Murder in Misery (Spook Squad) - By Ashley K. Broome Page 0,3

young involved.”

Keegan stopped Matt from opening the door, “Who called it in? A neighbor?”

“A neighbor called in and reported that there was a lot of noise and what sounded like screams. Dispatch advised the caller to remain in their location, away from the scene and officers would be there within a matter of minutes. The first officer to the scene was Officer Rickie. He checked for a pulse and when he found none he secured the scene.”

“So emergency medical has not come through here? Or anyone else besides us for that matter?” Keegan closed her eyes trying to fight off the curl of nausea brushing against her belly from the coppery tang that tainted the air.

“It’s just been us who have come through here,” Matt confirmed.

“All right,” Keegan nodded, “Let’s do this.”

Opening the door Keegan froze in her steps. The light blue room had been spattered red. The echoes of what had happened earlier grew louder, more incessant. She rubbed on her ear trying to ignore the lingering echoes. Inching her way into the room she stepped lightly. Spare shoe covers had been set out right inside of the entry way and she gratefully grabbed a pair and slipped them on over her boots before she pulled a pair of gloves from her jacket pocket and over her fingers. She breathed lightly ignored the iron taste of blood in her mouth. The smell, she couldn’t even comprehend it. She didn’t want to understand what comprised that scent. Death, blood, fear, panic all wrapped into one room.

She stared at the hand that was peaking out from beneath the nursery bed that was covered in blood. She squatted and traced the bite marks and cuts with her eyes. Standing she moved around the crib and took in the damage that had been done the delicate skin at the neck. The flesh was a mangled mess. Strands of long blonde hair had been matted down into the wound and bits were torn from the scalp.

Ignoring the turmoil in her stomach Keegan moved the woman’s lips so she could get a better view of her teeth. Her canines were distended, the inside of her mouth bloodied as if she had been hit in the mouth and her teeth cut in the fragile lining of the mouth. Following her gut instinct, Keegan gently opened the lids of her eyes and the bright cat-like amber flashed up at her. She was a supernatural.

Moving on, she walked the path that had been cleared for investigators towards the second victim’s body. A man lay curled into him self as if he were protecting something. She exchanged the gloves she had used to examine the woman and pulled on a fresh set. She prodded at a large gash on the forearm and frowned. The gash wasn’t a gash exactly. It was a deeper set of bite marks. She leaned forwards and grimaced at the way the back of his neck had been gouged at. Moving his head she let out a sigh. His throat had been scratched at until there was nothing left but blood. She exposed his teeth and frowned, his teeth appeared normal. She opened his eye lids and a deep blue stared up at her. He was human.

She looked up to the group of detectives who had crowded together in the doorway and then back to the male victim’s body. “You’ve gotten the photos? I can move his body?”

The room went silent. The clicking of cameras, the techs lifting any finger print they could find in the room stopped. She felt her heart beating in her chest as she waited for an answer.

Finally Doctor Sarah Biggerson, the medical examiner answered her. “The positions have been noted and photographed. You can move him and I’ll document what needs to be documented.”

Closing her eyes, Keegan braced her self for what she was afraid she may see curled up in the man’s arms. It didn’t matter that everyone else thought baby Connor was missing. Something inside of her was saying that baby Connor wasn’t missing. The way this man was laying, curled into himself, his head tucked into his arms. That was a protective pose. He was protecting something other than himself if he left that much of his neck, even the back of it, exposed. It was too vulnerable of a pose. Anyone supernatural or familiar with the supernatural wouldn’t have done that.

Bending down Keegan grasped the arms in her hand and tugged. He was still in rigor,