Chaos

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18 

A Back Alley 

Kade

We stood in a semicircle in an alley behind a rundown abandon warehouse. The stench of the body-if it can even be called that-drenched the air, making it difficult to breath, but underneath the scent of death, was the smell of rotten fish and garbage. The body laid in a mangled heap of meat. The face was severally beat. Both of his eyes were swollen shut, his lip was split in several places, cigarette burns covered his check and his left ear was missing. His right hand was missing two fingers and the wrist was nonexistent, the bones broken in many areas. The body's legs both had rods sticking out of them; probably what held the poor bastard in place during the torture.

A small, frizzy haired forensic examiner fussed about. She snapped pictures of the body, while tsking like a mother hen. With care, she picked up the hands and checked underneath the finger nails. She continued to move around, gently touching the body here and there.

"Who called in the body again?" growled Logan. He was pacing back and forth like a caged lion.

When we arrived on the scene Shifter Guards were already taping up the street. Two Guards stood with the body. The Guard in charged, Gillian, walked over to us and explained a phone call came in two hours ago claiming to have come across a dead shifter. So he sent out Todd and Killan to confirm the claim. Almost immediately, Todd called in for back up and informed Gillian to call Logan.

I scratched my head, recalling the information I received from the phone operator. "Crystal, the phone operator, said he didn't want to give his name. She gave be a very detailed description though. She said that the voice was low, told me she had to ask him to repeat himself a couple of times. She also said that it sounded as if he had something stuck in his throat, garbling his words."

Logan rubbed both of his hands in his hair, frustration evident in his face. He threw his head back and watched the night sky bleed into the morning. I looked back at the forensic examiner and decided to nickname her Mrs. Frizz. She was packing up her kit. She stood with grace and turned around.

"Logan, I am finished, so you can pack the body up and send him to my place." She snapped on more picture of the body and strolled towards her car. However, Logan stopped her to discuss what she found.

She eyed the body sadly, before reporting her findings. "Honestly Logan, I am sure I won't find any evidence. There is a large egg like bump on the back of his head. Probably how the attacker subdued him and brought him to this alley. Sneaking up on him and smashed him over the head. The different stages of healing from the cigarette burns indicate that he has been back here for at least three days, maybe a little longer. His finger nails were clean and there is no foreign DNA that I could find. I'll go a full work up in my lab. If I find anything else, you'll be the first one I call."

"Okay. Thank you Doctor Schneck." Logan said, turning his back on her and eyeing the scene before him. He barked out a couple of orders and walked over to Derek. I watched as Ms. Frizz, who I now know as Doctor Schneck, sashay to her old beat up Ford pickup.

I turn back to the body and closed my eyes. I knew what my job was. I needed to see if there were any electronics for me to hack. Though no one has been able to find anything useful for me to hack. The attacker must have taken his phone or the victim didn't have it with him. Right now, Derek was running finger prints to id our victim. Once he finds an address and I have the all clear, its show time for me.

....

Six hours, 2 breakfast sandwiches and 4 cups of coffee later, I stretched the knick in my neck and shut the laptop. Derek received notification that one Casey Deherer was reported miss two days ago. His mother an elderly shifter called him in missing after not showing up for his weekly visit. He had a description of his charming looks and pretty brown eyes, but since he was beaten badly, Derek resorted to dental records and finger prints, confirming the body behind the alley was indeed, Casey Deherer. Logan is over at Deherer's mother house at the moment, sitting with the grieving mother and family.