Chapter Five

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                                                         Six months later

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of my 2017 F-150. I was instantly greeted by sirens wailing in the distance and blinding blue light flashing in my eyes. My gaze wandered towards the watch fastened to my wrist. It was 2:28 A.M.

    The night was unseasonably cool, chills shot up my spinal cord. I pulled my thin leather jacket tighter around my shoulders. The pale moon was almost hidden by a ever-growing storm cloud. Only a couple of stars pierced through the darkness. A warm breeze blew from the southwest, sweeping my auburn hair behind my back. A storm would erupt from the darkened skies any time now.

   I quickly took in my surroundings. I spotted a sectioned-off area crowded with reporters and police personnel a couple hundred yards in front of me. The sound of a owl screeching sliced through the eerily silent air, catching me off guard. I flinched and tightened my grip on my gun. Calm down, Taylor. I mentally scolded myself. Now is not the time to let your nerves get the better of you.

   I straightened my shoulders and stood taller, drawing in a deep breath as I walked directly towards the cause of me being called into work in the middle of the night... a lifeless human being.

   I slipped under the personnel only tape after drawing back my jacket and flashing my badge to the police officer holding the reporters at bay. He nodded his approval, then turned his attention back to explaining to the bystanders that only authorized law enforcement could pass into the restricted area.

   Ranger Walker glanced up and spotted me. One glance at his face confirmed the feelings that had overshadowing me for the last half hour. The midst that lingered over his ocean blue eyes told me the body I was nearing would likely bring me to the point of tears.

   Raw panic threatened to overtake me, but I drew in a sharp breath and reined in my emotions. If I broke down in high-pitched sobs every time I saw a body, I would have been dismissed as a homicide detective long before now. I had never shed a tear while on the clock, and I intended to keep it that way.

    "Taylor!" I was jerked back to reality as Ranger Walker's deep voice reached my ears. My head snapped up. He was crouched on the ground, gesturing with his right hand for me to join him and Ranger Hayes.

   I started to speak as I approached my coworkers, but the words were stolen off my lips as my eyes fell on the victim. "Dear God," I mumbled under my breath.

  Ranger Walker stood and gazed into my eyes. "We found a driver's permit in her pocket." He held out a evidence bag which contained a small card. I took it and held it closer.

  "Cassandra Miller. Recognize the name?"

  "No." He removed his white cowboy hat and raked his fingers through his sandy blond hair.

   "Hmmm." I handed it back to him and folded my arms across my chest. "Anderson said this had something to do with the drug ring I've been tracking. What made him think that?"

   Here, Ranger Hayes nodded towards another evidence container containing a white powder. "When the police arrived they found this. It's..."

  "Morphine. I figured as much." I adjusted my stance and lifted my head to make eye contact with the two men. "What else did they find?"

   "Blood splatters on the ground, and a phone a couple of feet from the victim. It seems to be working fine, so we're going to give it to forensics to see what they can get off of it."

   "Good call." I knelt down next to Hayes and examined the victim. Although I knew we wouldn't get a accurate age until tomorrow afternoon at best, I was almost certain the girl was somewhere in the age range between thirteen and sixteen. Waist length dark brown hair with multi-colored highlights framed her face.

   She wore a blue plaid shirt under a tan jacket, blue jeans that were way too tight for her 95 lb. body, and a weathered pair of Ariats. I examined the driver's permit again. Her eyes were a light brown with flecks of gold surrounding her pupils."You said she was killed by strangulation?"

  Behind me, Walker spoke up. "Yes, that is what it looks like."

"Either of you got a pair of gloves? I inquired as I pulled pulled my shoulders back, trying to ease the stiffness in my upper back.

    Hayes pulled a pair from his pocket and handed them to me. "What are you thinking?"

    "Well," I drew a deep breath, then painstakingly brushed the victim's wavy brown locks away from her neck. Sure enough, blood-red ligature marks encircled her throat. I inspected the remnants of the killer's deadly grasp. "I was just checking to see if there were any distinguishing features."

    "What do you mean by "distinguishing features?" Hayes questioned, intrigued.

    "I mean that if the assailant had any unusual features on his or her hands, it would show on these marks. For example, if they were wearing a wedding band, there would probably be a small indenture where they squeezed with their ring finger. And there's nothing like that on her neck, so I would assume her killer isn't married."

   Walker knelt to the ground beside me. "I've never thought of it that way, but you do have a point."

  I nodded and interlocked my fingers. "And I'm pretty sure our suspect is a male."

   "How do you figure?" He said, skeptical.

    I blew out a hot breath. Why did everybody on the highway patrol doubt my abilities and instincts so often? It was obvious by now I knew what I was doing. In the short time since I was sworn in as a Texas Ranger I had cracked more cases than any other member of the agency in over twenty years. Didn't that testify that I deserved to be trusted?

   My resume pretty much confirmed the fact that there was no one in the state of Texas more suited for the position. Yet, because I had been involved in law enforcement only two years less than my colleagues, that gave a license to doubt my abilities in criminal investigations.

   Settle down, Justice. Maybe he didn't mean it that way.

    I placed my gloved fingers on the victim's neck, a small chill skittering through my veins as I did so. "See how little my hand is in comparison to the marks? A woman's hands would be smaller, more confined to one area. Whoever did this was able to wrap their hands entirely around this kid's neck with room to spare. Besides, women tend to kill in different ways, like stabbing or shooting their victim, or beating them to death with a baseball bat. I even saw a news story several years ago where a woman killed her husband for having an affair with her sister by pouring Fentanyl into his coffee." I massaged my temples. " I'd rather not go into detail about what she did to her sister. But the point is that unless we have a female Goliath on our hands, this is the work of a man."

    Walker looked at my hand. It was barely half the size of the red prints on the girl's neck. I saw the reality of the situation registering on his face.

    No woman would have hands that big.

    But I wasn't done piecing the puzzle together just yet.

    "Hayes, didn't you say that the police found blood splatters?"

    "Unless I misunderstood."

   "Where?" My gaze wandered the crime scene.

   "Right there," Walker pointed towards evidence markers 6 and 7. I stood, brushing the dirt from my Wranglers. My eyes skillfully swept the area, until finally I saw the small, almost microscopic red liquid drying in the dust.

   "Hmmm." I fiddled with the heart-shaped locket fastened around my neck. "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but I don't see any blood or even scraps on the victim." I turned around. "So that means..."

   "That her killer was bleeding while he was here." Walker said, finishing my sentence.

   I grinned. "Exactly. Now we just need to figure out two more things--who and why. Is there any other evidence? Any leads?"

   "No. Not other than what you just found."

   I opened my mouth to reply, but the stirring of leaves behind my captured my thoughts. I pivoted, but relaxed when I saw Lieutenant Anderson. "Taylor," He began stalking towards the body. "What is your take on the victim?"

   I lengthened my strides to keep pace with him. "My take? I think she was killed by a unmarried male."

   He snorted. "So you're a physic now, too?"

   I shoved my hands into my pockets and took a deep breath. Don't lose your temper. Stay calm. "Well, where the assailant squeezed with their left hand, there is no indention where their wedding ring would be. And secondly, the ligature marks prove that the murderer's hands were much too large to be a woman's.

   "Besides, how many women criminals do you know that would choose strangulation as a method to kill? It seems doubtful. Most wouldn't even be strong enough to hold down their victims, let alone maintain a grip tight enough to crush their windpipe. It just seems highly unlikely to me."

   Anderson crossed his arms. A faint smile formed at the corners of his mouth in spite of the sour expression he wore. "Good eye. I would say you're probably right. Edwards!" He turned and waved the coroner over.

"Has your team finished the initial response to the crime scene?" The middle-aged man inquired once he reached them.

   "Yes, I believe we have." Anderson nodded, then looked to Walker, Hayes, and lastly me. "Guys, I think we're done here. The police will handle the crime scene from here. Tomorrow morning we'll look at all the evidence again and see what we can come up with. Go home and get some rest, six'o'clock comes early."

   More like four-thirty. I released a frustrated sigh. I lived on a ranch not far from here, about halfway to Dallas. I had to be up no later than four fourty-five to get the everyday morning chores finished before I headed to work. I checked my watch again. Fifteen after three. I realized with a sinking feeling that I might as well not even go back to bed. It looked like some much-needed rest would have to wait another twenty-four hours. I tipped my hat and nodded. "Alright. I will see you all in the morning."

   As I walked through the woods towards my truck, struggling to keep my eyes open, Ranger Walker fell into step next to me. "I have to admit, I'm impressed at your knowledge back there. You might have missed your calling as a forensics expert or a behavioral specialist."

   I shrugged and glanced down at my badge glinting in the dim light. "No, I don't think so. This is my calling. I have never felt more self-satisfied as I have since the day I took this job." But it still can't erase all the mistakes I've made.

   "I get what you mean. My mom has always worried about me getting killed in the line of duty, but since I took this job she's gotten way worse. Last week she litterly called me at two in the morning to make sure I was all right!"

   "Why wouldn't you be? We're not even usually on the clock that time of day."

   "That is exactly what I was thinking. I was so mad when I answered that phone, she scared me half to death. I thought she was calling to tell me my little sister had finally gotten herself killed or something."

    "I take it she's a daredevil."

    "No, not really. She's a firecracker, but she isn't reckless. It's just that she graduated last year, and of course she moved straight to Chicago. Seems that she landed a job at the PD. She works third shift."

    I remembered getting my job at Austin PD. I had finished Police Academy two days before I went in for the interview. The chief had been impressed at my demeanor and intelligence. He had taken a big chance at giving a wild-eyed kid who weighed 100 lbs. soaking wet a job in one of the most dangerous cities in America, but he had said he saw something in me. Potential, maybe. Or maybe recklessness, but there was only one way to find out.

    I smiled softly. "When I worked in Austin, I was on third shift. I can remember more than one night I nearly got my head blown off."

   "You aren't exactly helping my nerves."

   "Right, sorry."

   "Forget it. But enough about all my problems. What about you?" He gently nudged me with his shoulder. "Were your parents supportive when you decided to be a cop or did they freak out?"

   "Uh..." I surveyed the ground as I paced towards the road's edge. "I guess I never really talked to them about it. As long as I didn't do something that could challenge their business, it didn't really matter what profession I chose."

    "They sound pretty chill."

     I laughed aloud "Well, let's just say they have never been exactly overprotective of me."

    A concerned shadow crossed his laidback features. "Is that a good thing?"

    "Yeah, I guess so. It made me the person I am. Now I can help others because I was taught how to take care of myself. I'm glad I never had everything handed to me, it's why I want to protect and help everyone I can now. Looking out for people just comes second nature to me; it's been instilled in me my entire life. It just took me a while to realize it."

    "Looks like that's one thing we have in common. My dad used to say that I should have been a bodyguard for secret services." Walker edged closer. "But do you know why that would never work for me?"

   "Why?" I moved away, my heart rate rising. No matter who it was, I always began to feel uncomfortable--even threatened--the second anyone got within three feet of me.

    Walker smirked and said in an undertone "Because I can't keep a secret to save my life."

   "Then you might have missed your calling. It isn't exactly standard procedure to tell everyone every detail of a homicide case."

   "That's like the only thing I can keep myself from blurting. I've got several siblings, and you have no idea how hard it is to not say anything classified when they're constantly asking what case I'm on. I almost think they're trying to get me fired."

   "Maybe your mom put them up to it." I retorted with a grin.

   "That seems very likely. I love my family, I really do, but I swear sometimes they drive me insane." He nudged me again. "But you better not tell them I said that."

   "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." I tilted my head and offered a small smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Walker."

  "See you then." He tipped his hat and sprinted towards his own vehicle.


   "We received the report from the coroner this morning. Cassandra Miller was murdered by manual strangulation."

   I uncomfortably shifted in a hard wooden chair in the Collinsville PD conference room. My heart rate elevated a notch. Although I had personally seen the ligature marks around Cassandra's neck the night before, hearing that she had been strangled to death in such final terms made my body go dumb with dread. I knew that as long as the girl's killer was in the run, more lives could be in danger......including those of everyone on the task force. This had to stop before anyone else got got hurt.

   As one of the 2,000 police officers who patrolled the streets of Austin, I had seen my fair share of violence. From talking a man out of jumping off a bridge straight into interstate traffic only for him to beat his girlfriend to death because she had broken up with him, to taking down a mentally unstable woman holding her sister at gupoint, I had seen it all. And although I had witnessed much more gruesome murder scenes, there was something different about this one. Perhaps it was because the victim was only a kid. Or maybe it was simply because Cassandrea reminded me so much of myself at fifteen, but this investigation hadn't lasted a full twenty-four hours yet, and it already had me shaken to the core.

   I thought about the blood droplets that had been discovered at the scene. A flicker of hope that forensics would find a DNA match for the lead surged through my body like wildfire. The longer it took to find the culprit, the colder the case would become. How long before the man slipped out of our grip... for good? Or until he decided to target his next victim? The answers to those questions rattled my bones and twisted my insides in knots.

   I shivered as I felt a sharp jab between my shoulderblades. I turned in my seat and glared back at Ranger Walker. "Why did you just..."

  He opened his mouth to reply, but Hayes beat him to it. "He didn't. I did."

  My eyes spat fire. When I spoke, my usually friendly tone was laced with venom.

   "Why?"

   Hayes leaned forward and said into my ear, his breath hot against my neck. "Anderson asked you to share your take on the profile of the assailant with the department. I don't know how the heck you didn't hear him, but if I were you I'd get to it. He doesn't exactly take kindly to someone ignoring him."

   I straightened in my chair and looked innocently at the irritated lieutenant. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I just....."

   "Get up here, Taylor." He growled.

   I stood and walked to the front of the room before making eye contact with him. "Yes, sir?"

   "Turn around and give your opinion of the suspect to the department. Now. And from now on you better pay attention when we're in a conference, got it?"

   Is that a threat? I swallowed the taunting words balanced on the tip of my tongue. The last thing I needed was to start being a smart aleck to my boss. "Yes, sir. It won't happen again."


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