The rain had started as a whisper but now spoke in steady, insistent drumbeats against the roof of Detective Kate Beckett's cruiser. She parked by the desolate curb, its edges cluttered with the detritus of city life, and stepped out into the cool embrace of an unforgiving downpour that had swept over the city. The wetness clung to her like a second skin, but she barely noticed, her focus narrowed to the decrepit warehouse before her. Yellow crime scene tape flapped wildly in the wind, marking the perimeter where Officer Jackson Ryder's life had met its untimely end.
"Detective Beckett," a uniformed officer nodded, lifting the tape for her as she ducked under it.
"Officer Jones," she acknowledged curtly, her eyes already scanning the bleak landscape of the crime scene. Her boots made soft squelching sounds on the soaked ground as she approached the warehouse. The structure loomed, a silent witness to the atrocity it cradled within its walls.
Inside, the air was thick with the copper scent of blood, clinging to the dampness. She pulled on latex gloves with practiced ease, the snap of the material a familiar comfort amidst the grim scene. Her gaze swept through the interior, taking in the scene with an almost surgical precision.
"Ryder..." she whispered, a touch of sorrow seeping through her otherwise impermeable demeanor. Jackson Ryder was an officer at the 10th precinct. She had met the man briefly last year at a police conference, images of the smiling faces of his wife and son flashing in her mind. She pushed it away, burying it deep where it couldn't interfere. There would be time for grief later.
"Looks like he didn't go down without a fight," she observed aloud, kneeling beside the sprawl of a body that had once been full of life and purpose. Signs of struggle were evident; deep lacerations and dark bruises covering the expanse of his body.
"Defensive wounds on his hands... looks like he tried to fight back," Beckett mused, her fingers hovering just above the bruises that marred his knuckles. The rain outside added to the somber atmosphere.
"Detective?" one of the CSU techs called out, holding up a bagged item for her to inspect. "We found this under some boxes."
"Let me see," Beckett said, rising to her feet and walking over. The tech handed her the bag containing a small, metallic object. She turned it over in her hand, her mind racing to piece together the puzzle.
"Part of a cufflink?" she speculated, squinting at the delicate engraving—a single letter 'R'. "Could be Ryder's, or maybe our perp's. Good find."
"Thanks, Detective. We'll run it for prints and DNA," the tech replied, reclaiming the evidence with a nod of respect before turning away.
"How did this happen," Beckett murmured to herself, stepping back to let the forensic team do their work.
The persistent patter of the rain had diminished to a faint drizzle by the time Detectives Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito arrived.
"Hey, Beckett," Ryan called out as he approached, his voice barely audible over the soft sound of raindrops on the metal roof. "What do we have here?"
"Hey guys," Kate Beckett acknowledged without turning away from the body she stood over as she took notes on her notepad. "This here is Officer Jackson Ryder from the 10th. Property owner found him this morning when he got a call from a neighbor about someone lurking around the building. By the time he came to check it out, Ryder was already dead."
"Does this place have any cameras?" Esposito asked, his gaze landing on the dead body.
"No," Beckett replied curtly as she finished her writing and looked over at him. "A couple places across the street have security cameras but the warehouse itself doesn't have any. Probably made it a good place to dump a body."
Ryan furrowed his brows, his eyes scanning the dimly lit warehouse. "So, we have no witnesses and no surveillance footage. Great."
"Espo, why don't you go check with CSU and see if they have anything new. Ryan, go take a look around and see if you can find anything out of place while I finish up with the body."
While Esposito nodded, stepping off to coordinate with the CSU team, Ryan drifted away from the body as he walked the perimeter of the room. Now that they boys had tasks, she let her eyes drift back down to the body. As she carefully studied the lifeless form, Beckett's mind raced with questions. Why was Ryder at this warehouse? The defensive wounds on his body lead her to believe that he might have been lured here and taken by surprise. That could explain why he wasn't in uniform.
"Beckett." The sound of her name drew her attention to the other side of the room. Beckett rose to her feet, crossing the warehouse to where Ryan stood, his attention focused on something in his hand.
He extended the object out for her to see, revealing a small, torn piece of fabric. It was a vibrant shade of blue, contrasting against the muted tones of it's surroundings.
"This doesn't look like it matches anything I saw on Ryder and it's too clean to have been here long," Ryan explained, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Could be from our perp."
Beckett took the fabric from him, carefully examining it. "Looks like a piece of a shirt or a jacket. We'll need to send this to the lab for analysis. Maybe they can get something off of it."
As if on cue, Esposito approached them with a somber expression on his face. "CSU didn't find much else that's useful. No fingerprints or DNA other than Ryder's."
Beckett sighed, frustration building within her. They were already hitting dead ends and the persistent sound of rain seemed to amplify her sense of unease.
"Let's regroup back at the precinct," Beckett suggested, her voice determined. "I think we got everything we can from here so now we need to dig deeper into Ryder's background and figure out what he got himself into."
Beckett's boots clicked against the precinct floor, a steady rhythm that echoed the pounding in her chest. Her eyes were steely as she walked off the elevator into the buzz of activity that had overtaken the once quiet space.
Her team had gathered in their usual huddle, heads bent together as they talked quietly with one another. She had spent the last hour talking with the Captain over at the 10th so she was the last person to arrive back at the precinct.
"Hey guys," Beckett began, her voice steady and commanding. "We need to piece together what Ryder was doing at that warehouse and who might have wanted him dead. I talked to Captain Brown and he has no idea why Ryder would be on that side of town. "
Ryan chimed in first, his face etched with determination. "I've started digging into his personal life. So far, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Good family man, no known enemies."
Esposito nodded, a crease forming between his brows. "I checked with his partner. He said Ryder was a straight shooter, never got involved in anything shady."
Beckett sighed, frustration building within her. "There has to be something we're missing," she mused aloud. She squared her shoulders and let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Ryan, pull Ryder's phone records, emails, anything that could give us an idea on what he was up to," Beckett ordered, her mind racing through the steps they needed to take.
"Already on it," Ryan replied, his fingers flying over the keyboard at his desk, the blue glow of the screen painting his face in earnest concentration.
"Esposito," Beckett continued, "Coordinate with Lanie. I want a time of death as soon as she can give it to us. And keep an eye on the forensics team. If they even think they might have found something, I want to know about it."
"Understood," Esposito said, giving her a firm nod.
After the team dispersed to carry out their tasks, Beckett found herself alone at her desk, her thoughts swirling with unanswered questions. She glanced out of the window, watching raindrops cascade down the glass in a slow trail. Ryder's death felt personal to her. It wasn't just another case; he was one of their own.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the weight of the investigation. Ryder's family deserved answers, and Beckett was determined to find them.
Hello everyone, welcome to my new story! Sorry for the shorter chapter but I promise the next ones are going to be a bit longer! Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy :)