Page 65 of Beneath the Surface

He pulled up to the building, greeted by flashing lights and the sight of officers moving in and out of the entrance. He parked haphazardly, not caring about anything but getting inside to Isobel.

As he rushed toward the door, Officer Dillon met him at the halfway point. His face was grim, his mouth set in a tight line. “We’ve locked down the building. Isobel’s still inside, but we’ve secured her away from the scene.”

“Where is she?” Brad demanded, his eyes scanning the building.

“Downstairs in the lobby with Officer Riley. We found Kathy in her office.”

Brad’s stomach twisted, and he forced himself to stay calm, to stay focused. “Isobel—does she know it’s Kathy?”

Officer Dillon nodded, his expression grim. “We cleared the reception area first. Everything seemed normal, but when she didn’t find Kathy at her desk, things got a little strange. She picked up her phone and called Kathy because she knew she was supposed to be there. Saw her car in the parking lot.”

Brad shifted uneasily as he listened.

“When she called,” Officer Dillon continued, “we all heard Kathy’s phone ring from inside her office. It was coming from inside, but the door was locked, and there was no answer to a knock. So, we unlocked the door to clear the office.” He paused, his eyes darkening as he met Brad’s gaze. "That's when we found her. We got Isobel out of there and called it in… She’s shutting down, Brad.”

Brad’s jaw clenched, his mind racing as he made his way inside. Isobel was sitting in the lobby, her face pale, her eyes vacant as she stared at nothing. The look of shock and helplessness on her face hit him like a blow.

He knelt down in front of her, his voice soft. “Belle.”

She didn’t respond at first, her mind seemingly far away, locked in a state of shock. He reached out and gently touched her hand. “Belle, look at me.”

Isobel blinked, her gaze slowly shifting to meet his. Her lips trembled, her voice barely a whisper. “Brad... he killed her. I knew he was going to hurt someone I cared about. Why is he doing this? These murders are all linked to me.”

Brad’s grip on her hand tightened. “I’m so sorry, Belle. We’re going to figure this out, but right now, I need you to trust me. You’re safe. You need to stay with Officer Riley and Dillon. I’ll try to get you the answers you need.” He placed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “How about we call your mom? You can lie down. I need to work this.”

“No, she will be in danger. Everyone around me is in danger.” She hiccupped.

“Isobel, trust me.”

“O-kay.” Tears welled in her eyes, but she remained otherwise silent.

Brad called Charlotte, who instantly agreed. He turned to the two officers. “Take her to her mom’s home. I’ll have Waverly Junction send another patrol car. Call me when you get there.”

Mark Dillon pulled Brad to the side. “Find this guy. He’s crazy. And he’s wearing her down.”

Brad’s anger was barely contained as he walked away, knowing whoever did this just made a fatal mistake. He wasn’t going to stop until he found the person responsible, and when he did, they would pay for every ounce of pain they had caused.

Brad exited the elevator.Officers stretched down the corridor. The moment he stepped outside, he could feel this wasn’t just any crime scene—this was a message. He could feel it in the way they all avoided eye contact with him, in the way their voices lowered to murmurs as he passed.

As he walked down the hallway, everything grew too quiet. The usual hum of office life, the soft clatter of keyboards, the occasional ring of phones were gone, replaced by a stifling silence that made his skin crawl. His footsteps echoed loudly, each one falling like a countdown toward something inevitable, something he already knew he didn’t want to see.

He thought about Isobel, still crumbling in the lobby, broken by Kathy’s death. He’d kissed her head, feeling the few tears against his cheek, but there were no words to comfort her in a moment like that. All he could do was promise to be there, to stand between her and the darkness that was closing in.

But now, as he approached her office, he had to steel himself for the reality of what that darkness looked like.

“Killian,” John Larson broke through the fog of his thoughts as he stepped toward him, his expression grim. He gave a small nod, his mouth tightening. “It’s bad. We’ve secured the scene, but... it’s personal. Real personal.”

Brad locked his jaw, forcing himself to keep his emotions in check. “Show me.”

Larson led him through the final stretch of hallway, and when they reached Isobel’s office door, Brad’s heart pounded in his chest. The door was half open, a yawning gateway into the horror that waited inside. He pushed it open slowly, his breath catching in his throat.

The sight that greeted him hit like a physical blow. “I wanted you to see it. We will cut her down now.” Larson signaled to the deputy medical examiner on duty. Brad knew Molly, Isobel’s sister, was on restricted duty because she was due to give birth any day.

Kathy was there—hanging from the light fixture. She was naked. Her nipples had been cut off. The blood loss was small—he assumed they were removed post-mortem. Her wrists were bound tightly behind her back in an intricate pattern, blood seeping from her skin where the rope had bitten in too deep. A gag had been forced into her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fear, frozen in the last moments of her life. Blood stained her chest and abdomen, her body limp and broken.

Brad’s stomach churned, bile rising in his throat as he took in the scene. But it wasn’t just the violence that turned his insides, it was the meticulousness of it. “Rigor has released. He killed her yesterday. Can we match it to one of her cases yet?”

Larson watched the ME cut her down. “No. We’re running it through NCIC and the FBI’s Universal Crime Report. And if Isobel will talk to you, you can ask her.”

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