A First Love to Die For

Chapter Seventeen- No Rest For The Wicked

(Lincoln's POV)

Sunday was the one day that I was supposed to have off but somehow it seemed to always be the day that shit hit the fan.

In fact, Sunday was my least favourite day of the week because although everyone else seemed to get their day of rest, it was rarely that for me.

I slept in a little bit and woke up to my phone ringing just before nine. I rolled over and looked at the screen, wincing when I saw the name of my deputy, Sam. I knew right away that I was going to get called in.

He didn't waste any time, which I appreciated, "Morning Lincoln! I wanted to call you and let you know that I just got off the phone with Carrie Wilson. She got to work this morning and realized that she never heard back from Chantelle last night. Apparently, they created a system after Izzy went missing to make sure that they were both safe. They check in with each other to ensure that they are behind their doors and locked in before going to bed."

He took a big breath, and I could sense his stress, "She said that she was the one that walked Chantelle home last night. Chantelle was safe at her door before she left. When Carrie got home, she let her know that she had arrived home after, and then didn't wait for her response. Today, Carrie's freaking out because she got to work and realized that Chantelle never responded. Apparently, she never misses confirming that they're both okay.  She can't leave work to go check on her, so she called to see if I wouldn't mind running over. It's probably nothing Chief but I figured I should let you know."

I was wide awake immediately and there was a bad feeling in my gut that had me hopping out of bed. I didn't tell Sam about any of that, his rambling told me that he was experiencing the same dread. "Sam, why don't we check it out? I'm just getting dressed and we'll meet at Chantelle's place. She's probably just sleeping off having too much fun last night but it doesn't hurt to check in. God knows the Fox family has been through enough, let's make sure she's okay."

Anyone that lives in downtown Fenelon Falls, lives close enough to town to walk. I chose not to. In case I needed to go anywhere else today and because of that fear, sitting heavy in my gut. I got in my truck and drove over to Chantelle's place.

Sam was already there. The fact that his cruiser was parked in the driveway, instead of at the station, told me that I wasn't alone in my concern.

If he truly thought it was nothing, Sam would have walked over and checked on Chantelle. Come to think of it he probably wouldn't have woken me up. We walked towards each other; our feet as heavy as bricks.

We moved in unison, up to the door and knocked but when there was no response, I tested the door handle. It creaked and as the door swung open, we both saw the blood and drew our weapons.

The front entry looked like it belonged in a horror movie and we didn't have to move far to see the naked, bludgeoned body that had some semblance to Chantelle. There were only a few strands of strawberry blonde hair that weren't matted with blood and her face was nearly unrecognizable.

I glanced at Sam and we broke off to clear the house. The whole time my mind whirling with what this poor woman had been through.

What the fuck was happening in my town?

We met back in the front foyer and the emotion in my throat had me clearing it twice in order to say, "call it in!"

At the same time, Sam groaned and then shared what he was thinking, "We've got another one, changed it up though, doesn't normally get them in their own house."

I nodded silently, not able to form any words yet. I was stone-cold furious.

I let Sam call it in to dispatch and contact our clean-up crew, while I found Josie's contact and dialled. I was not looking forward to sharing that we had another dead woman on my hands.

However, I knew my town well enough to know that she needed to get her here as fast as possible so that she could work the scene. I needed to get to Franklin and Molly, to be on their doorstep as soon as possible.

There was no way that our presence was going to go unnoticed here. The last thing I wanted was for anyone from the Fox family to show up on Chantelle's doorstep and see the horror that had transpired here last night. This was going to destroy them, more than I could even fathom.