Entangled

Prologue

She stared at the body that lay on the floor bleeding. He did not moan or groan as much as she had imagined. Too much television distorted her imagination, she supposed. He laboured for each breath. The blood flowed from him as he laid on the floor, his life flashing before him.

He wasn't angry with her for what she had done, nor was he surprised. He knew it was only a matter of time before somebody got to him. He used to think that he was untouchable but his father had proved that nobody was.

He didn't feel the sense of relief he had thought would wash over him when his time had come. He had always hated the fact that he had fit so comfortably into a lifestyle he had detested. Power had that effect on people.

He didn't even feel the pain. Was it starting to subside or was he just so used to it that he didn't feel it anymore? He closed his eyes and saw Jade walk towards him, her open arms beckoning. After everything that had happened between them, Jade was still the love of his life.

She watched him as his eyes closed, a slight smile on his lips. How ironic for the lying, murdering bastard to smile as he became a product of his own environment. What was he thinking? More than likely, he was thinking about Jade. His obsession with her was one of his biggest weaknesses.

The young police officer walked in the open door, gun cocked. He was followed by two plain-clothed officers. The apartment was very neat. She sat on the sofa, her back to the open door, smoking a cigarette.

"The body is in the bedroom. First door on the right as you go down the hall." One of the plain-clothed officers motioned for the other to go down the hall while the young officer kept a watch on her. The naked body with its intestines exposed caused the young police officer to retch. A few minutes later, more policemen rushed into the apartment.

Detective Joe Lekosky bent over the body to check for a pulse. Nothing. By the look of the wound and the amount of blood, he figured that she must have emptied her gun in him and then some. A bullet hole in the bedroom wall caught the corner of his eye. As he looked around the room, he noticed a few more. He counted four in the wall and one in the door frame.

Joe took a good look at the corpse. He knew that by the end of the day things would only be worse.

"Damn it!" Joe cursed.

"What's the matter, Joe?" asked his partner, Ronny.

"Take a look at our victim," Joe replied.

"Ahh, the ever popular Mister Williams. You can't tell me that you're upset that he's gone."

"I can't say I'm sorry but the press will be all over this one. As if our job wasn't hard enough without having to duck those vultures."

"That ain't the half of it. Go and take a look at our murderer."

Joe took off his gloves, walked over to the sofa and looked at the woman for the first time. His jaw dropped.

"Oh my God! What are you doing here?"

"Hi Joe. Sorry about this but I shot the son of a bitch. There's an eye witness if you can find the slut that ran out of here screaming," she said inhaling on her cigarette. "I'd like to finish my smoke before you drag me down to the station." She laughed at her own pun.

***

"Why doesn't this surprise me?" Joe said dropping the report on his partner's desk. "They ran the test three times."

"We need to find that witness and we need to do it fast," Ronny replied.

"I knew something was up when I saw those bullet holes in the wall. Not one of her bullets was in the victim?"

"Not one. The bullets in the victim don't match her gun so even if she did reload, it doesn't make a difference. There's no way that she killed him unless she has another gun hidden away somewhere."

"This job is never easy."

"What do we tell the boss?"

"I guess for starters we can tell him to take his kid home because she didn't do it. Then we find out who did and we find out fast."

"I hear ya," Ronny replied.