Elisa

It was unsettling to know that my younger sister met my own father before I ever had. I had so many questions running through my head. Nothing made sense.

‘It makes perfect sense,’ a voice whispered in the back of my head. ‘He left my mother plenty of letters saying that he wanted to see his daughter, that he WAS going to see his daughter. Maybe he befriended my stepfather so he could get close enough to him to be invited over to possibly get to me!’ I looked over at Jackson, he was stunned. “Well, let’s all get ready so that we can head out!” I said, trying to sound as cheerful as I could, not wanting my fear to be that obvious.

It was surprisingly easy to get both kids into the car without a fuss. I had done as Jackson suggested and grabbed a backpack with stuff in it in case they let Elizabeth start that day. When I told her I was going to get her back into school, she threw a fit. Usually I would do anything to make it stop, but this time I was grateful for it. It was a distraction from what I really wanted to think about.

Elizabeth now sat cheerfully in the backseat, as if her fit never happened. Luckily enough, the elementary school was also connected to the middle school. Even when I was in school the two schools were always one building. The High School had its own separate building, but it still was close by, that’s how small the town was.

It felt weird walking into the school with my uniform on. Jackson led me into the front desk, he smiled at the woman at the front. “Oh hello Mr. Bridges. I see you were the one who brought little Lucas today.” The woman smiled at Lucas, Lucas held his dad’s hand and tried hiding behind his arm. “Yeah, I usually never get to but today I do. Anyways, this is my friend Elisa and her sister Elizabeth.” The woman glanced over at me and Elizabeth and she smiled at us. “Ah, yes, I remember you two.” I tilted my head in confusion. “You do?” She nodded. “Yes, I was the one up here when you came in to pick your sister up from school when your mother passed away. I was also the one who helped you take her out of public school and told you how you could get her enrolled online.”

It finally came back to me. I smiled wide. This woman had been extremely nice and helpful, it made me feel better to have to deal with someone I somewhat knew. “Well, I’m trying to enroll Elizabeth back in public school. Would that be possible.” Elizabeth crossed her arms at my words, her bottom lip slightly poking out as if she was pouting. “Of course I can. Just give me a few minutes and we can start the process.”

“So, when would she be able to start?” I asked, after having finished any paperwork needed to re-enroll her. The woman looked at the time. “Well, she could start today. She’ll be with the sixth graders. Her first period will be Science with Mr. Harper. This is his room,” the woman handed me a piece of paper with his room number. I nodded. “Thank you. Would it be okay if I walked her to class?” The woman nodded. “Of course.”

Jackson was standing outside of the front desk, waiting for me. He had already walked Lucas to class a while ago. “So what did she say?” He asked. “She said Elizabeth could start today. Her first class is going to be Science with Mr. Harper. I’m walking her to class and then we can go.” Jackson nodded. “Sounds good. Mind if I follow?” I shook my head. “Of course not. I’ve never had to do this so the support will really come in handy.”

As we got closer to her class, Elizabeth grabbed my hand tightly. I squeezed it back in reassurance. We reached the door. I looked at my sister and smiled at her. “It’s all going to be okay, I promise that I’m going to be here on time to pick you up, okay?” Elizabeth frowned. “Please, be safe sissy.”I patted her head, “I will. Are you ready?” She nodded, and I knocked on the classroom door.

After dropping Elizabeth off at her class, Jackson and I left the school and headed to work. As soon as we walked through the doors we were greeted by one of the front desk officers. “Good morning Officer Bridges, Officer Reynolds. Someone came in not that long ago looking for you two. He said he needed to speak to you both, he was taken into the interrogation room to wait for you two to get here.” Jackson nodded. “Alright, thank you. Elisa, go on ahead. I’ll be there soon.” Jackson and I went separate ways.

Walking into the room I saw a middle-aged man sitting on the other side of the table. He wore a dark purple tee-shirt. His hair was more salt and peppery like. He had brown eyes, eyes that looked sad.

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I sat in front of him and he made eye contact with me. “Are you one of the officers I asked to speak to?” I nodded. “Yes, I’m officer Elisa Reynolds. What’s your name?” The man looked around the room, as if he was worried about someone listening. “My name is Kevin Winters. I’m one of the remaining employees that worked with Caden Hutchins. I just returned to work yesterday when my boss told me that you and the other officer came by wanting to ask some questions, and that one of you left numbers. I decided just to come in person though.”

Jackson walked in with two cups of coffee and handed me one. “I know we already had some this morning, but I thought we could use another one.” He looked at Kevin. “Would you like for me to go get you something before we continue on?” Keven shook his head, he placed his thin hands on the table and interlocked them. Jackson took a seat beside me, pulling out a folder from under his arm that didn’t notice due to the coffee. “Do you know why we wanted to talk to you today Mr. Winters?” I asked.

“Kevin, please. I know this is about Caden though, it seems for once the police are wanting to take his case seriously, so I’m willing to give out any information I have.” Jackson slid the folder over to me. I opened it to find statements that had been taken when my stepfather's case was first being looked into.

“So, Kevin, can you tell me why you’re one of two employees remaining, besides the supervisor, since Caden died? From my understanding your job is a really good job to have with great benefits. Why would so many people leave?” Jackson asked, taking a sip of his coffee, while also eying Kevin suspiciously. Kevin looked nervous, almost like he wasn’t wanting to speak about it. He took a deep breath. “Everyone knew that Caden was being followed. Many of us reached out to Caden about the situation, me included, and we all made our own reports about it. None of us were taken seriously. When word got out that Caden had been murdered, it set everyone on edge. Everyone got worried that the person following Caden had been the one who did it, and everyone left because they got scared they would be targeted next for speaking out about Caden having a stalker.”

I frowned. “If everyone thought that then what made you stay?” I questioned. “I stayed because I hoped one day that his case would be reopened, and that if whoever took it over wanted to take new statements, I would be at the same place, ready to say what I need to.” Kevin’s eyes looked determined. “I want his killer found. He was my friend. He was kind to everyone around him, he was selfless. He would give the shirt off his own back for someone else if they needed it!” I noticed the tears beginning to swell up in Kevin’s eyes. I clenched my fist.

“Yeah, he was that kind of man.” I said through gritted teeth. ‘He was such a great man, why did he have to die?’ “Did you know Caden?” Kevin asked. I nodded. “I’m his stepdaughter. He was there for as long as I could remember, he was basically my father, so I know well enough how much of an amazing man he is.”

Tears were streaming down my cheek. Jackson handed me a tissue from a side table in the room. I wiped my tears away. “Sorry.” I muttered. Kevin bowed his head. “No need for apologies. I’m sincerely sorry for your loss.” I nodded gratefully. I then looked back down at the files in front of me.

“Excluding your supervisor it appears only you and and a Mr. Jensen were the only two to give a statement when the police had come by to get statements after Caden’s murder. Do you know why that is?” Kevin nodded, his face turned sad. “Everyone else was scared. They had already put in so many reports, but when he was actually murdered no one wanted to give a public statement, again, out of fear they might be the next target.”

It hit me. ‘I should show him the photo of my father!’ Luckily for me, I had shoved the photo into my pocket as we left the house. I took the photo out and slid the picture across the table to Kevin. “Do you recognize this man?” I asked. Kevin stared at the photo then nodded. “I’ve seen him with Caden before. He worked with us. From what I know, he always walked to work. He didn’t talk to any of us besides Caden. I always had this feeling that he was sketchy. A week after Caden was killed he quit his job.” “What was his name?” I pushed. “Michael Kennings. He never talked much about himself but he was always asking Caden things about himself. He seemed kind of obsessed with knowing about Caden’s life.”

I for once felt at a loss for words as I took the photo back and shoved it into my pocket. “Is there anything he said about himself before, regardless of how small?” Jackson asked. I was grateful for him taking over the conversation. “I do remember once him saying that he was from this town. That he had a daughter that he hadn’t seen since a few months after she had been born and that he always wanted to meet her. That was it.” I shuddered. “Thank you, Kevin. I think that’s all we need. If you need anything, or find anything, give us a call or you can come in person and we’ll talk.” Kevin stood up. We shook hands and led him out of the building.

“I just want to say,” Kevin spoke, standing at the front doors of the department. “Caden is a very lucky man to have such a caring stepdaughter that is pushing to find his killer. I’m sure he’s watching you from wherever, being extremely proud of you.” I smiled at Kevin’s words. “Thank you Kevin. I appreciate the kind words. Be safe now, okay?” Kevin nodded, and he got into a car parked in the front and drove off. I couldn’t help but feel dread creep up on me.

After Kevin had left I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen. I tried to distract myself by looking back over any evidence we had left on the cases, trying to connect the dots once more to each other.

The ending of our shift was finally approaching. Tomorrow the plan was to go to the school and pull up any records on Micheal Kennings, then go back to see William to try and get Micheal’s address. It was a long stretch, but it was one that needed to be done to make sure nothing gets overlooked.

“Uhm, officer Reynolds, officer Bridges?” A soft voice spoke out. The both of us looked at the girl who was now standing in the doorway of the evidence room. “I thought you two would like to know, but we just received a report about a murder,” My stomach churned. “A woman called and said that when she got home she found her husband dead. His skin had been skinned off of him and his bones were missing. It sounded very similar to the cases you both are investigating, so I wanted to fill you both in so that you two can check it out.” I swallowed hard. “Did you get his name from her?”

“His name was Kevin Winters.”