Autumn whipped a flashlight out of her back pocket, clicked it on and scanned the man’s body. “Uh-oh. See that?” She focused the light near the man’s head and Mercedes spotted a pool of blood.
“We need an ambulance.” Mercedes’ fingers trembled as she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket, switched it on and dialed 911. “Yes. My name is Mercedes Garlucci. I’m over in the riverfront district, not far from the Artisan Hotel and there’s a man lying on the ground next to the parking lot. There’s some blood near his head and he’s not responding. You need my exact location? Hang on.”
She hurried to the front of the parking lot. “I’m in Private Lot B, on West River Street, past the edge of the shopping area. Thank you.”
Mercedes made her way back to Autumn’s side as she disconnected the line. “The police are on the way.”
“Is this the dude you were supposed to meet?”
“I-I don’t know.” Mercedes swallowed hard and took a step closer to study his face. She’d never met Jon Luis, but had talked to him on the phone. They had also exchanged numerous text and email messages.
At first, Mercedes wondered if “Jon Luis” was a scammer, but she’d done some digging around and discovered the man had written a series of books about several high profile unsolved murders.
She and her author group had discussed Mr. Luis’ books at length, and when Mercedes decided to dig a little deeper into Luis’ life, she was convinced she was onto something. Why the man had agreed to meet with Mercedes to discuss the scandalous stories of some of Savannah’s most powerful people was a mystery.
She studied his face, his receding hairline and gray beard. The man appeared to be close to Jon Luis’ age. His glasses hung haphazardly from his nose and a set of keys lay close by. Mercedes reached out to grab the keys.
“Don’t touch that!” Autumn said. “You could be contaminating evidence. I’ll take a picture instead.” Autumn tucked her gun in the front of her waistband and pulled her shirt over the top before dropping to her knees. She positioned her phone over the set of keys and snapped a picture.
Next, she scooched back and snapped a picture of the deceased before hurrying to the edge of the parking lot to take a few more pictures.
The sound of sirens filled the air and flashes of light filled River Street. Several patrol cars, along with an ambulance, arrived en masse and uniformed officers swarmed the scene.
“Over here.” Mercedes led the officers to the man’s body and then joined Autumn, who stood off to the side. They watched as the emergency medical responders and police examined the man Mercedes believed was Jon Luis.
One of the officers made his way over. “You two the ones who found the man?”
“I was,” Mercedes said.
“Do you know who he is?” he asked.
“No sir. I mean, I’ve never met the man. If he’s who I think he is, I was meeting him here tonight,” Mercedes started to ramble. “I believe his name might be Jon Luis. I didn’t know him and my friend, Autumn, was waiting for me across the street.”
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” The officer made his way to one of the patrol cars and returned, carrying a notepad. “You say you were here to meet the deceased, but yet you didn’t know him.”
“It’s a little complicated,” Mercedes said. “I came here to meet a man by the name of Jon Luis. I’ve seen pictures of him and I think this may be the man on the ground. Of course, it’s dark, so I can’t be certain. He was going to give me information on an old unsolved murder investigation because I’m writing a book about Savannah’s dark side; you know crimes, murder…” Her voice trailed off.
“So you agreed to meet a complete stranger, at night, in a dark parking lot to get the scoop on an unsolved murder and when you got here you found a body?”
“That about sums it up,” Mercedes said. “Listen, no one can make up this kind of story.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” The officer rocked back on his heels. “I would like you.” He pointed his finger at Mercedes and Autumn. “Both of you, to accompany me to the police station to answer a few questions.”
Mercedes cleared her throat. “Okay.”
The officer reached for his radio while Autumn grabbed Mercedes’ arm and whispered in her ear. “Don’t say anything else. I’m gonna tell him we want a lawyer present for questioning.”
“We’re not being arrested,” Mercedes said. “Are we?”
The officer glanced at the women as he spoke to the dispatcher. “10-4. We’ll be leaving shortly.” He clipped his radio to his belt. “My patrol car is parked over here.”
“Wait.” Autumn held up her hand. “We would rather answer your questions here. Why do we have to go down to the police station?”
“You don’t. I thought it would be easier to talk down at the station but I can’t force you.”
“Then we’re not going anywhere.” Autumn crossed her arms and her shirt bunched up, revealing the grip of her gun.
“You’re carrying a concealed weapon?” The officer narrowed his eyes and pointed at her gun.
“I-uh.” Autumn uncrossed her arms. “Yes. For protection. I have a weapons license.”
“Can I see your driver’s license and carry license?”
“Of course.” Autumn fumbled around inside her jacket pocket and pulled out a small wallet. She unclasped the front, removed her carry license and driver’s license, and then handed them to the officer.
He glanced at the front. “I’ll be right back.”
“Great,” Mercedes moaned as the officer
