Someone Saw Something by Rick Mofina

Author:Rick Mofina [Rick Mofina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Domestic, Crime, Suspense, Women
ISBN: 9780778305439
Google: 3HrFEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0778305430
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2024-04-28T23:00:00+00:00

39

THE BREAKING NEWS catapulted Corina to her door with the detectives calling after her.

“Wait! Don’t leave!” Alvarez said, phone to his ear.

DiMaria, also on her phone, cautioned: “Don’t go to the park, please! We’re getting more information!”

They were too late to stop her; she’d rushed to the elevator and jabbed the button. It was quick to arrive. She saw Robert and Charlotte rush into the hall, but she got on and the doors closed before they could reach her.

Downstairs, Corina exited her building. News crews were waiting on the sidewalk. In a sudden blaze of lights, they assailed her with questions that went unanswered as she flew past them with a brief look over her shoulder. Some trotted after her before giving up; others hurried to vehicles.

Corina was unsure if media—or her family, friends or detectives—were following as she ran. She didn’t care. The location given in the report was less than five blocks away. Her heart pounded, panic rising as she ran, pleading for Gabriel.

He can’t be dead! It can’t happen like this!

Sirens screamed in the night, underscored with horns, traffic. Breezes carried take-out wrappers and the smells of the city. Corina ran toward a galaxy of police lights, strobing against the park wall. The wailing of the sirens was endless...taking her back through her life to California...replaying that night...

Please don’t let this be Whittier again...not again...

The lights were brighter, sirens louder, as Corina arrived. Inside the park entrance she found controlled chaos as she shouldered through bystanders to the yellow tape. She clasped the arm of a cop.

“Help me, please!”

“Ma’am, remove your hand and stand back!”

“Please, I need to talk to a detective. I’m Corina Corado and my son Gabriel’s missing.”

A moment. Then recognition registered.

“Wait here.” The cop turned away, speaking into his shoulder microphone. A static response sounded and he lifted the tape. “This way.”

With a sharp intake of breath, Corina ducked under the tape.

“Corina!”

Robert and Charlotte emerged, out of breath, and identified themselves to the officer. Assessing them, the cop then led the family along the inside perimeter, advising them where to step.

Still distant from the scene, they moved along, near another cluster of emergency vehicles situated deeper in the park, lights strobing, radio crosstalk crackling. Beyond them, Corina glimpsed more crime scene tape. Then, on the ground, just as she saw a yellow tarp covering a body, investigators huddled near it, she heard the fragment of a radio dispatch.

“...male...deceased is male...age...stand by...”

Corina’s legs gave way, but Robert and Charlotte steadied her.

Moments later, two detectives, Aubato and Plunkett, stood before them; their badges swaying from neck chains glinting in the lights. They nodded when the cop confirmed who they were.

“I’m sorry you had to come down here like this,” Aubato said, gripping a notebook.

“Didn’t DiMaria inform you?” Plunkett asked.

Corina covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head.

“Corina ran over when she saw the news,” Robert said. “We followed her. In the confusion, we only know that you have—” His gaze went to the tarp. “Is that—”

“Did you find our son?” Corina asked.

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