The Man In Forest Hills Read online

  “I had a long talk with a catholic priest about you the other day.”

  Kent gives her a confused look and adjusts to fix his posture in the chair.

  “What do you mean? A conversation about what?”

  “No, No it’s nothing like that. We just talked about you trying to trust God, you know, to help you with some of the things you have seen.”

  Kent is relieved when he hears what comes out her mouth. He thought what she discussed with the priest was what she witnessed Kent do to Detective Craven.

  “Look Mary. I really appreciate you being concerned about me, but I don’t think God will help me with what I have going on right now.”

  “You don’t really believe that do you Tom?”

  Kent takes out his phone and starts hitting buttons. Mary sits there looking at Kent wondering what he’s doing. Kent takes his phone and puts it up to Mary’s face. He shows her a picture of his family.

  “Look here Mary. This is my dead family. They were all murdered for absolutely no reason. If there was a God, then he wouldn’t have let those things happen to them.”

  As Mary looks at the picture, her smile from before has changed into a sad frown.

  “I feel your pain, believe me, I do, but there has to be some belief in God. Obviously he kept you alive for a reason. You don’t think so?”

  Kent starts to ponder on her question, not sure how he should respond. From the time that he realized his family was gone, he thought he was left here to suffer. There was really no other answer he could come up with, until now. Until this woman who he barely knows, asked him a question, which left him unsure of his previous thoughts. After some thought, he responds to Mary the best way he knows how.

  “Mary, to be honest with you, I have no idea why I am still alive. I think about it all the time. Why couldn’t I have died and my wife and son live? They were far better people then I ever was or at this point ever will be. I’m trying to live my life the way they would want me to, but I have to finish what I started, I won’t be able live if I don’t.”

  As the conversation continues on between the two of them, so do the cups of coffee. Mary’s focus is to show Tom that he can still live a good life with a purpose through God. They share a couple of smiles and laughs, which makes her hopeful she got some type of message across to him. Kent takes a glance at his watch.

  “Well, it’s been great to catch up with you again. I have to head out to take care of some stuff.”

  Kent takes out a twenty-dollar bill and places it on the table, even though the waitress didn’t bring them the check yet. He knows the bill if no more than ten dollars, but he wanted to leave the waitress a nice tip. They both get up out of the booth and make their way towards the door.

  As they approach the door, the waitress calls out to him.

  “Thank you sweetie.”

  He turns back and shoots her a smile.

  Right before they exit the diner, Harper walks into the diner. He stops in his tracks and looks at Kent and then at Mary with a quizzical look.

  “Tom, what’s up buddy? How are you?”

  “I’m good man just having a cup of coffee with a friend of mine,” he says.

  Harper takes a look at Mary and extends his hand towards her.

  “Hey, how are you? I’m Detective Harper. I’m Tom’s partner.”

  Mary puts a smile on her face after Harper introduces himself.

  “Oh okay. It’s good to know who he works with. I’m Mary Ansley. I’m just a friend of Toms.”

  “That’s weird. He has never mentioned you before. Old Tom here has a lot of secrets doesn’t he?”

  Kent looks at him, but isn’t smiling. It’s more of a please can you shut up look. Mary breaks up the awkward silence.

  “We met not too long ago to be honest.”

  “Oh okay. That makes a lot of sense,” confirms Harper.

  Mary fixes her purse strap on her shoulder and turns to the door.

  “Okay guys I’m gonna head out now. I will leave you two to it.”

  “It was nice to meet you Mary.”

  Kent walks her to the door and leaves Harper staring at both of them. Kent holds the door open for her.

  “Take care Mary. We will talk soon.”

  She gives him a hug and walks out the diner. Kent makes his way back towards Harper. Harper keeps a close eye on Mary as she walks to her car. He sees that she gets into a black sedan. He turns back to Kent with a smirk on his face.

  “Kent you dog you. That’s a nice one you got there.”

  Kent looks at him with a straight face.

  “I know what you’re thinking buddy, but it’s not what it looks like at all, she’s just a friend.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Harper says.

  Harper begins to laugh, but Kent doesn’t join in, instead he heads straight to the door.

  “I’ll see you around buddy. Gotta go run some errands. I’ll call you soon so we can go for some beers or something.”

  “Of course. Let’s catch up soon. Take care brother.”

  Kent walks out the diner and leaves Harper standing in the diner looking out the window. Harper has an intense feeling about Mary, but can’t put his finger on it. He walks up to the counter and orders a cup of coffee. After the waitress brings it over to him, Harper realizes it was Mary’s black sedan that caught his attention, not her. Now he has to figure out why.

  11 - BLACK SEDAN

  Outside of the precinct Harper steps out his car and quickly makes his way through the front doors. He navigates through the hallways and finally walks up to his anything but organized desk. He opens up a bottom drawer, and pulls out a large stack of papers. He skims through it, but doesn’t have what he is looking for. After about five minutes, he finally stumbles on the paper he needs. The information on the paper is from the young witness he talked to after the murder of Craven. He points to the line that pinpoints the black sedan that was spotted that night as the crime scene.

  He picks up his work phone, dials a number, and then places the phone to his ear. He dials a number and puts the phone to his ear. The phone rings for a couple of seconds and then a voice picks up on the other end.

  “Hello. Motor vehicle registry, Dan speaking.”

  “Hey Dan, this is Detective Harper.”

  “Hey Harper. What can I do for you?”

  Harper sits up and grabs the piece of paper.

  “I’m calling about that black sedan I asked you about a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Oh yeah. I remember that one. I think we got all the info for you, but let me check with my people upstairs and see what they got for me,” he says.

  Harper puts the piece of paper down and finishes his conversation.

  “Okay Dan, that’s great. Just let me know when you can.”

  He hangs up the phone and sits back in his chair. He takes a deep breath and puts his feet up.

  Mary Ansley. Who are you? I got a feeling and it’s not good.

  Hours later Harper is by the coffee machine in the kitchen. A strong hand grabs him on the shoulder. He gets startled and turns around quickly. He looks up to see Kent standing there.

  “What the fuck are you doing here man?”

  “Just came to check up on you guys. Make sure the ship is running well you know,” Kent insists.

  Captain Leonard walks into the kitchen and stops in his track when he sees Kent next to Harper.

  “Thomas motherfucking Kent. How are you?”

  Everyone in the office hears Capt. Leonard, followed by Kent’s response, so most start to head over to the kitchen to greet him. Kent shakes a bunch of hands with officers and detectives, who all made their way over to him. He continues to have small talk with everyone, until Capt. Leonard walks over to him and grabs his attention.

  “Hey Tom, let me see you in my office for a second.”

  “Ok Cap.”

  Kent follows right behind him to his office.
They both walk through the door and Kent closes the door behind them. Capt. Leonard sits down in his seat behind his desk.

  “Take a seat Tom.”

  He sits down and looks at Capt. Leonard waiting for him to say something.

  “Tom, I just wanted to talk to you for a couple of minutes, and see how you’re doing. I just wanted to make sure things are getting better for you.”

  “I’m doing better Cap, I really am. But I can’t sit across from you today and tell you that I’m happy, I’m not. I’m just trying to take it day by day,” he mentions.

  Capt. Leonard shakes his head to confirm that he understands. He truly understands Tom’s struggles because he can look into his eyes and see the pain. He doesn’t recognize the man sitting across from him anymore.

  “I understand Tom. Never forget, this is always your home and if there’s anything you need just let me know.”

  “Thanks Cap.”

  He gets up out of his the seat and walks towards the door. He turns back to acknowledge Capt. Leonard again.

  “I’m going to take off Cap. I’ll keep in touch. Do me a favor, and make sure these guys around here are working.”

  Capt. Leonard responds with a little chuckle as he watches him exit his office. Kent walks back through the hallway and when Harper catches a glimpse of him he decides to make conversation.

  “Tom, you headed home?”

  “Yeah, I need to get some rest. I’ve been doing a lot of running around lately.”

  Harper knows that this might not be the appropriate time to ask Kent about his run in with him at the diner, but he can’t help himself.

  “Tom, you know I don’t like to get into your business or anything, but I just have to ask.”

  Kent gives Harper a quick nod.

  “How did you meet Mary?”

  Kent takes a second before he responds. He knows Harper like the back of his hand, so he knows that he is up to something.

  “I met her a couple of weeks back. I ran into her in town. It was nothing special.”

  Before Harper can respond to Kent, another colleague walks up to Kent. Harper looks him up and down in attempt to read him, to see if he is being honest or not. He takes a sip of his coffee as he watches the two men interact. As soon as the other detective walks away, Kent turns back to Harper.

  “Okay bro, I’m headed out. I’ll give you a call in a couple days.”

  “Okay, that sounds like a plan,” says Harper.

  Harper walks back to his desk and takes a sit in front of his locked computer screen. He quickly types in his username and password to login to the department database. He types the name, Mary Ansley, into the search box. Another detective walks by and stops to take a look at the computer screen. Harper catches him and quickly turns his chair around.

  “Stop being so fucking nosy and get outta here.”

  “Who’s that Harper? You’re new girlfriend.”

  “I said get the fuck outta here,” Harper says.

  He turns back to his computer and hits the enter button. All of Mary’s information comes up on the screen. He sees her address and jots it down on his notepad. He grabs his jacket and quickly heads out of the office.

  Later on that night Harper sits in his car on the street that he jotted down earlier. He parked his car a couple houses down, to not make himself look suspicious.

  He sits there just looking, just waiting for something to happen.

  Mary Ansley what are you up to?

  After a couple of hours of the stakeout, Harper reclines his seat and lays back to catch some shuteye.

  Meanwhile a couple of streets over, Kent is driving around the city in his car. He decides to go check in on Mary, so he approaches her street and turns onto it. He slows down as he sees Mary’s house on the right coming up. Just as he is about to pull into her driveway, he spots a familiar car parked down the street a couple of houses. He decides to continue down the street to get a good look at the car. He reads the license plate to determine that his query was right. Harper is staked outside of Mary’s place.

  Harper what the fuck are you doing out here?

  He hits the gas and turns down another street to get out of sight. As soon as Kent is in the clear, Harper ironically sits up in his car. He adjusts his seat back to driving position and scans over Mary’s house one last time, but nothing has changed.

  I gotta get out of here.

  He starts his car, turns on his lights and pulls away. He drives down the street and follows the same route Kent took.

  The next morning Kent wakes up in his bed and grabs his cell phone and quickly dials a number. He puts the phone to his ear and listens to it ring a couple of times. A voice picks up on the other end.

  Mary greets him on the other end of the phone.

  “Hello.”

  He says, “Hey. Can we meet? It’s important.”

  “Of course. Where?”

  “Meet me in the woods by the parkway.”

  “Okay see you in ten minutes.”

  An hour later Kent navigates through a wooded area on a dirt road. He eventually sees Mary’s car parked on the side with her outside leaning on the trunk. He parks behind her and hops out of his car. They walk and meet right between the two cars. She starts up the conversation.

  “What’s wrong Tom?”

  “It’s my partner Harper.”

  Mary has a confused look on her face.

  “He’s been following you.”

  “What? How do you know?”

  Kent checks their surroundings, even though he knows no one if there, but his paranoia has been at an all-time high lately.

  “I was headed toward your house yesterday and I saw him parked down the street from your house.”

  “What? How do you know it was him?” she asks.

  “I know his car Mary, he is my partner.”

  Mary stands there in confusion, still not grasping why he was at her house.

  “Why do you think he’s following me?”

  Kent doesn’t want to worry Mary, so he takes his time to respond in a calm manner.

  “I don’t know as of right now, but I will find out. Just give me a couple of days and I will figure it all out.”

  Mary looks him in his eye for a couple of seconds and Kent stares right back at her. There is a weird connection going on between them, but neither of them are willing to bring it up. It’s something that’s hard to figure out but neither of them questions their selves about it.

  “Okay, I hope it’s nothing bad.”

  “I just wanted to make you aware of it, but like I said, I’m on it.”

  After a couple more exchanges, they say their goodbyes and Kent watches Mary get back into her car. Once in her car, she sits there and watches Kent get back into his car in her rearview mirror. She starts up her car and pulls off the dirt road with a bit of pace. Her back tires kick up a bunch of dust that ends up settling onto Kent’s car. He turns on his windshield wipers to clear his mirror before he pulls off as the sun begins to set in the distance.

  Later that morning, Harper stands in his kitchen watching the news on his small TV while it’s placed on the counter. He hears ahis tea kettle whistling, so he heads over to the stove. He puts his hand on the knob and turns the burner to off. He grabs the kettle but hears a knock on the door, so he places it back down on the stove. He walks to the door and looks through the peephole to see Kent standing on the other side.

  “That’s unusual,” Kent is surprised by this visit.

  He opens the door with a smile on his face.

  “Tom. What’s up buddy?”

  “What’s going on bro?”

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “I was just in the area and I thought I come by to say hello.”

  Harper invites him into the house and offers him a seat.

  “Just making some tea buddy. You want some?”

  He declines and Harper wa
lks back into the kitchen. Kent uses this opportunity to snoop through some of Harper’s things. He starts with a bunch of folders on his coffee table filled with a bunch of paperwork. He keeps looking down the hallway to make sure Harper isn’t on his way back to him. He can’t afford to get caught, so he starts to tidy the folders back up. Harper suddenly calls out from the kitchen.

  “So how you been Tom?”

  He quickly closes the top folder when he hears the voice.

  “I’ve been pretty good to be honest. I got back into the gym again.”

  Harper walks back into the living room sipping his tea.

  “That’s very good. Working out always helps to get the mind back right. It definitely helps with stress.”

  Harper takes notice that the files on his coffee table have been messed with in some way. He looks at the files and then looks at Kent. It doesn’t take Kent long to realize that Harper has taken note of his snooping around.

  “Any idea of when you coming back to work?”

  Kent takes his hand and rubs it over his face.

  “Darren, I have no idea.”

  “Well, you are coming back to work aren’t you?”

  Kent raises his eyebrows at Harper in a state of confusion. Not sure if he even knows how to respond to him.

  “I have no idea. I think this time away has helped me look at myself differently in a lot of ways.”

  He pauses for a second to take a deep breath.

  “I just don’t think I’m ready to make that decision. I’m still not back to myself, so I need to give it some more time. I’m not ruling it out, I just need more time.”

  As he speaks, Harper can hear the pain and loneliness is his voice. He understands that the magnitude of what happened to Kent is unfathomable.

  “I understand Tom. Take all the time you need. I will always be here for you no matter what decision you make.”

  “Thanks Darren. I appreciate you.”

  Kent gets up off the couch and proceeds to walk to the door.

  “Alright buddy, I’ll give you a call in a couple days. Have fun at the office.”

  He exits the house and hustles to his car. Harper peaks through the blinds to watch Kent pull out of his driveway. He starts to wonder what Kent was looking for in his files that he couldn’t just ask him about himself. He heads over to the coffee table.