“Let’s get this day done.”
* * *
It didn't take Vivian long to walk to work. She was beginning to forget that her day was going to be filled with misery, and the pain of tracking down a dead woman. She’d had such a good start that just about anything seemed accomplishable.
That was all because of Justin.
Walking into her precinct, she found her partner already sitting there and waiting for her to arrive. Yeah, this meant that she wasn’t going to be able to run a search on Brock Edwards or Doctor Stewart. It would have to wait until later in her day when she had privacy.
The look on her partner’s face said it all.
“You look like hell, Vivian,” he stated.
“Yeah, thanks for being as sweet as ever,” she replied.
Her comment made him laugh. “Well, I hope you have the energy to get through the day, because we have another missing person report.”
“Has it been forty eight hours?”
He shook his head. “No, the minute it came in, the boss sent it over to us. When a second woman goes missing in the city, he wants our immediate attention on the matter.”
“Good idea.” This might actually make it easier to start looking for the woman in her dream. “What’s her name?”
He pulled out the report and scanned it. “Our missing woman is Tawny James. She’s twenty nine and a dental hygienist.”
Vivian took the report from him and read over it. “It says that her boyfriend was the one that reported her missing.”
“Yeah, when he got out of work, he swung by her place this morning. He found her car empty in the driveway and keys on the front porch, but no Tawny.”
“And she doesn’t have a history of taking off?” Now, she was flipping through the pages to find a photo of the woman. Once she found it, her heart skipped in her chest.
This was definitely the woman who was in the water. There was the blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Well, score another one for the dreams. Once more, they had been spot on.
She scanned the information for the address. Again, there was confirmation. The two hundred twenty two was also right. “I need to run to the ladies room before we head out,” she stated. “Be right back.”
Once inside the bathroom, she locked the door and pulled out her phone. It was time to send the Littlemoons the information, and then get to work.
They had a body to recover.
At the mayor’s home, they found people milling around in a frenzy. He was sitting in his office as Melissa’s friends tried to keep him company in her absence. They were offering him words of reassurance and promises that they would get her back alive.
It seemed to be falling on deaf ears, since his face said it all. At this phase in the game, he was beginning to give up hope. The father doubted that his precious child would ever be seen alive again.
As they entered, he glanced up at them. “Do you have any news?” he asked, hopefully.
“No, but we need a little more information so we can pursue all the possible avenues.”
He didn't know what else he could give them at that point. “What can I do?”
“We need Melissa’s phone records. Unfortunately, we can’t access that, and the police aren’t going to share it with us,” Julian stated.
“Oh, okay. I can get them for you.”
Tori had nothing but sympathy for the man. She wished they could tell him more to help assuage his fears, but if she said a psychic told them Melissa was alive, there would be consequences.
“Do you think that I should give up?” he suddenly asked.
“No,” Julian replied immediately. “We’ll find her. There isn’t any proof that she’s not alive, and we’re going to keep going until we bring her home.”
He sighed. “Thank you. Everyone here is thinking she’s dead, but they don’t want to say it. I just needed someone to be honest with me. I don’t want their looks of pity, and then behind my back they’re already mourning her death.”
Julian understood. “No, I believe that she’s alive or I would tell you that it was hopeless.”
He closed his eyes. “I’ll get you her phone records, Mr. Littlemoon, and drop them off for you. I just need to head to her house. My daughter kept her bills in her office. I’m sure that she has a copy somewhere.”
Julian nodded. “Thank you, Mayor.”
The man didn't say anything more. Once again, he was lost in his thoughts.
As they headed out of the house, Julian’s phone began chiming. It was his brother. Reading the message, he relayed it to his wife. “It looks like we have a name and address.”
“And?” she asked.
“Vivian’s dream was right. She nailed the address and the victim’s description.”
“So, she’s precognitive after all.”
“It appears so.”
Tori thought about it. “So, Melissa is really alive.”
Julian closed her car door and got in behind the wheel. “It looks like it.”
“I’ll call Kane and tell him to head back to base, since we already have the address.”
“Yeah, then we have to regroup. We have work to do.”
* * *
Justin sat in his brother’s office behind the desk. He was staring blankly at the computer screen. When Vivian sent him the text, he was a little shaken.
Yes, he had faith in her, but to have the facts handed to him and prove that she was right, it was unsettling.
If she saw the women, then it meant that she also had a dream where she saw him.
All of it was the absolute truth, and the final little strand of doubt was cut.
Shit, his head was spinning.
When he told her that he had believed what she was saying, he had, but there was a tiny piece of him that didn't know what to think. If he was in the dreams, did she already know everything that was going to happen between them?
Could she see their beginning, middle, and end?
Was there an end?
It made him nervous as hell, because he really believed that she was the one. If he asked her to share what she knew, would she?
Where this should have all gotten less complex, it seemed to make everything more difficult for them personally. Did he want to be in a relationship with someone who would know what was coming in the journey?
Taking a deep breath, Justin tried to rationalize it all and look at the pros and cons.
She was beautiful, independent, and made him feel alive, but Vivian could hold secrets that he would never understand.
Crap!
Why was this love thing never easy?
Then, he realized what he was thinking. It was nearly as startling as the awareness that she could see snippets of the future. Was this what love felt like?
Could he have finally fallen for a woman and so quickly? He told his brother that he believed he was in love, but now he was faced with the truth.
It was right about then, that his worries about her knowing what was coming dissipated. Now, he had an even bigger concern to focus on.
If he was in love, what was he supposed to do about it?
Tell her?
Or watch and wait.
Justin wished that he had a sign to point him in the right direction.
He really hated not knowing what to do next.
Chapter Nine
As they pulled up to the missing woman’s home, it looked like a three ring circus was underway. So much for keeping everything under control and everyone calm and collected.
There was an ambulance, two police cars, and a slew of people who appeared to be friends of the missing woman and the boyfriend.
It wasn’t hard to spot him either.
He was the one sitting on the porch with tear filled eyes. As the two detectives approached, the crowd of people split and let them through.
“Are you here to find Tawny?” he asked, hopefully.
Detective Lester looked around. “We’re the detectives investig
ating your report. What’s going on around here?” he asked, pointing at the milling bystanders. “If this is a crime scene, it’s been compromised.”
At the words, the man’s eyes refilled with tears. “Do you really think it’s a crime scene?”
Vivian gave her partner a dirty look. Yes, Tawny was dead, but no one knew that but her. She needed to put up good front, and freaking the boyfriend out wouldn’t help. “By crime scene, he means the place where she was taken.”
He calmed a little.
“Are you her boyfriend?” she asked, as she pulled out her phone to make notes.
“Yeah, I’m Josh Devaul.”
She took a seat beside him and motioned to her partner to get the circus under control. Let’s face it, he wasn’t exactly great with his interpersonal people skills and this was someone who needed a gentle hand.
“Can I help you?” Vivian noticed another man, who was relatively close to them, as she tried questioning the boyfriend.
“I’m sorry, but I promised Josh I’d stick close. I’m one of his co-workers,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Terry Boulet. Josh and I are on the same ambulance crew.”
Josh sniffled. “He’s my moral support to get through this.”
Vivian shook his hand. “Okay, I just need to ask you some questions. Do you mind if Terry stays?”
Josh glanced up at his friend. “No, I don’t have any secrets. I don’t care who overhears this.”
She began the interview. “What happened, Josh? I need you to walk me through this from start to finish and leave nothing out.”
He took a deep breath.
“You can do it, Josh,” Terry reassured, as he handed him a bottle of water.
“I was on the late shift last night. My replacement called in sick, so I opted to stay on duty. It was pretty slow, so I didn't mind. I called Tawny to let her know around ten. She never picked up the phone, so I figured she was in her art class.”
Vivian made notes.
“As the night went on, I kept texting her. By one, I started to get worried that something was wrong. Usually, when I call or message her, she comes back with a reply.”
“Okay,” she stated.
“So, I was about to swing the ambulance over to check on her, but we got a call. Someone was in cardiac arrest, and we had to hustle. We headed to their home, and I lost track of time and Tawny. How could I let this happen?”
“It happens,” stated his friend. “This isn’t your fault.”
She patted his arm reassuringly. “Please continue.”
He wiped his eyes on his uniform sleeve. “I was off shift at five, and still I hadn’t heard from Tawny. By then, I assumed that she was pissed at me for working a double and had turned her phone off to teach me a lesson. When I arrived here, her car was in the driveway.” He paused before continuing, “I actually felt relief, until I walked up to the door. The planter was kicked over, and so were the other decorations. Then, I found her keys and nearly threw up.”
Terry Boulet pulled the keys from his pocket and handed them to the detective. “We didn't want them to get lost in the shuffle.”
Vivian sighed. If there were any fingerprints on those keys, they were completely compromised. For all she knew, everyone there had touched them.
“Okay, did you enter the house?” she asked.
He nodded. “I walked through and called to her. I really still believed that she was pissed. Maybe it was my mind, trying to rationalize all of this. I just can’t believe that she’s gone.”
She motioned to his friend. “Terry, can you stay with Josh and keep him company until we get back?”
He took her spot on the step and patted his friend on the back. “It’s going to be okay.”
The man started crying again. “We have to find her. She doesn’t deserve this!”
Once inside, Detectives Lester and Graves scanned the area. Soon, the crime team would be coming in to check for prints or other evidence. Until then, both of them needed to get a visual check done.
“So, do we have another abduction?” Lester asked, looking through the kitchen.
Vivian wanted to buy the Littlemoons a little more time. If she believed that Tawny was alive, she would have been honest, but now there was nothing they could do for her. “I don’t know. We need to see if anything is different than Melissa’s case.”
Lester thought about it. “Well, the cops on the scene said that they couldn’t find her cell phone or purse. That’s different from the other case.”
She thought about it. This might be exactly what she needed. “Maybe it’s a different person. Criminals don’t change it up too much, do they?”
He shook his head. From all the cases that he had worked, they never did. “I hope it is a different guy.”
Vivian glanced over at him. “You do? Why?”
“If this is the same person, we have a serial abductor and some really sick person.”
Oh, if he only knew the half of it…
Outside, Josh Devaul was surrounded by his co-workers and other friends. He was openly weeping, as the crime scene team had pulled up. The magnitude of what was happening had finally begun to settle in and was weighing heavily on him.
“Detectives, what can we do to help?” asked Terry, as he continually patted his friends back.
“There really isn’t much that anyone can do, until we get the basics done here, at the house,” Lester replied.
“What if we start a search?” Josh suddenly offered. “We can get some friends and volunteers together and comb these woods and across the street!”
The other friends began to agree and get boisterous.
“We can’t just sit here,” stated Josh. “I have to find her! She deserves that!”
Lester considered it. “You can arrange it, but not until tomorrow. We need to sweep the area for evidence first, before you start tearing it apart. Anything that we find may help us locate Tawny.”
“Even better that we do it tomorrow!” stated Terry. “We can get more people ready for then. We should get back to the ambulance building and start organizing it!”
Josh stood. “Can I go?” he asked.
Lester shook his head. “You can head to the police precinct and wait there,” he stated.
“Why? I told you everything that I know. Am I a suspect?” he asked incredulously, as he finally understood why they needed to speak to him.
“You know we need to question you again,” he simply answered.
The young man looked like he wanted to argue, but his friend placed his hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll go organize the volunteers, Josh. You go to the police station. We’ll meet you afterwards.”
“Thanks Terry,” he muttered, as he headed for his truck.
As soon as the group headed out, he pointed at the officers standing there. “I want you to walk the woods behind this house. Check for a struggle or anything else. Officer Jersek, you take the north. Officer Peters, you get the area across the street in front of her property, and you get the east,” he stated to Officer Weston. “I’m going to check the west.”
Vivian took this as her opportunity to escape while she still could. “I’m going to head back to the office, to begin running the woman and her boyfriend.”
He was good with that. “Good idea. I’ll see you in about two hours. I’ll make sure it’s all wrapped up here.”
She couldn’t help but notice that he looked incredibly happy. “Why do you look like the cat that swallowed the canary?” she asked.
He grinned even more. “Elementary, my dear Vivian. There are no Littlemoons under foot on this one. I don’t have to worry about them being a pain in my ass.”
Yeah, she almost wanted to laugh. They’d be in his way soon enough.
It was only a matter of time.
Justin got the text first and forwarded it on to his brother and Tori. Vivian was leaving the scene and wanted a quick meet up, before she had to head back into the office.
/> After that, he was on his way out to the bar to talk to the staff.
The location that she had picked was relatively out of the way. It was probably for the best, considering they didn't need to all be seen together having a meeting.
Since there was a bite in the air, Justin stopped to grab four coffees. When he arrived, his brother and Tori were already there, and were sitting on a bench.
Just watching them together gave him this sense of longing. While his brother whispered in his wife’s ear, she laughed at whatever he lovingly said to her. It was such a comfortable thing, that he found himself becoming envious. Her hand was in his, Julian was leaving kisses on her cheek, and Tori’s eyes were filled with nothing but absolute adoration.
How his brother could have ever thought that Tori was cheating on him was astounding. Julian had a woman who loved him more than anything in the world.
He was one lucky guy.
Then, he saw her approaching from across the park in the opposite direction. Her jacket collar was up against the chill as her hair whipped around her. Vivian was trying to multitask at the same time and appeared to be lost in thought.
In his mind, he saw the same chance with her that Julian had with Tori. It helped abate all the fears that he had earlier. Whenever she was near, they drifted away.
As if she knew he was watching her, she lifted her gaze to stare at him. It only took a second before a smile crossed her face.
Justin’s heart thumped in his chest.
Yeah, he wanted that same opportunity in the worst way.
After tour after tour in a bloody war, he wanted to claim something that was his and his alone. In his heart, he believed that he had earned a little peace and tranquility.
“Hey, thanks for meeting me out here,” she said, as she took the coffee from Justin’s hand. Leaning over, she dropped a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” she said, softly.
Tori grinned behind her cup and elbowed her husband to keep him from saying anything. It was fun to watch the romance budding before them.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 15