Next in Line

by R. L. Wilson

  The night was going great. The food was amazing and so was the view. Cooper had told me to bring Holly here. Someone from the station was talking about how he had proposed to his girlfriend at this restaurant and it was the nicest one in the area. It was a warm night so I was happy when we got to sit outside on the deck which was overlooking a lake. It was beautiful. Neither of us could stop talking or smiling and Holly laughed at all of my jokes. Some people don’t always get my sense of humour. I was enjoying Holly’s story about when her and Sophie weren’t friends in high school when my phone rang. I looked at Holly for a second before apologising and looking at my phone. It was the Chief. I answered it and before I could even say hello the Chief had started talking. “Shields get down to the construction site now. There has been another murder. Apparently you and Hutson have been sleeping on the job”. I couldn’t help but take offense to that. I looked at Holly who was looking out at the water. “Sir I’m out at the moment. I won’t be able-“. Chief cut me off before I could say anymore. “Now Shields” he yelled so loud in the phone that I had to pull it away from my ear. I hung up the phone, put it back in my pocket and looked at Holly who was now smiling at me. “I’m so sorry Holly but that was my Chief.” I didn’t like The Chief’s mood swings. You could never tell if he was going to yell or laugh until it was too late. “I’ve really got to go.” The smile never left Holly’s face as she said “That’s fine”. I had expected her to be disappointed or something. I paid for dinner and we jumped back in the car. “So what is the important police business that you have to go to? Or aren’t you allowed to tell me?” Holly asked. “Well I don’t know too much about it yet. Just that someone has been murdered and the body was dumped in the construction site across the road from the apartments” I said.

  When we got back to the apartments I walked Holly up to her apartment. She unlocked the door but didn’t open it. She turned to me and said “Thank-you for tonight Logan. I had a great time”. “My pleasure” I replied. My heart started racing as I leaned in towards Holly. I grabbed her by the waist and gently pulled her body close to mine. Our lips were so close I could feel the heat coming from them. Not being able to resist, I pressed my lips hard against Holly’s. I felt her move close into me and she put her arms around my neck. “Logan, hurry up otherwise the Chief is going-“ Coop yelled out to me as he walked around towards where Holly and I were but stooped when he realised what he had just interrupted. “Oops” he said still walking up to me. I pulled my head away from Holly but didn’t let go of her until Coop grabbed my arm. I turned and glared at him. Did everyone always have to interrupt us at a time like this? Cooper put his hands up as if to surrender and I heard Holly giggle. I turned to her and said “I’m so sorry but I’ve got to go”. “It’s fine” Holly said. “I’ll see you tomorrow”. She kissed me once on the lips and then walked inside, shutting the door behind her. I stood there staring at the closed door smiling for a second before turning to face Cooper who was grinning at me. “Don’t you dare say anything to ruin this for me right now Coop”. We started walking towards the construction site when Coop said “So, was it a good kiss?” He started laughing. I looked and him and smiled as I lifted my hand behind him and slapped the back of his head. “Ouch” Cooper muttered but was still laughing.

  Chap

  ter Seven

  Logan

  When we got to the construction site the chief started walking up to us. I could tell by the way he was walking and the look on his face that he was about to tear us a new one. “Thanks for finally deciding to join us Shields” the chief said. “I’m sorry sir but I was-“. The chief raised his hand as if to tell me to stop talking. So I did. “I don’t want to hear it Shields. I expect you and Hutson to be keeping a better look out on this place. You weren’t sent here to party. Now we will be having officers drive around in the area in unmarked cars at all different times of the day and night, seeing as how no one seems to be seeing him coming and going.” It was true. No one had seen anything with the last three murders. You would think someone should have seen the murderer dragging a body into the construction site, but nothing. I walked over to where the coroner was examining the body and just stood there looking at the lifeless woman lying on the ground. “So can you tell me what happened?” I asked the coroner. “Well she had makes on her wrists which indicate that the murderer had tied her up. She has different kinds of cuts and stab wounds all over her body. The person who did this likes to use lots of different things to cut her with and drags it out making it slow and painful” the coroner said. I cringed at the thought that there were now 4 victims that this sicko made suffer for hours, even days before he finally killed them and then dragged their bodies to the construction site to dump. Cooper walked up to me then and said “So her name was Sarah Goodrow. Come one, let’s go down to the station. We will be able to find out more information there.” Cooper said. I nodded and followed him to his truck.

  “I’ll look up as much as I can about this Sarah Goodrow and you can call the coroner and see what else he has figured out that matches that other murders” I said to Cooper when we were sitting at our desks. He was texting someone on his phone and was hardly listening to me so I leaned over my desk and slapped him on the arm. “What man?” Cooper said looking up at me. “What are you looking at?” I asked Cooper when I saw all different colours on his phone. “Sophie is sending me pictures of baby stuff” Coop said with a little smile on his face. Cooper seemed to be happy about the baby, which surprised me because I knew that Cooper wasn’t ready to settle down and be a father yet. I had expected him to still be all pissed about it and throw stuff around, just like he usually does when something extreme happens or when he doesn’t get his way. He actually seems to be growing up and becoming mature. “Call the coroner and see what he can tell you that connects the murders together” I repeated.

  After about half an hour Cooper came back from talking to the coroner and sat at his desk which is next to mine. “All the evidence seems to fit the other murders” he said. “Same kind of torture, all the women look alike and the same marks on their wrists from being strung up. It’s our guy” Coop said. I placed my face on my desk feeling frustrated that we had moved into the apartment to try and catch this guy and he managed to get right past us and because Coop and I were too concerned with things that were going on in our lives instead of worrying about this case, another woman is dead. I wasn’t about to let that happen again. “Well Sarah Goodrow was 24 years old and lived close by. According to the police report that was filed a month before she was reported missing someone was stalking her. Strange letters in the mail, seeing someone dressed in black looking at her through the window just like the last three cases. And also like the last three cases there is nothing on her after she went missing. It’s as if she never existed. No phone records or credit cards. Just nothing.” I said to Cooper. He sat on the edge of my desk and stared at me computer screen as he asked me “What did the police do about the letters and the peeping tom when she reported it?” I read through the police report and said “Nothing. They couldn’t find any evidence so they assumed it was some of her friends playing a trick on her and dropped it.” “Then a month later they found her body. That’s just lovely” Cooper said sarcastically. After staring at my screen not knowing what else I could do at the moment, I turned to Cooper and said “Well there is nothing else that we can do here tonight. Let’s go home Coop.”

  Holly

  “I just can’t wait for this morning sickness to be over” Sophie complained to Cooper and I as we did the dishes while Sophie sat on the couch. Cooper and Sophie are a couple now and he’s so sweet to her. Always got her things and tried to get her to sit and relax as often as he could but of course that meant there was more for me to do. Logan was sitting next to Sophie going through catalogues looking at all the baby stuff that she would need to get. It’s so funny how clucky guys go over something like this. Especially big guys like Cooper and Logan. “Are you going to be alri
ght without me this afternoon?” I asked Sophie as I walked into the living room. “I’ll be fine” Sophie said. I had a late start at work today with only a four hour shift but then a three hour meeting after the centre had closed so I wasn’t going to be home until late. I slowly dragged myself into my room and got dressed into my uniform. I walked back out into the living room once I was ready for work and plonked myself on the floor near the couch. “Are you going to be alright going to work today?” Sophie asked me giggling. I scoffed and Logan and cooper both looked at each other confused. “What do you mean?” Cooper asked us. “Holly went on a date with one of the dads from her work and now he goes in there all the time asking to see her. She was avoiding him to start off with but she can’t do it anymore” Sophie replied still giggling. “It’s not funny” I said as I glared at Sophie. “And it wasn’t a date, it was just lunch.” “Well maybe Logan, you can drop Holly off at work today and give her a big goodbye kiss at the door. Then he might know to back off” Cooper said laughing. Logan was glaring at his friend and I put my face in my hands to hide the embarrassment. It has been a week since Logan and I had gone on our date and had our first kiss but nothing has happened since. I knew that Logan was working harder now since that murder happened across the road and he was taking over some of Cooper’s work too so that he could spend time with Sophie and help her whenever he could but I couldn’t help but think that maybe there was more to it than I knew. “That’s fine” I said “I’m a big girl, I can handle it on my own.” I got to my feet and grabbed my keys and my books and headed for the door. “Bye everyone. I’ll see you tonight when I get home Soph” I said and closed the door behind me.

  “Hug pwease Holwee.” One of the little girls was being extremely affectionate with me today and it made me feel a little better, until Mr Sullivan came in. “Good afternoon Holly” he said as I handed him the baby bottles out of the fridge for his son. “Hello Mr Sullivan” I replied. I tried to ignore having a conversation with him as much as I could. I just wasn’t in the mood for this today. I focused really hard on my paper work hoping that he wouldn’t try to talk to me anymore. “I haven’t seen you around here much lately” he said. I looked up and saw that he was staring right at me. I felt so uncomfortable. “Yeah, I’ve been really busy lately” I replied. It was then that my director popped her head into the room and said “Holly, there is a phone call for you”. Oh thank god. This was my escape. “Thanks” I called back to her. I walked over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello?” I said. “HOLLY!!” Sophie yelled back in the phone. “Can you please get me some more ice cream on your way home?” “Fine. But only because you saved me from having to talk to Mr Sullivan” I replied. I could hear lots of laughing so I decided to just hang up the phone. When I went back to my room Mr Sullivan was still standing there. “Are you kidding me” I muttered to myself. “So Holly, I was wondering if I could take you to lunch again next week.” I figured that he wasn’t getting my hints so I needed to just be straight with him. “Look Mr Sullivan, I think you’re really nice but I am seeing someone at the moment so I won’t be able to. I’m sorry” I said. He looked a little disappointed but then looked at me and said “No worries. Have a good night”. He grabbed his son and left. I looked over to my co-workers who were all standing around giggling and staring. “All right guys. You had a good laugh but let’s finish up in here so we can hurry up and get home”. I loved being in charge of the room and the workers in it. It meant that I got to boss everyone around when I was in a bad mood.

  I pulled up into the car park out the front of the apartments. I was so glad to be home. I grabbed my books, bag and the giant tub of ice cream that I had gotten for Sophie. I had just gotten out of my car and locked it when I dropped my books. I put the ice cream on the boot of my car and picked up my books. I turned to grab the ice cream when someone grabbed the back of my head by my hair and then slammed my head into the boot of my car. I fell to the ground and screamed as loud as I could. I could feel the blood running from the top of my forehead down my face. God it hurt but I ignored the pain as I looked up at the person who was attacking me. He was all dressed in black and wearing a balaclava just like the man who attacked me in the shower. I continued to scream as loud as I could while the strange man leaned closer to me. Without thinking I lifted my leg and kicked as hard as I could getting him in the stomach. He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me towards him. I screamed as loud as I could one last time hoping that someone would hear me. I closed my eyes waiting for whatever horrible thing this man was about to do to me. “Holly!” I heard Logan’s voice calling out to me. My eyes shot open. Thank god someone had heard me. I started screaming again when the man in black yanked my bag off of my shoulder threw me to the ground and ran away. I could still feel the blood pouring down my face and my vision started getting blurry. I felt Logan next to me pulling me close to him. “Oh shit Holly” he said as he hugged me closer to him. “COOP” he yelled out. I could hear the panic in his voice. “Holly” Logan said but I couldn’t respond and my eyes fell shut.

  Chapt

  er Eight

  Logan

  Cooper came running up and jumped down on the ground next to me. “Where did he go?” Cooper asked me. “I don’t know. Coop, she is unconscious” I said to him trying hard not to show my panic. “Get her in the truck” Coop said to me as he started running to unlock the truck. I scooped Holly up carefully and started jogging towards Cooper. He helped me lay her down in the back seat. I sat in the back with her and placed her head gently on my lap and Cooper got in the front and started driving as quickly as he could to the hospital. “What the fuck happened?” Cooper asked me. “I don’t know. I heard a scream so I pulled my gun out and ran outside. When I first got out there I couldn’t see anything so I thought was imagining things and started to walk back inside but then I heard it again. So I started to walk towards the road when I saw a man take Holly’s bag and push her to the ground. That’s when I went running over to her and yelled out for you” I said. “This doesn’t seem like a normal mugging to me” Cooper said. I had to agree with him. The man that mugged Holly tonight appeared to be the same man that I chased out of her bathroom a few weeks ago. There was no way that this was a coincidence or a normal mugging. When we got to the hospital I scooped Holly up and ran her into the emergency room. A few seconds after I ran in there, a nurse came out with a bed. I put her on the bed as nicely as I could. The nurse started to wheel her away and I was walking next to the bed when another nurse put her hand on my chest. “Sorry sir but you can’t go in there right now. I need you to give us as much information about what happened as you can” the nurse said. I looked down at the nurse and anger flashed through me. My fists clenched by my side and I felt someone grab me. “You need to calm down. Acting like a dick isn’t going to help. Now go and do what the nurse asked” Coop said to me. I couldn’t think about anything but Holly. Someone had hurt her and I wasn’t there to help. I tried to be as calm as I could while I told the nurse as much information as I knew.

  After we were done Coop sat down on a chair in the waiting room while I was pacing up and down in front of him. It wasn’t too long after that when Holly’s doctor came out to talk to us. “Holly has had 3 stitches in her forehead and has a concussion so we will be keeping her overnight for observation” the doctor said to Coop and I. “Can we please go and see her” I begged the doctor. “Sure” he said. “I’ll take you to her now”. When we got to the cubical that Holly was in I couldn’t help but feel guilty looking at her lying in that bed. If only I ran out to her when I heard the first scream she might not be here. She was sitting up and a big smile spread across her face when she saw Coop and I walking up to her. “You scared the crap out of us” Cooper said as he pulled Holly towards him giving her a big hug. “What happened?” he asked her. I cringed as Holly told us the whole story of what had happened to her. Cooper grimaced and shook his head as we sat there and listened to Holly relive her ordeal. “Well now that
I know that you’re okay I should really get back to Sophie and tell her what’s happened. I locked her in her bedroom when I heard Logan screaming out my name” Cooper said as he chuckled. “I’ll be back tomorrow with Sophie to pick you up and make an official statement.” Cooper hugged Holly goodbye and patted me on the back before walking out of the cubical and disappearing around the corner. I pulled a chair right next to the side of Holly’s bed, sat down and gently grabbed hold of her hand.

  She looked at my face for a minute and then smiled at me. “You can go home with him if you like Logan. I’ll be fine here by myself tonight” Holly said to me in a sweet voice. There was no way that I was leaving her alone again anytime soon. “No, I’m not leaving” I said. “You just get some rest and I’ll be right here next to you. Holly opened her mouth as if she was about to try and argue back but she smiled at me instead. I think she knew that nothing she could say was going to make me change my mind. I gently stroked the side of her cheek and she was asleep in no time. I tried to get as much sleep as I could but it was difficult. I felt so uncomfortable from sitting in a chair while my head was lying down on the bed next to Holly’s. It didn’t help when the nurse that I had almost yelled at earlier came in and told me that I should really go home because Holly was fine. I laughed a little as I showed her my badge and told her that I was here to protect Holly and there was no way in hell that I was leaving. The nurse just gave me a dirty look and scoffed before walking away. I love carrying my badge around with me all the time.