Partners, Always [Book One] EDITING

Book Two & Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at the next book titled Together, Always.

A gentle breeze blew through my hair as I walked along the recently trimmed grass, Jay and I had been called to a local park, several feet ahead of us crime scene tape clung to trees, the low handing branches were providing the victim protection from the cameramen doing whatever they could to try and get a look at the poor women's body, no respect or consideration for what she'd been put through before she was murdered, all they wanted was views and ratings.

"Three victims in four days, this guy isn't taking time to cool off," Jay stated as we ducked under the crime scene tape, "Is there any chance we won't find another body today?" He questioned as we approached Antonio who was stood talking to a crime scene tech.

"He took a day off between his first and second, killed the third less than a day after his second, we'll be lucky if he doesn't kill someone and dispose of the body today," I answered, frustration lacing my voice when I saw the body, like the last two victims, blood surrounded a bullet wound, directly above her heart, her hands were tied together in a prayer-like position, but instead of her hands pointing up, they were pointing down towards the ground. Her body was held up on her knees by a thick piece of wood, shaped like a cross.

"Emma Coleman, she was found by a jogger an hour ago, MO matches the previous victims, a bullet to the heart, tied up in the prayer position, left in a park and the M.E can't confirm until the body is taken to the morgue but she thinks the victim was sexually assaulted," Antonio explained, "She hasn't been reported missing, so we don't know how long she was held,"

"She was probably taken right after the last victim," I stated sadly, "There are some changes with this victim, her hair is light brown, the last two were blondes," I said, scanning the area around me, techs were scattered around, taking photos and searching for any evidence, "How far is this park from the other crime scenes?" I questioned,

"Less than a mile from the park Jill Elks was found, almost three from where Sarah Beck was found... why?" Antonio said calmly, "The locations have some meaning to him?"

I nodded in confirmation and moved towards one of the crime scene techs who was photographing something on the ground, "The victims were left in the prayer position, that could mean the motives are religious and he's placing the victims in this position so they can atone for their sins, the locations could relate to that, a lot of religions are based in nature, celebrating the outdoors," I explained, "Pilgrimages are often made to parks. Believers say they're closer to God in places like this. Maybe he believes they're surrogates for a woman who cheated on him or rejected him,"

"Even with his change in victim type, he does the same thing with each victim, kidnaps and controls the victim, takes them somewhere secluded, then rapes and kills them within twenty-four hours of abducting them," Antonio said calmly, "That tells us he's got a gun, the time to stalk the victims, he might have a van or SUV that he transports the victims to the parks and lair without becoming suspicious,"

My brows furrowed when I saw what the tech was photographing, I knelt down and pulled a pen from my pocket, "What is it?" Jay asked as he and Antonio moved towards me,

"A wedding ring," I stated, carefully sliding the ring onto my pen once the tech was finished, "She also threw up... she knew she was going to die," I pointed towards the vomit another tech was taking photos of a few meters ahead of me, "The strange thing is, the first two victims were single and then he kills a married woman, that's a very sudden change, but why did he toss the ring aside when he brought her out here?"

"Maybe he got rid of the ring because it didn't fit his parameters," Antonio suggested,

"If that's the case, why not go after a single woman in the first place?" I countered, "And why not take off the ring during the rape? Why only remove it seconds before he killed her?"

"Is the BAU on their way?" Antonio asked when no answers were given to my question.

"They're already on their way," I said, placing the ring into an evidence bag a tech brought over and stood up before turning to face the victim as possible answers to the change in victimology began racing through my mind, "Hopefully we'll figure this out before the killer picks his next victim... if he hasn't already,"

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Hope you liked this little sneak peek!

The next book should be out before the new year but if it isn't, it'll be out a little after that, I meant to have it up sooner but I've been extremely busy dealing with an upcoming lockdown where I live and Christmas was more hectic than I believed.

I hope you're all doing okay and Merry Christmas!