Amanda didn’t have to hunt for Romanelli and Cruz to check up on them, as Mancuso had asked.
The brawny duo called her to respond to a citizen flag-down in a strip mall not too far from the station. They’d requested an RA, so she knew someone needed medical attention.
Pulling up to the scene, she was surprised by a perimeter circling the entire shopping center.
She parked her black and white on the street in front of a fire hydrant…the only available space.
She hurried to one of the driveways leading to the closed off parking lot.
Romanelli was manning this spot, and she saw Cruz fending off lookie-loos at the other entrance to the parking lot.
She approached Greg. “What have you got?”
He bobbed his head at a beat-up sedan by a trash dumpster. “Some guy offed himself in the green four-door.”
The ambulance arrived and turned onto a side street and pulled in front of the driveway where Cruz stood. Other cars slowed and stopped to observe what was happening.
“We’ll need at least another unit for traffic and crowd control.” She requested two additional units to the location, then gave her attention to Romanelli. “Who’s the PR?”
“The clerk from the convenience store. He came out to the dumpster and remembered the car was there yesterday when he dumped the trash. He thought the guy was sleeping until he got close and saw the blood.”
“We got the call as a man down. We went for a quick look. There’s blood all over and a Glock on the floorboard. Looks like he took it in the mouth. With the stink, flies, and his bloated appearance, it was pretty clear the vict was dead, so we didn’t break out the window…just in case it isn’t suicide.”
“And the RA?”
“You think Dallas and I wanted to touch him to pronounce death?” He grinned. “Those fire boys have to do something besides polish their rigs to earn their money.”
She rolled her eyes but understood the sentiment.
She walked to the sedan and verified the victim was dead, then called Mancuso and told him what they had. He advised he’d call the Valley Homicide Unit and advise her what they said.
A few minutes later, he got back to her. “The detective said to go ahead as a suicide unless you find something that says otherwise.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call the coroner’s office and get them en route,” he said.
When she hung up, she saw Cruz with a slim-Jim, a thin device used to open locked car doors. He was using the tool to try to unlock the door of the sedan.
Greg grinned. “If he pops that door, watch the people scatter when the odor of the DB hits them. He’s ripe after sittin’ in the heat yesterday and today. We caught the scent as soon as we got out of our black and white.”
Cruz removed the slim-Jim, and with a gloved hand, opened the driver’s door.
The stench of the dead body rolled out of the sedan on the scorching breeze. Bystanders grimaced at the smell and most hurried away while the paramedics moved toward the vehicle.
She saw something yellow fall to the ground from the sedan’s interior. “Dallas! That paper. It fell from inside.”
He jogged after it and snagged the sheet. He looked at the note for a second, then grinned.
As with all police activity, there were numerous cell phones being used for pictures or videos of the scene.
She hurried over to him. “Don’t look at the cameras. Wipe that smile off your face,” she hissed.
Immediately, he dropped his grin.
She looked at the paper in his hands. “What’s so funny?”
“You read it and try to keep from laughing.”
She donned gloves and took it from him. The first thing she noticed was the top words were blue ink, and the last half was written in pencil.
I can’t take it anymore. First my marriage broke, then my job broke because I was replaced by a machine. That made me flat broke, which put me living in my car. Then my phone broke, and today, my car broke right here in this parking lot.
There was an arrow where the writing went from ink to pencil.
Even my pen broke! I’m done.
Amanda’s lips twitched, but she managed not to smile. “Did you see where this was before you opened the door?”
Cruz shook his head. “I looked at the interior, but I didn’t notice the paper. Maybe it dropped between the left side of the seat and the driver’s door.”
“You’re probably right. When the coroner gets here, be sure to tell them we don’t know where it was inside, but it fell out.”
“Roger that.”
As she walked back to her SUV, she said a quick prayer for the man who’d lived a broken life and couldn’t take it anymore.
Then she wondered how long she’d continue to help the broken people in Los Angeles before becoming broken herself.