Down The Wrong Path Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I poured over the information and called Orlando into the den. He almost as soon as I shouted his name. We looked over all the names and addresses associated with Thomas, and I noticed Orlando make a note to call them all individually tomorrow for questioning. I hoped that I would be included; it would boost my career to be in on this case.

We left almost immediately after we found that, we told the other officers what we found before leaving. I felt a sense of foreboding, but had no reason. So I tried to get Orlando and the other officers to leave. Most did, but a few stayed. I had no reason to feel like something was going to happen, but I did. Once back at the precinct, we got a call that the house had been blown up. Orlando began freaking out because the laptop with the information was their only lead and it was now gone.

I smiled at Orlando, and held up my phone. On the screen was a picture of the laptop's screen. And on it was the information we needed. I scrolled through and had got all of it. Every last piece that I thought would be important. Orlando was impressed, but also concerned about the explosion, it made him wonder if there was more to the case than just embezzlement.

I didn't know how I knew something was going to happen, and that scared me. Was I thinking like this killer? Or was it just my paranoia had kicked in.

There had been a few injuries, but thankfully no deaths in the explosion. The arson unit found the bomb in the den under the desk that the laptop was on, so it was a good thing we had gotten out when we did. If we had been in there 20 more minutes, we probably would have been badly hurt. One of Orlando's men, Niklos, was injured pretty badly. He had been in the hallway near the den when the bomb went off and a piece of the wall had blown out and gotten lodged in his calf. The doctor's had gotten it out, but Niklos would be out of work for a while.

April 23^rd, 2016

Sunday, a day I finally had to myself. I'd been busy all weekend helping Orlando with the case. After all that had happened, Orlando seemed very keen on having me around. He even let me do a few interviews. I noticed that some of the guys hadn't liked that too well, I wasn't exactly new but I wasn't a veteran enough in their eyes. I laid in bed and just let myself be. I could feel the need to find this guy grow with every passing moment. I wanted to go back to work and keep digging.

Last night they had brought in someone for questioning, but left him in the room all night to try and make him more eager to talk. I had no idea if it worked or not. I was lying here, in bed, not even dressed. I didn't want to move, and that was when I finally realized how exhausted I was. I didn't believe in having a tv in my bedroom, but now I wish I had been the kind who did.

I didn't get up though. I dozed for a bit here and there, but mostly I just thought about the case. Then another memory popped up. The first I'd had in a while.

October 31^st, 2006

Halloween. It was by far my favorite holiday, especially as a teen. My sister enjoyed it because she was able to leave the house. I was dressed as one of those silly killers from an old b-rated horror movie. Amelia was a princess. Even though she was 13, she still enjoyed dressing up like a princess. When home alone, I would often call her princess and remind her that she didn't deserve what Father did to her.

She would always tell me to hush, with one of her sparse smiles on her face; the one that would vanish whenever Father would come home. We had been out for a couple hours, and had a bunch of candy to share. Instead of going around and pulling pranks, I had stayed with her so she would enjoy herself. She didn't have many friends.

As we walked through the door of our little home, I heard father call for Amelia. We went to walk in the living room together, but he told me to go to my room. I was livid. I could hear Amelia's screams rip through me like razor blades. I could feel my muscles contracting and I could hear my heartbeat in my chest. All I saw was red.

I made my way slowly down the steps, making sure not to make a sound. I slipped into the basement and found my father's axe. Slowly, I crept back up the steps. Her muffled groan could be heard, no matter what my father did. I always heard. I walked in to find him beating her with a belt. Her princess dress was ratted up, blood was clouding the pink fabric, and I could see the slash marks across her skin. When she saw me she shook her head wildly.

"Stop." My voice held more authority than it ever had in my entire life. My father paused, a smirk crossing his lips.

"You really wanna do that, kid?" I could see his smug look and that just fueled me even more.

"Amelia, go." She looked between us both, wondering what to do. Just as father went to grab her arm, she ducked and moved swiftly behind me and into the small foyer. She peered around the door frame, so she could observe us safely.

I didn't want her to see. Just in case because I really had no idea what I might do. My father lunged toward me, and I slammed the blunt end of the axe down on his hand holding the belt. I heard a snapping sound and watched as my father's face showed surprise as well as pain. He clutched his hand to his chest. "You won't hurt her again, do you understand me, sir!"

I always had to say sir, but this time I added a bit of offensiveness to the statement. I was sick of him. I was sick of the way he treated Amy. He deserved to die, and I was finally ready.

The axe felt like freedom, it felt like a new beginning, and it definitely was. Father moved to come past me again and I grab ahold of his hand, but instead of hitting him with blunt end, I pulled back and dropped the sharp end down on his wrist. Father fell to his knees as I hacked away at his flesh. Blood was everywhere, but I kept hacking. I didn't see Amy anywhere, which I was happy for. Father was screaming. Just like he'd made Amelia do. My smile stretched across my face like a madman.

He passed out first from blood loss. After I cut off his hand, I got to work on his feet. I think the pain numbed him, because after a while he just went limp and let me hack away. I know a few times I started to giggle. I felt so powerful, so awake! Lastly I cut off his head, that took a bit more work than the other pieces had, but soon it was free too. I took all the pieces out to the burn barrel and began my roast.

Once back inside, I grabbed the cleaning supplies from under the sink and started the part I dreaded the most. Yet, I knew it was the most important part. I scrubbed everything, by the time I was done, there was no blood anywhere. I had to burn a few pieces of furniture, and my clothes. But most was able to be saved.

When finished, I went upstairs to find Amy. She was in her room, staring into space and holding her small stuffed giraffe, Fluffs. "Amy?" I sat down beside her, she made no movement. I was honestly scared. Did I do something? I shook her slightly, trying to get her to snap out of it. I finally figured out a story and called the cops.

Once there they noticed the place was clean. I told them it was because father had beaten her so bad; I had just wanted it to look normal if she snapped out of whatever was going on with her. I told them our father left muttering something about hating us. I had moved my father's car somewhere where they wouldn't think to look. I would drown it later. They attributed her silence as shock to being beat so bad. I was off the hook.

No one ever questioned me; no one found my story preposterous. Of course people wondered, but in the law's eyes, this was a horrible thing to happen to such a sweet girl. The guilt did eat at me. I felt responsible for how she had turned out. And I hated myself for it.

April 23^rd, 2016

It was 10 o'clock at night and I was making scrambled eggs, while remembering the night that I always try to forget. It was my first crime, the first time I had felt the power that often times overwhelmed me and pulled me deeper into monsterland. I hated that memory; it reminded me of how things can go wrong if you don't plan correctly. I had run over the things I had done wrong so often that it was hard to see them now.

My eyes pinched shut, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind, I can't deal with them right now. Or ever, if I'm being honest. I ate my eggs in silence, leaning against my countertop wondering what I should do next. I decided on the bar.

It wasn't exactly packed, but there was a wait for the liquor. I didn't really expect to see anyone, but who did I run into? Houston. He didn't say anything to me, just nodded my way and smiled. I felt pulled, so I got up and went to him. "Hey, Houston."

"Hey, what brought you to this watering hole, huh?"

"Demons, I guess."

Houston chuckled, making his belly jiggle. "Yeah, that's what most do."

"Why are you here?" I was mainly just making conversation at this point.

His wink startled me, "You know, lookin' for love." His laugh echoed through my head and I couldn't help but smile back.

"So, son, what demons are we runnin' from today?"

"All of them."

"Ah, yes. You like to keep a bit quiet. You know, everyone has demons, and even if you don't want to talk about the actual experience, sometimes a vague and not completely true situation could help you to get out what you need to say; if you catch my drift." Houston winked again, then downed his whiskey and motioned to the bartender for another.

I thought a bit about it, "My dad wasn't a great man; he... left when I was 18. Amy had been 13. I just... she stays with me. I can't seem to move past her leaving. No matter what I do, I can't get her out of my thoughts. Things were never great, but she made my life easier. She was my sun. Father beat her, when he left I was grateful, but that night he'd... gone too far and she pretty much lost her mind. I just can't handle it sometimes. I miss her."

"We all have people we miss. Sometimes we have to live, just for those people. We have to think to ourselves, 'what would they do right now'? And then we fucking do it! Don't let the idea of never seeing someone again make it hard for you to move forward. Take them inside you and let them become a part of you."

I stared at Houston, I'd never told him so much about my past. He knew that Amelia had died of suicide, but hadn't known much else. "How did you get so wise, old man?"

"You answered that, I'm an old man." His booming laugh stayed with me until I fell asleep that night. I slept like a baby.

April 25^th, 2016

Monday hadn't brought anything new to the case. No one seemed willing to talk. Thomas had worked for a big company; they were corporate, so we had to pretty much jump through hoops to even get a search warrant for his office. We finally got it. The office was very basic, there really wasn't much there. Orlando thought it fit that I tag along again, and that made me feel surprisingly good. While there I searched the desk, one of the detectives had already searched it and gave me a glare as I went back over it.

I opened one of the drawers and something in the bottom of it caught my eye. I moved my hand over the bottom and there was a small piece of wood protruding up. It was big enough to get my fingers around and pull up. It was a hidden section! Inside was a book, looked to be a journal. I showed Orlando and he laughed. "I'm glad we brought you!"

The book named other names. Big names in the company. It also showed that Thomas wasn't embezzling for himself, but for someone else. And the name was written down. Unfortunately, the man named was pretty much untouchable. Thomas had been stealing money from the company for the company's owner, Staks. Gerald Staks was the son of the owner, he was to inherit, but he only had a small fortune at the moment. He wanted more. There was evidence in the journal that he had blackmailed Thomas into stealing for him. He had threatened him, and then said he would frame Thomas.

Gerald had tried to frame him, he really did, but he wasn't smart enough. He didn't think that Thomas would leave the cops a neon sign right to him. Orlando was worried that the commissioner would tell them to drop it. Staks donated a lot of money. A murder with their name attached would be quite bad. Surprisingly though, the commissioner approved it and it was sent to the judge, who granted them a warrant to bring in Staks.

He denied killing the guy. Of course he did. Yet, he had no alibi, not even the 'I was home all night alone' deal. He just wouldn't say where he had been. The cops swore it was him. I was on the fence; I didn't think he was smart enough. Not everyone knew how murder worked, there was a specific way to do it, and this killing seemed like it was done by someone who knew what they were doing. I didn't think this scrub had it in him.

An older lady came into the station, we heard the disturbance from inside the investigation room. A uniform came in and said that there was someone here who needed to speak to us about Gerald. When she saw us she walked to us quickly, "Look, he didn't do it. He didn't because he was with me. I will swear it, but it must be kept secret, if possible. I'm married and I do not want to leave my husband."

We were a bit stunned to say the least. "Uh..." Orlando couldn't seem to find his words. So I stepped in, and hoped I would do okay.

"If you don't mind, we will need to get your statement. Will you follow me?"

She had been very forthcoming with her statement, in some places she went a bit too far, but I believed her. So did everyone else. Yet again, we were back to square one. We all seemed to be in a funk after we let Gerald go. He'd be back, we had enough on him for blackmailing a coworker into embezzling millions of dollars, we just wondered if he would still be in town. His father was furious.

The night air smelled of daisies as I stepped from the precinct to walk to my car. A man across the street was selling flowers to any passerby he could. It was a beautiful night, that was certain, and a lot of people were taking advantage of it. Couples walked hand in hand, a few men stopped to buy flowers; possibly to give to their darlings waiting for them at home.

One person in particular caught my eye, a pretty girl, not my usual type though. She seemed familiar. That's when it hit me; it was the girl I'd seen last week. I paused, wondering if I should go to her, introduce myself. I'd never really done anything like that on the street; I usually make moves under the influence of alcohol and neon lights. I was stone cold sober, and very nervous. She had stopped to look at the flowers, and she was alone.

I took a deep breath and decided to take a chance. Her hair was pulled loose to the nap of her neck, kind of in a hurried way. She wasn't striking at this particular moment, but I was pulled to her in a way I couldn't describe. Her eyes caught mine and my body tensed. I was in flight or fight mode and it was like I was caught doing something I shouldn't have been. Her smile calmed me though. She cradled one of the flowers in her hand, just looking at it. When she leaned in to smell it, I wished she was leaning towards me.

What was happening to me? I grabbed a few flowers, like the ones she had been smelling, and paid the man. He thanked me, especially when I told him to keep the change. She had moved on a few feet and I didn't want to miss my chance.

"Excuse me!" My voice didn't travel well, even though it was night, the noise was more than enough to mask my voice. "Excuse me!" This time she turned. Her smile caught me off guard, and I felt like I'd been punched. I took a deep breath and tried to steady my hands as I walked towards her. She was wearing a plain white dress that flowed a few inches past her knee, her glasses where sliding down her nose and before I got within talking distance she pushed them back up.

"Hello." She said, curious.

"Hi." I fumbled on my thoughts for a moment, before remembering my flowers. "Here. I saw you admiring these."

Her eyebrow rose up a bit, but she took them, her smile never faltering. "Hm," she closed her eyes as she smelled them. "Well, who should I thank for these?" A teasing smile graced her lips, and my mouth watered.

"My name is Greggory. What's yours?"

"Hayley."

We stood there for a moment, I was unsure what to do; I really wasn't good at this. I was about to apologize when she asked if I would walk her home. "Yes." I smiled as we fell into step together. She began to talk. She told me that her favorite color was orange, which I thought was too bright, but also thought suited her. She told me she really liked Chinese food, for a moment I thought it was a hint, but it passed very quickly. She kept moving from topic to topic, so fast that I had a hard time keeping up. Regardless, I loved watching her lips move and the sound of her voice. Her eyes were so animated and I now understood why I was drawn to her. She was a magnet.

We got to her building and she gave me a small kiss on the check. "Thank you for walking me home, Greggory. I enjoyed our chat."

"I did too, we should do it again."

"I agree. Tomorrow?"

"Huh?" She had caught me off guard again.

"I come through this part of town every day I work. Would you want to start walking me home every night? If you don't want to, that's okay. Just figured it would be nice..." She was speaking fast, like she was nervous, and I realized she was!

"Yes. I would love to start walking you home." My smile was very apparent, and so was hers. She waved a few times and glanced back at me quite a few times before disappearing into her apartment. I went back the way I had come, in the best mood I'd been in my whole life.