"You don't like me, do you?"
"Wow. Nothing gets past you, Sherlock. Do you keep one of those magnifying glasses tucked away in that little vest of yours?"
•••
Lydia Beowulf works for the Hostage Response T...
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There had been significant finds throughout their short time at the campus. The most recent being the existence of a point system, which would be based off of behavior. Like any system, points could be manipulated and misconstrued, so the team came to the conclusion that everyone on the camping trip into the woods were bullies. Except for Josh. He wasn't even supposed to be on the trip since he didn't have enough points, so why was he there?
That afternoon, Morgan went to Colonel Massey's office to request to speak to Bailey Shelton's father. They thought his account of Josh's behavior about Bailey's passing would clue them in on if he was the culprit behind the mass 'suicide'. When they tried to get ahold of the father, his cellphone ringing alerted the search teams into finding his body in the woods. In a pit dug into the dirt, impaled on stakes sticking out of the ground. A trap.
Emily, Rossi, and Lydia were sent to the scene to check it out. When they got there, the scene was bleak and somehow reminiscent to Lydia.
Officers dressed in military uniforms congregated around various points of the scene. Covered ATV's parked sporadically the tree line. When the trio stepped ahead toward the opening in the trees, Bailey's father laid on the ground, covered with a green covering.
Lydia slid her hands into the blue vinyl gloves, snapped them against her skin. As they approached the body, Lydia gestured with two fingers at some of the idle officers to lift the cover. Which upon further inspection, was Josh's poncho.
She couldn't help but feel for the boy. He was misunderstood, and he was forced into a box that only the weakest-willed bodies could fit into. It was as if he were boiling hot water being poured into a chilled glass. Shattering when met, due to the unattainable expectation of fitting within an naturally opposing mould.
She felt that way many times throughout her life. When she entered foster care, she had to act a certain way to avoid being moved over and over again. In high school, she scrubbed her hair with shampoo too frequently that it came out in clumps, and thrift for the last name brand clothing without stains. Just because she wanted to avoid being seen as 'trailer park trash'. When she entered the military, every ounce of her self identity had to be stripped away for the efficiency of something bigger than her. It was exhausting having to try and change yourself for the benefit of others. If anyone could understand Josh, it was Lydia.
Rossi's loud sigh brought her out of her thoughts.
"What the hell was he doing way out here?" He rested his hands on his hips, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. Lydia questioned his choice of stance, knowing his gloves were definitely getting contaminated. But she appointed this to his careless demeanor, and knew he wasn't going to touch any evidence with them. He was much too experienced for that rookie mistake.
