Corruption

Chapter 2

I covered my mouth with both hands to stifle my scream. What the hell had I just seen? He just killed a guy in cold blood! Tears streamed down my eyes.. The man quickly pocketed the gun and sped off in the opposite direction.. I waited until he was long gone before I even thought of getting down from that tree. I took some slow, deep breaths to try to calm myself down. When I reached the ground, I walked over to the bald man. He was definitely dead, with a bullet right through the left part of his forehead. Crimson stained the bright green grass, and I had to take a step back before I threw up. What was I supposed to do? Did the guy see me? God, I hope not.

I knew I had to do something, so I reminded myself to just put one foot in front of the other, and repeat until I reached my car. When I saw what those pricks had done to it, I almost forgot about the dead man in the park with a hole in his head. Spray paint covered the windshield and the car doors. I had multiple dents on the hood, as well as the roof. There was a moment of fury that took over my emotions, but I had to focus. I quickly unlocked my car and reached into my purse to get my phone. My hands shook as I dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" the woman over the phone said cheerily. How could she be happy? She's answering emergency calls. Someone could be dying, and the last thing they hear is this perky little voice asking, "What seems to be the problem?"

"Hi, I'm at Windmill Hill Park, and I just witnessed a murder." I said calmly. The hysteria wore off, and I was doing my best to treat this situation rationally. And yet, there is nothing rational about killing anyone, so really, none of this made any sense.

"Ok ma'am, remain calm. Police are on their way."

"I AM CALM!" I shouted into the phone. Well okay, maybe not all the hysteria.

"What's your name, miss?" questioned the lady happily.

"Forbes Wi- I mean Olivia Wilhelm." My nickname, Forbes, came from some of my friends who found out a few years ago that ever since fourth grade, I had saved every penny from my allowance and all my birthday and Christmas money throughout the years, saving up for a nice car. Well, they said something about it in the middle of US History class, and Mr. Braun commented on how I should be voted most likely to be on the cover of the Forbes Fortune 500 magazine. And the name – Forbes – just kind of stuck. I was thankful for it though. It was so much better than Olivia.

"Alright Flavia, I'm going to stay on the line with you," she said.

"Please don't. And by the way, my name's not...never mind." And I hung up. I sat back in my seat and breathed out as I ran my hands through my hair. My hands were still shaking and I started to shiver, although it was seventy degrees in there.

Seconds seemed like hours, and I was surprised to see that only five minutes had passed until I heard sirens in the distance, and not long after that, three police cars pulled up at the entrance of the park. I stepped out of my car as one of the officers stepped out of his.

He asked me loads of questions, which I tried to answer with the utmost clarity, but I found myself continuing to shiver and shake as the officer wrote down everything on a little pad. Other officers were cautiously making their way inside the park entrance. I tried to point to the tree that I had been in, but I couldn't make it out from so far away.

The police officer finished taking notes, and asked me to stay in the police car and wait. Like hell I would. As soon as he was far enough away, I stepped out of the car and rushed into the park, heading in the direction of the tree. The officer saw me running, and he took off after me.

"Hey, kid! Stop!" I could hear him shout from behind me. But of course I didn't. I wanted him to follow me. It would be much quicker that way. However, the closer I got to the tree, the more I realized that this would take a lot less time than I thought, considering the fact that as I arrived at the base of the tree, the man was gone. There was no body. No evidence that any of this had happened. Not even blood in the grass.

How the hell am I supposed to explain this?

I heard the policeman come up from behind me, but I just stood there in disbelief.

"What's the problem here? Where's the body?" he asked in a gruff voice. I sensed that he was starting to discredit what I told him earlier.

"It – he was right here! I don't understand. Someone must have moved him. The guy must have come back and cleaned up his mess."

"Ma'am, I'm going to have to call your parents. Do you know their number, so I can call them?"

No, I'm a seventeen year old girl who doesn't even know her parents' number. How dumb does this guy think I am?

"No, you have to believe me! I was in the tree and these two guys started fighting and one pulled a gun out and shot the other! Why won't you listen to me?" But as hard as I tried to get him to pay attention, he just kept shaking his head and muttering something about how teenagers think that "we police officers" are so gullible. I looked around, frantically trying to see any sign that the two men had been here. There was absolutely nothing. The scene was spotless.

"Alright, what did you say your name was, kid?" I glared at him as he pulled out his radio. "Yeah, false alarm. Just some punk girl trying to pull our legs. Head back to the station, I'll catch up." The radio beeped in response and he turned it off. "What's your name, kid?"

I clenched my fists as I stood my ground. "There was a murder here, and if you don't believe me, you will when someone files a missing person report, and it's the description of the guy I'm going to describe to you." I paused, waiting for him to yell at me. He didn't, so I continued. "The man that was shot was white and had short brown hair, and balding. He was in his mid to late fifties. About five foot seven inches and a mole on the lower left side of his chin. Is that enough detail for you?"

I let a bit more sarcasm slip out than I wanted to. He stared at me for a moment, then pulled out his pad of paper, and jotted something down. He better have written down what I just told him.

"What's your name?" he asked calmly. I wanted to scream, yell, and throw up my hands in disgust and frustration. I wanted to knock on that stupid little head of his and ask if anyone was home. Instead, as calmly as I could, quietly answered.

"Forbes Wilhelm." It came out like a hiss, which was exactly how I felt like talking to him, so I didn't care.

"Alright Forbes, come back down to the park entrance, and I'll escort you home." I didn't have much choice, so I followed him back to my car. Behind the wheel, my hands continued to shake as I started the car. The policeman's squad car pulled out behind me and followed me all the way home.

I parked in the driveway to my house, but the officer remained in his car. I gave me a curt nod and pulled away from the curb and down the road. Now I had to deal with my parents. Oh joy.