The Murder on Watermark Lane: Detective Autumn Rose, #1

By Amber Rodgers

Autumn Rose grew up in Mt. Cleary, Missouri, watching both her parents serve on the local police force, so there was nothing short of her wanting to follow in their footsteps. Right after high school graduation, she headed to the police academy, the exact thing her parents never took her seriously and thought she would do. Autumn put everything into the academy and knew that she wanted to be a detective when she graduated. Little did Autumn know that dream wouldn't come until thirteen years after becoming a part of the police force. She was thrilled to move on to the next adventure of her career but never did she think that she would be a part of the first double homicide in Mt. Cleary, and she would be the lead investigator.

Nerves were boiling over when she arrived at the scene that frigid cold day. Upon arrival at the scene, she encountered the homeowner, who was hysterical after just finding a dead body inside a home that she owns but is vacant. But one body was not all that was hidden inside the house; there was a second, perfectly poised in the corner of a bedroom like they were telling a story. Autumn knew that this investigation would be challenging, but she was determined to find the monster or monsters responsible for taking the lives of these individuals. She followed all leads that came in, but she never imagined that the monster responsible was not whom she thought it would be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amber Rodgers
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201198367

Book preview

DEDICATIONS

I want to thank my wonderful beta readers. Each one of you is unique and unforgettable!

Kim, April, Angela, & Lisa.

Contents

DEDICATIONS

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

Epilogue

THANK YOU FOR READING

About the Author

Other books by Amber Rodgers

Prologue

911, what’s your emergency? the caller on the other end of the line heard the dispatcher say.

Send the police ... ambulance ... There was a long pause. Someone! Just send someone! Please! Hurry! Uh ... uh, there’s someone dead, the caller screamed, gasping for air.

The dispatcher knew the woman on the other line was bawling hysterically as she pushed out broken words. Ma’am, I need you to please calm down; I can’t understand you, the dispatcher calmly explained. Take a deep breath and try again.

Eva could hear the woman on the other line breathe just like Eva had been trained to guide frantic callers. Ma’am, are you sure they are dead? Were you able to check for a pulse?

Are you crazy? the caller yelled into the phone.

The dispatcher took a deep breath and composed herself. Ma’am, I understand how scary of a situation this is, and I will dispatch the police to your location. But, before I can do that, I need you to tell me where you are, please. Do you know where you are?

Uh-huh, the woman gasped. Two sixty-four Watermark Lane.

Ma’am, what is your first name?

Sylvia.

Sylvia, my name is Eva. What I will do now is dispatch our team, who will come and assess the situation. The location you are at, is this your house? A friend’s house?

It’s mine. No one has lived here for many, many years. It was left to me years ago when the previous owner passed away, but I never thought about doing anything with it. I come here to check on it every few months or so because of squatters.

I understand. Eva shook her head up and down like the caller was watching her. Sylvia, can you walk me through what happened?

Are the police, or someone almost here? I don’t want to stand in here; it stinks really, really bad, Sylvia shot out of her mouth as fast as a rocket.

Eva empathized with the woman. She must be feeling very uncomfortable standing there looking at a dead body. Sylvia, if you would like, you can go to your vehicle and wait or hang out outside. It looks like they are about three minutes out.

It really smells foul in here, and I don’t know if I can stay here any longer. Being outside in the cold is better than being in here, Sylvia started coughing.

Yes, please go outside. Do you have a car?

I do. Is it okay if I just go sit in there?

Yes, absolutely. I will let them know you are in the car, the dispatcher said. Sylvia, while we wait, can you tell me what happened?

I don’t know how she died, the woman snapped.

Eva could tell that she struck a chord with her, and she wasn’t implying anything. No, I mean, how did you come to find the body?

Oh, goodness, I am sorry; that probably came off so rude. I wasn’t saying you were accusing me. I got off work early today and figured that I would run out and check on the property while the kiddos were in school. When I got here, I entered through the front door as normal, and when I came in, I saw a woman face down on the floor with blood next to her, Sylvia explained.

Are you positive it is a woman?

Honestly, I’m not. I guess I am only assuming because the person has long hair and is wearing a dress. But that doesn’t mean anything.

That’s okay; it’s normal to assume. It looks like they should be pulling in now, Eva told her as she heard the woman scream and yell. Sylvia, I can hear they are there. We can disconnect the call now.

And the line went dead.

Chapter One

Officer, Officer, Autumn heard a woman yelling. She looked over her shoulder and continued making her way to the crime scene. She surveyed the area and saw that paramedics and police officers had already arrived on the scene. They had secured the area with caution tape and ran the entire perimeter of the house.

Autumn spotted the woman as she flew around the front end of a car, almost losing her balance and falling. Autumn walked toward the woman, but she didn’t make it far before the woman was in her face and throwing her hands around.

Autumn took a step back and smiled. Ma’am, I need you to please calm down. She raised and lowered her hands, gesturing for her to take it down a notch. I cannot understand anything you’re saying when you’re screaming and yelling.

Sylvia slammed her hands onto her hips and drew in a deep breath. Okay, she let out a deep breath. Sorry, I am just so freaked out. There’s a dead body inside that house. She pointed in front of them. I came here to check on the property because I have had issues with people squatting in the past, and this time when I got here there is a person on the floor face down in the living room surrounded by blood.

Do you know if it is a man or woman? Autumn asked.

I don’t know. She threw her hands up. I don’t want to assume anything, but I can tell you that they have long hair and wearing a dress. I just assumed that it was a woman, but you never know. It could have been someone dressed up, or it could have been a man with long hair. I don’t want to assume anything at this point. I just know that a human is lying on that floor in a pool of blood inside a house I own.

I’m sure you are scared, and I am sorry to hear that you had to find a body inside your home, but let me ask you, did you see anything other than that deceased person? Autumn asked the woman standing in front of her, visibly shaking and swaying back and forth.

Sylvia quickly shook her head. I didn’t go all the way in. I only made it to the living room, just inside the door. Why?

There’s always a chance that the person who committed the crime may still be inside, so you made the right call by coming out and waiting for us. I’m going to head in and assess the scene, and while I do that, please go and visit with the EMTs and have them check you out.

Nah, I’m okay, just a little shaken up. I have never seen a dead body before. I mean, I watch all those crime shows, but this was nothing like that, Sylvia told her, still rocking back and forth.

They never are, Autumn told her and walked away.

As she approached the house, she flashed her badge at the officer standing just outside the caution tape, and he raised it for her to walk under.

Detective, he nodded.

Two officers came out white as a sheet. In her career, when you saw a face like that, it usually meant a couple of things: it’s gruesome,