84 Days Earlier
MAROON
'I have told you 20 times already. I didn't kill Mikey; I don't know who did and I sure as heck don't know why.' I was sick of the looks I would get around town and I was sick of people of asking me questions I didn't have answers to.
I glanced at the second guy in the room, he looked like he wasn't sure what he was doing. Which, honestly makes sense because he was a model. I don't mean he seemed like one because he was attractive, I mean his profession is being a model. I wondered what he was doing here and how he knew someone like Reed Lovell. Reed seemed more particular about things whereas Dallas seemed more laid back.
'We need to ask every possible question we can think of, miss Garcia.'
'Why? because I'm the only lead you have?' I snapped
'You aren't our only lead' He tried to defend but all it did was piss me off more.
'Great. go talk to one of them, then. I'm sick of you wasting my time' I said before I stormed out.
On an average day, I am not the kind of person who storms out of a room, though I do believe it was necessary on this occasion. my parents were in the kitchen when I got home. I smiled at my dad and was about to tell him what had happened when my mom spoke.
'Maroon, honey could you please brush your hair, it's an absolute mess.'
'I just spent 3 hours at the police station and your only concern is about my hair?' I asked in disbelief. We could never seem to get along lately but I thought she would be understanding about this.
'Is this about that Mikey boy? if you did something to him-'
'I didn't do anything to him.'
'Alright but if you did, I hope you know you can tell us.' she said trying to sound comforting.
I tried to think back on when I had last felt comforted by my mother. I must have been a child because the past few years I had been going to dad whenever I needed a parent.
'I know my daughter and she did nothin' to the boy.' dad said squeezing my shoulder.
'She's not just your daughter, Rob, she's mine too.'
'I think ya should know her as well as I do then. she has a solid alibi, people saw her leave and arrive home.' I knew where this was headed, they had been doing this a lot. Arguing, disagreeing
'Have fun arguing, I'm going to meet Theo and Georgia.' I said rolling my eyes at them
'Be careful, ya know what people are like when somethin' interesting happens.'
'Like a dog with a bone.' I replied with a nod
'Text me in an hour so I know ya safe.'
'I will dad, love you.'
'Love you more.' he replied then turned away to speak to my mom.
REED
I looked down at the pile of paper we had connected to this case. We had many leads but no real motive for it all. I wasn't sure where to start and I also wasn't sure if Maroon Garcia had anything to do with Mikey's death. I do know there is a handful of people in this town who wouldn't mind seeing her behind bars. I know she had pissed off a lot of people over the years and she'd had fights, but I'm not sure that made her a killer.
We'd gone over it again and again and nothing new had come up. We had no evidence, no DNA, nothing to link anyone to any of the cases. We were at a standstill until we found something.
'Run it by me again.' Dallas said
'Don't you need to approve outfits for tomorrow?' I knew he had some serious photoshoot tomorrow but here he was, helping me.
'No. well, yes. But this is more important.'
'So, the autopsy puts the death at around 2 pm but the family didn't find him until 6:45. The security footage doesn't show anyone putting Mikey's body there. We also have no witnesses despite there being trick or treaters at the house earlier.'
'He couldn't have walked there himself? everyone seems to know everyone here, surely Mikey knew where he was going.'
'There's no trail of blood. There's no evidence left behind. Nothing besides a note.' I explained.
'What does the note say?'
'It's generic paper, the handwriting isn't in our records. I don't know where it came from.' I rambled
'Tell me what it says Reed.' Dallas demanded
'The next one is in four days. There's going to be another murder in four days.'