by Andrew Hess
Chapter 3
Rachel and her friends stumbled across campus; feeling everything spinning as they reached Capers Hall. It was a small brick building filled with empty dorm rooms and drunk students. Two girls clung to the glass doors desperately trying to keep their balance.
“You should just come up to our room and stay here tonight,” one of the girls said.
“Yeah stay here,” the other repeated in a high pitched tone.
“Nah, I can make it back to my dorm,” Rachel replied with her eyes half closed. “You wanna meet up for brunch tomorrow?”
“Suuuurrrreeee,” the first girl slurred. “We should be down there like elevenish.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Rachel held out her hands as if stepping onto a tight rope; catching her balance. She waved goodbye to her friends. Little did she know it would be the last time she would see them.
Rachel walked down a paved path near the lake. It was a beautiful starry night. The moonlight bounced off the top of the water; setting the perfect mood for a romantic and peaceful stroll.
Mark strutted down the path; closing in on Rachel with a grey backpack slung over his shoulder. His pace quickened; gaining speed as he rammed his shoulder into her.
Rachel tripped and fell into a tree; using it to regain her footing. “Watch where you’re going; asshole.”
Mark grabbed her arm; thinking he might break it if he squeezed too hard. “Sorry bout that. Guess I didn’t see you.” He kept his eyes half closed; pretending to be just as drunk as she was.
Rachel ripped her arm away from him. “Then maybe you should open your eyes.” She braced herself and walked off. “Fucking asshole.”
Mark’s blood started to boil. He remembered how Rachel treated him when they used to hang out. Rachel had a knack for butting into his relationship; giving his ex advice despite never being in a long term commitment herself. She was also bossy and controlling; forcing others to revolve their plans around her. She considered herself better than everyone else and never took blame for her own actions. But Mark planned on changing all of that in one night.
He reached into his back pocket; pulling out a pair of black leather gloves and slipped them on. “This is it; now or never,” he whispered. He jogged behind Rachel and cupped his right hand over Rachel’s nose and mouth; using his left hand to pin her arms behind her.
Rachel was too drunk to fight him off. Her arms flailed momentarily before her body went limp and slumped back into him.
Mark lowered her gently to the ground and stared at her unconscious body. “Shit, now what the hell do I do?” This wasn’t part of his plan. He wanted to get her by herself; sweet talk her; get her to invite him into her room. Instead, she was passed out at his feet.
Mark picked her up; carried her in his arms the rest of the way to the large grey building glowing in the distance. She weighed ninety pounds soaking wet, but felt like he was carrying a sack of bricks for a quarter mile.
Mark placed her down gently behind the building and opened his backpack finding three large glass bottles inside. He used his fingers to pry open her mouth and poured a bottle of rum down her throat. The contents slid down until it overfilled and spilled from the corners of her lips.
Rachel coughed and gagged on the liquor; wanting to throw up from drinking too much. She tried to roll to her side, but was too weak to move. Mark had her pinned down with his knees and was already unscrewing the top to a bottle of vodka. He poured the contents into her mouth before she could scream for help.
“Just keep drinking this like a good girl and everything will be over soon enough.” Mark stroked her hair gently as the liquor went down easier with less spilling. “That’s a good girl.” He watched as every drop drained from the bottle into Rachel’s mouth.
Tears streamed down her face. “Why? What are you doing to me? Why can’t I see anything?”
Mark held a finger to her lips. “Just one more to go; I promise.” He opened the final bottle; the air reeking of tequila as he placed the cap on the ground next to him. He poured the final bottle down her throat until every drop was gone. Mark placed the three empty bottles back in his bag.
“What did you do to me,” Rachel cried out. “Am I dying?”
“No, but you’re about to.”
Rachel’s eyes flashed open momentarily. She realized the asshole that bumped into her was killing her slowly; forcing her to drink herself to death.
Mark reached into her pants pocket; groping her until he found Rachel’s college ID. She flailed her arms; trying to stop him from grabbing her; trying to scratch him; hoping to make enough noise to grab someone’s attention.
Mark pinned Rachel’s arms down to the pavement with his hands while his body lay on top of hers as his weight pinned her down. He held Rachel prisoner under his rapidly beating heart until she calmed down long enough to stifle her pleas.
“Now, let’s get you to your room.” He hoisted Rachel into his arms, used the ID card to unlock the back door and carried her inside; letting the door close quietly behind them.
Chapter 4
It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning in Highland, New York; not a cloud in the sky. The sun broke through the heavy brown curtains that sat on my windows; urging me to get out of bed.
“No, I don’t want to get up yet,” I whined as I wrestled myself to pull the sheets off of my head long enough to see the specs of sunlight shining brightly on the beige carpet.
I looked at the clock and saw it was seven in the morning. I was used to getting up that early for work, but this was the start of my first weekend off in months; nothing was going to pry me from this bed.
My mom’s voice still rang in my head every time I decided to sleep in. “Come on Ali; get up. You have the whole day ahead of you.”
I grew up on a small farm in Glens Falls New York and helped my dad in the fields all morning. My mother was constantly yelling at my sister Amanda and I to help him; guilt tripping us that they didn’t have a son to help them. I never understood how that was our fault, but somehow our mother always made it seem that way until we finally agreed to help. I was their go to daughter. They relied on me heavily to assist my dad, cook, clean, or keep my sister in line. Naturally it was a shock to them when I decided to move to Poughkeepsie when I was nineteen for college; even worse when Amanda followed in my footsteps years later by moving to New Paltz.
It took me two years before I had my associate’s degree and went after what I really wanted. I wanted to be a cop working high profile cases, solving elaborate crimes and putting the worst criminals behind bars.. It was always something that fascinated me. I read tons of mystery novels and watched plenty of police movies growing up; picturing myself as the hot shot detective in charge of brilliantly solving cases that no one else could. It took me ten years before I got that opportunity.
It started with basic patrols in Kinston and Saugerties before being thrown into my first real case. There were three bank robberies in Newburgh. Local police were baffled by the thieves getting in and out without any cameras getting a decent image of the suspects. It was their own stupidity that led to me tracking them down. One of the perps brilliantly decided to pawn a watch he collected from one of the men he robbed at the bank. It was a common mistake that criminals made, but get away with because they didn’t have a way to track them. But they made a bigger mistake; they went to a pawn shop owned by a friend of mine.
He told me where to find the perp and I went alone; stupidly without backup. The suspect took off as he saw my squad car pull up in front of his apartment and fired a shot at my head. I had no choice but to return fire. The first shot clipped the suspect’s leg; the second was a stray bullet that caught an innocent bystander; critically wounding her.
I was placed on probation, but consulted with other officers on the case; leading to the remaining bank robbers being brought down and captured. They were all carrying out three consecutive fifteen year sentences.
They were impressed by my
persistence and refusal to give up on the case, but remained skeptical about bringing me onto their team. I stayed on probation for one year. It felt like a constant rollercoaster of nonstop work, but I used the time to work towards becoming a detective. Then, it finally happened six months ago. Lieutenant Esposito promoted me to detective in hopes of increasing the case solving rate in Ulster County. I don’t think he realized what he got himself into when he promoted me.
Chapter 5
It took me an hour to get out of bed; taking full advantage of my free weekend, but I needed to keep up my routine. I stretched my long legs before putting my bare feet on the soft carpet. I reached under my bed; searching for my grey and pink sneakers; finding only a pair of black pumps I wore the night before.
“Damn it; they’re in my locker.” I left them at the station; remembering I went out after my shift ended. I didn’t want to go there; not on my day off. I spent too much timer there to begin with and started to feel like I lived there.
I pulled a pair of sweatpants from my dresser; pairing it with an orange tank top and an oversized black t-shirt that retained heat. I knew my partner would interrogate me the second I walked through the station door; wondering why I was there on my day off. Little did I know what I was about to get myself into.
I entered the double doors of the station; finding several officers sitting at their desks including a six foot tall, good looking muscular man with rugged facial features.
Officer Rodney Johnson straightened up in his chair. He was taller than most in New Paltz; sticking out like a sore thumb wherever he went. He used to be a bouncer for local bars in Poughkeepsie until he found the love of his life five years ago and wanted a better life for them.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite partner; Detective Ali Ryan.”
I moved closer and patted his arm. “Rodney, I’m your only partner. I mean the only one that could put up with you.” I looked at him with a serious look; my eyes narrowing at him before breaking character and laughing.
He gave a hearty laugh. “Still doesn’t mean you’re not my favorite.” Rodney turned back to his stack of paperwork. “I thought you were off today?”
“Forgot my running gear last night. Trust me; I don’t wanna be here any longer than I have to.”
I saw his eyes light up as he remembered me leaving early to go out the night before. “Oh that’s right; you had another date with Mr. Hot Stuff last night. So, how did it go?” Rodney’s eyes squinted as he smiled; almost disappearing behind his dark brown skin.
“His name is Matthew, and we had a nice dinner; even saw a show in the city.” I couldn’t help but smile while thinking about the wonderful night with Matthew.
“I know that look.”
“What look,” I replied. My smile faded as I placed my hands on my hips; staring Rodney down.
“You like him.”
“So?”
“So, you want me to sit him down; have the talk with him?”
“What talk?”
Rodney leaned back in his chair “You know; the one where I tell him if he breaks your heart, I’ll break his legs.”
“Don’t; you’ll scare him away,” I laughed. Sometimes I wondered what Rodney’s job was; being a cop or making the station laugh. “Besides, I don’t know how I feel about him yet.”
Rodney looked at me questioningly. “No problem, but if he hurts you…”
“Trust me; if he breaks my heart, I’ll break his legs first.” We laughed together while I walked to the locker room to retrieve my duffle bag. I slipped my running sneakers on while listening to the commotion from the officers as a heavy door smashed into a wall.
I climbed up the stairs from the locker room in a hurry. We all knew it was the Lieutenant. It was his typical scare tactic meant for us to pay close attention to what he had to say. He did it almost every day but it still made everyone flinch.
I kept myself from view as our five foot two Lieutenant stood in front of his door. His fiery Columbian temper was flaring; ready to be taken out on any officer in his sights.
“What the hell is everyone still doing here? The Lieutenant’s voice echoed through the station as if he spoke into a megaphone. “I guess no one listens to their radios anymore.”
“Sorry,” the officers grumbled as they kept their heads low; trying not catch the wrath of Lieutenant Esposito as he searched the room.
“What’s up Lieu,” Rodney asked.
“I need you to get down to New Paltz. There was a reported over dose in the dorms.”
I dropped my bag with a loud thud. Everyone stared at me as if they were about to tell a child their parent died.
“Ryan, what are you doing here,” Esposito snapped.
“I was just grabbing my running gear from my locker. Who overdosed at New Paltz?”
“We don’t know the victim’s name.” The Lieutenant looked me over and nodded at the spot next to me. “I see you have your bag. You should be on your way Detective.”
“Which dorm was it?”
I could see Lieutenant Esposito’s eyes growing with anger and knew not to keep pressing the issue but I had to know. “That’s none of your business. You’re off duty. I suggest you go home.”
My heart was pounding so hard I thought it was about to burst from my chest. I wasn’t going to let it go. My sister went to school there and lived on campus.
“Which one?” My voice was stern and determined. I stood firmly with my hands on my hips; deadlocked in a staring contest with the Lieutenant, but he wasn’t budging. “Fine, I’ll just have to go down there by myself.”
“You better not to step one foot on campus Detective, and that’s an order.” He glanced at Rodney. “Officer Johnson, I need you to go to Estrada Hall.” His eyes moved towards me as I headed towards the doors. “Where are you going Detective Ryan?”
Rodney hurried passed me; pressing a hand to my shoulder firmly. “I’ll make sure she’s okay,” he whispered before letting the door close behind him.
My eyes were narrow and filled with tears. “I’m going to visit my sister at her campus.” He gave me a reprimanding look. “You can’t stop me; I’m off the clock.”
“Fine,” the Lieutenant whispered. He looked at me again; running his fingers through his graying hair. “If you wanna go there and check on your sister, then I’ll bring you down there myself. But you better not step one foot near that crime scene. Is that understood?”
“You got it Lieu. Let me check on Amanda so I know she’s okay; then I’ll go home. You have my word.”
The Lieutenant chuckled. “Yeah, like that means anything.”
Chapter 6
My heart pounded harder every second I sat in the passenger seat of the squad car. It was beating so fast; so hard that it could’ve been mistaken for a heart attack. The Lieutenant was in the driver’s seat. His hands were clenched tightly around the black leather steering wheel; keeping his foot on the gas. We sped through the normal Saturday traffic; passing the cars that were bumper to bumper at red lights on Route 299.
“I’m sure she’s okay,” Esposito said sympathetically as he glanced over at me. We all knew the Lieutenant as a hard ass; someone who was stressed and overworked, but he had his moments where he let us catch a glimpse of his human side too.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. It was the only word I could say without bursting into tears; thinking the victim could be my sister.
We blew through every light on our way with the siren blaring through the streets of New Paltz until we pulled onto campus. I directed the Lieutenant around the corners; bringing him to Estrada Hall.
There were half a dozen squad cars lining the parking lot. Some were white campus security cars while others were the black and white town of New Paltz cars. The orange and yellow ambulance sat in front of a tall grey building with the paramedics standing next to the glass doors having a smoke break.
I ran from the car as we parked on the street; storming up to the paramedics. “Why aren’t you ins
ide with the victim,” I snapped.
One of the paramedics walked up towards me and glanced down; blowing a puff a smoke in my face. “Who the fuck do you think you are; telling me how to do my job?”
“I’m a detective with Ulster County Police Department.”
He looked me over; even circled me; examining every inch of me as Lieutenant Esposito tried to catch up from the street.
“Funny, you don’t look like much of a cop to me.” He took another drag from his cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke along with its foul odor in my face.
The other paramedic pushed him aside. “Sorry for my partner. There was nothing we could do for the girl. She was dead when we got here.” He pushed his partner further away from me; knowing he wasn’t supposed to say anything yet.
I reached for my back pocket; expecting to find my badge so I could enter the building, but nothing was there. I was still dressed for my morning run.
An officer stood in the doorway; one I didn’t recognize. His arms were folded and had a determined look about him as if he was telling people; “Go ahead try to get passed me.”
I stared him down like I was a running back determined to push my way into the end zone. Instead I felt a hand close upon my shoulder; jerking me away from the front doors.
Lieutenant Esposito braced himself using my shoulder. He was gasping and wheezing heavily as he pulled out an inhaler. “I swear you’re going to be the death of me.”
I laughed. “No, but I’ve given you plenty of gray hair.”
He pursed his lips and glanced up from his hunched over position. “Keep it up and you’ll be transferred to corrections and be in charge of cavity searches.”
I shut my mouth and helped the Lieutenant to the door. He flashed his badge at the officer and told him I was with him. I overheard the officer tell the Lieutenant the body is on the third floor which made my heart sink even further into the pit of my stomach. I leaned on the door; feeling nauseas.
“You okay Detective,” the Lieutenant asked.