Elisa

My heart dropped the moment Kevin’s name left my coworker’s lips. Part of me felt responsible. I knew in the beginning of our conversation he seemed weary. I should have questioned him more, asked him if he felt like anyone was following him or if anything suspicious was happening around him recently. I might’ve been able to prevent his death if I had done that!

I felt frozen in place, like the world around me was spinning and I had no control over it. Jackson placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It’s written all over your face that you feel responsible. This wasn’t your fault. Neither of us could have known this was going to happen.” I shook my head. “Jackson, you didn’t see him when it was just me alone with him in that room. He looked like he was watching out, as if he was worried someone would see or hear him that wasn’t supposed to.” I sighed. “Are we going to go check it out?” Jackson nodded. “Let’s go check it out, and we’ll go from there.”

I felt numb as we approached the other officers on scene. A crowd was forming on the other side of the street. I couldn’t help the anger that boiled up inside of me. An innocent man just died and these people were staring like they never heard of privacy! I realized I had my fist clenched when Jackson grabbed my fist. “Hey, try to ignore them for now, okay?” That was easier said than done.

The first officer we approached was trying to coax a woman who appeared to be in hysterics. ‘That must be his wife,’ My heart clenched at the sight of her. Her hair was all over the place as if she had been trying to pull it out. Her massacre was running down her cheeks from her tears. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Excuse me,” I spoke up. The woman looked up at me, tears still streaming down her cheeks. “Are you Mrs. Winters?” The woman nodded her head. “Yes, I am. Who are you?” I held out my hand. “I’m Elisa Reynolds.” She grabbed my hand and shook it. “Mrs. Winters, do you mind if my partner and I ask you some questions?” The woman looked puzzled as she looked at me and Jackson than at the officer she was previously speaking to. “Is that not what these guys are here for?”

“Yes Ma’am, they are. However, your husband’s case seems to have connections with other cases that my partner and I are investigating, that’s why we also wanted to question you.” The woman looked down at the ground. She looked like she wanted to give up. “I’ll answer whatever questions you have, just make them quick, please. I hate standing out here, I feel like an animal trapped in a zoo.” She glanced over across the street at the growing crowd. I nodded. “I completely understand ma’am. Is there anywhere else we can go to talk without prying eyes?”

Mrs. Winters led us through her house and out to her backyard, where a garden table was tucked away near the edge of the backyard. “I apologize that we couldn’t talk inside, but as you know, they are still inside trying to gather what they can.” She gestured for us to take a seat as she sat down. “What would you like to ask me, officers?”

“Did Mr. Winters ever talk to you about a Caden Hutchins?” Mrs. Winter’s solemn expression turned into one of surprise. “Why, yes, he did actually. Why do you ask?” I look over at Jackson then back at her. “Well, Caden was my stepfather. Due to a case that was given to us, his case got re-opened. As part of the job, we went to his place of work to find anyone who worked with him before he got murdered. His supervisor said there were only two left, and so we left our number and told him to tell them to give us a call if he would.” Mrs. Winters arched her brows in confusion.

“Well, Mr. Winters came into the office early this morning to speak to us. He looked as if he was worried that someone was watching him, and he seemed hesitant to talk to us at first.” The woman bit on her bottom lip, tears swelling up in her eyes once more. "Right before we left for the week my husband did start acting a bit strange. He was always asking me if I felt like we were being watched when we went out. I told him he was just being paranoid, to stop worrying. I never should have said that. I should have questioned him about it, I should've listened!" The tears streamed down her face.

I couldn't help but pull her into a hug. "It isn't your fault, you had no idea this would happen. The only one to blame is the who did this, and I swear I'll catch him." My voice hardened as I spoke, Jackson gave me a curious look.

"Anyways," Jackson interrupted. Mrs. Winters wiped the tears from her face. "Did you know that your husband was going to come into the station this morning to talk to us?" She nodded. "Yes, I did. He said that Caden deserved justice, and that if his case was reopened and someone was willing to listen, he was willing to talk. He was really good friends with Caden. It broke my husband when he found out he was murdered." She shook her head sadly, looking down at her hands that now rested in her lap.

"Did he ever talk about his other coworkers after Caden was killed?" Jackson asked. Mrs. Winters closed her eyes for a second, seeming to recall the memory. "Yes, maybe a month or so after the news about Caden he came home from work very upset," she paused. "I was in the middle of making dinner, I saw his expression and asked what was wrong and he said that everyone was quitting their job, that they were all afraid they would be the next person to be killed. He was angry that everyone was hiding instead of pushing harder to help find Caden's killer." She shook her head. “He also made the comment once that he had a feeling that his coworker, Micheal Kennings, was the one behind Caden’s murder.”

“What did you say to him when he told you that?” I asked. “I only said that if he felt that strongly about it, he should go to the police and tell them what he thinks. He gave me a look like I was crazy for even suggesting that. He told me that it wouldn’t help for him to do so because Micheal had already left his job and disappeared.”

Before I could speak another word, my phone was going off. It was my alarm. ‘Shit!’ I looked at Jackson with panic, he reached for my arm and gave a slight squeeze. “I’m sorry Mrs. Winters, we have to go, thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch if we find anything.” Mrs. Winters led us out. I was practically running to the car.

“I can’t believe I let time get away from me like that!” I shouted once inside the car. Jackson looked ashamed of himself. “I’m sorry Elisa, I should have been paying more attention as well, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.” My alarm was meant to let me know it was time to go get Elizabeth from school, but it was based on how long from my house it would take before I made it there. Being on the farther side of the town meant I would be late, even though I told Elizabeth I would be there. I felt ashamed of myself.

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As we pulled up to the school I saw Elizabeth standing in the front, with Lucas by her side. They were the only two left waiting for a ride and my heart sank. “What the hell?” Jackson muttered. I got out of the car and headed towards Elizabeth. “Elizabeth! I’m sorry for being late, I’m here now though!” I held out my arms for a hug, she hesitantly gave one. Jackson had walked up beside me and he had his arms crossed. “Lucas, what’re you doing here? Didn’t mommy come to pick you up?” I could hear the anger in his voice, I bit my lip.

Lucas shook his head. I made eye contact with Jackson, the anger in his eyes was plain as day. "Elisa, would it be okay if I left Lucas with you for a bit? I have some business I need to take care of." I only nodded.

The ride back to the house was silent. Jackson didn't speak much once we arrived at the house other than to ask if I would make sure Lucas got his homework done.

An hour passed since he left. Knock knock. I rushed to the door, in hopes Jackson had returned.

Rachel stood in my doorway and gave a shy smile. "Hi Mrs. Reynolds," I arched my brow in confusion. "What are you doing here?" Rachel rubbed her hands together. "Well I was here at my regular time to babysit Elizabeth, but no one was home. I waited around for a while and still there was no one here so I left. I was coming by to check up." 'Fuck, I knew I was forgetting something.'

I forced a smile. "Ah, sorry Rachel. Everything's fine. I meant to get in contact with you," I felt a sudden tug on my arm and I looked to my side. Elizabeth stood beside me, smiling. "Hi Rachel!" She beamed. Rachel returned the smile. "Hello Elizabeth. How was your day?" "I went to school today! I had so much fun!" Rachel's eyebrow arched up in confusion. "Ah, yeah, this morning I went and had Elizabeth enrolled back in school. I thought it had been long enough since she was last in school, I meant to inform you, I'm so terribly sorry."

"Oh, so does this mean you would like for me to come later then?" Rachel asked. I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I appreciate all your help, but I won't be needing anyone to watch Elizabeth anymore." For a second I thought I saw anger flash in Rachel's eyes.

"I understand. What about my pay then?" 'Shit, I still have to confront her about being in my bedroom! Dammit Jackson, where are you?!' "Could you come back tomorrow, around 10ish? I promise to have your money then." Rachel curtly nodded and walked off.

Hours passed, it was dark outside. I just finished feeding Elizabeth and Lucas when there was another knock at my door. I got up and opened the door to Jackson looking disheveled. "Jackson! Where have you been?" I questioned.

He ran his fingers through his hair that was now a mess compared to earlier. I couldn't help but find it attractive. "Well, after finding out Sarah never picked up Lucas from school like she was suppose, I finally had enough. I now have a court order requiring her to have a DNA test done for Lucas." He took in a deep breath. "So how has everything been since I left?" I let him walk by and I closed the door behind him.

"Rachel came by." I said as I crossed my arms. We walked into the kitchen and I grabbed a plate I had make for Jackson from the microwave and set it down on the table. "You should eat." He took a seat at the table and grinned. "Thanks for the food. What did Rachel want?"

"Well I had forgotten about telling her that I was taking Elizabeth back to school so she had came at her regular time and found no one was home, so she waited and waited then left then came back to see what happened." I stared at Jackson as he wolfed down his food. I chuckled.

"So what did you tell her? Did you confront her?" He said through his bites of food. "I told her I won't be needing her anymore and that if she comes by around 10 tomorrow I'll have her money, and no, I didn't confront her. A certain someone said he would be there with me when I did, remember?"

He swallowed whatever food was in his mouth and looked down. "I'm sorry. If I knew she was going to come I would've stayed. I'm sorry." My heart felt like it was twisting. "Jackson, what you had to do was important. I'm sorry for making you feel bad about it." He waved his hand at me. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Hey, how about we put the kids to bed and come up with a plan on how to confront Rachel?" I nodded. That sounded like a great plan.

Just like the day before, Jackson and I took the kids to school together. However, today we were off. "So, what do you say to hanging out at your place?" He asked. I agreed and we headed back to my home.

We lounged around in my living room watching movies. Sometime during our movies I had fallen asleep and woke up with my head laying against Jackson's shoulder.

"Ah! I'm so sorry Jackson!" I felt my cheeks heat up and he smiled. "Nothing to apologize for. I thought your sleeping face was cute." My heart started beating faster at his words, my cheeks growing redder. 'I have to get back at him!' I took in a deep breath. "So, I'm only cute when I'm asleep, huh?" I asked cockily.

"Elisa, you're more than cute. You're absolutely beautiful and I'm extremely attracted to you." After the words left his lips his face turned red. My heart was racing. I got closer. "Is that true?" My voice was barely above a whisper, my hands were shaking. He turned his face towards me. Our faces were so close together that our noses almost touched.

"I'm being honest with you Elisa." He leaned forward, as did I. Our lips barely grazed one another when a loud knock interrupted. I jumped back, my face was flushed. "I, uh, should get that." I mumbled and rushed off to the door.

Rachel stood with her fist up, obviously about to knock again. "Oh! Rachel, it's you. I uh, completely lost track of time, I'm so sorry! Come in, I'll go write you a check, okay? So just hang out in the living room." Before she could speak I was running up to my room to get her check.

I returned with check in hand to find Jackson staring Rachel down from the couch. Rachel stood awkwardly, rubbing her hands together. I handed her the check. "Here, I hope this last you a while." She looked down and gasped. "Four thousand dollars?!" I nodded. "I know this was your only source of income and that I'm suddenly cutting you off, so I hope this helps to hold you over until you can get a different job." She smiled. "Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds. I'll see you around?" I shook my head. "Before you go, I actually have something I want to ask you?"

She was silent, waiting to be questioned. While I was in my room I had grabbed the picture she had put in my dresser. I took it out of my pocket and held it up to her. "Do you recognize this?" She shook her head. "Rachel, you should tell the truth." I watched as she swallowed. "I promise I have no idea what that is."

I paced back and fourth. "Oh, yeah? Well I have footage of you going into my room and placing this photo in my drawer. So, come clean." All color drained from her face. "I-I swear I never saw that picture!"

"Then explain why you had it and why you were in her room in the first place!" Jackson snarled at her, catching us both off guard. She gulped.

"The, uh, day I did it, there was an envelope laying in front of my front door. Taped to the front of it was a note. It said that I had to plant the picture in your room somewhere where you'll find it, but not to obvious to let you know someone was in your room. On the note it also said that they would be watching to make sure it got done, and if it didn't, there would be serious consequences." I looked over at Jackson, his expression said everything. He didn't believe her.

"Do you really believe we're going to believe a story like that?" Jackson asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I still have the letter if you don't believe me!" Rachel blurted out. "Where is it?" Jackson asked sternly. "It's in my car. I can go grab it!" Before either of us could speak, she bolted out the door. "Well fuck, we let her get away." Jackson muttered to himself.

No less than a minute later she came running back in, holding out a slip of paper to me. "I told you I was going to go get it." I took it from her hands and handed it to Jackson. "We're going to have this sent to be checked, if we find out you did this to cover your ass, I'll make sure Elisa has charges pressed against you." Rachel visibly swallowed. "Yes sir." "Now leave." He snapped. Without a second thought, she was gone.

"Now that that is taken care of," Before Jackson could continue speaking, his phone started ringing. He groaned at the number and mouthed 'work' to me. "Hello? This better be important." There was a brief moment of silence and I watched as his face turned into a serious expression. "Okay, thanks, bye."

"What was that about?" I questioned. He turned towards me. "The results are in for the blood at your mother's house."

I swallowed hard. "What did they say?" He looked me dead in my eyes, seeming to brace himself for bad news. "The blood belongs to Caden Hutchins." My heart dropped.