Chapter 12

She didn't go back to the station, but headed home to the little cottage she'd rented in the heart of town. She'd got the place for a song, at least a third of what she would've paid for the same kind of accommodations in the city.

The place was neat and out of the way with its little garden out back and the trees that shielded it from view of anyone driving by. She'd been lucky to find it or more to the point that the captain had found it for her just when she needed it.

The owners had moved away after spending their lives here. Gone to some retirement home in Florida where they were enjoying sun and surf. They'd left all the furniture and she hadn't needed to change a thing, except the mattress since she was never one for home decor.

Though the place looked like something out of a nineteenth century inn, it did fit with the general ambience of Briar Reef so she saw no need to fiddle with it. Plus it had saved her from having to shell out thousands of dollars.

She used one of the spare bedrooms as an office and that's where she headed now. She dropped her bag on the chair behind the desk and headed back out to the kitchen to find something to eat when her stomach growled a reminder that she hadn't eaten since the few nibbles she'd taken of the stale tuna fish sandwich at lunch.

She put on the kettle to make herself a cup of tea as she foraged in the refrigerator for leftovers. She had some nice pasta from the only Italian restaurant for miles and a couple slices of cold cheese pizza. Neither of which interested her.

It was finally setting in that she had her first murder case in years, and the first on which she was the lead. She called to mind everything that she'd learned about handling a case like this, but there was one blaring difference. Briar Reef is astronomically different from New York.

She couldn't see handling the local residents of the small town she now called home the same way she'd done with the denizens of one of the largest cities in the country. As much as she hated the idea, she knew she'd have to handle everyone with kid gloves.

She was astutely aware that this was also a first for many of them. And since the last murder had been a domestic situation, which had been very cut and dry and rather isolated, she knew that there would be fear amongst the residents here if she didn't get a handle on things soon.

She settled for some toast and a cup of her favorite jasmine tea before heading back to her home office to get down to work. The way things were looking she was sure she'd be here for a while, that her days and nights will be long until she solved this thing.

As she poured over her notes, she realized that her mind kept coming back to Riley and their strange exchange. All the questions in her mind seemed to be centered around him, something she knew could become a problem if she let it.

She tapped her pen against the desk as she looked out the window at the darkening sky. Outside everything seemed still, a slight contrast to the morning and she wondered what the next day would bring.

She thought of Mr. Davis who was going to bed tonight without his beautiful wife beside him, and those three young children who were now left without a mother. And she thought of Sonya Davis and what had been done to her. This last thought brought her mind back in focus and she settled down to work.

***

By nightfall the news had spread all around town and everyone had their own opinion as to what had taken place. In the local pub where most of the patrons who liked to imbibe on the odd weekend gathered, it was all anyone could talk about. Suggestions were made and theories bandied about, and rumors and whispers of rumors were started.

Officer Pete Bailey took up his usual seat at the small bar and perused the room where other patrons were seated at small wooden tables with mugs of their favorite brew, some long forgotten in favor of the latest gossip.

In the background some soft unrecognizable melody piped through the outdated speaker system as voices spoke in hushed tones as everyone tried to come to terms with a murder in their town.

For some it was a first, since they hadn't been born when the last one occurred, and their innate fear of being murdered in their sleep was heavily mixed with the excitement of the movie like scenario, as the story grew more embellished with each telling.

"It was old man Doss who found her I heard. Sad thing, very sad thing. Such a young woman." Sam Fields the owner of the feed store and was one of the few there who was around for the old case, tipped his bottle of brew to his head after making that announcement to his table of interested cohorts.

Nigel Thorne and Gary Wesley, who both worked for the post office were joined by Elijah Stone who owned the town's only auto repair shop. These four along with Sam made up one group while at another table, Jeffrey Spooner, the grocery owner and his wife Sophia, sat with their heads together.

All over the usually lively room people were more reserved, whether from fear of the unknown or because of the respect most humans have for death, when they feel their own mortality staring them in the face, it was not known.

"So what gives Pete? Any news on what went on here?"

"Now Sam, you know I can't discuss that with you."

"Well can you at least tell us how she died? I hear tell that her face was gone, is that true?"

Pete could've done without that reminder. He'd spent the better part of the day trying to get that image out of his head. With all the running around he'd done today he was able for pockets of time to put it out of his mind, but once his mind stopped running it always came back to that atrocity, something he was sure he had to look forward to for a long time to come.

That's why he was here on a weeknight when he usually only came in every once in a while on the weekend. Those images had ran him out of his home where there was nothing but four walls and empty rooms, and those dreadful images to keep him company.

He should've known there would be no escaping it though. That in a town like theirs it would be the talk on everyone's tongue. He was still coming to terms with the horror himself and though he'd bemoaned the fact from time to time that his job was little more than helping little old ladies and men to cross Main Street, he wished he could go back to yesterday.

Yesterday when the most pressing thing he had to look forward to was whether or not he'd be able to get the time off to take his mama to her doctor's appointment next week.

A day when there was nothing as horrid as murder to taint the beauty he'd always enjoyed since his childhood days in this serene village that time had long overlooked.

A day when he sat out on a park bench and watched the local kids at play, knowing that they were safe unlike their counterparts in the big city. Now that was all gone and even those kids he was sure, will be touched by this event that was bound to change the landscape of their sleepy little town.

"Like I said Sam, I can't discuss it."

"I expect Detective Sparks knows what she's doing." Just then his phone rang and he saw that it was Celia, Detective Sparks. There was a time when he'd see that number on his phone and his heart would give a little blip.

Ever since she showed up here when he was a young lad, fresh out of the academy he was star struck. Still is for that matter. It didn't take long to know that she knew what she was doing even though she was never really given the opportunity to show off those skills that she'd learned back where she came from.

He'd been instantly attracted, to her mind, the person she was; but it was her beauty that had held him spellbound for the better part of three years. She sure didn't look like anyone else in town, or anyone he'd have expected to find on the force.

Her dark tresses and those bright blue eyes, not to mention her slender statuesque form looked more suited to a Paris runway than hidden away here in this out of the way place where no one ever hardly came.

He imagined most people felt the same way. He'd seen the men of the town's reaction to her in those first days. Had seen her work hard to overcome their disbelief that she was capable of the job she'd been hired to do.

And the women, who'd looked at her askance as was to be expected in a small town like this where everyone practically lived on top of each other. But she'd proven herself many times over, overcoming what he now saw as their prejudice against a pretty face.

It had taken him much longer and truth be told he still wasn't all the way over what it is that he felt for her, but he'd learned to live with it; this unrequited love or lust whatever you want to call it.

He'd never done anything as crass or stupid as to approach her with his budding feelings, but it had been hell working so close to her, sitting in the office at the desk across from hers day in and day out with that beauty staring him in the face.

"Yes boss?"

"Just got a call that there're some kids up in the woods disturbing the scene."

"Why don't you call patrol to go take a look?"

"Already did, but I wanted to head back up there anyway."

He looked towards the window and out into the night where it was now full dark. "I'll meet you there." He hung up and put his empty bottle down on the bar. "I'll see you guys later."

"Trouble?" He didn't bother answering Sam's question as he headed out the door.