The Killer Next Door: A Murder Mystery

by Nicholas Jordan

  Don’t do this right now, Kaylee. She wiped her eyes and turned away from the photograph before going to the stack of boxes and grabbing the one on top. Time to get this over with.

  ***

  Kaylee snapped awake in an instant when she heard the sound. She sat up in bed, covers falling away. Not that they were really needed with how hot it was in this house. The summers back home were hot, but it was nothing compared to this. And it was so dry too. She felt like she could drink ten straight glasses of water and would have nothing but a very full bladder to show for her efforts to relieve her parched throat and bone dry lips.

  Pushing the rest of the covers away from her body, Kaylee crawled on all fours to the edge of the bed, ears perked and eyes glued to her bedroom door while she listened for the sound that she heard earlier.

  Would she hear it again?

  A minute went by.

  All she heard was the sound of her own heartbeat.

  She was almost ready to lay back down and pull the covers tight around herself again, when she suddenly heard the sound for a second time.

  A rattling immediately followed by a loud thud. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Hearing it the first time woke her up. Hearing it for a second time got her out of bed and scurrying out of her room. Too spooked to care that she was only wearing a tank top and underwear.

  She hurried down the hall to her mom’s bedroom and threw the door open. Her mother was sleeping soundly in bed with no blankets—apparently the heat was too much for her too—dressed in the pajamas that Kaylee gave her for Christmas last year, and wearing a sleeping mask over her eyes.

  “Mom.” Kaylee jumped on the bed, grabbed her mother’s shoulder, and shook her. “Mom, wake up.”

  Her mother barely stirred. “What is it? I’m trying to sleep . . .”

  “Mom, get up, I heard a noise.”

  “It’s probably just the wind or something, sweetie, go back to bed.”

  Kaylee’s ears were met with the rattle and thud for a third time. “Mom, it’s not the wind. I think there might be someone downstairs.”

  Finally, she said something that got her mother’s attention. She sat up and pulled the mask off before rubbing the weariness from her eyes. “What are you talking about? What did it sound like?”

  Kaylee was about to answer when the sound was heard for the fourth time, providing her mother with a better answer than she could give her.

  “You heard that, right?” her mom asked.

  “Duh, that’s the sound that I was just telling you about,” Kaylee said, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “Now, come on, I think we should call the police.”

  “Hold on. Let’s not jump to any conclusions, Kaylee. I’m going to go downstairs right now and have a look around, okay?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t we just call the cops and let them check it out? I mean, that’s their job after all.”

  “Don’t be silly.” Her mom got out of bed and grabbed her robe, which was laid out on the edge of the bed. She pulled it tight around herself. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. Why bother the police when they have more important things to do?”

  Kaylee folded her arms and frowned. She really hated that her mom wasn’t taking this seriously. What if there was an intruder in the house right now? How could that possibility alone not freak her out?

  “Alright, I’m going to have a look.” Her mom started for the door, but stopped halfway and looked back at Kaylee. “You should really put some pants on, sweetie. I know it’s hot in here, but walking around the house in just your underwear? I don’t know if I—”

  “Mom.” The word came out of Kaylee’s mouth like a hiss as she cut her off. “Not really the most important thing right now, don’t you think?”

  Her mother sighed. Seemed to actually think about it for a moment before nodding. “You’re right. Of course. I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

  “No, I want to come with you.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded. She really wasn’t sure, but being alone up here didn’t sound any safer than being downstairs with her mom if there was actually an intruder in the house.

  Moments later, the two of them were slinking down the stairs in the dark. Kaylee was kicking herself for not bringing her phone with her so that she could at least use the screen for some light. She thought for half a second about turning on a light, but if there was an intruder in the house, the last thing that she wanted to do was alert that person to their presence.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs, and as they did, they heard the sound once again. Even though Kaylee fully expected to hear it, she jumped when she did, which only made her feel even more like a skittish little girl.

  “I think it’s coming from the living room,” her mom whispered.

  Turning left at the foot of the stairs, they made their way into the living room. It was pitch-black. Kaylee couldn’t help but imagine someone creeping around in the darkness, ready to jump them at any moment.

  “Ah-ha, there’s the problem,” her mother said.

  “Where’s the problem?” Kaylee asked.

  “Over here.” She walked across the living room to a window with the shades closed.

  When the wind blew, Kaylee watched the shades blow inwards and then slam back against the windowsill. A rattle and then a thud.

  “I must have left this window open by mistake.” Her mom moved the shades aside and then slid the window shut. “I guess I just forgot to close it.”

  Kaylee’s feet remained in place. Her arms crossed and her brow furrowed as she shook her head. “You . . . forgot?”

  “Yeah.” Her mom smiled. “I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

  “How can you say that?” Kaylee asked. “You left the window wide open.”

  “Yes . . . so?”

  “So literally anyone could have just climbed right through the window. You might as well have left a freaking note on the door that says, ‘Come right on in and steal whatever the hell you want. Oh, and feel free to kill us in our sleep while you’re at it.’ Well done, Mom.”

  Kaylee turned on her heel and stormed off towards the stairs. After what happened at their old house, she couldn’t believe that her mom could actually be this careless and stupid.

  “Kaylee, wait, that’s not fair,” her mom called after her. “Don’t be like that. I’m sorry, okay? It was a mistake.”

  Kaylee neither responded to her mom nor looked back at her. She marched right back upstairs and didn’t stop until she was back in her bedroom.

  After shutting the door, she lay down in bed and crawled underneath the covers, not because she needed the warmth, but because it made her feel at least the slightest bit safer.

  She shut her eyes the moment her head hit the pillow, but she wasn’t all that tired anymore. Sleep felt so far off that there was no chance of getting back there tonight.

  4

  “ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T want me to see if I can start next week?”

  “Yes. I’m sure.” Kaylee was tired of her mom asking the same question over and over again. She was pretty sure that the count was up to five now. “It’s your new job, Mom. You should go. People aren’t going to get their teeth cleaned without you around.”

  “I’m pretty sure they can find another hygienist to fill in for me if I tell them that I need a little more time. They know I just moved here after all.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine here. I’m sure I’ll just spend the whole day in my room, drawing or something.”

  “Alright. If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. So stop worrying about me. I’m fine.” Kaylee was sitting at the counter in the kitchen. The paper bowl with a little milk left in the bottom was all that remained of the corn flakes that she had for breakfast. Aside from the few slices of leftover pizza in the fridge, one box of cereal was all the food that they had in the house. And a few paper bowls and
plates were all that they had in the way of dishes since none of theirs had been unpacked yet.

  “Okay. Well, call me if anything comes up.” Her mom grabbed her purse off the counter and started for the door. “If you can’t get ahold of me on my cell for whatever reason, I wrote the number to Doctor Carney’s office on a piece of paper over there by the fridge.”

  “Alright, Mom, I got it. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not a kid anymore. Just go ahead and go to work before you’re late and end up getting fired.”

  “Oh crap, you’re right.” Her mom checked the time on her phone. “Alright, I’m going. Feel free to eat that leftover pizza. I’ll bring something home for dinner. Bye, sweetie.”

  “Bye,” Kaylee said with zero enthusiasm as her mom left the kitchen. A moment later, she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing as her mother left the house, leaving Kaylee alone.

  And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  ***

  Kaylee’s mind was made up. One way or another, she was going to find the inspiration to finally start drawing again. She should probably be back in her room, getting the last of her things unpacked, considering that she assured her mom that she would have it all finished by the time that she got home.

  But there was plenty of time for that. The boxes weren’t going anywhere . . . and neither was Kaylee. This was her home now, whether she wanted it to be or not, so she would have to get used to it.

  She was sitting in the backyard at the small outdoor patio set that her mother insisted on bringing, even though Kaylee thought it was a pretty stupid idea considering how little they used it back at their old house. Although Kaylee was using it right now, so maybe she was wrong.

  Her sketchbook was on the table in front of her. And she had a pencil in hand. A pencil riddled with bite marks due to her habit of chewing on her pencils while trying to think about what to draw. And right now, she was once again having a difficult time with that decision.

  She really thought that sitting out in the backyard would give her a place to forget about everything and focus on putting the pencil to the paper for the first time in months, but now that she was actually out here, her inspiration was nonexistent once more.

  Ugh, this is not working at all. Kaylee set her pencil down and then leaned back in her chair. With a sigh, she allowed her eyes to wander around the backyard.

  There was no lawn, apparently that would cost too much to maintain, and instead there was just a lot of fine gravel dotted with cactuses, aloe vera plants, and small palms. Right outside the sliding glass door that led to the backyard was a concrete slab with an overhang for shade. Stepping stones branched off in two separate directions from the slab. One to a smaller, circular concrete slab in the corner of the yard, and the other went around the house to the side gate.

  It was on the second slab that Kaylee was seated on the patio set right now. The umbrella in the center of the table providing her with shade from the sun. It was already a scorching hot day, even though it was barely ten in the morning.

  To further combat the heat, Kaylee wore the shortest jean shorts she could find and a purple tank top. And even so, she still felt like a worm on the sidewalk. Slowly drying out. She should probably go inside to get another glass of water, but she already had four glasses today and still felt dehydrated. She couldn’t envision herself ever getting accustomed to this arid climate.

  Just then, Kaylee was interrupted from her attempt to draw by loud music. Very similar to the music that she heard yesterday when she got her first look at the boy across the street while unpacking in her room.

  Scrambling to her feet, Kaylee left her sketchbook and pencil behind as she hurried around to the side of the house. She went up to the gate, but didn’t open it. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes to peer over the top, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boy.

  And she did.

  He was climbing out of his car, wearing the same leather jacket that he wore yesterday. How could he stand to wear that in this heat? And as hot as it was, Kaylee felt like the temperature went up a few degrees when she saw him.

  “He’s not bad to look at, huh?”

  Kaylee jumped when she heard the voice to her left. She turned to find the girl she saw sitting on the porch yesterday. She was wearing a smug smile and crossing her arms over her chest while leaning against the side of her house.

  “I-I wasn’t looking at him,” Kaylee said, stumbling over her words while attempting to lie her way out of the embarrassing situation.

  “Sure you were. But whatever. I’m not here to judge you. I just thought I should warn you.”

  “Warn me? About what?”

  The girl started towards Kaylee’s house, stepping right over the narrow gulley filled with rocks—serving as a drain—that separated their two homes. She came to a stop just on the other side of the fence.

  “You don’t want anything to do with Eric. Trust me.”

  Eric . . . so that’s his name. Kaylee looked past the neighbor girl to catch a glimpse of Eric disappearing inside his house.

  “He may be cute,” the girl went on, “but he’s trouble.”

  “Do you know him?”

  “Yeah. We go to school together.”

  “And you’re friends?”

  “Friends?” The girl laughed as if the notion were absurd. “No, definitely not. Eric and I don’t travel in the same circles. And you don’t want to get mixed up with the people he calls friends if you know what’s good for you.”

  “I’m not interested in getting mixed up in anyone’s circles right now.”

  “Aren’t you the lone wolf. My name’s Mia by the way.”

  “I’m Kaylee.”

  “Well, Kaylee, I guess we’re neighbors, huh?”

  “Seems that way.”

  “So I saw your mom yesterday and this morning when she left for work. Is it just the two of you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Oh, that’s cool. So what brings you two to Sunny Vista? Looking for a fresh start in one of these gorgeous modern, spacious, and family-friendly homes? Or whatever the hell is written on those stupid pamphlets for this place.”

  “Yeah . . . something like that.”

  “I get it. A fresh start is always good. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting out of my mom’s house and going off to college.”

  “Yeah.” Kaylee looked down at her feet for a few moments before she spoke up again. There was a question right on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to ask because it might be embarrassing. In the end, though, her curiosity got the better of her.

  “So, about, um . . . Eric, right?”

  “Yeah . . . that’s right.” Mia crossed her arms and studied Kaylee’s face with narrowed eyes. “What about him?”

  “Well, what’s so bad about him?”

  “What isn’t bad is the better question. He smokes pot, he drinks, and he’ll never admit it, but everyone at school is pretty sure that he and his grandpa are selling drugs out of that house.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. He’s a total loser.”

  Just as Kaylee was about to ask a follow up question, she heard a garage door opening across the street. She followed the sound to its source—the house right next to Eric’s house and across the street from Mia’s place.

  When the garage door was open all the way, a man emerged, dragging a garbage can behind him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and quite handsome for a man that appeared to be on the wrong side of forty. He actually reminded Kaylee of one of the guys on the covers of those cheesy romance novels that her mother read all the time.

  “Hey, Mr. Henderson,” Mia said as she waved to the man across the street.

  The man responded by waving back to her. A smile parting his lips.

  “That’s Mr. Henderson,” Mia said as if Kaylee hadn’t heard her say the man’s name a moment ago. “He’s a really nice guy. He’s an architect and actuall
y designed every house in this neighborhood. His wife’s kind of a bitch, though. Don’t let the over the top nice act fool you. She’s really awful when you get to know her.”

  Kaylee just nodded. She really couldn’t care less about any of the information Mia was divulging. Now that Eric had gone inside, Kaylee was looking for an excuse to get back to attempting to draw. Even that was preferable to listening to Mia blather on about the neighbors for another second.

  “Speak of the devil,” Mia said.

  Kaylee followed Mia’s gaze to see a woman follow Mr. Henderson out of the garage. Short in stature and carrying around more than a few extra pounds, the woman had to be his wife. Her strawberry blonde hair was both long and wavy, and she dressed in a white blouse underneath a red blazer with a matching red pencil skirt.

  Her high heels made a clopping sound as she walked down the driveway in a hurry. She came to a stop right beside her husband and they started to talk. They were too far away for Kaylee to hear what they were saying, but it was pretty obvious that Mr. Henderson was getting chewed out for something.

  “I don’t get why she treats him like that,” Mia said while shaking her head. “I mean, he’s a good guy, and yet she treats him like garbage. I can’t believe he’s even still married to her.”

  Kaylee still said nothing. She felt like an outsider, and she really wasn’t interested in getting involved.

  After Mrs. Henderson finished giving her husband an earful, she turned around and made her way back inside the garage. She climbed inside the jeep that was parked there, started the engine, and then backed out.

  As she did, she rolled down the window while passing her husband, who was now heading back inside. She tossed a few more words his way before rolling the window up and backing out on to the road. She drove away as Mr. Henderson was closing the garage door behind him.

  “Well, now that the show is over,” Mia spoke up, “I guess I’ll be going. It was nice meeting you, Kaylee. We should hang out sometime. I can introduce you to my friends and show you around town if you want.”