You Can't Run by Hope Davis (best way to read books .txt) 📗

asked to walk. Atlas put the car in park and they both got out and ran towards the middle of the field where the hawk was. They didn’t have to run far before they both stopped dead in their tracks.

“It’s her.” Naya whispered.

Atlas pulled out his phone and pushed a button on his speed dial, “Yeah, we need crime scene techs. We found her.”

CHAPTER 9

NAYA

She and Atlas watched as they loaded the body into a bag and onto the stretcher. They were almost certain it was Shanice Woods, but her husband would meet them at the morgue to make the final ID.

Processing the scene had taken a while, so there were white area lights set up so the techs could see as they checked the surrounding area. Naya and Atlas had already gotten almost all the answers they could from the scene, they would need the coroner and property reports to garner anything else.  Now they were just waiting for the right time to slip out so they could head back to the station.

Naya looked towards the road where they had parked the car and wondered if Shanice had been here earlier and they had missed her because the hawk hadn’t found her yet or, if he had dumped the body while they were inside the house. She was sure Atlas was going over the same thoughts in his head. According to the coroner, Shanice had been dead for hours before she was found, so either way it wouldn’t have changed her fate.

Finally, after a few more minutes of watching the crime scene techs take pictures of the flattened grass splattered with blood for what felt like the hundredth time, Atlas made eye contact and did a slight head nod towards the car. She gave him her own slight nod back and they both turned and began to leave the scene.

When they got into the car they were both quiet, deep in their own thoughts, after a few somber moments Naya broke the silence.

“What are you thinking?” She asked as she watched the darkened scenery go by. It was now almost nine in the evening, it had been a long and draining day.

“I can’t decide.” Atlas rubbed his chin. “Either she was already there, and we were looking for a single blade of grass in a field, or he dumped her while we were looking into that abandoned house, both options are repulsive.”

She nodded. “And we need to decide if this is the type of killer who wants to have his victims found, or if he’s dumping them here as part of a ritual.”

“We did learn something though...”

“The blood wasn’t part of the ritual.” Naya was glad this woman had not been drained of blood like the last, but it did ruin the only lead she had originally had and leave more questions than answers.

“Exactly. And we need to find out who owns this land—” Atlas yawned loudly. “I do think we need to get some rest though. Why don’t we just start early tomorrow? Sleep on everything that we’ve learned and come back with a fresh perspective.”

“Sure, as long as you let me put in for the land records for that property tonight. I want them on my desk first thing in the morning.”

“Fair enough” Atlas yawned again and Naya was now almost certain he hadn’t slept at all since one in the morning when they had been called in after Shanice had gone missing.

“Do you need me to drive?” She offered, they were still about 20 minutes from the station.

“Nah, I got it, just keep me talking.”

She thought of the personal conversation they had gotten into earlier, but quickly decided she didn’t think it was good timing to bring it back up and went with something basic as they continued to get to know each other a little.

“So, where do you live?”

“How familiar are you with the area?” He asked as he turned back onto the road that took them back to civilization.

“I mean I studied the area a bit before I moved up here since I knew I would be going into detective work and all. But I’m no local yet if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Okay, well I’m actually in the neighborhood Denver locals call LoDo, for ‘Lower Downtown.”

“Oh wow!” She gasped. “I looked at some places down there and they were very expensive.” She had originally looked at possibly getting a bigger place in a better neighborhood for Vance and herself as he lived in a rougher neighborhood, but the high costs had been a major factor that kept her from making the move. Besides, Vance was attached to his little home.

“Yes.” He grinned. “Guess you could say that’s a benefit of not having a wife or kids. There’s not a lot of bills or extra expenses, and I can live happily in a one-bedroom apartment. And if you haven’t noticed yet, there’s an unending supply of overtime to be had here.”

“Yeah.” She was glad he had brought it up. “I meant to ask you if Brody cared about the amount of overtime we take.”

He shook his head. “Not at all. In general, people tend to try to not be at the precinct whenever they can. I’m probably there more than anyone else and I think you and I are some of a select few who clocked overtime this week. Times have changed.”

Now she was confused. “What do you mean about that?”

He looked at her, an incredulous look on his face. “I’m surprised you don’t know, because it’s taking place in your generation.”

“You forget, I grew up in a small town, you might as well just think of me as an alien from another planet.”

“Fair enough. Anyway,” He continued, “The millennial generation, born between the early 1980’s and 1995, generally don’t want to