Buried alive
2119 Words
*Astrid*
“Dan Rasmussen was a vile snake”. Benny Johansen says. “He cheated on his wife with my baby sister Sille”.
“And that is why you killed him ?” Zac says.
Benny shakes his head. “I didn’t kill him”.
I look at Benny, then at Zac. “Are you getting mixed signals here too ?”
“Yeah, I'm very confused about this”. Zac mumbles.
Benny slams his hand down on the table to get our attention. “That son of a b***h killed Sille. He introduced her to h****n”.
“So your sister died of an overdose ?” I ask.
“And that is why you killed him ?” Zac ads.
I nod. “The same way he killed your sister”.
“I already told you”. He says in a rather convincing tone. “I didn’t kill him, even if I hated him and wished he was dead”.
“This is …”. Zac rubs his face, and gets up. “Now we are back to that whole confusion and mixed signals thing”.
I breathe in and look at the man. “Mr Johansen, where were you between eight and ten last night ?”
“I was in church”. He says, looking me straight in the eyes.
“That is even the best alibi,of all times or the worst, I genuinely don't know”. Zac says, looking like he is beyond frustrated.
What else can we do but go to the church he claims to have been attending, it is a Catholic church and out front is a sign saying; soup kitchen.
“Hi and welcome to Saint Valens, the soup kitchen is right down there”. A young man says, looking at Zac.
I give him a friendly smile. “We are from the police”.
“Which doesn’t mean we do not like soup”. Zac says placing a hand on my shoulder. “Do I smell a rich chowder ?”
“We are looking for Daniel Petersen”. I jump in and say.
The young man looks at me. “Father Petersen, he is inside … and yes it is a fish chowder”.
“With the little tiny crackers ?” Zac asks excitedly.
I get a message and check it. “Jensen has a lead on the wan, I am gonna check in on her”.
Zac totally ignores me, looking at the young man. “So is that a yes or no on the crackers ?”
“Zac !” I call as I walk away.
“I’m on it”. He calls back.
*Zac*
“Benny Johansen? Yeah I saw him here most of the evening, I heard his confession and then he stayed for the mass”. The padre tells me.
“What did he confess to ?” I ask, scratching my head.
The priest lets out a small laugh. “Agent Lewis you know I can’t tell you that … the confession chair is sacred”.
“Come on father, it’s just a wooden box”. Damn why does my scalp itch this much ?
“It is not about the box, it is about what happens when you step inside”. He looks at me with friendly eyes. “You would be surprised”.
“Yeah ?” I lift a brow. “You walk in, you unload all your crap … you walk out with a clean slate … it seems a little too easy for me”.
Father Petersen gives me a small smile. “I would say that is an oversimplification … you are welcome to try, money back guarantee if it doesn’t help”.
“Nah, I’ll pass”. I turn to look at the priest. “Look, you have a fairly large congregation … how would you notice if a man sneaked out ?”
“What is it you think Benny did ?” He asks me.
I guess I can tell a priest. “The man he blames for killing his sister was murdered last night”.
“I am sorry to hear that”. He shakes his head lightly. “I know Benny struggled with his sister's death, but I also know in my heart that he would never do something like that”.
“Unfortunately what we know in our heart doesn't really qualify as hard evidence, father”. I tell him.
He nods. “Our evening mass is live streamed, Benny always sits up front. Does time stamped video count as evidence ?”
I get a text from Astrid simply saying; ‘We have the killers van’
“Yeah it would be great if we can get those videos”. I say, starting to walk away. “Thank you for your time father”.
“You are welcome back any time agent”. He calls after me.
I find Astrid outside, and we drive off to the remote area on the edge of a small forest where the van has been spotted. It has gotten dark, and as we arrive we can see nothing but the van.
Astrid has her gun out, covering me, as we slowly walk up to the parked van. It doesn’t make it easier that the back windows are blinded, so we can’t look into it.
We look at each other and I pull my gun too, then we shoot a wheel out each at the same time, making sure that the van can’t drive off, in case there is someone behind the wheel.
I slowly move up, grab the handle and throw the door open … the van is empty. “I think we are too late”.
Astrid points her flashlight inside and we instantly notice that someone wrote ‘sinner’ on the inside of the roof with what looks like blood. “I’ll call it in”.
I am looking around, wondering what the idea with parking the van here is, it can’t be just random.
“Hey Jenses. We Got the van, definitely the same guy … there might be another victim”. Astrid says into the phone.
Suddenly I spot a mound of freshly dug earth, it looks like a grave. “Astrid, come here”.
I desperately start digging in the ground and Astrid joins me. I can’t help but have a really bad feeling about this.
When a wooden box appears I waste no time, but simply smash my clenched fist through the lid with two hard blows. Both me and Astrid grabs a hold of the broken edges and pull.
“Come on”. Astrid groans.
When we get through, the deadly pale face of a woman is revealed.
Just when I am sure she is dead, her eyes spring open and she draws in a ragged breath.
An hour later:
When I get home to my trailer I kinda sneak in, fearing that the woman could still be there. Luckily she isn’t.
Looking around I see the table overturned and instantly remember how we, me and that blonde, had knocked it over last night, as we threw ourselves at each other.
She has left a blue bead arm chain on the edge of my sink. One of those hippie like ones on beige leather. And her red lipstick on the edge of a glass. I have uncomfortable flashes of what happened, but I still can’t remember her name, which only makes me feel worse.
One thing I do remember now, she was the bartender at the place where I tried to drown the memory of which day it was … and she had kept giving me free drinks.
*Astrid*
I am having a late dinner with Freja and her daughter Maja, when there is an insisting knocking on the door. I walk to open with Pjuske jumping around my feet, all excited.
When I open the door I see Zac standing outside. He grins at me. “Howdy”.
“Hi Zac”. I am honestly surprised to see him.
He looks at the table. “Uhh dinner”.
“Evening Zac”. Freja says as he walks over.
He starts emptying his pockets, putting a couple of beers and some miniature bottles of alcohol on the table. “I did not come empty handed”.
“You didn’t really have to”. Freja says, looking at the alcohol.
“No problem, I am happy to”. Zac says with a grin. He has clearly already been drinking.
I sit down and Maja waves at Zac. “Hi Zac”.
“Hi there”. He waves back, then he gets up. “Let's eat, I am gonna grab a plate … anybody needs anything ?”
About an hour later me and Freja are doing the dishes, while Zac is on the couch with a beer in his hand, Pjuske is rolled up on one side of him, and Maja is sitting on the other, telling him that she has a boyfriend in kindergarten.
“Do you love him ?” Zac says.
Maja nods solemnly. “Yes”.
“Never let him go”. He says lifting his bottle to the little girl. “Hear me ?”
“Yeah …”. She grins shyly.
Zac looks at her. “What did I just say ?”
“You said, never let him go”. Maja says, looking slightly confused.
“Bingo”. Zac wink at her, then he sighs and takes another big gulp from his beer.
Freja looks at me, and says in a hushed voice. “What is going on with Zac ?”
“The drinking ?” I ask.
“That much drinking”. She sighs. “He is drowning in it”.
I nod slowly. “I have never seen him this bad before”.
“You should let him sleep on your couch”. She says. “He can’t drive”.
“Or the garage”. I mumble.
She giggles and shakes her head. “Your couch”.
“Or the driveway”. I suggest.
After walking Freja and Maja out I come into the living room with bedding and such. Zac is sitting right up in the armchair, snoring rather loudly.
“You good ? I ask a bit loud, and he grunts. “I got some pillows and sheets”.
“Oh no need, I am a simple man”. He says getting up.
I give him a short glance. “The sheet is for my couch, not you”.
“Oh okay”. He tries grabbing the other end and tried helping me spread it on the couch.
“No, stop”. I put a hand on his arm. “You go take off your boots, I will handle this”.
He nods and starts pulling off his boots, seconds later there is a bump and a grunt, as he falls on his ass.
“You okay ?” I look at him on the floor.
“Yeah”. He mumbles and manages to get up again. “Oh look at this little neat you made”.
He rolls over the back of the couch and into it.
“Okay”. I spread a blanket over him. “Hey, if you wake up in a couple of hours, and you think about driving home, do me a favour … don’t, okay ?”
As he looks like he is already sleeping, I turn to walk to my bedroom, but then he suddenly says. “I cheated on my wife”.
I turn and walk back. “What ?”
“Last night”. He mumbles. “I drank too much … and I didn’t intentionally did it, but I cheated on her”.
“Do you want to talk about it ?” I ask softly.
He blinks and looks at me. “I just did … could you turn off the light for me ?”
I nod, clearly he is not ready to talk any more, so I walk out, turning off the light, hoping he will get a good night's sleep, so he is worth anything tomorrow.
- Writer
