Open Wounds (Harbour Bay #2)(66)
“Yeah, I know it’s pretty grisly.”
She spared a glance at the body of Brian Mitchell as he was lifted into the black durable body bag and watched in horror as more of his internal organs flopped to floor, hollowing out his stomach cavity.
Kellie stumbled for the door, her hand over her mouth. Darryl followed her, placing a comforting hand on her hip as he caught her by the exit. She bent down at the waist until she was looking between her legs at the dry fern plant left to die by the door.
“Just take deep breaths. It’ll pass soon.”
Kellie nodded as she sucked in fresh air. She would never get the sight or smell out of her memory no matter how long she lived.
“Here, drink this,” Darryl added, handing her a bottle of water. She straightened as he removed the cap from the bottle and drank deeply until half the water was gone.
“Easy there. It’s not a bottle of Jack.”
“I wish I had one right about now,” she muttered and laughed as she remembered what she’d thought—God, was it only yesterday? She met Darryl’s inquiring gaze and said, “Is it bad when you’ve wished for a bottle of hard liquor twice in one week? It seems to be becoming a pattern.”
“It’s been a hard week. That usually calls for the hard stuff and lots of it.”
“I wasn’t expecting that,” she admitted, gesturing to the inside of the house. “After Michael Lambert, I thought I could stomach death. At least in the pure form and not just in photos.”
“Yeah, well, bloody gets messy and stinky. The bay washed Lambert clean. It was about as fresh as they get.”
Kellie made a face. “Remind me never to go swimming again.”
“You want to wait in the car?”
She shook her head. “No I’ll be fine, now that I know what to expect.”
“All right then.”
She followed Darryl back inside, this time taking in her surroundings. The victims had been pigs, which she assumed was typical of teenage boys living together without adult supervision.
“Where are their parents?”
“Dead. Mitchell and Carlton were foster kids. They disappeared from the system a few months ago. Decided to make it on their own.”
“It looks like they were doing that. A place of their own, holding down steady jobs. Despite the mess they were more in control of their lives than most adults. How long have they been dead?”
“A couple of days, according to Stone. No more than week. He’s sure.”
She raised her eyebrow as they re-joined the others. Both bodies had been bagged, leaving bodily fluids and excrement on the old cracked linoleum.
“No one noticed they were missing or didn’t show up for work?”
“Apparently not,” Amelia said from across the room as she sifted through some organs with the end of her ball point pen. “Neighbours finally noticed the smell and called it in.”
“I can understand that.”
“What do we have here?” Her head jerked back as she caught sight of her find. She put on a pair of white disposable gloves she’d borrowed from the nearest forensic kit and picked up the object. A bright flash of gold temporarily blinded her as the metal connected with the sun peeping through the rotting curtain.
Amelia poured water from a bottle onto the palm of her hand, washing away the blood. She examined the piece of jewellery and squinted. She paled and turned to Kellie.
“What is it?”
“This is something you need to see,” she told Kellie as she moved towards her, deftly avoiding the dried blood pools on the floor. As she walked she placed the object into a plastic evidence bag, sealing it as she came to a stop before Kellie and Darryl. She could feel Dean and Nick’s complete attention on them and a few members of the forensic team as well.
Kellie took the bag from her and frowned. She didn’t understand her friend’s reaction. “Look inside, Kel.”
She glanced at her, somewhat confused by Amelia’s expression. She noted that Darryl watched with an expectant yet questioning gaze. Amelia shook her head at him sadly, as if to tell him this wouldn’t end well.
Kellie turned the bag over so the outside shell of the locket was rested on her palm. It only took a moment for her to understand. The second she caught sight of the photo she knew exactly what she held in her hand after all these years. She trembled as tears blurred her vision.
“I’m so sorry, Kel.”
Kellie shoved the bag into Darryl’s hands and turned away, never once looking back as she left the Charles Street crime scene.
Chapter 32
Kellie went straight from the crime scene to her desk. After several hours, she had given up trying to get any work done and had gone home. She despised the silence and she wasn’t one for being idle. She’d scrubbed her house, washed and folded her laundry, and even cleaned out the refrigerator.
Now she was back to having nothing to occupy her hands or mind, leaving her to recall the locket and the implications surrounding its sudden reappearance in her life. Once again she felt helpless, a scared girl of sixteen. She’d promised herself she would never feel that way again, but seeing her locket had thrown her twelve years into the past when she’d been an innocent.
She’d let Coleani frighten her, allowed Burton to take her virginity. One thing was for certain, she wouldn’t put up with it. She had an idea. She just had to figure out the best way to use it.