Too Close to Home (The Forensic Files)

by Tressa Messenger

  Carma looked up from the book in shock. That beautiful All-American girl who was seemingly perfect in every way had an abortion a few months ago. Carma closed the lock box and placed it back in the bottom drawer where she found it, as well as the keys. She stood up from the desk and pushed in the chair, eyeing the diary still sitting on the desk. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked to see what Harold was doing, and when she saw that he was preoccupied, she seized the opportunity. Reaching down, she lifted the diary and before she could think any further and change her mind, she slid it into the waist of her pants and pulled her crisp shirt down over it. She knew she had the right to take it, but she didn’t want to have to mark it as evidence for the time being because Melissa’s mother was better not knowing she had it. If she knew that it even existed, she’d want to read it, and now was definitely not the time for that.

  They left the room, closing the door behind them. They could hear Rachel sobbing somewhere nearby. Carma glanced around before she walked into the kitchen and looked out the window. That was when she spotted her sitting in one of the patio chairs. She was bent over with a look of pure agony on her tear-streaked face. Seeing her in the grief-stricken state, they decide that it was best to let her grieve for her daughter in peace and not bother her with a farewell.

  Chapter Four

  Harold and Carma, both too emotional from what they just had to do, rode back to the Sheriff’s Department in silence, both unable to speak. Carma dropped Harold off at the Sheriff’s Office before heading out on her own to Dawson’s Creek to speak with the Jenkins family.

  She closed her car door as gently as she could in front of Mike and Kristen’s house, but no matter how softly she tried to close it, the old Crown Victoria’s door squeaked from age and use, sending echoes throughout the quiet neighborhood.

  She and Mike had known each other since elementary school and became close friends in high school when he started dating her best friend Mary, whom he later married. They were a tight group back then, and even though that was a long time ago and a lot of distance in between, she thought it would be best, out of sympathy and respect, to speak to them solo. Thankfully, her new partner was very understanding.

  She took off her blazer, slung it over the hood of the car and glanced around. The transition from summer to fall was tricky in the South. The summer was scorching hot, but fall could be strange. It was slightly cooler than summer and there was a lot more rain. Fall weather was extremely hard to dress for due to the drastic changes in the temperature throughout the day. The mornings tended to be a little chilly so Carma tended to slip a blazer on over her blouse. Then when the afternoon rolled around, the blazer became a layer too much, as the afternoon temperatures began to rise and become comparable to summer time temperatures. The evenings seemed to pick up where the mornings left off as they tended to be a little on the chilly side, and for all intents and purposes, “blazer worthy.” It was a vicious cycle. That was what she told herself as she tried to justify wearing her blazer in the first place, the very blazer that was now slung over the hood of the car.

  Removing her sunglasses, she gazed up at the old two story riverfront house. Living in the county her whole life had allowed her to see the house through many stages of its life. While she was growing up, the owner of the house was Mrs. Brady, who was a really sweet old lady. She could remember that Mrs. Brady was so proud of her colorful flower beds that littered the front of the house. She lived in the house until she died when Carma was a teenager. Since her death, a few owners came and went, causing a few things to change about the house itself. However, her beautiful colorful flower beds were gone, replaced many years ago with a concrete driveway leading up to an attached garage that became littered with young Kristen’s toys until Kristen started high school. As Carma looked at the house now, she began to notice that the white paint was chipping and the once bright blue shutters weren’t as bright anymore, but that happened to be a typical look for homes on the river. The sun helped to fade that blue paint and the salty river water tended to make house paint chip after years of exposure. She decided it was still pretty, despite its lived-in look.

  She took a deep breath, inhaling the salty river air, and walked up the stone walkway onto the wide airy porch. She took another deep breath before ringing the bell. Impatiently, she turned around and looked at the empty street. Half of the residents of the neighborhood were only seasonal, having gone back to their year-round homes once school resumed, which was pretty common for that part of the county. The people who lived there year round were most likely at work or in school, well except for the high school, which was most likely the reason for the abnormally quiet neighborhood today.

  She had always loved that part of the county, the towns of Arapahoe, Dawson’s Creek, Florence, Oriental, all quaint little towns nestled on the coast of the Neuse River. Having spent half of her life in Dawson’s Creek, especially during the summers, it had become her favorite over all of the other towns. It was easy to love in the summer time when all the homes were filled with happy new people who were eager to socialize with the locals.

  Her mind drifted back to when she was younger. The county had a way of doing that. One thing she loved and hated was that if you lived here long enough, every corner would have its own special memory. Her cherished childhood spot was a half a mile down the road and was a favorite local hangout back then, where a lot of kids used to gather and swim during the warmer months. There used to be a big wooden plank in the middle of the creek that kids would pile onto and hang out. Then there were the kids who took turns jumping off the bridge or just lying on the beach. Ironically enough, even though she considered that her favorite place, that was also the exact spot where something happened that changed her life forever. That was where, during their junior year of high school, Mike and Mary realized they were each in love with the other. He had seen her a million times before, but that day as he watched her emerge from the salty water onto the plank, he was hooked and Carma didn’t stand a chance.

  Sadly, that wooden plank was gone now, as well as most of the beach. The soft sand had been replaced by rig rocks a few years back to stop the never ending erosion. It was no wonder kids didn’t hang out here much anymore.

  She turned around quickly when the door opened and her heart skipped a beat when she came face to face with Mike’s big sad brown eyes. “Hey Mike.”

  “What’s going on, Carma?”

  “I really hate to do this, but I have to speak with Kristen,” she told him.

  “Now?” he asked her, unable to hide his surprise.

  “You of all people know how it is, Mike. It’s better to talk now while everything is still fresh,” she said.

  Mike held open the door and moved to the side to allow her to come in.

  Carma stopped in the foyer and looked around. “Your house is very pretty.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Ever since I was a kid, I always wondered what it looked like inside,” she told him.

  “We invited you over like a million times.”

  “I know. I’m a busy gal,” she said, hoping he didn’t hear the lie in her voice.

  “So it would seem,” Mike replied. After a minute passed, he flatly told her, “I was surprised when you didn’t even come to the funeral.”

  “Sorry, Mike, I couldn’t,” she confessed, unable to meet his gaze.

  “Always trying to keep your distance,” Mike said thinking back. “Well, I’m sure the house is different since then. Mary insisted that all the wallpaper go as soon as we moved in.” Mike laughs sadly, trying to change the subject.

  “How’ve ya’ll been since the accident?”

  “We get by. We miss her, but that’s expected,” he admitted.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re right about that.” Finally looking into his beautiful brown eyes, she added, “I miss her, too, Mike. I miss how tight we all were when we younger.”

  “That was the way back then. Pamlico was so small, e
veryone knew everyone. Too many people have moved in and out since then. I can go days without seeing someone I know, especially during the summer,” he said.

  “Me, too,” Carma agreed.

  They fell into silence for a few awkward minutes before Kristen appeared on the top of the stairs.

  “Hey, sweetie. You shouldn’t be up.”

  “I needed some water,” she told him.

  “I could have gotten it for you.”

  “That’s okay, Dad. I can do it.”

  Kristen held on to the railing as she walked down the stairs and stopped in front of Carma and Mike and looked at them curiously. “What’s going on?”

  “Sweetie, Detective Carma needs to speak to you.”

  “About what?”

  “About Missy, sweetie.”

  “I know this has been hard on you, but it’s important for the investigation. I promise it’ll be quick,” Carma cut in.

  “Oh, okay, if it’ll help find who did it,” Kristen told her.

  Kristen left them and headed for the living room. She sat on the couch and pulled her legs up close to her chest, hugging them to her body.

  “My God, Mike! She looks exactly like Mary at that age,” Carma whispered.

  “Don’t I know it? It makes it painful to look at her sometimes, especially when she is hurting so badly and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

  “Sorry.”

  Mike glanced away from Kristen to look at Carma and shrugged before following his daughter into the living room. He took the blanket from the back of the couch, tucking it gently around her, then sat down beside her.

  Carma took her pocket notepad and pen out of her back pocket and sat in a chair across from her. “Kristen, when is the last time you saw Melissa?”

  “Yesterday afternoon at school,” Kristen answered.

  “Why were you at the school after hours?”

  “We were practicing our cheers in the gym for the game on Friday.”

  “Who else was there?”

  “Me and Missy, of course, and Brittany Peters, Ella Smith, Mary Roberts, Melissa something umm… there are a couple of new girls on the squad this year, freshmen. I can’t remember their names right now.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll find out,” Carma told her. “About how long did your practice last?”

  “I don’t know. I got there around six. Missy was already there and the rest of the girls finally arrived by six-thirty and we left around seven-thirty, eight o’clock maybe.”

  “Did Melissa leave when you left?”

  “No. A few of us were going to the Crooked Hook to hang out and get some food, but she didn’t want to come. She said she wanted to practice the new cheer for the halftime show a little more. She just finished putting it together. She said she was supposed to meet up with Rob a little later that evening.”

  “Rob? Is that her boyfriend?”

  Kristen nodded.

  “What’s Rob’s last name?”

  “Lee. Robert Lee.”

  “He’s a football player, right?”

  “Yeah, the quarterback.”

  Quarterback boyfriend! Not surprising she didn’t want him to know about the baby, Carma thought to herself.

  Carma made a note to speak with him next.

  “Did Melissa usually shower at school after practice?”

  Kristen looked back and forth between Carma and her father with wide eyes now, panic starting to form as possible death scenarios played out in her mind.

  “Why?” Kristen asked.

  “I know this is upsetting, Kristen, but any information you can give me will help us find out who did this to your friend.”

  Kristen took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Yes, she would normally shower after practice. She didn’t like to be icky, especially when she was meeting her boyfriend afterwards.”

  “That’s understandable. Do you know if Melissa had any enemies?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is there anyone who didn’t like her?”

  “Missy is, or was, a beautiful girl. She and Rob are super popular. It’s high school, though. Girls can be catty about those things, but as far as anyone hating her, I’d have to say no. She was super sweet to everyone, but not one to push around, if you know what I mean.”

  “No, I don’t. High school for me was a long time ago.”

  “Messing with Missy is social suicide. People knew better.”

  “Oh, I gotcha.” Carma closed her notepad and stood up. She walked over to Kristen and bent down and gave her knee a squeeze. “I’m so sorry you’re going through all this. I promise to do everything I can to find out what happened.”

  “Thanks, Detective Carma. This is all so unbelievable. We were supposed to go away to college together in New York after we graduate this year. I can’t believe she’s gone,” Kristen said, wiping away a fallen tear.

  Carma flashed back to the days when she and Mary had big plans to move away and go to college together. That was before life happened. “Please, call me Carma,” she told Kristen.

  Carma realized, after leaving Kristen crying on her dad’s shoulder, that she was utterly spent. Very few cases during Carma’s stint as a detective had had such an emotional strain on her. This case, however, had her feeling emotions that she hadn’t felt in many years. This case will no doubt be one she would never forget.

  Back in her car, Carma looked over and stared at the small pink diary lying on the passenger seat. She took a slow deep breath, as if breathing for the first time since pulling up at Mike and Kristen’s house, before calling Harold. “Hey, Harold, are you at the office?”

  “Yeah, I am just going through the incident reports.”

  “Good. I just finished interviewing Melissa Cooley’s best friend, Kristen Jenkins. I got a few names of the girls on the cheerleading squad, but I’m not so sure there is anything they can add. She did, however, give me the name of Melissa’s boyfriend. Kristen said they were supposed to meet up last night, so I want to speak to him next.”

  “Give me his name and I’ll get an address.”

  “Robert Lee.”

  “You coming into the office or going straight there?”

  “Yeah, I’m coming in. I want to check out the reports from the other deputies on-site, as well as see if there’s anything new. I also want to speak to Linda at the M.E.’s office. Hopefully I can push the autopsy. It would be nice if the bastard left us a clue.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

  “Yep, bye.”

  Carma started the old rumbling engine and took one more look at the weathered house before pulling away. She slowly drove over the old bridge and smiled at a young couple leaning over the side. She knew if she listened really closely she could hear the sounds of youthful laughter from her past still echoing in the breeze.

  Chapter Five

  Back in Bayboro, tucked way back in the Sheriff’s Department off in its own little corner, laid the detectives’ offices. In a county the size of Pamlico, with a population of approximately fourteen thousand, there was neither need nor the budget for a large law enforcement agency. There was only room for a small Sheriff’s Department with around twenty or so deputies and a couple of detectives. The detectives there specialized in a little bit of everything including homicide, burglary and drugs. Although there weren’t very many homicides in Pamlico County, the detectives still had training on how to handle homicides, as well as training in basic forensic, criminal psychology and some anatomy classes. They investigate it all, while the deputies do their usual duties. It was a system that had worked for them for as long as the county had been established, even with the steady population growth.

  Carma strutted through the front of the Sheriff’s Department with the diary in one hand and a big box of fresh doughnuts in the other. Having the new Dunkin’ Donuts in Grantsboro had been a Godsend. The entrance of the Sheriff’s Department contained the Magistrate’s office on the left and a receptionist on the ri
ght. The prisoners were kept on the left at the end of the hall and the offices were on the right. She punched in her security code at the door. Sheriff Ron looked up when he heard her four-inch high heels clicking on the tiled floor as she went by his office. She passed briefly, turned to give him a smile and a nodded before continuing her journey. As usual, all eyes were on her as she walked toward her office.

  She spotted Harold’s shiny brown bald head right away as she walked into the open office space they shared with the other detectives. He was sitting at his desk located directly across from hers. As she approached, she saw that his head was bent in deep concentration over an open file.

  Hearing her heels coming close like her own personal signal, he looked up from the pile of files on his desk and looked at her, or more like at the box in her hand. “Hey, Carma! You brought doughnuts! Sweet!”

  She set the fresh gooey doughnuts in the middle of their desks and he greedily dove in for a jelly-filled powder doughnut.

  “I feel a little guilty for leaving you out this morning” she admitted to him.

  In between bites, he said, “No worries, I know you got history there.”

  “Yeah, too much history,” she mumbled.

  “You wanna talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay then,” he said. “By the way, I was able to find your kid, and other than a couple of driving violations, he doesn’t have a record.”