The noise of his pager, though not as loud as his alarm, always managed to make Tom fly out of bed with a lot more motivation no matter how deep he was sleeping.
He tucked in his jacket pocket for it but twitched to see Angela come out of the bathroom wearing only a large shirt, she didn't see him look because she was also darting for the pager in her handbag.
"We didn't...?" He asked finding his pager but still looked at her legs as she bent and rose digging in her purse, that split second gave him a glimpse of the firm smooth bumps of her hindquarters and he had to avert his eyes 'dammit she's a babe'
That thought of course blew out of his mind when he saw the page.
'Murder, docks'
He was out the blankets at the drop of a dime, she yanked her closet open and dug for clothes.
"One Hell of a way to start the morning" he grunted grabbing his pants.
"I'd prefer it calmly with a cup of coffee... Don't turn a round!" She said sternly but Tom was already mid glance and spotted her chucking that shirt off so quick it struck the ceiling.
He decided to keep the full view he got of her naked back secret and looked forward buttoning his shirt, on the bedside table was a small tin box, it seemed to have held a watch but inside Tom saw strange plates, screws and hinges that seemed familiar.
"I'm done" she said behind him and paced to the kitchen "I hope that Victoria is faster than it looks!"
"Were not chasing suspects Angela were off to a murder scene" he said close behind her as she almost ran the door out of the wall.
Tom hopped in, started then took out his blue light and popped its magnetic foot onto the roof.
Angela had to explode with laughter "The old pop up light!? You have got to be kidding me Snyders!?"
"What's wrong with the pop blue light!?" He said pressing a button.
The siren started wailing as he reversed out the yard, Tom hooked first and rammed the accelerator but the car heaved, bucked, backfired and stalled, Angela laughed louder sinking in behind her hand.
"Stupid piece of crap!" He yelled starting the car again, the siren dipped dying halfway when all the power got drawn to the starter and only when the car came to life did its wail pitch back to its usual tone.
Angela was leaning her head back laughing "You should..." She wanted to say but had to cling to the roof handle when Tom cornered, the old suspension of the car made it lean badly into the corner and Angela laughed hysterically.
"Angela!?" Tom scolded her.
"I'm..." She held her mouth but the snickers still slipped "I'm sorry this car is a joke!"
"It gets the job done!"
"Come on Snyders!? Maybe the butcher is taunting you because he likes seeing you roll around in this turd brown clown car"
Despite his frustration Tom had to slip a laugh "Hey don't mock her! She's faithful and reliable"
"You know the American police board signed a contract with Dodge right? You can go get an RT Tom, its not as fast as the SRT and you can even ask them to paint it brown for you?"
He glanced at her but pressed the horn to make his siren change pitch and speed as he crossed a red light, then pressed the horn again to make it wail again.
"Nah, I like this car, I chose it because its low profile, I don't want people to know I'm law enforcement"
Angela sighed when the laughter finally worked out of her "Okay then, at least I get a good kick out of seeing you drive this" she said and they looked at each other.
"I mean you no disrespect Tom, but, all these small things you have in your life, I'm starting to really enjoy being with you"
"Well" he said slamming a gear but it grinded violently, he unhooked and slammed it in, Angela giggled but he started laughing which infected her and she balled along with him.
"I guess it was all about work until now"
She blew out and clears her throat "Until now? What about that kiss?"
"Hey that was a spur of the moment thing, I was really angry at you and all I saw through that kiss is your trying to soften me up instead of saying sorry straightforward"
"Oh~ so I didn't sink in to that thick scull yet hey?"
He smirked but kept his eyes on the road "Well your cute butt cheeks might have done the trick this morning"
"You looked!"
"No! When you run for your pager make sure next time you bend like a lady!" He said laughing at her red face.
She sheepishly smiled and said nothing.
They arrived at the docks where the yellow tape has already been strung.
Tom found warren bags under eyes standing with a large latte "Chief?"
"I'm really starting to get annoyed at this case Snyders"
"Could they identify the body?"
"Bodies! And why don't you go see?"
Tom frowned, glanced at Angela and walked with her to the two containers, in between them lied Ruben and Charlie, eyes wide, the blood pouring from their necks where the knife cut them.
"Geezus" Tom said.
"I can't believe this..." Angela said looking at Tom "This means we were on the right path all along... But"
"Yes, but, this doesn't mean it was Alison, look how deep those cuts are, the necks were almost completely severed"
Angela stepped past him "Give me a quick minute here, I'll scope it out"
As Tom stood back Robin fell in next to him "Morning Tom"
"Hey Robin"
They stood quietly watching Angela work, she didn't touch the bodies but used a napkin to lift a piece of shirt here and there, part but replace limbs, even checked their eyes.
"She's beautiful isn't she?" Robin said.
"Indeed" Tom answered.
"Say, detective, you don't by any chance, have anything going with her do you?"
He looked at the officer "Seriously Robin? Here?"
"Why not? The lives of these two men might have come to an end, but we're still here right? Our lives go on"
Tom sighed looking at the scene again "No, not really, we keep it business focused"
"So if I ask her out for a few drinks tonight you won't mind?"
Tom felt a tiny spark of jealousy rise in him, but then the thought of Leya came back to him, he didn't go for any woman so far because he felt guilty not only because he was more at work then with Leya, but because of Mia as well.
He failed as a husband, and as a father, Tom didn't want Angela hurt like that, so he shrugged looking at Robin.
"Knock yourself out officer"
"You have her number?"
Tom wrote it down and handed it "Don't keep her out all night, got it?"
"What? You her dad now?"
"We have work to do idiot"
Robin chuckled and slapped his shoulder "Relax Tom, I know the drill" he said leaving.
Angela stood up and came to him "Okay, from what I can figure about this murder is it had a revenge motive"
He frowned "How could you deduce that?"
She turned and pointed "Why cut that deep right? Anyone knows a cut as wide as my thumbnail on the jugular is enough to kill a man, instead it was done out of anger" Angela turned to him and indicated to her chest with a gesture.
"Then there's a blue bruise from a boot on both their chests, which means they each received the good ol fashioned Spartan kick"
He blinked looking at the bodies, both lied flat in their backs, so he walked in and scanned the side if the containers, there he pointed at the red splashes where the heads hit the steel "Spartan kick, I'm impressed, but the power behind the kick is what comes next"
Angela nodded "Yes, all I can say now is it might be our strong suspect judging by the blood on the containers, but the only way we'll get a better look is with an ex ray of the chests, to see if any bones were cracked"
He nodded and looked, there again the thighs were cut off, he bent to inspect the wounds, and sure enough cleaner cuts than that of Oscar.
"I saw that" Angela said "You think its two murderers?"
He looked at the wound closer, it was one thing to just go and cut off a slice of steak from a man's leg, the other was using different tools, knives no matter how sharp or how blunt, but one thing you bring to this, you always have with you no matter the tool or method, is habit.
He looked back at her "No, I'm sure this is the same murderer who killed Oscar"
She frowned.
"I've been on this case for years, this is our butcher, or should I say, a butcher, and the one who killed Oscar is the same person, different weapon" he said rising.
"Explain to me then" she said.
"The way the meat is cut off, there is a pattern, habit kicked in, this person has a way he likes to cut and this time followed through on old habits, but might have found himself a sharper knife"
"So Oscar's kill?"
"Oscar and these two, killed by the same person, the other murders like the one I found in the Pinpoppy, those are another person, so we do indeed have two butcher killers"
†††
Author's note:
I don't think Wattpad is doing this book much justice...
Its kinda frustrating to say but can you imagine you publish your book and many people out there reads it, without the ability to comment?
I guess I'll run this book for a few more chapters then see if I can't find any other app where it can get more reads.
For now, you might have figured Alison is one of the Butcher killers, but who's the other?
The investigation continues on the next chapter, where Tom digs into old ties to get answers, and you might be shocked to see what he finds.
Thanks for the read.