Atlas shielded his eyes and looked out at the horizon. “As soon as the crime scene techs arrive, you can go. I’ll stay here while they process the scene, and we can reconvene in the morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. It’s not like we do much except stand awkwardly out of the way anyway.”
“Good point.”
A few minutes later the forensics and coroner’s vans turned off the main road, headed towards them.
Shortly after Naya gave a brief statement as to how they found the body she was in her car and speeding towards the restaurant. She would just barely make it.
Her stomach grumbled and she had to admit she was a bit excited for the restaurant her parents had chosen, the restaurant was known for their large portions and delicious cannoli’s.
She pulled up in the parking lot just as her parents were helping Vance into his wheelchair. She noticed there was a fourth figure with them and even from behind she could tell it was Kevin. She wondered how he had found himself with an invite to dinner.
She stepped out of her car and Kevin gave her a small wave. She waved back as she walked over and her parents both smiled when they saw her, she gave them each a long overdue hug.
“Naya.” Her dad whispered in her ear. “It’s good to see you.” She smiled and said the same thing back to him.
She knew he was curious about her case, but she really didn’t want to discuss the case with him at dinner, when she had just spent the last ten hours on it. Especially since she knew that she would go home and think about it more, only to wake up tomorrow to go to work again.
Kevin wheeled Vance in the restaurant, and Naya was a bit surprised he hadn’t tried to walk, but then again, this was probably better for him.
They were greeted by the host and led to a table in the corner for five. One chair was quickly removed so that Vance could be pushed directly up to the table.
“Wow, this is quite convenient.” He laughed, spreading his napkin over his lap as everyone else took their seats. Their mother tried to force a chuckle at his joke, but she could tell that her parents didn’t think Vance’s condition was a laughing matter.
Vance rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, that was a great joke.”
“It was.” Naya agreed.
Naya conveniently ended up with Vance on her left and Kevin on her right.
As she began to skim the menu, her eyes caught on the eggplant parmesan. The server came over to ask about drinks and her parents ordered two bottles of red wine for the table in short order.
“Just water for me.” She whispered to the server as they went to set a wine glass in front of her.
“No wine?” Her mother questioned, she knew it had once been Naya’s favorite.
She shook her head. “It’s been a rough day. I’ve got to keep my head clear, and I’ll probably have to be up early tomorrow.” She took a quick peek at her phone to see if there was an update from Atlas. Nothing yet. Not that she expected much from the scene, it was probably just as clean as the last two.
She picked the menu back up and Kevin lifted his eyebrow as she caught his eye. She shook her head slightly. She didn’t feel like discussing it with him right now. She had noticed he had texted her a couple times throughout the day, but she had just been too busy to look at the texts. Now she felt a little guilty about not answering with him sitting beside her.
“Anyone want eggplant parmesan with me?” Naya asked. The portions here were family style, so she needed at least once person to go in with her for her to be able to justify ordering it.
“I’m in.” Vance smiled and put down his menu. “Everything looks so good that I’ll just dive right in with Naya.”
Naya smiled, but it felt fake, she knew Vance would eat next to nothing.
The server approached the table with the wine and quickly poured everyone except her a glass. Her parents ordered the classic spaghetti and Naya ordered the eggplant parmesan for her and Vance, Kevin decided to go big and try to conquer the clam spaghetti all by himself. The server offered to see if the kitchen could do a half-portion, but he told her not to bother and that he would enjoy the leftovers.
After the waitress left the table, Kevin and her parents began to chat about the weather and the differences between La Junta and Denver. Naya took the opportunity to talk with Vance.
“So how do you like Elliot?” She took a sip of her water.
“He’s nice. Him and Derek are both great.”
“You’re not just trying to make me feel less guilty, right?” Naya searched his face looking for any sort of deception.
“Now, would I ever do that?” He teased, reaching for a slice of bread from the basket the server had set in the center of the table. Naya did the same and passed the basket to Kevin.
“Hmm…would my brother deceive me? Nah! I don’t think that’s a possibility.” She bantered back, glad when she found herself smiling for real this time.
“But really. I don’t like what this case is doing to you. You’re starting to look as bad as me.” He motioned to his pale face and sunken eyes.
“Geez, thanks. I’ll work on that.” She rolled her eyes, she wanted to tell her family that another girl had just died and that was why she was late, but she couldn’t disclose that sort of information until the girl’s family had been notified.
The rest of dinner went smoothly, but Naya had been right, and Vance barely touched his half of the eggplant parmesan. She was positive she only saw him have two bites, if that. Kevin on the other hand, had somehow eaten almost all of his clam spaghetti by himself. It was quite the feat.
Naya thought her parents would ask for the check, but when the server came back, they ordered another bottle of wine instead. When Naya raised her eyebrow, her mother simply replied, “When in Rome” and patiently waited for the server to refill her glass.
It was already almost ten though and Naya had to leave. “Well, if you will excuse me, I’m going to head out. I’ve got a long day ahead.” She announced to the table as she stood, surprised to see Kevin stand too.
“I’ll hitch a ride back with you, if that’s okay?” When Naya nodded in agreement he turned to her father. “Can you manage the wheelchair on your own?”
“Yeah, we got it. You worker bees go ahead and get home.”
Naya gave her parents each a hug and headed for the door, Kevin wasn’t far behind. Once they were outside she turned to speak.
“I’m sorry.” When Kevin didn’t answer she elaborated. “For not answering your texts. Yesterday was rough and then today was worse. But thanks for being there, last night I mean.” She felt silly babbling and tripping over her words as if she was still a teenage girl.
“No problem.” He replied as they got into her car and left. “I get it. Life isn’t really going your way right now.”
“Still. I should respond to your texts. It’s disrespectful when I don’t.”
“It would be disrespectful if you were doing nothing, but you’re busy with work. And your work is important to the city. I understand.” He reached over and ran his hand gently along her arm. “I’m the last person you have to explain yourself too.”
“I appreciate that.” And she did, it was such a nice difference from her parents.
When they pulled up in front of the house, Naya turned off the ignition and took a deep breath, hoping some of the tension from her shoulders would release.
“Come on. Let’s go upstairs and I’ll give you a backrub.”
“How did you know?” How did this man always seem to read her mind?
“You were rubbing your shoulders all through dinner. Last I checked, I don’t think people do that sort of stuff unless they’re sore.” They stepped out of the car and made their way towards the house, Kevin using his key to unlock the door for her.
She smiled as he held the door for her then followed her in and locked it behind them. They walked up the stairs and Naya collapsed on her bed in exhaustion.
Kevin
sat down next to her, patiently waiting as she rolled over on her side. Before she knew it his strong callused hands were making quick work of the knots in her shoulders and upper back.
“You’re so good at this.” She almost moaned as he worked out a particularly bad knot near her right shoulder blade.
“Thanks.” She could hear the smile in his voice.
Naya closed her eyes and could feel herself drifting towards sleep. She almost wondered if Kevin had offered the back rub in order to make his move, but if that were the case it would backfire, she would be asleep before that happened.
Just before she entered the world of dreamland, she heard a car door. Her parents and Vance must be home. Kevin stopped the massage and laid the throw blanket from the end of the bed on top of her since she was laying on top of the comforter. She wanted to thank him, but she was too close to sleep.
The last thing she heard was the creak of the top step as he headed down the stairs.
It wasn’t until Friday that the autopsy report landed on her desk. And it was a bit of a welcome relief to confirm what Atlas and she had already assumed.
Naya yawned as she read through the documents, it had been a long week with her parents in town. She has assumed they would spend most of their time with Vance, but they also seemed to want to spend an inordinate amount of time with her as well. And a case like this as well as family demands was messing with her sleep schedule big time.
She continued to skim the document, stopping as she noticed something she hadn’t noticed in the field.
“Puncture wounds?” She whispered mostly to herself.
“I thought the same thing.” Atlas pipped up next to her, either eavesdropping, or her whisper had been louder than Naya thought. “Two of them too. What do you make of that?”
“I think it solves our question of what he’s doing with the blood.” Naya jotted some notes down on a sticky note. “He’s not doing anything; he’s just disposing of it to hide evidence.”
“Which means whatever he is doing, could be seen in the blood.”
Naya pulled out her notes from the last two autopsy reports. “Can you call down and have them find out if there are any traces of ‘potassium, iron, copper, magnesium, or zinc’ in the body that would indicate her having higher than normal levels?” She read from her Julia Charles note.
Atlas picked up the phone and dialed. “You know if you’re going to stick around you should probably learn all the extensions and program all the numbers into your phone, so I don’t have to be your secretary.”
She chuckled. “I’ve been meaning to do exactly that. But this case got dumped on me so fast.”
He opened his mouth as if he was about to argue with her, but whoever was on the other end of the line must’ve picked up, so Atlas began asking for the additional tests to be run before the body was released to the family.
Naya was glad she hadn’t had to be the one to notify Alia’s boyfriend, how she meant everything to him rang deafeningly loud in her head. This had to have crushed him.
Atlas hung up the phone and turned, only for his phone to ring in his hands. He rolled his eyes, “Detective Atlas?... Mhm… Perfect, thanks.”
“What was that?” Naya asked, her fingers crossed that it was what she hoped it was.
“Our tapes.” He smiled and rose from his chair. “They’re emailing the ones with our victim in them, should be here in about a minute. I’m gonna grab some coffee, want a viewing drink?”
She shook her head, “No, thank you.” He seemed surprised but turned and headed for the break room regardless. She turned back to her computer and checked the time. It was just after two, Vance should have just finished chemotherapy. Naya hoped it went better than it had the week before. At least he wouldn’t be alone since their parents weren’t planning to leave for a few more days. She thought about texting Kevin, who she was sure would be over this evening, but quickly talked herself out of it. Coincidentally, her phone chose that moment to vibrate, she looked down surprised to see it was a text from the man himself.
Kevin: Can I take you to dinner tonight? Please?
Naya couldn’t help but smile, it was amusing that he had apparently thought of her at the same time she had thought of him.
Naya: I need to see if my parents will let me get away first.
She pressed send and wondered what she would say, but she was a grown woman and it wasn’t as if her parents controlled her. She did a mental face palm as she realized how nervous she felt. What was it about Kevin that made her turn back into an awkward and shy teenager? The reply came while she was berating herself.
Kevin: They said it’s fine as long as I have you home at a decent hour ;)
Naya knew that last part had to be a joke, but she couldn’t help but chuckle as she replied.
Naya: Alright, I’ll plan on leaving the station at 6.
She put her phone back in her pocket, so she wasn’t tempted to look at it again and resumed her reading and notations. Atlas returned a moment later with a coffee in one hand and a bag of microwave popcorn in the other.
“You didn’t tell me you were making popcorn!” She said incredulously as she grabbed her notepad and pen and followed him into the conference room that had their whiteboard. Naya had updated the map the day before and added Alia Larson’s picture and information.
“You didn’t ask.” He replied smartly, although he handed her the open bag as he got the computer set up and logged into his email.
“Alright here she is leaving the building at about seven, just as her boyfriend said.”
Naya watched as Alia came from the direction of the stairs and passed through the lobby, ear buds in, she appeared to be texting on her phone.
“And here she is stretching outside.”
The next video was footage from the camera right outside the door, and sure enough, there was Alia doing a runner’s lunge.
“And then she runs out of view for about an hour…“ Atlas pulled up the next clip. “Then look, here she is at about eight, doing some after run stretches outside.”
“So, she made it back?” Naya was confused, and bit her lip as Atlas pulled up the last video.
“Not only did she make it back, but she made it through the lobby...”
Both watched as her figure walked past the elevator again and towards the stairs. “Which means our killer either lives in the building or knew her patterns and came in before her and was lying in wait.” Atlas theorized.
“You really think this guy would kill a girl in the building he lived in?”
“It seems daring.” Atlas agreed. “It’s unlikely but possible I guess. I’m going request they look over the footage again and send stills of anyone who walked in the building that morning.”
“Good idea. And we should see if we can get a full list of tenants in the building.”
Atlas was already at his computer typing the first email but nodded a quick yes. After he finished typing and hit send, he pulled out his phone and made a call, probably to the same judge who had acquired the warrant for the tapes for them.
Naya looked at the girl’s form, frozen on the screen on the edge of the frame, about to walk out of view. She was looking at her phone, no idea what lay in wait for her. She stood and walked towards the screen, wishing that she could’ve stopped this guy before he got to her.
She checked her phone to see if any of the emails they were waiting for had come in. There was nothing. They didn’t have the records from RunTracker yet, of course, they were futile for Alia Larson since they now knew she completed her run. But Julia Charles and Shanice Woods had also used RunTracker according to their families. They had submitted the requirements for the warrant a few days before, the company had sent a warning that it would be difficult to trace users, as accounts were only attached to an email, with a first name and last initial, but they did say they would work on it. It was already past four, which meant they probably wouldn’t hear until Monday at this point.
&nbs
p; Atlas hung up his phone. “They’ll get us the rental list, but it probably won’t get to us until Monday.”
“That’s what I was just thinking about the RunTracker info.”
“Yeah, I almost forgot about that.” Atlas grabbed the popcorn bag back from Naya and began munching on what was left.
“Do you think those other girls finished their runs too? And they were grabbed before they reached their door?” He speculated.
“It’s possible, I mean all the families said the women practiced runners safety techniques and didn’t take predictable routes. It would make sense that he saw them leave their house’s then waited for them to get back. But what I can’t figure out is, just how is he finding these women?” She moved to the whiteboard which held their pictures.
“I mean, they’re all so different, they’re from different stages of life, different neighborhoods, and ran different routes. We have the almost adult child of affluent parents in Cherry Creek, the middle-class mom who is a track champion from Thornton, and now a young woman who lives in a neglected area of Downtown. What could these women possibly have in common?”
Atlas was getting to the bottom of the popcorn bag, and instead of grabbing the last few pieces, he lifted the bag to his mouth and dumped them in. He thought for a moment while he chewed and swallowed, then opened his mouth. “Your guess is as good as mine. I can’t see anything besides the fact that all three women were runners and used the RunTracker App.”
“Wait!” Naya pulled out her phone and pulled up her Run Tracker app. “You can have friends on here, look.” She showed him the friends tab. Hers was empty because she preferred to keep her runs private.
“Let me see that.” He held out his hand for her phone and she handed it to him. “So, if I wanted to add friends I would click here, right?” He pointed to the little plus in the upper right-hand corner.
“I think so, I never have. Give it a try.” She watched as he pressed it and a white screen came up with a grey bar asking her to type in her friend’s name.
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