Pretty Broken Dolls by Jennifer Chase

Chapter One

One year later…

Friday 1000 hours

Detective Katie Scott and Deputy Sean McGaven managed to get the search warrants they needed, along with a crew of police officers, to search the entire property including the Stantons’ house, cars, barn, and storage areas. There were additional search warrants for the adjacent pond next to the Stantons’ property and a large nearby pond owned by the state where many locals gathered to swim and fish and picnic on sunny days.

As Katie stood on the property watching the police and forensic personnel descend and fan out in search formation, she wondered if she had overstepped her authority—or her enthusiasm for such a huge search—but eighteen-year-old Jared Stanton was still missing after six months and she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t do all she could to find him.

She had her reasons for instructing the search, but what if it was just a hunch and he wasn’t found?

What if this was just a waste of time and resources?

But her instincts screamed that Jared was dead, and that his body had been disposed of in a local pond; there would be no other way to get rid of a body that quickly and quietly before claiming that he had run away.

Katie and McGaven had constructed this theory based on evidence from their own examination, and the original investigation by Detective Alvarez six months ago when Jared Stanton was first reported missing. They knew that Jared and his parents had had an argument early in the weekend on Friday or Saturday. The reason for the argument wasn’t entirely known. The fact that Jared’s keys, phone, wallet, and his car were found at the property were indications that this wasn’t a runaway teenager. It was highly likely he had been killed, either accidentally or out of rage, and his body disposed of nearby.

There was evidence of recent repairs, fresh paint, and alterations to the siding at one end of the barn, and two ATVs were missing. Things didn’t add up.

The afternoon was cold and overcast, the grim sky lending an ominous weight to the scene, as the police worked their duties. Feeling the chill, Katie had gone back to the car and retrieved her warmer leather jacket and gloves. She zipped the coat up close to her neck to keep the cold away, but still felt shivers slide down her spine in anticipation of what they might find.

She knew that everyone from the department was watching her closely—she was still considered a rookie detective despite her accomplishments, and there were those who whispered about nepotism, which made her uncomfortable. If only they knew that her uncle, Sheriff Scott, was harder on her than anyone.

Katie walked down the same path she had taken with Amy, Jared’s sister, only a couple of days ago and glanced up at Amy’s bedroom window to see her in place again, looking down. Katie gave a wave but Amy didn’t move from her position. Mr. and Mrs. Stanton were inside the house with a police officer and their attorney. They chose not to watch the search.

The walk around the picturesque property didn’t have the same tranquil feeling it had a couple of days ago. The horses were grazing, but the darkness of the early afternoon made it appear more like the end of the day.

Over by the pond, McGaven was coordinating the dive team which consisted of two sheriff’s deputies and Katie’s fiancé Chad from the fire department, who navigated the motorized inflatable boat across the water. Chad was the dive and scuba instructor for the county, so he led the expedition while several uniformed officers stood around the perimeter and waited for instruction. A large police SUV retrofitted with a hoist winch was parked nearby in case it was needed.

The boat navigated slowly, chugging a few feet at a time, gently moving in a clockwise rotation, and stopping to let two of the divers search in each area for a minute or two before moving on. Bubbles from their respirators rippled the murky surface of the tranquil pond, which otherwise was smooth and glassy, reflecting the looming pine and eucalyptus trees surrounding it.

One diver would surface in his full scuba suit, bobbing like a seal in the ocean, and give the negative sign. A minute later, the other diver would surface and repeated the same signal—negative.

Nothing.

Katie kept her distance. Even though there were so many people surrounding her, supporting her, she felt isolated and detached. She kept her wits but her anxiety was always waiting in the shadows. Struggling with a sense of urgency welling up inside her, she took deep breaths and counted slowly, trying to relax her tight jaw and clenched fists. There was a fine line between anxiety and panic—more specifically, PTSD; something that had come home with her from the army barely more than a year ago, which had deeply impacted her life.

When she was first discharged, Katie didn’t know whether to go back to police patrol at the Sacramento Police Department or stay at the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department headed up by Sheriff Wayne Scott—or Uncle Wayne, as she knew him. Katie decided on Pine Valley and was now heading up the cold case unit. She loved the work and the diversity of cases—and working with her strong and capable partner, Deputy McGaven.

The reality of watching a murder victim fished out of the family’s large pond would be deeply disturbing, even to a seasoned professional. All Katie could do was wait and hope that her colleagues proved her instincts and experience correct.

She kept moving, hoping to keep her body warm. Glancing up at the top of the driveway, she saw a dark gray sedan parked on the street. She had noticed the vehicle earlier, and this time there was a man leaning against the side. Of medium build with blond hair and sunglasses, he appeared to be in his forties or fifties, and was distinguished-looking, despite his casual outfit of heavy navy windbreaker jacket and jeans. He stood like a statue, unmoving, watching the entire search take place.

Katie began to approach him, wanting to confront him about what he was doing there. She picked up her pace, but the man didn’t make a move.

That’s when she heard the commotion. Looking back, she saw one of the divers giving a thumbs-up sign. Chad yelled that they had found something, and a sense that was partial dread mixed with a strange relief flooded her body.

McGaven yelled across the pond to the men. “What do you have?” He then turned and called up to Katie, “They found an ATV!”

Katie felt a momentary sense of reprieve that it wasn’t a body, and hurried to meet up with McGaven.

“They found it?” she said breathlessly.

“Yep. You were right,” he said with a half-smile on his face.

“I knew it had to be close.” She shivered.

“Those damn instincts of yours…”

They watched patiently as the crew prepared to pull the all-terrain vehicle from the deep, murky water. One of the search and rescue officers unwound the winch and tossed the heavy-duty hooks into the water. Then the diver disappeared underwater again to secure the hooks to reinforced places on the sporting vehicle.

As the churning winch began to pull, the ATV slowly emerged like a prehistoric animal out of the lake. One of the wheels was bent, so once it was dragged completely out, it was lopsided, dripping with muddy water. It appeared there were several dents in the side, and the top roll bar that was supposed to keep you safe was crushed inward and would probably have killed the driver—but there was no driver.

Katie shuddered as she immediately recognized the vehicle from several framed photos inside the house. She wasn’t certain if she was happy or sad—perhaps a bit of both.

But the recovery crews weren’t done yet—there was still more of the pond to search. Chad switched places with a teammate and they began the painstaking process once again.

“I think there’s an umbrella in the car,” said McGaven as drizzle started to fall around them.

“I’m fine,” Katie said and pulled her hood around her head to keep her ears warm.

They heard several car doors open and close in the Stanton driveway and turned to see Detectives Hamilton and Alvarez exit a vehicle and walk down the path to meet them.

“Who called Hamilton?” said McGaven.

Hamilton was the detective in charge of any new homicide investigations. Katie had had some tense moments with him, but they had managed to keep their investigative relationship on a professional and friendly basis.

“Well, technically the sheriff did, but I requested it.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew if there was a body found, we would need the help,” Katie said.

“If Jared’s body is in the pond, I think this is an open-and-shut investigation,” he said.

“Hi, Detective McGaven,” said Hamilton, nodding his greetings. “I see they found an ATV.”

“So far,” said McGaven.

“They still have almost half the pond to explore,” said Katie, trying not to let her teeth chatter in the cold. The four of them stood watching the pond. They didn’t speak for moment, keeping their eyes fixed on the divers and what they might pull up.

The rain gathered speed as a soft rolling thunder sounded in the distance. Clouds propagated in several shades of gray, pushing forward and gathering across the sky.

Chad’s head popped up from the water suddenly and he gave the signal that he had found something, but not what it was.

Another ATV? Belonging to his dad?

Jared?

The other diver conferred with him a moment. Katie strained to hear the conversation and tried to read the body language. She waited anxiously.

Was it something?

Chad swiveled toward the shoreline and made a gesture at one of the police officers, who in turn hurried away to his patrol car.

Katie stepped forward to get closer to the pond, mesmerized by how gracefully Chad moved. She didn’t care how wet she was going to get as the rain picked up momentum: she was chilled to the core anyway and more water wasn’t going to make a bit of difference.

Chad made eye contact with her and he subtly nodded. Even in this terrible situation, she still felt the strong connection of love for him—her fiancé. She waited to make absolutely sure what he was implying was correct and he confirmed it with a grim expression. She knew what it meant.

Turning around, she spoke to the rest of the crew in a hushed tone. “Looks like we have a body.”

McGaven confronted her. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

Hamilton walked up. “Okay, we’ll get the coroner, but for now let’s pull the body up and out of this rain.” Turning to Katie, he said, “Your crime scene awaits.”

Katie looked at him, a bit confused—she wasn’t sure if she had heard him correctly.

“That means you’re working the crime scene—what there is of it,” he stated. “You haven’t let me down yet.” Hamilton corrected himself, “You haven’t let us down.” He gave her a genuine smile, looking much more likeable as he relaxed his face.

Katie nodded and then looked at McGaven. “Back me up,” she said as they walked to the south side of the pond—the closest to the recovery area—and waited.

She began preparing herself silently for what she was about to see. She glanced back at the house, expecting one of the Stantons to come running toward the pond screaming, but the house remained quiet—and no one came out.

She turned her attention back to Chad and the other diver as they pulled something to shore; it looked like a large black garbage bag. It was round, not the length and shape that would indicate a body. Could it just be a bag of debris?

To Katie’s relief, the drizzly rain had stopped, but the rumbling of thunder continued to approach, gaining in volume. Taking off her warm mittens, she slipped on plastic gloves and knelt down, reaching her hand forward as McGaven used his body to block the view from the house and the neighbors.

Katie barely touched the bag but she felt something bristly. Flipping back the plastic, she revealed brown hair, then an ear, then the side of a young man’s head. Katie gasped as she took in the grayish skin, concaved, shriveled, looking more like a rubber mask in a Halloween store than anything human. One eye was gone, but the other was blackened and staring out. It was the decapitated head of a man. A young man.

Katie drew her hand back in revulsion and turned away for a moment to compose herself. “It’s a young man. It’s… difficult to tell, but it appears to be Jared Stanton.”

Several of the surrounding group members sucked in air but couldn’t tear their eyes away from the horrendous site of Jared’s face staring back at them.

McGaven retrieved his small pocketknife and handed it to Katie. She looked at him and reluctantly took the blade, not wanting to see more, but then sliced a small area on the opposite side of the construction bag.

It was just as she had thought.

Carefully, she turned back the bag, revealing the remains of a young man. His torso, arms, and legs were crammed inside—the dismembered limbs broken and crooked to fit into the bag. The water had done damage to the body and decomposition wasn’t the same as it would have been if he were buried in the dirt. Jared Stanton’s body and decapitated head were bloated and shiny, and Katie knew that now the skin was exposed to the air, it would soon slip off, turning black.

Katie took a few moments to try to ascertain what type of tool might have been used to separate his body. Jared’s legs still had on jeans, his torso was wrapped in a T-shirt, and sneakers were on both his feet. She examined his head and neck to establish if there were any obvious clues to what had killed him—if there were any cuts, bullet holes, or traumas that led to his death—but nothing was obvious.

She immediately stood up and addressed McGaven and Hamilton. “The body needs to be taken to the medical examiner’s office so it can be identified officially as Jared Stanton. We need to find out what was used to dismember him—and if there are signs of trauma, drugs, or poison in his body. This isn’t the time or place to conduct any kind of examination, not in this weather.” She swallowed hard and continued, “The ATV needs to be transported to the police impound so that forensics can search and document it, getting any VIN numbers to identify it.”

She turned to Chad who was waiting in the background as far away from the body as possible. “I need the rest of the pond scoured for anything else that shouldn’t be there, especially anything that could have been used as the murder weapon, and the other ATV.”

There were two deputy sheriffs standing nearby. Katie summoned them. “I want you two to document anything in the barn that might be missing or might have been used to dismember the body, like a chainsaw, hand saw, knives, or whatever you can find, to assist forensics when they get here. Make sure that you keep any tools or items you find protected from this rain.”

They nodded that they understood and left.

As Katie turned and began walking back up to the house, she eyed the blond stranger getting into his car.

“Hey, Katie,” said McGaven, diverting her attention to him.

“Yeah,” she said but kept moving.

“Where are you going?”

“Taking a break to take some notes on the events and begin our report,” she said and hurried in the direction of the police vehicle.

Chad caught up to her. “Where are you running to?” he asked gently, knowing that every case took its toll on her.

“I’m fine. Just need to get the paperwork together for the sheriff.”

“Hey.” He took her arm and examined her face. “Take some time for yourself, okay?”

She forced a slight smile and nodded, not wanting to let him know how disturbed she was by the scene.

“See you later. Okay?”

It was clear that he wanted to kiss her but it would have been inappropriate at the crime scene in front of all of their co-workers.

“Bye,” she said and watched Chad return to the group.

As Katie looked for the blond stranger, scanning the street in both directions, she spotted the car driving away.

Her cell phone rang. She wasn’t going to answer at first, but it was the sheriff.

“Scott,” she said, making sure that no one was near. She felt conspicuous when she talked with her Uncle Wayne.

“Anything?”

“Yes. A body and ATV have been found.”

“Everything okay?” His voice was softer than his usual gruff sheriff demeanor.

“I noticed that detectives Alvarez and Hamilton are here.”

“I sent them.”

“I see.”

“I need a report from you and McGaven, and then you can set this case free and let the detectives close it.”

Katie stopped for a moment. It surprised her that he referred to “the case” as free.

The sheriff continued, “Alvarez will take over to make sure that everything is in order and he’ll be working the entire homicide investigation from start to finish, since it was originally his case.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” he said. “You’ve done your job—excellent work. You’ve had back-to-back cases lately and deserve a break. I don’t want my cold case team burned out.”

Katie sighed.

“Have the report on my desk no later than tomorrow.”

“I will.”

“And, Katie,” he said.

“Yes?”

“Take some time for yourself,” he said again. “When you’ve completed the reports on the Stanton case, take the rest of the day off and tomorrow.” He sighed. “That’s an order.”