All of the color in Duncan' face drained out as he pulled his wife into his arms. He cradled her against his chest, mumbling her name over and over again, hoping that she would open her eyes. However, the more he cried out, the more the fact of her death hit him. It was like a weight being dropped off of a high ledge down into his chest. The tears continue to fall and all of his memories flooded his mind. How could he turn himself in when his wife needed him? Here she was sick for years on end until receiving the bone marrow of the President, but now only three years later…she was dead. As his thoughts continue to eat away at his soul, Ellen approached him and his wife and kneeled down to feel Nina's corpse. Duncan refused to look at the blonde and only listen to her words.
"…I'm so sorry, Duncan…if only I got here-" Ellen said with a heavy heart but was interrupted by the male.
"H-how long?"
"Excuse me?"
For the first time since finding his wife's body, he shot a glare at Ellen and repeated himself, "How long? How long was she murdered for before we found her?"
Ellen opened her mouth to speak, but the words couldn't slide past her tongue. How could she tell this man that his wife was probably alive just an hour before? However without a proper autopsy or a licensed medical examiner, there was no way to tell the current time of death. She eased her hand up and placed it firmly against the male's shoulder, giving it a tight yet reassuring squeeze. There was nothing that she could say that would make the situation any better so she remained quiet until Duncan eased his wife's limp body back to the floor before straighten his position. Dark red blood covered the man's torso, even some against his pallor cheeks. Ellen reached upwards to wipe the blood away when he quickly jerked his hand up and grabbed her wrist. For a mere second, their eyes met, while his grasp tightened around the blonde's thin wrist. Of course he could have broken it easily without any efforts, but he released it and then walked out of the abandon house.
As the footsteps grew softer, Ellen moved closer to Nina's body and examined it carefully, reading every marking as if she was reading a book. Her fingertips grazed the woman's body, the icy coldness of death shot down her spine as she found something interesting. As suspected, Nina Carlisle was murdered. In the woman's side was a small gash, but when looked at closer, was a deep wound that caused her to bleed out. Glancing around the room, Ellen noticed that for a person to bleed out like she believe Nina did, there would have to be pools and pools of blood, but inside the room was very little. She slowly stood up straight and walked around the rest of the abandon house, but to no avail, there wasn't enough blood to say that the woman bled out here. She had to get to Duncan and let him know of her findings.
Outside, Duncan was resting his back against the vehicle, a blank stare upon his face. Whatever drive he once had was gone from seeing his wife killed. Ellen approached him and rested a soft hand against his back and cleared her throat to speak. "Duncan…Nina wasn't killed here…"
The man turned and face the blonde his eyes red from warm tears. "What?!"
"I did a quick exam on her and whoever killed your wife made sure that her wounds would kill her slowly."
"Ellen…what do you mean, kill her slowly?" the man husked.
"The wound in Nina's side and the other bruising caused her to bleed out. There's not enough blood here to back that theory up so she had to be killed somewhere else."
The man shot Ellen a cold glare and rasped, "And what do you expect me to do? Go on a search party to find that location! My wife is dead and it's all my fault. I got her killed! And what about Sawyer!?"
That's when it all sinks in. His daughter was out there somewhere without her father for three years and now, she was without her mother forever. The ground beneath him started to wear away from the soles of his shoes as he paced back and forth, his thoughts all scrambled. Duncan had to find his daughter. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. As he wandered about what his little girl would look like, he shook his head and focused on the most important matter at hand, he had to go home and find his daughter. He didn't want to think of the possibility that whoever was causing all of this madness could have his daughter locked away in a tower somewhere. The guilt hit him square in the chest as he thought about all the opportunities that he had already missed with her and the small chance that he could miss the rest. He continued to fight with his emotions when he felt a strong, reassuring grip against his shoulder. He focused his heavy hues to the blonde standing beside him, who didn't have to say a word to make him feel like she completely understood; but that was just it, she did understood, more than anybody else could. After standing there, what felt like years, Duncan sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it out slowly and faced the woman. "Ellen…" he started to say with a heavy, damaged heart, but she shot her hand up and forced him to stop. "Duncan…" the woman said, her eyes just as stained as his. Before she could finish her statement the phone buzzed and both of their eyes shot to the little device.
After the first ring, Ellen quickly answered it, placing it on loud speaker so Duncan could hear. The same old raspy voice filled the air just as he done the time before. "Mrs. Sanders….Mr. Carlisle…it's always…good to hear you. Now down to business…you see that body in the house…I'm sure you did, or at least by your sadden expressions…" Duncan narrowed his brow and held his tongue long enough and roared through the silence, "You bastard! You killed my wife!"
"NO!" the voice of the phone exclaimed. "No! You did, Mr. Carlisle. If you weren't locked away in a jail cell, maybe your precious Nina would still be alive…but instead she's lying on a floor, cold as ice…now then, shall we proceed or will you be interrupting me again? I don't have time to play games, Mr. Carlisle." Duncan opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it, deciding to hold his tongue to find out more information. "Good…now then…inside the house you'll find a letter and a packed bag to help you to find your next location. And if you choose not to follow my instructions…then I have no choice but to end a pretty, little girl's life." The line went dead and there was no point trying to call it back. Those words it closed to home to both Ellen and Duncan. They had no idea who the mystery person was talking about. Was it about Morgan or did this sick son of a bitch have Duncan's daughter after all?
Duncan closed his eyes, trying to piece all of the information together. Ellen cleared her throat and snapped him back to reality. He had to go back inside the abandon house and see his wife's lifeless body once again. "Duncan, I'll go…I'll find whatever it is that we need. You stay out here…" The man that was once so strong began to crumble a part. "No…I'll help…"
No matter how much Ellen insisted that Duncan stay outside, the more heated his temper became. Finally agreeing to allow him to tag along inside, they both walked through the front door, eyes peering around the vast room. "I'll take the upstairs…"Ellen heard the deep voice the man behind her. She quickly shook her head in denial, knowing that no good could from him searching in the same room as his murdered wife. After a few minutes of him arguing with her, he backed off and decided to search the downstairs for any hints.
Downstairs, Duncan began his search slowly, his mind continuously on his now deceased wife. Closing his eyes and applying pressure with his index finger to his forehead, he exhaled out a deep breath before flashing his eyes open. He gazed across the room taking in every detail. The couch and the love seat appeared a few years old wrapped tightly up in clear plastic; while the three coffee tables had about two inches of dust layered upon them. The china cabinet in the corner was locked and seemed to be untouched in a few years, which made him wonder if there was something to hide inside it. For the time being, he would leave it alone, but eventually he would get inside the neatly stacked cabinet. Turning his attention to the clock that remained at the time 2:43AM on the wall, he traced his fingers over the glass and noticed that the clock had been recently moved. The outline on the wall where the clock once was had been cleaner than the rest of the wall. He grabbed the clock and flipped it around and saw a note taped to the back of it. He quickly opened it and scanned over the contents…
Upstairs, Ellen had found her way past the trail of blood that led to the far right room. Instead of searching in the room where Nina's body laid, she decided to take the other room. Inside was a bed that had be made and untouched for awhile and across from it was a dark red dresser. She quickly fumbled around inside, but came up empty. She remembered what the caller had said on the phone and could only imagine what they had planned for her and Duncan this time. She finished searching the room over and came to the conclusion that she had to search the room that Nina was killed in. Inside the room, Ellen's stomach churned from the colorless face of Nina Carlisle. She quickly crossed the room and searched inside the dresser for anything that would seem like a clue to the next location; however, she still came up empty handed. Without anything else left to search through in the room, the blonde decided to look underneath the bed in hopes of finding anything. Glancing quickly, she found a bag stuffed full of things. She grabbed the bag and threw it over her shoulder and headed for the door when Duncan rushed inside. "…I think I know where Nina was murdered!"