Chapter 10

“I’m sorry, what?” Nate couldn’t believe his ears. What was Ashley talking about? His guys had combed the entire house and there was no trace of a body anywhere. What could Ashley possibly know that he didn’t know?
“I’m telling you Nate, I saw it. I saw her. She’s in there.”
“Ashley, I think you’re tired. You need to get some sleep.” Nate gently grabbed Ashley’s arm and began to tug her towards his car. He shouldn’t have brought her along. He knew that when she got in the car and yet he let her ride along. He really was nuts. Or she made him that way.
“No. Please listen to me. I don’t know what I’m seeing but I saw the house. I saw the kitchen. I know she’s in there.”
“You saw the kitchen? What does it look like?”
“Old white cabinets, black door hinges, mostly falling off. Round, silver table with three chairs. All three have yellow padding but the stuffing is coming out…”
“Lucky guess.” No one gets that lucky. Nate eyed Ashley. Could she have a part in the disappearance? Seemed highly unlikely since he was the one who called her in but yet, how could she know any of this without insider information?
Ashley didn’t reply. Nate looked at her face. Her chiseled features looked close to crumbling. Nate thought he saw a tear in the corner of her eye. For the first time he noticed a reddish tint to her tanned skin. She wasn’t joking.
“Look, I’m sorry Ashley but what you’re saying is impossible. How could you know unless you were there when it happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“And if you know about the girl then who killed her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know that?”
“I’m not a psychic Nate. I can’t explain what I’m seeing. It’s just like I can feel what’s happened to these girls…”
“Fine. Why don’t you come inside with me and tell me what you saw.” Nate attempted not to sound patronizing with his tone. Surely Ashley was just confusing what she saw with some of her prior cases. It was just coincidence that the kitchens were so similar.
Nate once again stepped up to the officer and with an interested glance the officer lifted the tape for both of them to enter. They passed the perfectly manicured lawn and stepped through the white front door.
Where outside appeared to be well taken care of the interior of the house was anything but. An old couch was all that filled up the tiny living room on Nate’s left. It sat across from a fireplace in need of repair. In Florida fireplaces were more of a decoration then a necessity and Nate assumed this one was hardly used.
Instead of being inviting the couch only served to extend the hallway wall and make the place feel even smaller. On Nate’s right was a small dining room with a wooden table and four chair. The table was currently empty but watermarks told Nate it was usually full.
The poor layout of the house meant that the kitchen was enclosed by itself behind the dining room. The smallness of the house meant that the kitchen also housed the back door. Two bedrooms and one bathroom were all the remained of the house and they were down the hallway each with its own door on the left-hand side.
Someone had already called the housing authority to find out who the owner of the house was. From speaking with the neighbors the house was rented and there were people coming and going all day.
In the words of the elderly women next door, “That’s a crack house for sure!” But Nate and his team had found no evidence of drugs. He wasn’t sure who would be more surprised, himself or the lady next door.
“Do you recognize anything?” Nate asked after Ashley stepped through the door behind him.
“No.”
“The kitchen is up here on the right. Maybe you’ll see something you recognize in there…” Nate had barely finished his sentence before Ashley’s nails dug deep into his arm. Even through his suit jacket he could feel the sharpness. Did she have claws he didn’t know about?
“This is it.” Her voice came out just slightly above a whisper. “There. In the middle of the floor. There was blood everywhere.” Nate followed her finger to the middle of the kitchen floor. Nate noticed the strange groove of the hardwood floor but in an old house mistakes like that were common. “It stopped here.”
Ashley knelt down on the floor and began feeling it with her hand. Nate had no idea what she was looking for. CSI’s were combing the place but hadn’t come up with much. They had not yet sprayed any areas with luminol since luminol can destroy other evidence found. If they had reason to spray they would come back and do it later once they had finished photographing the scene and collecting other evidence. If Ashley wasn’t crazy they might need to spray the kitchen floor sooner rather then later.
“Nate, here’s the information you requested.” A female officer Nate knew as Jane Brumagim said. Her brown hair was pulled tightly in a bun and given the drawn look on her face Nate wondered if she had pinned her cheeks back as well.
“What’s that Jane?”
“This home is owned by Randall Bentley. When we contacted him he said he owns a number of properties and this is one of them. This house hasn’t been rented in about two months but before that it was rented to a Jonathan Gardner. He had no problems with Jonathan who cleared his things out last month.”
“A month after he had finished renting?”
“Apparently so,” Jane said.
“Did he say if he’s changed the locks?”
“He did change the locks,” Jane checked her notes, “About two weeks ago.”
“I’m going to want to talk to Mr. Gardner.”
“We’ve already contacted him.”
“Thanks Jane.” Jane gave Nate a smile and her face seemed less tight and more relaxed. Nate was wondering if there was something in her eyes he was missing when Ashley touched his arm and Nate forgot all about Jane.
“Nate, I think you need to see this.”
Nate turned around to see what now appeared to be a hole in the kitchen floor. He couldn’t see much below the door; it appeared to lead into blackness. But for the first time he saw the unmistakable red smudge of blood before the wood gave way to darkness.
“Eric! I need you in here!” Nate called down the hall of the house. Eric and two other officers including Jane Brumagim appeared in the doorway. They all seemed shocked at the new hole in the kitchen floor.
“How did we miss that?” Eric asked. Then, “How did you find that?”
“Ashley found it.” Was all Nate said. What more could he say? She had a vision and it told her where to go. That sounded pretty crazy. Without discussing the matter any further Nate approached the floor opening with his flashlight. He also pulled out his gun and held both in front of them.
The hole in the floor didn’t appear to be very large. It didn’t appear that he would be able to fit in. A quick glance with his flashlight revealed nothing but dirt floor. Maybe the door just led to the bottom of the house. Could be a way to work underneath the house. Odd for what should have been a firm concrete foundation but it’s possible this house was on the brink of a sink hole or some other Florida tragedy like a roach infestation.
Nate leaned further into the hole and his flashlight caught on something in the corner. “I see something but I can’t reach it,” he called over his shoulder.
“I’ll do it.” It sounded like Ashley but he had to turn around to be sure. It was.
“No, you’re not qualified to do it. Besides, you’re, um, not dressed for climbing underneath houses,” Nate said.
“It’s not up to you,” Ashley began taking her suit jacket off revealing her tailored white blouse beneath. She didn’t look any less put together without the coat. Now she was just showing off her perfectly flat stomach. Without another word, Ashley climbed into the hole, heels and all.
Nate leaned in behind her and pointed the flashlight to where he thought he had seen something.
“Right there. Do you see it?” Nate tried to give her more light in the corner. Ashley dipped to where Nate could no longer see her. After what felt like an eternity Ashley popped out of the hole.
“It’s her. It’s a girl… It’s a child… I think its Emma…” Ashley’s arms were shaking and she was unable to pull herself back onto the kitchen floor. Nate grabbed her hands and carefully pulled her up until she was sitting on the floor in his arms. He knew he should let go but he couldn’t. He could feel her body shake and he stroked her back and her hair. People were everywhere but Nate paid them no mind. Some part of him had wanted to hold Ashley for years and now that he had her he didn’t want to let her go despite the circumstances.
“Nate, Nate, it’s her. I found a girl. Her body, down there.” Ashley pointed to the hole she had just come up from.
“We got it Ashley.” Nate pointed to Eric and then to the hole in the floor. With a nod, Eric began taking pictures. As quickly as everyone had converged on the kitchen the hole had expanded. Once the floorboards had been removed the blood that had once been concealed was now apparent to anyone with eyes. The blood trail ended in a small girl facing away from the opening. Only her back was visible. That and matted blonde hair. A see-through white nightgown clung to her small frame.
“What do you think?” Eric asked. “Does it look like Emma?”
Nate had walked Ashley to the living room couch and was now back in the kitchen to collect evidence from another small body. This was not what Nate had wanted to find. The sight of another small girl taken out of this world before her time made him angry.
“It looks like her. This isn’t what she was reported wearing when she went missing. We’ll have to wait for the coroner to be sure.”
‘They’ll be here in a few minutes,” Eric said.
Emma Sykes had been reported missing six weeks ago, Daisy Brandt eight weeks and yet they were found dead just one day apart. Did one man keep them here in this house and then kill them when he was done? Was it a team of men? That would make more sense given how the girls were taken. There was evidence that Daisy had been molested and Nate bet that they would find the same in Emma. Who would do this?
“Nate, I’m sorry to interrupt but the press is outside,” Nate recognized Jane without looking. “I think they want some answers.”
“So do I Jane, so do I.”