THE THIRD IN THE PARANORMAL CRIME SERIES
Dear friend...now it is time I tell you what really happened. It was
early October. You know how we get the rain just before fall sets in. It just
pitter-pattered all day, depressing, as if I were not already melancholy enough.
Elizabeth and David went home early. It was Wednesday and this is my day to
close the shop. Just before closing time, that man whose wife is in the
hospital, came in to buy books. This was my second time seeing him in the store.
His overcoat was covered with drops of rain and it dripped on the wood floor.
Taking it off, he placed it on the counter. He didn’t care that I was waiting
on him to go home. Still I smiled. I tried to be nice. He rummaged through the
books, while I patiently watched.
The man, who was in his late twenties, had obvious cuts on his face. They looked
like cat scratches, or marks you get when fingernails dig into the flesh. He
started a conversation with me, talking about his new baby girl as he ran his fingers across the titles of the books, boasting how cute
she was. The new daddy was going to bring her in for me to hold. His wife was
recuperating at Saint Mary’s Hospital from the delivery and he needed to bring
her just the right book to read.
Noticing his uniform, he told me about his war injury and that is why he was not
fighting overseas right now. I politely reminded him, that in five minutes, I
was closing the shop. He assured me that in a few minutes he would be done.
He asked if I had any books that I was throwing away. I told him I did and they
were in the back. He begged me to let him see them, because he only had a few
dollars until pay day. My common sense said no, but my heart said, I was doing
this for his wife.
He followed me to the back of the store. Walking over to the table where the
books were boxed,
I was startled at the sound of the door closing behind me...