Thursday night, the DH and I went to a program at our library lasting until 9:30. Afterwards, we stopped at my brother's house to pick up my bookmarks, so we didn't get home until after 10pm.
The next morning I noticed a few strange things. When I went to walk Rascal, thank goodness she was on her leash, because our gate was open. We never leave the gate open, because we often let her out in the yard by herself. If she got away, since she's deaf she wouldn't hear us call for her.
We went on our usual walk. Then, when I went to put her duty bag into the garbage on the patio, I noticed something else strange. The grill had been knocked over. Its cover was off, the rack part was on the grass. Someone had been in our yard overnight.
The idea made me very uneasy. What was going on?
Saturday I stopped at my neighbor's house. That's when she mentioned the street had been blocked off Thursday night, a patrol car was parked in front of her house and it was shining it's light in the direction of our garage. The patio is on the other side of it. This was around 9:30
She didn't know what was going on. That's when I told her about the strangeness in our yard.
I called the police, but got no answer. She followed up and someone called back. Apparently, a runaway, I don't know how old, was being sought by the police that night and was caught. Part of the time the runaway had to have been in our yard, maybe even hiding there when we came home.
In Killer Career, something horrible happens in the heroine's neighbor's yard. You don't expect bad things to happen so close. The first reaction is disbelief, followed by nervousness.
At least my own mystery was solved. I know the person the police were looking for was caught. Has anything strange like that ever happened to you or someone you know? Please share.
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel/
http://chooiceonepublishing.com/
Killer Career now available at most outlets
and Barnes & Noble
8 comments:
eeep, that would have wigged me out. Glad it wasn't more sinister.
We usually hear/see the police helicopters hovering as they try to locate and flush out suspects. If they're out there very long, I'll call the sheriff's office to ask if I need to stay inside with the doors locked. So far, it's not been an issue.
When Harold and I lived in a town house in Trenton, NJ, on the 300 block of West State Street...
Where to begin?
With the night the old drunk was mugged in the alley beside our house? "Don't kill me, don't kill me," he cried, until Harold shouted out the window for the muggers to leave him alone, and they ran away. In the morning we found his pocket change.
Or with the guy who came in the attic window, rifled through the kitchen knife drawer, and strolled into our bedroom while we were sleeping, only to be chased back out the window by a half-naked Harold, roaring incoherently. Or with the bleeding woman who...
Let's just say it was a lively neighborhood.
Kate,
I think your stories beat mine!
Morgan Mandel
You've given me some ideas to right on my own blog--we've had some exciting times too.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
We had a car chase end up in our front yard when we lived in Glendale. Nearly plowed down the big tree and our porch, but luckily the car stopped before that happened.
Morgan, some years ago we started to get threatening phone calls in the middle of the night--someone who clearly knew who we were and where we lived, and threatened to "get to us." We called the police, they searched and found nothing, and then we waited. We stopped answering the phone after nine or ten, and it all just faded away--until one of our neighbors mentioned that she had started to wonder if late night calls should be taken seriously, and could anyone really know where she lived? We learned later it was a teenager in the neighborhood whose family was going through a terrible time.
Susan Oleksiw
That's scary, Morgan. Glad it wasn't more sinister!
Helen
Straight From Hel
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