Obsession

Suspect: Chapter 34

The incessant ringing of the landline drew her from the deep lull of sleep. She was, at one point, certain the ringing came from within the confines of her dream-state, but as it persisted, and then cut off, only to be followed by the very familiar ringtone of her own personal mobile, Regina Morris shot up in bed and scrambled to answer it.

It had not been a dream. Someone was insistent that they reach her at all costs.

"Sherriff Morris," she answered, her voice heavy with the haze of sleep that had not fully lifted.

"Kirkpatrick here," the man on the other end informed. "A call just in this morning, a jogger found a body at Dudley Park around seven."

Regina stumbled out of bed, kicking her blankets away. She kept the phone to her ear as she started her morning routine, heading down to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee to brew before going to the bathroom.

"Oh yeah? Did Mrs. Ellison lose another one of her cats, again?"

In a town like Shaw, the most exciting thing that might happen is some graffiti or a jogger finds a dead animal in the park.

"It's a teenaged girl, Gina," Kirkpatrick replied.

Regina came to an abrupt halt, her breath catching in her throat, unable to process what she had just heard. No, she had heard it alright. She was just having trouble believing those were the words that came from Alan Kirkpatrick's mouth.

Dead bodies did not just appear in the park in Shaw.

"You're sure?"

"Gina, I'm at the crime scene. You might want to get down here right away."

Kirkpatrick hung up the call, leaving Regina to reel with a wave of disbelief. She would not have time to grab breakfast and by the tone of Kirkpatrick's voice, and the background noise she had heard, of camera shutters going off, and the cacophony of chaotic voices, this was no joke.

A teenaged girl? What the hell?

Regina hurried to the bathroom and dressed quickly, slinging her badge around her neck, and jumped into her car. She all but sped over to Dudley Park where the entrance was crowded with residents of Shaw chatting excitedly and speculating about lay beyond the yellow crime scene tape. Police officers in uniform lined the pavement along the park's entrance, keeping the crowd back.

The officer near her inclined his head in respect and let her pass. "She's on the bench by that manmade bridge," he informed her. Regina thanked him and made the journey to the crime scene where the forensics team was already in gear, snapping pictures and having cordoned off the immediate area where the girl had been found.

Regina went up to Kirkpatrick who had been speaking with a member of the forensics team. As he moved over to talk with her, the other man returned to snapping pictures of the dead girl on the bench.

"What do we have?"

"Young female, seventeen-years-old. If we go by her cheerleading get-up, she was a student at Shaw Public." Kirkpatrick handed her a pair of blue rubber gloves and walked with her as she went to get a closer inspection. "I can't believe this. Something like this has never happened before, in all my years in this town."

"It's a first for me, too," Regina replied, shifting the strands of hair that partially covered the young female's face. Regina sucked in a breath and scrunched her face, looking away as the sight of the girl's disfigured, battered, and badly injured face flipped her stomach.

If she were to throw up, she would heave up air, but it did not mean she was immune to feeling upset and nauseous.

Regina stepped away as her heart clenched tightly. Even under the mangled flesh of the girl's face, she recognized her. "That's Lyssa Isaacs. She was a cheerleader and a student at Shaw Public."