A First Love to Die For

Chapter Eighteen- Heart Heavy

(Josie's POV)

I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating on the bedside table. A look at the caller ID had me sitting up and answering.

I mumbled a hello and Lincoln started talking right away. "I'm at Chantelle Fox's place. You need to get here as soon as possible. There's been another murder."

Any sleepiness that I might have been experiencing vanished and my chest squeezed with guilt as I catapulted out of bed and threw on some clothes. "Let me know what you need."

He cleared his throat and explained, "I need to get over to Franklin and Molly. We've already been parked in the driveway for ten minutes. People are going to talk and the last thing I want is for them to see this. Will you come and supervise the clean-up of the scene? The coroner and sweepers are on their way now."

I nodded and then realized that he couldn't see me. "I'm on my way. Will you text me the address?"

The line was silent for a moment and then a text beeped in letting me know where I was going. "See you shortly."

He hung up and I booked it out to my car, ran a scanner to make sure I was safe inside and then called Charlie. "Things have changed here, he's escalated again. It's too quick, Charlie. I think I'm going to need some additional team members. I'm not sure if Trigg has been given the clear yet but he would be a huge asset."

Charlie quickly agreed and then I explained the other thing that was bothering me, "I spent some time yesterday with the sister of one of our victims, Chantelle Fox. We were meeting today for her to fill in some details of Izzy's last days. She's our victim now. What if this wasn't a random choice?"

"I'll have the team jump onto what we can figure out of Izzy's last days on our end and I would focus there too. It could be a coincidence but follow your gut, it doesn't feel like it."

I called Lucy and Lee, "I'm on my way to Chantelle Fox's house. She was killed last night. Expect a video conference when we finish there. Gather whatever data you can on Izzy Fox. Lucy, Charles is going to be in touch for some additional team members coming in, so you might be needed orchestrating that too."

Lee quickly said, "Chantelle was in last night. I want to say that she left about 11:15 PM but I'll double-check on the footage for an exact time of departure and see who she talked to while she was here."

We hung up and I used the rest of the drive there, although not nearly long enough, to collect my thoughts. She had been so young.  So lovely. The heaviness in my heart increased as I got closer and closer.

I knew there was a good chance that between yesterday and today, she had brushed arms with the killer. Asked one question too many about Izzy and now she was gone.

I parked and leaned my head on my wheel for a second. When I had asked her yesterday to think about Izzy's last days and to meet me for lunch, had I unknowingly signed her life away?

Was this my fault?

I walked up to the house where Lincoln met me on the stoop with another officer in uniform. His sad, tired eyes made my heart hurt that much more. "Josie, this is Sam, my deputy."

The cherub-faced deputy was one of those men that would always look young. He had the tanned look of someone who spent a lot of time outside. His red hair and smattering of freckles added to his youthful appearance.

He reached out his hand to shake mine, "It's nice to put a face to the name. Good to meet you, Josie."

He grimaced as he stumbled on his words, "Although I wish it wasn't like this."