The Agent Tilt Mystery's Book 1 Payback

Prologue



It was a bright and sunny day as I drove up to the Jackson center for homicide survivors, and sat in my vehicle for a few moments taking in a few deep breaths to calm my nerves down, and waited for my hands to stop shaking, and then reached into my purse and grabbed a bottle of antidepressants and took two, then headed into the center. Once inside I walked up to the receptionist, she looked up at me and smiled.

‘How can I help you Ms.----’

‘Alexa… Alexa Tilt, I have a group session today with Dr. Reynolds.’

She started typing on the keyboard. ‘Right this way Ms. Tilt.’

I followed the receptionist down a long hallway to a set of double doors then she knocked on the doors and walked back down the hallway we came from. Soon after the doors opened up.

‘Ah Ms. Tilt come on in.’

I put my hands inside my pockets ‘Hello Dr. Reynolds.’

‘We’ve been waiting for you.’

‘Sorry I got held up at work.’

‘That's fine at least you're here now.’

I took my hands out of my pockets and rubbed my right arm ‘Why would you wait for me?’

‘Dr. Reynolds stepped out and shut the door behind him. 'Don't you remember you volunteered last week to share your story today.’

‘I know it’s just that----’

‘You’re scared I understand… But I promise this is a safe space for you, nothing you say will ever leave this room.’

‘I know Dr. Reynolds’

Dr. Reynolds opened the door and gently rested his hand on my shoulder ‘Shall we then.’

I gently nodded my head and walked inside and took a seat by the window next to my friend Sue. She looked happy, happier than I have ever seen her since I started coming here a year and a half ago. Her father was a serial killer known as the Rat Trap Killer who killed about six people three years ago, that was the first case I ever worked as a FBI agent.

Dr. Reynolds sat down in the chair across from us as the sun hit him in the eyes he leaned towards us. ‘It’s nice to see you all again, so last week Alexa volunteered to share today.'

Dr. Reynolds looked over at me. ‘You can start whenever you’re ready Ms. Tilt, we're here for you.’

I took a big sigh and looked around at the group, then back to Dr. Reynolds ‘Well it started seven years ago on a dark and stormy night.’



---



Me and my friends were heading back from spring break. The roads were hard to see. My boyfriend Peter was driving a big white van at the time. My brother Jack was sitting in the back with me drinking Fireball while Steven and Courtney were smoking a joint across from us. Jack cracked the windows by Steven to let some of the smoke out of the van.

‘Jacky come on man it’s raining out.’

Jack sat back down and took another swig of Fireball. ‘Then put that shit out, Alexa doesn't want you smoking that in here!’

Steven leaned towards Jack. ‘Fuck you Jacky if you’re sister has a problem she can tell me herself.’

Courtney looked over at Steven and pulled him back towards her ‘Babe just put it out it’s not a big deal.’

‘Fuck it!’ Steven flicked the joint out the window and picked up a bottle of whiskey and took a drink out of it. ‘You know Jacky, you won't be there forever to protect your cunt of a sister.’

Jack looked at Steven with disgust and points his finger at him ‘What the fuck did you just say?’

‘You heard me Jacky’

Peter looked back toward them. ‘Knock it off you two!’

Steven looked towards Alexa. ‘I’m just saying you need to learn how to stand up for yourself.’

The road got really hard to see, there were no street lights around and the headlights couldn't penetrate the heavy rain. Peter could only see about two feet in front of him. I told him to pull over but he insisted we keep driving and wouldn't listen to anything I was saying which turned into a grave mistake.. A mistake that changed our lives forever.

Peter reached over to the passenger seat which is where he put his stash, and grabbed a bottle of moxy and popped one then threw the bottle back over in the seat. The rain started coming down harder than the windshield wipers could handle.

I went up to the passenger seat to grab the bottle of moxy, popped one in my mouth and kissed Peter. When he looked back at the road he saw a deer in the middle of the road so he jerked to the side and started trying to swerve the van back on the road but we soon heard a loud bang on the front of the hood. He slammed on the breaks and the van came to a stop.

We got out of the van in a hurry and ran around to the front and saw the blood running down the hood onto the road. The body was laying face down on the ground with his head tilt just enough to see his pale eyes. I ran over to the guy and tried to find a pulse but couldn’t find one and then blood started dripping from my hands as I tried to help him.

‘Peter call 911!’

Peter took his phone out ‘I have no service.’

‘What did you do!?’

‘There was a deer so I swerved to avoid hitting it.’

I walked around to the back of the van ‘Peter that was no deer!’

‘What are you talking about?’ He walked around to the back and saw a vehicle in the middle of the road ‘No there wasn't a car there, only a deer, I swear Alexa!’

I turned and looked at Jack. I'll never forget the look in his eyes, A look I haven’t seen since our parents death the year before.

‘Peter I told you not to take anything while you were driving!’

‘I didn’t!’

‘Bull shit!’

Peter looked at everyone and rubbed his arms together in shame.

‘We can’t say anything to anyone ever, not even the cops, we’ve all taken drugs and have been drinking this would put us all in prison.’

Jack rubbed his head and crossed his arms together ‘I agree we leave and never look back, we continue our lives, clean the van and graduate and go our own ways.’

Everyone looked at each other then we all put our hands together and we made a pact to forget about what happened. After graduation we went our own ways and never talked to each other again, which we did for five years until Courtney's death brought us back together once more.