Chapter 1
Ronan
March, present day…
Ronan O’Mara sat at the kitchen table enjoying his first cup of coffee in blissful silence. It was Tennyson’s turn to get the kids up and dressed for school. There was nothing better than these quiet moments before the kids stomped down the stairs demanding to be fed like squawking baby birds.
“Daddy!” Everly shouted from the top of the stairs, shattering the quiet. “I don’t smell bacon!”
“Bacon!” Ezra echoed.
Slumping in his seat, Ronan drained the last of his coffee.
“Your wish is my command, princess.” He set his cup in the sink and grabbed the bacon from the fridge.
By the time both kids and a tired-looking Ten came downstairs, breakfast was ready and on the table.
He’d made scrambled eggs and bacon, with orange juice.
“Thanks, Daddy!” Everly grinned at Ronan. “Don’t forget my first cheerleading practice is after school.”
“How could I possibly forget?” Ronan said, biting into a crispy piece of bacon. “You reminded me every hour all weekend long.”
“Will you be there?” Everly asked, sounding hopeful.
Ronan sighed. “It depends on what’s happening at work.
I’ll do my absolute best.” With Aurora also making the cheer team, he knew Fitz would move heaven and earth to make sure they’d both be at practice.
The beauty of the cold case team was being able to set their own hours, but there were instances when an investigation at a critical stage couldn’t be dropped for family.
Finishing his breakfast, Ronan set the dish in the sink and grabbed his phone.
He hated interrupting family time, but he wanted to catch the news before he went into work.
He opened the Salem News app and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the top headline.
Severed Head Found in Freezer. “What the fuu-” Ronan stopped himself before he needed to add five dollars to the swear jar.
“Go put on your shoes and coats.” Ten hurried the kids out of the room. He turned back to Ronan. “Is everything okay?”
Ronan shook his head. Things were very much not okay.
He turned his screen toward Tennyson so he could see the headline.
After Ten gasped, Ronan began to read, “A severed human head was found in a basement freezer on Davis Street. According to witness statements the woman who owns the house, Maria Cullen, fell and broke her hip two weeks ago, which required surgery and an extended stay in rehab. The family decided it was best that she move into an assisted living facility. The head was found while Cullen’s great-niece and nephews were packing and cleaning out the house.
The identity of the remains is unknown at this time.
If you have information pertaining to this death, contact the Salem Police. ”
Ten stood with his mouth hanging open. “What the hell is wrong with people? How do you have a frozen human head in your freezer and not know about it?”
“Well, when we cleaned out our basement freezer on New Year’s Day, there was a pot roast, boxes filled with unidentifiable leftovers, and a package of Everly’s favorite dinosaur-shaped chicken nugs we didn’t know were there.
I’m sure that kind of thing happens all the time.
” Ronan grimaced at the thought of what happened to the rest of the meat in the Cullen freezer.
“You’re right. I’m sure nugs get lost in the freezer all the time, but not heads.” Ten shook his head. “I mean, how the hell does a head end up in a suburban Salem home in the first place?”
“My first thought is that this could be some kind of domestic situation. Maybe Maria’s husband was handsy with other women or was abusing her in some way and she took matters into her own hands.”
“Makes sense,” Ten emptied his plate into the trash and handed the dish to Ronan. “But one big question remains, where’s the rest of the body?”
Good question. “Which brings me to my second thought, that this could be mob related. We’re not that far outside of Boston and leaving a human head sends a message. You know, like that scene from The Godfather with the horse…”
Ten held up a hand. “Got it. You think you’re gonna get called in on this to investigate?”
“Why, because it’s an actual cold case?” Ronan asked with a snort. He’d worked a lot of homicide cases in his career as a Boston Police Officer, but none included body parts in a freezer.
“That’s terrible.” Ten giggled. “I’m going to hell for sure.”
Ronan wrapped his arms around his husband. “If you are, I’m right behind you.” Gallows humor at its finest.
“Daddy! The bus is at Mrs. Hickenlooper’s house. We gotta go now!” Everly shouted.
“I’ll catch you later.” Ten pecked Ronan’s cheek and rushed into the living room. “Don’t forget, we’ve got that meeting later this morning. You know, the top secret one?”
Ronan nodded. He’d been forbidden to even think about the meeting called by Everly’s second grade teacher. They didn’t want her to know what was going on until the complete picture had been painted.
“Bye, Daddy!” Everly and Ezra chorused.
“Have a good day! Love you!” Ronan called back, as Ten shut the door.
He took his seat at the table and finished skimming the rest of the article.
Maria Cullen hadn’t been questioned about the head as yet, and no other body parts were found in the house.
Ground penetrating radar would be brought in to search the property for the rest of the remains of the victim.
The approximate age of the remains was unknown.
Sighing, Ronan set the phone on the table.
He knew what was going to happen next. Every parent, spouse, or child of a missing person was going to mob the Salem Police Department needing to know if the remains belonged to their family.
He didn’t envy the officers who were going to be tasked with speaking with grief-stricken family members.
Ten’s question about his unit being called in to work the case spun around his brain. Ronan supposed it was a possibility. Cisco always spoke about the team’s empathy when working with the families of murder victims, which made them ideal candidates.
For the moment, Ronan needed to get his ass to the office.
He and Jude were in the middle of an investigation he was anxious to get back to.
It wasn’t until they started working this case that Ronan realized how much he’d missed Jude’s instincts and gut feelings.
It was good to have the team back together again.
As for the frozen remains, if Cisco wanted them to work the case, he’d give them a heads up.