This month I’m taking part in the A-Z Challenge! Which means I’ll be writing 26 posts (on set days through the month) each one corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. Today is day 11, which means letter K.
My theme for the month is: Secret Diary Of A Serial Killer. Each post will be a new chapter in the story – I’m really excited to finally get this novel idea out of my head and into words. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Previous Chapter: Johnny Start from A: Anna
Killer
I arranged to meet Johnny at the Sunrise Diner again in a few hours. He gave me a disposable cell to use while he worked on mine, so I called the station to see if we had any leads to follow. The desk clerk transferred me.
Capinski picked up on the 2nd ring. “Get anything useful from your source?”
“Unfortunately not,” I said. “How about you? Anything come up about Anna Barlow?”
“There are 87 Anna Barlows in the state. They’re working on it to narrow it down. Meet me on Main Street and we’ll see if any of the businesses recognise her picture.” He hung up before I could answer.
Main Street was where I first saw Anna, and where I bumped into her in a coffee shop. I crossed my fingers the owner wouldn’t recognise her picture, and prepared myself to deal with him in case he did.
Capinski was coming out of a flower shop as I parked my car. He walked over and handed a copy of Anna’s picture to me.
“You want to take that side and I’ll take this one?” I said, trying to keep him away from the coffee shop.
“No, let’s stick together in case we find anything,” he said.
Three shops stood between us and the coffee shop. I took a deep breath to steady myself and followed him down the street.
Each store was as uneventful as the last. Finally we came to the coffee shop, I could see the owner serving behind the counter and felt my fingers flex and fist instinctively.
Capinski went ahead and cut in line. I flashed my badge to the customers before anyone got irate.
“Have you seen this woman?” Capinski asked the owner.
He took the photo and looked at it, more closely than the other stores had. I could hear my heart beating steady, my pulse calm as I took a mental count of the people in the store, and my hand resting on my gun just in case. Getting a new name and starting fresh wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve had to do.
“No,” the owner finally said, handing the picture back.
“You’re sure?” Capinski said.
“As sure as I can be,” said the owner.
I relaxed my hand off my holster and thanked the owner for his time.
“Next?” I said to Capinski.
We had visited about 3/4 of the stores when the cell Johnny gave me started to buzz in my pocket.
“Just a minute,” I said to Capinski.
“New phone?” He said.
I nodded and walked a few feet away for some privacy.
“You got something?” I said, knowing it would be Johnny.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m still working some magic on the phone, but I got your voice call cleaned up. Want to hear it?”
“Great! Yeah,” I said, smiling.
“Ok, here goes.” There was a slight scuffle of movement then the recording played.
“The dead girl’s name is Anna Barlow,” Capinski’s voice said through my phone.