Page 33 of In Her Mind

Jenna and Jake stepped carefully forward, but the mayor lagged behind them. Among the sodden leaves and moist earth, there was no city seal or document to shield her from the raw reality of death.

As Jenna approached the two graves, the air was thick with the scent of disturbed soil and decay. Two human forms lay exposed, one a mere skeletal echo of its former self, the other still retaining some semblance of the flesh that once clothed it.Jenna’s gaze lingered on the body to the left; time had ravaged it far more than its companion.

“Forty years, at least,” Melissa Stark observed clinically from behind her hazmat mask as she surveyed the more decomposed corpse. “The other, about half as long.”

Jenna nodded, her throat tightening at the reality before her. It was one thing to speculate on the presence of bodies beneath the ground; it was another entirely to see them laid bare, victims of violence forgotten by time. She heard Jake clear his throat; even the former city cop was moved by the sight.

A rustling sound drew their attention to an examiner kneeling beside the body that had been buried for a longer time. With a gloved hand, he held up a weathered wallet plucked from the pocket of the remains. He passed it carefully to Melissa, who opened it with reverence due a relic of a bygone era.

“Lisa Donovan,” she read aloud, extracting a faded Trentville High School I.D. card. Jenna glanced over the coroner’s shoulder at the laminated snapshot of youth, the bright smile forever frozen in time.

Jenna stared at it silently. That long dark hair … those features … they did bear a resemblance to both of the women she’d seen in her dream, and also to the missing Amber.

The name meant nothing to anyone present—as far as they knew no family had reported Lisa missing, no classmates had cried out for justice. She was a phantom from 1984-85, lost to the world until now.

“Her Senior year,” Jake commented, looking at the card without touching it.

Jenna felt his gaze on her, full of unspoken questions that mirrored her own. A high school student, buried and forgotten, now unearthed by the hands of those seeking answers for another girl whose fate remained unknown. Like her own lost sister, some long past story clung to them, demanding to beacknowledged, to be solved. And Jenna would oblige; it was what she did.

The coroner’s movements were precise and respectful, treating the tragedy uncovered with professional detachment. After conferring with her team members, she turned and spoke to Jenna, Jake, and the mayor.

“It’s too soon to say the cause of the first victim’s death. But the second one seemed to have died from a gunshot wound to her head.”

“Sheriff,” Mayor Simmons’s voice cut through the solemnity of the scene, demanding attention while maintaining a slight distance. “What does this mean? Are these people related to Amber Stevens?”

Jenna met the mayor’s gaze. “I have reasons to suspect they might be connected,” Jenna replied, her words measured, hinting at knowledge she wasn’t prepared to reveal.

“Reasons?” Simmons’s tone sharpened, mirroring the impatience that flickered across her features. “You’ll need to be more specific.”

Jenna shifted uncomfortably, aware of every pair of eyes upon them. “It’s part of the ongoing investigation,” she managed to say, “which I’m not at liberty to discuss in detail.”

Simmons’s lips thinned, forming a line of disapproval. “How did you even find these graves?”

“Jake and I were following up on leads,” Jenna said, her voice steady. She could feel images from her dreams blending with reality, but she held firm. “As to the specifics, it’s...complicated.”

“Complicated,” the mayor echoed, disbelief etched into every syllable. “This isn’t something you can just leave unexplained.”

Jenna looked away toward the trees bordering the clearing, their branches swaying gently as if whispering secrets only she could hear. She knew she couldn’t provide the answers Simmons demanded—not yet. With a heavy heart, she repeated firmly,“It’s part of our investigation, Mayor. That’s all I can say right now.”

Mayor Simmons’s scrutiny lingered a moment longer before she turned her attention back to the grim task unfolding before them. Jenna took a deep breath and nodded to Jake, signaling that they needed to remain focused on the path ahead, no matter how murky it seemed.

Then Mayor Simmons’s voice cut through the morning air again, sharp and unyielding. “You told me there was no reason to believe Amber Stevens’s disappearance was part of a larger pattern, Sheriff. Have you changed your mind?”

Jenna felt the intensity of the situation pressing down on her. She swallowed hard, the dryness of her throat making it difficult to speak. “Yes,” she admitted, the words tasting like ash. “It’s looking more and more like we may have some sort of serial murders on our hands.” She paused, her green eyes scanning the dismal scene before her. “However, we have no concrete evidence that Amber Stevens is dead. Not yet.”

The mayor’s frown deepened, her arms still crossed in front of her as if bracing against Jenna’s revelation. “That makes no sense,” Simmons snapped. “How can you even link these two decayed bodies to a girl who’s been missing less than forty-eight hours?”

Before Jenna could muster a response, Jake stepped forward, his posture firm. “Mayor, I’ve seen Jenna piece together puzzles that seemed hopeless at first glance. Her instincts—” He glanced at Jenna, conveying silent reassurance, “—well, they’re sometimes astonishing. Not once have they led us astray.”

Jenna caught the earnest look in Jake’s eyes, grateful for his unwavering support even when she herself harbored doubts. The tightness in her chest eased a fraction, allowing her to draw a steadying breath. She wished she could share the dreamthat had led her here, but even with Jake’s endorsement, she knew those revelations would only invite much more than mere skepticism. Such claims would only convince both the mayor and Melissa Stark that Jenna was out of her mind—and that Jake was also crazy for giving her any credence.

“Instincts are all well and good, Sheriff Graves,” Mayor Simmons retorted, her voice threading the air with impatience, “but they need to be substantiated by solid evidence. And right now, you’re not providing any.” The mayor’s gaze lingered on Jenna, intense and demanding.

Jenna met the mayor’s glare, her throat tight. “I’m sorry, Mayor Simmons,” she said, her apology punctuated by the distant sound of shovels against earth. “I wish I could offer more concrete information at this stage.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Jenna,” the mayor snapped back. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she cast a final, disparaging glance over the site. “I’ll be heading back to City Hall. It’s my job to manage the repercussions of whatever mess this turns into.”

As Mayor Simmons stalked off toward her car, Jenna turned to Melissa Stark, who was still standing beside the open graves. “Melissa, please keep me updated on any new developments. We need to know who the second victim is,” Jenna said, her voice expressing urgency.

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