CHAPTER – 2 Over Kill

Cassidy couldn't believe it, it was the third time her friend Stephanie had set her up for a date. Last two were a lawyer and a CA. She wondered who it was this time. Well, she was going to find out. Slowly she entered the restaurant where a table was booked and there was a guy sitting there. "Well, at least he's good looking", she thought. As she got close to the table, he rose to welcome her and presented her a lovely bouquet of roses. She was thinking, "Unlike the rest of her dates, he did have some decency". She then realized he had a very masculine and well-toned body. "Either he is one of those guys who spend half their time in the gym or he belonged to the profession where he need to stay fit", she said to herself. She hoped it was the latter. When they both sat down, they ordered some champagne.

"Okay, this is awkward!" he said, "Um... I don't date very much, I'm Sean by the way".

"You're doing great so far, I'm Cassidy", she replied.

"So, you do this often?" he inquired.

"Not at all, it's my third time, all thanks to Stephanie", she answered.

"Yeah, tell me about it, I'm set up by Rodgers", he said. The waiter brought them their glass of champagne and left after giving both them a pleasant smile. They both had a sip of their drink.

"So, you're a cop huh?" he asked. "A detective", she responded.

"Must be tough for you, there aren't many female detectives in the NYPD", he said.

"Nah, its good", she replied. "So, what do you do Sean?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm a fireman, you know, saving people and putting out fire kind of stuff", he answered.

"Wow, you've got an important job!" she commented. She was glad it was the latter option and he was not just somebody obsessed with the gym. The waiter arrived at the table and questioned them "What would you like to have sir, ma'am?", At that point, Cassidy felt certain vibration in her pockets and realized it was her phone. She quickly glanced at the screen and saw that it was her partner Jake at the end of the call. She thought, "Not now Jake!", and wanted to disconnect the call but she knew she couldn't.

"Cassidy!" she answered the call. "Where?" she queried Jake, Alright, I be there right away", she said and disconnected the call.

"I'm sorry Sean, I guess I'll have to leave your company right now", she said,

"What, you're not staying for dinner", he asked.

"You know how it is, duty calls", she said this and took a piece of paper and jotted down her number and slipped it into his shirt pocket and planted a gentle kiss on his cheeks and whispered call me. It was the first time she had done that in a date. And then she left moving towards her car.

Keenan was driving at an extremely high speed. Even though he realized he was too late, as an FBI agent he had to get to the dead agent's body as fast as he could so as to remove any potential information that the agent would have been carrying at the time of their death. He had done this countless times but never was it so tough for him. "What happened to you Nikki?" he asked himself. He had to find out, he had to see her. He hoped that the cops did not find the body first because if they did then things could get somewhat complicated for him. He was so indulged in his thoughts that he did not even realize his cell phone beeping. He realized it was his captain calling.

"Sir", he answered.

"I have a new mission for you" said the familiar voice.

"But Sir, Nikki".

The voice did not let him complete. "I know, and this mission is related to her, I need you at the headquarters ASAP", he ordered.

"Yes, sir", replied Keenan.

"By the where are you?" asked the voice.

"I'm on my way to New York, I'll be there in half an hour", Keenan lied as he disconnected the call.

He realized his duty had to come first and it always did, but this time he had to see her body for himself one last time. He had already reached New York and was only a couple of blocks away from the scene. As he turned the last corner he could see their house but he was disappointed as he saw that cops had already got there and the CSU team was already scouring the area for any evidence. Nevertheless, he had half an hour to reach the headquarters, so he decided to wait there for a while.

Cassidy had reached the crime scene almost 10 minutes earlier than she expected she would. "Well, that's good", she thought. From her car she could see that the whole area had been sealed off as per the standard police procedure. She parked her car at the edge of the crime scene and opened the door. Jake saw her Cassidy arriving and started to move towards her. Cassidy go out of her car and locked the door and headed towards Jake. "Where were you when I called?" Jake asked. "In a date, with a guy until you had to call", she replied. "So, what's the status?" she inquired. "Oh! That's the interesting part. Wait till you get inside", replied Jake. "Let's see what's got you so excited", Cassidy answered as they entered the house. While entering the house, Cassidy noticed the door locks were broken. "Sign of a forced entry", she thought. "Hello, Detectives", Stephanie greeted the two of them as they entered the room and playfully winked at Cassidy as if a sign to say, "You liked the guy, didn't you?", Cassidy pretended not to notice that. She started approaching the body. "So, how was the date?" Stephanie questioned genuinely interested. "Uh… I don't know never had a chance to complete it", she replied without showing any expression. "Oh, but you liked the guy right?" Stephanie asked. "Ok, ladies can we focus on the more complicated matters at hand", Jake interrupted their conversation. Cassidy was glad that he did, she hated talking about her dates in public. "Yeah, Steph can we finish our job here first", agreed Cassidy. "Alright", replied Stephanie. "Our victim is mid-twenties, 5 foot 9 inches and of average body type", said Stephanie. "Any Id?" Cassidy inquired both of them. It was Jake who replied this time, "None so far. We're looking at a "Jane Doe" right now". "So, what are you saying, this wasn't her house?" Cassidy asked looking puzzled. "That is an interesting question. We've looked at every room in this house and there's nothing at all that suggests of who was living here, I mean no photographs, no personal stuffs, nothing". Jake answered obviously loving the way it puzzled her. "OK so, Do we have a time of death?" Cassidy asked Stephanie expecting to get an answer to at least this question. "Judging by the looks of it, I'd say around 8 to 10 pm", replied Stephanie. "And what's the cause?" Cassidy asked. "Thought you'd never ask, that's the most interesting part", replied Jake with a tone of excitement. "She's been shot, twice", said Stephanie. "I don't understand. How is this interesting?" Cassidy shot a quizzical look at Jake. "And stabbed, and strangled and she has a pencil stabbed into her neck. Oh and don't forget all the bruises on her body", Stephanie interrupted. "Ok, and we have no leads what so ever?" Cassidy asked not sounding very hopeful. She doubted someone who can do this sort of thing would leave any traces behind. "Nope", replied Jake. "Who found the body?" Cassidy asked. "A couple of neighbors heard some disturbance. When they came to check, they found the door was open and the body lying here in the kitchen", Jake answered. "Alright, take the body down to the lab and see if you can get an ID. I'll talk to the neighbors", she said to Stephanie.

Cassidy was on her way to talk to the neighbors who were sitting in the living room. As soon as she entered the room, a feeling of uneasiness surrounded her. Something in this house was not right. There was no sign of someone living here, no photographs, no memoirs, not any trace that a normal person would be sure to leave. It was like as if the house had been wiped clean as if someone didn't want them to know who was living here. But why? The question kept bugging her. She saw a young couple sitting at the sofa in the room, Cassidy walked towards them and greeted them.

The man must have been around thirties and the woman around mid - twenties. They seemed to be recently married. Cassidy immediately noticed the love bites in the woman's neck, obviously they were having some intimate time she thought. She also realized that the man's hand seemed pretty rough with a lot of scars and scratches. "He must be some sort of construction worker", she deducted.

"So you two live next doors?" she inquired. "Yes, I am Nathan Wiley and this is my wife Samantha Wiley", replied the man. "Who exactly lived here?" Cassidy asked them even though she knew it would be the woman whose body they found. "Why, Nikki of course", replied the young woman. "She moved in here around 2 months ago", she added. "Nikki? Is that the woman whose body we've found?" Cassidy asked. "Yes, poor girl. What happened to her? If I may ask", said Nathan. "We are currently trying to figure that out", replied Cassidy. "Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm her?" Cassidy asked. "Actually, we didn't know her very well. She usually kept to herself and mostly never had much of a conversation with any of the neighbors", Nathan replied. "How did you discover the body?" Cassidy asked. "Well, we heard some gunshots and some disturbance and then as we went to check on her, we found her body", he replied. "Did you know where she worked?" Cassidy inquired. "Uh… no, she never told us that", it was Samantha who replied this time. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley", said Cassidy as she allowed them to leave.

Cassidy knew her work here was done but even though she knew she would not be finding any evidence in this house, she had to hope that the killer had left any of it behind. As she expected, she did not find any. They'll have to find a way to get to the killer somehow. Judging by the looks of the body, it was not a crime of passion and nor did it seem natural. Usually, it would have been enough to put a bullet in the body but so many signs of struggle extending to so many rooms had left Cassidy questioning, "How did a simple looking woman like her had the strength to keep up such a fight". She glanced at the body one last time. "What secrets are you hiding?" Cassidy whispered before leaving the house.

Cassidy was moving towards her car, when she noticed the silver Porsche standing at the edge of the crime scene. All the windows were closed but she felt the piercing pressure coming from them as if someone was watching from within with a gaze so strongly fixed on her that she could feel it without even actually seeing it. But then it started moving towards the next corner and then it vanished as it turned right once fleeing out of sight.

Keenan had stood there long enough. Nikki was gone and there was nothing he could do to change that. Now his duty had to come first and his captain had told him that his next mission was about Nikki. He had hoped to see Nikki's body one last time but it seems so farfetched of an idea, now that the cops had taken over the case. He wished he could have gotten here sooner. His eyes were red, evidence that proved he had been crying. He had to be strong and he had to look strong. So, he pulled out his blue tinted glasses from his car's cabinet and put them on and just like that, he was ready. Ready for his next mission.