Prologue
"Hey! James, get up, you worthless excuse of a husband! You're gonna be late!" James Matthewson groaned from his bed and said, "My shift doesn't start until seven-thirty. Leave me alone."
Amelia's voice reached a whole new decibel as she yelled out a string of curses so bad, her late mother would have washed out her mouth with soap. James muttered under his breath, and got up. He trudged to the restroom and undressed. He took a five-minute shower, changed into some very unattractive neon orange shorts and then went downstairs.
Amelia was waiting at the table, tapping her foot, and looking at James expectantly. James rolled his eyes and then sat at the kitchen table. He raised his eyebrows at the bowl of sludge in front of him.
"What….is that?" He said, his stomach swirling in disgust.
"That," Amelia said in an annoyed way, "Is a bowl of good old-fashioned grits. Eat them, or else you ain't getting nothing else for breakfast."
James rolled his eyes again and stood up. He got some money out of a little porcelain bowl on the counter, and giving his wife a kiss on the cheek, said, "I'll pass." He started off towards the door, and had the immense satisfaction of hearing his wife stutter in shock before he closed the door behind him.
It was seven in the morning in Tucson, AZ, and it was hot. Summertime in the desert wasn't exactly the most comfortable time, but it certainly was the wettest. And by wet, it meant that families would cram themselves into the nearest water park, in an attempt to cool off. In this case, Wizzy's Wonderful Waterland was that water park, and at just two days of opening, over ten thousand dollars had been amounted. You might say that it was because the staff was friendly. Yeah, right. Or…the kids were very sweet and couldn't wait to get on the slides. Please. But no matter what ridiculously sappy excuse Wizzy's owner gave for the amount of people this year, everyone knew that it was because of the Tsunami.
The Tsunami was this huge slide where you got on a little blue boat and went down the slide. Hundreds of liters of waters pounded on your face as you went down the steep slope, which meant that either your stomach touched your spine, or you half-drowned. How pleasant, James thought.
James had been hired as a staff member who got kids onto the little blue boats at the very top of the Tsunami. A conveyor belt brought the boats up to the very top of the slide, where he would grab them easily. The power switch was at the top of the slide too. James went through the drive-thru at McDonald's. He ordered a Sausage McMuffin, and a coffee. He got on the freeway, and ate as he drove. The Sausage McMuffin was warm, and pure heaven. He smiled, knowing this was better than any grit garbage Amelia gave him.
He got off at the exit, and he immediately saw the giant "Wizzy's Wonderful Waterland" sign. He drove into the water park's parking lot, and got off. James realized with a start that he was alone. Shrugging, he began to whistle, and pulled out a set of keys. A blue key caught his attention, and he used it to open the park gates. Locking them behind himself, he put his things away in a locker before going to the main water pump behind the front office. One quick turn and the water came rushing out in torrents and into the main pool. He walked past it, not giving it a second glance. He walked until he got to the waterslide section of the park. He pressed a button on a panel, and water poured down the slides. A trickle at first, and then a river. The Tsunami loomed ahead, towering over the three puny slides, looking ominous. He climbed the stairs leading to the top of the slide and turned a pump. Water gushed out, sending a spray so powerful, it soaked James and left him chattering. He pressed a button and the conveyor belt started moving. A little bit later, the first blue boat came up. It was stained, with something red.
"What the-?" The next boat came up, covered almost entirely in the same suspiciously dark liquid.
Something thumped on the conveyor belt, and James swallowed hard. What was going on?
What James saw next was so horrible he retched, and lost his breakfast. It was a body.
Chapter one
Detective Jacqueline Cavanaugh meant business. Serious business.
She tiptoed across the living room so quietly, not even the best trained German Shephard could have heard her. She slowly paced towards the kitchen, and glanced at the pink flowered jar atop her refrigerator. Though the jar seemed to be friendly and colorful, hidden within were contents that were deadly. So much in fact, they'd destroy her. However, she was on a mission that was worth risking everything she had ever done. A mission to retrieve that jar.
With a sigh, she passed a leather couch, and was in the shiny chrome world she knew as a kitchen. She stretched her arm towards the refrigerator, and towards the jar. Almost…got it…
"Jacqueline Roseanne Cavanaugh! What do you think you're doing?" A shrill voice from the stairs startled the agile detective and made her drop the jar to the floor, shattering it and emptying its items.
"Aww, Catharine, look at what you've done! Those were my favorite double-chocolate chip cookies! They're ruined!" Jacqueline shook her head and stepped over the broken porcelain. Her sister glared at her from the foot of the stairs. She sat on the couch before continuing with her scolding.
"You are on a very strict diet, missy, and as your older sister, its important for me to make sure you abide by the rules! Cookies are not on the list!"
Jacqueline rolled her eyes before replying, "I don't want to have to be on a stupid diet. In fact, I believe
that diets are for women who self-deprecate themselves and in an attempt to look like an anorexic Victoria's Secret model, starve themselves."
Catharine rolled her eyes right back, and sighed. "Well, if you want to be sporting a muffin top at Ally's birthday party, continue your piggy habits. I suppose looking good at my best friend since fifth grade's special day is of no importance to you."
Jacqueline widened her eyes dramatically before responding," Oh dear lord, whatever shall I do? The world as we know it, is ending! Geez, just relax. 'Member, I work at the one place where I can punch people who piss me off, and that counts as a workout."
At that moment, the house phone rang, making the two sisters jump. Catharine took one look at the caller ID and then muttered, "Speak of the devil. It's for you, Jack."
Jacqueline took the phone and said, "Hello?" A grim sounding voice answered.
"Good morning, Jacqueline. I'm sorry to bother you so early, but we got a little problem."
"Hey, Dave, don't worry, I'm used to this by now. Where are you?"
"Um, 234 W. Clementine Ave. ME's already here, and we've got a man detained."
"Suspect?"
"No, but I think he could help."
"Be there in 10."
Jacqueline hung up quickly, and raced upstairs. She came down two minutes later, dressed and ready to go. Catharine rushed to her side, a granola bar in one hand and a frappuchino in the other. "Sorry," She said. "I had no time to brew fresh coffee. This ought to do until later. Take care, and don't get shot!"
Jacqueline smiled gratefully, and headed out the door.
CHAPTER TWO
It took a little more than ten minutes for Jacqueline to actually arrive, but according to Michael, her partner, it was better that she had gotten there late.
"Dude was throwing up as soon as we said the word body. It was revolting!" He shuddered as he walked Jacqueline over to where the body lay.
"Yeah, well, at the moment, I don't have time for your dainty stomach. Where's the body?" She said, in her usual no-nonsense tone. Dave pointed, over to some giant steep slide. She nodded, and advanced towards it. The medical examiner, Anaya Verdugo, was leaning over the body, and looking at it attentively. She took notes, and only glanced up when Jacqueline stood next to her.
"Hey, honey." Anaya greeted Jacqueline in a tone that indicated that she'd been woken up against her wishes. Jacqueline pitied her. Getting up super early was bad enough, but getting up to look at bloody corpses was worse. And bloody this corpse was.
"What happened to him?" She wondered. Anaya was quick to respond.
"Quite a number of things, actually. Wound in chest was caused by a large caliber bullet. Ballistics is already checking to see what kind of gun could have done this. But it couldn't have caused an instant death because it missed the vitals. Also," Anaya paused to push the body onto its side. "There's stab wounds as well to the back. The funny thing is, three of them aren't very deep, only superficial, and probably not fatal. But then there's this wound here." She indicated with her finger a large, very bloody line on the man's back. It was certainly deeper than the rest.
"This one though, this one could have been the killer. It severely damaged this man's spine, and without medical attention, he would have only survived a half-hour at most." Anaya continued. "And last, if you look here, you'll notice some distinct red lines on the vic's wrists and ankles. Can you guess?"
Jacqueline wrinkled her brow before saying, "Rope?"
"Exactly. My guess is that whoever did this must have tied him down before killing him. Maybe even tied him as he was dying."
Jacqueline nodded, and thought about how awful a person had to be to not only kill a person, but to torture them, and make the pain last. She shuddered.