[MacGirl]

Stephanie used a key to open the padlock on the door. The three of them rushed inside. “Erin!” shouted Stacey. “Where are you?” Silence met them. “Are you still alive?” she whispered, her voice breaking. Mac hugged her close.
Shining their lights around, the three listened. Finally, a soft moan came to their ears.
“Come on, it sounds like she’s over this way,” said Mac. Stacey and Stephanie followed him through the warehouse for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, he stopped. “Oh, dear God,” he whispered.
Erin lay nearly motionless, about ten yards away. The floor around her was stained with blood.
Mac and Stacey rushed to her side, while Stephanie called for the paramedics. “Erin! Erin, can you hear me?” asked Stacey.
“It’s OK, Erin, we’re here,” said Mac. “We’ll get you to the hospital.”
“Mac… Stacey,” Erin whispered. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Who did this to you, Erin?” asked Mac.
“Don’t know… I caught the name Chris, though. There were four of them for sure, maybe more. I couldn’t… see…”
“That’s all right,” answered Mac. “We’ll find them.”
Stacey bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears. “Hang in there, hon,” she told her friend. “Please, Erin, you have to make it. Don’t you leave me, too.” She gave up, and tears flowed freely down her face.
Erin managed a weak smile in the light of their flashlights. “I think it’s too late, Stacey… I love you, though.” She was silent a moment, her breath coming faintly. “I have… a letter… Here. For you.” Stacey clutched it to her breast, knowing instinctively that the letter could be her friend’s last words to her.
Erin smiled once more. “I’m going to a good place. There’s an angel standing behind you, to lead me on my way.”
Sirens could be heard outside the warehouse now. Stacey was sitting with Erin’s head in her lap, tears running down her face, and Mac held one of Stacey’s hands and one of Erin’s. Just as the police, along with Nikki, burst into the warehouse, Erin took her last breath.

Stacey felt her heart break as she stood sobbing in her father’s arms, just a hundred yards from Erin’s body. Nikki and Mac were in tears, too. They had both been fond of the young woman, who was such a promising student, and who would have made a fantastic civil rights lawyer.
Stacey looked up at Mac. The only thing she could say was, “Why, Daddy?”
Mac knew what she meant. “I don’t know, honey,” he answered. “But we’re going to find out, and make sure that whoever it was ends up in prison. And you’re going to get through this. We all are.”
She was incredibly glad her father was there.
Nikki felt a chill come over her. Stacey and Mac had told her of Erin’s last words. Chris, she thought. Nah, it couldn’t be. She was horrified at the thought that her old acquaintance could somehow be involved. Still, it might be worth telling the police.
Wiping tears away, she approached Stephanie. “Hey, Nikki. How are you guys doing?” The young woman looked concerned.
Nikki felt anger flare up in her. “How do you think we’re doing?! Stacey’s heart is broken, and Mac and I are devastated, too. We all loved Erin, and now she’s dead!”
Stephanie looked taken aback. “I’m sorry, Nikki. I was stupid to ask that.”
Nikki gave a shaky sigh. The anger was subsiding a bit. “I’m sorry too, Stephanie. I’m really on edge, I guess.”
“Understandable,” answered Stephanie. “Here.” She handed Nikki a kleenex.
“Thanks,” Nikki answered, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”
Stephanie took out her notebook. “I’m all ears.”
Nikki told her about Chris, about her last conversation with him, and about her suspicions. “I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling he might be somehow involved.”
“It’s worth checking out,” replied Stephanie. “Usually, when these kind of crimes happen, we have a hell of a hard time, unless there’s a witness, or someone gives us a tip like this. Thanks, we’ll get right on it.”
Nikki slowly made her way back to Mac and Stacey. “Well, we’ll see what comes of that,” she said. “It’s a good thing I said something, because Stephanie told me that unless someone gives them a tip like that, they have a really hard time.”
“We should get the HGIU on this, too,” said Mac. “They might find something the police miss.”
Stacey spoke up. “I want in on this one,” she said. “I feel like I owe it to Erin.”
Mac and Nikki glanced at each other. “I don’t know, honey,” Mac said cautiously. “I know where you’re coming from, but you might be seen as too close to the case to be objective.” His daughter looked ready to explode in rage, so he quickly added, “Let’s talk about it tomorrow, Stacey. We’re all tired, and not thinking very well.”
Nikki agreed. “I doubt there’s much more we can do here. Maybe we should think about getting home.”
Suddenly Stacey sagged against her father. Mac caught her before she fell. She was tired beyond belief, and was hungry, too. “We better get you home before you fall asleep on your feet,” he scolded gently.
Just then the ambulance personnel rolled Erin’s covered body past them. Stacey collapsed across her friend’s body, sobbing again and calling Erin’s name. Her father pulled her into his arms again, and she wept against his soft flannel shirt. When she had composed herself enough, they headed for the car, all three of them silent. Stacey felt a horrible aching, empty feeling inside, and wondered, Will I ever feel normal again?

The next morning, Stacey woke to the sun streaming in through the window. She turned to see the time, and was alarmed to see it was after ten. Jumping out of bed, she was stopped at her door by the sight of a piece of paper on the floor. Picking it up, she read,
“I told your supervisor what happened last night, and she said to tell you to take a few days off. Rest up, and I’ll be home early. Then we can talk about what to do next. Love, Dad.”
Tears came to her eyes, as the events of the previous night came flooding back. She was glad Mac had talked to her supervisor; there was no way she could have concentrated on her job today. She headed for the shower.

At the Phoenix Foundation, Mac was talking to Cindy Blake, the head of the Hate Groups Intelligence Unit. Cindy had caught the early news that morning, so she already knew of Erin’s death. The news had spread fast, and the entire department knew of it by now. Cindy was wondering whether the Unit should even be involved with an investigation surrounding the death of one of their own employees.
“Much as I feel obligated to Erin, I just don’t know if we can stay objective,” she told Mac.
“I know, Cindy, but you’re the only outfit in the country that’s really set up to do this kind of investigation. If you turn it over to the police or FBI, you know what’ll happen… they’ll follow a few leads for awhile, then it’ll get boxed up and relegated to the cold case unit… and maybe it won’t ever be solved.” He looked at her. “Erin deserves better than that.”
Cindy chuckled. “You’re right, of course, Mac,” she answered. “You usually are. All right, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll call a meeting of the entire Unit, and explain the situation. I’ll ask anyone who does not feel they can stay objective to stay off this one. As for Stacey, well, I don’t know. She was Erin’s best friend, and for all practical purposes, she was a witness as well.”
“Give her a few days,” suggested Mac. “When she comes back to work, talk to her and see if there’s a part of the case that she’d feel comfortable working on. She needs to be involved somehow, Cindy, or she’s going to go off on her own and freelance it.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know because I know my daughter,” he answered. “She’s not one to just sit on the sidelines.”
“All right,” answered Cindy. “I’ll think about it, and see what I can come up with.”
“Thanks, Cindy. I know you guys will find whoever did it.”

At home, Stacey sat alone, trying to read. She couldn’t concentrate, though, and finally threw her book aside. Standing up, she paced the room, tears streaming down her face again. She knew she would cry a lot in the next few days and weeks.
When her sobs had subsided a bit, she decided to go running for awhile. Maybe she could work off some of her grief that way.
Fifteen minutes later, Stacey left the houseboat and headed out of the marina. She didn’t pay much attention to where she was going, and after she had gone about two miles, realized she was very near the scene of Erin’s death. She hadn’t known just how close the old warehouse district really was. Not wanting to be the victim of an attack herself, Stacey slowed down to a walk, in order to conserve her energy in case she had to fight for her safety. Even though the sun was out, the warehouse district was a gloomy, spooky place.
Stacey knew better than to cross the crime scene tape that had been strung up, but decided to look around outside of it. Maybe she’d find something the police had missed. It had been night when the attack happened, and she was surprised not to see the crime scene unit there. Maybe they’re planning to come later on, she thought hopefully. If she did find anything, she’d just leave it where it was and call Stephanie Olson.
Studying the ground carefully, she walked along slowly. It was messy here, quite a bit of trash, but she concentrated on spotting anything that looked as if it didn’t belong there.
Suddenly, she stopped. There was a black button on the ground that looked as if it might have come off a jacket. Right beside it, she spotted a zipper tab. There were also at least a dozen Coors beer cans in a pile. Widening her search, she checked other beer cans that were there. None of the other cans were Coors. She also found a small pile of orange peels that looked fairly fresh. Stacey wondered if someone had waited here as a lookout while the others had gone to grab Erin.
Walking out to the road on the other side of the warehouse, she found tire marks, not far from the warehouse door. It looked as though a car had peeled out in a hurry.
Might not mean anything, she thought. Then again, it could be a major clue. Stacey didn’t know much about crime scene work, but her common sense told her that this might be worth something to the police.
She was about to continue her search, when she heard several cars pull up. She looked up, and saw the crime scene van. Stephanie Olson stepped out of a police car and came towards her. Stacey trotted over to meet her.
“Stacey, what are you doing here?” asked Stephanie. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know, but I went out for a run this morning and just sort of found myself here.” Before Stephanie could say anything, she added, “Don’t worry. I didn’t touch anything, and I didn’t disturb the crime scene tape. But I did find a few things that seemed out of place.”
Stephanie shifted her crime scene kit to her other hand with a sigh. “All right, what have you got?”
Stacey showed her the beer cans, orange peels, the button, and the zipper pull. “I don’t know if any of this is important, but I also found tread marks on the road, out on the far side of the warehouse.”
“OK, we’ll take it from here, Stacey. I don’t want you out here
again, you understand me? I know you just want to help, but you could unknowingly contaminate the scene.”
“All right, I’m sorry. I won’t come out here again. This place gives me the creeps, anyway. I should head home.”
“Hey, before you go, here’s my card,” said Stephanie, holding a business card out to her. “I guess I forgot to give it to you last night in all the confusion and emotion of the moment. Call me if you think of anything that might be relevant, OK?”
“Sure.” Stacey looked at the warehouse, which now had forensics specialists swarming in and out. “And will you keep me and my dad and Nikki up to date on the case? I have a feeling we’re some of the only people who really care that Erin’s dead.”
“I can’t tell you everything I find out, but I’ll keep you up to speed as much as I can,” answered Stephanie. She sighed. “Our folks talked to Erin’s parents last night. It wasn’t pretty. It never is, but Erin’s parents told them that they didn’t consider Erin their daughter anymore and really didn’t care what had happened to her.”
“They didn’t mean it?” Stacey was shocked.
“I doubt it. When the shock wears off, they’ll be pretty devastated. Erin was an only child, right?”
“Yes, she was. I can’t believe her parents said that.”
“I’ve heard that sort of thing before, and worse, if you can believe that,” Stephanie told her. “It happens a lot when a murder victim is estranged from his or her parents. The parents feel deeply guilty about not protecting their child, on top of whatever they may have been angry with them about. They always come around eventually, though.” With that, she turned away to talk to a forensics specialist who was approaching her.
Stacey sighed and headed for home, back the way she had come. We’ll find out who did this to you, honey, she thought.

Chris stood in a group of four other men, talking to them. He felt proud of what he had done, telling himself, The world will be better off without that gay bitch in it. If I could do the same thing every night, I would.
“All right,” he told them. “We’ve got to keep a low profile for at least the next few weeks. Don’t talk to each other unless you have to, and if you do, do it in person. Remember, if the police ask where you were last night, you were at a prayer meeting, with all of us.”


Two days later, Stephanie Olson’s team was beginning to make progress. They had found a witness, a man who had taken a wrong turn on the way home from his late shift, and had heard a commotion in the warehouse where Erin had been attacked. There had been a light over the door outside, and he had been able to get a pretty good look at the attackers as they left. His description of one of them had matched up pretty well with Nikki’s description of Chris.
Chris had been questioned by the police. He had steadfastly maintained that he had been nowhere near the crime scene, and had refused to give a DNA sample. But the officers had gotten a warrant, and he’d had no choice but to comply.
Also, he had lost control of himself and gone off on a rant about gays and how they were all “sinners who would burn in hell” and who didn’t even deserve to live, unless they “repented” of their “sin” and became straight. Stephanie thought that was pretty suspicious, almost as good as a confession. But they still needed the DNA to convict him, and besides, the other men were still at large. They would keep working, though, and Stephanie had a gut feeling that they would catch the whole gang fairly soon, and would put them away.

[ghostdoll]

I'm always surprised at how anyone can "describe" someone they saw in the dark (no, I'm not saying it's ompossible, it's just that I can barely see in the dark even with my eyeglasses and I've never been able to recognize/describe people that I may have stumble/seen in the dark).

thanks for sharing.

[MacGirl]

Thanks for pointing that out, ghostdoll. I discovered that there was a line I missed while copying and pasting it in. Hope it makes a little more sense now.