Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 62 (Eclipse 21)

I was jubilant for the rest of the week. Suze and I had made plans to see each other that weekend, down at La Push, and for the first time in what felt like ages, I was actually looking forward to the end of the workweek.

And it was a workweek that I wanted to see a particular end of, at that. While things had remained as quiet as they'd ever been around Forks, thank God, whatever new trouble had been brewing out in Seattle had evidently boiled over.

I scanned the latest Seattle Times that had been waiting on my desk. It was a few days old, as it always took the mailtruck some extra time to cart it out to our corner of the state, but its headline was chilling, nonetheless:

Police Believe Organized Group Behind Latest String Of Killings

The Seattle Police Department released a joint statement with the City of Seattle to update the press and the public with the latest reports on what citizens have been calling "The Murder Epidemic".

Mayor Greg Nickels was first to the podium at City Hall.

"I know that we've all been on edge since the first series of people went missing back in March," Nickels said to a large crowd just before 1pm on Wednesday.

"But I can assure you, the city and the police department are doing everything in our power to not only bring an end to these disappearances, but also to hold whoever is responsible accountable. It is the belief of the police department, after rigorous investigative work, that the ongoing situation is the result of an organized group working in lockstep."

Since March 2nd, there have been at least two dozen mysterious disappearances throughout the Seattle Metro area. On multiple occasions, blood samples have been found that confirm a connection with the missing individuals who were believed to have been in or around the location where the blood was discovered.

The most high-profile case is that of Bree Tanner, a 16-year-old girl who had first been reported missing from Idaho in late January. Her identifiable belongings had been found behind a restaurant, along with drops of blood that were later conclusively identified to match with her DNA.

"As previously announced, we strongly recommend that all citizens between the ages of 14 to 24 proceed with caution, especially at night, and especially when alone. Let a loved one know where you are and who you are with, and avoid travelling at night whenever possible," said Nickels.

The chief of the Seattle Police Department, Gil Kerlikowske, noted that the SPD was investigating the possibility that the apparent murders were gang-related. However, given that many of the victims have been young caucasian men and women located in more affluent regions of the city, Kerlikowske stated that it is unlikely the result of the "usual gang violence" that Seattle historically has seen from groups affiliated with the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings, or MS-13.

"Still, the relative uniformity of the victims' demographics and the shocking increase in incidences indicates that this is the doing of more than a single individual."

The public is asked to remain vigilant, and to report any and all suspicious behaviour to their local police by calling 9-1-1.

I shivered in my seat. The cops out in Seattle were right in pointing out that the victims weren't the usual group to wind up missing. I'd been keeping a close eye on each and every missing persons report, given a runaways' penchant to end up out in the "wilderness" that was the west coast of Washington State. It seemed that the vast majority of the kids that were going missing were young, white, and, just speaking bluntly here, generally good looking.

My mind, naturally, landed on the group of young, white, rich, and potentially criminally-associated young adults that had landed back in Forks in March... right around when these disappearances started up in Seattle.