You can find the beginning of the story that I posted on 7/20/24 and the second part on 7/21/24.
As he sat there staring at everything, He saw his name written on one of the envelopes, so he opened it first. What he found was a handwritten letter to him from his mother. She asked for his forgiveness and hoped one day she would see him again. She was sorry for the things she did, and the way others treated him. She continued from there hoping one day he would find his way back to God.
She said she tried many times to call him, but he never answered. She even tried coming to his workplace, but they always said he wasn't there. She said she even asked his friends where he lived but they all said they had no idea. That's when she wrote the letter, praying one day he would open it.
Aaron had tears running off his chin onto the letter as he read. He held so much anger toward her that she died without him being there beside her. He wiped the tears away and reached out for another envelope. When he opened it and reached inside, he could tell there were a couple things inside.
What he pulled out was a couple of newspaper clippings. When he saw who the clippings were about, his jaw dropped open. There was a note on top of the clippings. When he started to read what was written he was in shock. "She was a dear friend of mine; we went to high school together. Please investigate what happened. She did not deserve to die that way. She never hurt anyone and had a sweet soul. I will always love you, love mama."
The headlines on the newspapers said, "Local woman found dead." Another headline said, "Killer still loose." The woman who was killed was Norma Irene Ray. Aaron couldn't believe what he was reading. He had no idea his mom knew someone by that name and now here he was living in the same town.
He read what was printed below the headlines. In both stories it said local authorities have no clues who the killer was. A man had found her body when he went out to take pictures of wildlife. He heard a bird off in the woods, one he had never been able to get a picture of, so he stepped into the forest to find it. That's when he came upon Norma's body.
"Of all the places I find and pick to live in, this happens to be the one I picked." he thought. Now, to find out that my mother knew the victim, what else can happen." he thought. He put the news clippings back into the envelope and got up to get a cup of coffee. "This is crazy, it's like it all was set up for me to find my way to this town." Aaron thought.
As he stood there waiting a thought came to his mind. "How is it possible that I am now living here." Then it hit him, even though he no longer had anything to do with God. He couldn't deny it, him finding the place online and then moving there, was set up by God. "I really don't want to get involved. Can you please give it to someone else?" he thought.
He walked back into the living room, opened the last envelope that was there and started to read. His mother had written out a couple stories and some verses from the Bible. The first story was about the prodigal son who left and then returned with nothing. Yet, his dad celebrated his return.
Aaron felt like he was that son. He had walked away from his mother and God. Now here he was fully engulfed in a murder case that he did not want to get involved in. He put everything back into the box, even the Bible. He then made his way to the garage and stuck it on a shelf and went back into his house.
The rest of the day went by fast and before he knew it, night had come. He straightened up things in the living room, then made his way upstairs to his bedroom. He showered then climbed into bed, ready to get some sleep but sleep was not going to be peaceful that night. It took him a while but eventually he fell asleep and in no time started to dream.
He found himself in a house, a house he had never been in before. He was moved throughout it and as he was, his attention was drawn to certain things. He noticed the hallway floor looked wet and so did the floor in the bedroom. He then found himself in the kitchen and he noticed the back door was open. He glanced quickly around the kitchen but noticed nothing unusual, nothing that seemed out of place.
Suddenly, he found himself outside, standing off a way from the house. He was looking at the back door of the house where he was just standing. As he stood there, he saw a dark shadow push open the door, stepping outside. He could not tell if it was a man or woman, he only could tell it was a human. The person walked to the side of the house and disappeared.
As quickly as the dream started it ended. He suddenly woke up and sat up in bed. "I don't want anything to do with this murder!" he yelled out. He then laid back in bed and tossed and turned the rest of the night. Once daylight came, he got up. "No sense in laying here I can't sleep." he thought.
He made his way downstairs and heated some of the leftovers from the restaurant for breakfast. He then sat down at a small table that was in the corner of the kitchen by a window. As he sat there eating, he saw movement in the back yard of the elderly neighbor's house. "I hope they are not tearing something else down." he thought. He tried to ignore it but then he leaned closer to the window to see what was happening.
He saw the husband digging a hole and then he put something down into it, then covered it up. "It's pretty early to be doing something like that but maybe he planted something." Aaron thought. Once the man finished, he looked around. Aaron quickly moved back so he would not see him at the window. The man then disappeared into his home. "I am sure it's nothing, most likely just planting a tree or something." Aaron thought, as he got up to get another cup of coffee.
He finished his breakfast then made his way out to his truck that was in the garage. He needed to clean it out, then take it to the carwash. His eyes saw the box he had put on the shelf, but he ignored it just like the dream that he had during the night. He finished, then pulled out and drove to what was a handheld carwash. I miss having the automatic ones where I could just drive through." he thought.
He noticed a car parked in one of the stalls but didn't think anything about it. He got out, put money into the change machine, then started washing his truck. He had his back to the other stalls when he suddenly felt someone close. He quickly turned to see a man standing there, someone he did not know. The man said nothing, he just stood there.
After what seemed like an hour but was just minutes Aaron finally spoke. "Is there something I can help you with?" Aaron asked. "I think it's more like is there something I can help you with." the man replied. "I am not in need of any help." Aaron replied. "If you know what's best for you, you better keep your nose out of what happens here." the man said with a grin. "Is that a threat?" Aaron asked. "No, it's a suggestion." the man replied, then turn around walking away.
"I am trying everything to stay out of this but around every turn, every place, every time I meet someone it's put back in my face." Aaron thought. As he finished washing his truck a car drove by and he got a clear look at the driver. It was the sheriff and he pulled over, then rolled down the passenger window and stared at Aaron.
Aaron had enough, so he dropped the scrub brush and started walking toward the sheriff's car. The sheriff smiled then pulled away. As Aaron washed his truck thoughts were going through his mind. "Why are they pushing so hard for me to stay out of what happened here? Makes me think there is more to the story than what is being told."
He finished washing his truck then got in and pulled out from the car wash. When he got onto the main road, he noticed a truck behind him. He at first thought nothing about it but with each turn, the truck stayed behind him in the distance. As he turned onto another road there was a wall to his left and somewhat of a worn road behind it. Aaron quickly turned onto it before the truck turned and could see what he did.
He quickly jumped out of his truck and waited behind the fence for the truck to come by. The truck turned but then stopped, it then backed up and disappeared out of sight. "That's it! I've had enough! I didn't want to get involved but I now have no choice. If they would have just left me alone everything would have been fine but now, I am going to do my own investigation." Aaron thought.
As he drove home, he watched to see if the truck appeared again, but it didn't. He wanted to know who it belonged to and who was driving it. He also wanted to know who the man was at the car wash. Once inside he went straight to his laptop and started researching, trying to see if anything of the death was online. He sat there for a few hours and printed what he found so he could read it all together.
There was only one story from the local paper about it, but a few others from local counties. He also found a short video of a news crew who had shown up. The reporter tried to speak to people in the town, but no one would talk with her. After that news story he couldn't find anything else about it. It was like it was forgotten about or pushed underneath the rug.
Aaron retrieved the printouts of the stories, then made himself a cup of coffee. He laid the papers on the coffee table in front of the sofa and sat down. As he took sips of his coffee, he picked one of the stories up and started reading. It stated that Norma was from Paxell and showed the house she lived in. It also said that's where she was found.
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