Mangled
Zachary K. Prescott
Mangled
Zachary K. Prescott
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All Right Reserved.
Copyright©2018 by Zachary K. Prescott
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and other noncommercial uses as permitted by the copyright law.
To Kanye for bringing so much joy and sunshine to my world you are the motivation behind this book and so many others to come
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Prologue
F
eeling the morning sun sting his skin, while trying hard to remain negligent of the fact that everything around him wasn’t ideal for a Monday morning in the office, he sighed and closed his eyes one more time. The images weren’t meant to fade away, neither were they meant to disappear like he had not seen them, but some part of him wished that was the case; some part wanted it all to come to nothing but hoax and false cry from the witness who had found them.
Hearing the voices hum and chum around didn’t do any better either.
“Six! We have six confirmed!” a feminine voice cried aloud, piling on his misery and sending some more cold chills down his spine like never before.
“Shit!” he mumbled underneath his breath, trying hard not to let the words air aloud.
He wasn’t sure if it was the incident itself that bothered him the most or maybe the fact he was okay with when the count was just “four”. He felt even better when it was three and two and just one, but best when it wasn’t discovered at all and there was zero count. The best part of his day had been when the phone call had not come in.
Taking in another deep breath, one of many he was definitely going to do for the day, he bit his lower lip, cringed within and mumbled, “How is this happening?”
The questions remained endless and his reasoning had begun to spiral out of control. Those around worked on regardless and wouldn’t even stop to notice the man standing on the muddy grounds with them whose consciousness was nowhere where they were at present. The thought of peeling apart his eyelids and staring at the ignorant souls around him who had begun tearing through his work was hurting and even more was the fact he had to deal with what would come afterwards.
“The press!” he thought. “Those vultures will be here soon enough!”
He was right as rain and all through his years as a detective, he had never been able to fathom how they came to know of incidents which prompted their white vans to come rolling through without a single hint of their coming. He would keep them out of it for now though; at least, if only he could.
“Seven! I have seven bodies now!” the same lady screamed out aloud and he felt his misery only skyrocket immediately.
The count will only increase and nothing could be done about it. There were too many unanswered questions too but first, he needed to play the part or at least see things through before what would come next.
“Detective Jake! Detective Jake!” he heard the persistent voice ringing and dragging the man out from his belly of drowning thoughts.
Jake parted his eyelids open to permit the golden rays of the sun seeping through the branches and leaves of the canopies of trees ahead. His nostrils sucked in ample amount of flavored air tainted by the forest into his lungs as well, while his instincts kicked into place immediately.
The voice came closer with a rather touching tone to it. “Are you alright sir? If you need some air, you should step away from here to have it”.
Jake took his time to let it all in; in his line of work and with the bountiful amount of secrets to hide, appearances was everything. With a smile and a rather straight face denoting nothing but his brilliant self as always, Jake nodded and reached for the young officer’s shoulder.
“I am fine thank you… “, he paused looked around and at the revelation of his handwork which was never meant to come to light and was now laid bare on the ground. “Walk me through everything you’ve got and we will see where we’d begin from there”.
The young officer nodded, sighed and turned around to look at the floor, as did Jake and his entire consciousness as he did well to bury and blur out any distractions that might make him begin to look nervous.
“A deep diver called this morning to report seeing strange things floating in the waters that seemed like body parts”, the officer explained.
Jake paused, nodded and spoke. “What’s your name?”
“Sam”, he replied abruptly. “Sam White, sir”.
Jake looked on but without being impressed. He was dealing with a rookie and one who obviously wasn’t mesmerized by the sheer numbers of dead bodies before him; talk less of being rattled by them.
“I’m working with a fucking newbie and a know-it-all”, he concluded to his own distasteful acknowledgment.
Sam obviously was young and Jake would have assumed he was too young to be in the force, had he not been drafted in as one of the youngest detective and homicide officer ten years ago for his keen observation and abilities to close any murder case.
“I must confess that I have heard so much about you Sir and I am sure I can be of value to this investigation”, Sam ranted on.
Jake shrugged, shoved past the newbie and stood before the bodies which were
