He could see her blushing, and said, “pleased to meet you too Miss Barnes.”
As she led the way to her lab, Kate felt like kicking herself with embarrassment.
Danny was still waiting on the park bench. The day started to warm up, and he was becoming frustrated waiting in the heat. He kept checking the time, but no one could be seen wearing a black Hood, and it’s already been nearly an hour since he arrived.
Danny decided to call chief Berks.
He reached for his phone, and speed dialing the number. Matt felt the vibration from his phone.
“Danny! I was just about to call you and Jason, best you both come over to Royal Palm Avenue.”
He sensed the disappointed tone in Matt’s voice.
“Okay Chief I’m on my way. The girl didn’t show anyway.”
“Yes, I know. I’m with her here,” replied Matt.
Kate opened the door to her lab, with Jason following behind her. He felt the difference in air temperature upon closing the door, almost like entering a refrigerator. The lab had that familiar smell of medicine and disinfectant. Jason was impressed with the tidiness of the medical instruments that lay in order, just as you would see in an operating theater. Kate was watching Jason as he looked around the lab. She noticed how good looking he is and felt sorry about the coffee spill. Kate has not had a relationship in the past seven months. She has been concentrating mostly on her work after a rough break up from her last boyfriend, but watching Jason gave her second thoughts.
Kate quickly dismissed what she was thinking. She could hear Jason talking to her, but could not make out what he said.
“Pardon me agent Mallock. I didn’t quite catch what you were saying.”
Jason repeated. “I said you have quite a lab here. I’m impressed.”
Kate answered with a smile. “Well, thank you agent Mallock. That’s very kind of you.”
“Please, call me Jason.”
Kate smiled. She gestured for him to move over to the tables where the body lay covered in white linen.
Danny soon arrived at the location where Matt was. As soon as he turned the corner to the street, he saw an ambulance with flashing lights and the local Miami police force closing the area to where all the activity was. He spotted chief Mathews talking with an officer who seemed to be in charge.
“Chief! What happened here?” Asked Danny showing his badge while passing into the closed area.
“That’s the reason the girl didn’t show,” said Matt, pointing to the body laying on the ground covered with a plastic sheet.
“My god is that the girl I was supposed to meet at the park?” Asked Danny as he knelt down uncovering the girl.
“Yes, I’m afraid it is,” said Matt.
Danny asked, “what happened to her?”
“Hit and run. Someone knew what her intentions were,” Matt said, “who ever done this was watching her every move.”
Detective Andrews came over to Danny and Matt.
“Do you think she is connected with that girl who was found on the beach this morning?”
Matt turned around saying, “she was on her way to meet special agent Langley at the park.”
Just fifteen minutes earlier Matt was in his office when he received news about a hit and run incident. He noticed the victim was a girl wearing a black hoodie.
“No, it can’t be!” Said Matt as he hit his fist on the desk.
He put on his jacket and rushed over to the scene.
Over at the forensic lab, Kate was explaining to Jason that the girl died of a massive heart attack and that there was no trace of drugs or alcohol in her blood. Her heart swelled up and burst from too much pressure. Jason understood what Kate was getting at.
“You’re saying something caused her heart to burst? And there is no explanation to what caused it?” said Jason.
Kate replied, “yes that’s it.”
Jason said, “you didn’t find any marks on her body from a struggle or anything?”
Kate uncovered the girl’s legs.
She answered, “no signs of violence, nothing. The only markings she has is this tattoo above her ankle.”
The tattoo they were looking at was of a five pointed star with flames around it. It was about two inches in diameter, tattooed in black ink.
Jason decided to give Danny a call.
“Hey Danny, how did it go with the girl? Did she show up?”
Danny moved away from Chief Berks.
“Jason I’m with Matt. The girl didn’t show up. He called me to come meet him a few blocks away from the park.”
“Why, what’s up?” asked Jason, glancing at Kate.
“There has been an accident. Hit and run more like it. Guess who the victim is?” said Danny.
Kate sensed something was wrong.
“Put him on speaker phone,” she said.
“How bad is it?” Is she going to be okay?” Jason asked.
“I’m afraid not. Poor girl never knew what hit her,” replied Danny.
Kate intervened, “Danny, this is Kate Barnes from the forensic department. We’re on speaker phone. Can you check something out for me, please.”
Danny answered, “yes, sure Miss Barnes. What is it?”
Kate pointed to the tattoo for Jason to understand what she wanted Danny to check out.
“See if the girl has a tattoo just above her left ankle.”
Danny then moved over to where the girl was.
“Okay, Miss Barnes, give me a Sec.”
He slowly raised the sheet covering the girl and lifted up her left jeans leg. Danny saw the tattoo just as Kate predicted.
“Miss Barnes,” came Danny’s voice over the cell phone.
“Does she have a tattoo?” Asked Kate.
“Yes! Some sort of star, what do you call them?” Asked Danny.
“It’s called a pentagram,” Kate said, “does it have a flame around it?” She continued.
“How did you know?” asked Danny.
Jason spoke up, “the girl from the beach has the same tattoo.”
Danny covered the girl with the sheet again and went to meet up with Jason.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two days have passed and still no clues to whom the two dead girls were. Blood samples were taken, and even DNA and prints were fed to computers.
Sarah Masters left her apartment with no I.D. and cell phone. She had the rent paid for the next three months in advance. No letters were overflowing in her mailbox, and no one came knocking on her apartment door. It was as if the girl never existed.
The other girl found at the beach was found practically naked. She was only wearing underwear when discovered in the early morning hours. She never entered the water, as no salt water deposits were found on her body which eliminated a late night swim. It seemed she was just dumped there on the sand as if someone was disposing of garbage.
Jason was at home getting ready to go to work. His house was always neat with hardly anything left laying around. His biggest challenge for was to get his daughter Sally to clear up her own mess. Jason and Sally have been alone for the past few years. Her mother Anne had filed for divorce and left Miami. Jason took the break-up hard, having no idea why his marriage had failed. He always provided for his family and did his best to be a father towards Sally.
Anne knew being married to an FBI agent would be difficult. The couple had been sweethearts from college. Anne graduated in English literature, hoping to become a writer one day. She never showed any sign of unhappiness and was always a loving, caring mother to Sally, resulting in a very strong bond with her daughter.
Both Jason and Sally could not believe it when one night while having dinner at home, Anne unexpectedly announced she was filing for divorce. Sally was heartbroken by her parents break-up and to this day never understood the reason why her mother had left her. Despite the circumstances, mother and daughter were on the phone every night, chatting away about their daily activities. They always kept in touch and the mother-daughter relationship grew stronger. Anne had moved to Atlanta. She tried to visit when she could, but soon the visits were becoming less frequent, she just could not afford the long trips to visit Sally that often.