The Man In Forest Hills Read online

  THE MAN IN FOREST HILLS

  ALEX OWUMI

  THE MAN IN FOREST HILLS

  Copyright © 2018 by Alex Owumi

  The following is a work of fiction. Every name, character, and incident is a direct product of the author’s imagination. All resemblance to persons, whether living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  To my brother Johnson, thanks for the inspiration.

  I say, therefore, to the unmarried men and widowers, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

  1 CORINTHIANS 7:8

  OTHER BOOKS ALEX OWUMI

  Qaddafi’s Point Guard

  The Fire Raven

  The Fire Raven: Welcome To Winter

  The Fire Raven: The Last Winter

  BOOKS AVAILABLE AT:

  www.AlexOwumi.com

  “This is the end of the line Tom. Any last words?”

  Table Of Contents

  1-THE WAKE UP CALL

  2 - LEFT FOR DEAD

  3 - BLOODY CARPETS

  4 - QUESTIONS

  5- THE STAKEOUT

  6 -THE HUNT

  7 - SUSPICIONS

  8 - FRENEMIES

  9 - INMATE 35761

  10 - MOTHER MARY

  11 - BLACK SEDAN

  12 - KENT’S PAST

  13 - LAST WORDS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  1-THE WAKE UP CALL

  “Sir, can you hear me?”

  “Sir?”

  She tries one more time.

  “Sir?”

  A nurse is looking down at a man as he lies asleep on a hospital bed. The man is covered with an assortment of bandages from head to toe. He is an above average man in stature, as he can barely fit in the standard sized hospital bed. Standing over six feet he looks to be quite fit and packed with a lot of muscle mass. The nurse herself, is a little on the heavy side, in her mid-forties and stands about five foot six. He slowly opens one eye and sees nothing but white walls, so he slowly whispers out.

  “Where …. where am I?” he shouts.

  The nurse closes the blinds and walks over to him.

  “Sir, you’re at Boston City Hospital.”

  “Boston City? What the hell am I doing here?”

  “There was an accident and you’ve been in a coma for a couple of weeks now.”

  “A coma?” he asks in a confused tone. “An accident? What happened?”

  “I will get the doctor for you, just give me one minute.”

  She walks out of the room to get a doctor. In the meantime, Kent starts to survey the damage. He looks at his right hand, which is in a cast up to his elbow. He attempts to lift his legs up, but can barely muster enough strength to slightly inch them off the bed. He takes his one free hand and raises it to his face to discover his right eye is completely swollen shut.

  The doctor walks in the room and greets Kent. He walks over to Kent and begins to talk.

  The doctor speaks, “Hello Mr. Kent I’m Doctor Snow how are you feeling?”

  Kent replies, “I’ve had better days, but can anyone tell me what’s going on? I need to leave. Where is my family?”

  The doctor looks around the room and continues to talk to Kent.

  “You have been in a coma for a couple of weeks now. You have suffered from several gunshot wounds and a severe concussion.”

  Kent looks at him with a confused, but also a worrisome look.

  “Gunshot wounds? When did this happen?” Kent asks Dr. Snow.

  The doctor walks up to Kent’s bedside and responds.

  He explains, “You were found in the woods, in Forest Hills and later brought here by an ambulance. It’s actually a miracle you are alive. God is clearly on your side. Now, we have to keep you here a couple more days to monitor your progress. The nurse will be in shortly to run some tests to see where we are at.”

  He keeps explaining.

  “Again Mr. Kent you’re very lucky to be alive, so we will need to be cautious with your recovery.”

  The doctor leaves the room quickly.

  Outside of the hospital Kent’s best friend and partner gets out of his car and walks past the entrance of the hospital. The sign reads ‘BOSTON CITY HOSPITAL’ in big bold letters.

  He makes his way through the hospital and walks into Kent’s room. With Kent’s only good eye he quickly looks toward the detective and quickly recognizes his partner, Detective Darren Harper. Harper is a man with a small frame, but still stands almost six feet. He walks in very stylish with designer shades on and a custom suit. He walks right up to Kent and grabs his hand.

  “Hey Tom, you’re looking handsome as always.”

  Kent starts to laugh, but it quickly turns to a nasty cough.

  Harper laughs, “Hey Bossman, slow down. We don’t need you to make matters any worse.”

  Kent finally catches his breath and gives Harper a serious face.

  “Harper, what’s going on here? Where is my family? Why aren’t they here?”

  Harper pulls up a chair right next to the bed.

  “Tom, you were involved in a very violent incident.”

  The look on Harper’s face tells Kent that something very bad has happened.

  “Tell me what’s going on right now Harper.”

  “Your wife and son. We found them in your house. I’m so sorry Kent.”

  It was like Harper couldn’t say the words ‘dead’ or ‘murder’ to his partner at this moment, even though as detectives they use this vocabulary daily.

  “Your wife and son were found dead in your house,” explains Harper.

  Kent looks back at him with a blank stare, as a thousand thoughts start to run through his head.

  “Are you telling me my wife and son are dead?”

  “Yes, Kent…”

  Kent’s eyes start to water immediately after he hears the news from Harper. Harper tries to continue to speak but Kent cuts Harper off mid-sentence.

  “Who the fuck was it? When did this happen?”

  “We don’t know,” explains Harper. “We don’t even have a lead. As soon as we knew you were here, we tried to call Amy but she wasn’t picking up her phone so we went over to the house and that’s when we found them.”

  “They shot Ryan?” asks Kent.

  Harper stands there as tears begin to fall down Kent’s face.

  “They both were shot and left there to die Tom. I’m sorry to tell you this brother. I wish I had much better news for you.”

  Kent screams “get out, get out now, and leave me alone.”

  Harper gets up out of the chair and walks right out.

  “I’ll come by to visit you later. Again I’m very sorry,” he assured. Kent looks up at the ceiling while tears run down from both eyes. He tries to sit up on the hospital bed but he can’t. Blood starts running from his nose then he screams.

  “Amy.”

  Detective Harper walks down the hallway and hears the screams coming from Kent’s room. He becomes unsettled knowing that his partner will never be the same after all this unfolds. While walking in the hall he catches a glimpse of his police captain. By the looks of it Kent is very loved in his precinct and once everyone heard the news most of his colleagues head over to the hospital.

  He walks over to the police captain and grabs a cup of coffee out his hands.

  “Thanks Cap. It was a real shit show at the house. Blood everywhere such a bad scene. Sad cap, very sad.”

  The famous Captain Leonard takes a sip of his coffee and begins to talk. The captain is an unusual man. He sports a full head of hair but it is all grey, no facial hair and he barely smiles.

  “What happened was disgusting Harper. Kent is a good man a
nd great detective. You make sure and I’m serious when I say this.”

  He takes a step real close to Harper and whispers in his ear with some authority.

  “Get those fucks and make sure they pay. This isn’t for the department; it’s for Kent and his family.”

  Harper takes a big sip of his coffee and looks up at the captain and looks him in the eye.

  “Cap, I will make sure of that. I promise you.”

  Harper walks away and proceeds to walk out of the hospital. Captain Leonard watches him as he takes another sip of his coffee.

  LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

  “Hold on buddy. I have to say hello this time.”

  Kent and Harper are standing outside of the food truck eating lunch when a beautiful woman walks by. Kent walks away quick and Harper yells at him.

  “Tom she’s way outta your league.”

  Kent yells back while he runs across the street.

  “We shall see!”

  He walks over to the woman while he attempts to catch his breath.

  “Hey Miss, how are you today?”

  She looks over her shoulder, as she continues to walk and catches Kent’s eyes.

  “I’m fine today thanks for asking.”

  She continues to walk at a steady pace, while Kent tries to keep up. He attempts to get her to stop walking.

  “Slow down, what’s the rush?”

  She responds, “Work is the rush, I’m late.”

  Kent picks up his pace, and finally catches up to her.

  “Well that’s understandable. What’s your name?”

  She jokes, “Who wants to know”.

  “I do.”

  She replies quickly without even looking him in the eye.

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m sorry to be rude. My name is Thomas Kent.”

  She replies, “Well good to meet you Thomas Kent. Have a good day I’m late for work.”

  Kent is surprised and stops walking.

  He yells as Harper finally catches up to him.

  “Well can I at least get your name?”

  She says nothing as she walks away. Harper starts to laugh.

  “Man, you really struck out there. It’s true, you are really terrible with women. Well maybe you can try your luck another day.”

  Kent continues to watch her walk away and says, “Yeah maybe.”

  It’s dark and Kent decides to call it a night. As he exits the precinct he sees the same young lady walking in the opposite direction.

  “Now isn’t this just my lucky day?” he said to himself with a smile on his face.

  He fixes up his collar and walks across the street to spark a conversation with her.

  “Hello Ms. I don’t think I got your name.”

  She looks at him and recognizes him.

  She laughs, “Good evening Mr. Thomas Kent.”

  He starts to smile.

  “Wow I didn’t even think you would remember my name.”

  She gives him a confused look.

  “Why wouldn’t I remember it? Are you not somebody not worth remembering?”

  “Of course I am,” he notes. “You were just so focused on getting to work this morning, I thought you didn’t even hear me talking to you.

  She starts to laugh. They continue to walk side by side and carry on in conversation.

  He asks, “So does this mystery woman have a name?”

  “Yes of course. How rude of me. My name is Amy. Amy Greenwood,” she responds with a smirk.

  The gorgeous Amy Greenwood sports long blonde hair and very full lips. Her long legs and beautiful curves would make any man fall at her feet. Kent has a look of satisfaction on his face.

  “Well Amy Greenwood can I take you out to dinner sometime?”

  Amy is shocked.

  “Wow. We are moving a little fast aren’t we? I don’t even know you and I just met you.”

  “Well let’s get to know each other over a meal.”

  She laughs, “Well if we meet again then I know it’s meant to be. Let’s see what happens.”

  Kent has a big smile on his face.

  “You gonna make me work aren’t you? Well I can work with that.”

  “Of course. I’m not easy. See you around Thomas Kent.”

  He watches her walk away.

  “See you, Amy Greenwood. See you around.”

  2 - LEFT FOR DEAD

  Kent sits up in his hospital bed and looks out the window onto the street. The nurse walks into his room and over to his bedside.

  “Mr. Kent, how are you feeling today?” she asks.

  He continues to stare out the window and remains silent.

  “Well, there’s someone here to meet you.”

  The nurse goes to the door and pulls in a young lady.

  “Mr. Kent, this is Mary Ansley. She is the women who found you in the Forest Hills and called an ambulance.”

  Kent’s eyes quickly get wide and he turns his head towards the direction of the door. He looks at Mary and instantly notices how beautiful she is. Mary is the type of woman who is so stunningly beautiful, she catches the eye of every person in whatever room she is in. She sports a different kind of confidence though. She stands there with a motherly and nurturing instinct, but at the same time it’s sexy, and her long dark her runs all the way down to her breasts. Kent decides to try and get up to greet the woman who saved his life. He stumbles just trying to stand up, so the nurse rushes to his side.

  “Now be careful you don’t want to hurt yourself and end up staying here any longer.”

  He finally finds some balance on his feet while still using the bed for insured steadiness.

  “You found me?”

  Mary responds with a nervous tone.

  “Yes I did.”

  Kent looks at the nurse.

  “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Of course. Just holler if you need me.”

  “Thank you.”

  They both wait for her to leave the room. The door shuts and Kent begins to sit down.

  “Please, please have a seat.”

  She sits down and Kent starts to ask as many questions as he can.

  “When you found me was I alone?”

  “Yes. When I found your body I thought you were dead. As soon as I called the police I noticed you were barely breathing. I really didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how you could be alive. There was so much blood. I mean just so much, it was just everywhere.”

  He looks at her carefully as she speaks and can see the trauma from that day in her eyes.

  “Are you sure there was no one around at the time? You didn’t see or hear anything?”

  “No, it was early in the day. I would have been sure if I saw something.”

  He looks confused.

  “Thank you so much Mary. I really mean that. You could have left me for dead, but you did a great thing.”

  She replies, “It was the right thing to do. Anybody else would have done the same.”

  “Well, some people are not as nice as others. Again, I thank you.”

  Mary sits in her chair with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Something must have really gone bad for someone to leave you for dead like that.”

  She catches him off guard with her blunt remark.

  She continues, “I mean it was really bad. Someone must have really wanted you dead for some reason. For your body to be dragged into the woods…”

  He stops the conversation abruptly.

  “Whatever reason that this happened to me is only my business. I don’t even know why this happened. I’m lost just like you.”

  Mary can tell that she has agitated him by her comments.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to intrude on your personal life.”

  He calms down.

  “It’s okay I overreacted a bit. My head is just all over the place.”


  He readjusts himself on the bed and looks at Mary.

  “Look it was a pleasure meeting you. If you can remember anything about that night, I would really appreciate it. Here’s my card, give me a call if you do.”

  She grabs the card and stands there for a second.

  “I’m glad to see you recovering so well. I will definitely give you a call if I can remember anything.”

  As she walks out the door detective Harper catches the door and walks in, but not before he takes a double take of Mary.

  “Wow. I see you actually landed that one there Kent.”

  Kent just looks at Harper with a blank stare, not appreciating Harper’s childish remarks. Harper quickly catches on to this too. Harper knows there is nothing funny about his situation.

  “Sorry buddy. Just thought you might want some humor today. Shall we go?”

  Kent responds, “Yes, let’s get outta here.”

  The nurse walks in the room with a wheelchair.

  “Mr. Kent, I brought your wheelchair.”

  “I don’t need a wheelchair. I can walk out on my own.”

  “It’s hospital policy sir. We have to take all of our patients to the front door in a wheelchair,” she explains.

  Kent takes a look at Harper. Harper looks back and shrugs his shoulders. Kent walks over to the wheelchair and sits down.

  “Now how hard was that Mr. Kent? Are you comfortable?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  They proceed to the main door of the hospital and Kent proceeds to get out the chair.

  “Thank you for everything.”

  “You’re very welcome Mr. Kent. Remember to take it easy, take care of those cuts and we will see you in three weeks to take that cast off.”

  He looks back at her with a smile, knowing that she helped save his life. He is beyond grateful, and gets the urge to let her know.

  “I really appreciate everything you did. I know I was an asshole at times, but you were always nice to me.”

  “It’s not a problem. You were actually one of the nice ones,” she reassures.