It was about two in the afternoon when my partner, Miller came in and told me we had to go. I looked at the lady behind the counter and she just shrugged. I guess that means she won’t speed up my order of Chinese. Slightly upset, Miller and I walked out and headed to the address dispatch gave us. It was just another house call, This woman’s mother hasn’t heard from her and is extremely worried about her daughter.

We got to the woman’s house at about a little after two thirty. We knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. There was no answer. We knocked again, there was a car in the driveway so it’s likely someone is here. We waited another minute or two before walking away. This woman is probably pass or avoiding her mother. This woman’s mother sounds a bit overly protective. She said she called her daughter six times in the last hour. The FBI shouldn’t have allowed the media to go public with this case. Now everyone is paranoid. We have been doing nothing but house calls lately all because of how publicized the media made this case. Everyone is now worried about their loved ones and the media are eating up the panic.

We alerted dispatch that there was no answer but there is a car in the driveway. We were waiting for dispatch to answer us when another car pulled in the driveway. A lady about mid-thirties got out of the car. She had her black hair in a bun and bright yellow capris on. She was short, no taller than four foot eight and she walked right up to the door like she owns it. Perhaps she does and the car in the driveway is someone else’s.

When she pulled out a key was when I finally decided that this was probably the woman we were looking for. I got out of my car and headed toward her. She turned around and watched me approach her with a smile. It was a sweet wide smile, it almost seemed too friendly and that gave me an off putting feeling. I scanned her for any visual threats. I didn’t see anything but a plate of cookies. When I looked back at her face, I was slightly shocked by the brightness of her blue eyes. She stared me right in the eye as I approached. It was a bit unnerving.

“Ma’am do you live at this residence?” She shook her head and said “No, My friend’s daughter lives here I rent the apartment to her. Her mother called me and asked me to check on her since she haven’t gotten a hold of her. She was suppose to have been on her way to meet her hours ago. I didn’t think she would get up after last night. She had a bit of a scare. Scared my husband and I the way she came in last night. My husband checked everything out and couldn’t find anything wrong.”

I looked at Miller and we nodded in agreement. It’s what we thought. “Ma’am what is your name? We need it for our record.” Miller stated. She said her name was Ann Collins and we said our goodbyes. We just got the car started when we heard a high pitch scream come from the house. Miller and I sprain into action, pulling our guns as we rushed for the house. We cleared each room with standard procedure. We found the woman, Ann, in a bedroom staring at the bed. Ann went quiet and was just standing there with her back to us.

Miller walked around to the other side of the bed while keeping an eye on Ann. I stood in the entry keeping eye on both of them and the other room. He froze when he got to Ann. He put his gun away. He looked at Ann then to me and said softly, “We are gonna need to call this in.” He looked back at the bed before trying to lead Ann outside. She nodded her head when Miller told her we had to go outside but she didn’t move. He cautiously touched her shoulder. She jumped causing Miller and I to jump too. I watched Miller whisper something to Ann, she nodded and they both walked out.

I turned and looked at the bed. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. The woman that laid there was positioned in such a peaceful way; that if it wasn’t for the clothing I would’ve thought she was sleeping. The black nightgown was one of the only consistent thing on this case. Everybody was wearing black. The woman was beautiful. Her red hair was long and braided over one shoulder. Her head was laid softly on the pillow facing the right wall and her right arm was draped over her stomach. She was on her left side. At first glance anyone would think she was sleeping, except her eyes were open. The disturbing part of it all though wasn’t how peaceful she looked but how much fear still showed in her eyes. The more I looked at her eyes the more I believed I saw relief maybe even peace. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It’s not like I have never seen a dead body but she looks too alive to be dead. It’s as fascinating as it is disturbing.

It wasn’t long after my staring contest with the body that everyone started to arrive. The scene was blocked off, statements taken, and next of kin notified. Soon Miller and I were released to go home for the rest of the night. We went to the bar instead.

“Miller, I can’t get it out of my head. Who would go through so much trouble to kill and position the young woman like that? She was so young, that mother of hers must be a mess. Sent us out there to find her daughter oversleeping, only to find out she died instead. I can’t even imagine.” I knew I was rambling but this case is starting to get to me. I mean I cared but not as much as I do now. We haven’t had a case here. All over the country we heard about people going missing and showing up dead. We even heard about the child that showed up a year after their disappearance. They looked nothing like when they disappeared. Complete change. I remember that news cast, it was one filled with sadness. The child was found dead across the country from where they were taken.

“You have to let it go. The FBI has this case under control. We did all that we could. Just let the FBI handle this.” Miller has been trying to convince me that we need to move on, that we did our part. I tried but something is telling me our part in this isn’t over yet. Us being there to find the body wasn’t an accident. We are the only police officers to ever discover a body in this case. It was always a civilian. Us discovering the body can’t be an accident. I didn’t bother trying to convince Miller that something was off this time. I have been trying to convince Miller that something is wrong but he refuses to believe it. So, we finished our beers and headed our separate ways.

I tossed and turned once I climbed into bed. Knowing I need sleep but it always seeming out of reach. I couldn’t shake the image, the feelings they invoked. Seeing the fear filled green eyes and the oddly relieved look in them. How can dead eyes hold so much feeling? Invoke so many feelings? As I tossed and turned the feeling of dread and confusing still hung heavily on my mind.

I awoke suddenly in a cold sweat from a nightmare of fearful green eyes. After many failed attempts to go back to sleep, I finally turned the television on. The late-night news was on and they were talking about the body being found. I almost couldn’t resist watching it. I wanted to know if they found anything, if there was a breakthrough.

        “Rose McField was reported missing by her mother today after she failed to show up at home.” They showed a picture of a young woman. She had light blonde hair and bright smiling eyes. She had a thin heart shaped head with a small nose and full lips. The picture was of her standing in front of some trees in a park. “Two officers found a body in the victim’s bed this afternoon while doing a wellness check. The officers’ names are not being released and neither is the name of the victim found. We are trying to find out more information but that is all the FBI is telling us at the moment. When we know more you will know more.”

I turned off the television once the story changed. So, they will tell everyone that a serial kidnapper/killer are on the loose but won’t mention my name. I rolled my eyes at that one. I sat there pondering who the woman we found was and where Rose was. I thought for sure the woman we found in Rose’s bed was Rose but the woman looks nothing like Rose. The rest of the night, my head swam with possibilities and theories of what was happening.

Going to work the next morning was a difficult task. I was exhausted and my head was still swimming from the day before. Miller didn’t look all that much better. So much for not worrying about it. We plopped with heavy sighs into our seats, exchanged groggy stares and got to work. After about two minutes of staring at my computer screen I finally ask Miller about the rest of his night.

“Well you look like fucking hell. Did you piss the Sandman off?” I asked with a tired smile. Miller flipped me off before running his hands down his face. He gave a begrudging smile before answering me. “I didn’t get any fucking sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about your nonsense ranting about the dead girl. I was up all night wondering if you were right. Happy now fuck face?” A big grin spreads across my face as I wait for him to say it. He starts shaking his head when he realizes what I am doing. “I am not going to say it. I will not feed your ego.” He continued to shake his head as he kept talking. Like he’s trying not to accept what was right in front of his face. I laughed and happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye.

I take a closer look and see that it’s a small package with my name written on it. I picked it up and looked at Miller. “Did you leave this on my desk?” Miller stops mid-sentence and looked at me then the box. “I didn’t give you shit. Maybe it’s from your killer” Miller says as he rolls his eyes and goes back to working on his computer. I know he’s just being a sarcastic bastard but I still have the lingering thought that it might be. I put it down and go back to work. It was only a few seconds later before I pick up and opened it. I looked inside and knew that this was it. We are now part of the case.