Breakfast was lonely enough when shared between only two people that had grown so used to one another's company that it made mundane routines seem almost solitary.  However, it was a new type of loneliness that enveloped Beth as she hastily scarfed down her toast and smoothie while Jacob slept in the bedroom.

Pounding hangover or not, the animals had to eat.  She fed Romulus and Remus first and made her way through the others.  The chickens greedily pecked at the dried corn she'd sprinkled around their coop, the goats jogged up for their pellets and hay, and the horses whinnied their thanks after she'd brushed and pampered them while they ate. 

The cow barn was saved for last so she could spend a guilt free amount of time with Bruce and Mabel.  She could hear the mooing from a football field away.  Cerberus kept pace by her side on the way up.  The sound of the cattle lowing made her heart rate pick up, anticipating seeing the calf with each passing step.

The heavy wooden doors seemed to weigh more than usual as she wrenched them open.  "Where's my baby?" She cooed into the open barn.  She could hear Mabel lowing incessantly from her stall near the back.  "Good morning my little-" the words caught in her throat, replaced by an ear piercing scream as she fell to her knees.  Mabel was mooing incessantly over Bruce.  The calf's head was bashed in.  Brains and blood were scattered around the stall.  It's hind legs had been ripped clean off and lying in a heap in the corner.  Two huge blood splatters depicted where they had smacked the wall before sliding down in the hay.

She didn't know how long she'd been screaming on the barn floor when Jacob finally came skidding in.  He was barefoot with a pair of gray sweatpants hanging off his hips.  "Honey, what-" his eyes followed her gaze and stopped.  "Oh my God," he breathed, pulling her to his chest and shielding her sight.

......................

A total of three cops was all the town could muster up to take statements and investigate the scene.  Three.  It made Beth want to vomit.  She had vomited.  Once she had stopped screaming, and Jacob had carried her back to the house, she'd hurled her breakfast into the wastebasket beside her bed. 

She watched the officers from her bedroom window.  Cerberus refused to leave her side, whimpering softly and nuzzling his nose into her trembling palm.  She stood at the window, with her tea in hand, crying silently as her husband spoke to the authorities.  She hadn't intended on going out, let alone having to find her voice, but when the cops started to leave she couldn't help herself.

She marched out, dropping her tea on the deck and earning everyone's attention.  She knew she must have looked a mess, but she didn't care.  "Are you going to arrest him then?"

The three cops stared at her and looked back to Jacob.  "Who, ma'am?"

"Don't call me ma'am, Nate!  I want him arrested," she declared acidly.

"Who, Beth?" The other officer was moving forward.  His standard issued black boots crunched over the frosty ground.

"That man!  Marshall!  He killed Bruce," her voice cracked and Jacob rushed to her.

"Calm down, honey.  It's okay," he cooed softly in her ear.  Her legs wobbled beneath her as the shock took over.

"I want him arrested!" Beth cried.

Nate put a hand up to his colleagues to keep them back.  He'd known the Mercys since they moved to Palima.  His grandfather had owned the farm and sold it to them for nearly twice what it was worth, and he'd been the ones to hand over the keys.  "Beth, did you see him go into the barn at all?"  His voice was hushed, only for Jacob and Beth to hear.

"No, but I know it was him," she whispered back urgently.  "I know it was.  Nate, please, you have to believe me!"

"I do, Beth."  His words gave her an ounce of comfort amd she relaxed into her husband.  "Unfortunately, unless you can produce a credible witness that places him in the barn last night, there isn't much I can do.  Bart says it looks like the mama accidentally trampled the calf."

"The legs were ripped off and thrown!" She raised her voice and looked accusingly at the other two cops.  "Are your officers blind or just fucking stupid?" Beth snarled at them.

"Beth," Jacob warned.

Nate sighed.  "Beth, has this guy ever threatened you?  In any way?"

"Well, no, but I-"

"Has he threatened you, Jake?"

"No, sir."

"Has he, in any way, threatened your animals?"

"No," said Jacob.

"Yes!" Beth clarified with a glare.  The two men looked over at her in bemusement.  Nate humored her, motioning for her to elaborate.  "He's complained numerous times over our diet, he brought jerky to our dinner laat night, and he rubs me the wrong way."  Beth relented a bit, knowing she sounded crazy.  "I know I don't have any concrete proof, Nate, but you know me.  You know both of us.  You know every single person in this place!  Would anyone you know of want to do something this," her words were strangled, "this horrid?"

Nate shook his head with sympathy.  "I can't say I know a soul in Palima that would," he admitted.  He quickly slipped back into his authoritative tone and said, "Levi thinks the blood could have got the attention of coyotes or wolves.  It could easily be a case of unfortunate circumstances that lead to the scene." Beth was gaping at him, unable to produce any words that wouldn't offend the man.  "Look," he said, scratching his head, "we're going to do an investigation, a thorough one, and I'll follow up with you two in a few days.  Beth?" She closed her mouth and glared at him.  "Get some rest," he ordered. 

Jacob gripped her arm tightly to keep her from lashing out at him.  As the officer walked back to his car, she could hear the radio on Bart's vest going off.  "Nate!  Crystal found an abandoned vehicle off the old pine way."  He listened in on his radio and announced, "silver 2016 Toyota Camry.  License plate one, Juliet, Charlie, zero, nine, zero."

Jacob's grip on her arms dropped away all at once.  "That's Denise," he breathed.

Nate whipped around to look at him with a cocked brow.  He didn't break eye contact with her husband as he spoke into his radio.  "What's the position of the vehicle on old pine?"

Beth and Jacob stood, holding their breath, waiting to hear the woman's voice.  After what felt like several minutes, the static cut in and they heard a crackly, "Driver's door open.  Hasn't been looked into yet."

"I'm on it," he responded and half jogged to his vehicle.

"Wait!  Nate!"  Jacob practically shoved her over as he chased after him.  "Let me come with you," he panted, "please!  I know that's her car.  She has JC on the license plate, a silver Camry, its her!"

Bart moved first, holding Jacob back by his shoulders as he frantically tried to lunge for the passenger side door.  "Calm down, Jake!" Bart bellowed.

"We don't know anything," Nate reasoned.  "I can't have you stomping around before I've even had a chance to investigate.  Just sit tight," he ordered with a finger aimed back at the house.

"Sit tight?" Jacob said in a small voice.

"Yes, with your wife.  She needs you right now."  When Jacob hadn't moved, Nate rubbed a hand over his face in frustration.  "Look, I'll swing back by here if it ends up being her car.  I swear on my daughter, you got that?  Just sit tight," he barked.

Bart must have felt Jacob relax a little, because he took his hands away and watched him carefully.  Jacob swayed a bit on the spot, but he made no move to try to get to Nate's car.  Bart and Levi loaded into their vehicle and waited for Nate.  "Jake?" Beth called in a trembling voice.

He turned back around to see her where he had left her.  She was shivering in the cold despite his heavy coat he had wrapped around her earlier.  Her eyes were swollen and red from crying, her voice raw and unsteady, and he knew Nate was right.  He marched back over to her and pulled her into his chest, kissing the top of her bedhead and choking back his own frustrated sigh at the turn of events.  

Nate didn't say another word as he got into his car and took off back down the long, heavily wooded driveway.  "I want them gone," murmured Beth into his flannel.  "Now, Jake."

He sucked in a breath.  "Baby, we don't know for sure it was him.  You heard Nate.  Bart said it looked like Mabel stepped on him.  It makes sense," he whispered down to her.  Her body stiffened at his dismissal and she pulled away from him altogether.  

"Fuck you," she seethed.  She searched his eyes for any lingering hope he'd listen to her, but found none.  With a shake of her head, looking utterly disappointed, she went back to the house with Cerberus padding beside her.