The One
#15 of Writing Prompt
This week's writing prompt was "And that's the moment when I knew he/she was the one."
I had a lot of fun with this one! Let me know what you think.
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I stared at the dry-erase board from my desk, rapping a pencil on my notebook as I tried to find some shred of insight into the recent murders. There had been five in the past month that were all unsolved, and had some connection that I couldn't yet ascertain. I'd poured over all the information for countless, sleepless nights, and was past the point of obsession at this rate.
The media was having a frenzy with the killings, and I had already had my name dragged through the mud by a couple of smaller, local venues who thought that the case should be turned over to the captain. He had my back, though, and I that's all that mattered to me. I'd worked my ass off to prove myself in this line of work, and I wouldn't be bullied into failure by a bunch of men who thought a woman couldn't do the same job.
That didn't change the fact that I still had nothing to go on. There were no eye-witnesses, no DNA left at the scenes, no street-camera footage of anyone in the area, no footprints, or fingerprints, or glowing neon signs, or birds whispering secrets, or angels with visions, or divine intervention, or...
I growled and stopped my internal bitching. It was unproductive. I had to just go back and look at all the facts. Find the connection, and find the killer before the media crucified me for incompetence.
There just wasn't much to go on, unfortunately. The killer knew how we operated, and there was hardly anything to go off of. Victims had been killed in their sleep with a single round, and the only evidence that anyone had been there was a single playing card left on the bed. That information hadn't been released to the public, and likely wouldn't be until after it was solved. Some things were better kept hidden, just in case someone slips up.
"Come on, Jen. You need food, a shower, and sleep."
Trenton, my partner, came into the office with a confident grin on his face that told me he was certain he'd get his way. I was tired, and hungry enough that he just might, too.
"I haven't been sleeping well, you know that," I told him irritably, letting my head hang between my shoulders when his hands started rubbing at them.
"Well you won't figure out anything tonight. You're too tense and wound up. I'm sure something will turn up over the weekend that will put the whole thing into perspective. You'll crack it wide open, be a hero, and get promoted!"
I groaned and let me head fall down onto the desk. "You're not as funny as you think you are, you know."
Trenton wasn't just my partner at the office. We'd started seeing each other a few months ago, a year after he'd ended up with me. He was a good cop. Smart, funny, but prone to anger which had gotten him into trouble on a few occasions after being a little too rough with perps. He could be a little clingy, and sometimes too arrogant, but I liked his company.
"If that's true, and I think I'm the funniest guy out there, then I'm still pretty funny," he joked, clapping me on the shoulder. "Now come on. I ordered some Indian food and if we don't make it to my place in twenty minutes they'll probably leave and we won't have food."
He started dragging me too my feet and I looked back at the board. "But I-"
"No, Jen. Come on. You can come back in tomorrow if you really want. But you aren't going to solve this tonight."
His supreme confidence irked me, but my stomach growled and I knew I wouldn't be able to think well once the fatigue started getting to me. I probably needed that shower, too, come to think of it.
He drove us back to his place and we caught the delivery driver for our food on the way in. It smelled amazing, tasted better, and I was more than a little stuffed by the time we sat back on the couch having eaten our fill. Sure enough, I was getting kind of tired now that my body had gotten real food.
"See? Don't I always know what's best?" he teased, reaching over to rub up under my shirt at my stomach.
I stretched out beneath his hand and let out a pleased sigh. "Sometimes, I guess. But feeding a hungry person isn't exactly a stroke of genius," I teased, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"But picking the right kind of food is," Trenton pointed out. I rolled my eyes and he kissed my cheek in return. "Oof, though, Indian food always kind of gets to me, be right back."
I laughed and smacked his butt as he got up off the couch. "Yeah, real genius you are."
I lay out along the couch and snagged his laptop off the couch, opening it to start poking around. I can't help it, I like to see what kind of things people look at and what they do in their spare time. His laptop wasn't locked, so I opened up the browser to look at all the bookmarks. Social media sites, news, a few things for games, banking, and insurance. Nothing I didn't have on my own computer, really. I clicked on his link for Amazon and was pleased to see he was signed in.
There were a lot of recurring orders. He had a lot of things shipped to him in lieu of going to the store. I did the same. It was easier when you kept as busy as we did. I scrolled through past orders and then I scrolled over one that made my heart stop. A three-pack of playing cards. The same brand from the crime scenes. They had been ordered two weeks before the first murder.
My mind started racing. The lack of evidence at the crime scenes had pointed to someone who knew our procedures, knew what we would look for. That could point to a cop. Especially one like Trenton who was as organized and neat. Could it be him? Why would he do it? Did he have an alibi for the murders?
I hurriedly closed out of the window and put the laptop back, heart hammering in my chest. I thought back to the last murder, and where he had been when the woman had been shot. We were supposed to stay at my place that night but he said he wasn't feeling well and went home. It could be coincidence, but a nagging doubt was gnawing at my brain now.
He came out of the bathroom and he flopped back down on the couch next to me, and I tried not to flinch away. I couldn't help but see him differently now.
"Ah, well, you tired? Or want to do anything?" He put an arm around me and I tensed, but masked it by standing up.
"Actually, I'm kind of restless! I want to play a game. Something just... kind of cheesy and dumb. Got any cards?" I asked, turning by back on him to hide my face as I stretched upwards, hoping to distract him with parts of me that he enjoyed from this angle.
I felt his hands on my hips and I shuddered. "Cards? No, can't say that I do. I have a few board games though."
"No cards," my mind told me. "No cards after buying a three pack of them little more than a month ago."
Maybe it was knowing the truth that calmed my nerves. I turned back around and leaned down to hug him. "Nah, you know what? Let me go freshen up and we can go get some sleep, okay?"
He was none the wiser. He was always so arrogant and full of himself. Trenton just nodded and fell back against the couch with a dopey grin as I straightened back up. "Alright. I'll wait here?"
I smiled and didn't say a word as I retreated to the bathroom. I knew now. From the moment he lied, I knew that he was the one.