Descent

Chapter 3 ~ Secrets.

"Do you want something to drink?"
I ask hesitantly as Oliver wanders in and allows his eyes to take in my neat yet cramped living space.

I fight the urge to fidget and without waiting for a reply I turn and fill two glasses up with water from the fridge and leading the way I choose to sit us at my circular table.
The couch seeming far too personal and informal.

He follows behind silently and lacing my hands under my chin I stare at him across the table and cross my legs at the ankles, a bundle of nerves and anticipation.

"So.." Oliver murmurs just before taking a sip of the water and surprisingly looking as nervous as me he rolls up the sleeves on his shirt before focusing back on me.

It's odd to see Oliver on edge, any memory I have of him is when he's playing a part, whether that's 'Eric' or when he's in officer mode.

This is different, this is the realest I've ever seen him.
The thought makes me uncomfortable, I promised myself that I wouldn't ever see him again.

"What I'm about to tell you is highly classified. It's an outbreak that we've kept on the down-low to stop panic from spreading. You need to promise me that not a single word of this will leave this room." Oliver states and I'm quick to nod, the words straight out of a textbook and I take a sip of my own water to cool my suddenly dry throat.

"There have been multiple.. Bodies found across Australia's beaches, ages range from children to young adults and each are found with varying degrees of causes of death."
Oliver pauses to watch my reaction but I keep it cool, calm and focused which pushes him to carry on.

"They haven't been murdered on the beach, that much is certain. They have been moved there, we believe it's to throw off the trail. The sand and ocean wash away any details of their previous surroundings."

"What makes you so sure that they are connected, seems like a stretch that the murders connect across various beaches and states." I finally use my voice to question and I can practically see the wheels turning behind Oliver's blue eyes as he contemplates how much to tell me.

"Each body has a business card stuck to them in some form or another...
Some in very creative ways." At this his eyes shift and I try not to think too hard about what that means.

"The reason why I'm here is because I wanted to show you the card. It just a hunch I have and though they are rarely wrong I figured that you'd be able to confirm it." Oliver pulls out his phone without asking permission but I find that I'm already leaning across the table eagerly.

"What is the body count so far?"
I question as we wait for the photo to load and Oliver shrugs.

"We have had twenty-five reported but God knows how many were sucked into the ocean and forgotten about."
I take another sip of water to hide my surprise at the large number but regret it as Oliver tilts his screen and I fight the urge to spit out my water.

Swallowing roughly and coughing my eyes look over each detail of the card greedily and my heart sinks.

It's a small card, about the size of my palm.
It's a pastel pink with a white trimming I believe, but there is a liquid which I'm going to assume is blood that has stained majority of the card.
Again, I try not to think too hard about that minor detail.

In printed, cursive writing along the centre of the card the words,
'Kitty Callers' fill most of the space in black ink and beneath is a picture of a small ginger cat with bright blue eyes sitting eagerly at the bottom.

Squinting at the cat my heart sinks even further as I notice its front left paw is lifted with a white bandage wrapped around it and that was the final detail I needed as my own wrist twinges in pain once more.