Too Close To Home - (A Mystery Suspense Thriller)

Chapter 6: The Girl in the Photograph (Part 2)

Missy poured herself a glass of orange juice and returned the carton to the refrigerator. Then she proceeded to gulp it down quickly.

Sheila glanced out of the kitchen window as she often did in the mornings, but today, the sun wasn't shining and the atmosphere had a gloomy appearance that oddly seemed to represent the glum feeling she couldn't seem to shake from her head. As her mind began to drift back to the visions and nightmares she'd suffered the night before, the sound of her daughter's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Mom?" Missy was looking at her mother with her electric green eyes, studying her, as if sensing that something was wrong.

"Hm? I'm sorry, Missy, honey, what did you say?" Sheila asked, turning to face her daughter.

"Are you okay, mom?" Missy asked, suddenly, noticing the distant look on her mother's face.

"I'm fine, sweetie, just a little tired, that's all," Sheila replied, forcing another smile.

"Oh," Missy said, sounding unconvinced. She looked down at her phone. "Whoa, I better get going," she said, pecking her mother on the cheek before heading for the front door.

"Have a good day, hon!" Sheila called out after her, screwing the lid tightly onto her coffee mug.

**

Sheila was anxious to get started on the Jane Doe case, but as much as she was anxious, she was also uneasy. She just couldn't shake the feeling of dread churning deep in the pit of her stomach. She sat her coffee mug down on her desk, noticing a file that had been placed there entitled: Jane Doe- October 12th

"Morning, boss," Lt. Golding greeted her warmly. "Wow, you look like hell, today."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment, Ron," Sheila replied with a snort. She took a sip from her coffee mug.

"Were you up all night, too?" he asked, suddenly, eyeing her with curiosity.

"Yeah, pretty much," she admitted. "I just really have a bad feeling about this one, Ron." She looked at him with tired eyes, heavy with concern.

"Yeah, me, too," he admitted.

Sheila could tell by the look on Ron's face that he was just as worried about this new case as she was. Things like this just didn't happen in Graysville, and the situation was giving both Sheila and Ron feelings of uneasiness and utter dread.

"Who left this here?" Sheila asked Ron, looking up at him with questioning eyes.

Ron shrugged as he glanced down at the rectangular manila file folder in Sheila's hands.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

"I did," a raspy female voice said from the doorway of Sheila's corner office. Both she and Ron looked over toward the open office door and saw Karen Richardson, the Graysville County assistant District Attorney standing in the open doorway.

She was wearing a thick scarlet-red mid-length jacket over her navy blue pants suit and a pair of navy blue and red pumps. Her short dark brown hair was cut into a neat bob hairstyle and both sides were tucked back behind the arms of her stylish thin-rimmed glasses. She wore a bright red gloss on her thin lips and a pair of small diamond earrings in her lobes.

"Morning, ma'am," Ron greeted her and reached his hand out toward her. She shook his hand and then turned her attention to Sheila, who had respectfully stood up to greet her.

"Good morning, detective," Karen said sternly, in a very professional tone of voice, as she shook Sheila's hand. She looked the detective directly in the eye.

"Good morning, ma'am," Sheila replied, giving the assistant DA a firm, respectful handshake. Their eyes met  and Sheila nodded politely.

"I am guessing that you both know why I am here, this morning?" she inquired, taking a seat in one of the black leather chairs in front of Sheila's desk. Her words came out in the form of a question, but her tone made them sound more like a statement. She turned her head and looked from Sheila over to Ron and then back to Sheila again.

"I certainly have a hunch," Sheila replied as she sat down in her desk chair, across from Karen.

"This Jane Doe case has sparked the interest of the mayor's office. We have reason to believe that this may be the work of a serial killer. We want to keep the media hype down to a minimum, and we're going to need our county's best detectives on the case," Karen stated firmly as her gaze moved from Sheila to Ron and then back to Sheila, again. "This case is to be given priority over all others, for the time being. We feel that this killer is going to strike again, we just don't know when or where. We need to identify this young woman, and find her killer and get him off the streets as quickly as possible."

Sheila and Ron nodded in affirmative agreement, showing that they understood. Karen extended her hand to Sheila, motioning for her to open the envelope. Inside were photos of the crime scene along with all of the information that had been collected since the night before--which actually wasn't a whole lot. The one thing missing from the file was the photo that the killer had sent to Sheila's desk a few days ago.

"You will have all of the support and resources you need at your disposal, and you are to keep me informed with your progress at all times," Karen ordered. She reached into the breast pocket of her suit jacket and pulled out two business cards. She handed one to Sheila and one to Ron. "My personal cell phone number is on these cards. I want to be kept up-to-date on each and every detail of this case--no matter how menial or irrelevant it may seem."

Sheila took the small white business card and looked it over. She then set it down in front of her on her desk, then turned her gaze back to the Assistant DA. Karen was standing up to leave when she suddenly paused and looked down at Sheila again.

"Is there anything I should know about this case that has not been reported to your superiors as of yet?" Karen asked, eyeing Sheila with a serious look. 

Sheila paused as she thought for a brief moment before answering, and then shook her head. She decided not to mention the photo to Karen, just yet.