She started laughing until she almost couldn't breathe any more, while Tina just stood there looking at her, unsure if she should call the paramedics or the men in the little white coats.  Tina was about to reach for her radio again, when Whitney put her hand on Tina's arm, "sorry Tina, I guess the stress finally caught up with me.  cool your jets, no need to call out the Calvary!  This is my nephew's room. Kaci always leaves his room looking like this! You do what you need to do and tomorrow I'll get Kaci in here to see if anything is missing.  

  The rest of the upstairs didn't turn up anything missing & she doubted anythng was missing out of Kaci's room.  What she didn't understand was why only that one picture was taken?

  "Whitney, can you come in here?" the chief, Ben Morgan, asked her.  He and Marshall were waiting for her in the kitchen. The CSU techs were rolling the body out on the gurney as she walked backed into the kitchen.  He pointed to where the body had been between the counter top and the kitchen island.  "Is this your missing picture?"

  She walked around the corner of the island and squatted down to take as close a look as she could without touching any possible evidence.  

  "Yea, looks like it, but what's it doing here?  Was it under the body?  Do we know how we died yet?"

  Marshall looked at her as if she were the dumbest hay bale in the stack, "yes, that's where it was when we picked him up. And yes, we think he was killed with the steak knife we found under the edge of the sink.  You didn't see that when you came in?"  

  Whitney stood up, "No, I guess I didn't.  Jimmy checked his pulse while Sam & I secured the area.  Did we find any id on him?" 

  The Chief answered her, "No id, but the CSU team found a medi-alert bracelet for diabetes, a round trip ticket from JFK to DFW & back & five thousand dollars cash.  That should help us id him. 

  She just stood there & looked at her kitchen floor, so many thoughts running through her mind.  Whitney didn't hear the chief say her name the first two times, then he touched her gently on the shoulder, so he wouldn't startle her,  "Whitney" he said calmly "Why don't you and Sammy find Tina, they can help you grab some overnight things for you, Ginny and the boys.  I'm putting y'all under police protection until we know more.  Call Ginny and tell her we're sending a cruiser to pick up her and the boys.  No, we better send an unmarked car.  They'll meet you at a safe house & we're going to put a cruiser here and at your parents"

  He put one hand on each shoulder and looked at her gently "and Whitney, this is NOT up for debate"  

  Her eyes started to well up with tears, which she quickly wiped away, hoping no one else noticed.  "yes sir.  I'll get my report typed up tonight on my laptop and email it to you."  

  Ben turned to Marshall, "stay here until the 2nd half of the team get's here.  Whitney, come with me"  and he pulled her by the hand into the next room.  

  "Look at me Whitney.  You'll do no such thing, I want you to get your stuff and get some rest.  I promise I'll call you later and I'll stop by if I can" 

  Good thing Ben still had her by the shoulders, since she had an overwhelming urge to fall into his arms and cry like a baby!  Ben must have read her mind, because he took hold of her arms, trying to keep some measure of "professional decorum" looked into her eyes.  The unspoken words between them in that look was enough to calm her for a little while.

  "You know I have to get loose ends tied up here and start the search for the victim's id.  As soon as I can, I'll call you Whitney, I promise! I don't want you calling anyone but me once  we get you some place safe.  Not even your folks.  So don't even ask.  As soon as I can, I'll come by and we'll talk.  I'll send Tim over to talk to your mom & dad and I'll call Pastor Mark & Sadie to pray ok? This might not even be connected to you or Ginny, it might be just a case of the wrong house or something"

  "C'mon Ben, he was just passing by, happened to glance in the window & saw Ginny's picture and fell madly in love with her, broke in to take the picture and accidentally fell on a kitchen knife?"  Whitney started shaking.

  "Whitney," he whispered, "you've never been the kind to fall apart, don't start now.  I promise you, we're going to figure this out, I promise.  Call my cell phone if you need me, but I want you safe, now."  He squeezed her hand and looked in her eyes again.  

  Just then Sam walked in the dining room.  Ben sort of nudged her  Sam's direction and told Sam to help her get some stuff together & get a car to take her to one of the safe houses they use and to send a car for Ginny and the boys to take them to the same safe house.

  Whitney let Ginny know they would plan on staying at her parents that night, unless the CSU team cleared the place early enough, and she would call Ginny as soon as she knew anything.  Whitney also forewarned Ginny that she & the boys might have to look at a photo tomorrow to see if they recognized the poor man laying there on their kitchen floor.  "You might also have to come over here to see if there's anything missing that I haven't seen yet, but we'll deal with that later"

"Whitney, you know Mom is getting suspicious, what should I tell her if she starts asking any more questions?"  In the background Whitney heard her mom, fussing at her dad over something, she paused, "Just change the subject and if that doesn't work, tell her I had a last minute case come up, which is the truth, and.....  I don't know, just make something up about wanting to hang out there for a while, I'm sorry Ginny, I gotta go, I'll call you as soon as I can."

Now that she knew everyone was safe & SHE was surrounded with enough of Neligh's finest to call it a convention, she could begin to feel the adrenalin rush wearing off.  All her thoughts came piling in on her at once. What if Ginny or the boys had been here when, whatever this was that happened, happened?  Whitney reached for one of the kitchen chairs in the little breakfast alcove & sat down.

Ginny had been with her family, since her parents were killed in a car crash 25 years ago, when Ginny was 3 and Whitney was just a baby.  To Whitney, Ginny had always been there of course and to Whitney was her big sister, which was great since they were both stuck with Whitney's 5 old brothers!  Everyone of them a cop, just like her dad. She also had a younger sister, just entering college with plans for med school after that.  a thousand what if's started filling her head, what if's she didn't want to think about just now.  

Whitney spent the next couple of hours answering questions and going through the house for a more thorough look to see what, if anything, was missing.  Since Ginny was a great house keeper it was pretty easy to spot that the only thing that seemed to be missing downstairs was a picture of Ginny and the boys taken last year on the family float for the 4th of July.

Upstairs was much the same until she opened Kaci's bedroom door.  Tina the CSU agent going with her from room to room, just in case, gasped "Hey Al, bring the kit up here, they demolished this room!"



*********  just a note to my readers (i know you're out there even if you don't say anything!  :)  i'll be off line until sunday night.   C U THEN!   please, feel free to leave a comment anytime!  this is my first venture of this sort,  i could use a few helpful comments!  *********

On our way around the house, crouching low to go under the living room, dining room & kitchen windows, she released her house key from her belt.  As they got to the back door she saw she wouldn't need her key after all as the back door was wide open and the screen door was hanging cockeyed from the door frame!  

They heard Tim over the radio "all clear in the  living room and study"  

But before they even got into the back entry they could see there was a body lying on the kitchen floor.  Sammy let Tim know on the radio, while Whitney called it into Carol on her cell phone to send the ambulance since they didn't know if the body was still alive or not.  Jim checked for a pulse, but finding none, she told Carol to skip the ambulance and send the M.E. instead along with their small town version of a crime scene unit.  

Tim & Marshall cleared the upstairs rooms, Jim stayed with the body while Whitney & Sammy searched the rest of the main floor and the basement.  They all met in the kitchen & Marshall started asking Whitney the usual questions.  Whitney, do you have any idea who he is, I mean, was?  

"No, I mean, I don't recall ever seeing him before.  But there is something weirdly familiar about him.  Can you guys watch the doors? I need to call my family, let them know I'm ok."  "Yea, sure Whitney, we'll be right here" they responded, almost in unison.

She called Ginny's phone and filled her in on as much as she could without breaking protocol.  

"Are you ok?  Should we come home?  Maybe we should stay here?  What about our clothes and stuff"  Whitney felt like she was being pelted with one of those machines that shoots baseballs at you for practice Ginny was firing off her questions so fast.  "Slow down Ginny, I don't know anything for sure yet. We'll have to wait and see what the CSU team has to say.  I just wanted to let you know I'm ok, so far i don't see anything missing, and whatever you do, DON'T TELL MOM there's a dead body in the middle of our kitchen floor!

................

If she hadn't been so tired from a day that defined exhaustion, 3 traffic accidents, a domestic abuse call, an outstanding warrant arrest & continual speeding tickets, she might have noticed the front door to her home was standing wide open, BEFORE, she was less than 2 feet from it!  Her first instinct was to call out for her cousin Ginny and Ginny's boys, Kaci and Neil, but 7 years with the Neligh TX PD had taught her better.   She reached for her revolver at the same time dialing 911 on her cell phone, as she rotated so her back was against the outside wall, just to the left side of the door.  

 "911, what's your emergency" the operator answered.    "Carol, this is Whitney" she whispered, "I'm at my house, possible intruder, I need back up NOW! tell them no sirens, I don't want to spook'm".  Somewhere in the back of her mind she was thanking God for living in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, where they lived, what they had for breakfast, and what color socks they bought for their kids at the five & dime.

Carol answered "10-4 Whitney, hold on".  In the background she could here Carol putting out the call on the radio.  In the 2 minutes or less that it took for 2 of the closest units to get there, Whitney remembered Ginny and the boys were supposed to be at Mom & Dad's across town & had Carol make a landline call to make sure they were there.  "Carol, tell them I'll call them back in a few minutes, just don't let on what's going on, I don't want to scare Mom"  

Just then Jim & Sammy pulled up across the street & before she could even brief them, Marshall & Tim came from the other direction and pulled into her neighbor's driveway.  Lights on, no sirens.

her In a whisper she caught them up, "Hey guys, I just got off duty and was walking up to the door and noticed it was wide open.  Ginny and the boys are at Mom's.  I haven't heard any movement from inside"  Nodding to Marshall & Tim she motioned for them to go in from the front, while Jim, Sammy & she went around the back, Jim to the right side & she & Sammy to the left.  

....................................

I haven't really started this yet, but here's a little info.  this will be an ongoing story.  i've been working on this story for awhile and need some feedback, NICELY please.  naturally i've taken copyright precautions, my mama didn't make no dummies!  i'll start adding the story tomorrow.  i don't know how much i'll get done each day, what you'll see is what you'll get.  it's more for fun and *therapy* then anything else, so please, be nice.  i hope you'll enjoy it......

starting tomorrow.......