Vendetta by Craig Gaydas

Author:Craig Gaydas [Gaydas, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creativia
Published: 2013-08-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

His watch read 8:08 am. Chuck was mindlessly chewing on another cigarette, trying to comprehend the scene before him. A uniformed police officer with a somber look approached him.

“She was the one who discovered him.”

The officer flipped his thumb toward an older woman sobbing on the rear bumper of the ambulance. A paramedic wrapped his shoulder around her in an attempt to comfort her.

Chuck tossed the cigarette and rubbed his face. His frustration started to mount. There were three murders within the span of a few days in his town.

The M.E.'s office continued to work on Mark Sherwood's body. The body remained in the Honda while the CSU processed the scene.

Chuck grunted and approached the woman. This was his least favorite part of the job, trying to comfort upset people. He wasn't very good at it.

“Hello miss, my name is Chuck Ferraro and I'm the homicide detective for the Palm Harbor Police Department.” He offered his hand and she gave it a squeeze.

“I decided to come in early today,” she blurted. “I saw his car and I knew something was wrong.”

Chuck raised an eyebrow. “Why is that ma'am?”

“Because he never comes into work early,” she replied with a shiver. “So I thought maybe his car broke down or something, ya know?”

Chuck offered her a supportive nod.

“So I walked over to the car and saw him slumped over the wheel with blood all over his face.” Fresh tears streamed down her face.

Chuck patted her back awkwardly and gestured toward the officer standing next to them.

“Ok miss, this officer is going to take your statement and we will be in touch.”

Chuck turned to walk away but before he could get away she grabbed his wrist. The firm grip startled him.

“I will never forget his eyes. It was like he was staring at me, accusing me of not doing enough to help him.” She sobbed and released her grip.

Chuck didn't know how to react. He wasn't good at consoling people ever since his wife died. He found it an awkward emotion to control. To get out of his current predicament he waved the uniformed officer over who escorted the woman to a patrol car.

“Ferraro!” A voice rang out behind him.

The voice belonged to Chief Tony Francone who hustled over to the crime scene. His face was bloated and flushed, a combination of sun and stress.

Francone was not Chuck's biggest fan. Francone, a “by-the-book” type of cop despised Chuck's “loose cannon” style of police work. The only reason Francone kept him around was his case closure rate which was the best in the county.

Chuck saw the look on Francone's face and sighed. For a moment, Chuck thought the chief's head would explode from blood pressure.

“What the hell is going on here, Ferraro?” He placed his hands on his hips and puffed out his peacock-like chest.

“Well, sir, it looks like murder to me.” Chuck said bluntly.

Francone scowled. “I know it's a goddamn murder, Ferraro. As a matter of fact we have had three murders in less than a week and I want to know what the hell is happening in my town.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.