Runaway Husband

18: The Silence

Andy's Point of View:

I drove up to the location that was sent to me, already noticing the flashing police lights and multiple squad cars parked near some trees. There is yellow tape wrapped around a large set of trees and I instantly pull out my camera. Tre about five minutes behind me so I go ahead and walk into the scene, showing my badge to get access. The clouds are dark and I know they are going to try to speed this process up. Rain will wash away a lot of evidence but we still have to be as careful as possible.

An elder officer meets me, shaking my hand as I approach him. "A jogger called in the report. Said she saw feet dangling off a log. She was too scared to go any closer and ran to her car and called us in there."

I follow the officer to the blue tarp that is laid down on the dirt. He gently pulls it off and it reveals a woman's body. Fuck. She must has been dead for about a week now due to the decomposition process and the bugs. This poor woman, there's no way this was accidental.

"I'm here, I'm here," Tre pants, running towards me. I shake my head and look back at the body while Tre joins us, standing over the body with me.

"God damn," he mumbles.

God damn is right.

I pull out a pair of blue gloves and examine her body, carefully moving leaves and debris away from her. There doesn't seem to be any huge tampering with her body that I can tell. Sometimes being in the woods would mean that animals would have came but it looks like nothing has, lucky for us.

I can luckily keep my head on straight with working with homicide cases, but it still fucks me up every time inside. I think even more now that I have Remi. This girl, she's in her early twenties at the max, is someone's daughter. Maybe someone's sister. Her parents raised her, probably gave her the world. Held her close every night as a baby. Went to every dance recital, cheered her on for every accomplishment she had made. Watched her get her diploma at graduation. Cries tears of joy when she was accepted into college, watched their pride and joy run off to become an adult. Just for her life to end so short. To be attacked and left strangled to death.

I used to be able to seperate this from my head but now, Remi is about to have that baby. I'm about to help him raise this baby the exact same way. Our little girl. Might be facing the same issues and we will do whatever we can to protect her and give her the world. But there are worthless fucking monsters out there, god I can't even imagine. It gives me so much anxiety. How can I even raise a kid with all this horrible shit around us?

I kneel next to her, moving some of her hair out of her face. "Her neck has black and blue bruises resembling a strangulation and the rope is still attached. Here, Tre, take a photo for evidence."

He places a number by her neck and takes a photo. I grab the rope and roll it around my fingers. What an odd thing.

"This isn't regular rope that you can buy at a hardware store. This one is made of steel."

"Weird thing to have,' Tre says.

"Agreed." I feel around her and pull out a wallet. "Okay so the killer doesn't give a shit if we discover her identity. Why did he leave her fucking wallet?"

I pull it open and locate her ID, my skin growing cold.

Amelia Rae Anderson

Otherwise known as Mia, Remi's best friend.

"That's fucking Mia," I sigh out. "Fuck!"

"Well Remington's ex husband is still in custody, right?"

I shake my head. "He was charged with battery assault but he was able to get out a few days later. He is out on bond. I can have him brought back for questioning."