The Pier

It was just another day for Gabriel when he awoke to his blaring alarm clock. He sat up groggily in bed with a big yawn and a bigger stretch. It was six in the morning and he had been up late, but he was pulled out of bed by the aromatic smell of coffee brewing that wafted through his room.

After pouring a cup, he went through his usual morning routine: shower, dress, breakfast. He then strapped on his holster and detective badge, ready to face the day. He was headed for his front door when something at its base caught his eye. A small cardboard box, a package of some sort, with Gabriel Walters written shakily across the top.

He took a minute to inspect the parcel. There was no mailing address; it must have been delivered by hand. He shook it and felt two objects rattling around inside. He brought the package to his kitchen and cut the tape, tentatively curious of what might wait for him inside. He slowly pried one of the flaps open and peeked in, where he saw a plain white envelope and a small black book.

After scratching his head, he pulled out the contents, scanning the inside of the box to confirm there was nothing else. He first grabbed the envelope. It was quite thick and had some weight to it. He tore it open and found himself holding in his hand a stack of hundred-dollar bills. Ten-thousand dollars total, as he would later count.

Gabriel’s mouth sat agape. He threw the money on the kitchen counter as if it burned him. What the hell? Not knowing what else to do, he decided to search the book for answers. The pages were stiff and it seemed that there were only six or seven in total. The first page contained only a few words: Answer your phone.

Not a second later, his ringtone came blasting from his bedroom. He shook his head, just a coincidence. Nonetheless he felt a chill as his body became riddled with goosebumps. He reluctantly made his way to the bedroom and picked up his phone with the hope of seeing a familiar name on the screen, but the only the words Unknown Caller stared back at him. He sighed and answered the call.

“He…hello,” Gabriel spoke, his voice uneasy.

An eerily smooth and calming voice greeted, “Ah Gabriel, just who I was looking for. I believe you found my gift?”

“Who is this? How do you know my name?” A bead of sweat rolled down Gabriel’s brow as he instinctively glanced at each of his windows. This creep is watching me.

“How could I not? You’re only the most well-known detective in Pennsylvania. The way you solved Robin Hood Killer case was nothing short of legendary.” The man spoke as if they were close friends.

“Who are you?” Gabriel demanded.

“Me? I’m just an ordinary guy trying to live his life, but I’ve got a problem and I’d like your help to solve it.”

“And what’s stopping me from calling the police instead?”

“And here I thought we were friends.” The man scoffed, “Besides, I think you’ll come to learn that isn’t an option, Gabriel. Just hear me out, will you?” He spoke with an unsettling certainty.

Gabriel let out a sigh pinched the bridge of his nose. His instincts told him to play along. “Okay, what do you want?”

“I have a task for you, and once it’s complete, another payment will appear at your doorstep, consider it a gesture of good will. Just turn the page in the book and complete the task written, then turn to the next, but only after you complete the task. Otherwise, bad things will happen.” Before Gabriel could ask any more questions, the line went dead.

Gabriel turned to the second page of the book: 740 Parkland Rd, Rothsville, PA – Meet Yuri - 7:00 AM.

So many questions flowed through his head as he stared at the page. Who was that man on the phone? Who is Yuri? How did I get myself wrapped up in this?

After considering his situation for a few minutes, he decided that it would best to report the situation to the police. He decided to call his boss, captain Jacobs, directly. As he listened to the ringtone in his ear, he absentmindedly turned to the third page in the book, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

A picture of a standard suburban house was taped to the page, and he immediately recognized that it was the home where his ex-wife and two little girls lived. Below the image, the text simply read: Bad Things. Gabriel was paralyzed with disbelief.

The trance was broken by the voice of captain Jacobs coming through the phone.

“Walters, what can I do for you?”

Gabriel hesitated for a moment, “I, um, I…” Staring at the photo of the house, he shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, “I’m just letting you know I threw up this morning, I think I might have a stomach bug. I won’t be able to make it into the office today.” The meaning of ‘not an option’ had become clear.

“Roger that, feel better then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah sounds good. Bye.” He said, quickly hanging up and running out to his car. As he did so, his phone chimed with a text message: Good choice.

____________________________________________________

The address took Gabriel to a shady motel out in the country. Gabriel checked his watch, it read 6:55 am. Unsure of where exactly he was supposed to meet this Yuri character, he decided to check if the book had any further instructions for him. He flipped through the pages, shuddering quietly when he saw the picture of his ex-wife’s house again, and reached the fourth page: Don’t tell him your name.

A moment later he heard a tapping on his passenger side window, nearly making him jump out of his skin. A man stared at him through the window, he looked to be in his early thirties, with a square jaw and dark eyes. Gabriel reluctantly unlocked the door to let him in.

“Yuri, I presume?” Gabriel asked uncertainly.

“Yes, who are you?” Yuri responded with a raspy Russian accent, venom in his voice and menthol on his breath.

Gabriel inhaled sharply and looked away, then looked back and replied, “Don’t worry about that. Why am I meeting you here?”

Yuri eyed Gabriel suspiciously, “I should ask you the same, was it not you that put the note under my door?”

“What? No, I was forced to come here.” Gabriel then let out a sigh of understanding and stared down at his lap. “Did they threaten you too?”

“They sent me a picture of my mama and papa’s house, the man on the phone said to come here or else. You?”

“Ex-wife’s house, my daughters live there.”

“Do you know what this is all about?” Yuri asked desperately.

“No idea, I’m just doing what this book tells me.” Gabriel gestured the book in his lap, “Speaking of which, the book said not to tell you my name. Please don’t take it personally, I don’t want to take any chances.”

“It is what it is, what do we do now?”

“Let’s find out.” Gabriel turned to the fifth page of the book and read it aloud. “‘Drive down to the Holtwood Pier’, that’s all the way down by the Susquehanna” That destination sent a chill over Gabriel’s body, he had an uneasy feeling about what might be coming. He looked at Yuri with feigned calmness, “You ready for a road trip?”

Yuri shrugged casually, “Like we have a choice.”

____________________________________________________

Gabriel and Yuri made some casual conversation during the hour long drive down to the pier, during which he learned that Yuri had moved here from Russia a decade earlier, studied English in college, and was trying to establish himself.

“So what do you do for a living?” Gabriel asked.

“I am a journalist. You?”

“I’m a detective with the Lancaster County PD.” He said as he showed Yuri his badge, “So, what kind of stuff do you write about?”

“Oh you know, this and that,” Yuri said, making circular gestures with his hands. “Right now I am looking into a pet store that might be abusing animals. It is all very tame, nothing that would get me wrapped up in something like this.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” Gabriel said with confidence.

Yuri put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, “We will get through this.”

As they pulled into the lot, Gabriel carefully scanned the surroundings for anything suspicious, but the lot was empty. People tend not to visit the pier at eight in the morning on a Tuesday in December. As Yuri cautiously stepped out and lit a cigarette, Gabriel opened up the black book and flipped to the sixth and last page, his eyes suddenly grew wide. He quickly closed the book and hopped out of the car.

“What did it say?” Yuri looked at him expectantly.

“We’re supposed to walk to the end of the pier, our contact will come in a motorboat and give us further instructions.” Gabriel tried to keep a straight face the best he could. Gabriel saw that there was not a twinge of doubt in Yuri’s eyes, the man trusted him.

As they both started walking toward the pier, Gabriel looked at the sky and let out a deep breath.

____________________________________________________

Gabriel sat alone with his gin and tonic at the Salty Sailor, his regular bar downtown. He tried desperately to put together the events of the morning, but it was all a blur; opening the package, meeting Yuri, driving to the pier. It felt like he had been under control of a spell. However, what happened next was as clear in his mind as crystal.

The fifty-foot walk from the car to the pier felt like a mile. He remembered intentionally walking slowly to get behind Yuri, then seeing Yuri stand at the edge of the pier, looking around curiously for the motorboat that would never come. Gabriel remembered the distraught look in Yuri’s eyes when he turned around and realized that he was staring down the barrel of Gabriel’s pistol. Confusion and longing, the feeling of being betrayed, all within Yuri’s eyes in that fraction of a second it took for Gabriel to pull the trigger.

Gabriel shut his eyes tight and wiped the tears away with his sleeve. He stared down into his cocktail and convinced himself that it was his only option; his family was on the line.

After several hours of brooding, he paid his bar tab and drove home.

When he opened his door, he found another fat envelope sitting below his mail slot. He glanced inside it and saw the rest of his payment, twenty-thousand dollars in total. He brought it to the kitchen and threw it onto the counter next to the other stack of cash. He wandered back into the living room with the black book in hand. He lit his gas fireplace and stared wistfully into the flames. He paged through the book, glancing at the words on the last page: Kill Yuri, then quickly shut it and tossed it into the inferno, trying in vain to also shut the memory out of his mind. He watched as the fire consumed the book, the pages burning and black paint melting.

As he watched the last remnants of that evil book turn to ash, his phone rang. It was captain Jacobs.

“Walters, hope you’re feeling better. I know you’re sick, but were gonna need you ASAP out at Holtwood Pier. They’ve got another floater. Looks recent.” Jacobs’ voice carried no emotion.

“Ten-four, I’ll be there.” He hung up his phone, hopped in his car and drove off toward the pier. Just another day.