Maggie's Story (Intergalactic Matchmaking Services)
Read Maggie's Story (Intergalactic Matchmaking Services) Online
Authors: Ava Louise
Table of Contents
MAGGIE’S STORY
(Intergalactic Matchmaking Services)
By Ava Louise
Cover Art Done by Carey Abbott ebookcoverdesignsbycarey.com
Editing done by Stephanie at www.SLCEditing.com
Text copyright © 2014 Ava Louise
All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
“Women Wanted: Must have a sense of adventure and be open to new experiences. Must also be willing to relocate. Please contact Claire O’Donnell at Intergalactic Matchmaking Services, (360) 555-4416, for more information.”
Just a quick stop in to see if the detectives have any new leads, then home,
Maggie promised herself. She didn’t like being back here at the police station but she had not heard from either of the detectives on the case in a week. Maggie climbed out of the truck, taking a deep breath to still her nerves. Her lungs filled with the smell of the nearby Puget Sound. She loved the smell of the ocean so close at hand. Gathering her purse and coat, she headed inside. The police officer behind the counter looked up as she got closer.
“May I help you, ma’am?” he asked, getting up from his desk and coming to the counter.
“I would like to see Detective Miles or Detective Romano, please. It’s regarding the Quickie Stop murder a few weeks ago. Can you tell them Maggie Cline is here?”
“Let me see if one of ‘em is available.” The officer picked up the phone on the counter, made a quick call and then turned back to Maggie. “One of the detectives will be out shortly. You can have a seat until they come to get you.” He pointed to a row of orange plastic chairs. The chairs looked uncomfortable and proved to be just that.
They probably didn’t want criminals getting too comfortable during their booking process
, thought Maggie.
As Maggie took a seat, her memories flashed back to three weeks ago. She had stopped at the Quickie Stop convenience store for gas and milk. After she pumped her gas, she walked into the store to get milk from the cooler. She waved at the handsome clerk behind the counter as she walked by him. Just as she opened the cooler door she heard the outside door chime ring. Not thinking anything of it, she didn’t look up from the cooler until suddenly a man’s voice could be heard, telling the clerk to open the register and hand over the cash. Maggie still broke out in nervous sweat when she recalled how terrified she was. All she could think to do was to hide, to stay out of sight. Maggie closed the cooler door as quietly as she could, then ducked down and crawled to the end of the aisle, trying to make herself as small as possible. If the gunman had looked up at the corner mirror, she was sure he would have seen her crouched on the floor at the end of the aisle.
Maggie couldn’t resist peeking around the corner of the aisle, past the potato chips. She saw two young men, one of them holding a gun aimed at the trembling clerk. The gunman and the young man with him were both wearing yellow bandanas around their heads, with baggy jeans and dirty t-shirts. Only one of them had a gun that she could see. As she got a look at them, she heard the gun go off then saw the young men grab the bag of cash and turn to the door. She quickly ducked back behind the aisle. Luckily they didn’t search the rest of the store or they would have seen her.
“Ms. Cline, it’s good to see ya again. What can I do for ya?” said the police detective, breaking the reverie Maggie had slipped into. Detective Miles wasn’t the most energetic person Maggie had ever seen, but she hoped that didn’t keep him from solving this case soon. Each time she saw him, it looked as though he had slept in his clothes.
“I was just wanting an update on the investigation. When do you think you will have Juan Santiago in custody?” Maggie Cline was scared; and tired of being scared. Living each day with anxiety was beginning to take its toll on her. A person can’t witness the murder of someone and go on with their own life as if nothing was wrong, or at least she couldn’t.
“Unfortunately, Ms. Cline, Mr. Santiago has gone into hiding and none of our informants have been able to get wind of where he is holed up.” Detective Miles hated to inform the young woman of these facts. Until Santiago was behind bars, her life was in danger from the drug dealer and his gang.
“How can that be? I saw him pull the trigger! I identified his mug shot. How can he still be walking around free?” exclaimed Maggie. “It’s been three weeks.”
“We understand, ma’am, but he is very good at hiding. We’ve been unable to locate him and his lawyer claims to have no idea how to contact him. I understand you don’t feel safe, but there’s nothing we can do until we find him. There is a warrant out for his arrest. As of right now we just need someone to turn him in, but with his gang connections, that ain’t likely to happen. We increased patrols in your neighborhood, but the department is spread mighty thin right now.”
The young woman ran her fingers through her long, auburn hair. Maggie wasn’t sure if she could handle this stress for much longer. Anytime she left her house, she felt eyes on her, as though she was being watched constantly. She did not have a large circle of friends to help her through this; she just moved to the area at the beginning of the school year. As a teacher, most of her day-to-day interactions were with little children. She left everything behind her in Minnesota when she accepted this job in Washington.
Making this move had seemed like such a good idea back then. Teaching children was her calling in life. For as long as she could remember, she wanted to teach. She always assumed her love of teaching came from not having any siblings growing up. Both of her parents had been only-children, and since she grew up in the military as an Army brat, there were not a lot of long term relationships in her life.
Now, here she was, in a relatively new place, no close friends to count on, no relatives anywhere, and feeling more insecure and isolated than she ever had in her life.
Realizing she had spaced out the detective while worrying about her current situation, she turned back to him. “I’m sorry; I missed that last part, Detective.”
“No problem, ma’am. I was just saying that we’ll continue to do our best to apprehend Mr. Santiago. In the meantime, please be careful. Try to stay indoors as much as possible and don’t hesitate to call us if you feel you are in danger.”
“Thank you. I guess I should be going so I can get home before it gets dark.”
Maggie gathered her purse and coat and rose to leave. It would be getting dark soon and she wanted to get inside the comfort of her apartment before the sun set. As she was walking down the final corridor to the front door, she saw Detective Romano coming in the door ahead of her.
“Hello, Ms. Cline. How’re you doing this evening?” asked the detective. Maria Romano was a woman in her mid-forties. To Maggie’s knowledge, she was the only female detective in the Mount Vernon police department.
“Evening, Detective Romano. I’m good, thanks. I was just speaking with your partner about the Santiago case.”
“I’m sorry we can’t be more helpful at this time. This is a tough case. The gang’s closed ranks around him and no one’s talking.”
“Well, that may be, but it doesn’t make me feel any safer,” sighed Maggie. The sad look on her face showed how trying the situation was for her.
Detective Romano placed her hand on Maggie’s shoulder. “Please try to stay strong. We’re doing the best we can. We’ll call if there are any leads, okay?”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Maggie really was anxious now to get out the door and on her way. The sun was setting. She needed to get home and put herself behind locked doors before she could breathe easier.
The detective continued on her way into the inner workings of the police building while Maggie headed to her truck. Mount Vernon wasn’t a huge city so she had been able to park in front of the police station.
As she approached her maroon truck, she noticed a flyer under the driver’s side wiper blade. She reached up to remove the bright pink sheet of paper with one hand as she unlocked the truck door with her key fob. Maggie climbed inside, put the key in the ignition and started it up. As the vehicle began warming up, she looked at the flyer. It was just a half-sheet, with stars, moons, and planets around the border.
Was that a flying saucer in the corner
, she thought to herself with a smile.
“Women Wanted: Must have a sense of adventure and be open to new experiences. Must also be willing to relocate. Please contact Claire O’Donnell at Intergalactic Matchmaking Services, (360) 555-4416, for more information.”
“Huh. That’s what I’ll probably have to do, relocate,” muttered Maggie to herself. She was in the habit of talking to herself. When she was at home, she usually talked to Mamzell, her three-year-old Siamese cat. Maggie assumed the “Intergalactic” was a typo; someone obviously meant “International.” Right?
Maggie backed the maroon truck out of the parking spot, took a right on Continental Place, and headed home. Her apartment was above an antique store several blocks south. She had been lucky to find such a cute place at a reasonable price so close to where she taught at Maddigon Elementary School.
As she pulled into the alley behind the antique business on 6
th
Street, she noticed a group of three young men standing on the corner. They appeared to be just hanging around the light post, arms waving wildly while talking. They looked like ordinary young men, to be found in any small town with little to offer youths for after school activities, except for the yellow bandanas knotted around their heads or throats. Maggie knew from the shooting she witnessed three weeks ago that the yellow bandanas were worn by the Snakes, the gang operated by Juan Santiago, the shooter.
She quickly pulled into her parking spot behind the antique store. After turning off the engine, Maggie gathered her purse, coat, and the messenger bag she used as a briefcase. One quick look around showed no one else behind the buildings with her, so she quickly hopped out of the truck, engaged the locks on the door and dashed up the rickety wooden stairs that led to the apartments above the business in this building.
After opening the exterior door, she strode down the hallway to her apartment, number 1, in the northwest corner of the building. There were four apartments above this particular store. All of the tenants had asked the building’s owner to install a lock on the outside door, but so far, the owner was unwilling to do anything to upgrade security for his apartments. Mr. Dean, the elderly gentleman in apartment number 2, joked that as long as he had Ol’ Bessie, his Remington 870 12-guage shotgun, the tenants had nothing to worry about.
CHAPTER 2
“Mamzell, I’m home,” called Maggie as she was closing the apartment door. She engaged the thumb lock on the doorknob, then the deadbolt, and finally the chain.
“
Mrawr
!” called Mamzell as she dashed out from the bedroom. She stretched and blinked her deep blue eyes as she come to the door. She was a petite cat that had more personality than most people Maggie dealt with. Mamzell ruled the roost, so to speak.