Chapter 10 Kansas

Tina Turner played softly in the background from a jukebox. A woman, in her 50s, swayed in her kitchen to the beat. 'What's love got to do with it, who needs a heart? When a heart can be broken.' She harmonized, the rhythm of the song synchronizing with her movements. She was cleaning her dishes, she grabbed a towel and wipe a plate. It was early in the afternoon, she had just taken lunch. Salmon. Prepared the lovely dish herself.

She dried her hands once the kitchen was clean, she then walked upstairs, opened a medicine cabinet, and took her drugs. She grabbed a bottle of water that was placed safely on her table and downed it in her throat. She walked back downstairs to the living room.

Outside her home, a shadow loomed in her backyard walls. She was unaware. Her neighbors were not around, the closest person or people around her were miles down the street. He smirked menacingly, his weapon at the ready. He wore casual jeans and a polo shirt. He looked normal. Like he could not harm a soul.

The woman took her knitting needles, sat by a hot blazing fireplace despite the blaring sun just outside. She hummed a tune while she made a pattern, oblivious to who was approaching her. Stephen twisted the door handle as quietly as he could and got inside. The clicking of the door when it shut was never heard by the woman. Stephen walked to her, his cloaked arm reached out enveloping the woman across her mouth so she wouldn't scream. The woman's eyes bulged, her nose flared, her knitting was stopped mid-air. Her heart and mind screamed danger. She felt a knife pressed against her back. She gulped heavily.

'Now, dear I'm going to need you to be quiet for me." He mumbled letting her go. She gasped but placed her palm over her mouth, tears welled in her eyes. Her breaths were short. Stephen took a blindfold from one of his pockets and covered her eyes. Her hand trembled, the knitting feel on her carpeted floor. Stephen stood in front of her and drove the knife into her chest.

He withdrew it and jabbed again directly to her heart, the poor woman fell limply, her body coming forward and landed on the floor with a thud. Stephen untied the blindfold and grabbed the knife then wiped it clean.

He glanced at himself ensuring he had no spot of blood on his body or his garments. Neither did he leave any prints of his boots. He left no item on the scene and made his way out of the door and into the thin air as he had approached. The song playing had changed to Broken Hearted Melody by Sarah Vaughan. It was one of her favorites, she would have swayed her yarn and knitting if she heard it.

"Hello... Claire are you around?" A voice called from outside frantically. A woman in her 20s stood outside the dead woman's door knocking. She held in her hands a brown bag that she was getting tired of holding. She twisted the handle and found the door open. Strange. She thought.

"Claire are you here?" She asked as she walked to the kitchen to settle the bag. She started dumping the contents on the counter so she could put the vegetables away. She had gone grocery shopping for the week. She walked to the living room to check if Claire had fallen asleep. What she saw was not what she expected. Hurdled. Coiled. Her body froze seeing poor Claire in that position. She screamed a heart-wrenching scream. She kneeled in front of her and turned her body to kay on her back.

Her eyes were wide, vacant. She saw the wounds on her chest. Trembling she stood up and grabbed the closest phone and dialed 911. She cried into the speaker asking for help. She dropped the phone and tried resuscitating the dead woman, pumping her chest. Blood seemed through her flimsy shirt and soaked her. Her hands were covered in blood and so was she. She was utterly befuddled. She couldn't imagine anyone who would want to harm Claire.

Immediately the Kansas police and paramedics were dispatched to the address she provided. She heard police come inside the room, she stood from the scene, her bloody mess made them approach her as though she was the murderer. She was frightened.

"Ma'am who called the police?" One of the police officers said while a team of others took pictures and covered the woman. The young woman pointed to herself. She was so stunned that she couldn't utter a word. One of the police officers guided her outside, the woman stared back at the scene in disbelief. The groceries were all forgotten. The song playing all the more a prop in the setting.

They drove her to the police station. Blood and all. There she was settled in an interrogation room. Police tried questioning her about the incident, she couldn't say a word. Her eyes seemed far away from reality. Claire's body was transported to the morgue. It was plain that the police officers assumed that the young woman must have had something to do with it. But, they could not prove anything when she was unresponsive.

"Ask for Detective Dana, Simon. She will know what to do." One of the men spoke to the police behind the registration desk. He nodded and grabbed the work phone dialing the Tapas Police Department. Dana, exhausted from her hangover sighed when she received the call. She woke up in the morning and found herself tucked in the bed, naked under the sheets. Sarina, the mysterious woman she men was not anywhere in sight. She quickly took ibuprofen as her head was massively pounding and grabbed a large mug of coffee then drove to work.

She was grateful that the new team taking over had not yet arrived at the station. It looked as though they had postponed their arrival. She was not complaining at all.

She grabbed her coat, sunglasses, and keys and walked out of the station. Phillip trailed behind her, giving her more details about the murder in Kansas. She threw the keys at Phillip who caught them mid-air and scoffed getting in the driver's seat.

"Not going to talk about last night, are you?" He asked. Dana glared at him behind her sunglasses. Phillip sighed and started the car.

Writer's Notes

Hello, thank you so much for reading this chapter. Have a lovely day and or night.

Q: What is your favorite movie?