The Body Finder (6 page)

Until she was practically right on top of it.

She was careful not to catch the weedy plant life in the Wave Runner's engine, and she leaned over the edge as she slowed down to make sure she didn't take the craft into the too-shallow water.

She
needed
to see what was there.

“What are you looking at?” Jay finally asked with only a little interest. He was used to Violet's wandering ways.

“I don't know” was all she answered, too caught up in her curiosity to attempt any more of an explanation than that.

Violet stood up on the watercraft as she came to a stop. Multihued light seemed to be radiating up from beneath the
water, centered among the reeds, and then diffusing outward as it reached the surface. Violet had never seen anything like it, and she knew that the spectrum of light was defying its very nature by behaving in that way.

It could only be one thing.

There was something dead down there.

Her first thought was a duck or maybe even a large fish that had drifted into the cluster of grasses. The vibrant light continued to play off the waves from below, fading into a fine, colorful mist as it broke through the surface of the water and then vanished into the air. Violet strained to see through the plant life, as it grew thicker where it reached toward the water's edge.

She thought she saw something bobbing in between the weedy greens, but she couldn't be sure, so she hopped off and waded toward it. She felt a sharp twinge of fear, but still couldn't stop herself from moving forward.

“What is it, Vi?” Jay asked, and now his interest seemed genuine, concerned even. “Come back here.
I'll
see what it is.”

But it was too late. Violet had already seen it. And she was in the water, wading toward whatever was hiding among the reeds along the lakeshore.

Thick, pale, and bloated skin surrounded milky-white eyes that stared out at Violet. A deathly echo created a halo of watery light as long hair radiated in tangled waves from the girl's head.

Violet screamed at the same time that Jay reached her and saw what she was looking at. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and dragged her away in search of help.

HELP ARRIVED FIRST IN THE FORM OF THE
Bonney Lake Police Department and East Pierce Fire and Rescue, the first responders in this part of the lake.

Violet was wrapped in itchy wool blankets and perched in the back of the big red ambulance with an emesis basin hovering on the tops of her knees. She had puked twice since Jay had dragged her away from the watery grave she'd discovered. She'd never been bothered this way by any of the animals she found, but somehow the image of the dead girl, lying lifelessly beneath the water's surface, made her feel sick. It wasn't until the immediate shock had worn off that her stomach finally settled down. The bowl she now held was just a precaution.

Besides, there were other distractions to take her mind off her weak stomach.

Being in the presence of so many men—and women—who carried guns for a living was a little disturbing for Violet. Not because she was afraid of them, but because in general, those who carried weapons had a higher probability of using them. And those who used them had a greater potential for bearing the imprints of death on them.

Innocent people carried imprints too.

Hunters, occasionally. War veterans, possibly. Police officers, certainly…maybe not all, but definitely some.

The ones she could sense at the moment, aside from the obvious echo from the girl in the water, were faded and bland, but in general, this was the kind of scene Violet would avoid whenever possible.

Unless, like now, she was the one who had discovered the body.

Her uncle Stephen had been called, at Jay's request, and even though his jurisdiction was almost a half hour away, he'd arrived in less than fifteen minutes. Violet wondered how many stoplights he'd blown through, with his sirens blaring, to get to her so fast.

She didn't ask, because she didn't care. She was just so grateful that he was there. She had felt immediately better when she saw him rushing toward her, and she'd let him wrap her in a bear hug like when she was a child. Having him there made her feel safe.

When he finally released her so she could breathe
again, he slipped an arm loosely, but protectively, around her shoulders. “Geez, Vi, sucks to be you sometimes, doesn't it?” He squeezed her once again, quickly, and then added more seriously, “I'm really sorry you had to see that.”

Violet shrugged.

Her uncle seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it. “I think they're almost finished taking Jay's statement. I'll stay with you while they talk to you, okay? I promise I won't leave you alone.”

Her parents arrived separately since her dad had come straight from work. They were both stressed and worried, and they too buried her in embraces, and whispered gentle reassurances, as she endured recounting the events several times to several different people from several different agencies.

She and Jay had each given the details that led up to, and included, finding a corpse floating in the shallow waters of the lake, cradled in the willowy grasses. Although in Jay's recounting there were no lies to tell, no stories to fabricate. Violet wished that her account could have been so simple.

But it wasn't.

Coincidence. Chance.
These were the words she counted on to create a veil of deceit, to keep her “gift” a secret.

She must have been convincing enough, though, because she could see the sympathy in the eyes of everyone who heard her story. Sincere looks that conveyed compassion directed at the poor girl who had stumbled upon such a horrific scene.

Her uncle Stephen's presence was reassuring to her on many levels, and eventually, maybe sooner than was usual,
she was released to her family. He also took responsibility for getting Jay home, since Jay's mother, the only woman in the known universe who didn't own a cell phone, couldn't be reached.

Violet rode with her dad, but Stephen insisted on taking Jay with him. Jay didn't complain as he climbed into the front of the police cruiser, asking if he could turn on the siren.

He was like an eager five-year-old. It was kind of childish. But also really adorable.

Violet was glad for the relative calm that riding with her dad afforded her. He was a still sort of man, and sometimes just being within arm's reach of him could soothe her most frayed nerves. Besides, unlike her mom, who was a little New Agey and was always encouraging Violet to “share” her feelings, her dad wouldn't press her for information before she was ready. He would wait her out, listening silently when she
did
decide the time was right.

Violet leaned her head back and tried to absorb some of her father's tranquillity.

After a time, though, she couldn't not speak. “There was a light,” she explained. Her voice sounded strange, as if it were echoing up from a long, vacant tunnel. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I saw a rainbow of lights coming up from below the water.”

He knew, of course. Not about the light, but that she had in some way been called by the girl's lifeless body.

Her dad was quiet in his usual way. He was serious, stable, solid. As always, he was Violet's rock.

“I didn't say anything about it to Jay. I just followed it, so I could get a better look. Jay didn't even realize what I was looking for until it was too late.” She kept her eyes closed as the car drifted over the familiar highway toward home.

Her dad reached over and squeezed her knee. That was all it took.

The tears finally came, crushing the breath from her with a surprising intensity. Her dad didn't say anything, but she felt the car pulling off the road, and then he hauled her close to him. She cried like that, leaning against him inside of the parked car, for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes. She didn't care that they were parked along a busy highway, or that she was clinging to him like she was a child. She let herself sob, crying for herself and crying too for the girl in the water, and for whomever that girl had left behind in the wake of her tragic death.

It bothered her to know that the girl had been murdered. That she, and Jay, and her father, and her uncle all
knew
, based on the echo that Violet had discovered, but that they couldn't tell anyone. She was sure the police would figure it out, that they would find evidence to support that fact, but still, she hated
knowing
for certain. She hated lying about it, and forcing others—those she cared about most—to keep her secrets.

She held on to her father, even when the tears were nearly gone. She felt safe in his arms. “I don't want to be able to do that anymore,” she mumbled hoarsely into his damp shirt. “I don't mind the animals, I can't explain why, I just don't. But why did I have to see…
that…her
?” She whispered the last
word so softly that she wasn't even sure he'd heard it.

He patted her back, and when he finally spoke Violet jumped a little. Every muscle fiber in her body felt bundled and tight.

“I'm sorry, baby,” Greg Ambrose said, his voice sounding strained. “I would do anything in the world to protect you from seeing things like that, your mother and I both. We never wanted you to go through anything like this again.” He pulled her away from him so that he could look at her. His eyes were red.

“When you were little, we were worried when you first started finding dead animals in the woods. That was when we knew you'd inherited Grandma Louise's special
skill.
We were afraid of what that would do to you, how it would make you feel to be drawn to so much death. We knew there was nothing we could do to
stop
you from sensing them there, but we used to try to discourage you from digging them up—we would try to distract you with diversions and bribes. We offered you gum and candy; we would even ask if you wanted to go for ice cream instead of digging up one of those animals. You were so little, but even then you were determined…you were
so
stubborn. And you would go out of your way to get to them, not satisfied until they'd had a proper burial. It seemed to give you a sense of…
serenity
, I guess, to know that they were taken care of. You even used to make up funny stories about those poor little lost creatures of yours. Remember Bob, the squirrel banker who forgot to pay his electric bill so he froze to death?” He laughed and wiped her cheek with his
thumb. “I was always afraid we were going to get a call from the school psychologist. But your teachers just thought you were
creative.
”

What Violet remembered was that her dad was the one who helped her when the local animals—dogs mostly—discovered the shallow graves of her cemetery and began to dig up the little bodies. He was the one who taught her to dig deeper and to cover the graves with heavy stones to prevent the scavengers from getting through to the animals buried below.

And when the dogs remained persistent, he even helped her build a small fence from chicken wire.

“When you found that girl, the one in the woods, I thought it would be your undoing. Your mom and I worried that it was too much for such a little girl to deal with. But you did it. You cried at first, and you even had some nightmares, but you didn't fall apart. And as soon as that poor girl was buried, safe and sound in her own proper resting place, you seemed to just”—he shrugged—“
move on
.”

He lifted her chin with his finger. “You'll do it again. I know you, Violet. You
will
be okay.
Better
than okay. Trust me.” He smiled at her then.

Violet tried to smile back, but she still felt miserable. She couldn't explain it entirely, but it
was
similar to the way she would feel before she'd buried one of her animals—she felt restless and unsettled. Only this was worse…much,
much
worse. She felt like she was buried beneath a stiflingly heavy cloak of darkness that was suffocating her, and she desperately needed to claw her way out from underneath it. She didn't
share her dad's optimism. To her it felt like she might never break free. But somehow, even if she didn't entirely buy into it, it made her feel better just to hear him saying the words.
She would be okay.

“We should get home,” she reminded him, suddenly wanting to shift the focus away from her. “Mom's probably getting pissed that we're taking so long.”

“Yep, I'm sure I'm going to get an earful about it.” He patted her leg and then started the car.

Violet couldn't shake the melancholy feelings that clung to her, infiltrating every pore of her body. She leaned back and closed her eyes, wondering if the nightmares from her childhood were about to return, to haunt her sleep once more.

THE CHAOS OF THE SCENE WAS DELICIOUS. IT
created the perfect amount of disorder so that he was completely hidden amid the confusion. Undetectable.

Just the way he liked it.

He loved the hunt; it was what kept him going. But this…
this
was his guilty pleasure.

Watching his work—the aftermath of a kill—exposed to the world.

Of course he'd known it would be. Eventually anyway.

After all, it was a water dump…in a busy lake. Somebody was bound to come across it sooner or later. The only surprise was how quickly she was found.

But it was hot today, and people had flocked to the lake in droves. So not such a surprise really.

It was okay, though. It was a clean drop. He'd made sure of that. As usual, he'd been careful. No witnesses, no evidence, nothing to tie it back to him.

Spotless.

Police and fire crews worked in unison to keep the scene contained as they dredged the waters and searched the shores.

He watched as onlookers pushed and shoved, trying to get a better view of what was happening along the water's edge. He liked their energy, their insatiable craving for the gory details, no matter how gruesome or unsettling they might be.

And right now, they were ravenous.

He stood as close as he could, listening to them, reveling in that need.

They were talking about his work, about what he'd done, never realizing that he was standing among them.

It excited him. He felt powerful. Alive.

He knew he was taking a chance. He wasn't supposed to be here. He'd already caught fleeting glimpses of people who knew him, who could, given the chance, identify him. He was glad he was hidden beneath a hat and sunglasses, and he was careful to stay near others in the crowd who were similar to him in size so he wouldn't stand out too much. And in a crowd this large, they came in
all
sizes.

He let his mind wander as he surveyed those around him, pressed against him. It wasn't hard to find girls he liked, girls he could use. In their skimpy bikinis and ultra-short shorts, revealing smooth expanses of unblemished skin, they were particularly delectable to him. Perhaps
someday he would see them again, in another place, at another time.

But he knew he couldn't stay. The longer he waited, the greater his chance of being discovered, especially in a setting like this.

He ducked his head low and eased his way toward the back of the people straining to get closer. Behind the dark lenses, his eyes darted in every direction, absorbing as much of the scene as he possibly could, so that later, when he was alone with his thoughts, he would be able to recollect each aspect. Each dirty little detail.

Today was a good day.

He had seen enough to hold him. For now.