81. Chapter 81
TWO WEEKS LATERThe Sheriff’s station was quiet and deserted except for the shuffling of papers coming from Nicole’s office when Wynonna wanders through the bullpen swinging door. Knowing that Nicole should be home by now, and curious as to why there was no one around had the older Earp questioning, as to who was in the office. Creeping up to the slightly opened door, Wynonna quietly drew Peacemaker out of her holster and held it in her right hand as she used the other to cautiously pry open the door. Sitting at the desk with her left hand rubbing her right shoulder, was Nicole sporting her newly cut short hair, as she peered through the stack of files on the desk. Being so engrossed in reading all of the different files, the redhead didn’t hear the door open, it was Wynonna clearing her throat that pulled the Sheriff out of her trance.
“Ugh, aren’t you supposed to be at home? Waverly is going to cut off those balls of yours if you don’t get home soon. Besides I love the new hairdo!” Wynonna places Peacemaker back into its holster before stepping into the office, to grab a peep of the open file in front of Nicole.
“Don’t I know it. It’s just that we’ve had another woman killed and left for dead, out by the cliffs, where people go to rock-climb. This is the third woman that has been killed in the past month. And thanks, you know trying to get 10 pups ready in the morning, just doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to braid your hair. So, getting it cut short was the only option.” Nicole continues to rub her shoulder as she pushed back her chair from the desk.
“Where is everyone? No one watching the desk?” Wynonna sits in the chair opposite Nicole while pointing over her shoulder to the vacant bullpen.
“They're out on a call, I said I’d stay and watch the fort for a while. Why aren’t you heading home?” Nicole sighs as she pushes her chair back towards the filing cabinet pressed against the back wall of the office. Sliding open the bottom drawer, she reaches in and pulls out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Turning back to face Wynonna, Nicole raises the items in her hands before placing them onto the desk. Wynonna nods her head with a smile.
Nicole pours them both a shot of Whiskey, the brunette snatches the glass before Nicole could pass it to her. Downing the shot in one mouthful, the brunette slams the glass down onto the desk. Nicole follows her best friend’s lead and downs her shot. After a couple more shots, Nicole finds herself and Wynonna sitting on the floor, pressed against the drawers of her desk, with all the case files of the murdered women laid on the floor in front of them.
They had forgone the glasses after their third shot and were drinking out of the bottle, which now sat between the two friends. Wynonna begins to reach out for one of the files, “Who’s this lady?” as she laughs.
Nicole grabs hold of Wynonna’s belt and begins to pull the brunette back to sit beside her, as the older Earp brings with her a case file in her hands. Nicole grunts loudly, “That is victim number three.”
Wynonna holds the woman’s photo, “Same guy killed three women.” Turning to look at her friend who has just taken another swig of Whiskey and passes it to Wynonna.
“Yeah, killing them was only the start. This is Joyce Arbour. She’s 22. We found her Wednesday morning, (Nicole takes hold of the case file and begins to read the notes) and the cause of death appears to be multiple lacerations, but of course the autopsy report is practically illegible.” Wynonna hands back the bottle to Nicole, who takes another swig, before handing it to Wynonna.
Wynonna begins to study Joyce Arbour’s photo, as a concerned look appears upon her face. She notices that the woman is a brunette and has a similar hairstyle as herself. Just then Wynonna’s nose begins to bleed and drops of blood fall onto the photo in her hand. Wynonna stares at Nicole, “Um, I need to see the body.”
After making their way down the stairs to the morgue, that was situated in the basement of the station, Nicole opens the locked doors and walks into the morgue with Wynonna following close behind. Cadaver bodies lie on the autopsy tables, which are covered with white sheets which reveal their torsos and feet (along with their toe tags). Nicole holds onto Joyce Arbour’s case file as she checks the different toe tags for the number that matches the report.
Wynonna follows Nicole through the door, still holding onto the half-drunk Whiskey bottle in her hand, “Oh. Eugh.”
“Yeah, they say you get used to the smell.” Nicole lifts a toe tag.
Wynonna takes a swig of Whiskey, “I spent a summer’s probation on roadkill removal. Pfft! This is nothing.” The older Earp waves her hand as if to shrug it off. Moving around the top of the tables and cadavers, Wynonna makes her way closer to the table that Nicole has identified as being that of Joyce Arbour. Unlike the other cadavers, her body is fully covered except for her feet. “And here she is. Joyce Arbour.” Nicole and Wynonna walk alongside the left side of the table, where Wynonna removes the sheet from Joyce’s face and slams down the bottle on the side of the table as she takes a closer look at the dead woman’s face.
Reaching over and removing the bottle and placing it down on the floor next to the table, Nicole rolls her eyes at her best friend. What they are exposed to is short of shocking, as they look at the Y-shaped surgical wounds on Joyce’s torso, which begin at the tip of both her shoulders and travel down to meet within the middle of her chest, before traveling down towards her abdomen.
Nicole glances at Wynonna, “She kind of looks like you, Wynonna.”
“Jesus Christ! Who did this?” Wynonna moves closer towards the body.
“Someone who knew what they were doing.” Came the reply for a male voice behind Wynonna and Nicole. Without blinking the two women spin around with a look of shock on their faces, as Nicole's instincts kicked in and she reached for her Glock. Nicole moved her other hand around to protect Wynonna, who was standing behind the redhead.
Panting hard, “Dude! This is a morgue! Wear a bell or something, OK?” Wynonna stares at a brunette man who was dressed in blue scrubs, beneath a white lab coat. Nicole takes deep breaths to bring her breathing back to normal.
“Sorry, Once a ninja, always a ninja. Plus, I forget I’m wearing these cotton balls for shoes.” Lifting one of his shoes to show that they were covered in a white cotton fabric. “They help absorb the smell. But you two pretty ladies don’t care about that. Um, I’m Dr. Reggie, the unlucky SOB who has to make sure that the dead don’t rise again.”
Wynonna turns back to look at Joyce laying on the table, “You such at your job.”
Dr. Reggie puzzled looked at the brunette, “Uh, excuse me?”
“Never mind.” Wynonna moves around to the right side of the table and takes a closer look at Joyce’s neck.
Nicole still holding the report, “Did you do this autopsy report?” Dr. Reggie takes the report and looks it over, “Uh…. if I’d done this, I wouldn’t have misspelled ‘breasts’. I can tell you something about the body. Did my own examination.”
Wynonna looks at both Dr. Reggie and Nicole, “Anything unusual or creepy about the wounds or the way she died?”
Dr. Reggie holds up a raspberry swirl, “Well, she died because humans can’t survive when their organs are removed.” Then takes a bite and chews on the swirl.
“She was alive when he took them out?” Wynonna raises her eyebrows.
“Correct. But the incision isn’t what killed her.” Dr. Reggie and Nicole move closer towards Joyce’s head. “He drugged her hooked her up to an IV, a blood bag, just like any surgeon would doing open-heart or intestinal surgery. But here is the uber-weird part. (Dr. Reggie holding the raspberry swirl in his hand points it towards the wounds on the torso) The wounds were cauterised as they were made.”
“So, he cut her open with something hot?” Wynonna looks at the wounds.
“Like lightsabre hot.” Dr. Reggie takes another bite from the swirl.
“Hellfire hot.” Wynonna stares hard at a mark on Joyce’s neck.
Nicole looks at the Doctor, “Alright, so you remove the organs if you’re gonna sell them on the black market. Why would you take ‘em out and then put ‘em back in?”
“Maybe somebody was looking for something.” Wynonna looks up at the Doctor, before returning her attention to the mark on the woman’s neck.
Dr. Reggie notices that the brunette woman’s attention is focused on the deceased woman’s neck, “You keep looking at her neck.”
“Yeah, there’s a welt.” Dr. Reggie moves around the table and stands beside Wynonna and takes a closer look at the welt on the woman’s neck.
Realizing that the welt was on Joyce’s neck was that of a red outline of a spade, “Dude, I saw on the photos it’s the shape of a spade, like on a deck of cards.”
“Sweet crickets! I missed that entirely.” Dr. Reggie looks harder at the mark.
Nicole leans over the body and takes a look, “What would have caused that?” Wynonna turns around and looks at Dr. Reggie, “Well, she as hit by something in the shape of a spade, right?”
“I mean, sure, yeah. Or it could have been prolonged pressure. Did, uh, you study forensics?” Dr. Reggie jokily laughs. Just then all of them heard footsteps above them and they all look around the room, before the blue light on the furthest wall lit up, as alarms begin to sound. Nicole, Wynonna, and Dr. Reggie stare at the light.
Dr. Reggie asks, “Someone just went into the cooler. You guys come alone?” Wynonna looks at Nicole, “I don’t know, did we? There more than one way of getting inside the cooler?”
Nicole unclips the clip that covers her Glock and pulls out her gun. Dr. Reggie nods, “Uh, yeah. Rear exit.”
Nicole holds her gun in both hands, “Alright, I got it. (Nicole begins to move towards the door) Don’t shoot me, Earp.” Wynonna holds Peacemaker and begins to follow behind Nicole out of the morgue, with Dr. Reggie close behind.
Opening the door to the cooler, Wynonna and Dr. Reggie step inside to find two cadaver bodies laying on their autopsy tables in body bags when the cooler door slams shut behind them. Wynonna calls out, “Nicole!”
Sensing that maybe he was being played for a fool, “Ok, I get it, right? MacGilly sent you. Haze the new guy? Real original.” Dr. Reggie walks out of the cooler, while Wynonna looks at the heads of the cadavers, as she holds Peacemaker ready to shoot before heading out of the cooler and back to the morgue.
Dr. Reggie and Wynonna enter the morgue and find that Nicole hasn’t returned, but before they could reach the first autopsy table, they noticed that Joyce’s head had been moved to face them, and her eyes are wide open with the Jack of Spade playing card wedged into her now open mouth.
Just then Nicole enters the morgue, “The door was locked. I couldn’t get in.” The look on Nicole’s face changed to shock the second she caught sight of Joyce’s head, Jesus, Wynonna.” Nicole raises her left hand to her nose and indicates to the older Earp that her nose was bleeding again.
Wynonna touches her nose as she turns to face Joyce and finds that her left nostril is bleeding, which only began within seconds of entering the morgue.
LATER THAT EVENINGNicole parked her SUV in front of her and Waverly’s house, before turning off the ignition. As she peered out of the windscreen, Nicole could make out the fixtures of the front porch from the light through the windows. Running her fingers through her short hair, Nicole took a moment before grabbing her jacket and Stetson hat as she climbed out of the vehicle. The short distance between her SUV and the stairs that lead to their home, all of a sudden seemed to feel like an eternity.
Bracing herself for a stern look from a very pissed off Waverly, Nicole knew that her wife wouldn’t be angry about her being late due to work, it would be the fact that the brunette would have been run off her feet, taking care of 10 pups which would be the cause of her anger. Normally Waverly would be able to take care of all 10, but just that week the triplets began to teethe and become rather clingy all the time, thus making the simplest of tasks that much more difficult, with three babies wanting to be held all the time.
As soon as the front door was opened, Nicole was confronted with all of her eldest male children, sitting around the dining table, either coloring or reading. Meanwhile, Padma and Jagna were playing with Calamity Jane on the floor in front of the couch. Waverly stood in the kitchen holding Olivia on her hip, and Charlotte was sitting in her high chair, both girls were sucking on their little Giraffe teething rings. When Nicole looked around, she noticed that Winona was sitting on the couch, with Lucas clinging to her like a little Koala.
Hanging her Stetson and jacket onto the coat pegs beside the front door, Nicole walked into the room, “Mummy, your home.” Walden called out as he looked up from his book. “Hello, there my boys, I see you're being good boys for your Ma.”
Padma and Jagna run up to grab the redhead’s legs, but stopped just before reaching the long legs, “You smell Mummy, really bad.” Waving their little hands in front of their noses, caused them and Nicole to break out in laughter. After which Nicole turned her attention towards Waverly, who stares in the redhead’s direction with a stern and pissed-off look on her face.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Nicole smiles, “I’m sorry, I’m late, I was stuck in the morgue with Wynonna. How have they all been today?” Apprehensively Nicole walks closer towards Waverly and tries to place a kiss on the brunette’s forehead, but Waverly moves her head out of reach. So, Nicole holds her hands out to offer to take Olivia from Waverly. After lifting the little brunette from Waverly’s hold, Nicole places a kiss on her daughter’s forehead and holds her against her chest. Then Nicole turns her attention to her other daughter, sucking on her little Giraffe while making tiny grunting noises.
“I’ve had my hands full all afternoon and Olivia, Charlotte, and Lucas need to be bathed before they go to bed. While you're doing that, I’ll get the other's feed.” Waverly snaps before turning around and walking towards the oven. With her back to Nicole, Waverly secretly wipes a tear from her face, steeling herself so as not to want to worry her little ones. The brunette bends over and opens the oven and removes their evening meal.
Knowing from previous experience when Waverly was this mad, Nicole knew that it was best to just go and bathe their little ones. Seeing that Charlotte was content and happy in her high chair, for the time being, Nicole decided that she would bathe Olivia and Lucas, before returning and collecting Charlotte for her bath. Walking around the couch, Nicole sat down beside Winona and Lucas. “Do you want to help me with bathing these two little monkeys?”
With a grin on her face, “Lucas hasn’t let go of me ever since, Ma placed him in my arms. Whenever Ma has tried to pick him up, he cries but stops when he finds that I’m still holding him.”
“He feels safe with you. Can you hold Olivia, while I go and get their bath ready, then I’ll come back and help you with Lucas?” Nicole gently sat Olivia up next to Winona, who wrapped her arm around the little girl, who grabbed hold of her sister’s top with the hand that wasn’t holding her giraffe teething ring.
Once Nicole had run the water and set the room up, all she and Winona would have had all they needed within arm’s reach. Winona was able to walk to the bathroom with Lucas still grabbing onto her like a Koala, while Nicole held Olivia. After the two youngest siblings had been stripped of their clothes and diapers, Nicole placed them into the bath and Winona helped to wash them. Lucas still wanted his big sister close by, so Winona was happy to hold one of his hands, while the little boy played with the bubbles bath.
“Mummy, you remember when I said that I was the only one. Lucas is the same as me. He doesn’t have a brother like Olivia has Charlotte. I think that’s why he’s been holding onto me today. I don’t feel so alone anymore, Mummy.” Winona smiles timidly at her Mummy. Nicole’s heart broke for her daughter but also was filled with so much pride that her daughter was so insightful and wanted to look out for her brother. “Your Ma and I love you so much Winona, and Lucas loves you. Always remember that.” Rubbing a hand through her daughter’s red hair and a smile on her face and a tear in her eyes, Nicole pressed a kiss to her eldest daughter’s head.
After all three little Earp-Haught pups had been bathed and given their evening feed, Nicole and Waverly put them to bed with a kiss to the top of their heads, before pulling up the blankets around their chins. Turning off the light and one last look at their babies, Nicole stand to the side and allowed Waverly to leave before, the redhead pulled the door ajar.
Conversation at the dinner table was mainly conducted by the younger Earp-Haught, who told their parents about their day. Nicole cleared up the table after dinner, while Waverly attended to the bedtime routines. It was only when all of the pups were tucked up in bed and given their bedtime stories and kisses from their parents, that the house became quiet for the first time since Nicole had stepped into the house that evening.
Sensing the change in the air, just like before a big storm, Nicole knew that Waverly was going to release her anger, so before she faced the storm, known as Waverly, Nicole decided that she needed to wash the smell of the embalming fluids off her skin. While running the hot water for her bath, Nicole took a moment to recount the day's events and how much Joyce Arbour, looked like Wynonna and the thought that maybe someone was out there killing women, because the person had a fascination with the older Earp. The thought terrified the Sheriff, but first, she had to make it up to Waverly.
Stripping herself free of her smelling uniform, Nicole stepped and lowered herself into the steaming hot bubble bath. The moment her body felt the warmth of the water, her muscles began to relax, Nicole rested her head back against the rim of the bath, before closing her eyes. Being so preoccupied in her thoughts, Nicole didn’t hear the bathroom door opening or the sounds of clothing being removed, it was only when she felt the water begin to move, that she opened her eyes, to see Waverly straddling her waist.
“I am sorry about being late and leaving you with all the responsibility of looking after the pups on your own. It’s just that we had another woman killed. I was looking through the case file when Wynonna came into the office. I showed her the file and then the strangest thing happen, at the moment she looked at the victim's photo, her nose started to bleed.” Nicole ran her hands up Waverly’s arms. Waverly just sat on Nicole’s lap and listened to the redhead.
Nicole continued to explain her afternoon with Wynonna in the morgue, and all the strange occurrences, such as Joyce Arbour’s head being moved, her eyes being opened, and a Jack of Spades playing card being wedged into the deceased woman’s mouth. “Waverly, the dead woman, she looked so much like Wynonna. They had the same hair color, style, and looks. Before heading home, I checked the other two dead women, and they all looked the same as Wynonna. This killer I think is after Wynonna. I should have called and told you I was going to be late, but once I realized all these three women, looked like Wynonna, I was scared that som….” Nicole places her hands over her face and begins to sob.
Knowing that Nicole wouldn’t purposely leave her to care of their children, without there being a reason, she heard that there had been three women killed and that they all looked like Wynonna. Waverly reached out and wrapped her arms around her crying wife and held her mate against her chest. Instead of being angry at Nicole, the Omega’s anger was turned towards this killer and their obsession with her sister. Waverly also knew that her wife loved Wynonna like a sister, and the thought of anything happening to the older Earp was scary, but right now Waverly gave her wife all the support she needed. Tomorrow they would tackle this killer and how to capture them.
“Baby, shh, it’s going to be alright. We will look into this killer tomorrow. Let's get out of this cold bath and into a warm bed.” Waverly pressed her forehead against Nicole’s and stroked her wife’s cheek with the back of her hand. After stepping out of the bath and quickly drying themselves, Waverly took Nicole’s hand in hers and lead the Alpha towards the bed, instead of dressing in their PJs, Waverly drew back the blankets and sheets before hopping into bed. Beckoning the Alpha to join her under the covers, as they pressed their naked bodies against each other, they held each other tightly before drifting off to sleep.