It was a windy day as I left my apartment for the quick walk across the street to the bus stop. Whatever else you had to say about the tiny two bedroom I lived in, at least it was right on the bus route. Of course, it barely was big enough for my cat and I, but at least she didnt complain much. She had her own room. The bus came and I did my usual routine- flashed my bus pass at the driver and plopped down in a seat near the back door. He was one of the surlier ones- he just grunted at me and took off before I had a chance to sit. Of course, for Albuquerque, thats pretty good. I dug the current book I was reading, Jeffrey Archer's "False Impression", out of my daypack and escaped the world around me for a half-hour or so. With a full-time job and going to college, this was my only time to read. The ride was way to short, and soon I was walking the six blocks from the downtown bus station to the Rescue Mission. I'd like to say it was a lovely walk, but that part of Albuquerque is about as much fun to walk through as getting a colonoscopy. Not only did I see the people I have to deal with everyday, but it was in the middle of urban renewal- everyone was moving out, and noone had replaced them yet. I made it with only being panhandled once- a slow day. I walked into the Mission, and into the receptionist's office to check my mailbox. Jenny, the program secretary said "where have you been the last couple of days"? I said, "where else? the night guy needed aday off, so who else would they get"? I wasnt complaining- it was a fact of life. I was the dayroom supervisor, so when they needed someone to work relief, I was the low man on the totem pole. I dug a ton of paperwork out of my mailbox- if I missed a day or so, it piled up (Lord help me when I went on vacation), and checked to see who had left the men's program in the last couple of days. I then went to see my boss, Ramon. He's the program director, which puts him in charge of the men's program and all outside services except for the food. I loved working for him, as he had been my chaplain when I went through the program ten years earlier, and we had been friends ever since. He asked if it had been a quiet night. I said, "Well yeah, the cops are all over the area since the murder a couple of nights ago". There had been another street person killed, one of a rash of them recently, but this time a block from the Mission. It was the reason why the night guy had needed a day off. Even a Christian gets a shock when he's reminded of his own mortality. Ramon said, "they havent identified the body, or come up with any suspects. You should probably be ready to deal with people's issues when you open the dayroom". I said, "no kidding. there has been a lot of that with the rash of killings. I wonder if we should talk to the police about some kind of safety class in the dayroom"? He told me to look into it. I went up to my office and turned on the computer, as I checked my messages. I had one from Mary, the women's dayroom supervisor, who had the same idea for a class. I made a note to get together with her to talk about it. I also had to find the number of Tim, a friend of mine in the Sheriff's department who was a Christian and volunteered at the Mission. Then I got to the message. It was from a guy who I only saw once in a while now, Mike, who went back with me to my days on the streets. We had been best friends and running buddies twenty years ago, and he was someone I would trust with my life even now. In the message, he said, "There is something really creepy going down. A lot of the rash of killings are connected. I stumbled across this by accident, and now I think someone is watching me. Call me". He had managed to finally get a cheap apartment with his SSI, so I knew I might have a chance of getting hold of him. But, given that Mike was a few bricks shy of a load at times, and like me, had a fascination with mysteries, I didnt give it top priority. It was thursday, my second busiest day in the dayroom, and I had to figure out what I was going to do for the guys who came in. Maybe a movie. I was rooting around in my video cabinet when I heard the dayroom door open. I looked up and saw Ramon come in with a detective I thought I recognized from the neighborhood. They came over and Ramon introduced him as Sgt. Lopez. I shook his hand and asked if I could help him. He said, "I hope so, if you know Mike Sanders". I allowed as how I did, and that I had just gotten a message from him from yesterday morning. He said, "we have a record of him calling you on his cell phone, to the mission number, and your card was found near his body". I said, "what!", and he replied, "he was found shot to death yesterday afternoon in his apartment. We were hoping you could shed a little light on why".
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