Early Bird | ✓

42 | pheasant

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           When JJ arrived home, he was surprised to see his parents on the couch.  He knew they were waiting for him specifically when his mother rose from her seated position and motioned for him to sit with them.  JJ threw his new bag to the side and kicked off his shoes before settling between them.  He could feel the tension like it was concrete, solidifying and morphing onto his body.

           "Sweetheart," his mom began carefully.

           "She's dead, isn't she."  It wasn't a question; it was a statement, one that he could sense deep in his bones, no matter how hard he tried to deny it.

           His dad shook his head.  "Quite the opposite, actually."

           JJ sat back, allowing this new information to sink in.  Their severe expressions told him that they hadn't found her yet so how did they know she was alive?

           "The police received a phone call from a burner phone," his mom explained, her hand resting on her son's knee softly.  "Lizzy was on the other end, begging for help.  It lasted for only a few seconds and then she was gone again."

           JJ's heart thudded in his chest, a painful rhythm like a funeral song.  "A burner phone?  So a phone that they couldn't track?"  Somehow, he kept his voice steady, calm despite the agony roaring within him like a ferocious lion.

           His father nodded grimly.  "They think her kidnapper is messing with them.  He's hotheaded and seems to think they'll never catch him.  They've received similar calls before."

           JJ's blood ran cold.  "So all those girls that have gone missing and turned up dead these past couple months, a year ago...it's the same guy?  A sick serial killer?"

           JJ's parents did nothing to confirm or deny his statement.

           JJ stood up abruptly, unable to continue to sit there idly.  He couldn't do nothing while Lizzy was fending for her life, trying to survive some serial killer that thrived on taking innocent girls and killing them.

           "Where are you going?" his mother called after him.

           "To the rose bush," he responded crisply.  His parents' news had soaked him to the core like an unexpected rainfall, leaving him shocked, cold, and drenching him in a dampness that couldn't be shaken.

           The opened door brought a rush of heat, the sun beating down on the crisp, dry grass.  The rose brush was a vibrant splash of red and green amid the parched, gray landscape.  JJ had been watering it faithfully—once in the morning, again in the evening—and kept it away from the drought that was plaguing the area.  He gently caressed the leaves with his thumb and examined the pink buds, ripe and almost to the point of blooming.  He should've felt excited to have roses soon but instead a worrisome expression hung over his face.

           He promised himself he'd find Lizzy by the time the roses bloomed.

           But now it seemed he was almost too late.

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           JJ immediately called Reece when he entered the house again.  He wasn't sure if Lizzy's friends had heard the news, but he figured they'd appreciate it if it came from him and not the police.  He didn't want to call Teagan, especially after she flung her stinging words at him like bullets.  Reece seemed the kindest of the three and thus JJ found himself dialing the hotel and asking to speak with Reece.