Jowls

3 - Old Sweethearts Meet

Rylee and Kurt exchanged angry words as she got dressed into her official uniform. She hated when he regurgitated the same old tired complaints. Kurt disliked her job and the way it interfered with their private lives. Before leaving the house, she got in the last word. "You knew about my career seven years ago when you asked me to marry you. I love my job and worked hard to earn my spot as one of New York's few female ECOs. My job means as much to me as yours does to you."

As she turned into the parking lot for Verity Campground, Rylee compartmentalized her raw feelings toward Kurt. She had to concentrate on the task ahead, and the quicker she could find out what the incident had been about, the quicker she could return home.

She pulled her department issued SUV beside a state police cruiser. Given her baby bump, she decided to leave her handgun and utility belt locked in the hidden storage compartment in the back. The gear was awkward and too heavy to wear. The day was warm but overcast clouds kept it from evolving into a true summer scorcher.

Rylee smiled when she saw the trooper standing at the trailhead leading into the woods and talking to a crime technician. She walked up to him. He excused himself from the tech and tipped his trooper's hat at her. "Hello Rylee. I was hoping I'd see you today. It's been a while."

She felt a warm flush come to her cheeks. "Hiya, Vince." She and Vince Bartoli had been high school sweethearts with a long history. After graduation, they went to different colleges hundreds of miles apart. It had been inevitable they would drift apart. After reconnecting several years later, they renewed their friendship, but in the meantime, they had both married. Recently, Vince got divorced. The way he smiled told Rylee he still had warm feelings for her, despite how hideous she must look being so pregnant and with no makeup.

His smile vanished. "I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances."

She took his cue and put on her game face. "What's going on?"

He motioned to the trail. "Follow me."

The trooper led the way down the trail about twenty meters and veered off into the woods. They didn't walk far before she saw crime scene technicians working inside an area cordoned off with crime scene tape.

Rylee caught sight of the coroner.

Vince held out an arm to stop her. "Hold up, Rylee. Don't be offended, but given your condition, I think you better prepare yourself for what you're about to see."

"My condition?" Rylee chuckled. "Pregnancy isn't a disease, Vinnie. Whatever this is, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it."

His expression remained serious. "First, let me tell you what I know so far. Early this morning, a group of friends who had been with the victim noticed he was missing. He didn't answer their shouts and calls, so they figured he might have gone into the woods and somehow been hurt and unable to respond. They poked around here in the trees and stumbled onto...this." He pointed to the cordoned off area.

Vince continued. "They freaked out and dialed 9-1-1. I was first on the scene and called the coroner. It was our dispatcher who contacted your director." He wore a contrite expression. "Sorry, Rylee, dispatch should've contacted you directly. It was not my doing that the call went over your head to your director."

"Don't worry about it." Rylee considered what she had been told. "Have you ruled out foul play?"

"Oh, foul play was definitely involved but not at the hands of a human being." Vince sighed. "You best see for yourself."

The two of them approached the crime scene tape and ducked under.

The forest floor was covered with a dark brown stain, dried blood. Arterial spray painted the surrounding tree trunks. Body parts lay scattered. Bits of flesh hung from the back of a decapitated skull. The coroner was examining a severed lower leg, its foot still wearing a shoe. To Rylee, it looked as if the victim had swallowed a hand grenade which then exploded inside him, scattering bits of him in every direction. What made the scene worse were the flies. Thousands of them. Everywhere.