“What the…?” He gasped and rubbed his forehead.
No one spoke.
A human skull with a gaping hole in the back rested on top of the pile. There were sparse pieces of brown hair sticking up on it, but that wasn’t the more horrifying image. To one side there were two skeletons: one large, the other appeared to be a child. The remaining metacarpal bones of the skeletons’ hands were intertwined as if holding on for dear life.
As the workers all stared silently, the sun peeked throughthe low-lying clouds, shining directly on the skeletons and catching glints of metal. Two matching silver bracelets—each with half a heart.
THREE
Monday 0845 hours
Katie drove into the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department employee parking lot. She had left a few minutes earlier than John so they didn’t appear to be coming to work together. It kept questions at a minimum—and that’s the way she wanted it. As she drove, Katie thought about her cases and which one she and McGaven were going to tackle next. It intrigued her that some of their cold cases were more than twenty years old, but those that were only months old needed to be addressed too. She also referenced missing persons cases.
Stepping from her Jeep, Katie ran her morning through her mind, making her smile. Her nerves were calm; in fact, she was the calmest she had been in a long time and feeling present and as if she belonged. Even her post-traumatic stress symptoms from her time in the Army had seemed to subside. Having John in her life had been helping her.
Katie swiped her card and entered the police administrative building. She walked down the hallway until she reached the unmarked door and swiped her identification card once again.The metal door popped open an inch, allowing her to push it wider; the familiar, almost comforting hum of the air-conditioning greeting her as it always did. She moved through the forensic division and passed by the various offices and examination rooms until she reached the cold-case office. It had ended up in this location due to the department’s space limitations, especially in the detective division, but it had been a perfect fit. There was a filing room and a large office to house both Katie and McGaven, where they could spread out information and have two full wall boards to track their investigations.
That morning, the door was slightly ajar and she could hear her partner’s voice on the phone. Katie walked in and smiled at McGaven as she set down her briefcase and jacket. The room was clean—no boxes, files, notes—and the walls were unadorned. Everything was ready to go and the only thing they had to do was pick the next case to work on. She had even organized a top-ten list for them to choose from.
McGaven ended his call. He looked solemn for a moment, which was out of character for him. His height of six foot six made his expression seem more intense.
“What’s up?” said Katie.
His expression didn’t change. “Skeletal remains have been found. There are no other details yet.”
“Where?”
“The location for the police and fire training centers.”
Katie immediately began considering the location, how far it was from a main road, its previous uses and owners. It was her understanding they had barely broken ground on the new building project.
“If the remains are skeletons…” Katie said, “that would mean they could be anything from a couple of years old to maybe ten or twenty years.” She looked at McGaven. “We better go check it out.”
McGaven drove as Katie rode shotgun, observing her partner closely. She knew something was wrong, but respected his privacy until he wanted to confide in her. But already she missed his usual humor, and his positive attitude where he could find the best in things—in almost anything.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said, glancing at her.
“What’s that?”
“You’re trying to profile me.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s no ‘maybe.’”
Katie couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m just having an off day,” he said.
“Okay.”
“What do you mean ‘okay’?”
“Gav, you know I’m always here for you—and I’ve got your back. Enough said.”
McGaven finally smiled and the serious frown lines smoothed. “Ditto.”
“Ditto? This isn’t some action film,” she said.
