The Last Hope

06 - Empty

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER - Medicine, Daughter.  Linked above! If you enjoy the chapter please vote, it means a lot.

________________________________________________________________________________

Detective Rhodes watched the young girl through the two-way mirror. Dark hair tangled its way to her waist, blue eyes alluring in a strange way she couldn't place. With high cheekbones and a smattering of freckles across her nose, the girl was gorgeous. But the air around her was frosty. She hadn't moved besides blinking and the occasional rise and fall of her chest since she'd arrived. She simply sat and stared at the wall. And stared and stared. Rhodes looked away from the girl's hollow expression as her Sargent entered the room.

"What have we got?" He asked, eyes scanning the girl.

Rhodes glanced down at the file, flicking through it with a well-manicured hand. "Nineteen-year-old Mercy Reid goes to Prescott college, friends with the murder victim, Devin Clarick. She was found at the scene kneeling over the body. She sustained minor injuries from the shattered glass, but the medics looked her over as she's fine. She hasn't spoken since she got here."

"She guilty?" Johnson asked, crossing his arms over his chest, and watching the girl.

"I don't think so, Sarge," Rhodes looked up at the file, to meet Johnson's quizzical gaze. He motioned for her to continue. "I mean look at the size of her, the victim was nearly five inches taller, and there was no murder weapon discovered anywhere at the scene, plus I don't think guilty people go into shock. And if they do, they're never this good at acting."

"Okay, so why's she here?" Johnson flicked his eyes back to the girl.

"Well, the wound that killed the victim, Devin Clarick, is very similar to that of a victim found in Winowa County yesterday morning, her heart was torn from her chest. But we never found it." At that, Rhodes had Johnson' full attention. Shock crossed his face and stayed there.

"Torn from her chest?" He blanched, "you think the kid saw that?"

"Got to assume she saw some shit," He looked at her sharply, "Stuff, I meant stuff." Rhodes cleared her throat, "she wouldn't be acting this way if she hadn't seen."

"And what do you mean you never found the heart?"

Rhodes answered, "in both cases, we never found them. Their hearts are missing."

"Do you think the killer keeps them as trophies?"

"It wouldn't be the first time we've had a killer keep trophies, but we've never seen something like this."

Johnson breathed out a heavy breath, "poor kid. Let's go see what she knows."

♖♖♖

The bright lights were scalding her eyes, but blinking made her head throb, so Mercy had taken to staring at the wall and only moving when absolutely necessary. The door to the interrogation room swung open, a man and a woman stepped through. The woman was tiny, curvy and Latina. With dark hair pulled tightly into a bun at the nape of her neck. A concerned expression lined her face as she sat opposite her at the metal table. The man was her opposite, tall and well-muscled, he looked older than the women, and the way she looked at him had Mercy thinking he was the one in charge. He had a tan and grey, almond-shaped eyes, his expression was guarded.

"Miss Reid, do you need anything, some water?" The deep voice of the detective rattled through her. Mercy watched him carefully from her chair, body still pointed at the wall and shook her head.

"Mercy, my name is Detective Sofia Rhodes, and this is my colleague, Sargent Kim Johnson. Do you know why you're here?"

Mercy hesitated, "I, uh- Devin..." tears misted her eyes as she spoke the name, unable to continue her sentence.