Clarissa Odele and The Case of The Slain Newlyweds by Odessa McNiel (book recommendations .TXT) 📕

I kept running and couldn’t stop. Don’t you dare stop! I thought to myself. I was running through the woods and for my life. Someone just killed my husband, and I needed to get the-hell-out-of-dodge. I had no clue where I was going or where I was. I heard more gunshots and screams of pain. So, I knew I was still too close to our honeymoon spot. I see a patch of road out of the corner of my eye and steer my body towards it hoping to get some help.
I run to the double yellow line in the middle of the road and start waving my arms above my head. Ahead of me, I see lights that are brighter than the sun. They get closer and closer, and I realize the driver isn’t going to stop even if they notice me. So, I start to run again. I keep glancing over my shoulder to see where the car is as I run, but I don’t get too far before I hit the front bumper of the car.
As I lie in the road struggling for my life, I hear the car door slam to my right and hear footsteps coming towards me. They stop no more than a few inches from my face. I don’t try to look at the person because of the pain in my chest, stomach and gut.
You’d expect the driver to freak out, but this person didn’t. They leaned next to my ear and slowly whispered, “This is what you get for marrying my lover.” Then with the click of the trigger I was dead.

I arrived at the office about seven o’clock. I was flipping through some old paperwork when my office phone rang at ten-thirty. “Detective Odele speaking,” I answered into the speaker.
“This is chief. We got ourselves a vic at 211 Saints Avenue in Banks. Get your butt over there and help lead things will ya'. Marks is having himself a hell of a time with the media, and needs someone else to take things over on the inside of the house.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And bring that rookie of yours, whatshisname- Josh. I’ll be there in about an hour and so should you.” He hung up before I did and left me hanging in the process. I tidied what I had made a mess of on my desk. Then I called “my rookie" up from his little cubicle of misery.
“Josh I need to see you in my office please.” I said over the loud speaker. I heard “ooooo’s and ahhhhh’s” as he knocked on my door.
“You wanted to see me, ma’am.”
“Yes I did. Sit.” He sat in front of my desk with his hands twined together and his legs crossed under the chair. “The chief thinks that it’s time I let you come along with me to investigate some crime scenes. He thinks it’ll get you some well-earned experience. You up for the challenge.”
I watched his face light up with excitement at my proposal of the situation. “That would be great,” he smiled at me with satisfaction.
“Good, then you won’t mind if that starts now, will you?”
I saw his face flush, “R... right now?”
“Yes, now; we have a crime scene to investigate. Chief expects us to be there in an hour. He wants you to come, but I have no problem telling him you’re too chicken. So, unless you want to raise hell, I think you should come along and be my right hand man.” He stared at me like I was speaking Chinese or some foreign language. “Alright, when I get there without you…” I started for the door.
“Ok… Ok… I… I’ll go with you.”
“Good,” I took off down the hall to the parking garage. I wasn’t going to wait on Josh to follow me because I knew he’d catch up eventually. I also wasn’t fixing to let a stupid rookie make me look slow.
I was about half way to the cruiser when I heard him panting behind me. I shouted over my shoulder at him, “If you can’t keep up with me at my pace, you need to work on getting faster. It’s all about fast pace action and making a decision at the blink of an eye in this career, and if you can’t even do that, then you need to get the hell out.”
“I’m… trying... (wheeze)… to,” I heard his footsteps pitter-pater to a stop as we reached the cruiser. He put his hands on his knees to try to catch his breath. He reminded me of the dog my parents had: old and lazy.
I unlocked the car and sat inside it. Josh did the same but a little slower. "Taking your sweet time aren’t you?” I asked.
“I guess it seems like it doesn’t it?” My question was meant to be rhetorical. So, because he didn’t know me all that well, I let the conversation die.
We buckled ourselves in; I was driving and rookie was riding shotgun.
“So where we going?”
“211 Saints Avenue in Banks.”
He looks at me questioningly, “Banks?”
“Yes, it’s our code for the valley that sits in the middle of the state. It’s a very remote place with lots of wooded areas and stuff like that.”
“Oh,” he leaned back in the seat, “Did Chief say anything else?”
“No, he did say that there was a lot of media, though. The only thing you have to worry about is if they ask you a question about the case.”
“And if that happens?”
“Then say that you are just accompanying one of the detectives and know nothing of the whole case. Not that you know anything more than where it is at or anything, right?” He laughed. I think he was actually getting warmed up to me after all.

We pulled into the drive just as Chief was pulling in behind us. He was right about the swarm of media at the scene. We parked beside a patch of what looked like Huckleberries and were surprised when the chief did the same.
He got out of the car as we did but with much less grace. We moved as quietly through the media as we could with an occasional “excuse me” or a sharp “let me through”. Eventually we made it to the deck where Marks was still holding his ground.
“It’s about damn time you three make it here. I’ve had to do this bit by myself for the past hour and a half; it’s giving me a fucking migraine.” He said when he spotted us. His usual greeting was just a complaint and a plain ‘hi’, but that was Marks for you: plain and simple.
“I’m sure you’ll suffer severely,” I exclaimed with heavy sarcasm.
“Nah, I’ll fair better than John Doe in there.”
“You guys haven’t identified him yet? Surely the medical examiner should’ve been here by now, right?”
“She’s running late. ‘Family emergency’, she said.”
“So, where’s our vic?” I asked then realized Rookie was still with us. “Josh, go keep the media back will ya’?”
“Yes, ma’m,” I heard him say as he headed in the direction we’d just come.
Marks lead us to what I’d guessed was the master bedroom. We were greeted with one hell of a mess. The vic was leaned against the wall naked all ‘spread eagle’. Blood splattered the wall and the floor, and the bed was unmade with blankets hanging off it in every possible way.
I surveyed the scene and wasn’t very surprised at the weirdness of it because I’d seen worst. Finally I asked, “So, what can you tell about the scene that we don’t have to have Ashley for?”
“The house keeper found him like this this morning. She said she had her own key to let herself in, but she found the door unlocked. She stated that it was unusual because most people in the area keep their doors locked at night. Mrs. Winter described an unusual silence in the house when she entered. That’s when she came into the room and found him like this.”
“Anything else,” I