It was only three weeks until Thanksgiving, and by the looks of it, there wasn’t going to be a bunch of holiday cheer leading up to Turkey Day. Lydia was already stressed about meeting Julie’s family, and now she had to convince the Sheriff to let her tag along with Julie every time she went out. The killer hadn’t struck more than once in a month so they hoped they would have some down time to try to find more clues, though Macy’s friends and family offered up no evidence Macy was involved with anyone, much less a married man. The clues were becoming sparse, but the killer was lurking in the shadows of their small town, and Lydia was determined to get to them before they got to Julie.
There was an eerie feeling in the cold November air, and even Lydia’s typical heavy winter jacket didn’t keep her warm on those walks back from the office. She has been staying at Julie’s house every night, and she can’t decide if she is there to make Julie feel safer or the other way around. Every step Lydia takes each night she feels is mimicked by someone in the shadows, but every time she turns around she sees nothing but dim streetlights and yellow caution tape wrapped around the library, still a crime scene. Whether this nightmare scenario was playing tricks on Lydia’s mind or not she knew time was running out and she had a terrible suspicion that the killer was going to carve more than a turkey this Thanksgiving.
Chapter One
Lydia sat at her desk outside of the Sheriff’s office tapping the end of her pen on the wood. Her eyes were fixed on the front doors, and her nerves had caused her mind to wander. Julie had gone out with the other detectives to do some more interviews concerning Macy Brown. Since the town was now aware and the killer had hit so close to home, the investigation had slipped to focus on Macy and no one else. Lydia had been allowed to go along, but since the Sheriff was out for the day, so she was stuck manning the phones.
Several of the detectives began filing into the room laughing and chatting amongst themselves. Lydia looked up excitedly, but Julie wasn’t with them. She nervously looked around the room, unsure if she was able to leave her desk and didn’t want to ask one of the detectives. The only female detective at the precinct, Holzer was her last name, nonchalantly walked up to Lydia’s desk and leaned in.
“She went back to the morgue. She didn’t want to bother you,” Holzer whispered. She winked and walked back to her desk.
Lydia tried to hide a smile and slowly got up from the desk, grabbing her wallet and heading out to catch Julie for lunch. She strolled through the building not wanting to draw too much attention since Lydia and Julie were trying to keep their relationship quiet at work. When she reached the door, she picked up her pace and swung open the morgue doors. Kait looked up surprised, but her smile turned to a grimace, and she rolled her eyes, waving towards Julie’s office. Typically Lydia would have made some kind of smart remark, but she was too anxious to make sure Julie was still in one piece and sped past Kait without much thought.
Julie was sitting at her desk finishing a report she had to turn into the Sheriff on an independent autopsy she had done earlier in the day. Lydia’s knees got wobbly as Julie looked up at her with a reassuring smile. She leaned over the desk and gave her a kiss and then sat in the chair across from Julie. Lydia gave Julie some time to finish up her report and then sat her wallet on the desk.
“I'm starving,” Lydia said. “Let’s go get some lunch and we can talk about everything.”
“Okay,” Julie stated. “That sounds good. Let me just meet you at the sidewalk; I am going to drop this on the Sheriff’s desk.”
Lydia watched as Julie walked out of the morgue, her hips swaying side to side and her heels clinking on the concrete floor. She was gorgeous, and Lydia didn’t know how she didn’t see it all of these years. She sighed and looked up at Kait who was glaring at her from across the room. Lydia walked confidently over to Kaits desk and leaned forward, putting her hands on her chin.
“What,” Kait snapped.
“Oh, nothing just seeing how the trip you never went on was,” Lydia replied smiling.
Kait looked up at Lydia with slitted eyes as if she was trying to see how much Lydia already knew. She looked down at her papers and shuffled them mindlessly.
“Look,” Kait said through gritted teeth. “I needed some time to myself, and I didn’t want to hurt Julie’s feelings by blowing her off. With a killer on the loose, I didn’t think it was such a good idea to go perusing the outer towns by myself, so I stayed locked in my house. There. Are you happy?”
“Then why did you tell Julie you AND Tommy were going,” Lydia asked. “If you are going to lie you should probably not have your only corroborating witness wondering around town.”
“Look sleuth,” Kait laughed arrogantly. “I don’t know what you are looking for but maybe because I am not a serial liar. I just came up with something on the fly. Now, if you'll excuse me it’s lunch, and you can’t be in here alone.” Kait began to usher Lydia towards the door.
“Why,” Lydia said slightly disgusted. “What am I going to steal? A dead body? Your stapler? Maybe a used jacket from a dead guy?”
“With you,” Kait said as she pulled the doors closed behind them and locked them with the key. “I don’t think anything would surprise me.”
Julie was quick and Lydia, and she walked with a heightened pace towards the diner down the street. The air was cold now, no sign of warmth until spring and Lydia was okay with that. It just meant she got to hold Julie a little closer at night without getting hot and sticky. The two chose a booth in the back corner and took their coats off, sitting across from each other. They crossed their feet over each other in an attempt to touch but not draw attention to themselves.
After the waitress had taken the two girl’s order, they looked at each other with affection and Lydia let out a long sigh. She was not trying to force Julie to talk about the case all the time, but it had become her obsession, and she was left out of the details not being a detective or someone of any more importance than a secretary. Fortunately, it looked like Lydia wasn’t going to have to bring the subject up since Julie’s face showed she hadn’t left the investigation at her desk.
“I just don’t understand,” Julie said frustratedly. “Any information we get on Macy will bring us closer to this killer, but the people in this town are guarding her secrets like they would end the world.”
“Well,” Lydia said sighing. “Obviously there was a secret like all of the other girls, so people who love her, and maybe him, don’t want to tarnish her name, especially under the circumstances. I can understand their side as much as I understand the importance of catching this bastard.”
Julie looked up at Lydia with a blank expression that broke into a half smile and chuckle. She looked back down at her phone still smiling. Lydia wasn’t sure what that face meant, but she felt slightly offended by Julie’s response to her.
“What,” Lydia said pulling her feet to her side of the booth. “I know I am not a detective but I am a person, and I can empathize with keeping someone’s reputation in tact. When my dad left the town tore him apart but in reality, he was a human, and he couldn’t handle my mother and her habits anymore. All the lies and secrets will get to a person.”
“Oh Lydia,” Julie said reaching for Lydia’s hand. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just think you are adorable because you can see both sides. You can understand the basic need to protect the people you love even after they are gone. That is one of the qualities I love so much about you.”
Lydia’s shoulders began to relax, and she immediately felt sorry for getting defensive, something she was so used to doing since most of the people’s comments towards her since she was a girl, was some kind of jab at her existence. No one ever understood Lydia. When she was a girl, she had to walk around ignoring the whispers and gossip about her dad and mom. She had to ignore the fact that because she was caught stealing people assumed it was because she was just like her mother. In reality, her mother didn’t work and spent all her money on alcohol, so Lydi
a was in a place where she needed food and didn’t see any other option.
That arrest was the day the Sheriff took Lydia under his wing, providing what he could for her while still maintaining his own family. He was like a sweet Uncle type of person, and Lydia was always gracious for his care and understanding. Now, however, she knew she needed to stop being so defensive, especially when it came to Julie.
“I’m sorry,” Lydia said swallowing her pride. “I have to learn you aren’t against me. It's a natural reaction.”
“It’s okay love,” Julie said grabbing Lydia’s hands and bringing them to her lips. Lydia’s stomach did flips as Julie’s warm, soft lips touched her skin.
“Ahem,” the waitress said as she stood in front of the booth holding two plates, her cheeks blushing.
The girls ate and Julie changed the subject to regular town happenings which Lydia was relieved to hear about. They paid the bill and began walking towards the precinct, their shoulders touching and giggles escaping their lips quietly. Lydia stopped outside the doors of the morgue and smiled at Julie.
“Okay,” Julie said leaning in to kiss Lydia on the cheek. “I have got a ton of work to catch up on. Meet me at the house at seven for dinner?”
Lydia nodded and held the door for Julie, letting it latch closed before turning around to walk back towards the office. A sharp breeze blew across the lawn hitting Lydia in the neck and sending shivers down her spine. She wrapped her arms around her as she walked, glancing up at the road that went past the station and out of town. She stopped for a moment as she noticed a dark blue car stopped on the road, too far to see any tag information. A person was standing outside of the driver's side door, one foot in the car and turned towards Lydia.
They had a black hoodie on pulled up over their head and big dark sunglasses. Lydia felt extremely uncomfortable but stood her ground anyways. The person stood staring for a few moments before revealing something in their gloved hand. They tossed the object on the side of the road, jumped in their car and sped off.
Lydia ran towards the object knowing this person had waited for someone to watch them. As she got closer, her stomach began to turn. She stopped in front of the object in disbelief, looking at the blood run down the sidewalk and puddle under her foot. It was a sign and terror struck Lydia for the first time in months.
Chapter Two
The steam swirled around Lydia, and the feeling of warm water running down her back from the sponge Julie was holding eased Lydia’s mind. She was sitting in the large tub in Julie’s house trying to get the vision of blood and body parts out of her mind. The killer had been right in front of her, and she didn’t even realize it until they were gone, and to make matters worse, it looked like they had another victim.
After Lydia had gotten her baring earlier, she called the Sheriff’s office and had a team come down to collect the bloody mess of paper to take back for examination. Her fear turned to numbness almost immediately, and she sat in the waiting area of the morgue silently anticipating the results of Julie’s inspection. Kait had come in late that afternoon and saw Lydia’s blank stare when she walked through the doors, signaling her to understand something huge had gone down.
When it was all said and done the killer had thrown three fingers and an eyeball wrapped in a shirt and tied to a book on the side of the road and sped off. Lydia had been made privy to a barrage of questioning, and the Sheriff had come in, his nose and eyes red from his cold but concern washing over him at the site of Lydia’s pale face. She felt bad, but she wasn’t much help besides her description of the car and the of a person in black standing next to it. They were far enough away that Lydia couldn’t tell if they were man or woman, tall or short, or even the tone of their skin really.
After the detectives had begun assembling near the office, Lydia noticed the pictures they were hanging on their boards. The site of the fingers and eyeball made Lydia’s head start to spin and when she looked down and noticed the blood covering her leather moccasin she lost control of her stomach and grabbed the Sheriff’s trash can.
At that point, the Sheriff nodded to Julie, and she gathered Lydia and took her out of the station. The two went back to Julie’s, and between the cold and the shock of it, all Lydia stood inside the front door shaking in a daze. Julie ran a hot bath and sweetly undressed Lydia. They didn’t speak, but Lydia felt more and more at ease knowing Julie was by her side. It was the first time she ever let anyone take care of her.
“I don’t understand,” Lydia whispered as the steam surrounded her in warmth. “Why would the killer do that now?”
“Shhh,” Julie whispered. “Let’s not talk about it right now. I am going to put a towel here, go downstairs, start a fire, make some hot chocolate, and we can relax. Okay?”
“Yes,” Lydia said looking down at her wrinkled fingers. “But throw some whiskey in that hot chocolate.”
Julie laughed as she quietly left the room and closed the door behind her. In the silence of the foggy room, Lydia felt an eerie sensation as if behind that fogged glass were eyes watching and at that moment Lydia knew she wouldn’t be safe until they found this sick freak. She got out of the tub and dried herself off, slipping her pajamas on and drying her hair so she wouldn’t be cold downstairs. The house was old, and though it was restored, it had a permanent winter draft.
She headed down the stairs and as she reached the bottom a warmth went through her. The sound of old jazz came from the living room where the shadows of the fire danced across the walls, and the smell of hot chocolate and apple candles filled her nose. Julie was sitting on a blanket in front of the fire with two coffee mugs and a smile on her face. She lifted her hand towards Lydia and motioned for her to sit next to her.
The two sat by the fire and listened to the old jazz coming from Julie’s record player in the corner. The wind whipped against the side of the house, but the only thing Lydia felt was warmth. The warmth from the fire and heat from the closeness she felt to this amazing woman sitting next to her. She reached over and put her hand on Julie’s leg and nudged her to move closer. The two sat side by side; their heads turned and their lips pressed together.
Julie pulled her legs to the side and ran her hands over Lydia’s face and down her shoulders. Lydia reached out and grabbed Julie’s waist, pulling her in closer and toppling her forward on top of her. Lydia laid down and wrapped her legs around Julie as the two escaped into each other and left the cold, brutal world locked on the outside. Slowly they peeled back the layers of clothes that were meant to keep them warm, replacing them with the warmth of their bodies. Their hands caressed each other’s skin, and their lips moved all over each other finding pleasure everywhere they touched. As they made, love their shadows melted into one on the walls of the house and the windows dripped with passion.
They moved on top of the blanket in rhythm, and their heavy breathing was intermittent with moans and gasps to loud to be ignored but soft enough to stay inside their sensual bubble. As the passion grew hotter with the blaze of the fire it reached its peak and the two women collapsed against one another, entangling their bodies. They laid silent in the moving shadows, Lydia running her hand through Julie’s hair. They stayed still for quite a while, but as Lydia began to feel more like herself, she decided bed was probably a good idea.
“I want to be fresh faced tomorrow,” Lydia said to Julie. “I want to be able to go out and do some detective work with you and without a new face the Sheriff will never okay it.”
“Lydia,” Julie said cautiously. “Don’t you think you should take a couple of days? Today was really hard for you.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Lydia said kissing Julie and pulling her pajamas back on. “But I am more motivated than ever to get out and find some answers. This person has someone, and I don’t know if they are dead or alive, but I want to find them before their body ends up in the Town Square.”
Julie nodded knowing she wasn’t going to talk Lydia out of her quest and the two headed up to
bed for the night. The day had been so long that Julie fell asleep immediately and Lydia lay beside her staring out the window into the dark night. She knew there were clues out there and she was determined to find out what they were.
The morning was a welcomed sight for Lydia, and she stretched in the empty bed, smelling the coffee and bacon cooking on the stove downstairs. Julie was always up before her and Lydia, for the first time in her life, had breakfast every morning before going to work. She got out of bed and walked over to the window and looked out at the wakening town. Children were walking towards the bus stop, and the birds were chirping in the much-needed sunlight. It was almost like the town she remembered as a child except for the unsettling feeling lurking in the background knowing a vicious killer was on the loose.
Lydia and Julie ate breakfast and decided to walk to work since the sun was shining and they needed a little light before going into the compound. They laughed and told jokes as they approached the police station, and Julie opened the door to the precinct laughing hard as the two walked through the doors. That laughter quickly stopped as they saw the hustle and panic surging through the room. The Sheriff looked up with fear in his eys and waved toward the two girls. They looked at each other, and Lydia could feel her heart drop into her stomach, whatever they found it doesn’t look good.
Jack (Secret Revenge #1) Page 48