AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Morgan turned away. "I told you to stay away from me."
"Well, too bad. This is my case too. What do we have?"
Morgan clenched her jaw, hating that he was right. She had to work with him.
"Another victim," Morgan said, her voice tight with anger. "Same MO as before."
"Damn," he whispered, running a hand through his hair. "We need to catch this guy."
Morgan nodded, finally forcing herself to meet his gaze. "Yeah," she agreed, steeling her resolve. "I'm going to go talk to the witness. He's the one who found the body."
Together, they approached the fisherman, who stood by the water's edge, cradling his young son in his arms. As they drew nearer, Morgan noticed the man's haunted expression, the way his hands shook as he clutched his child protectively. She felt a pang of sympathy for him, recognizing the familiar weight of trauma in his eyes.
"Excuse me, sir," she said gently, flashing her badge. "I'm Special Agent Cross, and this is Special Agent Greene. We'd like to speak with you about what happened here."
"Sure," the man replied, his voice trembling. "My name's Sam, and this is my boy, Davis."
"Hi, Sam," Morgan said softly. She couldn't help but think of the parents who had lost their children to this monster, aching for the pain they must be feeling. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Sam swallowed hard, his eyes welling with tears as he recounted the grisly scene. "I was fishing with Davis when my line got caught on something. I tugged, and it felt like I'd hooked something big. When I looked in the water... that's when I saw her. I couldn't believe my eyes. I reeled her in as fast as I could and called the police. Thankfully, Davis didn't see anything."
"Good thinking," Morgan said, grateful that the young boy had been spared from witnessing such horror. She watched as he played, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had unfolded mere feet away.
"Did you notice anything else unusual while you were out here?" she asked, turning her attention back to Sam.
"Yeah, actually, now that you mention it," Sam said, furrowing his brow in concentration. "There was this van that drove by. It had some kind of logo on the side, but I didn't get a good look at it. I thought it was odd because we don't usually see delivery vans around these parts."
"Anything else? Did you catch the license plate or any other details about the van?" Morgan pressed, hoping for a lead that might help them track down the killer.
"Sorry, no," Sam replied, clearly frustrated with himself. "It all happened so fast."
"Thank you for your help, Sam," Morgan said, her eyes scanning the lake one last time. The water rippled gently, belying the horror it had concealed just moments ago.
"Of course," Sam said. "If there's anything else I can do to help, I will in a heartbeat."
"Let's go," she whispered to Derik, a sense of urgency rising within her. It was clear that they needed to act fast. With every passing moment, the killer could be plotting his next move, selecting another innocent victim.
For now, she needed to know more about Megan's life. She turned to Derik and said, "Derik, see if Megan has any family we can contact. I want to meet with them."
***
Morgan entered the local precinct with purpose, her footsteps echoing through the quiet hallway. She found herself in a small, sterile room where Megan's parents, Darlene and Mark, sat huddled together, their faces etched with despair.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hart, I'm Agent Morgan Cross," she introduced herself, her voice gentle yet professional. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
The couple looked up at her, clutching at their cross necklaces as if they were lifelines. Morgan could see the raw pain in their eyes, and her heart ached for them.
"I want you to know that we're doing everything we can to find the person responsible for Megan's death," she continued. "She's not the first victim of this killer, but we're working tirelessly to make sure she's the last."
Morgan watched as Darlene's eyes filled with tears, her hands clutching at the cross necklace even tighter. She looked up to the heavens and cried out, "Why, God? Why did you do this to our baby girl?"
Mark, his own face crumpled in grief, put a comforting arm around his wife. "Darlene, we can't understand His ways," he whispered, his voice hoarse from crying. "He works in strange and mysterious ways, and someday, it will all make sense."
"Mr. and Mrs. Hart," Morgan began, her eyes locked onto the couple's grief-stricken faces, "I know this is difficult, but I need to ask if there was anything unusual about Megan lately, anything at all that could help us find the person responsible."
Darlene blinked away tears, clasping her hands together as she thought back over recent events. "Well, she did mention meeting a nice young man at her church group last week," she said hesitantly, as though unsure whether the detail held any significance.
"Did she say anything more about him?" Morgan prompted gently, her mind racing with the implications of this new information. A church group meeting... maybe it was the same guy who went to Stacy's AA meeting.
