Love and Mystery Box Set

Chapter 9-1

Chapter 9

I sat in my car in the Oakhaven Starbucks parking lot, wondering how long this meeting would take. I hadn’t planned on coming back here. Waiting for the Oakhaven detective to show up, I sat in the parking lot, and I listened to voicemails. There were a few from Noah. He hadn’t called in a couple of days, but I listened to his messages, and resaved them.

The voicemails from Oakhaven police were in between his calls. The last message confirmed that we were meeting here today.

Two crime scene visits on the same day. One of my client’s, and one more personal.

When the detective arrived, I showed him where I sat.

“So, this is where you were?”

“Yes.”

The detective asked, “How long were you here, talking?”

“Not very long. Maybe ten minutes tops.”

I paused.

Here is where Anton died. Where I got shot.

“Who else knew you were meeting here?”

“I don’t know who Anton told, but the people I work with, worked with, knew.” I cleared my throat. “So, any leads?’

“None so far. The store didn’t have video on the parking lot. There was a lot of traffic here. It was almost—”

“Almost, what?’

“Almost professional. This person knew what he was doing.”

“How do we know it’s a guy?”

“Well, we think the shooter was behind that tree across the street.”

Who would want to shoot Anton? Who’d want to shoot me?

I looked over. There was commercial plaza across the street with a bank of trees and bushes. It was several yards away.

“Based on the angle you confirmed and how you described the decedent sitting, we’re pretty sure the killer was behind that tree.”

“Again, how do you know it was a guy?”

“Well, of course, we can’t exclude a female being the killer but that would be unusual. But let’s walk across the street.”

We crossed the busy street and approached the tree. The breeze picked up and I heard the leaves slapping against each other, and limbs swaying.

He tapped the opening between the trunks. “I think this is where the shots were fired.”

Because of the height of the trunks, the killer had to be at least six feet tall. At six feet tall, I could have taken a shot but my shoulder would have to be pretty high to take the shot. It would be a lot easier for someone taller than six feet.

Here’s where the killer stood.

I felt a chill as soon as I thought about Anton.

The detective continued, “Could have been a woman, if she was tall. But in my experience most likely the killer was a man. Definitely an expert marksman. Maybe ex-cop, maybe ex-military. Clearly, someone who knew how to kill. Not a crime of passion, that’s for sure. That’s why evidence points to one man.”