SO LONG, page 2
“What are you doing?!” she demanded, struggling to break free from his grip.
His face twisted into an ugly sneer. “You think you can just play with me? I don’t think so!” His fingers tightened on her skin and Gina felt her heart racing in panic. She tried to push him away, but he was too strong. Panicking, Gina's instincts kicked in.
She had to do something.
Gina closed her eyes, gathering all of her strength, and then kicked Devon in the groin with as much force as she could muster. He howled in pain and let go of her shoulders. Taking advantage of the moment, Gina spun around and ran—tearing through the trees and shrubs, jumping over logs and rocks. Tears burned her eyes, but she didn't have time to think about what she'd just avoided--she had to run.
Gina pushed her body to its limit, barely registering the branches and twigs scratching her face. She felt dizzy and disoriented, but she kept running blindly, not sure where she was going.
Suddenly, Gina's leg collided with something hard and cold. She lost her footing and stumbled forward, landing hard on the ground.
"Gina!" she heard Devon wail in the distance.
But suddenly, the man pursuing her was the least of her concerns.
Gina scrambled back on her palms as she looked back at what she'd tripped over.
A woman, lying there on the ground. She was covered in leaves, staring up at the sky.
With lifeless eyes.
That was when it registered.
The woman was wearing a white dress that was tattered and torn with patches of dirt covering her body. Her hair was matted against her scalp, but what shocked Gina the most were the insects crawling all over her body--ants, flies, beetles--eating away at her flesh.
Gina felt bile rising in her throat as she backed away from the scene in horror.
The woman was dead.
And the insects were making her into their feast.
Was Devon behind this, she wondered?
Would she be next?
She knew she should get up and run, but she knelt there, frozen in shock, and the only thing she was able to do was scream.
CHAPTER ONE
Agent Jake Tucker of the FBI had seen a lot of dead bodies in his seven-year career as an agent. Mostly the bloody kind, the kind that had been left by a careless killer in a dumpster somewhere in Portland, the kind that had slash wounds or had been cut into little pieces, hallmark signs of a serial killer.
What he was looking at now was... something else. Something he was still struggling to wrap his head around.
Off the trail in Forest Park, just outside of Portland, Jake watched as his forensics team analyzed the body of a woman they'd been called in to view. It was a gruesome sight; there were insects feeding on her flesh, like she'd been out here for several days now, long enough for her body to rot and the bugs to speed up the decomposition process. He figured this was what it looked like to be buried alive, only this girl hadn't been buried at all.
A shudder moved through his core, but as much as it disturbed him, it also reminded him why he’d become an FBI agent in the first place. Why he’d willingly come out into the woods just to look at a rotting corpse. Because this girl, at one time, had a family, and a life, and a future—and he knew too well how hard it was to lose someone too soon, to have someone steal that away from him. Hell, he was only thirty years old, but he’d dedicated his life to ensuring as few people had to go through that as possible.
And he’d bet money that whoever did this had every intention of doing it again.
This wasn't the first body found like this--another had been discovered a week ago, and the case had been in the hands of local law enforcement. Until the call came in earlier that another body had been found under similar circumstances. Jake had been called into the chief’s office with his partner, Lauren, at Portland’s FBI HQ this morning, and the case had been entrusted to them.
If he could stop another woman from losing her life, then he wouldn’t waste a single resource.
The morning sun gleamed down at him between the canopy of trees above, and he squinted as he looked around the scene. The smell didn't make this any easier; it was June now, and as Oregon drew closer to summer, the days had begun to feel a lot hotter. Still damp and rainy, but today it was clear, and the stench of rotting flesh was enough to make Jake’s breakfast feel sour in his stomach. But he had to do this--to find out who did this.
"Can you boys spot any marks on her? Any cause of death?" Jake called out, and Cody, one of the young forensics officers, looked up at him.
"Not yet, Agent Tucker." He leaned down and snapped a photo of her body. "There are so many bugs on her... it's hard to tell anything at all. We're gonna have to, you know... get them off."
"I don't envy the guy who gets that job," Jake muttered.
"Very funny," Cody muttered. "You know it'll probably be me."
But Jake wasn't so sure about that; this was a very biologically active location, and they might have more luck transferring the body to somewhere more sterile.
"Don't worry about that, Code," Jake said. "I say we get her into a sterile body bag, bugs, dirt, and all. We don't know what other kind of DNA we might find on her, so we shouldn't contaminate anything. Let's get her to a sterile location for further examination."
"On it," Cody said, and he joined the rest of the forensics team as they went to get supplies from the bin in the helicopter that had dropped them all out here. It was too far to drive, and taking vehicles through the woods would be impossible, so they'd been lowered in by chopper.
It was chance—or maybe fate—that a girl, Gina, had been running through this part of the woods, which deviated far from the main trail. Jake had spoken to her before they’d come to the scene, although she’d been so traumatized that she could barely formulate a sentence. Apparently, she’d been fleeing from an online-date-gone-wrong when she stumbled over the body, then fled the woods and called the police. Jake felt for her; on top of being a key witness in this case, she also had to work with the local police to catch the guy who’d attacked her in the woods. But at least she was safe.
Her date, Devon, on the other hand, was still at large. Maybe it was a coincidence that he’d taken Gina into the woods, right near where a body was… or maybe Devon knew it had been there all along. Jake had his doubts about Devon’s involvement in the crime, but he had guys hunting him down, and hoped they’d call with an update as soon as the guy was found.
"Anything?" a new voice said.
Jake looked beside him to see Lauren had joined him. With her arms wrapped around her chest, Lauren scowled down at the scene with piercing green eyes, her straight blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail. Having her by his side always brought on a confusing mix of comfort and unease, depending on how they were feeling about each other on that particular day. Right now, Jake felt a tense aura off her.
"Not yet," Jake told her. "The boys aren't getting anything useful, so we're gonna transfer to a bag and get her re-examined in a sterile location."
"Fair enough," Lauren said.
Jake looked down at Lauren. As she usually did these days, she had a sour expression.
But she looked up at him and asked, "What do you think about all this, Tucker?"
Tucker. Not long ago, she'd abandoned calling him by his last name and had just stuck with Jake. But here she was, last-naming him again. At twenty-nine, Lauren Price was one of the finest agents the FBI in Oregon had; she and Jake had always made a great team. He'd been partnered with Lauren since he was twenty-seven and she was a fresh agent. To say they had history would be an understatement.
But now things were different. There was a tension between them that hadn't been there before. It seemed like every time they talked, something was off; it was as if they were both trying to figure out how to bridge the gap between them, the gap they'd created when they let their personal feelings for each other get in the way of their professional partnership.
Shoving those thoughts aside, Jake looked back down at the body, mentally comparing this scene with the one he'd seen photos of. Both women, both in white dresses. Both left in the woods to rot and be eaten by insects.
"I can't see any stab wounds or ligature marks,” Jake commented.
Not that he would be able to tell. The insects were feeding all over her throat. But Jake had read the reports from the local PD on the body they’d found in this same forest last week, and it all seemed to match up. The chances of two different women being found dead in the same manner, in the same area, within a week, were unlikely—unless there was an active killer dumping them here.
“I definitely think we’re dealing with the same guy,” Jake said.
“Looks that way,” Lauren agreed.
But forensics had gotten nothing off the last scene, according to the police reports, and they were struggling to get anything now. Jake was no forensic analysist, but with the heavy state of decomposition and the insects eating away at the victim’s flesh, he could tell getting DNA from this one wouldn’t be a walk in the park. He’d never seen so many bugs in his life.
Bugs…
A thought crept into his mind. He could have sworn he’d heard wind of someone who worked in forensics who’d helped one of his colleagues, Agent Hayes, solve a crime like this, where there had been heavy decomposition and a lot of bugs. He recalled overhearing something about “that weird bug girl really came through.”
The entomologist—Fiona Red. That was her name. Not many people chose to specialize in insects, and he remembered thinking it was odd—and slightly intriguing.
“What are you thinking, Tucker?” Lauren asked, cutting Jake’s thoughts short. He looked down to see her green eyes looking up at him curiously.
“Do you remember hearing about that girl who helped Hayes, the entomologist? I think her name is Fiona Red.”
With pursed lips, Lauren nodded. “I think so. Why?”
He looked back down at the body, at the insects writhing on it. Maybe this Fiona Red girl would be able to extract something from this that the average forensic analyst might not be. As far as he knew, she was the only entomologist positioned in the FBI in Portland, and there were very few of them in the country as a whole. Being that interested in bugs was, well, unusual.
“We should see if we can get her on this,” Jake said. “We might need a bug expert if we want any hope in getting information from this corpse.”
He'd never worked with this Fiona girl--as far as he was aware, he'd never even seen her. But with any luck, she could be the key to unlocking this case.
He had to admit, he was curious to see what she was like.
CHAPTER TWO
Forensic specialist Fiona Red peered through the microscope, adjusting the lenses and twiddling various knobs as she examined the evidence. She had been studying this case--which had been sent here all the way from the FBI in Quantico--for hours and had yet to find any clues that could give her a breakthrough. She adjusted the microscope and zoomed in, examining every detail of the sample. There were no fingerprints or hair samples, but there was something else: strange miniscule objects that seemed to be embedded in the fibers of the material.
Fiona took out her magnifying glass and studied them further. After a few moments of intense scrutiny, she finally figured out what they were: tiny insect wings! They must have come from a species of fly that was native to the region; if Fiona could identify it, she might be able to use it to pinpoint where the suspect had been when they committed the crime.
With excitement, she quickly grabbed her supplies: scalpel, forceps, tweezers, and various other tools. She laid out all of the evidence on an examination table one by one and began meticulously analyzing each item with precision and care. As she worked, with the most advanced technology available for a forensic analyst at her disposal, she couldn’t help but think that she really did have it good.
Here she was, working for the FBI, and actually using her knowledge of bugs to help people. To save people. As a kid, Fiona had always been known as that strange girl with the bug obsession, getting teased on the playground for trying to save insects others were trying to kill. But she’d come a long way since then. She’d gone through years of intense, mind-numbing schooling and graduated from Harvard. She’d coped with peers not believing in her, with sleepless nights and living away from home, all by herself in the dorms at Harvard; and for what it was worth, she was never very popular there, either.
But she’d persevered. She believed in herself, and her professors had been kind enough to see what she was capable of too. Sure, she had never been that girl with a boyfriend, or that girl who got invited to all the parties—but she’d followed her passions.
And here she was now, only twenty-six years old, and living out her dream job.
Maybe she was still that strange bug girl. But she’d wear the name with pride now.
After she identified their genus and species, she wrote down all of her findings in a detailed report which would be sent straight to the agents in Quantico. This was the best she could do for now.
Sighing, she figured she was finished with her work early--it might be time for a lunch break, then to see what else the FBI had for her to examine. The room was filled with an array of scientific equipment, from microscopes to computers to advanced spectrometers. Fiona took a deep breath and smiled as she looked around--she felt right at home here in the lab.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and her superior, Dr. Glenn Haywood, poked his head in, wearing a white lab coat that matched Fiona's.
"Hey, Red, how you holding up in here?"
"All good, Glenn," Fiona said, stretching. "I was just about to take my lunch break. I'm all finished up here for now."
Glenn stepped into the room. He was a well-respected scientist who had joined the FBI as a forensic analyst years ago, and loved the job so much he never left. Now, he was Fiona's superior and oversaw everything in the lab, which was located right inside the FBI headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
"You might want to put a pin in that for now," Glenn said. "I just received a special request from two agents who want to meet you."
"Me?" Fiona asked, confused. "What about?"
"They're on their way now, something about a crime they need help with. All I know is that we have two victims within a week, both female, left in a forest and found by hikers--apparently, the bodies are swarming with insects, so I think that's where you come in."
Fiona's excitement grew. She’d much rather keep working than go eat a boring sandwich. That could come later.
"They'll be here in ten minutes," Glenn said, checking his watch before leaving the room. "I'll let them know you're ready."
Fiona quickly put away her tools and tidied up the lab for her guests' arrival.
***
Fiona paced through her lab, waiting for the FBI agents to arrive. Fiona had met quite a few agents since she'd started working for the FBI a year ago, when she was only twenty-five. Her expectations of the types of people they were often ended up subverted; they weren't always quiet or gruff or stern and serious, and they weren't always intimidating, but they were often Type A personalities. Fiona wasn't sure why, but she was nervous about meeting them. That, of course, didn't override her excitement and eagerness to get her hands on this case.
There was a knock at the door, and Glenn poked his head back in. "Hey, Red, they're here. Can you come down to the morgue?"
"The morgue?" Fiona asked, confused.
"Turns out they have the body with them."
Fiona swallowed, hard. She was a forensic analyst, of course, but it wasn't often she got to examine actual bodies firsthand. She swallowed her nerves and followed Glenn into the hallway. Her shoes clacked against the tile as they made their way through the busy ward of the FBI, on their way to the small morgue they kept here, only a short distance away. Fiona's palms felt sweaty as Glenn held the door open for her, letting her into the morgue.
The morgue was a cold, sterile room, with white walls and gray tile floors. The air was heavy and still, and the lights were dim. An eerie silence filled the room, interrupted only by the faint hum of the machines that ran in the background. The atmosphere was one of expectation, as if something important was about to occur.
Glenn led Fiona to a door, which he once again opened for her--but behind this door was a small room, and in that room was a body bag set up on an examination table, and next to that body bag was a man.
Fiona's eyes widened as she looked at him, captivated for a moment. She hadn't expected someone like... that. Six-foot-something with short, spiked brown hair and warm brown eyes, he had a five o'clock shadow on his defined jaw, and he was beyond handsome. Fiona instantly felt insecure about her red hair, frizzy from the day's work. She had to push that aside, though, and be professional. He was good-looking, but she needed to not let that fluster her. You're not a high school girl anymore, Fiona.
The man came over to her instantly with high, dominating, but friendly energy. He held out a hand. "Fiona Red? I'm Agent Jake Tucker--thanks so much for meeting with me."
Fiona shook his hand and feeling his warm skin on hers made her head swim. "Ah, thank you," she managed. Professional, remember? "I'm Fiona, and I'm happy to help."
"Ms. Red here is one of the best forensic specialists we have," Glenn chimed in. "I'm confident you'll be satisfied with her input on the case."
Agent Tucker smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Dr. Haywood."
Glenn smiled back and then gestured to the door. "I'll leave you to it, then. Ms. Red, I'll be in the lab if you need me."
With a nod of understanding, Fiona watched as Glenn stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him. Now it was just her and Agent Tucker, alone in this small space with nothing but a body bag between them. Fiona cleared her throat and focused on their task at hand: examining the body for evidence that could potentially lead them to solving this case. She went to the table and grabbed a mask, quickly slipping it on, followed by safety glasses--placed securely over her real glasses--and a pair of latex gloves.
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