Romantic Thriller: Only Time Will Tell – A Romantic Suspense and Romantic Mystery Book: (Thriller Romance, Suspense, Mystery Romance, Suspense Romance) Read Free

being trapped in an unwanted conversation. Dorothy was in the habit of rambling on for a long time and Chelsea did not know how to disengage herself without being looked at as rude. Luckily for her, Dorothy went back to smoking her cigarette and she managed to slip away.
    Her sleepless night had left her fatigued, but she would have to somehow make it make it through the rest of the day. She would be relying on many cups of coffee to make this happen.
    The rain started to fall softly as she got into the car. No one else seemed to be out this early on Sunday. Backing out she knew it would only take her a few minutes to get to the park. When she arrived at the entrance of the park she noticed that several police vehicles had already blocked off the area. She saw Carson Pierce looking around obviously for clues. His short cropped salt and pepper hair made him easily identifiable. Next to him was Dean Weston, a new recruit, scribbling in his blue notebook. He was only assigned to Homicide five months ago and so he was still trying to prove himself to Pierce, which was not an easy thing to do.
    Getting out of the car, she went in the direction where everyone was gathered around the body. The victim seemed to be a young woman in her early twenties and she was lying on her back covered in her own blood. It appeared that she had several stab wounds and her lifeless blue eyes were staring into the beyond. One of the officers thankfully closed them. Her hair was in total disarray and Chelsea noted her jogging shoes were the expensive kind which most likely meant that she was a serious runner.
    “Do we know who she is?”
    “No,” said Pierce. “There is nothing on her.”
    Chelsea looked around her quickly. There were several houses nearby and some had their lights on as people were waking up. News of this murder so close by would have parents fearful to have their children playing in the park unsupervised. She wondered if anyone from these houses had seen any suspicious action or heard anything like a scream.
    “Who discovered the body?” She asked.
    “A man called it in roughly an hour ago,” Weston said. “He didn’t identify himself but said he had stumbled across the body and so we came down.”
    “What is the estimated time of death?”
    “I’d give it about two hours maybe slightly less,” said Cara. She was the medical examiner who was kneeling by the body. Her face was tightly drawn as she silently carried out an on-the-spot examination.
    Cara continued. “From the signs of abrasion on the body, it is obvious she did put up a bit of a struggle and it seemed as if the attack came from behind. This means she had little time to react to what was happening.”
    “Well, it could be something personal or she just happened to be a random victim being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Weston slipped his blue notebook into his pocket.
    “So how do you wish for us to proceed?” He asked, turning to Pierce.
    “First we’ll have to try and ID her…maybe by checking her prints and missing person’s reports.” Pierce said.
    “What about putting her picture on the news?” Dean asked.
    “Not until we have identified her and notified her next of kin. Here in Homicide we operate a bit differently from in the Drug Unit,” Pierce reminded him. “We can mention the crime on the news and withhold any name we might have and see if anyone comes forward with any information, but that’s about it.”
    Weston fell silent while Pierce moved away as he took out his cell phone. Chelsea knew that his wife was a reporter for the local news so she would be able to get this on air quickly. This was normal procedure when the police had a Jane Doe on their hands.
    “Is he always that brusque?” Weston asked in a peeved voice.
    Chelsea smiled . “ Pierce is an asshole to everyone this early in the morning. He will warm up, eventually. Just hang in there.”
    “Well, I am going to help with checking people in the area asking