Murder She Wrote

1. Veronica

The roads were starting to get more slippery, the rain grew heavier by the second. I slowed down once I came across a red light. 12:15 am was displayed on the watch around my wrist. This is later than the usual time I get back from work. I was craving sleep badly, Ive been up since the crack of dawn and my eyes were as heavy as a rock.

The light switched to green, I took a left turn on intersection. I sped my car, eager to get home before the storm became worse. I was a few blocks away from home. I passed the usual Deli shop my wife works at. I stared across it until I saw an usual figure posted by the shop. I squinted to see if it was a person, if so, what is he or she wondering around this time of the hour especially in a middle of a storm. I slowed down my car as the figure started to get closer and more visible. Just as I expected, it was indeed someone standing by the shop. It was a female, with a short figure and long dark brown hair wrapped up in a tight ponytail. She had on what seemed like a school girl outfit. Her clothes were dirty and torn up. I also noticed she wasn't wearing any shoes at all. She stood there close to the door of the Deli shop, soaking wet, covering herself up with a jacket.

I was hesitant about stopping the car. I didn't know who she was or how she ended up here but yet again, I hate letting a stranger into my car, you never know the type of person they are. She didn't seem any harm though, maybe someone left her out here and she has no way of getting a ride? It wouldn't hurt to help her out and offer her one.

"Hey, excuse me. Do you need help?" I yelled out to her. I slowly pulled up to the shop and stopped my car. She looked up at me with her shaky eyes.

"Im just waiting on someone..they were supposed to give me a ride," she responded with a smile.

"Well how long have you been standing out here? You know the rain is supposed to get worse right?" I said. Her legs shook in place as she pulled the jacket even closer to her body.

"I know. How unfortunate of me not to have an umbrella" she jokingly said with a following of a giggle. "I'll be fine though."

"I can give you a ride if you want," I said. She immediately shook her head. Ignoring her decline, I opened the passenger seat for her. "It's not a problem for me. It's really cold and late out and it looks like you can really use a ride."

It took her a minute to walk to the other side of the car. "Thank you so much, this is very kind of you," she stepped into car and shut the door.

"Really it's no problem. You would've been out there even longer if I hadn't come along." I said with a faint smile.

Her clothes made the seat soaking wet and not to mention covered in dirt. I didn't want to even start off by asking why she was covered in so much filth, only because it would come off as rude as a first impression. Instead, I started the car back up and drove back on the road.

There was a complete silence between us for a moment. I didn't know where to drive her off to or where to drop her by. Her attention were on her hands. She was fiddling with her fingers and digging into her nails.

I cleared my throat, so I could have her attention. "Do you stay around here? Is there a certain place you want me to drop you off?"

"There's a motel a few minutes away from here. You can drop me off there for the night. My house is a bit further away." She said with a soft spoken voice.

"Do you have money for a motel?" I asked her, noticing she wasn't carrying any belongings.

She shrugged, "I'll figure something out."