Free Over Her Dead Body by Bradley Bigato Page B

tired, shaky and confused. Cold. He could barely stand up. He felt embarrassed to be out here in the woods in his briefs, surrounded by strangers, and next to a dead girl. He began to feel like he was going to throw up again.
    A bald officer approached the sheriff, flashlight trained down on the girls arm. “Jesus Christ. What have we got here James?” The bald officer was Frank Calhoun. He was about 6’2”, two hundred fifty pounds of muscle. And an asshole. The sheriff wasn’t fond of him but he was happy for the backup.
    “Did they wake you up Frank?” The sheriff asked.
    “Not quite. The old lady was about to give me a piece of ass when I got the call. Can’t say I’m very happy about it. This the perp?” Frank turned his light on Michael who was still leaning against the tree in nothing but a t-shirt and briefs.
    “Found’em out here last night digging. He claimed to be asleep. You know. Sleepwalking. Not sure I believe that now. He won’t say who the girl is.” The sheriff said.
    “That right asshole?” Frank spit some chew on the ground to the left of Michael. Michael didn’t say anything. “Oh, I’ll bet I can get him to talk. Give me about five minutes alone with this asshole. He’ll tell us everything we need to know.”
    “Frank. Don’t go fucking this up. He’s nailed to the wall dead to rights. You go leav ' n bruises on him and he’ll say he was beat into confessing and walk. So just let him be. I’ m sure D etective James will get it out of him. He always does.” More people arrived with lights and soon there were voices all over. Everyone seemed to be either looking at the body or at Michael. Soon they began taping off the crime scene.
    Frank approached the sheriff again. " Hey James, Gary and I are going to escort him to the station. We’d like to ask him a few questions on the way. Figured you’d want to stay here and see this through.” Gary was standing next to him. He was thin, ugly, and had only been on the force a couple of years. He didn’t say anything. He just stood there staring at Michael and chewing his gum.
    “Ya, I’ll want to try and I.D. the vic and get some info to the detective. Then I’ve got to go talk to the wife. Like I said, don’t fuck this up. We can’t have bruises showing up on him. Take him straight to the station. Got it? ”
    Frank spit again. “Ya, ya, I got it. He won’t have a mark on’em. You got my word.” Frank said.
    “Then get him out of here before you fuck up my crime scene with all your goddam spitting.” The sheriff said.
    The two officers trodded off toward Michael, muttering something about the sheriff being an asshole. The sheriff ignored it and turned back toward the body. Some of the CSI team had already begun their work. There was a young CSI wearing glasses and slightly balding taking pictures and working around the crime scene in a counterclockwise direction. Two others were canvassing the area with flashlights. They were at arm’s length moving side by side in the same direction working the area like a grid.
    “What have we got here James?” A rough voice came from behind the sheriff. Detective James appeared on his right and looked down toward the girl. “What do we know?”
    The sheriff looked toward the detective and then back toward the girl. “Well…about midnight last night I came across the perp’s truck sitting vacant in the road. His name’s Michael Bander. Frank and Gary just took off with him. Did you see him?”
    “Ya, I seen him,” the detective said. “he in his skivy’s and t-shirt in the middle of the woods?”
    “Yep. He was last night too. Claimed to be sleepwalking. Don’t know if I believe him, but I had to fire my gun to get his attention. He seemed genuinely confused.”
    “Where’s he live?”
    The sheriff glanced back toward the road. A car was leaving and a couple more flashlights were coming in their direction. Probably the coroner and lead CSI . He thought. “He lives about