6° Of Separation: Cold Killer (PREVIEW)

Chapter 3

"Mrs. Wright, I am sorry for your loss, this must be very difficult for you," Bethany Anne Wright blew her nose into a tissue, sniffing. Her blue eyes were rimmed red, her red hair hung wild around her face, and tear tracks slowly dried on her pale cheeks. The news had clearly hit her hard, and Riley winced internally, feeling immense pity for the poor woman; her son had survived being in the Middle East, only to die on home soil, where he was supposed to be safe.

"T-thank you, Agent S-Sharp, I'm sorry for this," Riley held up a hand, an understanding smile on his face.

"It's no issue, Mrs. Wright, believe me, I understand, completely. You take your time." the woman nodded, clearly trying to compose herself, and took several minutes before she was calm.

"Please, Agent Sharp, call me Beth, Mrs. Wright sounds like a kindergarten teacher," she choked on a laugh, and Riley chuckled along with her. "What do you want to know about my Son?" Riley internally sighed. Here came the hard part, asking the grieving parent prodding and invasive questions.

"Was Alex close with anyone, anyone he mentioned more often, hung out with?" Beth nodded, a small, sad smile on her pink lips.

"He had a friend, Petty Officer James Mullen, who he has- had known since they were in diapers, they followed each other into the Marine's, did everything together, they were like brothers..." the woman out a hand to her mouth as she seemed to realize something.

"Oh, Jimmy is going to be devastated, the poor boy...has anyone told him?" Riley shook his head.

"No, we had no clue about PO Mullen, but we will get in contact with him," Riley wrote down the name on his pad, along with the information on the close relationship between the two young men. "It would be best if we could inform PO Mullen about your son, Beth, It's SOP." The Texan lied slightly. It wasn't the true reason, but he doubted Beth would understand that they had to make sure that they couldn't risk it in case Mullen had something to do with the murder. Even though he couldn't possibly be the CK, he was too young. But they wanted the real, raw reaction, so they could tell if he was trying to hide anything.

"Of course, Riley, I understand, I just hope he still keeps in contact, I would hate for him to grieve alone." She sniffed, wiping her nose on another tissue.

"Did your son ever mention anything wrong in the last couple months, any fights, disagreements, anything?" Bethany twisted her hands and gazed into the distance.

"No, no... Alex got along with everyone, everyone loved him, he- he would give the shirt off his back in the middle of winter to a homeless man, and he would give his last bit of money to feed that man. He was such an angel..." Riley smiled softly.

"I'm sure he was, Beth," Riley internally winced at the words, knowing that no matter what he said, or did, this mother would never get her child back. But he could damn well get his killer.

"Do you know the last time you saw your son, and what he was doing?" Bethany nodded, and grabbed her purse, ruffling through it.

"Last Friday, so, six days ago," she brought out her phone and tapped something on the screen. "He was meeting with Jimmy, they went out every Friday since they moved to DC," she smiled and shook her head. "I always wonder if they were finally gonna bring home a wife so I can have grandchildren, they never did, and now..." Riley reached over and took her hand in his.

"One last question, Beth, and then you can leave," and plan the funeral was left unsaid but hung in the room so heavily it didn't need to be. "What kind of flowers were your son's favorite, or his favorite color?" Bethany's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed in confusion, but she still answered, albeit slowly.