Jessica and Janet’s appreciation of the vista had gone on longer than either had expected. A thought that popped up in both of their minds almost simultaneously. The shared emotions due to their circumstances had been established and their foremost thoughts had been voiced. Now it was just two strangers on a deck with close to nothing to talk about.

Jessica had experienced a brief moment of dopamine when she and the officer next to her were confiding in one another. The feeling that two small children would have when going to school, socializing with other children their age, and realizing, “Wow they’re just like me!”

The literal thought of wow we might become best friends after this is all said and done had genuinely crossed her mind shortly after the two had concluded talking. She wondered why. Everyone was lacking sleep and the sleep they had been able to get was of diminished quality. Jessica continued to ponder this concept.

“That’s kinda lame, isn’t it?” This sentence jostled itself in her skull for a few seconds. Another thought popped up afterwards.

“Why am I fixating on this?”

Jessica’s brow bunched together as she tried to work through this line of thought. Why would she feel like she had connected on a deep level to this woman? It’s an experience unique to anyone who hasn’t been in the vicinity of severed limbs and murders. Maybe connecting with someone who can understand a situation that is so wildly rare caused this rush of positive emotions. Maybe the lack of sleep had dulled her mind and exhausted her negative emotions. She cracked a wide smile.

“Something good?” Janet’s voice called out from Jessica’s side.

“Just making myself laugh thinking about something.”

Jessica was happy to have been able to dive deeper in thought. Since the discovery of that first severed arm, her thoughts had been curt, shallow. Thoughts of survival. Scenarios. Death. Nothing abstract, strictly survival, actions, and reactions to those actions. She was tired of thinking in verbs. She was happy to remember her thought processes from before the trip. An analytical mind prompted by a reservoir of curiosity. She had prided herself on how deeply she would allow herself to be engulfed in educational literature. She missed the permeating thoughts that connected to her future as a professional and as Tyrone’s partner.

“Well, I’m glad. Keeps you grounded in moments of stress.”

Jessica turned to Janet. The woman was by the wood-framed glass door that acted as the only access point to the outside deck. This prompted a jolt in Jessica. When did Janet move? How long had she been there? How did she, herself, not notice? Was Janet’s voice further away this whole time and she just didn’t register this fact? Jessica became frustrated. Frustrated at herself for her lack of awareness and a general feeling of frustration due to the fact that it was proof that her longer thoughts had to be stifled. She had no time to wander around in her own mind. If she lost focus, she could lose more.

What a bunch of bullshit.

“Where do you think those other two went?”

This time the jolt was much more physically evident. Jessica scurried to the door and quickly scanned the living room where Tyrone and Evan had been preoccupying. She quickly grabbed the handle and burst through the door.

“Ty?? Ty where are you?!”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tyrone sprinted back to the living room, Evan trailing behind by a couple of seconds.

“Jess what is it?!”

She clutched at her heart when she saw him and began to regulate her breathing. Janet walked in at this point after surveying the deck and shut the door behind her.

“You two up to anything? Your, I’m assuming, girlfriend had a pretty good scare when we realized you two were out of sight.”

Tyrone spoke with the attitude of a guilty party, “No, we went looking around the house some.” He shot a quick glance towards Evan after speaking. Janet caught that.

“And?”

Evan chimed in, “We were looking for my dad’s gun. He has a glock and it’s been in his closet for a while, until recently.”

“Ok, judging by your tone, it’s our anonymous suspect. Hmm…..”

“You don’t seem to be as freaked out about this as Tyrone and I were. Makes sense, I guess, you’re the professional here. Probably would’ve felt worse if you reacted differently. Can I ask why you’re not freaking out more, though? Cause I’m freaking out really badly and I think my heart might actually crawl its way out of my throat in a few seconds if I’m not told that this is ok somehow.”

Janet remained quiet, unphased by Evan’s speedily-expressed rambling. Evan wasn’t sure she had even heard him. He thought of attempting to repeat his worries, but he was convinced that he would paint the floor with vomit if he opened his mouth again.

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Jessica and Tyrone’s eyes both darted between the other two. Evan appeared on the verge of an anxiety attack while Janet seemed entirely indifferent. The silence continued for what felt like minutes, but was broken after about twenty seconds.

Janet got up, ventured to the deck, and called to speak to someone. Her body language read as calm, but frustrated. A light bewilderment.

Evan was still trying to contain his anxiety induced nausea. Jessica looked at her boyfriend and asked, “What do you think she’s saying?”

“I couldn’t tell you, Jess. If I had to guess, maybe she’s warning her people about getting shot at when they find the dude.”

“Dude, huh?”

This comment brought a genuine smile to Tyrone’s face. Jessica had that effect on him. She kept his head firmly on his shoulders during times of struggle.

“We’re not doing this Scream-level-conversation shit right now haha.”

Evan could sense his heart rate slowing and his face regaining its color. He wanted to speak but before he could Janet came back into the house.

“Ok,” she began before letting out a sigh, “We’ve searched this house from top to bottom. There are no spots with easy access. If someone were to get in here, we’d hear it. All this to say, we should still be ok here.”

Tyrone nodded slightly, “That’s good, then. But-”

“But what about the gun? That’s an issue for me. Not necessarily due to the fact that it’s a runaway gun, although that’s never a good sign. My issue with this situation stems from how weird it is that it’s gone.”

Evan interjected, “None of us-”

Janet once again cut through a speaking voice, “I’m not trying to say one of you kids is up to no good. It’s that I don’t understand why this individual would even take a gun.”

Evan cocked his head, “It doesn’t seem too far-fetched for someone trying to kill folks to collect weapons for killing.” His tone was more sarcastic than he intended. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to come across like an asshole.”

Janet let out a short chuckle that looked more like a sharp exhale as her face was still quite serious.

“It doesn’t match up. This person hasn’t used a gun yet. The previous bodies have been found with zero traces of gunplay. No wounds, no smells, no nothing. Why would they take a weapon that they have no intention of using?”

Tyrone’s voice answered, “I was thinking maybe it’s a last resort. Shoot at the cops on his tail. Shoot himself before he gets caught, ya know?”

Janet shook her head, “No I don’t think so. This person is confident that they aren’t getting caught. They wouldn’t use the gun to kill another victim, because with everything we’ve seen they should be able to overpower most women they come across. The winter temps here aren’t very kind to wandering vagrants, so that means the person killing these women is likely someone with money. Doesn’t have to be a lot, but with prices around here, they have to make a decent living. They can afford a gun if they really want one.”

It was now Evan’s turn to speculate, “Guns can be traced back to owners. Maybe they were trying to avoid that.”

“That’s not a bad point. But there’s only been a few people in and out of this house. Almost every single one of them has been a cop, too. I’m biased in saying this, but I don’t see a single one of my colleagues being responsible for any of this. Which is why I called in to see how Carl’s doing. And to warn him.”

“Warn him?”

“About your neighbor,” after this Janet let out a smile that exposed her pleasure at this deduction, “he’s the only one who’s been in here. I don’t know how and I don’t know when, but now he’s conveniently isolated with two of your friends and Carl. I love Carl to death, but he’s a little slower to catch on to things.”

Janet surveyed the smile on Jessica’s face, then moved onto Tyrone’s puzzled look. This unsettled her. Her eyes progressed to Evan. He was frowning. This unsettled her more.

“I’m sorry officer, but that doesn’t track. Mel had been here after the gun was gone.”

Janet shuddered subtly before replying to Evan, “What? How do you know this?”

“My dad just let me know where he usually keeps his gun when we were talking on the phone. But… I had already checked it the first morning we were here. The morning after that first arm landed on our roof.”

“So then…” Janet’s voice trailed off as she slid back into a state of contemplation. The whole room was quiet.

Jessica and Tyrone were silent, giving the appearance of deep thought. However, neither of them had any clue what this information meant. A small spark of understanding ignited in Evan.

“No one was in this house that night when we first arrived.”

“Not that you know of.” Janet stated this plainly, her face growing darker as if anger was beginning to overtake her.

“Fuck. Yeah, not that we know of. But regardless of if someone was…”

“Regardless, someone got into this house. Whether it was that night or it was the night before or, shit, it could’ve been months back.”

Jessica cut in, “Wait, so you’re saying someone might have been in this house the first night we slept?”

Janet shook her head, “I’m not convinced of that. If they were, I don’t know why they wouldn’t have taken some action here.”

Tyrone spoke, “You’re saying this person goes after women. Every woman in this house would’ve been asleep next to their boyfriend. A gun would make killing us some light work, but you just said that that’s not this person’s style.”

“Right. I think we’re getting lost in the weeds here, though. This isn’t about the fact that someone might have been here that night. It’s the larger picture.”

Evan voiced the conclusion, “Someone was able to get in and out of this house. They’ve been able to.”

Another wave of silence washed over the group.

Jessica softly passed through the wall of quietness like a ghost. Her voice was almost a whisper, as if someone might be listening, “So… there isn’t a single secure door in this entire house…”

No one responded. Janet began walking around the house, looking into rooms on the floor they occupied. The trio of students were looking out the windows that faced the back deck. Snow was already beginning to fall rapidly and it was starting to form small piles.

Evan looked at each of his friends, “Well, we’re in it for the long haul now.”