A/N: Ahh... this chapter really is the beginning of the hard, tough times ahead for Katie and Ned. I didn't originally plan for the first victim of the case to be Alyssa, but then it had to be. I hope you enjoy xx Mariah
Ned crawled back into bed around eight that morning, just as Katie was waking up. She didn't have to be up but was used to being up at this time for her usual routine. She tossed onto her side and ran her hand up her boyfriend's side. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
She knew he had had a long night. It was barely two when he'd gotten called into a crime scene.
A body was found by Mill Creek Road. This was his first, real case. A possible murder even.
She wondered what was going through his head. How was he handling this new responsibility?
"You're back," she whispered softly, turning her head up to lean into his neck.
He merely nodded, resting his chin on top of her head. "Yeah," he whispered. "I'm back."
This case was different. She could already tell.
She ran her hands up his arms and around to the top of his shoulders lightly. "Are you okay?" she asked, pressing a kiss to his throat.
He stretched, settling into bed a little as he sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay." He paused and swallowed. "It was Alyssa."
She rose her head to look at him. She didn't know what to say. She hated Alyssa because of a petty high school drama, but he didn't.
Ned didn't have a reason to. He'd dated the girl for almost a year and a half. They'd broke up just before she graduated high school. She never really knew why besides that he broke things off and didn't care to get more details now that they were together, especially not now that the girl was dead.
"Oh, Ned…" She wrapped her hand around his, where it rested on top of his chest. She pressed a kiss to each of his knuckles lightly. "I'm really sorry," she whispered, cupping his face.
"Don't be," he shook his head. "It shouldn't have got to me as much as it did."
"Of course it would. You're kind and you care about people, Ned, and you loved her once. You don't have to pretend like you didn't, to make me feel better," she sighed, leaning up to kiss his lips time.
It's sudden and soft, and his hands were warm as they cradled her face. He was hesitant, the darkness of tonight dragging him down. She tilted her head instead, slanted her lips over his, sneaking her tongue into his mouth.
She thought this might help. After everything, wouldn't this help him? Her thoughts were jumbled. He did things to her, made her feel so things.
Her hands fumbled when she tried to discard his shirt, her shirt caught on her hair, and their laughter was breathless. She slid her hands across his chest, scraping her nails against his nipples, and he kissed and bit and licked her throat.
This was good. So good.
He nuzzled her breasts; she arched into him. She can't keep her eyes open when he trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses along her thighs. She fisted her hands in his hair as he used his tongue and his teeth and his fingers, and the sharpest pleasure swept through her.
She couldn't think. Everything was warm and she felt her orgasm crash over her. Ned was too good.
He kissed her cheek, and she whispered in his ear. "That was supposed to be for you to get off on. Not me, you know." His laughter was cheeky when she hit him, and his eyes were soft when he kissed her again.
"What about we go again?" He asked, smirking.
"I think we should go see if whatever breakfast my dad is making is ready. I smell bacon," she whispered, tapping lightly on his chest before she slid out of bed with a kiss to his lips and cheek. "Maybe later."
She grabbed a pair of leggings off the floor that she'd discarded on her way to bed, and pulled them on before she went upstairs. Ned was a little slow to get up and she waited, reluctantly as she craned her neck to hear her dad talking on the phone to someone at the hospital.
Something about budgeting. Too mathematical for her to listen anymore and she looked back at Ned as he walked up to her.
"Took you long enough," she said, grabbing his hand on her way up the stairs. "Do you have to be at work?"
"For a briefing and to check some labs around eleven," he nodded. "But that's all."
"Okay. I'm gonna go and get a pedicure with mom for her birthday, maybe we can go do something?" She asked, opening the door and stepping up. "We haven't gone out and done something together in a while."
He smiled, one that reached his eyes. "Yeah, that would be nice." He squeezed her hand as they walked up into the kitchen.
Her dad was making eggs, bacon, and pancakes according to the stovetop and several plates on the island. But no one looked to be up.
It was only eight thirty and a Saturday, so it wasn't unusual for her siblings to still be asleep.
"Hey dad, is everyone still asleep?" Katie asked, walking around him and opening the fridge. She grabbed the orange juice out. "I was hoping mom would be up."
"Your mom is up. She's helping Lana get dressed, then she should be down. Not sure about Mack or Aaron." Her dad smiled but grimaced as she took a sip from the jug. "Oh, Katie. Don't do that. You're just like your mom."
"You do it with the milk," she laughed and rolled her eyes as she put the cap on and gave it to him before Jim could say anything else.
Ned had found himself a seat on the island and was quietly looking at his phone. Jim looked over at her. That was definitely strange.
She shrugged. She hadn't gotten much out of Ned this morning. Maybe her dad could get more out than she did.
"Pretty quiet there this morning, Ned. I heard there was a body out found off the county road," her dad said, going back toward the stove to flip the pancake on the skillet. He moved around the scrambled eggs and moved to put them on the serving plate and sprinkle cheese on top.
He yawned, stretching his arms and hearing his body set into place. "Yeah. It was pretty gruesome," he said quietly. "I shouldn't talk about it though. Not yet. Once the press release is out this afternoon we can talk."
Jim nodded, understanding as the doorbell rang. "Hey, can you get that?"
Katie was watching Ned as he went about to answer the door and she started to brew a pot of fresh coffee. She poured out the remnants of what must be from Ned when he left this morning and washed it out.
She heard the door open and Ned cleared his throat as he called out. She turned around and at first, she didn't see anyone, but when her boyfriend's head move just slightly she saw that shimmer of Alyssa's face and turned around before she could see her.
Damnit. This was going to make things more difficult.
Mrs. Callahan was hysterical when she came into the precinct. She had to provide a proper ID of her daughter's body. She was halfway across the floor toward the front door when she started to sob again.
Turning swiftly, Ned slipped away from the tactical table where most of the detectives were all talking about any leads amongst themselves.
"Mrs. Callahan," he said softly. "Do you need me to give you a lift home?"
"Oh, Ned. It's you." The mother whispered. "It's nice to know someone who cares is working Lyssa's case."
He nodded. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride home. One of the other officers can drive your car home later for you." He glanced back at Jamison and the few others who'd looked his way and nodded to them. "I'll be right back."
Ned was trying his hardest to not tear up when he brought Mrs. Callahan up to the door. He drove back o the station slowly, letting his resolve break just enough to let a few tears out before he parked outside the precinct. He grabbed the eyedrops that he had and dropped a few in each eye before he go out. It had only been fifteen minutes and came back to the tactical table.
As he drew closer, Chief LeTrai turned to him. "Banks, good. You're back." The man pushed his hand through rumpled hair then stated, "We've got another body. Don't expect to find much of anything if the other two are anything to go by. This guy didn't make any mistakes last time. We can't make any either."
Everyone gave LeTrai a sympathetic look, silently agreeing with his assessment and they all went to their desks. Back to work. Everything was on the line. Nothing could be overlooked.
Ned and Jamison stuck around, looking at their captain. They were the lead detectives on this case. Everyone had their own primary cases but tried to help work all cases if they could.
"The crime scene is out by the old plane crash memorial," LeTrai said, taking the lead and grabbing his coat and keys. "Let's get going. We needed to be gone a half an hour ago acording to the mayor, who won't stop calling."
He groaned. Politicians never knew how hard it actually was to put the puzzle pieces together. They just want things magically done by their civil servants, so they can smooth things over for their campaigns in the press.
Meanwhile, there was another woman killed. A real person with a family and a life and dreams. She was gone.
Madeline.
She was barely thirty and had a nametag on her waitress uniform. That uniform definitely looked familiar.
Murdered and left like garbage. Her arms and legs were bound and hair was chopped, just like Alyssa's had been. Her stomach was slit, and Ned doesn't want to think about how painful it must've been her murder. She was a woman, someone's daughter, and Ned stared at the body until a sheet was placed over her.
The medical examiners had gone over the previous location and this one with a fine tooth comb and came up empty. No hair, no prints, no fibers.
Nothing.
The only bit of evidence they had so far was a partial imprint from a muddy boot found on the road, leading to skid marks where the second victim was discovered.
Madeline, his mind stubbornly insisted, not the victim. He always reminded herself to use their names, refusing to give in to the urge to tar them with a meaningless label. To forget their names was to forget that they were human. To sweep aside the fact that they had lives and families and dreams before crossing paths with the faceless stranger Ned and every cop in Grandview now sought.
"He can't keep it up forever," Jamison said. "Eventually, he'll slip up and when that happens, we'll nail his ass to the wall. It will happen, Ned. Just be patient."
He pulled on plastic gloves. He toyed with the edge of his, snapping it repeatedly against the thin skin of his wrist. "We're going to start catching a lot of heat from upstairs on this one. People are going to be scared." He sighed, crouching down to take another close look at her uniform and then standing up.
He recognized it. Whoever this Madeline woman was, she worked at Rosie's diner.
"C'mon, let's go get lunch at Rosie's," he said.
"You want lunch right now?" Jamison asked, following him away from the scene and opening the driver's side. "After that?"
"Not really, but I recognize the uniform the victim was wearing. It's the same one that they have," he explained, getting into the passenger. "Maybe they can tell us a little bit more about her."
"Good idea, rookie." Jamison hit the hood of the car before he slid into his seat. "But not good enough to drive yet. Let's hit the road."
Ned picked at his remaining food and took a final sip of his soda before tossing the last few fries in his mouth as the waitress, Ruby, came back over to their table. The young girl had been busy most of their time at the diner and neither Jamison or Ned had had the chance to ask her any questions yet.
Now that the restaurant's lunch rush had mostly cleared he had a chance.
"Can I get anything else for you two?" Ruby asked, taking both of their plates. "Maybe some milkshakes or a sundae?"
Ned grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth before he pulled out his badge and showed it to her. "Would you mind answering a few questions?" He asked.
"What about?" The girl asked, pulling on the end of her ponytail as she looked over Ned and his uniform slowly before reaching his eyes.
Jamison chuckled and Ned kicked him under the table. God, he hated when girls looked at him like that. It was so annoying.
"A girl, her name is Madeline." He started, not really knowing what else to say. "She worked here, right?"
"Maddy? Yeah, she's my dorm roommate. We both got a job working weekends here, why?" Ruby asked, sitting down next to him. "Did something happen?"
Ned looked over at Jamison, who nodded and slid the photo over to him. "I know this is going to be a lot to take in," he said softly. "And this picture is rather gruesome, but we need someone to ID the body."
Ruby nodded slowly, trying her best not to get too emotional as she took hold of the photo. A few tears spilled before she turned it back over. "That's her. That's Maddy,"
"Does Maddy have a last name?" Jamison asked softly, reaching across the table to place his hand on top of Ruby's.
Jamison convinced the waitress to come in after her shift was done to talk more.
She was a thin, wiry girl with sunken, twitchy eyes, and she told Ned that Maddy was convinced she was being followed on her walks home from to the dorms. She'd gotten mace to protect herself, but had disappeared the night before after shift when she admitted the suspicion to her friend.
"They're not random targets," Ned sighed, throwing his pen across the room after Ruby left. "They're picked out."
Jamison nodded. "So how do we find out who the killer might pick next, kid? I heard the mayor called LeTrai already to put the crackdown. He wants this guy off the streets."
He worried his bottom lip as he turned that over in his mind. Cases like as this were bad enough without the higher-ups sticking their noses in. High jingo, he'd heard it called by one of the old guys
LeTrai, a twenty-year veteran, always said that when a case had high jingo, you worked it by the book and watched your six. He didn't usually hear too many of the Chief's stories but that was one piece of advice that he took to heart.
"I guess that means we better get busy then," he joked.
"Don't want to do anything to upset the Mayor." Jamison chuckled. "Get a move on, Banks. You're holding up an important investigation. Those of us that have to work for a living have to wait until you and Hawthorne make your rounds.
"I promised Katie I'd take her out tonight." He groaned, running his hands through his hair. He was supposed to be off two hours ago. "Don't make me out to be one of those guys that lies to his girlfriend."
"Don't worry, Ned. We'll get you home before the oven timer goes off." Jamison sat down in his desk finally and cracked his knuckles before they got to work.
Jamison was right.
Six o'clock rolled around quicker than expected, time flying as he and Jamison go over the current open cases and the backlog of reports that they need to file to get caught up. They had been preoccupied with usual desk duties because of the new high priority case.
"See you in the morning," he waved as he stood up, placing his last file on top of the pile.
Walking through the doors, he's surprised to feel like someone was watching him. He walked around the building looking around his surroundings and not seeing many people.
He pushed it off and walked toward his vehicle. He got inside his truck and felt it again. That presence.
He looked around the cab of his truck and it felt as strong as ever, until there was a pressure on his arm, like someone grabbed hold of it.
"Alyssa," he sighed, thinking on the fly. "If this is you…. I can't see you, but I can bring you to someone who can."
Katie was on her computer, typing away with headphones in when Ned came down the basement stairs. He couldn't tell if whatever he'd felt (if it was even Alyssa) felt in the car was still with him, but he walked toward his girlfriend quickly.
He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but when Jim answered the door and regretfully told him that Melinda wasn't home he knew that she was his only answer.
"Katie?" He tapped her shoulder and she jumped slightly, pulling her earbud out. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"No, it's fine. I just didn't even feel you sit down on the bed," she said, looking back at her document that she was writing in.
It looked like the outline for a paper that she was writing, but her computer was closed before he looked again.
"What's up? You're back earlier than I thought," she said. "I thought we were going to that nine o'clock movie."
"I know. I told Jamison you were on my case to get out early," he grinned. Laughing a little as he leaned in to kiss him.
She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe I'll start to get on your case now," she smiled. "Everything go okay?"
"For the most part," he sighed, shaking his head as he ran his hand through his hair. "Mrs. Callahan pretty much lost the ground beneath her when she came in and I had to give her ride home."
She nodded. "My mom is over there, with cookies that she and Mackenzie made."
"About that, I felt something… in my car." He sighed, looking around. "Is anyone?"
She gave a quick glance around the room. "Just Homer," she rose her hand to rest on top of the air just by her knee. "But I don't see anyone else."
"Oh," he said. "That's good, I guess."
Katie slowly took Ned's hands in hers and gave them a light squeeze. "Do you wanna talk about her? See if anything happens?" She asked.
She didn't want to anything to do with Alyssa's spirit, and she hadn't seen her since that glimpse, but if Ned needed closure, then she would try to find her for him.
He squeezed her hands back. "Yeah. That would be nice," he whispered.