A Liberated Decision - COMPLETED!

Chapter 7

Her brows knit together in confusion. "Why would I need to do that?"

"I need you to identify a body that was found this morning next to a dumpster." He swallowed hard. His face was as solemn as they come.

Slowly, Ashley walked toward him. "Who is it?"

"I think it's best you wait until you can see the body." He told her slowly.

"What makes you think I'll be able to identify a body?" She let a little attitude creep into her voice. She kept it lighter than usual considering the circumstances, but she wouldn't be herself if there was absolutely no attitude to give him.

"Get in the car Ashley." He unlocked the back door before getting in the vehicle himself.

Ash looked toward the remainder of the sidewalk in front of her. Grudgingly, she entered the squad car. It annoyed her that he'd put her in the tight space in the back, but it was clear that there was no room in the passenger seat. He probably didn't trust her sitting next to him either.

The ride to the county morgue was silent. She watched houses pass outside of the window. She doubted she'd know the body, but it was probably whomever Eddie had roughed up. Probably a guy from Miko's gang. They didn't really provide any competition for Trent, but they blocked off enough neighborhoods to make business rougher. That alone was enough of a reason for Trent to take advantage of giving any of Miko's guys a rough up job or do something threatening to get a reaction from Miko.

She waited for the cop to let her out of the backseat after they parked directly in front of the building. A perk of being with a cop. "What makes you think I'll know who this person is, Tom?" She said with an aspect of annoyance in her voice.

The cop swallowed hard and opened the door to the building for her. He didn't answer her. He just led the way to a room filled with silver, rolling tables and lots of little doors leading to more dead bodies on a wall. The room was chilly, which was expected of a room with dead people in it.

"I know you think I'm a little dark, but looking at dead bodies isn't a highlight of mine, Tom." She stood by as a man in blue scrubs opened a little door and pulled out one of the rolling tables. A white blanket covered whoever was underneath it.

The cop stood a few feet away from her as the man slowly pulled the sheet down to reveal a badly bruised face. Ashley's eyes widened and she braced herself against the wall of doors. Her breathing increased as her hand covered her mouth. She began to drop to her knees as the cop quickly grabbed her and pulled her against himself. Her hands shook as tears began slipping down her face. "No, that can't be. That just... it can't be." Her voice was ragged and broken.

Cam's cold body laid lifelessly on the table. Any form of life that had been inside of him had been stolen from him. She had just seen him only hours ago. He had been warm, alive, bright eyed. The picture in front of her now was anything but that.

"That can't be him! Why'd you show me that? Tom, why'd you show me that?" Her voice screamed out at the cop. The image in front of her made it clear that everything about this moment was real, but it was too much to fully process. Her knees were still buckling underneath her and she knew that the second the cop let go of her she'd be on the ground.

Her breathing felt labored and difficult. The moment didn't seem real. She pulled away from Tom and gripped onto the table. She sucked in everything about her foster brother. She pulled down the sheet a little bit more as she let anger fill her up. "You should have listened to me." She whispered to her brother. Whoever did this would pay. They'd pay dearly.

She gently ran her fingers around a bullet hole near her best friend's heart. His body was covered in bruises. The pain that he endured rang out clearly from what obviously was fresh and new. A flashback of Eddie cleaning his gun with bruises covering his knuckles rang out loud and clear in her mind. She reached down and kissed his forehead as her chin quivered and her face crumpled up more as tears slid faster and more frequently down her face.