there is a another for you all as i don't normally post on weekends but if you all would like an update just let me know and i'll post one for you. this chapter is a bit different from anything i have written before, but than this all story is. there is a trigger warning for this chapter it mentions rape,violence and death so if this isn't your thing, you might want to skip this chapter. this chapter is from Rick's POV which is not something i have written before but it needed to told for the story to flow. hope you all enjoy. please review and let me know what you think. hope you all have a good weekend. :)

Chapter 6.

January 21st

Rick's POV

Rick opened his eyes, unable to ignore the insistent buzzing of his mobile. He picked it up and rolled onto his back. "hello," he said, stifling a yawn. There wasn't a trace of daylight around his curtains so it was early, very early.

"morning sir."

Rick sat up and looked over at his alarm clock. A call at 4.10 a.m. from Jane Bennett, his senior detective sergeant, wasn't good. "morning Jane what's up?"

"we are sir," she said, no trace of sleep in her voice.

Rick tried to engage his brain as he grabbed a pair of boxers from a pile of clean washing and dragged on yesterday's suit trousers, already scanning his bedroom for some deodorant. "go on."

"the on-call team are on site, the grocery store. Female, eighteen. DOA… it looks like there might be connection to the Espinosa case, sir." She might not sound tired but he recognized tension when he heard it.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Anything else?" rick asked, already walking out of his bedroom, down the stairs, though the hallway, grabbing his jacket and coat as he passed. Thankful that he hadn't woken Lori up. "no Ballinger is the di on call, so he fill you in when you arrive. I've called the team in. do you want me with you, or shall I get things prepped here, for when you get into the office?"

"you stay put. I'll brief everyone as soon as I arrive." He was about to hang up when he heard her clear her throat. "is there something else, Jane?" where was a slight pause on the other end of the phone. "the chief asked me to tell you….to mention that he wants the scene processed ASAP. He doesn't want…in his words, "a media circus" invading Georgia." "I'm sure he doesn't, shutting his front door, a gust of freezing wind hitting him full in the face. "I'll see you in a sec."

Rick zipped up his jacket as he approached the officer in charge of the outer perimeter. He couldn't help but be slightly amused as she struggled to hold the police tape aloft for him. The scent of her perfume filled his nostrils as he brushed past. It was strong, way too strong for 4.30 in the morning. "thank you, officer," rick said, trying not to breathe in any more of the musky odour.

A thin layer of ice crunched breath his feet as he crossed the road. the temporary traffic lights were red, the ice reflecting the colour onto his shoes and legs. it looked like he was walking through a pool of road was deserted, apart from four police vehicles, and a redundant ambulance. The squad car's flashing lights cast a eerie glow over the grocery store car park. A low muttering was coming from the alleyway that run alongside the grocery store.

rick approached the inner cordon at the mouth of the alleyway and dragged on some shoe covers held out to him by another young officer. It was only then that the smell hit him. The cold would have slowed down the first stages of decomposition but there was no mistaking the sweet, metallic odour of blood.

The scene of the crime officers had laid down numerous three by two platforms of toughened plastic to protect the site. He stepped up onto one of them, aware that he was inches away from vital evidence. The platforms criss-crossing the piles of debris made the scene look like some sick collage, the forensics team hovering around the body, obscuring ricks view. All he could see were two bare feet.

"rick, delighted you could make it. I was entering rigor myself waiting for you. "Caesar Martinez stood and walked towards him, removing his gloves. "Caesar. What have we got?" rick asked, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Caesar Martinez was the senior pathologist for Georgia.

"female, Lilly chambler, eighteen years old…and we're looking at the same MO as the other one. It's too early for me to officially confirm but…. unofficially, you're looking for the same man. Wrists, rape, throat." Caesar shrugged.

Rick stepped towards the body. Her bare feet were smeared with mud and filth from the alleyway. Her scarped knees were splayed outward, her right leg lying at an awkward angle with what looked like badly torn tights stuck to her thigh. Her skin was translucent. A sheet covered her torso but rick could still see the blood. It looked viscous, like oil. It had pooled around her wrists where they had been cut. Her dark hair was plastered against her right cheek.

Rick took a lungful of the January air, grateful now for the bite of cold on the back of his throat. Two dead girls in three days. both murder scenes where within two miles of each other. Rick was starting to think they could have a serial killer on their hands.