The detective rolled into town on personal business. His department had no idea he was there, in fact he was meant to be off duty. Like all true crime detective flicks, however, they never find the good stuff unless they’re snooping around off duty on a personal hunch.
Salvatore could hear his partner bitching about him breaking procedure again but he thought himself the Lone Ranger or something of the sort. A Clint Eastwood protagonist ready to catch a bandit and be named sheriff of the humble town…
Under his delusions there lie a driven voice alarming his nerves. Something was here. He felt it.
He exited his car and adjusted his worn cowboy hat and the collar on his loose button up. The warm breeze brushed against his skin in a welcoming embrace. Gentle and soft; comforting. Like sitting close to a space heater in a breezy winter home. His amber gaze darted around to the fiery leaves raining at a snails pace to the ground, and the dark bark plagued with a grey, petal like moss that creeped around every other aged trunk. The wind whispered seductively to him through the fragile and cracking leaves. Something is here.
An ice pick panged into his chest, a soreness spread through his rib cage. He let out a ragged breath and cleared his throat, closing his eyes for a moment, then heading into the forest. He didn’t really know what he was looking for, he just knew that there was something to be found and he refused to leave empty handed. He wandered for hours. He began to lose hope. Maybe too much time had passed since the unknown assailant(s) had struck and the evidence had washed away from rain or been eaten by local fauna. Maybe his hunch was just wrong. Bile rose in his mouth for a moment.
Then he saw it.
——
“Lo, you need to stop randomly showing up here I have a life you know.”
Alo paid the strawberry blonde no mind and threw himself backwards onto the couch, crossing his long pencil legs on the coffee table before him.
“You know this place is kind of depressing, K.”
Kimya rolled her eyes, giving up, and seating herself in the worn armchair Elijah insisted on getting from a local goodwill that sat next to the couch.
“You’re tellin’ me!! I hate it in here but the boys won’t let me decorate how I want. It’s whatever.”
She touched at one of her braids absentmindedly, turning on the tv in front of the two. The black screen switched on to one of the local news broadcasting stations. Lincoln often monitored the news channels to clear his anxieties of both cult and killing activity being investigated or discovered.
“Maybe we should change the channel I don’t really like the news.” The blond man’s body grew a bit tense as his eyes widened a bit.
Kimya froze and slowly turned her head to look at him. “What did you do?” She turned to the news and then back to him. “Come ooooon Bear.” She whined a little before continuing. “Don’t bring me into your fuck ups.”
“Ahhh…. Well… it might also be…. Your problem…” the man hesitated out, fidgeting with one of the tunnels in his earlobes and keeping gaze away from Kimya. He’s an incredible liar but found it hard to lie to the woman. They’ve shared too much in their lives. She sits up high in his heart and there are just some things he can’t do to her. He resents it.
He saw the news break and went to her because he didn’t know what to do.
Kimya turned her attention back to the tv with wide eyes. Her heart sank as she saw the banner under the anchorwoman scroll across the screen.
“NEW EVIDENCE UNCOVERED FOR STRING OF MURDERS IN THE METRO AREA…ONE STEP CLOSER TO FINDING A SUSPECT?…”
The pit in both of the young adults’ stomaches grew heavier and heavier with each word and as kimya glanced back up above the words to see the news woman transition the screen to live footage of the scene. Caution tape strung taut around several trees, droplets of misty rain reflect off the neon yellow. Crime scene investigators wearing protective gear comb the scene, flashes of people walking and writing down information, then one interview with a detective who seemingly made the discovery.
Kimya noted his bizarre appearance in her mind. ‘Not a lot of cowboys in Oregon’, she thought fleetingly.
“Well I, uh, was off duty today and was just going on a hike but I can’t get a day out of the office because of course I found a very important piece of evidence on my trek through the woods.” A rough but gentle chuckle escapes his lips. He’s proud of himself but also nervous. He didn’t expect to be on camera. He seemed conflicted in if it was the right choice.
“Now Detective… Teresi? Is it?” The interviewer responds.
“Sal is fine.” The man replies with a humble smile, fidgeting with the rim of his hat.
“Sal,” a smile, “what exactly was it you found?”
“A severed phalange. I almost walked past it but luckily my detective sense kicked in.” He joked before continuing. “It was carelessly left in plain sight, so these investigators behind us are combing for more potential leads. This is a major discovery for us as evidence to these cases have been very slim. And from what I can tell, the markings on the found evidence are not commonly correlated with animal markings.”
“Fascinating. More on this at-“ The TV abruptly shuts off.
The tension in the living room was so thick it could choke someone to death. The utter rage radiating from the woman’s small frame was insurmountable. The disappointment she felt near brought tears across her eyes. She turned to look Alo in the eyes with an indiscernible expression and stood up slowly. The blond man put up his hands and sat up straighter, feet planting on the floor.
“Hey- Kimya come on. Kim? K?? Come on babe you know I didn’t mean-“
Before Alo could finish Kimya lunged at Alo, planting her knees on either side of him onto the couch cushions and slapped him across the face. She balled his sweater up in her manicured hands and brought his face close to hers, their noses near touching.
“You ruined everything. What the fuck is wrong with you?” Her tone cold and quiet but sharp as a Hatori Hanzo blade. Her agile frame shook with intense emotion as she kept his sweater in her hands. “I should fucking kill you.”
A shit eating grin spread across his pink lips.
“Been awhile since we’ve been this close, huh Kim?”