Between Limestone Ruins

Chapter Thirty-Three

Walker found himself supervising officers going door-to-door. He had been banned from doing the actual door-to-door work after his first and only attempt of the day, when he had started yelling at an elderly lady and her cat. At least here  he had plenty of room to pace, unlike the police station.

His phone rang, and he answered it before it even finished its first ring. 

"Jenn."

"She got him to say his name, I have a last known address, falls within the search area," Jenn said breathlessly.

"Text me it," Walker ordered, power walking to his car.

"Already sent."

His phone dinged. He forced as much appreciation as he could muster, "Thanks Jenn."

A loud bang on Jenn's end of the line cut off her response and froze Walker in his tracks half in, half out of his driver's seat.

"Jenn what the fuck was that," Walker growled, sitting down.

"That... was a gunshot... there was a gunshot on her end," Jenn tried and failed to keep her voice calm.  

"What do you hear now?"

"There was shouting and... the call cut off," Jenn stuttered in a daze. She might have just heard her friend die. She quickly remembered who she was talking to.

"Walker, it might just be her battery died, we don't know..."

"I'm headed to those coordinates, send me back up." Walker's car engine roared to life.

"Walker," Nora's voice came on the line through the car's Bluetooth now. She must have been in the room with Jenn.

"You do not go in there without the SWAT guys. Promise me."

Walker was silent on the other end.

"Walker..." Nora pleaded.

"I'll be fine," Walker concluded, and he hung up.

How Walker drove from Gananoque to Robert's house, while Hannah walked from Robert's house to Gananoque, without seeing one another the two will never be sure. It was probably just the day they were having. When it rains it pours, type of luck. Two negatives does not make a positive and all the other cliches. At least the sun was out.

Walker screeched into the driveway of the beaten-up bungalow and yanked his bullet proof vest from the back seat as he climbed out. As he threw it on and strapped it up as the SWAT team pulled in behind him.

Nora would have pulled some strings to get them here this fast. She knew Walker well enough to know he would not wait. 

Walker made note to thank her as he jogged over to brief them and organize the search of the house.

The house was still and the air was stale. Mildew mixed with the piercing  scent of fresh blood; the scent so strong it wafted out the eerily cheerful doorway. 

The pale blue front door was wide open, swaying in the light summer breeze. It revealed an empty house that probably should have been condemned years ago. 

The horrible floral wallpapered walls were stained dark yellow and peeling, in the spots that still had drywall. In the spaces between wall even the studs had taken damage over time. It was a miracle the house was still standing at all. 

They entered quickly and quietly, clearing the top floor.  Abandoned furniture was scattered throughout; the pieces the people who fled this house either hadn't wanted or were unable to take. Forgotten, they had decayed passed the point of usability.