Fight or Fold

Joe and Rachel see the team processing the scene when they pull into the drive.

Realizing it's his favorite duo, Kirk heads toward their car.

"What can you tell me, Kirk?" Joe asks, taking a quick look around.

"We have two bodies, sir, Beth and her husband, Steve. Well, we think it's Steve. We won't know for sure until the DNA comes back." He leads them to the barn.

They see a mere stump of a body dangling from a rafter. The corps was beheaded. and all four limbs were gone.

The bastard finally got what he deserved. Joe thinks, carefully stepping around the bloody scene.

"I'd say we have two killers on our hands," Rachel says as she continues to inspect the shed.

Nodding in agreement, Joe turns to the ME and asks, "What's the time and cause of death?"

"I won't be certain until I do an autopsy, but if I had to guess, I'd say the poor man bled to death, and far as time, I'd say within the last few hours, since the core body temp registered at ninety degrees."

Where's the second victim?" Joe asks.

"She's under an oak tree around back." Kirk motions them to follow.

Rose petals are scattered across the freshly dug soil with a makeshift cross at the top. Two large flowers rest in Beth's hands.

"Whoever buried her put a lot of effort into it. Which tells me that they must've cared a lot." Rachel walks around Beth's grave, looks up, and asks, "Does she have any family?"

Glancing down at his clipboard, Kirk looks up and says, "Her parents reside in Florida, and her only sibling, is in a mental ward fifty miles from here."

"Well, someone must love her to do all this." Rachel says, motioning across the grave."

"It sure wasn't that good for nothing she calls a husband," Kirk adds, walking away.

The rest follows, leaving Joe to grieve.

"I knew you'd end up like this. I just knew it." Joe wipes a tear away.

He and Beth's relationship began soon after she and her family moved into town. It was just weeks after Janet left him heartbroken by marrying Bill. Joe, grief-stricken over the breakup, and Beth, upset over the move, everything she left behind, found comfort in each other's arms. The relationship continued to blossom for nearly two years. Joe decided to propose, only to be turned down again.

~~~~

"I love you, Joe, I do. You're the best friend a girl could want." She tearfully takes his hands into hers. Lifting his chin, she gazes into his dark, hazel eyes and says, "You'll always have a special place in my heart no matter what life throws our way, but I'll never see you that way."

A perplexed look crosses his face. "I thought you loved me."

"I do love you, Joe, as a friend, but that's all we'll ever be." It was the same line Janet used on him when she was telling Joe her plans.

~~~

This wouldn't have happened if you'd only married me. Joe wipes the tears trickling down his face. With his head hung down, he heads across the yard.

Rachel walks over to him. "How are you holding up?"

"I'll be alright. I have to be, right?" He glances toward the grave and lowers his head more.

"If you ever need to talk.."

Joe nods. I appreciate it, Rach."

"I've been thinking about how this must've played out."

Joe wipes his tears away again and asks, "So, what did you decide?"

"I believe Steve kills Beth. Someone sees she's dead and kills him for revenge. Since the person buried Beth but left him here, I'd say our second killer is someone who cares for Beth but despises him."

"That narrows our suspect list down by maybe one or two," Joe says, laughing through his tears."

"Three if we count the dog."

"The poor Mut didn't know better." Joe chuckles again.

"So I was thinking the killer could be Beth's lover, coworker, or even a friend."

Joe walks around the mangled body again. "That's possible, Rach."

"We found the murder weapon, sir," Kirk says, showing him a bloody knife. "I got a partial fingerprint off the handle. I believe it'll be enough for a match. We also found a fresh shoe print in the dirt. I'd say it's from a lady's boot because of its tread pattern and smaller size. I can tell you more when I get the impression in the lab."

"A lady did this?" Joe points toward the mangled corpse.

"I believe so, sir."

"The killer must have a lot of pent-up rage."

Jerry walks over, shaking his head."

"What'd you find, Jerr?"

"It looks like Steven pulverized her in the bedroom and then dumped her out here. Maybe he was planning on feeding her to his hogs."

"Make sure our crime unit gets samples of blood."

"It's already done." He walks around the gruesome crime scene, turns, and says, "The killer could be her lover, or she could be his old girlfriend, jilted lover, maybe his ex."

"You know what to do, Jerr."

Jerry smiles. "I'm already on it, boss."

***

Janet is sipping coffee at the kitchen table when she overhears Henry and Martha talking on their porch.

"Why did you bring that girl to our home?"

"She didn't have anywhere else to go."

"I'm sure a shelter would've taken her in."

"And traumatize the girl more?"

Martha glances in the window. "She doesn't look too traumatized to me, helping herself to my baked goods."

"She claims she was raped, and I didn't want what happened to Leann to happen to her too."

"Are you going to use that excuse for every stray you pick up?"

"You're being unreasonable about this, Martha," he says, waving his hands around.

"No, I'm trying to keep us safe. There's a lot of weirdos out there, you know."

Henry sighs."Fine, fine, what do you want me to do?"

"I think we should call the cops and let them deal with her."

"Cops, no." Janet runs out the back door.

Horrid events replay in her mind as she darts across the field. She first remembers Bill bleeding on their floor. She then recalls how the metal cuffs felt against her wrists and how the officers dragged her across the lawn like a piece of trash. The looks her neighbors give her when she crosses their path. I was just making friends with them too.

Janet then remembers her fear of seeing her picture on TV, how the trucker shoved her face in his lap, and the stench of his nasty crotch. The putrid smell of blood and brain matter as it scatters across his cab and how she almost died trying to get away.

"I can't run anymore. I can't. I just can't." She exhaustedly plops down in the field. Bill's derogatory words echo in her head.

"You can't do nothing right, Janet. No matter how hard you try. I don't know why I married a good-for-nothing dimwit like you."

"You're right, Bill. I am a dimwit. I'm a good-for-nothing dunce. Timmy would be a lot better off if he's with anyone but me," she cries.

Janet remembers holding Timmy for the very first time. The way it felt when his little body cuddled against her as he gazed up at her with his beautiful blue eyes. She then recalls all the fun times they shared. The way she chased him around the park, how they built sandcastles all afternoon. She pictures him crying for her as the police take her away. "He needs me. My baby needs me." she bawls. Janet glances across the field again. I've got to keep going for the sake of my son.