Page 20 of State of Bliss

Gonzo used his key to unlock the door to Sam’s office and then shut it behind him. He left the light off and went straight to her desk to get the most dreaded task handled. As a parent himself, he simply couldn’t fathom being on the other end of a phone call like this. He hoped to God he never was.

He stared at the phone for a minute, preparing himself as well as he could, before he picked up the receiver and dialed the number in St. Louis that Rachel’s roommate had given him.

A woman answered, sounding wary after seeing the MPD number on her caller ID. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Fortier?”

“Yes. What’s wrong? Why are you calling from the Metro PD? Is that in Washington?”

“Yes, ma’am. This is Sergeant Thomas Gonzales.”

“Oh God! What? Is Rachel okay?”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry to have to inform you that she was found dead in her bed this morn—”

The woman’s shrieks pierced his heart and touched his soul.

How did anyone survive such a thing?

He could hear a man’s voice in the background before he came on the phone. “Who is this? What’s happened?”

Gonzo closed his eyes as he was forced to repeat the news.

“Oh my God. Not Rachel.”

“I’m so sorry to have to tell you this news.”

“If the police are involved, does that mean… Was she murdered?”

“We won’t know that for sure until the medical examiner completes her work.”

“What do we do?”

“I’ll get back to you when we have the ME’s report.”

“Should we come there?”

“Not unless you want to, of course. The funeral home you choose will arrange transport home to you in St. Louis.”

“This can’t be true. We just spoke to her yesterday. Everything was fine.”

“We’re so sorry for your loss. You said everything was fine yesterday, but could I ask if Rachel was having any challenges or concerns lately?”

“She… This has been a very difficult school year for her.”

“How so?”

“She started seeing that guy Gordon in the fall. We met him when we were there for parents’ weekend, and he seemed like a nice young man. She was very excited about him, but the ex-girlfriend was harassing them.”

“How so?”

“Somehow she got Rachel’s number and was texting her that she was fucking around with someone else’s boyfriend and how would she feel if someone did that to her.”

As Gonzo took notes, he wished he’d turned on the overhead light.

“We ended up getting her a new phone number, but the ex-girlfriend got ahold of that number, too.”

“Did you report the harassment to the police?”

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