****Some graphic/bloody scenes in this chapter****

The drive to the location took no time. The officers blocking off the scene let Jaiden come through with his motorcycle and greeted him. He gave them a quick nod and examined the property. The home was beautiful two-story house that looked welcoming. He hated knowing that something terrible happened here.

His eyes swept the area and the people in the growing crowd. It was an upper-class neighborhood, so they residents were probably nervous that something happened here. He would normally ask the officers what happened, but he didn't want to in such a public place, and seeing how pale and sick the officers looked, he knew it wasn't a simple death.

He pulled over two officers. "Have you pulled the security cameras?" He pointed to the doorbell camera and two others on the sides of the house.

"Working on it, Detective."

He nodded. "What about indoor cameras?"

"We have a couple of men who are doing that now."

He gave them a short 'thank you' and went inside. Something about this case gave him a foreboding feeling and he was already anticipating some overtime.

Nate came in shortly after him. He gave him a wave, grabbed his camera, and took off to the crime scene.

One officer greeted Jaiden nervously. "Detective Ryder. We have one victim, pronounced dead on the scene... it's a little... much in there."

"Break it down for me." Jaiden said as he examined the foyer a little.

"No signs of a break in and no one heard anything unusual. There are tracks in the backyard that we are checking out now. It's a possible one-man job and he may have known how to enter or may have known the victim. There are three residents who lived here, but the father and son were off at a retreat, leaving the mother home alone. They are heading back now and will be in the city in about three hours."

"Tell me about her."

"We believe she is Cynthia Silva. 32 years old. Woman of the community. Always volunteering her time with marriage counseling at the local church. House mother, dedicated to her kid and was hoping for a second child. When asked, no one has any idea why someone would hurt her because she was adored."

"Cause of death?"

"We're not too sure. There's too much blood so we have to wait for the autopsy. But we're thinking the victim was either bludgeoned or stabbed to death."

"Was she killed on scene?"

"Not too sure about that either. There's a lot of blood, but it doesn't seem to indicate a struggle, so we're hypothesizing that she was drugged, placed in the room, and then killed."

Jaiden nodded. "Thanks. I'll take a look around. Keep me updated with anything you find."

"Yes, Detective."

He walked into the room and immediately was overwhelmed by the metallic smell. He took a deep breath and pushed his headache to the back of his mind. He needed to focus.

He was annoyed when they couldn't tell him the cause of the death, but he understood why once he saw the scene. It was carnage.

He could tell that the victim was female, but she was damaged beyond recognition and stained red with blood. She wore a thin dress that clung to her body, but the original color was lost from the red that was now turning brown because of the exposure to oxygen.

He noticed that there were wounds on her face, but he couldn't make out the extent because of the blood. In fact, there was too much in general and it couldn't all be hers.

She was lying flat on her back and surrounded by a thick circular frame of blood. Her wrists were tied together by barbed wire and resting on her chest, making it look like she was praying. However, her hands were complete gone. Her exposed wrists were covered in jagged cuts, indicating that the killer had used a saw to remove them.

A dozen of roses had fallen on the floor just above her head and had soaked in the blood. After scanning the room, he became confused because there wasn't a vase anywhere near the body.

He rubbed his eyes for a little, fighting off the headache again. He's seen some barbaric shit, but this was pretty bad.

Nothing quite prepares you for the inhumane aspects of humans. Working near the border, he thought he was becoming numb to it, but there was always something else that shocked him. Seeing this woman on the floor and mutilated was something he wasn't fully prepared for. The more he examined her, the more sickening he found the murder. It wasn't a crime of passion. No... this was deliberate. This was considered artwork to some demented asshole.

Deep breath...

This wasn't a simple murder.

He cursed and took out his phone. His first message went to Patricia to let her know that he would probably not be home tonight.

He then switched to another text message thread. He had worked on the initial text all morning and finally found the nerve to finally send before he left the house.

Jaiden: Do you normally go to that bar on Saturdays?

But now things had to change. He cursed out loud, surprising the technicians around him.

He didn't realize that there was an answer waiting for him. It was short and to the point, but Jaiden wasn't expecting sonnets.

Toni: Why?

Jaiden: In case I become too impatient waiting for coincidence.

Toni: You could just ask me out.

Jaiden: I figured I may have fucked up any chance I had for that.
So I'm relying on coincidence. Even if it's slightly forced.

He looked at the crime scene and sighed.

Jaiden: But unfortunately, something came up at work.

Our next coincidental meeting may not be for a while.

Toni: Well, something came up at work for me as well, and now I have to deal with some cold asshole.

Jaiden: Good to know I'm not the only asshole in your life.

Toni: At least you admit it.

Toni: I should be at the bar this Saturday. You still owe me a drink.

Jaiden: Good to know.

He put his phone away and took a deep breath. Perhaps Valeria was right and he didn't destroy all his chances.

His ears picked up the conversations in Spanish. Most were about how terrible the crime scene was. Others were talking about how unlucky they were because the cold bastard detective Ryder was taking lead of the crime scene. They lamented about how he looked venomously irritated today and his bruises did not help matters. He even picked up a couple of people joking about who got the lucky shot in and left a bruise on Jaiden's face.

No one really knew that he understood them. He looked like your typical gringo who didn't know a lick of Spanish except for the curse words. But Valeria forced him to learn Spanish with her every day and he became fluent. He had mentioned to the precinct before that he could speak it, but they all seemed to have forgotten. Still, he didn't call anyone out. He knew he wasn't the most approachable person, so he let them talk behind his back.

Nate glanced his way and gave him a sympathetic look. He knew Jaiden and had seen the lighter side of him. He hated that everyone freely spoke ill about him without getting to know him. He also hated that Jaiden just accepted it and pretended he didn't understand what they were saying.

Jaiden gave Nate a wry smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking. But he would rather be focused on his work than make small talk or superficial friends.

Nate approached him and nodded to the scene. "You know... this wasn't what I meant when I offered a Bloody Mary."

Jaiden slapped him on the back of the head. He should be used to Nate's sick sense of humor, but he always caught him off guard. "My god Nate. Stop talking."

Nate took off with a laugh as Jaiden turned his attention back to the crime scene. He felt the atmosphere shift. The conversations around him reduced to nervous whispers.

One of the officers walked up to him quickly. "Um... Detective Ryder... I just wanted to let you know that Detective Alvarez was also called to the scene and will be here shortly. I'm sorry. Wires must have gotten crossed... I guess we didn't need to call you in today."

The officer looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet a little. Some detectives were extremely territorial and hated others getting in the way. Calling two detectives who had never worked together to a scene was a risky move. They never had seen Jaiden work with another but knew that he was particular about his crime scenes. They didn't know what to expect from him in this scenario.

But Jaiden nodded. "He's one of the detectives who were in Colorado when I moved here, right?"

The officer nodded. "Yes sir."

"I didn't realize he was back in town." Jaiden said softly.

"He was injured so he was on leave, he's just starting back up again, but it's only been about a week while you have been out."

Jaiden nodded. "I've heard positive things about him. Even down in Cruces. It's a good opportunity to meet him. Anything insider information that I should know about him?"

The officer looked around nervously. "He's kind of a hardass and a perfectionist."

Jaiden stifled a laugh. It was no wonder why everyone became nervous. "Then I feel bad for you and the technicians having to deal with both of us."

The officer looked surprised and then chuckled. "Both of you are good detectives. Maybe this will be solved sooner rather than later then."

"Hopefully. Let me know if you find anything new." Jaiden said with a nod.

Nate overheard what happened and came back to his side. "You're ok with this?"

Jaiden shrugged. "I'm wish that I could be angry, but Carlos had mentioned that he was impressed with Alvarez's work, so I have been wanting to meet him for a while."

Nate nodded. "Are you sure? I heard he had a bad falling out with the last partner he had in Colorado and doesn't like working with others anymore. He may steal this case from you."

Jaiden sighed. "I feel that this case is going to be... a lot. Just look at the blood alone... I'm not ashamed to admit that I may need help with this one. But if he wants it all to himself, then I will wish him luck. There will always be another murder."

Nate became still. "Help? Really?"

Jaiden rolled his eyes. "I won't compromise a case because I'm too prideful or stubborn."

Nate knew that he was using the tone that indicated that the conversation was over. But he always like to push with Jaiden.

"Maybe you should just leave and toss this case to Alvarez." Nate suggested.

"That's an asshole move. He didn't ask to be called to the same crime scene and I'm not one to push off my work." Jaiden promptly declined that thought.

"But if you're free from this case, perhaps you can think about your Cup of Coffee named Toni."

Jaiden shook his head. "Nope. We are definitely not going to have this conversation, especially over a dead body. Get to work."

Jaiden turned to ignore Nate, took down a couple of notes of the body position and pulled over another technician to go over blood patterns.

This whole thing was off putting. Was it a message? Religious? A warning?

As he examined the body, he noticed that the crime scene turned still. Jaiden looked up and saw the technicians and officers stand to the side and doing absolutely nothing.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is everyone done collecting evidence? If so, please present what you have." He asked with irritation laced in his voice.

The others coughed nervously and started to move, avoiding eye contact with Jaiden, and keeping their conversations in a hushed tone.

"Fuck." He muttered and ran his hands through his hair.

He heard Nate cackling off to the side. He closed his eyes in frustration. "I swear to all that is holy, Nate, if you don't get to work-"

"Sorry! I'm shutting up now!" He shouted and stifled his laughter.

Jaiden sighed again and examined the scene again. "Fuck me."

"I believe I already did." A deep voice sounded quietly behind him.

Jaiden jumped and turned around. He found himself peering into a pair of beguiling dark chocolate brown eyes. "Toni?"