I’m just heading into the market to stock up on Red Bull for my shift this evening, when I run into Sarah. “Hey, Sarah. How’s it going?”
“Hey, West. I just had the unfortunate luck of running into your brother. You just missed him.”
“You know, one day you two really need to talk and work your shit out. He’s not as bad as he seems, and I think a part of him has regrets about the past.”
“Well, I’m not interested in rehashing anything with him, and I promise, he really is as bad as he seems. Bye, West. See you in the morning, and don’t get up to too much trouble this evening.” She waves, tossing her long red hair over her shoulders.
Once she’s gone, I shake my head and make my way into the market. I’m not sure what happened between those two because neither of them will talk about it, but whatever it was, it must have really hurt Sarah for her to still hold such a grudge about it.
I check out with my Red Bulls and head back to the station with intentions of enjoying a quiet night, but of course, it doesn’t last long. At 1:30 a.m. I get a call.
“Lavender Falls Dispatch. Sheriff Donovan speaking.”
“H-Hi. I need to report a body,” the quiet voice of a young woman stutters on the other line.
“Can you tell me the nature of the crime?”
“It–She’s been stabbed,” the voice cries.
“Does she have a pulse? Do you know who’s responsible, and are you safe?” I ask, trying to gather as much information as I can.
“N-no. No, we were down at the river for a bonfire and found her. She’s dead.” The girl cries into the receiver.
“What’re your coordinates?” I ask, grabbing a pen and paper to jot them down.
“We’re just off the path of Spruce Bay. Down by the bank. Our vehicles are parked in the parking lot and we took the path straight down.”
“Okay. Make sure everyone stays put and away from the body. Someone will be there shortly.”
I get off the phone with the young woman and page for back-up before heading out.
We arrive at the scene, and after interviewing the six teens who stumbled upon the body, we dismiss the group and get to work.
What we have is similar to the last body. A young female in the same age range, blonde hair and stab wounds to match. I shake my head. “What the hell is going on.” I whisper under my breath. Two bodies days apart. Shit like this never happens in Lavender Falls.
Based on the similarities, it seems we have a serial killer on our hands. And that’s not fucking good.
“What are you thinking?” I ask Cade.
He shakes his head. “This isn’t looking good. There are quite a few similarities here to the last body.” He confirms my findings. “It can only mean one thing,” he says looking up at me.
“Serial Killer.”
“The question is, what the fuck is he doing here in Lavender Falls?” my brother asks, taking off his gloves and looking out at the forest around us.
“We’re going to have to call in a profiler,” Ian says, coming to stand next to us.
“This is going to have the town in a frenzy.” I sigh, shaking my head.
“We need to keep Ira and those nosy knitters out of our way. You know they will have the whole town in a panic, thus making our jobs here harder if we wanna find this guy.” Cade says.
“Let’s try to keep this as under wraps as we can until we figure out a plan. Hopefully those teens don’t spread anything,” I add.
“You got it,” they say in unison before we all disperse to our vehicles once the coroner has the body.
What a fucking mess, I think on the way back to the station. I know Jade doesn’t drive, and the thought of her out walking every morning and evening while there’s a killer out there doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want her walking alone anymore. Now how the hell do I convince her to stop?
Isink down into the warm bubbly water of my bath and let out a sigh of content as the soft floral aroma of my bath salts engulfs me. My muscles relax and I tip my head back listening to the soft purrs of my kitten, Pumpkin, on the stool next to the tub. Today was a busy day at the bakery. Not only did we have two different custom cake orders to be filled, but we also had a special cupcake order, and a request for three dozen croissants on top of all our regular store inventory.
