Lost

By M.A. Osness

Nothing is the same for Jessica, distraught after unsuccessfully trying to deal with a divorce from her husband, Richard. She impulsively quits her job, trying to get away from it all. Jessica embarks on a journey where things get more complicated at every twist and turn of the road, and she eventually finds herself lost in a world of danger. Desperately needing her best friend, Margaret, she is unable to reach her, unaware that Margaret is facing her own demons.
Rhonda Cunningham, a detective in the quiet little beach town of Sunnyside, soon comes in contact with a frantic Margaret, who shows up at her office. Margaret fears for her own life, working up the nerve to report a heated argument she overheard her neighbors having. Rhonda hates domestic violence cases, but soon learns her own sister, Patricia, has confronted her abusive husband.
Five murders later, each of them comes to terms with their own issues as things go horribly wrong. How much worse can it get? Who is in danger and who is the killer?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329692817

Book preview

Lost

by M. A. Osness

Jessica felt dizzy and grabbed the side of a chair to steady herself. She was breathless, and her heart beat rapidly. Not knowing what to do, Jessica tried desperately to wipe away the memories of what had happened earlier. I need to escape them!

Walking into her kitchen for a bottled water from the fridge and uncapping it, she drank several long swallows. It felt good going down her throat. Cool water eased the cotton mouth. Hydrated, her throat felt better again.

She returned to the living room, and stood there for a while, lost in her thoughts staring off into space. A dog barked outside her window, startling her and pulling her back into reality. It was a reality she was sorry had ever happened.

Jessica made her way over to her favorite big white comfy chair and flopped into it. She pulled her legs to her chest and stayed in a fetal position for what felt like a long time. Eyes closed, her breathing finally evened out and her heart ceased racing.

Did I really do that? Am I having second thoughts? Jessica pulled herself up straight as she recalled events. Details of what had happened at work returned, and Jessica now understood why she had reacted in such a way. Vivid images of what had gone down made her cringe.

***

Did I really scream at Mr. Whitney and quit my job? Yes and yes. Guilty as charged. How could I have said the things I did? Jessica felt bad about her behavior, but still felt she had a good reason for reacting that way. For months her workload had been more than she could handle. Granted, she never complained because that was not something Jessica did.

But it appeared that Mr. Whitney was relying on her to do more than her fair share of the work. She loved Mr. Whitney. He had always been so kind and understanding. And he was good to her. It thrilled her when she got the Director of Finance position and a wonderful pay increase.

But there was one deadline after another, all piled onto her shoulders. It was probably because she had thrown herself into her work lately and had been so available. The pay increase filled a gap, but it was just too much work. She was tired of it. And though she was always cooperative, met her deadlines, never really caused any kind of a problem, her reaction was a complete turnaround from the Jessica everyone knew. She was aware of that fact and tried to rationalize that what had happened was because of the unfair treatment at work. But what had eventually set her off was the way Mr. Whitney had talked to her. She closed her eyes tightly. Jessica wanted the memories to stop, stop for just a minute or two.

One distinct thing that happened that morning beyond her apparent breakdown was the way Mark was smiling when everything was going down. He had wanted that promotion and had resented the fact that it had gone to her. He would remind her regularly that one wrong move on her part and she could kiss that promotion goodbye. Well it looked like he was going to get his wish. This job is for a person who had no life, like me. Married with two cute kids, he had it all.  He had what she wanted.

Tears ran down her face. Why had Richard asked her for a divorce? She thought they had the perfect marriage. Divorced for almost a year, she was still madly in love with him. It had been one of the hardest years of her life and had never been the same since he left her.

***

Rhonda Cunningham looked at the file on her desk, another domestic violence case. She hated them. She leaned back in her chair putting her arms up behind her head, trying to get a good stretch.

Good morning, Rhonda, Edgar said as he walked past her desk.

Morning Ed.

He smiled at her. Anything good? he asked

Just the usual crap.  She gave Edgar a nod and looked back at the file.

Edgar walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a large cup. Donuts look good today, he said, picking the biggest one.

That’s because I brought them in. Rhonda finally smiled. Enjoy she said.

Edgar thanked her and walked out of the office.

Forty years old, Rhonda had just celebrated her birthday two days earlier. It was no big deal, just her mom and sister and a small cake. That pretty much described Rhonda’s life: no big deal. She was normal height, not heavy, but she wasn’t small either. In other words she had some meat on her bones.

Rhonda thought she looked the way a woman cop should look. At least that’s what she told herself. She wasn’t one of those fake-looking gals on TV crime shows. What were they, size O? What in the hell could one of them do, with their long hair flowing in the wind as they ran in hot pursuit of the bad guys? A bunch of crap.

No she was a real cop. She could pretty much take down any guy, no matter how tough he might be. And most of the guys in the department knew it. Rhonda was proud of the fact that she had finally made detective. It had taken her five years and she had worked hard to get it. So it really wasn’t a surprise when they made the announcement, at least not to her. If anyone deserved it she certainly did.

She realized she wasn’t some great beauty, quite the opposite in fact.  She had short brown hair which she wore in a no-nonsense style. At least that’s what she called it. Her mom would say, Honey why don’t you let your hair grow out a little. You have such a pretty face, and Rhonda would say, Yeah, yeah mom, I know, I know, I’m a real beauty queen.

Her mom would look down, knowing she wasn’t going to talk her daughter into anything she didn’t want to do. Her best features were her straight white teeth and her green eyes.

Other than that Rhonda was just an ordinary gal. A guy really wouldn’t give her a second look. Rhonda was aware of how she looked and who she was but she was okay with that. She knew she was a good person, kind and caring, but still ready to kick in a door when she had to.  She never had to. Things around the office were pretty quiet. She didn’t exactly work in Crime City, USA. In fact it wasn’t all that interesting, even boring at times; robberies mostly, and those damn domestic violence cases. Sometimes there were drug dealings, mostly involving kids. Every now and then there was a dead body found somewhere in some desolate part of town, but rarely did that happen.

***

The hours crept and crawled, as Rhonda sifted through paperwork and reports, made notes. Then, suddenly, the hours didn’t creep, and she was startled out of her thoughts by a voice.

Hey, Rhonda, you coming out to have a beer or two with us?  This from Jeff Holden, a co-worker, as he was leaving the office.

She looked at her watch to see what time it was, and was shocked that her shift was over.

Not tonight, Jeff, but thanks.

Chapter 2

Jessica finally managed to settle herself down. She was beginning to think clearly again. There were still some things she couldn’t remember and some things she wished she could forget. Oh how she wished she could erase those images from her mind. But it’s not really my fault. Of course it wasn’t. She had been driven to act that way. Mr. Whitney had gone too far. Why couldn’t he realize she was doing her best? But she knew she’d had enough when he yelled at her in front of everyone.

I told you how important this case was, Jessica. How could you drop the ball like this? You may be the reason we lose this client. He was angry, his jaw was tight.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How dare he talk to her like that. That’s when she completely lost it.

Excuse me, Mr. Whitney, but you can go to hell, she screamed back. "I’ve had it with you and