Page 121 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

Seeing Sadie like that had dragged him back to when he found Jackie.

His heart thumped furiously, and a band tightened around his chest when he no longer stood in Liyah’s kitchen. He was once again walking through the garage door into the house he and Jackie bought right after their honeymoon.

He had come home from working the day shift and once he went inside, he called Jackie’s name like he normally did. In fact, he called it a couple of times without an answer, despite her car being in the garage and her keys and purse on the table by the door.

Since he got no response, he dropped his keys on the kitchen counter and his duty bag on the floor and headed upstairs.

Where he found his wife on their bed.

At first, he thought she was sleeping since it wasn’t uncommon to find her in bed. The pregnancy exhausted her, so she napped a lot.

Only this time, she wasn’t resting. Because when someone slept, they still breathed.

Jackie was no longer doing so, and her skin was a shade of pale that he recognized from working as a cop.

It wasn’t only that, everything about her appeared…off.

With his heart racing and vomit threatening to rise up his throat, he checked for a pulse.

He found none.

He opened her eyelids to see them sightless.

He couldn’t wrap his head around the situation. None of it made any sense.

He had no fucking idea how long Jackie had been like that.

He jerked into action and dialed 911, insisting that they send EMS immediately due to the slim possibility that the baby might still be alive. But if she was, she wouldn’t be for long.

Maybe he could remove the baby himself. He could find a knife sharp enough…

A howl escaped from deep inside him as he placed a trembling hand on the swell of Jackie’s stomach, sliding it around to check for any signs of movement and found none.

None.

He was too late.

Too goddamn late.

Jesus Christ.He had no idea how she even fucking died!

What the fuck happened?

He inspected her from head to toe. He didn’t have to go far to find what he was looking for.

A large knot above her left ear.

It wasn’t open or bleeding, but the area was swollen. However, it couldn’t be the hematoma that killed her, could it? It had to be whatever caused that internal bruise.

She must have struck her head. He had no idea on what. He had no idea what time. He had no idea why she hadn’t reached out to him if she had slipped and fallen.

While waiting for the ambulance, he glanced around for any signs that might explain what happened.

But all he found was a garbage can full of vomit next to the bed and a Ziploc bag full of water next to her pillow. He assumed it had been full of ice that melted.

He sat on the edge of the bed, picked up her cold hand, squeezing it tight and he leaned over to press his forehead to hers.

“What the fuck, Jackie? What the fuck?”

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