Return of the King By A Cullen Wannabe.pdf

Return of the King By A Cullen Wannabe

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6312308/1/

The Return of The King

It was a pitch black, humid, June night. I walked up to the yellow crime scene

tape, lifting it to step under while showing my badge to the black and whites

guarding the perimeter. They nodded solemnly, shifting their gazes back to watch

around them. The flashing blue and reds illuminated my way down the small hill

toward the tree line with a dizzying strobe of alternating color as I cursed myself

for not grabbing my flashlight. I'd been doing this for four years now, one would

think I would be more scout-like and always be prepared.

I stumbled slightly at the bottom of the hill, as McCarty caught my arm with a

chuckle. "Careful there, Swan, don't want to have to haul you off tonight as well."

I rolled my eyes and yanked my arm away in a huff. "Quit the shit and tell me

what we've got."

Agent McCarty schooled his face quickly, his boy-like charm disappearing to make

way for his professional side. He had been on the team back when I started four

years before, but passed up the opportunity to lead the squad when the offer

presented itself. He claimed his strengths rested solely in investigation, not

paperwork and kowtowing to the bosses. When he turned down the job, they

then offered the position to me. Honestly, I was shocked. While I had the second

highest seniority within our group, I was still not much more than a rookie myself

when I was handed the mantle of leadership three months ago. It was different

being the boss, but for some reason the position seemed to be a good fit for me.

McCarty handed me a spare flashlight from his waistband as he led me toward

the place where our victim lay just inside the line of trees lit by large mobile

spotlights. "We have an unidentified Caucasian female, about five foot eight and

approximately eighteen to twenty two years of age. She was found in this

location approximately two hours ago by a passing motorist who had a flat tire.

When they stopped the car, their dog jumped out and ran straight to the

remains. We have no official time of death, but Whitlock and Brandon estimate

due to the degree of decomposition that the victim has been deceased for

approximately 72 hours, possibly more. There has been nearly zero animal

disturbance of the remains which they find suspect, and indications have been

found at the scene to suggest the body was placed post mortem. At first glance,

cause of death appears to be a knife wound to the neck, but with the lack of

animal disturbance, the squints suspect potential chemical contamination as well,

but we won't know more about that until they can examine the samples and the

body in the lab."

We reached the small circle of outfitted CSI scouring the area for clues as the

photographer's camera flashed at a place on the ground several yards away

where a tech directed for documentation of something he or she had found. As

we reached the group, Jasper Whitlock and Alice Brandon were chattering

excitedly over something they were examining in a plastic bag while Rosalie Hale

leaned over the body with a scowl, examining the physical wounds more closely. I

knew that look. This victim had been sexually violated; something that always

affected Rosalie quite strongly considering her own past history. Unfortunately, a

great number of our cases involved similar atrocities. I often wondered how she

found the strength to come to work every day.

Back behind the group, standing alone was the new kid, Edward Cullen. Well, I

say new kid, but in reality, he's actually a year older than me, and a whole hell of

a lot smarter with a doctorate in Psychology and a master's in Criminal Justice.

He was brought into the team to fill out the position when our former leader, who

just so happened to be his father, retired, leaving a hole in the team when I

stepped up to lead our squad. His eyes scanned the area, as his amazing mind

worked, piecing together the scene with his uncanny ability to reconstruct the

events to what has been proven time and time again a nearly perfect semblance

of the actual event. I had never seen such an adept profiler. I had been known as

being gifted, but Cullen was like a savant.

Cullen's apple green eyes reflected off the floodlights set up just a few feet away

as he scanned the area again before his eyes focused on me. His expression

changed ever so slightly as he gave me a nod of acknowledgement, to which I

nodded back before kneeling down beside Hale to get a closer look and see if she

had discovered anything disturbing. At this point, the body had not been moved

at all in order to best preserve the scene.

"What ya got for me, Hale?" I asked as I slid on the pair of latex gloves McCarty

handed me over my shoulder as I nodded up in thanks.

Hale pointed her chin toward the lower extremities as she began talking quickly.

"Her hands and feet were bound by what appears to be some kind of rough hewn

rope or tie back. She appears to have a great deal of atrophy in her legs which

would suggest that she either was tied up for an extended amount of time, or had

some sort of condition which would not allow extensive use of her legs. I will

discover more once we get her back to the lab. She has bruising on her inner

thighs and hips, which might suggest sexual assault. In addition, she had several

scars on her arms and a large cut on her neck, which sliced her jugular. There

doesn't seem to be nearly enough blood on her body to suggest that she bled

out, but since she has been moved, there is a possibility it was wiped away

before the transition, or she had been positioned at the time that the wound was

made so as to make the blood drain away from her body. It could also be

possible that the wound was inflicted post mortem, which would then minimize

the amount of blood spilled. She also has a vertical incision on her abdomen that

appears to be from a very recent surgical procedure. I'll know more once I can

examine her more closely. Identification will be most difficult as her facial

structure was broken beyond recognition, her teeth removed, as well as her

fingertips."

I stood up, moving around the body to examine the things she pointed out.

"Good, good, Hale. Thank you. Have they completed processing the scene yet? I

would really like to examine the rest of her body and get back to the lab before

the storm cell reaches us."

Lightening illuminated the sky to the west, punctuating my desire to move the

body as quickly as possible as I looked up at McCarty.

"Yes, I believe that they are done." He looked around locking eyes with several

workers who nodded back.

I looked back up to see Whitlock and Brandon packing up their supplies, leaving a

few things out in case there was more evidence underneath the body to be

collected, as Hale repositioned herself in order to examine the body after the

move. I glanced over to see Cullen looking at me intently, his brow furrowed

deeply. I gestured for him to come talk to me as I moved to ask the

photographer to get a close up of something that looked off to me before we

repositioned the poor girl's naked form.

I jumped when I turned back around to find Cullen standing next to me. It never

ceased to surprise me how stealthily he moved. I shook off my fright as he tried

to hide an amused smirk. I rolled my eyes at him before looking him square in

the eyes.

"I haven't known you long, Dr. Cullen, but I can tell something is bothering you.

What's wrong?"

He sighed, glancing around him again before looking back at me solemnly.

"Something is off. There's something I'm missing, something more…"

Just then, McCarty and two other techs he asked to assist shifted the body to

expose the victim's back as the group gasped and Hale let out an uncharacteristic

scream. Cullen and I dashed to her side to see what moving the body had

uncovered, the sight making my stomach boil with bitter bile.

On the back of the victim words were carved into her flesh along with an intricate

rose stained black with congealed blood, under the body, a purple and blue infant

lay curled into the fetal position, it's neck having the same wound as the woman

lying over it, and the same rose carved into its back.

Hale turned and ran for the tree line, vomiting into the underbrush as McCarty

ran after her, while Brandon melted into Whitlock's chest, quiet cries coming from

her chest. At some point, I had fallen to my knees at the sight before us, as

Cullen knelt beside me, his arm around my shoulder.

"Is this?"

I nodded mutely, staring at the words taunting us all from the back of the

innocent bystander in his sick, twisted mindgame.

Okay Team,

Let's see if you can catch

the RIGHT MAN this time.

One year was enough of a vacation,

Time for the real work to begin.

XOXO

The King

"Do you think he's had her ever since?"

I nodded slowly, trying to control my reactions. We dealt with death almost every

day, by this point we had learned to separate our emotions from the job, but this

was personal. This girl died because we got it wrong…or at least someone wanted

us to believe we did.

"Bella?"

I turned away from the blood freezing scene to look up at the new guy as he

stared down at me with worry etched in his features.

"Are you okay?"

I froze looking at him before looking back at the body and then to him again

before I shook my head no. With gentle hands, he helped me up and led me

away from the scene. As we passed, I noticed that the photographer was

standing in shock as well. I touched his arm and gestured with my head toward

the newly revealed scene as way of order. He shook his head to clear it before

moving forward to document the new development.

Cullen led me to a dark area just out of view of everyone and turned me toward

him, hugging me to his chest. It only took a part of a second before I began to

cry. He comforted me as I cried, stroking my hair, and humming quietly. After

several long minutes, I began to regain control, pushing away to look up at him,

feeling embarrassed about how I was acting. I was a professional and the leader.

I wasn't supposed to succumb to the pressures. I was supposed to be the

example.

"I…I'm sorry Dr. Cullen. I.."

"Edward," he replied quietly. I looked up in surprise as he smiled back down at

me. "Please, call me Edward."

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay, but not while working."

He nodded knowingly before running a hand down my arm. "Are you okay now?

Do you feel like you are ready to go back out there?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Edward."

He smiled kindly. "You're welcome, Bella."

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders before returning to the scene. I

barely looked toward the two victims as I began barking out orders. Whitlock and

Brandon gathered more samples and swabs before the two bodies were bagged

and loaded to be taken back to the lab where Hale, Whitlock, and Brandon would

work to get the details and try to get a lock on the poor girl's identity. As the

scene slowly emptied of people, I ascended the small hill toward the roadside,

pausing to look around one last time. The area had been trampled, but once it

was cleared, one last thing that had not been obvious before was highly visible

from this higher perspective now that the area was cleared of people and the

bodies. The orange flags still in the ground to mark each piece of evidence

documented for the case arched in defined lines around the epicenter where the

bodies lay, creating a macabre facsimile of the roses carved into the skin of the

two victims, reminding us once again that with The King, there are absolutely no

coincidences.

~*~

The ride back to the lab was not a pleasant one, as I was the one who had to call

and wake the bosses up at two in the morning to inform them that a copycat of

our most heinous captured serial killer was on the loose. To say that they were

unhappy was an understatement, and the term shooting the messenger never hit

so close to home. I closed my phone and rubbed my forehead, wondering how

Carlisle did this for thirty years.

The rain was falling hard as Edward pulled my car in front of the lab, reaching

over to squeeze my hand gently as a show of support before we exited the car.

My stomach dropped as I saw two figures standing under the overhang, obviously

in a heated debate. I ran through the pouring rain to join them as my former

boss stood arguing with my star medical examiner. At least he took the brunt of

that blow for me, because I had already mentally prepared myself for delivering

that news next.

"Rosalie, you know you can't work on this case. This is linked to Royce King and

you were King's very first assault victim. Your further involvement in this case

gives his lawyers grounds to throw out all of the collected evidence. Not only

that, it is entirely probable that you are a focus of this copycat. We need to put

you into protective custody as soon as possible."

Rosalie shook her head in a halo of whipping blonde hair as her arms crossed

tighter across her chest. "No, Carlisle!"

Edward and I reached them at that moment, just as McCarty walked up behind

us, taking a protective stance behind Rosalie. I reached my hand out to rest on

her arm.

"Rose, sweetie, Carlisle is right. You can't be part of this as much as we all might

want you to be. Do you want to risk him getting out on a technicality?"

The fury melted from Rose as a tear fell from her right eye and her shoulders

slumped. "Of course not," she whispered, "I just hate feeling helpless. I want to

help figure this out."

I stepped forward pulling her into a hug. "I know, sweetie, but this time you

can't. Please go home and try to get some rest. I'd send McCarty, but I need him

here. He's my best investigator. Who do you think you'd feel most comfortable

going with you tonight?"

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