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  Marsha was sitting in her favorite sewing chair, eyes open wide with fear. The book she had been reading was on her lap and splattered with blood and gore. Marsha had been shot point blank in the chest with a shotgun blast.

  Detective Denard’s knees buckled and he staggered and fell to the floor by his beloved wife. His anguished cries echoed through the empty house.

  Chapter 18

  Captain Abraham Wells was enjoying a rare night out with a woman he met on a dating website. He loved how her eyes sparkled when she smiled. It was going surprisingly well. She was smart and funny and seemed genuinely interested in him. He had just finished laughing at a story she was telling about the preschool where she worked when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller I.D.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to take this.” Annoyance was sketched on his features, his eyes asking for forgiveness and understanding.

  She smiled and waved at him to let him know that it was fine.

  Captain Wells smiled at her as he got up to go outside.

  “Captain Wells.” He barked into the phone.

  “Sir, I hate to bother you.” The officer began. “Detective Denard just called 9-1-1. Apparently his wife was killed in their home today. A shotgun, point blank. Officers are on the way.”

  “Give me the address.”

  The captain hung up and just stood for a few seconds, trying to wrap his brain around what he had just heard. He squared his shoulders and went back inside to deliver the news that he would have to cut their date short.

  He sat down at their table.

  “I really am sorry, but I’m going to have to leave. There’s been an emergency involving one of my detectives. Let me get the check and I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “As long as you’re not ditching me.” She said with a smile.

  “That’s not my style. Actually, I would love to see you again. Are you free this weekend?” Captain Wells was definitely interested.

  “I am, actually.” She smiled.

  “Good.” The Captain smiled back at her.

  After Abraham had paid and tipped the waiter he walked her to her car, opening the door for her. He kissed her on the cheek and waited for the car to pull away before heading to his own car and driving out to the crime scene.

  Chapter 19

  Kacey and Thor were out for a walk when she saw several police cars pulling into the Denard’s driveway. She and Dan were fairly close neighbors to John and Marsha and had stopped by to chat on many of their walks. Marsha was her favorite person to talk to at their department social events. She could always make Kacey laugh by gently teasing John and it always gave her a thrill to watch how much she and her husband adored each other.

  Kacey spotted Jack’s partner, Calvin Robb, and she and Thor walked over.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Cute puppy.” He said, reaching down to pet Thor. “It looks like Detective Denard’s wife has been murdered.”

  “Oh, my God .. Marsha?! What happened?”

  “Go on in. I’ll put your dog in the back of my cruiser.”

  “Thanks, Cal.” Kacey handed him the leash.

  Kacey didn’t have her badge, but it was a small force so she was waved right in. The first thing she saw was Detective Denard sitting on the couch looking like he was in shock. She walked over and sat by him.

  “Oh, John, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

  The detective looked at Kacey like he didn’t see her at first, then he took her hand and said, “If anyone knows how I feel right now, it’s you. Thanks, Kacey.”

  “I’ll just stay here with you, if that’s ok.”

  Kacey sat with John as the officers and C.S.I. processed the home. She sat with him as Marsha was taken out and put into the coroner’s vehicle. Kacey went out and got Thor.

  “Calvin, I’ll stay with him as long as I need to tonight.”

  Kacey had called John's daughter, who said she would get the earliest flight out of Phoenix. Kacey stayed until everyone had left. She fixed him a light snack and got him a cold drink. After settling him in the living room with Thor curled up beside him, she went in to clean up after the forensics team and set the family room to rights. Thankfully the techs took the chair and anything surrounding the chair so Kacey had no blood to clean up, although, she would have. Once the room was perfect, she went into where John was still sitting. Thor had made his way into John’s lap and was softly snoring as John absentmindedly stroked his little head. Kacey sat with him, keeping him company until his daughter was officially on her way.

  By the time Kacey got home, the sun was rising and she was exhausted. She and Thor crawled into bed, falling asleep immediately.

  Chapter 20

  Around 7:00 am, Kacey woke to Thor slurping her face. The little dog began barking and running in a circle on the bed when he realized Kacey was finally awake.

  “Seriously?!” Kacey said with a groan as she sat up and stretched. Her arms were raised high above her head which, according to Thor’s barking, was unacceptable.

  Kacey swung her legs over the side of the bed and scooped the dog up and sat him on the floor.

  “You’re a demon dog.” She yawned.

  Thor tilted his head and looked accusingly at her.

  “I’m sorry, baby. You’re just so sweet.” She yawned and let him outside to do his business.

  While her coffee pot was perculating she filled Thor’s food and water bowls. After letting him in, he yipped his thanks and began chomping and slurping like a rhino at the watering hole.

  ‘How does such a little guy make so much noise?’ She wondered.

  Kacey filled her cup, set it by her favorite chair, and went to get the paper. She flipped it open and as she walked towards the door scanned for any news from last night. Nothing… must’ve been too late at night. ‘Poor John.’ Kacey thought. ‘His life will never be the same.’

  She poured a bowl of cereal and added almond milk. Anything else made her queasy in the morning. As she sat reading her paper and eating she desperately tried to keep her grief at bay. Sitting with John had reopened the wound that was just beginning to heal. She couldn't believe that last night, she was thinking that for the first time she wasn't constantly feeling the hot, stabbing pain of grief that was flooded with anguish. And now this.

  Oh, she still missed him terribly, but slowly she was noticing that when she thought of him it was with sweet memories and funny stories. Maybe this was what healing meant. Or maybe she was just keeping herself busy.

  She sighed, put her empty bowl in the sink and went to get dressed for work. Thor followed her and stood by the bed whining until she lifted him up and put him on the end. He curled up into a ball and fell back asleep.

  “Oh, Dan would’ve loved you.” She said with a smile.

  Kacey finished getting ready and put Thor into his kennel with his chew toys, an old bath towel and a promise to be back later. He looked at her with his sad puppy eyes and turned his nose to the back of the kennel in reproach. Kacey laughed at his dramatics as she locked the door behind her.

  Kacey’s phone began to ring as soon as she pulled out of her driveway.

  “Hey, Mike.” She answered.

  “Hey, Kacey. Did you hear about Marsha Denard?”

  “I was walking Thor and saw the commotion, so yes. I stayed with John until his daughter was on her way. It was awful. Who’s on it? Do they know anything yet?”

  “No idea. Jackie called last night to tell me. She was off duty, but Calvin caught the call and let her know. He said it was bad.” Mike was quiet for a couple of seconds. “I’m on my way. I’ll see you there.”

  “Bye.”

  Kacey turned off the radio so she could think. It just really didn’t make sense that Dan’s shooting and Martha’s murder weren’t related somehow. Is someone targeting spouses? Two completely different scenarios, but it should at least be considered.

  ‘Hunting accident, my but
t.’ Kacey frowned.

  Chapter 21

  Mike was getting out of his car when Kacey pulled up next to him. They walked in together and greeted Angie. Her eyes were red rimmed and she was wiping them with a tissue. She waved absentmindedly at them as they walked past her.

  The precinct was oddly quiet when they walked in and shut the door. Jeff Boaz, John’s partner, was in Captain Wells’ office with the door shut. He was pacing in front of the desk while the Captain listened intently. The detective nodded at the Captain and left the office. He walked past Mike and Kacey without lifting his eyes and kept on going. Mike frowned at Kacey and she just shrugged her shoulders.

  The Captain opened his door and every eye turned towards the noise. He cleared his throat and called Mike and Kacey into his office before they had a chance to settle in.

  “Sit.” He ordered.

  The two detectives sat and waited. The Captain walked around the office, picking up a knick knack here and a photo there. Finally, he walked around to his desk chair and sat.

  “I’m a little at a loss here.” He began. “Kacey, I know you were with John last night so you know as much as I do. Mike, are you aware of what happened with Marsha Denard?”

  “Yes sir.”

  The Captain leaned forward in his chair and steepled his hands. He rested his forehead on his fingertips and was silent for a few seconds. Finally, he lifted his head and looked directly at Kacey.

  “In light of this, I want to re-open Dan’s case to see if there is any relation to Marsha. Kacey, I just wanted you to know so you aren’t blindsided by any questions that may come your way. Dan and Marsha were both married to our detectives. Coincidence, maybe, but I’m really not much for those.

  “I’m taking lead on this one, along with Detective Boaz. Mike, I may borrow you from time to time. For now, I want you both devoting your time exclusively to the Benning and Forsythe murders.”

  “Thank you for telling me, sir.” Kacey said

  Captain Wells nodded.

  “Any progress?”

  “No. We are going to see Dr. Forrester and Todd to see what they got off of their computers.” Mike answered.

  “All right, get to it.” The Captain wearily waved them out.

  “Let’s go see what CSI has first. I need my cereal to settle a bit before we go see Dr. Forrester.” Kacey suggested.

  Mike held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

  Chapter 22

  The professor was cleaning his knives. Trying to decide which one to try out. The glow from his laptop screen reflected off of the smooth stainless steel. He polished it with a white cloth until it was practically gleaming. He pressed his lips to the blade and kissed it. Just imagining it's future.

  “Soon …” he whispered.

  He put the knife and cloth down and swiveled his chair towards the laptop. He opened the makeamatch.com website and, once again, began to chat with Joanna the redhead. She was very eager to meet him.

  ‘Hi, Joanna. How was your day?’

  He waited patiently as the icon indicated that Joanna was responding.

  ‘It was great … your’s?’

  ‘Good. Hey, I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me Friday. I know a great place.’

  ‘I think I’m available. I’ll have to check for sure. Give me a minute and I’ll get my planner.’

  ‘Sure.’

  A few seconds later, he could see that she was responding.

  ‘I would love to have dinner with you. Tell me where and I will meet you.’

  ‘I’m happy to pick you up at your house. I’m safe, I promise.’

  ‘That’s sweet of you, but I would prefer to meet you there. At least at first.’

  ‘I totally understand. A girl can’t be too careful, right.’

  ‘LOL. That’s exactly right.’

  ‘LOL’? Seriously? Adult women really say that now? The professor shook his head in disgust.

  ‘I’ll get us a reservation and message you the details. Sound OK?’

  ‘Sounds great. See you then.’

  The professor was a little disappointed. He preferred picking them up at their home. A gentleman always walked to the door. Oh, well. This will work out fine. He was positive that she would let him take her home.

  He picked up the phone to make a reservation.

  Chapter 23

  Mike loved to visit the CSI building. It was such a mystery to him how they came up with their conclusions. One glass walled room seemed to always have two or three people sealed up wearing protective gear. Another area was wall to wall computers with a wall sized projector screen. His favorite area was the one in which they focused on the tiniest details. He was always amazed at how they could take the tiniest fiber or partial fingerprint and pinpoint exactly who, what, when, where, and usually how. Amazing.

  By the time Mike had finished oohing and ahhing, Kacey was already talking to Todd, her favorite computer whiz. Todd was a perpetually pale young man with a very quirky way of looking at the world. Kacey thought he was utterly charming.

  Todd had actually gone on a real live date and Kacey was desperately trying not to give in to the laughter that was rising up in her chest as he told her all about it. He was such a socially awkward kid. So incredibly smart, but awkward. And she was so proud that he was taking the leap into dating, but oh my, the story was too much!

  Thankfully, Mike came into the room just as she was about to lose it.

  “Hey, Todd, whatcha got?” Mike asked, with a questioning look at Kacey. She had her hand over her mouth and shook her head slightly at him.

  “It looks like both of our victims were enrolled in ‘makeamatch.com.” At their questioning looks, Todd elaborated.

  “It’s a new local dating website that doesn’t show pictures. The premise is that you would build a relationship based on personality more than looks. You do have to submit a photo in your application for security purposes. But the other users never see it. From what I can tell it works just like any other. You begin a chat if you are interested and that person chats back if they are interested. Then they decide to ‘hook up’ or not.”

  “Interesting concept.” Kacey said. “Were either of our victims on a date with their matches?”

  “Yep. The ‘Professor’.” Todd pointed at the screen. “He contacted both of the women and was chatting with them. It looks like they had dates on the nights they were killed.

  "It took a lot of tech stuff you don't want to hear about to find the domain owner's name and phone number, but I finally got it.”

  “Great job, Todd.” Mike said as Todd handed him a flash drive with all of the information on it and a slip of paper with the name "Toby Brown" and a phone number..

  As they walked out the door, Mike asked her what the deal was earlier.

  “Todd was just telling me about his ‘hot’ date last night.” Kacey chuckled. “He’s a ‘hot’ mess!”

  Let’s see if we can talk to someone at ‘makeamatch.com’.” Kacey suggested. “But first, I need to let Thor out.”

  “I’ll drive you, I need to see my god dog.” Mike said as he opened the door for Kacey.

  They rode in companionable silence for a few miles just admiring the beautiful day. Kacey rolled her window down a couple of inches and, after turning her face towards the sun, closed her eyes.

  “Mike,” Kacey said, ending the silence. “Do you think Jack would like to get lunch one day, just she and I?”

  “I’m sure she would. Ask her.”

  “I think I will."

  Mike glanced over at her, worried. “Everything OK?”

  “Oh, yeah. Fine. I just get bored sometimes … almost lonely, but not quite. I just miss Dan. I always will.”

  “I imagine that’s true, Kace. He was a great guy. Funny and he made the best pancakes!”

  "You would mention the pancakes." Kacey said with a laugh.

  Mike pulled the car into Kacey’s driveway and they could hear Thor’s excited
yips through the front door.

  Kacey turned the key in the lock, and they stepped inside. By the time Kacey got him out of the kennel, Thor was so excited the whole lower half of his body was wagging so hard his feet were almost in the air!

  “Good boy.” Kacey soothed in a baby voice as she let him out. “Such a good boy! You didn’t go in your kennel.”