Harriet had just passed their new evidence over to lab and was now stood with the doctor who dealt with the bodies.
"So you found some roses, some pictures and a what?" He asked, pleasantly surprised at how quickly things were now moving in this case – as were most of the staff that were dealing with it. They had made a massive break through and even though the killer wasn't there, Harriet knew they were close.
"A condom. A used condom." She told the doctor for the third time. "I need to know if the DNA on it matches any of our women, or if any of them showed signs of forced entry."
"No forced entry. I don't think four out of five of them had intercourse in the few days before their death, let alone anything else." He replied, moving across to his paper file and pulling out his findings.
"Four out of five? Who is the fifth?"
"Anna Merchant. She had been involved in some form of activity before her death but it wasn't forced. She wanted whatever happened."
"How can you tell?" Harriet had always wondered how they could tell all of this information just by looking at their bodies.
"Bodies tell us a tale, Harriet. Just because these women were beaten on the outside, doesn't mean the innards won't tell us anything either." Harriet scrunched up her nose and groaned. She was put off her dinner now. The doctor just laughed and continued. "Anna Merchant was the only one, Detective King."
"Can you do me a favour?" Harriet felt her cheeks redden at this request. "Can you double check her fingernails?"
"Fingernails? I've already looked over them once, there was no damage there."
"No, scrape underneath and see what you find." Harriet made a claw with her hand and dragged it downwards. The Doctors eyes went wide.
"Oh. OH! I see. Yes, I'll do that right away."
"Brilliant, thank you. Let me know what you find. It might match the DNA inside the condom." Harriet laughed as she walked away. This case was just getting stranger by the day.
***
The vibration of her phone caused Harriet to look up from her salad. It was a message from Patrick.
'Hello Harriet. Did you catch your killer? I hope you are okay.' She smiled at his concern for her, and then typed out her reply.
'No, not today. I have a feeling we are close.'
'You are probably closer than you realise. I can't get you off my mind.' Harriet giggled like a little schoolgirl and Zara raised an eyebrow. Harriet waved her off and with a mouthful of lettuce, she sat typing away.
'How sweet, thank you. Has anyone ever told you how much of a gentleman you are?'
'Why thank you Harriet, that is very kind of you. How about we meet for dinner tonight? No drinking, I promise.'
Harriet replied quickly and organised to see him at seven o'clock that night and hummed as she thought about the second date with this gorgeous man who seemed to be totally head over heels for her. She felt so lucky, even though things weren't really going her way, not if you really sit and think about.
A crazy murderer was on the loose, killing women who supposedly didn't want anything else to do with him after one date. Harriet was lead detective on the case and it had taken ten weeks just to get this far. Her partner, who she claimed was her soul mate, died tragically possibly also at the hands of this murderer. She had no family around her. And she'd resorted to online dating to bag herself a bloke. Does this sound lucky to you?
Harriet met with Patrick at a cosy little restaurant in town and settled down for their meal. They spoke like they hadn't seen each other in weeks. Harriet realised she was falling harder for Patrick than she originally planned, and panicked that he might not feel the same way. By the end of the night, her panic had subdued and they were just leaving the restaurant bidding goodbye.
"Sweet dreams my Harriet, I will message you tomorrow" Patrick said, placing a light kiss on the top of her forehead. Harriet smiled up at him, admiring his honest eyes.
She moved forward, tracing her hand along his neck and up behind his head. Their faces were just inches apart now. "Goodnight Patrick." She landed her soft lips on his rough ones, working together. As soon as they parted, Harriet was left gasping for air and Patrick's eyes were filled with lust.
"Oh, how I wish I didn't have to see you leave without me." He cooed, caressing Harriet's cheek. "I hate spending one minute away from you."
"Come back with me." Harriet surprised herself at her demand. It wasn't a question, she was telling him what to do and he knew it. His eyes darkened as he looked across her innocent features, lust evident in her eyes.
Patrick placed light kisses down Harriet's cheekbone, causing her to whimper in temptation. She knew what she wanted and she hadn't had that much to drink so he couldn't possibly thing it was a drunken decision. "I would love to."
Those four words set Harriet on fire inside and they practically flew back to her house. As soon as they made it across the threshold, Harriet had pushed herself back against Patrick loving the feel of him next to her. Their kissing became harsh and intense, full of lust and want. She guided him up the stairs and ripped off his clothing. He gently removed hers, admiring the luxurious curves that lay on the bed in front of him.
He tangled his hands in her hair, sucking gently on her spot on her neck; every woman's weakness. This time felt different to Patrick. There was a feeling he couldn't quite place, but he knew something was different. It wasn't a bad difference. He could feel Harriet reacting to his every touch, and moans of pleasure caused goose bumps to appear on his skin.
Harriet ran her hand over his bare back, when she felt something worrying. She stopped, and pushed Patrick off of her, much to his annoyance. She looked at his back and gasped.
"What? Where did these come from?" There were long gashes down Patricks back; healing but nonetheless they were there. He winced when he realised what it looked like.
"I was playing piggyback with my cousin's daughter a few weeks ago. She doesn't know how to grip lightly so when I put her down she ended up scratching me." The look in his eyes was one of pure love as he thought about his long lost family. Harriet felt her heart soften and her heart stir. Patrick was pure gold to her.
Harriet smiled and launched herself at Patrick, their lips once again crashing together. Patrick smiled into the kiss and thanked God that he had managed to pull such an amazing, attractive young woman. He was going to give her a night she would never forget.
***
Harriet awoke in the morning to a heavy arm wrapped around her stomach, and soft warm breath fanning on the back of her neck. She laid that way for some time, listening to the rhythmic breathing coming from the body beside her. Eventually, she shifted underneath the blankets and the arm tightened around her as she moved. She felt herself being pulled in close, the warmth from Patrick against her back, bum and legs. She smiled.
"Where do you think I'm going Patrick? I'm not running away, this is my house."
The hand that wasn't preoccupied with holding her began to stroke gently down her back. A kiss was placed on her neck and the similar heat and want began to build inside of Harriet. She swallowed hard to try and calm herself down.
"I didn't want you to go without saying goodbye first." Patrick replied, his voice thick with morning laziness. She felt him stir next to her. Harriet's eyes widened when she realised what he meant. He had given her an amazing night last night, but could she handle it again? She shuddered remembering how their skin had felt together, his touch leaving sensational trails down her body. His kisses were like poison and Harriet was sure her neighbours had heard... everything.
Harriet had drifted off thinking about her experience last night, that she wasn't prepared for when Patrick flipped her over in bed so suddenly he was on top, looking down at her naked body, smiling.
"Patrick I have to get ready for work." Harriet began to reason with him, but the look in her eyes told Patrick different. He was almost certain she had felt the same connection last night.
"Well then... let me say thank you for inviting me over." He smirked down at her as she wriggled beneath his gaze. Her body was to die for.
***
Harriet practically skipped into work with a grin spreading from ear to ear. She waved to the receptionist and nodded to the passing officers who grinned back at her. She called a good morning to the Captain who had a relieved look on his face that Harriet had finally given up the dark, miserable front and started to act herself again.
She plopped down in her office chair and switched on her computer, Detective Sheed followed suit not long after.
"What's got you so happy Detective King?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at her partner. Harriet just laughed and waved her hand awkwardly, as if trying to get rid of the question. "It was your date with whats-his-face last night wasn't it?"
Harriet began to blush. "Yes, I did meet with Patrick last night. We had a lovely meal together."
"And then..." Zara paused and watched Harriet closely, smirking when her cheeks reddened even more. "You got laid!"
"Zara shush people might hear you!" Harriet whispered loudly, not denying the accusation Zara had thrown to her.
"I knew it! You cheeky minx King." Zara laughed as Harriet threw a scrunched up paper ball to her in annoyance.
"I am not a minx Zara, it's something that people do."
"So are you dating?"
"I... I don't know. Honestly, I haven't thought about putting a title to it."
Zara rolled her eyes. "Just have some fun then. You don't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend to let him stick his –"
"OKAY! Heard enough, thank you Detective Sheed." Harriet coughed and returned to her computer, whilst Zara let out a giggle and resumed her filing.
It wasn't long before Harriet had an email through from the lab team about the evidence she had turned over the previous day. There was a whole team of people now dedicated to catching the anonymous killer. The presence of this particular case was constantly hanging over Harriet's head. The only person, who made her forget, was Patrick. She was finally learning to let go of Jason and be at peace with herself, but Patrick made it so much easier to forget about everything. He was good with her, in public, behind closed doors and in bed. But why did she feel so guilty when she thought of Jason?
"They've matched some DNA on the condom to Anna Merchant. Anna and the killer had sex on their date before he murdered her." Harriet told Zara in a monotone. Zara's face paled slightly, showing her discomfort on the subject.
"She must have shot him down something hard if he murdered her for it. Maybe he's shit in bed?" Zara questioned, her fingers gliding over the keyboard.
"They haven't matched the DNA from inside the condom to anyone in our database, but it is a definite match with the DNA from under Anna Merchant's finger nails." Harriet read on through the email, confirming what she already knew. Anna had clawed the killer during their night of passion - something many women do but don't admit to like doing.
Harriet found it strange that since the sickening murder of Anna Merchant, found attached to her shower curtain in the bathroom, naked, bleeding and soaked in bleach there had been no more movement from Mr Anonymous. No roses, no notes and no killings. It was quiet and Harriet wondered whether they had scared him when they had turned up at his home.
The patrol had been back there regularly since the break in, but it look as though he had moved again. He was back off of the radar and there wasn't any online movement on his dating profile either.
The house Zara and Harriet had raided was a private let property, and the person who signed for it had signed with a fake name. The landlord hadn't cared because it just meant someone was paying him money. He was a typical greedy man, just wanting the paper and nothing more. Neighbours hadn't really seen him, apart from an elderly lady who insists she saw him go to the shops once. She had described him as brown hair, built frame and amazing eyes – so it didn't really filter things down, but the officers took her statement nonetheless.
Both detectives began to silt through all the information and sort it into their timeline on the board. The Captain had ordered a meeting with them both to talk about the progress of the case and they wanted to be ready.
A sinking feeling had hit Zara's gut. She was piecing things together a lot more quickly than Harriet and she could see the case was really making a mess of her partner's mind. She prayed that everything would become clear tomorrow at the meeting with Captain Price – for the sake of Harriet's sanity.
A/N: Feel free to point out any mistakes - I've given it the once over but I know sometimes they slip through. I hope you are all enjoying it... What do you think is going to happen next?!
PLEASE... vote, comment and share :)