Page 7 of Forever

She approached the corpse, her gaze sweeping over the waterlogged clothes clinging to the pale skin, the hands bound behind Stacy's back. The image sent a shiver down her spine despite the relentless heat of the Texas sun.

"Have you noticed anything strange about the body?" she asked one of the forensic techs, trying to keep her thoughts focused on the task at hand, rather than the gnawing questions about her partner's loyalty.

"Nothing too out of the ordinary, Special Agent Cross," the tech replied, wiping sweat from his brow. "Apart from the obvious signs of drowning, she seems relatively unharmed. We'll know more once we get her back to the lab."

Morgan nodded in approval, her gaze sweeping across the body one last time as she looked for any clues that might help them in their investigation. She noticed an odd bruise on the side of Stacy's neck and a mark that looked like it had been made by a pair of small hands. She leaned closer to get a better look, but something else caught her eye: something glittering in the sun between the corpse and the tank. Morgan reached down and plucked up a tiny blue stone, feeling its cool surface beneath her fingers before pocketing it for further investigation.

"What do you make of this?" she asked Derik, gesturing towards the stone as she stepped away from the body.

Derik held it up to inspect it more closely, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion before he shrugged and replied, "I don't know. It looks like jewelry or something."

Morgan let out a heavy sigh, feeling an unfamiliar sense of defeat settle over her as she tucked the stone away into her pocket. The answers were somewhere out here if she just knew where to look - but right now they seemed hopelessly elusive.

"Make sure you go over her with a fine-toothed comb," Morgan instructed the tech team. "I want to know everything there is to know about her, and I want it yesterday."

"Understood." The tech nodded, his expression unreadable. "I'll make sure the team doesn't miss a thing."

"Good. The sooner we find out what happened here, the better."

Morgan stared down at the body, her stomach sick with dread. She could only imagine what horror had played out here. Stacy, being lured here in the night by a faceless man, tied up and thrown into a tank, forced to drown. It was a horrible end.

"Seems like she was drowned," Derik commented, breaking the silence. He stood beside Morgan, his gaze also focused on the victim. "No visible wounds, other than the marks from the ropes."

"That much is obvious," Morgan replied sarcastically, not taking her eyes off Stacy. She resented that Derik was here, invading her personal space after everything she had learned about him. Even if it was in her best interest to keep him close, she was struggling to keep her emotions at bay.

"Look, Morgan," Derik began, his voice strained, "I know you're pissed at me, and I get it. But we need to work together on this case. We can't let our personal issues get in the way of finding justice for this girl."

Morgan clenched her jaw, fighting the urge to lash out at him. Instead, she focused on the scene before her, trying to piece together what might have happened to Stacy. "Let's just concentrate on the crime scene, Derik. That's all that matters right now."

"Fine," he acquiesced, taking a step back. "You're right. The case comes first."

They both fell silent, their gazes locked on the young woman who would never take another breath. Morgan felt a familiar ache in her chest, a reminder of the injustice that had defined her own life. She couldn't change the past, but she could do everything in her power to prevent someone else from suffering the same fate.

"Once they've taken the body away, I want a thorough search of the area for any evidence," Morgan said, her voice steady and determined. "I want to know how she ended up here, who tied those knots, and why."

"Of course," Derik agreed, his voice equally resolute. "We'll find the answers. Together."

Morgan nodded, not looking at him, her mind already racing with thoughts of the investigation ahead. Working alongside Derik on this wasn't going to be easy. She watched as the forensic team, clad in white protective gear, prepared to remove Stacy's body from the scene. She turned her gaze to the water, now tainted with the memory of death. The ripples on the surface seemed to whisper secrets, ones she was determined to uncover.

"Make sure you get everything," she instructed the team leader, a tall man with graying hair named Dr. Howard. "I want a full examination – the works. There's more to this than just drowning."

"Of course, Agent Cross," Dr. Howard replied, his voice muffled by his mask. "We'll be thorough."

As they carefully lifted the lifeless form onto a waiting gurney, Morgan couldn't help but feel an odd connection to the dead woman. Both of them had been betrayed, left to suffer at the hands of those they thought they could trust. And while she had survived her ordeal, Stacy hadn't been so fortunate.

"Derik, I need you to start canvassing the area for witnesses," she said, turning to face her partner. "Anyone who might have seen or heard something last night."

"Sure thing," Derik replied, hesitating for a moment as if he wanted to say more. But he simply gave her a nod and walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

Closing her eyes, Morgan took a deep breath and tried to center herself. The weight of the past pressed down on her like an anchor, threatening to drag her under. She needed answers – not only for Stacy but for herself as well.

Alright, Morgan,she thought to herself.Focus. You've got a job to do.

With renewed determination, Morgan opened her eyes and scanned the area, taking in every detail. The sun was beginning to cast long shadows across the ground, but she refused to let the darkness win.

CHAPTER FIVE

Morgan's eyes flicked between the laptop screen and her surroundings as she sat in her car, parked just outside of Orca World. She took a deep breath, trying to block out the noise in her head and focus on the details she had uncovered about Stacy Cox, the girl whose lifeless body had been found submerged in the shark tank.

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