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INSOMNIA LINGERED NIGHTLY in the shadows, a pernicious bedfellow who released Hutch from its cruel embrace reluctantly after hours of tireless taunting. As she hovered on the cusp of slumber and slipping into sleep’s warm embrace, the jarring ring of her telephone snatched her back to consciousness. A phone call this early in the morning meant another murder took place.
“Hello.”
Instead of the dispatcher’s voice there was nothing but silence. She repeated, “Hello.”
A chill washed over her body as she heard the voice. It was far away, guttural and almost unintelligible, yet an unmistakable and very palpable malice crackled through the wires.
Instinct kicked in, and she pressed her ear closer to the phone, straining to make out the faint sounds. She heard muffled muttering, cursing and a high pitched sound that resembled a scream.
She shouted into the receiver, “Who is this? Who is there? Hello!”
There was nothing but silence once again before the voice came on, “Do you hear the voices as well? Do they haunt you at night?”
Instead of waiting for her to answer, the connection went dead. She switched on the bedside lamp with shaking hands. Hopefully, the number would show on the caller ID. It was no help. The only thing displayed was “Blocked”. She dialed *69 hoping she could get whoever called to pick up once again. She felt utterly defeated when the recording came on to state that the callback service was unavailable for this number.
As she stared at the phone, another image appeared in her mind. Another woman’s life was about to be cut short.
She wished Mike was home. He and Guy were on a stakeout tonight. There had been a rash of grave robberies and they had to make sure nothing supernatural was involved. Hutch would rather be on a stakeout than home by herself.
Unable to sleep anymore, she walked into the kitchen. As the water in the coffee pot heated up, she stared out the kitchen window. The air around her vibrated with an energy that seemed to always be present when a vision was near.
Panic swept through her and raced like ice water through her veins. There was nowhere to run, no place to hide. He was on her in an instant. She felt the knife as it pierced the hollow in her neck. Warm blood oozed from the wound. The knife went in deeper. She could not scream.
She looked up through dead eyes to see the killer’s face as it contorted in a grotesque mask of rage. The hatred he felt for her emitted from his very being. A gurgling sound emitted from the wound in her throat. The light around her faded away. Darkness surrounded her, closing in. She felt it pressing against her, making it hard to breath.
There was a whooshing noise, and she found herself deep in the swamp. Voices surrounded her, all talking at once. She couldn’t make out what they said. It was a cacophony of whispers. Then the vision left her. She was back in her kitchen, staring into the night. She looked over at the clock to find that it was now four thirty in the morning.
The air turned frigid, causing her to shiver. She walked into the living room and grabbed a blanket off the couch. She wrapped it around her, hoping to take away the chill.
This vision had such intensity that it was terrifying and with the phone call she’d just received, she found it hard to stop the shivering. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
Hutch gave up on going back to bed. She showered and decided to go into work early. Walking to her car, she thought she saw a movement near her car. She stopped and looked around, but the parking lot was empty.
Still, she had a strange sensation that someone was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a warning. As she walked to her car, her hand rested on the gun holstered at her side.
It was more than likely a junkie hoping to find a car unlocked so he could sleep it off; better yet, he may be in search of a few dollars for a fix. She listened for the sound of footsteps, but the area was eerily quiet this morning. The only thing she heard was her own breathing. As she went to unlock her car, she half expected to find someone waiting for her, but there was no one.
She looked under her car to make sure no one was lurking about. Before opening her car, she peered into the back-seat just in case. She didn’t normally spook this easy, but hell, after the phone call and vision, it was easy to become frightened.
As she went to start her car, a shadow appeared next to the driver’s side window. She could have rolled down the window and touched it if she wanted to. Her heart pounded as she waited to see what the dark shadow would do. Goose bumps covered her whole body as she waited in anticipation of what was about to happen.
Whatever this dark shadow in front of her was, it certainly was not friendly. It was dark and sinister. She felt the evil that lived in it. Hutch did not want it to reach into the car and touch her, so she drove away, spinning out in the process.
Hutch had just made it to the police station when her phone rang, “Hutcherson.”
The dispatcher exclaimed, “Detective Ledet asked that I call you. There has been another murder.”
Hutch wrote down the pertinent information and headed out once more. She saw the reflection of the flashing lights come from the other side of the road and did a sharp u turn. She pulled in right behind Ledet’s car.
A young beat cop came over to the car, “You Detective Hutcherson?”
“Yep.”
“Detective Ledet said for you to do what you need to do. He is over by the water when you are ready.”
Hutch asked, “What do we have?”
“A fisherman called in a dead woman over by the boat landing. There was a lot of mutilation done to her face.”
Hutch thought the young cop would lose last night’s supper right there. This must be his first homicide to work.
Instead of heading to where the body was, Hutch walked the perimeter of the crime scene before moving in.
After getting a sense of the crime scene, she moved to where the body was located. She knew what she would find - a body caught in gnarled limbs at the edge of the bayou. Her long brown hair flowed in the murky ripples of the water. Her body looked peaceful there, but Hutch knew that was a deception.
Regret filled her every pore. This was the young woman she had just dreamed of. Ledet informed her, “We will have to wait for her prints to be run through the system. There is no sign of a purse.”
Hutch nodded her head in acknowledgment, “Someone will be missing her soon if they aren’t already.”
Hutch crouched down to look at the body. Even though she had been in the water for a while, she still appeared to be posed. Without thinking, she informed Ledet, “The killer called me right before he did this.”
“Are you sure? How did he get your number? More importantly, how did he know to contact you? It’s not like you have been in the news regarding this case.”
Hutch informed him, “I believe he can talk to the dead as well. He may be an empath. I swore during a vision he looked right at me.”
Ledet replied, “I don’t like that at all. You fit the description of the women he is killing. What if he becomes fixated on you?”
Hutch patted her gun, “I will be ready for him if he does come after me.”
“Yeah, I am sure you will. There is no guarantee that you will have time to protect yourself. These women were killed in a matter of seconds; you said so yourself.”
Once back to the police station, Hutch looked through the missing persons’ reports. She was so engrossed in her work, she never heard Mike walk up to her desk.
***
MIKE WATCHED THE VERY attractive woman while she worked. Her eyes danced over the pages as her long, slender fingers gently swept the page. Her hair was unkempt from the long hours of tedious work. A few wisps fell in a cascading wave against her rosy cheeks. Instinctively, she reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear. His gaze moved to her lips. He loved those lips.
He couldn’t help but take in her figure. She had the perfect hourglass shape. Her voluptuous breasts, curvy waist and full, round hips turned him on. She was exquisite under her professional looking shirt and pants. It excited him knowing that he was the only one in the precinct who knew what she looked like under her clothes. He thought about what he wanted to do to her when they got back home. Just the thought caused him to shift his stance as he felt a tightening in his groin.
She looked up to see him watching her and let out a sigh, “I don’t think we will find out who she is tonight.”
He held out his hand, “Let’s go home. You look beat and need some rest.”
***
AS SOON AS THEY WALKED through her door, he pulled her into his arms. His long arms wrapped around her waist as her arms wrapped around his neck. Their bodies pressed against each other so closely that Hutch felt his heart beating in his chest. She closed her eyes and reveled in his intoxicating scent.
His body was hard and muscular. She felt his strength. “Can you hold me like this forever?”
He tipped her head up and kissed her before whispering in her ear, “Yes.” His fingertips moved down her body, gliding across her back. Hutch shivered at his touch.
Hutch looked up at Mike and saw the passion in his eyes. She entwined her fingers in his hair and brought his lips to hers. The kiss was filled with raw passion. Mike held her even tighter. His tongue teased and tasted her as their hearts raced. His body was taut with desire. In one swift movement, Mike scooped her up and brought her to the bedroom.