Staying With Her

Chapter TWO

The woman on the floor was lifeless. Lifeless. They spread her Auburn hair into different places, smeared with dried blood. Her chocolate eyes were wide open, hiding the shadow of her killer.

Her body was defenseless. And the smell. The smell was unpleasant. Her stomach filled up the contents of her breakfast, bracing for its drop. Her heart pounded against her rib cage as one question coursed through her mind; Why?

The corpse was devoid of skin and pitted burrowing insects. It was too much. Impossible to execute such a heinous act. Kate turned away as her stomach heaved, nostrils filled with the sniff of decaying meat. Her blue eyes closed as she lifted her head into the silvery sky, sucking in its freshness.

Officer Martin sauntered toward Kate, flipping the notepad. "Jogger passed by and smelled the rotting animal."

"Had he seen her?"

Martin shook his head. "He ran, tripped and smelled her." He bit onto his lower lip as his hazel eyes scanned the naked body.

Shuddering, his right hand touched his forehead, then the middle of his chest, his left shoulder and to his right shoulder in prayer. 'In the name of the father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen,' he kissed his knuckles before looking back at Kate.

She breathed with difficulty as she steadied her overbearing stomach. In this job, she's seen it over and over. A corpse was a corpse. Setting her eyes upon the rotting woman, she felt nauseous. Before she could draw another breath, a hand laid on her shoulder. The police officer stood behind the sick woman in the rush of damped weather.

"You okay, Detective?" he asked, his voice thickening from the dense mass of air.

Turning around, she met the suave man. For a man going in his mid-forties, he had the body of a teenager, swelling muscles under his white dress shirt and protective vest. The badge pinned to his pants made him look hotter. He was the guy swinging around bars dressed in a tailored suit as he stares at the rack of liquor–blind to the amorous women. That's the reason Kate pegged him as a cop from when they'd first clashed. It didn't turn her off though, just made things more attractive.

She sniffed. Her hand dropped to bring back a used tissue. "Peachy."

He plants both palms on top of her shoulders, working them down the stretch in soothing caresses. "Flu?"

Kate shook her head and blew her nose. The noise rattled the hell out of her. However, it was an impulse when delving into the rainy days. "Anything on the Vic?"

"Body went for autopsy. Jogger went to the station for further questioning,"

He ran his hand down her arm before engulfing her icy cold hand into his warm one. He gave her hand a squeeze and flashing her one of his million-dollar smiles. "Go home and rest."

"I can't. What about the paperwork–"

His voice was louder now. "I'm telling you off."

She pulled her hand out from his heated one and crossed it to her chest. "I'm not a child."

"I didn't say you were."

She unruffled a cleanwhiter than white tissue.

Blackhawk shook his head. "Dammit woman, I swear."

The woman resembled that of a Ghost and yet, she was as stubborn as a mule. She was a resentful woman who crawled under his skin as a bad itch that he couldn't reach.

She murmured, 'Fine' as she stomped out of the park behind The Lava Lounge Bar on 2nd Avenue. He seemed to pop every nerve left in her body, and soon she'd be resembling the rotting woman.