The Dark Places

him intensely.
Suddenly, self-conscious, he sat back. “What?” he asked.
“You don’t believe me,” she stated.
“It’s not that. I agree the MO is the same, the likeness of the girls is uncanny, but that’s all you have.”
Surin leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “All four girls were raped, repeatedly, their bodies showed signs of restraints; they were all dehydrated, naked and suffering mild hypothermia. To top it off, he strangled them with his bare hands, not once, but multiple times. This means he actually had to revive them himself, whether due to feelings of remorse that they were gone or for the pure fun of it.” She stood up and began pacing the lounge. “Last week, the chief gave me permission to work this as a case. On the down-low, of course. That’s why we were called to Serenity Towers and why he was there. Young, pretty, dark-haired woman, strangled. He must have thought it could have been connected, but obviously, it isn’t.” She suddenly looked exhausted.
“We need to head into the office soon anyway, did you want to freshen up here? Save you driving back to your apartment?” She gestured towards the guest bathroom. “I can wait.”
“Yeah, that would be great actually. I keep an overnight bag in my car when I’m on call, so I’ll go grab it. Thanks.” Parker stood and walked into the kitchen, rinsed his coffee cup and placed it in the sink.
Once he was out the front door, Surin sank back into the lounge chair. Any reason you felt you needed to share all that with him in your first week as partners, she chastised herself. “He’s going to think I’m cracked,” she said aloud to herself.
Despite the reluctance she had initially felt at being assigned a partner, Surin found herself actually enjoying Parker’s company. She had done her research, of course, checking out his file from Miami, reading recommendations and commendations by superiors and reviewing his academy test scores. He was definitely a star on the rise. He had a degree in psychology, which nicely complemented her Masters in Criminology, a track star in high school, prom king, labelled “most likely to succeed,” he went to college on a full scholarship. His home life appeared to be the picture of perfection. Parents, Sandra and Ted, married for thirty years and an older brother who was a lawyer working in the big smoke. Parker joined the academy right out of college, excelled at marksmanship and worked his way to a detective badge in Miami in under two years on the job. That was quick, not as quick as her, but quick nonetheless.
Information on his personal life was not so easy to come by, at best all she had been able to determine was he was single after ending a long-term relationship with Jolene McAllen, a school teacher from Miami. He lived alone with his cat in a studio apartment not far from her. The department had helped him secure a lease once his transfer was approved. On a personal note, Surin found him to be patient, a trait that was definitely required when working with her, smart but grounded, with not a hint of arrogance. She suddenly wondered if he would consider her research into him a breach of trust. In all seriousness, she was a detective, it had to be kind of expected.
They entered the station together at around ten. The buzz of activity that occurs in a police department had a strange way of always making Surin feel calm and at ease. The phones were ringing continuously, Nicole was transferring calls at the speed of light. She looked up and smiled at them both as she continued to talk into her headset. Surin acknowledged her with a nod.
“Sure, putting you through to a detective right now,” she stated and pressed a few buttons before answering another blinking light on her switchboard. Uniformed patrolmen were chatting by the vending machine; they waved as she passed with Parker.
“Morning, Detectives,” one of them said.
“Morning, boys,” she replied with a smile. “My new partner, Rhodes,” she stated, motioning to Parker. There were a few customary handshakes and general smirks about being partnered with Surin, but she laughed them off. “Safe shift today, lock up bad guys,” she countered and slapped one of the younger-looking rookies on the back.
“Will do,” he replied with a shy grin.
Surin walked past several detectives’ desks — each one was littered with empty coffee cups and photos of family. Surin’s own desk had no such personal items. The only family she needed was the boys in blue, and there was just no time for anything else. She thought she had once found someone who truly understood her until she found him in bed with another woman. She was done with all that now, all that mattered was her job. She glanced at Dennis’s desk, he hadn’t even had the chance to replace the photo of his ex-wife before he got married for the third time, and even that had only lasted six months, so he just hadn’t bothered to remove the frame.
Speak of the devil — Dennis walked in with a young girl in tow, who had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She was about fourteen and looked like a complete train wreck. Her straw-coloured blonde hair was wet and matted; several strands were sticking to her face, she had a busted lip and a bruise that was slowly but surely developing under her right eye.
“Have a seat, Kealy,” he said gently and pulled out his chair. The girl lowered herself slowly and winced with pain when she finally made contact with the chair.
“I’ll go get you a cup of tea, and we can start, OK?” The girl looked up at Dennis, her eyes brimming with tears and nodded. He gently touched her shoulder, retracting his hand quickly as she flinched, then walked