A Shadow From The Past. [Winner of Mastermind in Danger Contest]

A Shadow From The Past

I looked up at him, my eyes were still puffy from crying, "That's what was in the note."

He nodded, then he asked "Is there an ex boyfriend in the picture? Did you have a fight with someone of late? Do you have problems with someone in particular?"

"No! I mean I didn't have any fights with anyone and my ex boyfriend moved five years ago to London."

Detective James nodded then stood up and looked around the room, his eyes fixed on the pile of books in the corner.

"You are a writer, right?"

I nodded as he walked to the pile of books and picked a book. He looked back at me with the book in his hand, "A true crime writer," he added

"That's my first true crime book. I usually write about fictional crime stories."

"It's a relatively new case." Detective James said as a matter of fact.

"Yes!"

"Do you think, what's happening here is related to your book?"

I looked up at him, my heart beating faster and my hands were sweating. In all honesty, I thought about it after I found the note. However, I kept it in the back of my mind, not wanting to blow things out of proportion or because I was in denial.

"I don't think so, detective" I told him, " the man has been in jail for a year now and I don't think he is capable of committing these things."

Detective James walked back to me and sat on the coffee table right before me.

"You know that detectives working on his cases believe that he wasn't acting alone."

We stayed silent for a few seconds, our eyes locked on each other. I could hear myself breathing heavily, my heart beating faster and faster as time passed.

"I know, " I whispered

"And, I presume that you're still investigating that possibility," he said calmly.

I nodded, breathing harder. The detective stood up as my sister emerged back into the living room with a note in hand.

"Here it's." She said, handing the piece of paper to the detective, who called for someone from forensics to take it.

After hours of combing through the backyard and the surrounding of the house, the police officers left. Before he left, detective James asked me to halt my research for now and to call the police at any sign of trouble. He, also, promised us to call when the forensic results are ready.

The sun was already up when I fell asleep again in the living room. Ayla covered me with a blanket and told me to have some sleep, while she cleaned the mess in my room. That morning, I dreamed of a faceless person with a knife, pinning me to the ground, as they were gouging my eyes out. I didn't feel the pain, but rather I felt sorrow overcoming all my senses.

Three days after that eventful night, I found my car's tires slashed. I was going to attend a meeting with my agent, when I noticed that my tires were slashed. Thankfully, Ayla was there and she called the police for me. Detective James was there, bringing news with him.

"We got the results from the lab this morning and I was about to call you. We couldn't find any DNA on the paper or the rock. There are only your and your sister's fingerprints on the paper, and we found nothing on the rock."

"That's unfortunate!" Ayla said with disappointment, "What can we do now, detective?"

"I advise you to avoid going out alone. Try to stay away from deserted places and wherever you go take someone out with you."