A Long Way From The Playground

CHAPTER 22

"Mornin' sheriff." I chirp, striding past his desk and into the conference room.

"Morning, your uh doctor is in an empty office down the hall when you're ready." He replies motioning down the hall. I smile in gratitude and send a quick text to Derek and Rossi letting them know where the doctor is for when they show up in an hour or so. The buzzing of my cell phone immediately sends my semi good mood into the gutter, pulling it out and answering blindly.

"Andrews" I answer blandly

"Well good morning to you too" 

"Hey Aaron, sorry. I thought it was a call about a body.." I reply, smiling softly as my good mood returns.

"What happened last night, you never called me back to let me know what happened. It's my only source of entertainment." He mocks, laughing at his own dry joke.

"Aaron, not now okay.." I huff. Looking up I see Rossi and Derek walking in and I point down the hallway towards the offices and they nod, giving me a thumbs up as they continue walking.

"What happened?" He asks earnestly and I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

"We got the warrant to dig up the body last night. So Rossi, Emily and I went with the sheriff to the cemetery. The problem is that when we opened the casket it was empty. So not only do we have a killer on the loose copying this dead guys methodology but we also have a grave robber on top of it all. So I mean this in the nicest way possible, if I'm a bitch to you at any point, just let it be. I'm trying to deal with the locals who want answers, the cops and sheriffs that don't believe in our work and if I'm right, we probably will have another body by the end of the day. The rest of the team just got here so I have to go. Thanks for sorta cheering me up this morning." I explain quickly.

"Damn, if you need anything just call okay?" Aaron replies, concern laced in his voice.

"Of course, thank you. Bye" I respond, hanging up my cell phone and throwing it on the table. Groaning, I close my eyes momentarily before the sound of cups being placed down startles me. Opening one of my eyes, I see Spencer off to the side with a cup of coffee from a cafe in his hand and another one in front of me.

"Thank you!" I chirp, as he hums in response.

"Rossi and Derek are in with the doctor so hopefully we should get some answers soon, and no less than 20 minutes later, both boys were walking back into the conference room with vague answers that barely helped.

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"Well, what did our doctor friend have to say?" I inquire, resting my head on one hand.

"Well basically to sum it up, he was very apprehensive about giving us some answers because we brought up the fact that Ryan's execution was the last one he worked on." Rossi began, flipping through his notes.

"Ryan apparently 'didn't go quietly' is what was implied." Derek added, leaning against the table.

"What do you mean?" I counter, slightly confused.

"Here, I wrote down everything he said." Derek explained, handing over a loose sheet of paper for me to read through.

"After we cycled the drugs, we realized he was still alive. We weren't prepared for that. The catheter had dislodged itself from the vein. We went back and reinserted it, started the potassium chloride again, and he started shaking, spitting, he was suffocating. The catheter had failed again. It took him almost an hour to die. Almost as if something were keeping him here. He said this was gonna happen you know? His last words, he said he'd come back." I read aloud, glancing up at Derek after the last line.