Jack’s Angel (Part three)
Jack and his new partners arrived at the apartment of the horrific crime scene about ten minutes later. All the photos and initial investigation had already been completed. Their job now was to look for any additional clues that might have been overlooked. As much as he wanted to dive into this case, Jack was determined to at least attempt to obey Captain Mendez’s rules. This was gonna be tough though he thought to himself.
All three of then entered the apartment, and as soon as Jack stepped inside the door, he was met with a wave of déjà vu. This isn’t right Jack thought to himself. Why does this all seem so familiar? Jack felt panicky and looked quickly around the room. It had been cleaned of the massive amount of blood, but Jack was still repulsed by the feelings he was getting. “The killer knew his victim,” Jack suddenly announced to his partners. Both men turned to look at Jack. “What gives you that idea,” Monroe asked. Jack just stared at him with a rather blank look on his face then he made a bee line for the bathroom. Jack seemed to know his way around.
Inside the bathroom, Jack glanced around then walked over to the bath tub. He bent over and moved the thick shower mat in the tub. Beneath the mat was a twelve inch long knife. Jack carefully picked it up and handed it to Monroe, who had followed him. Monroe took the knife and looked at it and back to Jack several times. “How did you know that knife was there? Have you been here before? Did you know this dead girl? Come on Jack, what the fuck is going on?” Monroe hammered the questions at Jack.
Jack walked slowly back into the living room and just stood there ignoring Monroe. Monroe bagged the knife then turned on Jack once again. He spun him around telling him, “ok buddy, spill it…what do you know about this?” Jack looked at him with a glazed look in his eye and spoke slowly. “No, I didn’t know this girl and no I’ve never been here before. As for knowing where the knife was, well…we had a similar crime like this in Chicago and under the mat is where the other killer hid the murder weapon. I know this can’t be Carlos’ handiwork…he’s not in any condition to do the deed thanks to yours truly”. Jack stopped himself short when he realized where he was going with this conversation. Monroe and Parker looked at Jack but didn’t say a word. They knew…like everyone else… what had happened in Chicago.
The three men did some more searching around the apartment but came up empty handed. They left the scene and headed back to the station. On the return trip, no one said a word. The air felt thick with the tension in the car. Jack just wanted to go home even if home was his apartment in Houston instead of Chicago.
Back at the station, Jack dodged the captain for the remainder of the day and kept his head low. He didn’t want to talk to anyone and certainly didn’t want to answer any questions. The story he had told Monroe about how he knew where the knife was still prayed heavy on his mind. How did he know the knife would be there? It made no sense to him so how could he possibly expect it to make any sense to anyone else. The feeling of having been in the apartment before plagued him even more. I think my mind is slipping he thought to himself.
As the clock approached the five o’clock hour, Jack was more than ready to call it a day. He grabbed his cell phone and slipped out of the office before anyone could notice he was gone. Safely in his car, he laid the cell on the seat beside him and took off for home. Traffic was gonna be a bitch he sighed heavily. He was right about that. He had no sooner entered the freeway when all he could see in front of him was a sea of red tail lights. Traffic stopped as did Jack. He was just about to resign himself to turning on the radio to wait out the traffic backup when his cell phone began to ring. Jack picked it up and looked at the caller id to see who it was…it read UNKNOWN. Jack took a chance and answered the phone. “Hello”, he said into the mouthpiece. “Hello Jack, how are you?” It was that same sweet and sexy voice from this morning at his desk. “I’m fine sweetheart, he replied back. Who is this”? “You can call me Angel. I will be watching over you Jack and when you get home, please be sure to check your personal email.” Before Jack could respond, the line went dead and Jack’s Angel was gone once again. >>>To Be Continued<<<