Transience by Stevan Mena

wooded area along the busy stretch of road.  
    Harrington was waiting for Jack in the darkness.   A rotating light on the car beside him made his face appear and disappear in flashing bursts of red.   To Jack's tired, watery eyes, the image was surreal.
    "You look like you can use some coffee," Harrington said, conveniently handing him an extra cup he'd been holding onto.   "Might be cold by now."
    Jack took a sip and winced.   "How far in?"
    "About 300 yards."  
    Jack took a deep breath and prepared his body for what was sure to be a painful walk over uneven, slippery ground.   The pain was always worse at night.  
    "Who found it?" Jack asked, clearing his throat.
    "Terry and his people."  
    "The ones with the dogs?"
    "Yeah."
    Jack fell in line behind Harrington as the path narrowed, allowing room for others passing in the opposite direction — officers, forensics personnel, and volunteers who had helped in the search.   They were being cleared out so detectives could do their job.   Jack felt as if he was the last one to arrive.   He weaved in and out as they crossed shoulder to shoulder.   Onebumped his arm, spilling cold coffee onto his sleeve.   Jack grumbled an obscenity and tossed the rest in the bushes.  
    "Anything left for us to sift through?" Jack asked.
    "Terry knows the drill, he's been watching it."
    There were bright highway construction lights shining in the distance through the trees, creating gigantic shadows that stretched to infinity.   As they drew closer, it lit up the entire area like a supermarket parking lot.   Radios buzzed and squawked, men with shovels were knee deep into the earth.   The whole moment seemed to play out in slow motion for Jack.   All he could think about was poor Carl Rosa, and that horrible phone call he would soon have to make.  
    Jack abruptly stopped in his tracks.   The area where they were excavating was directly beneath a large willow tree, split in two from a lightning strike; its trunk charred black.   Half of its limbs draped limply across the river's edge, the tips of their branches submerged.
    At that very moment, a loud booming freight train whistle screamed out, echoing through the cold night air.   Jack took a moment to triangulate his position.   Rebecca had described what this scene would look like almost perfectly.   Jack subscribed absolutely zero credence to the notion of extra sensory perception, so the idea that Rebecca possessed any clairvoyant capabilities never even entered his mind.   Still, the proximity of the location made it virtually impossible for Rebecca to have been able to witness a crime being committed here.   The area was several miles from any path Rebecca might have walked to or from school.   Her mother let her ride her bike around the neighborhood, but he'd seen how short that leash was.   Nothing added up.   So how was she here?   Jack agreed with Leonard, she was remembering something. She couldn't have imagined it.   This proved it.   But… how?   Just Coincidence?
    Jack made the long slow walk up to the gravesite that had been recently unearthed.   The chief medical examiner at the scene - a heavyset man with thick glasses and coarse gray stubble - approached him somberly.  
    "Female, 18-19.   Body appears fully intact, impressive considering the conditions, length of time."
    "Length of time?" Jack looked down at the cadaver forensics was carefully — meticulously — dusting and cataloging every inch of for evidence.  
    It definitely was not what he was expecting to see.

CHAPTER 19

    The dawn began to dry off the early morning frost and moisture from the ground.   It was warming up but Jack could still see his breath as he stared out across the river, his mind racing.  
    The forensics team continued their excavation, collecting clues and stuffing evidence into plastic bags.   Most of the officers and volunteers had left.
    Harrington stood behind Jack and leaned up against a tree, balancing