See No Evil

by Kendra Mei Chailyn

  She nodded, causing her hair to bounce. He reached for his jacket. Declin took that moment to hop from the sofa and left the room followed by Luke because it was obvious that Kerry was still afraid of the wolf. When he hopped up, she jumped back almost slamming into Luke's chest. Luke walked Declin back to Lt. Greystone’s office and then exited the building behind Kerry.

  Following Kerry toward her friend’s house, Luke frowned. They were headed into Lipson. He didn’t see why they couldn’t get a police station but that was a whole other matter. Political mumbo-jumbo and a whole crap load of red-tape.

  He pulled up behind her and looked up at the small house. It looked out of place being flanked by two rather large mansions. Stepping from his vehicle, he shrugged into his jacket and a pair of gloves and met her at the front of his car.

  “Which one is it?” Luke questioned and she pointed to the smallest of the three houses.

  “That's it?”

  “Yeah…”

  Walking along the front he stopped and then ducked around the side. Checking windows to see if they were locked or tampered with all around the house and ended at the front again before Kerry let him into the house. “Did you touch anything?”

  He got his answer when she shook her head and stood by the door clasping her purse as though she thought he would steal it. Walking by her, he unclipped the pin holding his holster closed, stepped over an over turned chair and moved through the house. Checking each room he frowned as each room was in a sorrier state than the last one. It was just as Miss Kittrich had said. Chairs were overturned, drawers pulled out and emptied on the floor, curtains and blinds were ripped down; something had happened in the house for sure. The small house looked like someone had gone through it in a hurry looking for something and from the looks of it, they didn’t find it.

  “I’ll take it from here,” Luke spoke to Kerry when he walked back to the front door. “You’ll have to leave because I will have to close off the house as a crime scene so that CSI can go through it to see if they can find anything. In the mean time, here’s my card.” He stopped and dug a card from his breast pocket and handed it over. “I know it’s not going to be easy but try and get some rest. Give me a call if you need anything.”

  When she didn’t answer him, he wanted to say something to make her feel better but he had nothing. He watched as she took the card, nodded and left, without saying a word. He walked out the front door and cut across the side lawn to the neighbor on the other side of Priety’s house in hopes they had seen something. He took his gloves off and put them in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

  “Hey, Jim, I need a forensic team,” he spoke hurriedly and stopped to listen to what was being said to him. He knocked on the front door and was about to leave when the door gently opened with a creek.

  He thoughtfully closed the phone and placed it into his pocket. Something caught his nose and he tilted his head to one side while using the toe of his boot to push the door opened slowly. He had been to too many crime scenes not to recognize the putrid scent leaking from the house. There was no mistaking it. The smell got stronger and more familiar and Luke’s hand immediately went for his weapon. With his gun drawn, he pushed the door further open with his foot and cautiously made his way through the house starting with the lower floor.

  What he found in the kitchen only wound him tighter. There, sitting on a plate on the table, was what looked like eye balls. As he got closer and leaned in to inspect them, his fear was confirmed.

  Eyes.

  Just when I thought I’d seen everything on this job.

  A lump grew in his throat. He pulled himself from the scene and continued through the house. He gripped the gun with both hands willing them to stop shaking. Over the years, Luke tried his best to be strong and not show emotions at a possible crime scene. But if he was to succeed in that, what kind of heartless monster would he become?

  As he got toward the bedroom, the scent got so strong Luke had to breathe through his mouth, almost tasting the bad stench. Moving in front of the open door he walked in and cleared one side, then slowly turned his body to view the whole room. When his eyes connected with the body hanging from the wall he bit down on his lower lip to avoid throwing up. Half dried blood was flowing down her face from her eyes and Luke realized she was the donor of the eyes he found in the kitchen.

  He lowered his gun and quickly reached for his cell and a handkerchief to put over his nose and mouth. After the call was made he stumbled outside and greedily fought for air.

  This whole thing had turned from weird to downright scary.

  Chapter Four

  Priety turned to stare at her friend to see Kerry’s mouth hanging open while her eyes bulged out.

  “I know, this is bad,” Priety offered. “I don’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to do then. This whole thing is getting messier by the second.”

  Kerry still didn’t speak so Priety walked over to her to shake her back to reality, “Are you listening to me? I am going to prison and I can’t go to prison!”

  “We have to call the cops,” Kerry blurted out and reached past Priety to grab the phone. “They will know what to do.”

  “No! No cops,” Priety said, snatching the phone from Kerry and slamming it back into the receiver. “I already made a mistake coming to see you. Do you have any idea how much danger you could be in? I shouldn’t have told you what happened. What the hell was I thinking?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Kerry snapped, slowly getting back to the swing of things. “Are you kidding me! Do you realize what is happening? Or is everything just going over your head? They think you’re missing! A woman is dead and they think you did it! They think you killed this woman and ran because you didn’t want to get caught!”

  “Don’t be silly! They can’t think I killed anyone!”

  “Really? Are you paying attention? Not only do they think you killed someone, some deranged psychopath could be after you because you saw what he did!”

  Priety was pacing the floor nervously and hardly heard a thing after a woman is dead and they think you did it. She was shaking visibly and her legs were threatening to give out from under her. “You can’t believe I killed anyone.”

  That only caused Kerry to suck her teeth and feel even more agitated. “Of course I don’t think you killed anyone, I know you better. But after I reported you missing, the cops needed help before it was too late so they released your picture and name to the media. The media think they know exactly what happened especially after they found out that a body was found next door to you... I know you didn't kill anyone but the media thinks you did and I’m pretty sure the cops do too. You have to do something. You can’t just spend the rest of your life running from this because we both know that sooner or later it’s going to catch up with you.”

  “I know that! Don’t you think I know that? What am I going to do? This isn’t the life I wanted, damn it!”

  She had to think of something. She couldn’t go to the cops because they would put her in jail and she had no other place to run to because the killer would only find her. It seemed at that very moment that jail would be better than running around blindly.

  “Priety, calm down…”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down! My life is down the crapper. I don’t want to calm down until something happens.”

  The night she witnessed the crime she heard the scream and wanted to know what was happening. She didn’t know what possessed her to grab a pair of binoculars but she had. When the woman was shot, Priety wanted to run and scream but couldn’t. Her brain barely allowed her to cover her mouth, hide her scream and move at the same time. Instead, she covered her mouth to bite back on her fear and was caught spying.

  Stupid brain.

  Kerry was right and Priety knew it and in the long run, jail was probably safer than running around by herself trying to out run a killer. Just the thought having her freedom taken away made her stomach ache and her throat go dry. Tears to
ppled down her chin and she turned and walked into Kerry’s arms. That was her way of telling her best friend that she had surrendered. Her body rocked with sobs. “I’m going to jail, Ker.” She sobbed. “I can’t make it in jail. I’ve seen Oz.”

  A chuckle left Kerry’s throat. “You’re not going to jail, Priety, and Oz is a television show. I don’t think jails are really like that.”

  “Yeah, sure. Some of those women haven’t seen a man in decades. And me going in there as some shy woman will be like Christmas morning to them. What am I gonna do?”

  “Just tell the cops what happened and you’ll be fine. I’ll be there with you and, besides, if you do go to prison I’ll come and visit.”

  That got a smile from Priety as she lifted her head. “Thanks, Ker…please make the call. I might as well get this over with.”

  Kerry nodded and Priety let her go reluctantly to curl up in the sofa and buried her face against her knees. She heard the conversation and each word stabbed at her heart.

  “Detective Stanton please?” Kerry’s voice carried. “Yes…Detective, this is Kerry-Ann Kittrich. Could you please come over to my place…I found something that might interest you…no, I don’t think….what? No…..yes that would be fine.”

  There was a click and Priety stayed where she was. The silence tore through the room and soon she could hear each beat her heart made. So many things danced through her mind. Her mind raced so bad it began throbbing slightly. Her thoughts went to things like maybe she should have taken a shower first before the call was made, or went out and had sex with a man before she reached prison. She squeezed her eyes shut to silence the thoughts in her head. When a knock came at the front door, she probably jumped a mile in the air and her heart began to hammer in her chest. She pressed her back into the seat as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on ends.

  “Priety Roshan, you are here-by sentenced to death for the murder of…”

  …To death…

  …death…

  The thought stormed through Priety’s mind like a tornado leaving her panting for air and cringing as Kerry glanced through the blinds. “It’s Detective Stanton,” Kerry hushed her before letting the detective in.

  Priety didn’t move, she stayed where she was in the same position and waited for the cold clamp of the handcuffs. This evil man had taken away everything she held dear in one night. He had taken away her peace, her happiness and now her freedom. He managed to do something that life hadn’t succeeded in doing. This murderer managed to break her spirit and brought her down.

  She sat up as Kerry and the detective entered the room.

  Priety had to admit, even with the impending doom of going to jail hanging over her head, the detective was not at all what she expected. She expected an overweight, slightly balding man with his gut sticking out far enough to touch the ground if he simply bent over at the waist. But not Luke Stanton. The man had wide shoulders, delicious dark skin matched with brown eyes and Priety took a moment to shake herself and close her eyes to kill the images. What was wrong with her? She never had such feelings for a black man before. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She wanted to have Denzel Washington’s babies but that was about it.

  “You must be the infamous Priety Roshan.” It was more of a statement than a question on his part and she nodded. His voice was hard even though he said it softly.

  “I didn’t kill anyone…” she started as she stood up, placed her hands behind her assuming the position. “Let’s get this over with please. The sooner I can stop thinking about it the better.”

  * * * *

  “Sit down, Miss Roshan,” Luke spoke when he saw her move. Taking the seat Kerry offered he watched as Priety slowly sat down and crossed her legs. “Now tell me what happened and why you ran?”

  “I ran because he was after me. I wasn’t gonna just sit there and wait for him to come over and do the same thing to me.”

  “Who?”

  “The man who shot the woman next door.”

  “You saw who did it?”

  “I heard a scream so I went to my window. I saw movements in the window next door which was strange, so I grabbed my binoculars. He saw me and then left the room so I assumed he was coming for me. I ran.”

  “Could you recognize him now if you saw him?” Luke wanted to know.

  “I don’t think so. I was too busy eyeing the knife, the gun and running for my life.”

  * * * *

  Luke watched her, trying to read if she was lying. Her long black hair flowed in a mess over her back as though she hadn’t washed it in a few days. Her brown eyes were filled with fear and tears. Something told him she wasn’t lying but another part of him screamed not to trust her because she was a woman. In Luke’s experience a crying woman meant nothing because deep down he knew she could be using him to get what she wanted.

  Standing up he walked to the window and stared out at the darkness. He was trying to make up his mind about Miss. Roshan.

  She didn’t seem like the dangerous killer type to him but just because he was a cop, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be wrong. He met many over his years in homicide so he should know.

  Shouldn’t he?

  He let out a pent up breath, bowing his head as though thinking in earnest. The truth was, he thought he saw someone outside but he wanted to make certain. Glancing out again, he saw nothing so he chocked it up to his mind playing the paranoia game with him again.

  * * * *

  Priety watched him silently as he stared out into the night. At that moment she would give anything to know what he was thinking. His large shoulders looked tired but when he looked at her his big brown eyes seemed to have dug through her seeing her core. She felt naked before his suspicious eyes and a tingle went through her body. Fighting the urge to yell at him to say something, she brought her legs up beneath her body and tried to wait patiently but that didn’t work. She wasn’t strong enough. “Say something.”

  He faced her and she sucked in some air through her teeth. If she could call no other man beautiful, Luke was. He was utterly breathtaking.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push. It’s just my life is over and you’re kind of prolonging my doom.”

  “Do you own a gun?” was his reply to her apology.

  “What does that have to do with anything? No, I can barely afford my rent, where the hell am I going to get money to spend on a gun?”

  “You could be in danger,” he spoke, and walked back to sit down before her. This time he pulled his chair closer to hers and sat down so she could feel his breath against her face. “Miss Kittrich!” he called and Kerry came running into the room.

  “You called, Detective?”

  “Do you have any family members you could stay with for a while?” Luke questioned.

  “My fiancée…”

  “Good, pack some things and stay with him for a while. If you can go on vacation or something…I do not want you in any danger…you, Miss Roshan, are staying with me.”

  Priety opened her mouth to protest but his next words shut her up, “Either that or jail. I have no qualms with sticking you in a cell until I can figure this out because, truth be told, I’d rather you be alive than dead.”

  Kerry nodded and dashed from the room.

  “I don’t think you could have strapped that woman to the wall the way she was up there. The media went on the assumption that your neighbor is dead and you were conveniently nowhere to be found. It happens. If I got a sketch artist could you get a picture of the man you saw?”

  “You asked me that earlier, detective.” Priety shook her head and her tears escaped. “And I told you that my eyes were glued to the gun and…”

  He nodded, shoulders lifting as he took a deep breath and that stopped Priety’s words.

  She took some time to help Kerry pack in silence. With that complete, they hugged then piled into Luke’s vehicle. By the time Kerry was dropped off at Chad’s, Priety felt smaller sitting in the leather seat bes
ide the detective. She knew he was trying to help her but she wanted to scream, yell, pound her fist into something. “What now?” She wanted to know as she turned her head to look at him.

  “Now I get you some place safe and try finding this guy.” Luke started but was cut off by the ringing of his cell phone. “Excuse me. Stanton.”

  He listened and swore beneath his breath before flipping the phone shut. She watched as he dumped the phone into his lap, reached down and flipped a switch and the siren on the hood of his car began flashing red before it blared. He hung a U-turn and made his way back in the opposite direction.

  “What’s going on?” Priety questioned, gripping the dash board for dear life.

  “Our killer did it again.”

  “Maybe that’s it for him…maybe he’ll stop after this one.”

  Luke glanced over at her for a split second before returning his attention to the road. He leaned on the horn. “Get out of the way!” he shouted before speaking to her. “This looks like a serial killer, Miss Roshan and serial killers don’t stop until someone stops them.”

  Chapter Five

  Pulling up at the crime scene, Luke told Priety to stay in the car. The look on her face stopped him. He couldn’t very well leave her by herself.

  “I’m going to have a uniform stay with you,” Luke said. “Stay here a sec.”

  He turned to leave the car but she grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t leave me out here and please don’t leave me with a strange cop,” she whispered.

  “Miss Roshan, I—okay, but you have to stay just inside the door. No deeper in the scene.”

  When she nodded at him, he climbed from the vehicle and waited for her to walk around. He led her against the small of her back leading her gently toward the yellow tape at the front of the house. He showed his badge and dipped beneath the yellow tape and then up the front steps and into the house.

  Nothing was out of place. The house was clean, almost too clean. One would expect that a house would have something out of place; a cushion set wrong on the sofa, a ruffled curtain, even a wayward cheerio that rolled off a table, something—anything. The faint smell of cleaning disinfectant reached Luke’s nose and he looked up to see the lead scene investigator walking over to him with a grim look on her face.