Killing Mind - Editing

Part Seven

Marcus left the cafe with a small spring in his step as made his way to the estate.It was a newly built four bedroom house with a beautiful view overlooking a lake which was only a stones throw away.

His first impression was amazement. It wasn't a typical San Francisco house. This one had an attic but no basement.
Different elements of the house reminded him of something you'd see in Beverly Hills.

He got his notes out and checked every room and estimated a price. Because this house was much newer than the previous one it would be sold for around one hundred and fifty million dollars.
Marcus had only sold two properties which equalled to that price in his two years of working with the company.

He was in high spirits by the time he'd finished checking out the estate and got into his car. His cell beeped which alerted him to a message from Billy.

He was double checking Marcus was still on for tonight. Marcus messaged him back and agreed to meet him outside their favourite bar at seven this evening. He checked his interior mirror before driving back to work.
Staring back at him in the reflection was the homeless man.

Marcus jumped and instantly looked behind him but no one was there.

As he headed back to work he had a quick look around as this area was fairly new to him. He hadn't explored every inch of San Francisco in the three years he'd lived here and the estate was in a posh part but close by was a squalid area which had a high rate of drugs and crime. Not many people seemed to know about this part. As he cruised along a quiet road he spotted an abandoned building near some trees.

Marcus was curious and felt compelled to find out more. It was as if the building was pulling him closer with an invisible force. He had to have a closer look.

Parking up outside he didn't care that he was leaving his Audi unattended and vulnerable. Something was drawing him in.
As he got closer he realised it was an old abandoned warehouse.
It was a large unattractive stone building.

The door was pad locked but the lock was broken as if someone had broken in recently. Marcus took the lock off and pushed open the door.

As soon as he stepped inside the threshold he was filled with an uneasy feeling.
He didn't want to be here but part of him had a familiar sense of deja vu.
Had he been here before?

Inside it was dank and badly lit.
Perhaps people squatted here.
It then hit him that it looked similar to the one in his dreams.
He wanted to explore further but his gut was telling him to leave.
Maybe he could come back another time to find out more.

When he got into his car he took a  second look at the building and a chill ran down his spine.

It was almost three and Marcus was back in his office. He was building up a folder on both of the estates he'd visited this week. Rick seemed pleased with his results and let him go home early.

Marcus drove to his apartment, had a quick shower and changed his clothes before going out to meet Billy for drinks.

Billy had arrived early as usual. He was stood outside the Bourbon and Branch on Jones's street where they'd first met. He'd always been punctual for both work and at play.

"Hey man! It's good to see you buddy." Billy greeted Marcus with a bear hug.

"Yeah you too!"

They entered the bar and Billy brought the first round. They sat on stools at a table and discussed what they'd been up to over the past week.

"Sasha has started preschool. Me and Kiana are very proud of her for settling in so quick."

Kiana was Billys wife. They'd been married for three years and had their little girl Sasha not long after. She was adorable. Marcus had never been a parental type but Billy was the type of guy who wanted a big family.

"Oh well that's good then. How are you and Kiana doing?"

"Yeah man we're doing really well at the moment. Have you got a woman in the picture?"

"Actually I don't right now."

"Really? Marcus Daniels that is certainly not like you. You haven't been your usual self recently." Marcus ignored the latter.

"Yeah I know maybe I'm losing my touch. Although I did sleep with Cara again the other night. You can never go wrong with her."

They both laughed and Marcus went to the bar to buy the second round.
When he got back talk soon turned to the murder.

"We have no clue as to who killed this guy but we found out his name was Barker. He was thirty four and had been living on the streets for over a year. He was involved in drugs so maybe he got caught up in something."

Marcus felt uncomfortable hearing Billy talk to him about this.
Little did he know his best friend had blood on his hands.

They'd been at the bar for almost three hours and four rounds had been brought each by both of them.
Marcus was feeling the alcohol. Billy went to the toilet and when he came back a man bumped into him. Beer splashed over the man and he looked at Billy angrily.

"Oh shit man I'm sorry."

He offered to buy him another drink but the man was having none of it.
Marcus overheard and rushed over to Billys aid. As soon as he stood up his vision blurred. He'd definitely had enough to drink. The man didn't look much older than Marcus and had a menacing look.

"Fuck off you fat douche."

"Woah there was no need for that. I apologised and offered to buy you another drink." Marcus butted in and shouted.

Two other men stood up and tried to get involved and back the man up.

"Don't you dare tell him to fuck off or call him fat. Fuck off yourself before I make you."

Admittedly Billy hadn't been helping himself over the past year when he had got discount at Krispy Kreams and got take aways most evenings but Marcus wouldn't stand for anyone calling his best friend names. The man glared at him.

"You what? You're gonna make me fuck off? And how are you going to do that, dude?" He got up in Marcus's face.

"Hold on guys. I'm sure we can settle this calmly." Billy got out his police badge and flashed it at the man.

Marcus was staring him straight in the face and laughed when the man backed down. Billy gave the guy five dollars and he walked away with his tail between his legs followed by his pals.

"This is when being in the police force has its perks."

It was coming up to one in the morning and Marcus had eventually sobered up. Billy thanked him for sticking up for him but he shouldn't intervene when he was intoxicated or else he could have hurt himself. They both decided it was getting late and called it a night. Marcus was infuriated after that idiotic man had started on Billy and his anxiety was creeping up on him.

"I'm gonna catch a cab home man. How are you getting back?"

"I'm going to walk. It won't take me long."

"Okay be safe. I will phone you over the weekend. It was good to see you."

"Yeah it was." They said their goodbyes and Marcus set off home.

He wasn't far from the bar when he rounded a corner and spotted the man who started the argument.
He was alone. The street was quiet and voices swam around Marcus's head.

He's gonna wish he never started that.

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