Chapter 1
I began looking around for any signs of vandalism to the worn red stone brick building. There were none. All the bodies were positioned the same way, legs straight out with their hand on their knees, top of their head pointing at us. None of the bodies had any visible harm done to them. Putting on a pair of gloves I went one by one to lift their heads and look at each feature. First was a stranger, as well as the second, third, and so forth. When I got to the eleventh body, I lifted their face to find the young man looking back at me with a very alive, terrified expression.
“…but yeah, that’s why I need more shoes,” Sophia was in the process of saying, but I was zoned out. I looked over the table at her familiar honey brown eyes that haven’t lost their sparkle in all the years we have been together. Even with light wrinkles around her eyes and mouth from all the laughter throughout our lives, her beauty still stands firm, enough to stop any man in his tracks.
I retired about 11 years ago, the time most would say I was at my prime as a detective. People wrote about me in the newspaper, a legend who put away hundreds of dangerous criminals; the Albert Einstein or Michael Jordan of my respective trade. Giving up this game was pushed on me by my wife. If it was up to me, I would’ve done this until I was death’s target.
When I came to, Sophia was staring at me, waiting for an answer to what she was talking about for the last minute. “Of course!” I nodded, not knowing what I had just agreed. “Thank you honey!” she squealed happily. “Tomorrow we’ll wake up at five and start running together!” She was so ecstatic that I couldn’t possibly say never mind, it would’ve broken her heart.
We continued to eat together in peaceful silence, reminiscing on our first date in this spot thirty years ago today. “I can’t believe it’s been this long since our first date,” Sophia said laughing a bit.
“Yea, you didn’t tell me that I had a milkshake mustache on the whole time, I only noticed when I scratched my nose that it had been there,” I said with a fake glare.
We continued eating, me with my blueberry waffles and her with chocolate chip waffles. The scenery outside was beautiful, but occasionally, I would look back at her, while sipping my coffee to see her scrunch up her nose in distaste. “I always wondered how you drink your coffee black, but now I realize it's because it's so much like your own personality, strong and bitter,” she said with a wink. I smirked at her works, her fiery personality matching perfectly with her strawberry blond hair with streaks of grey in it.
After paying for our meals, we walked home to start on preparations for dinner with our daughter, her husband, and her two sons. She was coming into town to have dinner with us in celebration of our first date anniversary. Sophia was talking about what she was going to make to for the dinner when I got a call. It was Jonny, my old assistant that calls me occasionally to ask for my opinion on tougher cases.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Mr. Flex?” He sounded anxious, which was odd since he was typically a very calm and collected guy. “It’s been a long time since our last conversation, but there is a huge problem that has happened at the entrance of Judie’s, and I would like your help with any clues you can pick up whenever you can come.” I looked at Sophia, who was mouthing the word “who is it?”.
“Give me thirty” I answered, then hung up.
