I used to be a murder detective. I’m starting to think that my wife is killing people one by one.
I worked as a police officer for 32 years. It had been my dream job since I was a little boy. I worked as a murder detective for 15 of those 30 years. The world is really a crazy place; I've seen things you couldn't believe. My wife Heaven and my son Damon are the only things that kept me from going crazy. About a year ago, I thought I was safe from the darkness. But now I'm afraid it's coming into my own home.
My wife and I built our two-story house many years ago. Our closest neighbors are Damon and his family, who live about a mile down the road. We are not close to the busy city center. We like living in a mostly quiet area. I regularly walk our German Shepherd, Mr. Hunter, through the woods and fish with my sister Heaven. That day, I felt like I would finally be at peace with myself and the world. I will never forget the horrible things people do. Is that too much for an old man to ask?
Like every other day, I began my day the same way. At around six in the morning, I drank coffee, put on my old sneakers, and went for a walk with Mr. Hunter. My teaching wife had already left for the day. As the sun came up over the horizon, it cast an orange glow on the thin layer of snow. Before I could catch up, Mr. Hunter ran out and stopped at the pond where we often fished. He started to bark right away and look out over the water.
Dear Mr. Hunter! Don't moan before you wake up your brother!"
I stopped next to him and looked at the black surface. Either my eyes were not what they seemed to be, or someone was across the pond. I asked myself what was going on because it was still dark. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the other bank again. There's nothing. Mr. Hunter kept barking for a little while longer, but a mouse finally caught his attention. It wasn't easy for me to get sidetracked. After looking at the trees across the way for a while longer, I decided that the soft movement must have been caused by some kind of animal. My friend Mr. Hunter and I kept walking without any problems.
I sat down with a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant and watched the news. In the same way, Mr. Hunter ate all of the new food I put in his bowl. I ate my croissant and then turned my attention to the TV. The news anchor was talking about how a local woman named Denise Lawson went missing. This was something I had seen before. The poor girl had not been seen in about two weeks. She had long, red hair and green eyes. She was about 23 years old. That week, it was the third time I thought about one of the worst times in my work.
About ten years ago, the disappearances began. Six girls, between the ages of 21 and 24, went missing over the course of two years. There were six women whose names I will never forget: Serena Pieces, Kendall Black, Velonie Green, and Cream McClean. Two things linked them all: red hair and green eyes. Two of them have only had parts of their bodies found so far. There was no physical proof and no exciting leads. Someone said they saw a man with one of the girls on the night she went missing, but that was the only thing that helped us figure out who was taking these girls. This case was very close to home for me because Kendall Black was the niece of my wife. I knew her when she was a little girl.
I just stared at my croissant aimlessly because I had lost my hunger. I put the plate on the end table, got up, and went to my computer to play some online solitaire to pass the time. After a few hours, I got the call. To my surprise, it was a police officer I had known for a few years. It had been a while since I heard from him.
"David?"
"Hi there, Detective Varon. Hey, this is David."
He sounded tense.
"Yes, son. Also, you can call me Valorio instead of detective from now on. "How are you, buddy?"
David was unsure. "I'm...Do not worry, Detective Valorio. "Mr., it's about your wife."
This made me feel the same way I did when I first heard about Velonie's disappearance. "Where's my wife, David?"
"Sir, we've brought her in to question her." She is a possible suspect in the deaths of Cream McClean and Kylie Stone.
I ran as fast as I could to get to the stop. When I got there, I talked to the captain, Darek Jules, who I knew and had worked with for a long time.
"Darek, what are you talking about?" Are you bringing my wife here to be screamed at for something we both know she didn't do?"
They were joined by three more cops, but Darek quickly pushed them away. He was tall, tired, and had a clean-shaven face. Before he spoke, he looked me in the eyes.
"Listen, Valorio. You should know that I respect you and Heaven a lot. For God's sake, you were at my wedding. No matter what, I have to do my job. You must know that, right?"
I was yelling. "What could make you think Heaven had anything to do with any of these things? "Don't you think I would know if I had a criminal living in my house?"
Darek's eyes had a sparkle in them, and I knew what he was going to say. "I don't know, Police Officer. If I remember right, your son was setting fires while he was still in your house.
"How dare you bring that up."
Darek let out a sigh. "Hey, wait a minute or two, and your wife will be out right away, all right?" But listen to what I say: don't get in the way of our study. "With all due respect, sir, you're no longer on the force."
I paced back and forth and cursed all the time for about ten more minutes. I didn't even notice Heaven when she finally came up to me.
"Honey."
"Heaven, are you okay?" I held her close and then stood back to look at her more closely. She looked great for being 54 years old. Her blonde hair fell past her shoulders, and her heart-shaped face was just as lively as the first time I met her.
"Yes, old man, I'm fine." Let's leave. I need to see Adam.
Every police officer had their eyes on me as I led my wife out of the station. We agreed that she could get her car from the school the next day when I dropped her off. The talk then quickly turned to the reason she was brought to the station in the first place.
"Darek picked me up because...well, it hurts to say this, but apparently I was one of the last people seen with Kylie Stone before she went missing."
"What is her name?" You haven't told me about any friends with that name."
Heaven let out a sigh and looked out the window. "Kylie Stone used to be one of my students." Even though she finished a few years ago, she and I ran into each other at a bar a few nights ago. We had fun, and she didn't seem to be upset about anything.
"Darek's always been a trigger happy," I said while clenching my teeth. "When I see him in town again I'll be sure to give him a piece of my-"
"Don't worry, Valorio. Everything is fine. Darek was just being a worker. It was a pleasure to talk to him and the other cops. They have no bad intentions toward us.
Even though the whole thing was making me mad, I was glad to see that my wife was okay. When I got to our son's house, his wife Ellie and their three-year-old son Adam met us at the door. Even though Damon was still at work, Ellie kept us busy. I did want to go check on Mr. Hunter after about an hour, though. Damon got home from work, and Ellie offered to pick up Heaven. That meant I had to go back to the house by myself.
In the yard, Mr. Hunter was ready for me. We both went inside after I scratched him behind the ears. I looked at the computer again because I was interested and had some free time. Even though I was retired, I felt like I had to find this out for myself. I promised myself a long time ago that I would catch this s*xy babe.
My name was looked for as Kylie Stone. I moaned and shook my head when her picture came up. Not only did she look a lot like Velonie, but so did everyone else who had disappeared before her. Since it hurt to look at her for too long, I scrolled down to find out more about what happened to her. She was 21 years old and had graduated from the school where my wife taught three years before. Other than that, not much was known about her. No one said anything about her interests or job.
I went to the comments area to see if anyone had anything more in-depth to say. The first thing I saw was "WHORE." What she deserved happened to her.
I shook my head and moved on to the next two, which were prayers and wishes for her family. The next response was from a different woman, who said she was "getting around." At this point, either these women were awful trolls or Kylie Stone had made a name for herself. I was done with this crap anyway. It was time to go for a walk.
I felt as cold as I could toward Darek the next time I saw his sorry behind. I walked behind Mr. Hunter, who stopped at every tree to pee before we got back to the pond. I thought back to the strange movement I had seen earlier that day and chose to look into it. Really, it wasn't often that I made it to the other side of the pond.
The light snow had already melted when I went to look for tracks. Still, I looked around the area and quickly came to the conclusion that someone had been there. A piece of black plastic that looked like it came from a trash bag was stuck to a tree that was hanging down. It wasn't faded from being in the sun for a long time, and it wasn't dirty from being there. I touched it with my finger to see what it was, then I looked around. A man named Mr. Hunter was on the ground and chewing on something.
"Hey! "You scoundrel, spit it out."
Mr. Hunter looked at me with a guilty face. I saw something shiny and gold in his mouth. I got on my knees and pulled it out while looking at it in shock. It was a band.
"What the..." It was something I had never seen before, and Heaven didn't have one like it. I looked around the area some more and didn't find anything else strange. Someone must have picked the wrong day to break the law by coming this far into the land, I thought. Like always, I had my gun in a belt around my waist. My partner and I kept one hand on it as we worked.
It had been a while since I was on this side of the pond. There were a lot of trees in the area, and I had no reason to come this far. Damon, my kid, was a different story. He would often be out here burning anything he could get his hands on when he was going through his pyromania phase. A few days before that, we built him a playhouse on a tree he chose when he was six years old. Even though the old, broken-down ladder he had used before was no longer there, the treehouse itself was still there.
As I looked around at what I saw, I stopped and felt my breath rise. The old ladder had been on the ground for a while, since there was a mark in the grass and dirt below. But now it was leaning against the tree and led up to the platform. It wasn't cold, but I could feel a chill. First I looked at the band, then I looked up at the deck. Someone had just climbed up there, and I thought they might still be there.
Mr. Hunter sat down and watched me slowly climb up the ladder. I put one hand on it and looked up at the old treehouse made of wood. "Hi, my name is Valorio Varon. If anyone is up there, you are not allowed there! If you don't come out now, I won't call the police!"
Keep quiet. My jacket and hood flapped in the wind. The little "windows" of the treehouse kept drawing my attention to anything moving. There's nothing.
"Okay! I'll have to come get you myself if you don't come out."
When I put one foot on the stairs, it shook quickly. I should have known that the hamburger I ate the other day would make me feel bad. I slowly started to climb the ladder, which shook dangerously with each step I took. I was set on getting to the bottom of this, so I held on tight to the band as I climbed. Maybe the person in the treehouse had something to do with this whole thing. Suddenly, a bad smell that I knew all too well filled my nose. I stopped when I was almost at the top of the ladder. There just can't be a...
I put my hand on the very top step.
A gunshot was heard nearby, and it sounded worse than thunder in the worst storm.
Because I was scared, I lost my balance on the old ladder and felt myself fall. The world turned upside down all of a sudden, and then it was gone.
