Elysium Dreams

Nine

I wanted to yell at whoever was beating on my door.  My eyes found the clock; it was just before eight in the morning.  I'd gotten about three hours of sleep.

The entire night I had gone through each file carefully, looking at them individually, to see if there was anything we had missed.  I hadn't come up with anything except sleep deprivation and a small headache.

"Go away!"  I finally shouted.  I knew it was Gabriel.  We were due into the Marshals' office at eight.  However, I was pretty sure my brain wasn't going to function for another hour or so.

"They found a body!"  Gabriel shouted back.

I got out of bed, stumbled to the door, and opened it.  Gabriel let himself into the room.  He carried a can of soda.

"You look like shit," he held the can out to me.  "Get dressed, we have to go."

"Good morning to you too," I took the soda, put it on the table, grabbed my jeans off the floor, and slipped them on over my pajamas.  I found a bra and a shirt, turned around, giving Gabriel my back, and put them on.  My hair was still in a ponytail, but I took a few minutes to put any errant hairs back into place and tied it into a bun.  I shed like a Saint Bernard in summer, so I always kept my hair up at crime scenes.

I grabbed my fleece and a coat and slipped into both of them.  I was dressed in less than five minutes.  Gabriel grabbed the soda off the desk, popped the top and handed it to me.  I downed it as we walked to the SUV and threw the empty into a trashcan that was in the back of the vehicle.  I belched loudly.

"How very ladylike.  You look awful," Xavier said.

"I did not sleep much," I growled at him.

"Great, we're dealing with Cranky Cain today," Xavier gave me a grin and I couldn't help but smile back.

"We have Ginny Jacobs, age thirty-six, she teaches fifth grade at a local elementary," Gabriel interrupted us.

"How did we get an identity so fast?"  I asked.

"Turns out, the locals have been holding back on us, he's been leaving the victim's identification cards at the scene," Gabriel smiled at me.  "Today they decided to share that little piece of information when I asked the same question."

"Seems like a little piece of information they should have shared a while ago," Lucas said.

"It's worse when you get even more rural," Gabriel shrugged, "and that applies everywhere, not just Alaska."

"I don't think it has anything to do with the locals," Lucas answered.  "It's us.  A call to us means very bad things are happening."

"That could be," Gabriel admitted as the car came to a stop.  We had only driven a few blocks, but we were faced with a full wooded area.  I stared at the snow, only a few footprints were visible and a dozen or so tire tracks.

"Is this one going to be trampled as well?"  I asked.

"No, it was found by a park ranger.  So far, the press hasn't gotten word because we've been using cell phones to communicate the find," Gabriel answered.  "There are a few dozen locals and, of course, Agent Arons, other than that, the ranger that found the body.  No lookie-loos and no reporters at this time."

"But you're expecting them," Xavier said.

"Yep, I imagine this little party will only last for an hour at the most.  Word is going to spread fast about another one," Lucas said.

"Pretty much," Gabriel said, getting out of the car.

We all followed behind.  I trudged through the snow with my new boots.  They weren't exactly the right fit, just a hair too big.  My feet slid around in them, making them almost treacherous on the snow.  However, they were warm.