“You’ll be back to normal in no time.”
“I can’t wait. It’s boring as hell in here. Can’t wait to get back to work.”
Todd smiled at the detective. “Amen.”
“So are you still retired?” John asked. “Because if you aren’t…”
Todd moved slightly in his chair and heard it make a noise against the linoleum floor. “I’m still retired. What are you trying to ask?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to come out of retirement and be my partner. I think we’d make a great team. I know the commissioner is very impressed with you, and I’m sure he’d hire you on in a heartbeat.”
Todd looked back out at the traffic. He thought for a moment about what Melinda would think about him getting back into the business of fighting crime.
John cleared his throat. “You don’t have to decide now.”
“I’m flattered,” Todd said, looking back at John. “I’ll talk it over with the boss at home.”
John nodded. “Just let me know.”
They both looked out the window for a moment before Todd spoke: “So tomorrow is the big day?”
“Yeah, I’ll finally get the hell out of here. Samantha and Carter are excited for me to be back home again.”
“How’s the little guy doing?” Todd asked.
“He is fine,” John said. “Samantha is keeping him busy to keep his mind off of everything.”
“Always a good idea.”
After chatting for another fifteen minutes, Todd stood up and smiled. “I better get going. But I’ll talk it over with Melinda and let you know.”
“Thanks,” John said, looking up at Todd. “Thanks for everything.”
Todd took a few steps towards the door before turning around to look at John, who remained seated by the window. “Don’t mention it.”
* * *
On the empty beach, Todd held Melinda’s hand as he stared off towards the horizon. The calamity had finally subsided, and he finally felt at ease.
“I’ll support you in any decision you make,” Melinda said, her voice soft and soothing. She was as relaxed as Todd, and he could tell by the way she lightly gripped his hand.
“But does that mean you really want me to get back into it?” Todd asked. “I kind of like being retired…but I have this burning desire to help make the world a safer place. It’s hard to sit around when I could be out there making a difference.”
Melinda’s voice was barely audible over the crashing of the waves. “Then you need to call the detective later and confirm things.”
“It’s not one hundred percent,” Todd said. “He has to clear it with the commissioner and all.”
He saw Melinda give him a look, like the look of “everything will be okay.”
“I know…I worry too much. Whatever happens, happens.”
Todd looked to his left, away from Melinda. Nobody roamed the beach. He figured everyone was still afraid to come out. He didn’t blame them. Word spread quickly that the killer had been caught, though for some reason, they still didn’t seem to think it was safe. Todd returned his gaze to the Atlantic. A cool breeze whipped past his glistening forehead. He saw the shadow of his house creep past them and towards the tide slowly rolling in.
Todd closed his eyes and listened to the sounds. Waves crashing. Seagulls squawking.
Then a scream from down the beach.
Todd sprang up from his folding beach chair and looked in the direction from which the scream came. His heart raced as he contemplated the idea of a copycat killer. In a nanosecond, he squelched the thought and glanced at Melinda.
“Go to the house and lock the doors!”
He saw her stand up and run towards the house before he pressed his right foot into the sand to propel himself away from their chairs and towards the unknown. He nearly tripped as he went, running as fast as his legs would take him.
He scanned the beach.
No one in sight.
Though focused on finding the source of the scream, his mind drifted into recollection of the first body he found. He could picture the woman lying facedown in the sand, her throat slashed. Her right foot taken by a sick and demented killer who was starting to compile parts for his own creation, a sinister creation that haunted Todd every night since first seeing it, like the image was burned into the back of his eyelids. Todd tried to no avail to get the image from his mind as he ran.
Then he heard a second scream to his left, that of a woman.
He stopped abruptly and saw a man and a woman rolling around near the dunes. Racing towards them, he pulled his .38 from its holster. He was glad he continued to carry it, even while relaxing on the beach.
Then he noticed that the woman had a smile on her face. “Stop it, Sam! That tickles!”
Both the man and the woman looked up at Todd, who stopped over them with his pistol up and ready.
The woman shrieked and the man put his hands up in the air.
“Please,” the man said. “Don’t do it.”
Todd lowered his gun and slid it back into its holster. “Sorry to bother you,” Todd said.
He walked away from the man and the woman who remained lying on the dunes. He couldn’t wait to get back to tell Melinda that there was nothing to worry about. That everything would be alright. And he looked forward to working with John, especially since the worst was over and the chances of them encountering anything so horrifying again was very unlikely.
* * *
Sam felt the warm sand beneath him as he lay in the sand with his girlfriend, Megan. Now that the wild-eyed man with the gun was walking away, they would have their privacy again.
On vacation, he wondered why the beaches we so vacant, though he couldn’t complain. It meant more privacy and thus, more intimacy with Megan.
“Once that jerk is completely out of sight, I say we get busy,” Sam said.
Megan giggled and played with her ponytail. “You’re so bad. Let’s do it back at the condo.”
Sam leaned in, closed his eyes, and kissed Megan on the lips. He tasted the sand on her, but that was all a part of the experience in his mind.
Suddenly, he felt her lips move away quickly, and when he opened his eyes, a beastly man with a knife held Megan by her ponytail. The man was swift with the blade and cut her jugular before she could react to his presence. Sam heard a gurgled scream pour from her mouth as rapidly as the blood poured from her throat.
“Please,” Sam said, scrambling to get to his feet.
It was obvious to Sam that the knife-wielding man would show no mercy. Sam turned around and scrambled away on all fours, but it was too late. He felt the blade penetrate his back, a few inches from his spine. His face slammed into the hot sand and he felt the man’s boot pressed against the back of his head. The mixture of the sand stinging his eyes and the blade being pulled from his back was nothing compared to what came next. In his final moment alive, he felt the agonizing pain of the knife slamming into the nape of his neck and piercing all the way through until it reached the sand beneath his dead body.
# # #
About the author:
Maxwell Cunningham is a pen name used by Ryan M. Murphy. Ryan is a lifelong Pennsylvanian who has been obsessed with The Beatles for as long as he can remember. When he is not running his music store or playing shows with his band, he writes thriller, horror, and science fiction stories.
For more info on Ryan, please go to www.ryanmmurphy.com
For more Maxwell Cunningham releases, check out www.maxwellcunningham.com
A Note From The Author:
Thank you for reading Spells Murder! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it. Please consider writing a review! For information on current and upcoming releases, please visit my web site! ~MC
Check out these other releases by Maxwell Cunningham:
Without A Trial
When the police commissioner of Edinboro suddenly retires after a raid gone wrong, hardball cop,
Todd Williams, finds himself in the middle of a dangerous game that threatens the safety of those he loves the most. His morals are put to the test when he must act as executioner to suspected criminals who are condemned to death without a trial.
Without A Trial 2
The stakes are raised in this sequel to Without A Trial when Todd Williams must rescue his wife and the entire city of Edinboro from a new police commissioner who has sinister plans of his own.
Trepidation (A Short Novel Of Terror)
They found the town dark, deserted. Then they found the first mutilated body. Abandoned in the remote town of Sun City, Pennsylvania, with the harsh winter night quickly approaching and no connection to the outside world, they were the only ones alive. Or so they thought.
The Twentieth Host
Thomas Peril, a good-looking man of unprecedented charm, realizes his role in the end of the humanity. Roger Bravel, a middle-aged artist, shelters the twentieth host of Peril and witnesses the birth of a rapid-growing offspring. Sam Kiltner, a cop nearing retirement, discovers that the mass suicides and disappearances plaguing Philadelphia are a part of something larger, more sinister. Vince Day, a doomsdayer, crosses paths with Thomas Bravel, the offspring of the twentieth host, who might be humanity's last chance at survival.
The Morality Game (A Short Story)
Travis Lynn discovers a strange letter on his front porch that makes him question his morality. His mission is to kill a teenage boy who lives across the street. The boy's innocent looks are deceiving: he will grow up to be the most sinister dictator in the history of the world, killing over eighty million people. Upon completing the mission, Travis will receive a one million dollar reward. The catch: he has only 24 hours.
One-Eighty (A Short Story)
Serial Killer, Sid Niles, is on the hunt again. His next target has all the desirable traits of his past victims: young, beautiful, and female. Little does he know that she is about to turn the tables on him and cause his world to come crumbling down.
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