Anonymous

12 - Requests & Rejections

Harriet collapsed on her sofa and welcomed the feeling of the soft material surrounding her aching body. She had spent the last two days straight going back over and over the cases she had been given. A new partner had been assigned to the case, but she showed no interest in her. She was new to the homicide department and lacked the skills to think like a criminal. She thought about naming the criminal and giving him a back story – she wanted to do a profile which was done weeks ago.

Harriet shook her head at the memory of her losing her patience and screaming at the new detective, sending her off in tears to sort her out. She had returned a little while later and not a word was spoken between the two and that is how Harriet wanted to keep it.

Her phone buzzed against her wooden side table, and she reluctantly leant forward to pick it up, her pyjama top rising to reveal her stomach as she did so. Harriet also grabbed the television remote and switched on to watch her favourite soap. It had been a while since she had felt she could relax.

Obviously the thoughts of Jason and his last moment plagued her memory and nightmares. She constantly wished she could have been there or saved him in some possible way. But the world has made other plans for her – sending her into the deep dark pit she now resides in.

Her mobile vibrated once again, Harriet had momentarily forgotten she had it in her hand. She unlocked the screen and was greeted with a text from Amy.

'Hope you're okay sweetpea. Chin up xox'

The text was only six words long, but it made all the difference. Amy had been with Harriet through thick and thin and right now, she needed her more than ever. Amy only had to reassure Harriet that she was there because she knew Harriet didn't like to talk about problems when they were this raw.

She shot back a quick message saying she was okay and that she loved Amy to pieces and within minutes Amy had sent one back saying that she loved Harriet too. Harriet smiled and placed her phone on the sofa next to her and went back to watching her soaps.

Half an hour later, her phone buzzed again and Harriet picked it up expecting it to be Amy once again. It was a message from the dating site again.

She had ignored the dating site since Jason had passed, and felt too raw to strike up any conversation with any real-life blokes. Curiosity got the better of her and she swiftly logged on to her account to see five messages waiting for her and three new requests sent.

Harriet looked over the requests and rejected them all, they were not her type. In other words, they weren't Jason.

She flicked through the messages and they were all generic of type. It was the man, saying how much he's like to get to know her and asking if she would like to meet up for a drink. She ignored the most of them, but one stood out to her.

Again, it was from the same anonymous account from a few weeks ago, the night that Jason had died. Instead of using her name, the message only read... 'Do you like roses?'

Harriet looked around the room, suddenly feeling as if she was being watched. The hairs on her neck stood up on end and goose bumps covered her arms. She chose to ignore that one aswell, someone from the local was probably playing some sick joke on her.

While on the website, she saw a profile come up in a section labelled 'people near you'. It was a photograph that looked very similar to the dead body she had found in the woods. So she clicked on the profile. It was Chloe Marks. She had last accessed her account just over four weeks ago. That is around the same time of her death.

Harriet eyes nearly burst out of her head as something inside clicked like a puzzle. She rammed her phone into her pocked and ran upstairs. She pulled on a pair of black trousers and her work shirt, slipping her gun into its holder. She raced out of the front door, being careful to check it was double locked and jumped in her car. She floored it out of her road and headed straight for the office.