15 years later…
Alynne swiftly ran past a couple lagging joggers on the nature path. She loved running on this path in the woods, she felt calm, at peace. Her golden retriever, Freya, ran next to her. Alynne stopped off to the side, gulping down a couple sips of water. Her black braid twitched in the wind, she often kept her hair braided, due to its waist length. She cupped her hand and let Freya have some water. After all her poor dog had to run fast to keep up with Alynne; her aunt, Rina, had made her stay in great shape, jogging, lifting weights and learning all possible martial arts offered at the local community center. Since her uncle, John, was a police detective, he repeatedly told her that in this big town she needed to know how to protect herself. After their house was broken into three years ago, and she was attacked and her aunt Rina was killed, John had taught her how to shoot. Now as an uncle daughter activity, they went to the shooting range. He wanted her to be prepared for anything.
Freya barked and pulled hard, trying to head further into the woods. Alynne turned and gazed sharply into the woods with her piercing green eyed stare.
"What is it girl? Do you want to show me something?" Alynne asked her dog.
She decided to follow her off the path. Freya was smart and Alynne knew to trust Freya's instincts. It was very muddy; the last week it had rained nonstop. Alynne's sneakers were quickly covered with mud. Freya stopped moving, sniffed the ground, whined, and started digging with her front paws. Alynne bent close the ground to see what she had uncovered. She brushed away some of the leftover mud with her hand, and gasped, a dirty brown, gray bone lay in front of her. She knew from her classes at school that this was definitely a human bone, an ulna to be exact. She whipped out her cell and called the police.
