"Trista!" Cody called.

She turned around and settled her jade green eyes on her partner.

"We got a call about someone breaking into a farm and letting out the animals," he said.
"Someone stole them for meat?" She asked.
"I don't know but it's our job to find out," he said. "Come on."

They got out in the police car and took off. He was driving like always. He looked over at her from time to time, studying her while she kept her eyes on the road. Her long, straight, bronze brown hair was put up in a ponytail. She always wore a ponytail to work.

"Do you ever wear your hair down?" He asked.
"Not at work," she said.

She was always so professional. He could never find a way in. If he tried flirting, it was like she didn't even recognize what was happening and she would somehow turn the conversation away from where he was trying to take it. He sighed and pulled in on the dirt road leading to the farm. He parked in front of the house and they got out of the car to greet a man waiting for them.

"Erick Rowan?" Cody asked.
"That's me," Erick said.
"Can you take us to the barn?" Cody asked.
"This way," Erick said.

They followed Erick from the house to the barn. Trista looked around but couldn't see any animals out on the field.

"What type of animals are we talking about?" Trista asked.
"Deers," Erick answered.

Trista and Cody shared a look. They had been expecting it to be chicken, pigs, goats, sheep, cows or horses. Not deers.

"Is it legal to keep deers in a barn?" Trista asked lowly.
"We have to look into it when we get back," Cody said.

Erick stopped by the open barn and held out his hand.

"It's the message on the wall that creeps me out," Erick said. "I can always get new deers but I don't know if I dare with that message. It feels like some sort of threat."

Trista and Cody walked into the barn and stared at the message left on the wall.

A lot of blood was spilled those days and people were outraged
They saw the villains as the heroes, and they villainized the heroes
Tears, anger, hate, the loss of control
Eyes shut, mind shut, their world shutting down
Down by the old town road is a house built of blood and bones
A lot of blood was spilled in that place
But we never spilled the blood of the innocent

"Some sort of poem?" Cody asked.
"I don't know but it freaks me out," Erick answered. "It feels like a warning. I'm not getting any deers until you catch whoever was here."

Trista held up her phone and took a picture of the message on the wall.

"What do you think, Trista?" Cody asked.
"I have an idea. Drive me to the library so I can look into it while you get started on this place," Trista said.
"Keeping me in the dark again?" Cody asked.
"You know it," Trista answered.
"Okay, let's go and get some more people out here," Cody said. "Don't touch anything, Erick."
"I'm not going back in there," Erick held up his hands. "That message is evil. I know it."

Trista and Cody got back into the car. Cody drove back towards town and sighed loudly.

"It's got to be Roman's work, right?" He asked.
"It sure fits his style but he's never left a message before," she said.
"It has to be him. I can feel it," he said.
"Put some pressure on Erick and see if he cracks. If he admits to having been blackmailed in order to keep those deers and whatever he was doing with them a secret, it's Roman," she said.

He turned in to the parking lot for the library and looked at her.

"And the message?" He asked.
"I got a hunch," she said. "I'll call you if I find something."

She left the car and he watched her ass as she jogged towards the library. He let out another sigh and drove back to the farm. He had been there nearly an hour when Trista called and asked him to come back to the station. Once he returned to the station, she was waiting for him with a book in her arms.

"You found something," he said.
"I found something," she smirked. "What did Erick say?"
"He was blackmailed. Apparently he kept those deers in bad condition and used them as an easy hunting party for his friends. For payment, of course. It's our job to make sure the public doesn't hear about that," he said. "It's Roman. Roman always fucking blackmails people and then still does what he promises not to do after taking their money. I don't know how the fucker continues getting away with it."

He sat down by his desk and looked at the book in her hands.

"What did you find?" He asked.
"I knew I had heard about the old town road before. You know the private road leading to the forest?" She asked.
"Of course I know it. Some rich dude owns that entire area," he said.
"Way back in the days it was called the old town road. Don't ask me how I know because I have no fucking clue. Maybe I read it in a book once or heard it in a documentary. The point is that no one calls it that anymore and no one seems to know it was once called that," he said.
"Okay," he nodded. "What did the poem say again?"
"Down by the old town road is a house built of blood and bones," she said.

She placed the book down in front of him and tapped her finger on the page with a picture of the house on the property.

"Red walls, white windows and doors. Blood and bones," she said.
"That's a reach," he said.
"It's a metaphor," she said. "What if Roman has been hiding in plain sight all this time?"
"He hasn't. You're in too deep with this theory," he said.
"Who owns that area?" She asked.
"Some rich dude," he answered.
"But who, Cody?" She asked. "No one fucking knows. Don't you find that suspicious at all? No one ever goes there because that place is heavily monitored and shut off from the world. Whoever is in there doesn't want to be seen. I'm telling you, it's Roman."

He looked at the picture again and sighed. He knew she was right. No one knew who actually owned that area. It was a big area with forest around it. Whoever was in there could easily hide. The entire area was fenced in with barb wire and spikes on top. Whoever was in there didn't want anyone to come close. He often wondered who lived in there but it had never crossed his mind that it could be Roman.

"I still think it's a reach. We can't go off on every hunch. We might get killed by some old hermit who doesn't have a clue why we're on his land," he said.
"I'm going there with or without a team," she said. "I know I'm right. We've been chasing this guy for so long. I'm not letting him slip away once again."

He nodded and looked up at her.

"That message was either a way to taunt us because he thought we wouldn't be bright enough to figure it out, or it was a direct invite," he said. "Let's gather a team."