The Beach House

by Chloe Young

  After getting no response from one neighboring beach house which appeared to be vacant, he decided to try the other side. He expected to get no response here either as it looked uninhabitable from the outside. All of the piled up materials and deteriorating structure of the house itself made him cringe as he knocked on the door.

  Sullivan was on the verge of walking away when the door swung open. He had to do a double take as he took in the man who stood before him. He appeared to be in worse shape than his house; he stood at the door in stained and torn shorts as well as an old tee shirt that he believed had been white at one time. He wondered when the man had last bothered to take a shower.

  Sullivan held out his badge as the man appeared before him. “Detective Sullivan. Mind if I ask you a few questions.”

  Horace peered at the badge as if scrutinizing its authenticity. “Name’s Horace. What can I do ya for officer?”

  “Mind if I come in, Horace. It’s awfully hot out here.”

  Horace wasn’t sure what the detective would think about a dead dog sprawled out on his living room floor. “I’m doin’ some cleaning inside officer. Nowhere to really sit down inside.”

  After considering the potential mess inside the home, Sullivan assumed it was safer to remain outdoors. “Sure, no problem. What do you know about the people who are staying next door to you other there.” Sullivan pointed to the beach house that had long been vacant.

  Horace couldn’t help but wonder what that boy had done now that had brought this police officer down to the beach. He assumed it had nothing to do with his brother’s disappearance as that case had long been closed. “Not much, sir. They just got here the other day. Four of ‘em I believe. Takin’ in the beach I s’ppose.”

  Sullivan held out the picture of Megan to Horace. “Does she look familiar to you?”

  Horace squinted at the picture. “Yes, I believe she is one of the young ladies staying there. Real beauty, ain’t she?”

  Sullivan tried to peer into the home past Horace as he stood in the doorway. “You live here alone, sir?”

  “Just me and my dog, Max. Like it that way. Real peaceful.” Horace thought about poor Max sprawled out in the living room. Now he really was lying.

  Sullivan almost felt sorry for the guy. He wasn’t surprised to hear that he had no wife or children living inside with him though. “You haven’t witnessed anything odd recently, have you?”

  Horace knew that the detective most likely knew nothing about the disappearance of the boy. “No, sir. Just a bit odd to see someone stayin’ in that house. Ain’t nobody been there since the incident all those years ago.”

  Sullivan frowned. It was true that he was not familiar with the criminal history of the area. “What incident would that be, Horace?”

  “The s’pposed drowning of that young boy. That was a long time ago though. The family didn’t see no need to come back here ‘til now. Now his brother is back at that beach house. I guess it’s good he’s finally gotten over his brother’s death.”

  Sullivan took a step back. “Thank you for your help. You let me know if you see anything strange going on around here.”

  “Of course, officer. I usually know everything that’s goin’ on ‘round here.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Kristi couldn’t wait to get off of the back of the jet ski. She was furious with Damon. He had really embarrassed her this time. She realized that people doubted their relationship; it’s not like she had known him all that well when they began to seriously start dating. But this just crossed the line. It was as if he became a completely different person at times. She had no idea what he was capable of doing when this side of him emerged. Maybe Mark was right. Maybe she needed a typical, reliable guy like him, not an unpredictable guy like Damon. Maybe this time, playing it safe was the best choice.

  Damon watched Kristi begin to march back up the shore towards their end of the beach. He called out to her. “What the hell is wrong with you? It was just a fun game. Everyone is okay.”

  Megan ran to catch up with her friend. “Are you okay? That was really strange and a bit scary.”

  Kristi, not making eye contact with Megan, could feel tears begin to form in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing any more. I just want to go home and have some time to think things through. Maybe he’s not the guy I want him to be.”

  Mark couldn’t help but smile as he saw Kristi leaving that chump of a boyfriend behind. He elbowed Damon and laughed. “That’s women for you. See, they tend to steer clear of the psychos out there.”

  Damon really couldn’t take any more of Mark. He felt like they would all be better off without his male chauvinistic ways and phony charm. “You’re right, Mark. They like jerks who care more about themselves and who screw other women behind their backs.”

  This comment stunned Mark. He wondered if Damon knew what had been going on between him and Kristi. They had never done it in her home when he was present or had left any clues behind. They had always been very careful. He thought that Damon must be assuming that he was cheating on Megan behind her back. Perhaps he thought he could make him confess to something on the spot. Wasn’t going to happen though.

  Mark began to jog after the girls. He turned to look back at Damon. “You have no idea what you’re talking about, man. You have the ultimate girl and you’re throwing it all away.”

  ***

  Horace peered through the window in his living room. That cop was waiting around by their beach house. That boy must have done something really stupid. It would have been easy to tell the cop that he had suspicions about the boy’s intentions and that he came home to a dog that was hanged from the ceiling. Only problem was that he had no proof that Damon had actually committed any crimes. He figured it would be more fun to watch the situation spiral out of control. Then Damon would get what was coming to him.

  As he stared out of the window, he watched the two girls making their way back towards the beach house. The real pretty blonde appeared to be upset. The other girl had her arm around her and seemed to be providing her with comfort. Considering the guys were nowhere in sight, he assumed that some argument must have transpired. It was no big surprise that Damon had committed yet another stupid act.

  Horace turned to the floor and looked at poor Max. His only friend in the world was gone. Horace decided that it was time to head outside. He wouldn’t let Max’s death go unanswered.

  CHAPTER 26

  Detective Sullivan watched as the two women approached the beach house. At least one of them appeared to be quite distraught. He couldn’t help but wonder what would cause such pretty girls to become upset out here on such a gorgeous day.

  As they approached the walkway to the house, Sullivan stepped towards them. “Good afternoon, ladies. I’m Detective Sullivan. I’d like to ask you a few questions if you have a moment.”

  The girls glanced at his badge and wondered what else could possibly go wrong today.

  Megan took the initiative to respond to the officer. “What’s going on? What happened?”

  Sullivan could tell that they were in no mood for more bad news, but he also wanted to get some answers right away. “A crime was committed, and I think at least one of you may have some answers for me. If we could step inside, I will give you the details.”

  Megan showed the detective inside and guided him towards the couch in the living room. “Would you like something to drink? Water, perhaps?”

  Sullivan shook his head to signal that he was fine for the moment. He did take out a pad of paper, pen, and the photograph of Megan from the convenience store restroom.

  Just as Sullivan was about to explain his purpose for showing up at the beach house, Mark entered the house. He was surprised to see the girls sitting in the living room with a strange man. “What’s going on?”

  Sullivan considered himself to be an excellent judge of character. Mark seemed like the kind of guy who broke hearts so that may explain why the one girl appeared to be so upset. He
was also rather muscular, it wouldn’t take much for him to hurt poor Cliff. “I’m Detective Sullivan. Just here to ask a few questions. Please, have a seat.”

  Mark took a seat next to Megan on the couch. He had no clue what was going on, but nothing surprised him at this point.

  Sullivan slid the photograph in Megan’s direction. “This is you, correct? Do you know where this was taken?”

  Megan studied the picture for a moment. “Yes, that’s me. It was from the other day. We stopped for a gas and snack break on the way down here. Why do you have this picture?”

  He took the picture back. “Are there just the three of you here?”

  Kristi shook her head signifying no. “Nope, there are four of us. But there’s about to three, because I’m about to pack up my stuff and get the hell out of here.”

  Sullivan frowned. “I’m sorry that you’re having such a negative experience on this trip. The truth of the matter is that the convenience store attendant was murdered. We approximate that it was at about the same time that you were photographed leaving the restroom. I want to know exactly what you saw.”

  Megan gasped. She imagined the gangly boy who had come onto her friend. Now he was dead. Unbelievable. “I didn’t see anything. There was no one else there while we were in the shop. We got gas and got a few snacks and hit the road. That’s it --”

  Kristi interrupted her friend. “Well, that’s not the whole story. The truth is that he grabbed me and it caused a bit of scene. We left and Damon stayed in to get the snacks. She’s right though. No one else was at the store. Just us.”

  “Where is Damon? I’d like to ask him a few questions” replied Sullivan.

  Kristi laughed. “Don’t know. Don’t care. He was the last one of us to talk to that jerk though. I’m sorry he’s dead, but he really was a perv.”

  A few notes had been taken by the detective as he listened to what they had to say. “Look, the truth is that the store has worthless surveillance. You came up on the camera at around the same time the incident took place. Your Jeep came up on the camera by the gas pump. I just need you to think about whether or not you noticed any other individuals or vehicles at any time while you were there. I’m going to question your friend whenever he gets back. Maybe he noticed something after you left the store.”

  ***

  Damon was slowly making his way back to the beach house. He was in no rush at all. Perhaps he had acted foolishly. Maybe he allowed his anger to get the better of him. He assumed that the whole thing would blow over. It wasn’t the jet ski incident that bothered him. It was what that idiot, Mark, had said to him. It was as if he found humor in screwing his girlfriend and lying to his face about it. He knew that Mark wouldn’t get away with it much longer though. Maybe he should have been angrier at his slut of a girlfriend. She was upset with him for fooling around out on the water when she was cheating on him with some idiot.

  As Damon began to walk by Horace’s so-called home, he could see the old guy sitting out in front of the house. What a loser. Damon wondered what he had done with his beloved dog. Judging from Horace’s appearance and character, it wouldn’t surprise him if the dog’s body was sprawled out in the house somewhere. The stench couldn’t get much worse so why not add a dead dog to the mix?

  Horace had been an unfortunate and unforeseen hiccup in his plan to come out here to the beach. Who would’ve known there would be somewhere on this beach who was aware of Jonathan’s disappearance?

  Damon finally made his way back to the beach house. All seemed very quiet as he opened the door and stepped inside. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Detective Sullivan sitting in the living room with the three of them. Despite his shock, he always knew when to keep his cool. “What’s going on, guys? You didn’t turn me into the jet ski police, did you?”

  Kristi was even more appalled by the fact that Damon was making jokes about the whole thing after he had pissed her off. It’s like he was going out of his way to be a total jerk.

  Detective Sullivan approached Damon with an outstretched hand. “I’m Detective Sullivan with the Summerset County Police Department. I just have a few questions about the gas station you used yesterday on your way down to the beach.”

  Damon reluctantly shook his hand. “Look, if that worthless cashier is complaining about me, then yeah it’s true, I lost my cool a bit. But you would too if some lowlife was grabbing at your girlfriend.”

  Kristi couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t call me that, Damon. And no he didn’t complain, he’s dead! You were the last one of us with him. We want to know what happened.”

  The look on Damon’s face showed surprise and shock, and truth be told, he was shocked that the detective had found them at this beach house and he was being questioned about the murder. He knew, however, that there was absolutely no evidence to connect him to the murder. “Dead? What the hell happened to him?”

  Detective Sullivan interjected. “That’s what we want to find out. Did you see anything odd before you left the convenience shop? Did Cliff say or do anything that led you to believe he may be in some sort of trouble?”

  Damon pretended to think back to the other day. “Not a damn thing. I told him off for groping Kristi. Then I bought some snacks, went back out to the Jeep, and we got the hell out of there. Aren’t there cameras set up in the store?”

  Sullivan shook his head to acknowledge that cameras were present. “Yes. Unfortunately, they only give us a view of the area by the restroom and a look out to the gas pumps. Whatever happened to this poor guy wasn’t caught on video. Look, I’m going to leave the card with my number on it. If you think of anything else that you saw or heard, please give me a call.”

  Megan took the card from the detective. “Of course, detective. I’m sorry that we couldn’t be of more help.”

  Mark and Megan walked Sullivan out. He got into his car and drove off towards the station.

  Kristi turned to her supposed boyfriend. “What the hell did you do to that guy?”

  CHAPTER 27

  Sullivan considered reading people to be one of his greatest strengths as a police officer. His judge of character had solved many small time crimes. This wasn’t a small time crime, though. This was the end of an innocent life even if it wasn’t a very important life. In the end, a life was a life. He contemplated the four individuals with whom he had just talked.

  Megan struck him as a real honest, down to earth girl. The kind of person who wouldn’t bring harm to anyone, and who wouldn’t hold back the truth. It was unfortunate that she was the only one who showed up on the video camera. She was even more beautiful in person than in the photograph. There were times he wished that he had pursued a relationship with someone. Megan seemed like the kind of girl who he would like to have in his life.

  He couldn’t quite figure out the dynamics of the relationships amongst the four of them. He assumed that Mark was Megan’s boyfriend considering the way he sat next to her on the couch. There seemed to be some closeness between the two of them, but not something so intimate that made him think they were soul mates.

  Mark seemed like the kind of guy who liked to get around with the women. He was a good looking guy who probably hit the gym every day of the week. A lot of women would throw themselves at that type of guy. He found it shocking that Megan would be one of those women. He doubted that Mark would care enough about anyone but himself to commit such a crime.

  They blonde was very quiet and distraught. She seemed to have a lot of negative feelings towards Cliff. That was understandable considering that he had violated her in a physical sense. She seemed too emotionally weak and drained to cause harm to Cliff in any way.

  Damon was a bit of a puzzle. He appeared to be making jokes to intentionally upset his girlfriend (if she still was his girlfriend). He found it a bit odd that Damon would stay in the shop alone to give the guy a good talking to. Then he elected to stay inside and purchase merchandise. Kristi seemed to be a bit suspicious of his actions as well. I
t was hard to tell whether or not her anger was influencing her opinions though.

  It was very possible that some guy came into the shop and attacked Cliff out of the range of the surveillance cameras. However, a robbery had not been committed. No money had been taken. Who goes into a store, murders the attendant, and then leaves?

  At the station, he would be able to see if any other clues had turned up. Then he could determine his next moves.

  CHAPTER 28

  Damon looked at Kristi and laughed out loud. “What, you think I killed the jerk because he touched you?”

  Kristi could feel her eyes welling up with tears again. “I don’t know what to think, Damon. You just seem like you get into this state of mind where you no longer think rationally about anything. I don’t know who you are then. I don’t like it and I don’t need it. I think we should go back home in the morning.”