Chapter Forty-Seven

Graves

Once again, I’m greeted by Santa’s twin as I pull into the mill. This time he thankfully recognizes me and we can skip the rigamarole of me showing him my badge.

“Anything of note out here?” I ask.

“Not this time, Officer Graves. One of your men did a thorough sweep of the area and nothing was tagged for evidence collection.” He hangs his thumbs in his belt loops and rocks back and forth on his heels.

“Okay, thanks.” I tip my hat to him and he returns the gesture.

Dreading what I’ll witness when I cross the threshold into the mill's interior, I take a lap around the building for myself, psyching myself up. I’m happy I did, otherwise this boot print would have gone unnoticed. It’s in the mud on the far side of the mill, a few paces away from the back door. In comparison to my boots, it’s slightly smaller, probably a size ten, maybe a nine and a half. I pull out my radio and call Smith to my location, telling him to bring the evidence tags and camera with him.

“Sgt. Jefferds is here, would you like him to accompany me?” Smith crackles through radio speakers.

“Can he assist you in pouring a cast of the impression?”

“Yes, sir,” he replies.

“Then bring him.” I impatiently wait for the duo to round the corner. The longer I wait, the more I wonder why there is only one boot print, and… Why here? There are no others around and this faces off towards the creek. Is this another distraction like Mallory claimed the purse to be?

Finally Smith and Jefferds appear. Smith is shaking the casting solution as Jefferds inspects and clears away debris from the print. They set up the area while I watch them like a hawk. They better not fuck this up. Once I’m satisfied with their work, I turn and head into the mill from the back door.

The scene I’m met with matches the others before it, excluding Melissa. A dark haired female is hanging from a noose that is secured to the same support beam as before. My blood runs cold as I see the message my uncle was referring to. "Soon" is jaggedly carved into the victim’s abdomen.

“Why is she still up there? Please tell me you weren’t waiting on me,” I say.

“No, we are waiting on the city's crime lab and their coroner,” Captain Graves replies.

“Where the hell are they? You called me almost three hours ago.”

“They misunderstood Jefferds’s directions and ended up in the next town over, they are on their way back now,” Captain explains, I nod in understanding.

“So this is the message you were referring to.”

“Mhmm,” my uncle grumbles. “What do you think it means?”

My mind lights up with the conversation between Mallory and I this afternoon. If my theory was flimsy before, now it has the potential to be rock solid. He’s got an innocent woman in his sights and ‘soon’ he will enact his sinister plan upon her. My uncle and I exchange glances, having our own silent conversation. I’ll tell him my thoughts in private.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Myers breaks the silence from the spot on the other side of our captain.

“Where’s Johnson?” I inquire.

“He found the body, so he hightailed it back to the precinct once backup arrived. You know how he is,” Myers says, slight annoyance lacing his tone.

“Hmm,” I mumble.

Captain Graves heaves in a deep breath and upon his exhale, he recomposes himself as the no-nonsense police commander he needs to be. He looks to me, “I want you in my office once we are loaded up and out of here,” he directs and I give a stiff nod. Looking to Myers, he says, “You take Smith and scan the perimeter again. You two are making us look like incompetent fools by missing a boot print Graves found within five minutes.”

Myers tucks his tail between his legs and retreats like a kicked puppy. Looking back to me, the captain gives his orders.

“You stay here and monitor their every move. You inspect the body before it leaves and I want your preliminary report ASAP. I will not cancel the haunt, Graves. It was your aunt’s favourite thing in the world and the one time a year I feel her presence the strongest. You fucking catch this motherfucker, boy. I mean it.” He’s still every bit the strong and stoic man I grew up with, even with the years of wear upon his soul.

“Yes, sir.” He nods to me then briskly turns and exits the building to greet the city teams that have just arrived.

While I await their entrance, I do a walk through of the scene, uncovering what I assume to be the victims bag. It’s been tossed in a dark corner. Another deliberate distraction?

Pulling out my walkie, I call Jefferds, telling him what I found and to hurry up with the things I need to tag and bag. A moment passes then he rushes in and starts flashing pictures.

“Do another goddamn walk-through,” I snap. Shock and irritation flare in his eyes, but it can’t possibly match the thundering of blood in my ears. Another piece of evidence missed. I slip on the sanitary latex gloves and begin to photograph things as I remove them from the purse. There's no cell phone, damn it. Her wallet is partially hidden beneath a mass of personal effects, it holds no cash or pictures, just shopping cards and her ID.

Melody Elaine Kromwell. 23. Height: Five foot five inches. Blonde Hair. Brown eyes.

Looking back to the victim, her dark hair sways erratically as she’s finally lowered down onto a gurney. That’s not overly alarming, women dye their hair all the time.

∞∞∞

“I think she was hunted,” I say.

“What the hell do you mean 'hunted'?” My adoptive guardian sits across from me, his immense desk swallowing the space between us.

“The soles of her feet were torn to shreds, she was covered in dirt and scratches, ones that were clearly not from a blade. There was grass and pine twigs woven deeply into her hair. We need to expand our search perimeter into the woods. There’s a very good chance we will find more evidence, whether it will be useful or not is to be determined.”

“Fuck,” the captain exhales.

“What I want to know is how he managed to hunt and kill another girl when that mill was instructed to be monitored 24/7. Who was on patrol last night?”

“Myers,” he says, hanging his head in exhaustion.

“And he’s still here?” I roar. “Why the fuck hasn’t he been suspended...or fired? Leaving a fucking crime scene unmanned and defying orders from your commanding officer is grounds for some sort of penalty.” I’m ready to flip this massive desk and storm out of here.

“I can’t fire him, son. He has a family,” he says, trying to rationalize with me.

“Are you serious?”

“We need all hands on deck for this,” he reasons.

“Even the fucking incompetent ones?”

My uncle raises his tired eyes to mine, pleading with me to just let this go. I understand, interpersonal turmoil would be catastrophic for our little town police department while working with the big wigs from the city.

I rise, square my shoulders, and exit my captain’s office, heading outside to catch a breath of fresh air before shit hits the fan.

I drop the tailgate on my truck and lay back. I pull out my phone and open the screen-mirroring app to see what my little siren has been up to. I’m only slightly irritated when I find out she’s going to Victoria’s apartment for an undetermined amount of time. Deep down, I know it’s the safer place for her. I see she sent a text to me about staying to play hide and seek and my blood turns to ice in my veins. Stay? Who the fuck did she see that wasn’t me this time? Is she safe?

It’s as though my fingers won’t move fast enough to swipe out of one app and open another. I eagerly wait for the security camera app to load and open. I click on the feed for her bedroom and it takes longer than usual to load. With every spin of the little circle in the middle of the screen, my anxiety swells. Finally, her night vision shaped form appears on the bed. I pull out my burner phone and call her number, needing to ensure that everything is okay. That nothing has happened to her and this feed is live.

“Hello?” Her groggy sleep soaked voice meets my ear and quells my rising panic.

“Hey, sorry to wake you.”

“Nox? Is everything okay?” There’s a delay on the camera but as her body begins to move on my screen, I feel like I can breathe again.

“Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice. It’s been a rough day since I dropped you off.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Alright then, what can I do?” Her voice perks up and I feel like an asshole for waking her.

The main door to the police building opens and I’m being waved back inside by fucking Johnson. I hold up my finger, telling him to give me one second and he nods, ducking back inside.

“Uhh, babe, I have to go.”

“Okay. I’ll be here if you need me. Well…actually I’ll be at Victoria’s, but please call me. I like it.” My cheeks heat at her words.

“Alright, have fun. I'm sorry for waking you, I thought I would have more time to talk.”

“Don’t ever apologize, Nox.” I wonder if she can tell I’m smiling like a lovestruck fool on the other end of the call.

“Bye, Mallory.”

“Goodnight, Officer.” I hear her light laughter as the line goes dead. Such a little tease, she knows what my title on her lips does to me.