A Ship Without Sails

Chapter 19

"Hi, sorry, my teacher wouldn't let me go. Ms. Harper is a slave driver!" Kurt said to Shayna's parents as he climbed into the back of the car. The Blackburn parents chuckled and began driving. Daisy flashed Kurt a smile from the middle section of the car to Shayna and Kurt, who were in the back. Shayna was pressed against the window, as far as she could be from Kurt's side. Kurt was leaning against the cup holders, looking out his window as if there was going to be a quiz on the way they got there when they arrived.

Finally, finally, the car pulled into the parking lot and they climbed out. Shayna stretched, feeling the breeze through her hair. Her sundress fluttered in the light wind, and she had to brush some flyaways out of her face. Daisy, on the other hand, looked like a model who stepped out of a catalog, sporting a black blazer, skinny charcoal gray jeans,  light peach tank top, and her favorite silver heels. She looked much better suited to Kurt, who was also wearing a blazer but in navy blue, his classic baseball style shirt, and dark wash jeans. Shayna felt like a child.

"Oh, this is awkward," Daisy snickered, looking at Shayna and Kurt standing apart. "Come on, hold hands or something!" She shoved Shayna flying into Kurt's chest.

"Back off, Daisy," Kurt muttered. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking down to the picnic area. Shayna didn't know whether or not to follow, and if she did, how close could she walk with him?

Luckily, Daisy walked next to Kurt. Shayna walked behind them, feeling her chest tighten as she saw Daisy link her arm with Kurt's. It felt ready to burst when Kurt didn't attempt to shake Daisy off.

"There you are!" Astrid called from the farthest picnic bench. With her were two men. She sat on the bench table top, her feet on the bench seat. She stood and straightened to her full height. Shayna knew Daisy admired Astrid's outfit: a black turtleneck tank top, white cigarette pants, slightly pointy-toed black ankle boots, and the same trench coat, open and flying in the spurts of wind that flew past.

"Let's go down the the stream, shall we?" she said, already beginning to walk down the path. The two men went down after her. The Blackburns and Kurt followed in silence.

They got to the stream where there were three benches. Astrid sat in the middle of one, and the men sat on another. The Blackburns sat on the largest one, with Kurt sitting on the armrest next to Daisy.

"I wanted to give you the results of the autopsy in person," Astrid informed them. She took out a stack of papers from her trench coat inside pocket and shuffled them around. "You know the cause of death. However, the autopsy suggests that she really was pushed, not just have tripped. There were pressure marks, bruises, on her back, not from the impact of falling. Also, the way she was lying when we found her-" Asitrd whipped out the pictures she had taken on that day, "--suggests she was pushed. Notice how her arms are splayed out at the sides? If she had tripped, she would have had the time to try to catch herself or land on her hands. Knowing she was an athlete suggests she would have had more reflexes and a shorter reaction time to being injured. Her arms would have been under her if she had tripped. Being shoved would have given her no time to do anything."

Astrid paused, pursed her lips, then continued. "Alright. Now her autopsy also gives us a clue of her killer. There were no signs to lead us to believe there was any sexual assault involved. Other than the bruises on her back from being hit hard, and the injuries she got from the fall itself, there were no injuries from any sort of sexual activity. This would lead us to conclude that the killer would have been a woman... or someone who cared about Kerry." Astrid's eyes flitted to Kurt when she said that. 

Astrid pulled out Daisy's iPhone and handed it back to her. "My team and I found nothing to suspect you. However, be aware that everything is documented in our system." Daisy nodded and cradled her phone lovingly.

"I'll update you if anything else is found. Keep your eyes open for possible suspects." Astrid took out her sunglasses and place them on her face. She stood and the two men did, too. The Blackburn parents went with them. Shayna felt glued to her seat, trying to take in the information they had received. Daisy was still on her phone, and Kurt had taken a seat where Astrid's men had been sitting. After a minute, he too walked away, leaving the sisters alone, together.

Shayna and Daisy stood up, too. Daisy began going up the trail, back to the parking lot. Shayna shuffled over to where Kerry would have been standing when she was pushed. She peered over the bank to the river. The water looked dark and cold despite the sunlight streaming through the trees above them. The rocks looked unforgiving, some jagged, some large and round.

She leaned further over, careful not to fall over herself. A shiver ran through her as she imagined her body on the rocks, lifeless and cold as the water ran over her.

Without warning, she felt hands on her back and she was falling towards the cold rushing waters and death trap of rocks.