The Night On The Shore

  After a long three months of doing research for my next book, I wanted to take a nice long weekend break to clear my thoughts and all the words from my mind and feel good about the process. I called my best friend Nikolai to invite him out for drinks. There is this new bar and grill in the neighborhood we have been curious about and I have been dying for fried pickle spears with asiago cheese sprinkled on top. The vibe is pretty chill here and their drinks menu is out of this world.

After we ate and had a few more drinks we decided to play some pool and made new friends there as well. Nothing special about the night, but a much-needed time to goof around, letting the liquor entertain my mood. After a while, we decided to head over to the beach with these new friends. We piled up in a cab and we were there in 20 minutes.

The beach has a nice crowd still out chilling by the water, in the water, and all in the sand. You can see a decent crowd over by the pier fishing for striped bass and blues. The night air was so warm carrying salt from the sea through the air. It was a fine night to be out and the darkness engulfing the water was surreal. Stars twinkle, freckling on the waves. This is when I decided to pull out my phone. I treated myself to the latest iPhone and figured this would be a good time to play around with the camera and explore all of its enhanced features.

Not long after this we are all taking goofy photos, and exchanging social media for tags. It was so fun and innocent, we all were like college kids again. Catcalling girls, playing pranks, taking photos, and making some pretty disoriented videos that need to not ever see the light of day. I catch a silent moment with myself and the water as I stroll down the shore, letting the tide wash over my feet. The moon is intriguing to me, it is full but dim and not fully white. I make a silly remark to myself about it starting to fall asleep. I start snapping away before suddenly hearing a cracking sound followed by a thump. 

The echo rippled over this tranquil night and abruptly goosebumps washed over my whole body as heat rushed over my head, flushing my cheeks.  Before I can even digest this sudden shift in disposition, more cracks ring in rapid succession. Now everyone is scattering around, running aimlessly and blindly while tucking their bodies low to the ground, giving their legs just enough room to maneuver underneath them. I hear my friends calling out for me as they move back towards the direction we came from. This beach isn’t huge so my hopes of returning to the parking lot felt achievable, yet the cracking sounds haven’t stopped behind me. A thump is close to me this time, the next one hits the sand right next to me. 

I realized that I was heading in the opposite direction than the majority of the other people still running away, but not many were left scrambling, making me feel I was the target. I have no time to think, now that I know I am being shot at I start to zig-zag my running path and aim to run near the sand domes that start to line the exit to the beach that leads back to the parking lot. Lights are flashing and flickering as cars are revving their engines, tires squeal to get out of dodge. I see my friends calling me, ducking by a vehicle. I make it to them and we continue to run in the same direction the cars are driving. Nikolai called a cab company, yet the arrival time for an arrival was unknown. It was late and we were already 30 minutes away from the nearest company that was still sending out drivers.  A red Jeep pulls up alongside us and they offer us a ride. 

My heart raced like a bat out of hell, my nerves were so rattled I couldn’t control my hands as they shook uncontrollably. My mind couldn’t stop playing the scene repeatedly in my head. I didn’t understand what had transpired for this night to end the way it did. Why were we being shot at? Why was I being shot at? After what felt like mere moments we arrived at the nearest hotel. I paid for our stay that night and we tried to wind down, but none of us could settle down.

“People are Crazy. I don’t know who gets a kick out of shooting at random people on the beach at 1 a.m.” Nikolai said. Not long after that statement, the room erupted with theories being thrown around with half-hearted jokes mixed in between. Yet, I knew I was the target but I didn’t know why. All I did was take pictures of the moon and the water, lapping up the moment feeling consumed with peace, and then all hell broke loose. 

How I managed to fall asleep is a mystery to me. The events of last night were fresh on my mind as I opened my eyes. It was so real and intense. I never considered myself a sensitive type, but after last night, I have respect for anyone who experiences these feelings, it isn’t for the faint-hearted.  The sun is beaming through the blinds and I never felt so thankful. I mumbled a quick prayer before I got on my feet. I can’t begin to figure out why this happened. I don’t live a lifestyle that would bring me trouble and nothing to be getting shot at. My life is quite boring. 

We gather our things and head back to our neighborhood. I was so happy to be back home. I felt safe. I Met with my mom and headed right back home to sloth the rest of the weekend away. For a few hours, I’m binge-watching TV. shows on Prime while playing Solitaire when I get a notification pop on my screen. 

“We are looking for anyone with any information on the string of murders that have been abundant in the shore/bay areas…”  This made me stop everything, I didn’t blink, I didn’t breathe, and I didn’t move. I just sat frozen, back straight as a board as though my posture was on the lookout for danger. Just then it dawned on me. I go to my phone and I look at the pictures I had taken that night. Some close-ups of the moon, the waters, the people. Everything I expected to see, but I kept scrolling until I saw it. With a pinch of my fingers to zoom in a small fisher boat with one of those little rafts beside it became visible. This was across the water and furthest from the shoreline we were on. If not for this incident, I don’t think I would have even recognized it by looking at these pictures. you have had to be looking for something to notice it.

I started to research this murderer in the Bay Area. 'They targeted both men and women and their wounds varied between individuals.  No kind of sexual assault, but the victims were malnourished and dirty and all between the ages of 18-22. The backgrounds of these victims varied. So far there have been 11 victims in 7 years. The bodies were discovered when they washed up on the shore, 2 have been found partially eaten by the wildlife either in the waters or on land; but most of the bodies were found within 200 feet from the shoreline in the woods just off the beach.  No eyewitnesses or survivors either.  Another interesting piece to the case is that all the victims came from different nationalities and it was believed they spoke little to no English.'

Interestingly, they don’t mention a boat at all. I get the feeling that they aren’t even thinking of a boat. It seems because the bodies were found on land with paths and trails in that area,  that someone was just dumping the bodies in the woods off the shore. And it occurred to me that I must have caught them in the act! That is why they started shooting at me after I started taking pictures of the water.  I have a couple of pictures of the boat but this is just a phone camera; although a very good one, still wasn’t a professional one. I called Nikolai to tell him everything I discovered and he thought it was best to get to the police station with the pictures and that we can go together because he is a witness to the shooting as well as a victim. 

At the station, we speak to a detective who is working on the case. He listened intently and took notes. He also looked at the photos and his eyes widened as though he was in disbelief or shock.  ‘When was this taken? North end or the South end of the beach? What kind of gun did it sound like? How many rounds were fired?’ A series of questions to help him gather his thoughts or create a theory in his head.  He thanked me for my time and information and would inform me of any updates from this lead I had. 

3 Years Later…..

“Today November 24th, 2026, Marks the day the Shore/Bay Murderer has been Apprehended and will have to face a judge for his crimes. The community has been rippled with anguish, feelings of betrayal, and fear for over 14 years, and now this murderer is finally locked behind bars to face the numerous charges against him; Knowing that it was an officer who took an oath to serve and protect makes everything all the worse, and I as the Cheif, Sincerely Apologize on the behalf of Our Local Police department and For all The Police departments.  Officers like this bring nothing but shame and dishonor to the force…” 

My Phone rings and it is the detective telling me they caught the guy and after all this, it was one of their own. When I went down to the station three years ago and showed them the photos I had taken, the detective recognized the boat as Deputy Philip Hoffman’s. 20 years on force all ending in disgrace and horror. It wasn’t a walk in the park to get him arrested. Not only was almost no evidence ever left behind at the crime scene, but he was an active investigator in the case of the shore murders. This information explained why there was no talk about boats being involved in the crimes, and if there was any account of a boat being seen, his role in the investigation made it easy for him to eliminate that detail from the investigation. Hoffman had a buddy in the force and when he got a new lead about a boat being involved, Hoffman abruptly took an emergency leave of absence and moved to Mexico.  2 years after his mysterious departure from the force, a fisherboat was found abandoned with a failed attempt at removing the (HIN) number on the boat. A forensic team set out to the boat, collecting all the evidence they needed to tie Hoffman to the crimes and get a warrant. A year later he was apprehended outside of my home. I was at work at the time. I guess he was gonna try to get into my home and wait for me to get home to ambush me, another failed attempt to cover his tracks and save his ass.   So in the end, he spent his time in Mexico to find out who I was and where I was. I was unlucky to have walked into the department just mere moments after his buddy came back from lunch. As soon as I left, that was the officer the detective spoke to about the new emergence of evidence about the boat. Due to his suspicion of Hoffman and knowing he was speaking to his buddy, he hadn’t left my personal information on the case or listed me as a witness, this is why he didn’t find me sooner. But his buddy put two and two together a year after Hoffman moved to Mexico it had to be me that brought in the evidence that day. He saw me ask for a detective and he saw him walk me out.   

For two years, I was being hunted down and I had no clue. A new aspect of this whole ordeal to creep me out. But on the bright side, it was me who put an end to his terror, and when he started to hunt me down,  I, again led him right to the police because they were staking him out having a hunch he would come looking for me. 

This case made a huge impact on our legal system and laws around human trafficking. Turns out the motive of his crimes was human trafficking. He worked with a Mexican cartel and they had a trafficking ring with several other traffickers. The bodies that were found were rejects of the trade. If they were sick, weak, and couldn’t bring in any money for them; they would kill them and dispose of them. The cell phone that was in his pocket when he was arrested gave them all the information they needed to take down this cartel and the trafficking ring. Hoffman never stopped his crimes, he just changed headquarters when he moved to Mexico. 

I had no idea a night out at the beach with a couple of friends would end up opening up so many cans of worms. I never imagined that every bullet, I and many others dodged that night, would be the beginning of the end for this ring of terror. If Hoffman regretted anything in his life, it was the fact he didn’t kill me that night. Every pull of that trigger was a desperate attempt at maintaining his freedom, his facade, and the money flowing into his pockets. And thanks to my bewilderment of the moon, there are now over 4 million additional CCTV nationwide in public areas, streets highways, airports, and many other public areas to help prevent crime and are also used to solve them.