, he heard a trip wire he had put in place at the front door get tripped.

  “Someone is in the house!” he thought and slowly moved the sheet off of his face to look around.

  Barely seeing a thing through the darkness as the wall clock rang and indicated it was midnight, Sean fondled around his bed for his handgun before taking off the safety and arming himself with a torch. Threading carefully through the darkness and heading towards the source of the noise coming from the kitchen area, he readied himself for any unexpected visitors.

  “I wouldn’t take another step if I were you”, he warned, pointing his gun at the back of the intruder’s head before reaching for the light switch just some feet away from him. The intruder remained still, gently lifting his hand high enough to be seen as obedient, and slowly tucked them behind his head.

  “Now, slowly turn around without giving me a reason to shoot you in the head right now”, Sean commanded.

  Turning around slowly and revealing himself to be his dear photographer from earlier, Sean’s eyes widened and his lower jaw dropped in astonishment.

  “Fuck me!” he groaned. “You again?”

  Still holding his hands where Sean could see them, the young man responded “Yes and this time around, I need your help”.

  Wearing a frown and looking around the room momentarily as though he expected the proceedings to be some form of joke, Sean snorted derisively and pinned his gun in perfect focus to his intruder’s head.

  “You must be out of your mind if you think I don’t want to shoot you right now and get this over with”, he threatened. “At least it will be payback for what you did to me earlier”.

  Acknowledging with a nod and an apologetic expression, the intruder spoke, “If you kill me then you might never come to know what happened to Susan… the Captain’s girlfriend”.

  Absolutely gob smacked and barely able to hold his breath as he waved his gun in the air violently and brought it down and back into focus against the intruder, Sean had no idea on what suitable response he could give the young man.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” he asked. “I mean, you climbing up the fire escape to get into my house is you asking for death but this statement brings your even closer to it than you can imagine”.

  Slowly putting his hands down and reaching for the inside of his jacket, Sean shook his head and warned him against it.

  “Are you sure you want to be making such moves considering I have a gun pointed at you right now?” he asked.

  Seemingly unperturbed and wearing an eerie smile, the young man responded, “You will want to see what I have”.

  Unsure of whether to trust him or not, Sean reluctantly agreed and permitted him the opportunity to take out whatever he had on the inside of his jacket. Staring at the green jacket and remaining cautious of whatever was coming out of there, he eyed the young man and held his gun in perfect shooting range.

  Gently taking out a brown bloodied file and holding it out for Sean to see, he explained, “This might just be what you need to nail whoever killed the Captain because I have the feeling they might have killed the police lady everyone’s been talking about on the news too”.

  Shocked and unable to keep his emotions in check, his widened eyes continue to widen and his nostril flare as he leaned closer and asked, “Luke is dead?”

  The intruder seemed perplexed but couldn’t make any snide remarks considering his current position.

  “It is all over the news and the internet… where have you been living these past days?” he sounded smug.

  Pacing around frantically and shaking his head, Sean muttered, ‘Luke cannot be dead… what the fuck is going on… Luke cannot be dead”.

  “I’m sorry but someone snuck into his home and killed him… they found his body mutilated in a bizarre way the following morning and it is why I came to see you”, the young man explained at length. “You have to believe me”.

  Sean figured he would get details on the information later in the day but firstly, he still had to deal with why the man before him had broken into his house. He obviously didn’t seem to be any form of threat but looks could be deceiving while he also pondered on what level of confidence the young man must have swirling inside of him to attempt what he had done.

  Still somewhat reluctant but thawed in cautiousness, Sean asked, “What’s your name?”

  “My real name is Alexander Reynolds”, he replied. “You can call me Alex”.

  Sean nodded, “Okay Alex… I can see blood all over that file but what exactly am I meant to be looking at?”

  Alex chuckled briefly and reached for the inside of the file before halting as Sean held up his gun once again. “Calm down… I came to help okay?”

  Sean motioned for him to slowly retrieve the items within the file and he did in obedience. Taking out pictured from within the file and heading to the kitchen table so he could lay them out in good spread, Alex shot Sean some quizzical glance before finally laying them all to rest. The pictures in total of ten were without doubt stunning to see and even more, disturbing to view without having a
heavy heart.

  “Where did you get these?” Sean asked without looking away from them.

  Alex held back in response for a while before finally speaking upon noting the angry look on Sean’s face. “The Captain paid me to follow Susan around for some weeks before she disappeared… he feared she might have been cheating on him with some dude but I never figured it out”.

  Silent and slowly perusing the content of the pictures, from those of Sarah walking in the park late at night to others of her walking into exotic night clubs and bars dressed in stunning and ridiculously revealing dresses.

  “At first I thought she was a hooker you know… seeing that’s how she would dress on her night outings”, Alex explained further. “He would ask me to make sure I follow her and get enough pictures but I needed to know what I was getting myself into and also some insurance”.

  Sean ran his finger along an image of Luke and Susan sharing a passionate kiss in his bedroom with the picture obviously taken while Alex stood outside their window.

  “I didn’t really count anything into it until I saw her picture on the television that she was found with those dead bodies in the swamp and that all the women were hookers except Susan who is a police officer”, Alex continued.

  Sean remained silent and continued to pour his thoughts into deciphering what exactly it was that he was staring at. His wife looked no different from the red district prostitutes in every picture taken asides the ones she was snuggled up to Luke in bed or where they were out dining. The images made his heart sink and his stomach churn in pain.

  Holding back his emotions as best as he could, he spoke without looking at Alex, “Why me?”

  Alex drew closer, having not heard the man’s question.

  “Why did you decide to show me this and not take it to the police instead?” he asked in better tenses.

  Taking in deep breaths and sighing out loud, Alex shrugged, “I was meant to hand over the images I took of you through your investigation into Susan’s death to the Captain but on getting to his house that night… “.

  Sean turned to him with bitter red eyes. His clenched fists indicated he was furious but still managing to maintain his emotions.