In Sunshine or In Shadow ✔ [Completed]

Chapter 6.1 - Touch

The body was discovered in Calusa, a fifteen-minute drive from Sacramento. The call had come in earlier that morning so the four members of the team showed up at the crime scene in their respective vehicles. The morning was overcast, a shield of grey clouds threatened to unleash their fury but so far held back.

Kabir was the first one of them to make it to the scene but they all showed up one by one and tried to ignore the specter that was hanging over them. For his part, Vansh did what he could to pretend that they all weren't thinking the same thing.

"Body was found this morning by an jogger," Kabir explained as soon as the team stepped up to the scene, "I.D. says he's Jason Mills, twenty three, cash and credit cards are missing."

Angre's eyebrows quirked up at that statement. "Could be a robbery gone wrong."

Vansh was silent as he looked over the scene, studying the dead body in front of him and the surrounding area where he lay. The dark red blood had dried into the white t-shirt, seeping from the two gunshot wounds on his chest. His skin was pale and mottled, a sight he had grown relatively used to over the years of working such scenes. But his interest was more on the victim's appearance, the clothing, the way he was positioned on the ground. Those were the revealing clues.

"Vansh?" Kabir asked, regaining the man's attention.

He looked up. "It's not a robbery."

"They took his credit cards," Angre reminded him.

"And left behind a two-hundred dollar watch," Vansh pointed to the watch peeking out from the sleeve of the victims jacket. "He was left here, it's messy, close to the path, suggests someone panicking and in a hurry. A bad cover up."

Kabir nodded, accepting Vansh's observations quickly. "We'll have to talk to his family, see if he's had any problems with anyone recently."

It was the standard way to start an investigation. They were all doing what they would normally do but there was an obvious difference in the team. It was heard in their voice, seen in the dead look in their eyes, they were all doing what they were supposed to do but the truth was their heart wasn't in it. They all felt like a piece of the unit was missing.

Dr. Ishani knelt down next to the body and began her initial examination. "Two small caliber gunshots to the chest, can't tell you the exact caliber until I get him back to autopsy."

She rearranged the victim's arms, which caused Vansh to catch a glimpse of the victim's open palm. "What's that on his hand?" he asked and pointed to what had caught his eye.

Ishani carefully opened up the victim's fingers with her gloved hands and revealed faded ink. "Looks like a phone number."

"The ink isn't faded beyond readability, he wrote that on his hand in the last day or so," Vansh pointed out.

"I'll get Sara to run it down," Angre declared and pulled out his cell phone to do just that.

Ishani continued her examination but looked up to meet Kabir's eyes. "How is Riddhima?"

And there was the name they had all tried to avoid.

They had needed no reminder that their team leader was absent on this case, it was felt with every breath they took. Unfortunately, her very public outburst at the ill-advised press conference was still making the rounds. The press had done their job, spreading the video and pictures like wildfire. Now everyone looked towards Riddhima's team, questions on the tip of their tongues.

At least Ishani was obviously coming from a place of compassion and not gossip.

"She's getting some help," Kabir told her calmly before turning away.