Asleep in her bed, Detective Riker was in the middle of a nightmare. Tossing and turning on her bed, struggling to get comfortable, sweat glistened on her skin causing her clothing to stick and twist around uncomfortably to her body. Suddenly her phone on the nightstand rang, waking her from the restless sleep. 

“Detective Riker”.   She answered. 

“We got a 55-A on our hands, down in Lewisport,” Said the person on the line. “When can you get here?”

  “I’ll be there in 15,” Riker replied.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, taking the time to straighten out her clothes. She stood up and grabbed her pants and shirt off the edge of her dresser. Pulling on her pants she looked around her apartment, there wasn’t much to see. Just her bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. The kitchen was a mess, there were takeout cartons laying around. She would need to clean when she had the time. She sighed and got up, grabbing her badge from the bowl by her front door and leaving the apartment. 

Flashing her badge at the officers in the lobby they let her in and she started going up the stairs when someone shouted her name.

“Riker, can I speak to you for a moment?”

She turned around, seeing her boss, John, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Yes sir?” She asked.

“Do you remember your old partner?” John asked,  he had taken his retirement early.”

“Oh, right. Am I taking this case on my own then?” She asked.

“No, someone got promoted and I am assigning you a new partner. I hope you can show him the ropes.” He said. 

Turning around he scanned the room quickly, then he quickly walked off and tapped someone on the shoulder. The person turned around and she immediately started to analyze him.  6’7, light brown hair, hazel eyes, broad shoulders, around 170-180, late twenties' to his early thirties. Walking towards her, he put on a grin. 

Holding out his hand towards her once he was a mere couple of steps in front of her. “It’s nice to meet you, Detective. My name’s Charles. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She firmly took his hand and nodded. “The feeling’s mutual.”

“Ready to go see our body?” He inquired.

“Unless you have a previous engagement with the coffee pot, yes,” She replied.

Climbing the stairs, Charles followed her. Climbing up to the fifth floor, looking down the hallway the lights flickered on and off giving a dim glow. The hallway may have been dim but it was illuminated enough to see the cracks in the walls and the chipping paint and scuffed hardwood floors. The stench of death had already filtered into the hallway at this point. Looking behind her shoulder at her partner, he gave her a short but affirmative nod. She continued walking down the hallway towards the yellow tape. She stopped to flash her badge at the officer standing at the door. 

The apartment opened to a short hallway, the kitchen and living room was an open floor plan to the left and on the right was the bedroom. At the end of the hallway was the bathroom. Looking through the kitchen, Riker walked through going into the living room. Continuing her walk through the apartment, she walked into the bedroom, the victim lay there. 

A young girl, early twenties maybe, lithe and slender, short strawberry blonde hair, glassy green eyes, that were once striking, staring off into the distance. She was laid on the bed, looking as though she was about to go to sleep. Riker looked around, there was nothing to indicate a struggle, rape, or that could have caused the young girl’s death. It just seemed clean, too clean. 

Riker looked to the department’s CSA (crime scene analyst) who was photographing the body.

“What was the c.o.d? (cause of death)” The CSA sighed.

“It’s yet to be determined. We’re sending the body to the local medical examiner to try and figure out what happened. My guess though, poison,” The CSA nodded towards the body. “Crime scenes too clean to be something obvious like a gunshot or stab wounds.” Riker nodded and went back towards the living room, Charles trailing behind her now. 

Riker looked at the couch and saw the pillows slightly fluffed, the table cleared, a book at one corner lined up perfectly on the edge. “Did the killer tidy up the house on purpose? OCD perhaps?” She wondered to herself. Nodding to her new partner, they headed out the door and started discussing potential leads that they have. 

Driving down the highway, Riker remembered that she promised to stop by her sisters’ house and visit for a few minutes. She started to call Charles.   

“Hey I have to stop at my sisters’ real quick,” she said.

“Ok, see ya soon then,” Charles replied and hung up. 

Turning off the highway and starting down the outskirts of the town, pulling through the countryside. The trees and bushes rushed by in a blur of colors. Riker started to slow down looking around and she started to remember her Mom and Dad. She was fifteen, her sister twelve, that night she would have never forgotten. Her sister wanted to go to her dance recital and she decided to take her and give her Mom and Dad some time alone. They have been arguing for many nights now.

   They got home that night and the door was ajar, the frame bent and broken, splinters showing from the kick that opened the door.  She pushed her little sister Rowen behind her telling her to stay behind her. Taking small steps into the house, straining to hear anything that she could. She pushed the door all the way open and walked into the kitchen and what she saw she couldn’t have protected her sister from seeing.

Riker shook her head trying to clear the memory, as she did a few tears escaped trailing down her cheeks, leaving a glistening trail. Pulling into her sister's driveway, She heard different birds chirping throughout the forest.

The front porch came into view as she rounded the corner, light shining softly through the side falling gently onto Rowen’s red-blond hair giving her a fiery yet calm look. Her sister sat there reading a book, rocking back and forth on the porch swing. She looked up and saw the car coming towards the house and she jumped up running down the stairs, jumping up and down.

“You're finally here!” she shouted with joy.

I parked the car and got out, and started to jog towards her.  When I got there I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a big squeeze.

“ I finally came, I have been told that there is a surprise?” Riker asked with concern.

 You remember what we discussed a few weeks ago?” Rowen asked in a low voice.

“About you being pregnant?” I replied without a doubt.

“Quiet down! He’ll hear you, she whispered, I don’t know when I want to tell him.”

“ So is this my big surprise?” Riker asked.

“ No your surprise is drumroll please, drrrrrrrmmmmm, I’m moving onto Main Street!” she exclaimed.

    “Ummm, that’s great and all but you haven't seen the news yet?” Riker asked.

Suddenly Riker’s phone rang. Grabbing her phone she looked at the callers’ id before answering.

“Riker .” she answered.

“Riker, we have found a new turn in the case. There was one thing we have overlooked, there was urine at the base of the bed. We ran it and there were more hormones than usual, our  body wasn’t pregnant so that means our murderer is.” Charles announced.

Riker looked over at her sister with a discerning look in her eyes, wondering what happened and if it was possible.  Taking in her lithe form, wondering what she was doing last night and why she wanted to move to Main Street.

  “Riker? Charles questioned, ``Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you back in a moment. I might have something.”

Riker looked at her sister with concern, she looked up and saw Rowens’ husband Isaac coming outside the door. Tall and blond, an easy build, and yet he seemed to try to make himself smaller by the moment. 

“Where were you and your husband last night? Riker asked with worry lacing her tone.

“W-w-what do you mean, we were here all last night. ” Rowen replied, she looked scared. Sweat started to slide down slightly giving off the stench of guilt.

“I may have the answer to that, Detective,” said Isaac from behind. 

Both women turned around looking at Isaac. Rowen’s brown eyes pleading with him, large and wide. Riker looked closer at Isaac, looking at his face and body posture, he seemed to hang there in defeat, a war inside tearing him apart. Images flashing in his eyes.

“Last night we were following someone that Rowen has known since high school. She remembered how she was treated then, and she remembered her parents, she didn’t want to remember anything anymore. She had her insulin in her purse, the idea came to her one way or another.” Isaac said, his voice dripping with defeat. 

“Ronnie-” Rowen started to say.

Riker looked at Rowen with sadness in her eyes, a flash of something quickly disappearing before Rowen could see what it was.

“I’m not mad, disappointed yes. Your my sister and I care for you, if that was how you dealt with our parent’s death then that is upsetting. You could have gotten help. Riker said with deep pain, I am here for you always but you know I’m going to have to bring you in right?”

“Yes, we do,” Isaac replied for both of them.

Riker opened her phone and dialed Charles, “ I have news.” She told him.