Odyssey Fiction

When the End Comes to Be (Chapter Two Of Three)

Forever Warrior & ForeverDreamer30

A chance discovery causes Justine and Mitch to become suspicious that Galaxy Enterprises is involved in illegal activities. They are determined to find out the truth but it will cost them a price neither of them could have imagined. 

It was now five o’clock in the evening and Justine had just finished up her work. For her, the end of the work day couldn’t have come soon enough. It had been a long two days with everything that had gone down. Truth be told she was completely worn out both physically and mentally and desperately needed a break. She couldn’t wait until she could go home, have a good dinner, and call Mitch. He always knew just what to say to make her feel better.

As Justine picked up her purse from her desk, she looked at the closed door that led into Mr. Charles’ private office. She had not seen or spoken to him since their tense conversation that morning. A sign that he was still deeply upset with her, and she wasn’t sure when he would move on from this.

Justine sighed and exited the executive office. She walked to and boarded the elevator which took her down to the lobby. She then began walking toward the entrance. Once outside, she walked to the parking garage which was located beside the Galaxy Enterprises building, and made her way to where her car was parked. 

Justine climbed inside, locked the car doors, and buckled her seatbelt before starting the engine. She then backed the car out of the parking spot and began driving toward the entrance of the parking garage. At the same time a black car which was located directly across from where Justine’s car had been parked, pulled out from its parking spot and headed in the same direction as Justine’s car.

After leaving the parking garage, Justine made her way to the road which led in the direction of her home. After several minutes of driving, Justine looked in her rearview mirror and noticed that the same car had been driving behind her for a while now. However, Justine shrugged it off as she figured she and the driver were just going in the same direction for now. 

After a few minutes had passed, Justine looked in her rearview mirror again to see if the car was still behind her and it was. Seeing the vehicle, she began to feel a bit concerned but pushed these feelings to the back of her mind.

Every couple of minutes Justine checked to see if the car was still there and every time she did it was. Each time she saw the car, her worry increased. She told herself to calm down — that she was being paranoid and that everything was fine. But still, the sinking feeling she had wouldn’t go away. Finally, after about ten more minutes had passed she reached her breaking point. 

Justine picked up her phone which lay on the armrest console and pressed the first phone number on her recents list. It was the number of the landline telephone for Mitch’s parents’ home. He had used it to call her last night since the battery for his phone had run out of charge. All she heard was the ringback tone as no one answered.

“Mitch pick up. Please.” Justine’s breathing was becoming heavier and her heart was starting to race. It was hard for her to keep control of the steering wheel as her hands started to shake. “Someone please pick up.”

The call went to the answering machine. “Hello, you have reached the Mitchell residence. Please leave your name, number, and message, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can” Mrs. Mitchell’s voice stated on the pre-recorded message. There was a beep, indicating Justine could now record her message.

“Mitch. Mitch, are you there? I’m on my cell phone and it’s breaking up. Please pick up. I’m in my car and I think I’m being followed. I talked to Mr. Charles today about that memo and he got really weird about it…I-I think something’s wrong.” As she spoke her voice was breaking — a sign of the panic and fear she felt. “Wait” she interjected as at that moment out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the driver of the car had moved over to the lane next to her and was beginning to accelerate — as though they were about to pass her. 

Justine exhaled and a feeling of relief began to wash over her. “The car is passing me. I-I guess I’m—” she gasped in horror as the black car, now side by side with her, began to move rapidly into her lane, forcing her closer and closer to the side of the road. “Mitch! They’re trying to run me off the road! I’m on the slopes! Please help me—” 

The call cut off abruptly.

…..

Back in Maine, the Mitchell family had just returned home from a night out. After dinner, they had all gone out to a movie. An activity that they enjoyed doing when everyone was home for a visit. Mr. Mitchell unlocked and opened the door. Everyone entered the residence and made their way to the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell sat on the couch while Mitch, Rachel, and Ryan sat on chairs located throughout the room.

“That was a wonderful movie,” Mrs. Mitchell commented.

“It was indeed. The acting, writing, and directing were top-notch” Mr. Mitchell responded.

“I’m planning on taking Justine to see it when I get back,” Mitch said. He could already see her now. How excited she would be as she loved going to the movie theater. During the film, she would have her buttered popcorn and coke. She would also rest her head on his shoulder. The thought of it filled him with immense joy.

“That’s so sweet. I know she’ll be thrilled” Rachel said.

“Speaking of Justine, how are things going with her? I assume very well” Mrs. Mitchell asked.

“Yeah Bro, give us all the details.” Ryan teased, causing everyone to chuckle.

“We’ve been having a wonderful time together. She makes me laugh and smile. I can’t imagine not being with her.” Mitch meant every word that he had said. Justine had been a part of his life since he was seven years old. They had grown up side by side. As he looked to the future, he saw her being with him.

Warm smiles appeared on the faces of everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were especially overjoyed as they were thankful their son had found someone who made him so happy. 

“Awww, I’m so happy for you two. You really make the best couple.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome, dear. Well, I’m going to go make myself a cup of coffee. Would anyone else like a cup?” Mrs. Mitchell asked, getting up from the couch.

“Yes, please,” Rachel replied.

“Coffee sounds great,” Ryan added.

“You know I’m always up for a cup of joe,” Mr. Michell responded.

“I’ll take care of it for you Mom,” Mitch said as he rose from his chair.

“Thank you dear” Mrs. Mitchell responded before Mitch headed to the kitchen which was next to the living room. Once there, he fetched a coffee filter from one of the kitchen drawers which he then placed in the filter basket. Afterward, he fetched the container of coffee grounds and added five tablespoons of coffee to the coffee maker. He then fetched a liquid measuring cup from one of the cabinets. He was just about to walk over to the refrigerator to get some water from the water dispenser when he saw the message-waiting indicator on the answering machine was flashing red. He walked over and saw from the display screen that there was one unheard message. He pressed the play button and the message began to play.

“Mitch. Mitch, are you there?” As soon as he heard Justine’s voice, Mitch’s complete attention was on the recording. Instantly, he noticed how tense and emotional her voice sounded, as though she was extremely worried about something. Not at all like the happy and calm tone of voice he was used to hearing from her.

“I’m on my cell phone and it’s breaking up. Please pick up. I’m in my car and I think I’m being followed. I talked to Mr. Charles today about that memo and he got really weird about it…I-I think something’s wrong.” As Mitch listened to Justine’s words, he began to experience a quickly growing sense of dread — a feeling that told him something terrible had happened. 

“Wait…the car is passing me. I-I guess I’m—” 

The sense of relief that Mitch had started to feel was gone in an instant as he heard Justine gasp in horror. “Mitch! They’re trying to run me off the road! I’m on the slopes! Please help me—” And with that, the message ended.

“Oh dear Lord,” Mrs. Mitchell exclaimed while everyone else gasped in shock and horror — hearing what had happened as the sound of the message carried over into the living room.

Mitch remained silent. The blood had completely drained from his face and his mouth had gone dry. Every emotion from pain to anger to fear to panic, he felt in his soul. It felt like this had to be a nightmare — that this couldn’t be real — but it was.

“I-I have to go” His voice was a bit shaky as he spoke. Mitch set the liquid measuring cup down on the counter and grabbed the answering machine — thinking the message could be used as evidence to prove that someone had done something to her — and ran toward the front door. 

Once outside, Mitch ran to his car, unlocked the doors, and climbed in. He then started the engine and took off down the road. From Justine’s description of the place where she was, Mitch had an idea of where the accident had taken place. All along the way from Maine to Boston, Mitch’s thoughts were eating him alive. He could still hear Justine’s haunting voice in his mind. The terror in her voice. Her cries for help from him that would never come. The drive seemed to take an eternity as every second seemed to be a minute and every minute an hour. Finally, after over an hour of driving he arrived at the site and pulled over to the side of the road.

He knew he was at the right place as a section of the lane closest to the slope had been roped off by police tape. As Mitch took a quick glance at the vehicles present on the road, he saw police cars, an ambulance, a fire engine, and a fire truck but he did not see Justine’s car. Mitch’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. The scene before him confirmed what he had dreaded and was all but certain about Justine’s fate — she and her car had gone off the road. 

He steadied himself and opened the car door. After getting out of the vehicle, he started to walk toward the scene of the car accident. As he did so, Mitch saw a stretcher being wheeled across the road. A person in a body bag lay on top of the stretcher. The agonizing sight stopped him in his tracks. Mitch let out a shuddering breath and he struggled to remain standing as it hit him that Justine was dead. Justine’s body was then placed by the coroner and two paramedics into the coroner’s van which was almost completely hidden from Mitch’s view by the fire engine — which was the reason why he had not seen the van when he had first arrived.

For Mitch, it was like everything was in slow motion. Almost as if time itself had stood still. He also felt completely removed from the world around him. As though he were simply a spectator watching a play unfold. His heart was completely shattered. But no matter what he was feeling, he knew now was not the time to focus on that.

After gathering himself as best he could, Mitch walked up to the police tape. Seeing Mitch, a police officer walked over to him. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stay back.”

“The woman involved in the accident. Justine. She…she was my girlfriend.” Though Mitch tried to remove the emotion he was feeling from his tone, one could still hear the pain in his voice.

The officer’s heart went out to Mitch as he realized the man he was talking to was someone very close to the victim. “Even so, I’m afraid I still need you to move back.”

“And…I have evidence that proves her death wasn’t an accident” Mitch stated as calmly as he could.

Though the officer tried to maintain an unbothered demeanor as though he was unaffected by this news — keeping the same neutral expression on his face — inwardly he was shocked and horrified by what he had learned. It had already been a challenging case to work on, seeing the white Camry flipped over and smashed against the rocks. The body of the young woman, limp, bleeding, and dangling from her seat — only prevented from falling to the ground by her seat belt. One could only imagine the terror that the poor woman felt as she fell to her death. It was such a brutal way to die. The knowledge that this crash was intentional and not an accident made it a thousand times worse. “Wait here please,” the police officer said before walking away to a police sergeant who stood several feet away looking at the skid marks on the road. 

“Officer Stevenson, make sure the investigator has a look at these skid marks!” Sergeant Howard called out to another police officer. 

“Yes sir!” Officer Stevenson responded back. 

“Sergeant Howard” Officer Carter said as he reached Sergeant Howard.

“Yes, Officer Carter” Sergeant Howard replied as he turned to face the young officer.

“The victim’s boyfriend has just arrived on the scene.” Officer Carter nodded his head toward where Mitch stood by the police tape. “He says he has evidence proving this crash wasn’t an accident.”

Sergeant Howard exhaled. From the evidence he had seen so far at the crash site, he had a sinking feeling that this was more than just a case of a driver losing control of the vehicle but that something more sinister had taken place. Still, it was distressing to have those suspicions confirmed. “I see. I’ll go talk to him. Thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem Sarge,” Officer Carter said before walking away.

Sergeant Howard then made his way over to where Mitch stood. “Hello, I’m Sergeant Howard. First, let me offer my condolences on the loss of your girlfriend.”

“Thank you, Sergeant.” For Mitch, it was strange hearing Sergeant Howard speak of Justine’s death as it still had yet to fully sink in that she was gone.

“Officer Carter has told me that you have evidence that proves the death of your girlfriend was intentional. Is this true?” 

“Yes, Sergeant. It is.”

“In that case, would you come down to the police station so we can log the evidence and take your statement? I’ll accompany you there.”

Mitch nodded before walking back to his car while Sergeant Howard headed to his police car. Once in their vehicles, they went to the police station. There Mitch gave his statement to a police officer. He stated that he believed Mr. Charles and most likely others at Galaxy Enterprises were responsible for Justine’s death. That she had been killed as a result of her suspicions that the company was engaged in illegal activities — suspicions that he shared as well. The police also listened to and took a recording of the message Justine left on the answering machine which was then submitted to evidence.

While Mitch was at the police station, the coroner contacted Justine’s parents to tell them about the death of their daughter. They were then told by the police to come down to the station to give their statements. Now that the police were investigating Justine’s death as a murder, they were interested in anything she might have said to her family and friends regarding her having a negative experience at work or a confrontation with Mr. Charles or anyone else at Galaxy Enterprises. Justine’s parents said that their daughter had never once mentioned anything like that happening, as she had only ever said positive things about her job and coworkers.

Later on, after they had given their statements, Justine’s parents saw Mitch in the lobby of the police station — his face solemn and eyes wet with tears. He had been sitting in the room for about an hour waiting to see them. Mrs. Baker walked up to Mitch and threw her arms around him. They held onto one another as they cried. Mr. Baker stood about a foot away from them looking on, tears streaming down his face. There they all remained for a while, mourning the loss of someone they dearly loved.

After the autopsy had taken place and Justine’s body was embalmed, her parents took her body back to her hometown in Maine. Two weeks after her death, Justine’s funeral took place. It was a closed-casket funeral as her body was so badly injured from the car crash. She was buried in the local cemetery that was close to where her parents lived. It was raining that day. An expression of the overwhelming grief everyone felt inside. 

Mitch had stayed by the grave site for hours, looking at the place where Justine now lay buried. He had hoped that being here for a while would help him say goodbye, but it didn’t make it any easier. Though he was standing next to where she was now laid to rest, it still was hard to comprehend that she was gone. That someone with so much life and energy had been taken from this world. He could hear her laugh, see her smile, and feel the touch of her lips on his. But she and all that she brought to his life were gone now and he was left with only the memories.