Watch Me

by Knight, Kimberly

  “Is it going to be like this every night?” I asked.

  He raised a dark brow. “What do you mean?”

  “You coming over like a thief in the night to fuck me before leaving me alone, my bed smelling of sex—of you.”

  Jack grinned. “Is that your way of asking me to stay the night?”

  I shrugged. “Yes, I want you to stay.”

  He lay back down and turned to face me. “I thought you only wanted a fling.”

  I chuckled. “A fling doesn’t last long. We’ve been doing whatever this is for over a month now.”

  He brushed a lock of my red hair behind my ear. “I’m your boss. What if someone sees me leaving in the morning?”

  “No one from work lives around here.”

  I’d looked into all the employee files and gotten their addresses not long after I started at the university. No one lived near me. Not even Jack. He lived two blocks from Judy’s. I wasn’t able to access his webcam because everyone who worked in IT knew to have their Wi-Fi encrypted and use a pin number for their routers. Most of us used hardwires for our internet and didn’t have Wi-Fi enabled because of the very reason I was able to access my watch list.

  “You know, if I stay, that means we’re more than a fling, right?”

  “I know, but I also have a proposition for you.”

  He cocked a brow with a smirk. “What’s that?”

  “How do you feel about a threesome?”

  His eyes widened. “With another man?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m actually bi-sexual, and I was wondering if you’d be up for adding a woman in the bedroom.”

  Jack threw his head back and chuckled. “No man would ever say no to that.”

  “Okay.” I smiled back.

  “We’d have to keep it on the down low. Would you be okay with that?”

  “I’m good at keeping secrets.” Was I ever? “Are you?”

  Jack smirked. “I’ve kept this one for a month now.”

  I finally looked over at him. “I have something to show you.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “It’s a secret.” I grinned. “Promise not to tell?”

  “Who would I tell?” He asked and I shrugged my answer. “If I did tell anyone, then that would mean they’d find out about us.”

  “This is true.”

  Jack rolled on top of me. “Then I won’t tell.”

  He was hard and obviously ready for another round since he was staying the night, but I figured Mini Reagan was awake and ready to play too.

  “I’ll show you before we go again.”

  “Is it within arm’s reach, because I’m not letting you get up?”

  I smiled. “Nope, but it’s worth it.”

  He pressed his lips to mine. “Fine, but let’s hurry. We have a long night.”

  “You have no idea.” My grin widened. We got out of bed, and I slipped into my jeans.

  “We have to get dressed?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “It’s cold down there.”

  “Down there?”

  I threw his jeans at him and started to walk out the door to get the rest of our clothes from the trail. “The basement.”

  “We’re going to the basement?”

  I heard the rustling of his jeans and called over my shoulder. “We are.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a surprise. Put your socks and shoes on too.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “It’s worth it.” I slipped my black, long-sleeved shirt on over my head.

  “I’m so confused.”

  “Just get dressed, baby.”

  “Baby? We’re on to terms of endearment now?”

  I spun around. “Yes, now that we’ve decided to be official and I lov—”

  Jack slipped his shirt over his head. “Okay, baby. Lead the way.”

  We slipped on our shoes, and without any more questions, Jack followed me down the stairs. I unlocked the door to the basement and started to descend those stairs. Moans filled the air, and I wasn’t sure if Jack heard.

  After I took the final step, I stood to the side and waited for Jack to see what I had in store. Mini Reagan started to thrash in the chair, the legs trying to rip the heavy plastic as it scooted against it.

  Jack stopped beside me. “Who the fuck is this, Katrina?”

  I was running on adrenaline from the lack of sleep I’d had in the last forty-eight hours or so. Reagan’s tip had led to a hit, which meant we were more than likely dealing with someone who worked on campus—in the IT department, I assumed. The cybercrimes tech on duty looked into the email Reagan had received, and it had some sort of encryption that collected data, specifically the IP addresses. It was enough to get us a warrant, so I’d been working on the paperwork all day, so that first thing Monday morning, we could get a judge to sign off on them.

  Our plan was to collect the DNA and hair follicles from every IT employee to start since the person obviously knew what they were doing with computers. The shitty thing was that it was a holiday weekend, and most employees were out of town. Therefore, we were going to go to the campus on Monday morning to collect everything—after the judge signed off on the warrants. That way, no one could tip off the killer if that were the case.

  That was until I got a frantic call from Reagan. “Hey,” I greeted. “I’m—”

  “Maddie isn’t here.”

  I looked at Shawn, and he raised a brow at me, questioning what was going on. “What do you mean Maddie isn’t there?”

  “She came to have dinner with me at the bar, told me she was going to wait up for me, but I just got home, and she’s not here.”

  “Did you try calling her?” I glanced at my watch to see that it was a little after midnight.

  “Of course, I did. She didn’t answer.”

  “Maybe she’s with a friend?” The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, but I didn’t want Reagan to freak out more than she already was. I was trying to think of other possibilities when, in fact, the killer had probably grabbed Maddie thinking she was Reagan. They did look similar, just like mothers and daughters do as they age.

  “She doesn’t know anyone here, Ethan!” Reagan snapped. “Something is wrong. Do you—”

  “Fuck,” I clipped. If the killer did take Maddie, we still didn’t know who we were dealing with, but I was seconds away from banging on the door of everyone who worked at Lakeshore University. I stood and started to pace as I spoke into the phone. “Do you want me to come home, or do you want me to find this asshole?”

  “Both?”

  I sighed. “I can’t do both. You know that.”

  “I know. I just want Maddie safe.”

  “I feel like we’re close thanks to you. Have Pablo stay with you, and stay at home in case she comes back. When she does, call me.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to see if I can track her down.”

  “How?”

  I groaned. “By doing my fucking job. Just call me when she gets home.” I kept saying when on purpose and not if. I needed Reagan to stay calm even though I knew she was anything but.

  “I’m scared,” Reagan admitted.

  “I know, baby, but think positive. Call me when she comes home.”

  “Okay. Please get her back.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I will.” I just hoped I got her back alive. If something were to happen to Maddison, it would kill Reagan. We were already living in fear, and now Maddie was missing, and the weight that had been on my shoulders for the past several months was pressing down.

  After Reagan told me what Maddison was wearing and her cell phone number, I promised her again that I’d find her daughter and hung up. One way or another, I would find Maddie.

  “What’s going on?” Shawn asked.

  “Reagan’s daughter is missing.” I proceeded to tell him everything I knew.

  Shawn took a deep breath and then breathed, “Fuck.”<
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  “My thoughts exactly,” I replied as I continued to pace.

  “Go home and be with your woman.”

  “I want to, but if this were Julie, you’d want to find this guy even more.”

  “Cap wouldn’t let me work this just like he won’t let you work it.”

  I stopped walking and faced my partner. “Well, it’s good he’s out of town, isn’t it?”

  “You think we can solve this before Monday morning?”

  I groaned. “We better. This is Reagan’s daughter.”

  “Right. So let’s get the judge to sign off on the warrants and start at daybreak.”

  I didn’t know if we had until daybreak, given what the ME had said about the two previous murders. Amy and Daisy were killed several hours before the bodies were found, in the early morning hours. We were still waiting to have her confirm Fiona’s time of death, but she was gray when we’d arrived to investigate.

  What we knew about Fiona’s timeline was that she had plans to go to a Friendsgiving meal at a college friend’s house, the same one who had found her body when she went to check on Fiona because she never showed for the two o’clock dinner and didn’t answer her phone.

  “Let’s see if we can ping Maddison’s cell phone.”

  “That will only triangulate an area,” Shawn argued.

  “It’s better than nothing. Maybe one of the employees will live in that area.”

  “What if it isn’t an employee? What if this isn’t connected?”

  I ran my hands down my face and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to think about that. This needs to be connected.”

  We stared at each other for a few moments, and then Shawn said, “Okay, let’s see what they can find out.”

  We hurried down to the cybercrimes room. “Maria,” I barked as I rusheded in. “I need you to locate a cell phone.”

  “Sure thing.” I handed her the number I’d written down from Reagan. I waited with bated breath for Maria to work her magic. “The phone must be off. It’s not pinging.”

  “Fuck!” I shouted. “The killer must have shut it off.”

  Shawn clapped me on the back and squeezed. “We don’t know if this is the same person—”

  “That’s not making this any better.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. We need to work this like any other case even though it’s your girlfriend’s daughter.”

  Reagan was more than my girlfriend, and Maddison was more than her daughter. They were my family, but Shawn was right. We were trained for this, and I needed to work it like any other case because that was how we found people. If I let my emotions cloud my judgment, then it might be too late to save her.

  Shawn and I went back up to our desks, and I sent a few cops out to start canvassing the area around Judy’s to look for any witnesses or anything that might help us locate Maddison while Shawn and I continued on the paperwork for the warrants. I mindlessly filled out each request and replayed my phone call with Reagan over and over and over in my head until it hit me.

  “Oh, shit!” I shouted in the sparse precinct.

  Shawn looked up. “What?”

  “Reagan said that Maddison had dinner with her.”

  “Okay?”

  “So, that means she walked to Judy’s and then was walking back to my place.”

  “Yeah?”

  My eyes widened, and I gestured with my hands. “Cameras. There are bars, restaurants, a bank within walking distance, traffic cams.”

  “Okay, we’ll get subpoenas—”

  “No,” I stated. “We don’t need a subpoena for the live traffic cams.”

  He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. Even though they were live, they were recorded, and we had access to them. “You’re right.”

  We both stood. “So, let’s watch from seven o’clock on from the light right outside of Judy’s. Maybe we’ll see someone following Maddison or something. Maybe get a plate to trace.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  Shawn and I went down to the cyber unit again, and I had half a mind to call Will to come in, but everyone was with their families for the holiday. Everyone except Shawn and me.

  Everyone except Reagan and Maddie.

  My stomach knotted at the thought of finding Maddison lifeless and having to tell Reagan that her daughter was dead. I couldn’t let that happen. I didn’t know how much time we had—if any—but I wasn’t going to sleep until we found her.

  “Maria, we need to access a traffic cam or two,” I stated, walking into the cyber room and stopping at her desk. Again. She was the only one on duty.

  “Sure. What street and when?” She started hitting some buttons, and I gave her the information she asked for. “What are we looking for?”

  “Who,” I corrected and gave her Maddison’s description and what she was wearing. When we went down there earlier, I’d only given her Maddie’s phone number and not the reason.

  Shawn and I stood behind her as she cued up the footage. The black and white recording played a little faster than normal speed. It wasn’t fast enough. I needed to find the fucker at that second. My phone dinged in my pocket with a text message. I pulled it out.

  Reagan: Anything?

  Me: No. I’ll let you know. Try to get some sleep.

  Reagan: I can’t fucking sleep, Ethan!

  Me: I know. I’m trying to hurry.

  Reagan didn’t reply, and I went back to looking at the screen. Finally, after what felt like forever, I spotted a white four-door sedan. It parked a little down from Judy’s, and a person got out of the car. It was hard to tell for sure if it was a woman or a small man, but the person was wearing his or her hair back in a ponytail. I sighed. We were looking for a strong man. Someone who could overtake a woman without a struggle. My mind quickly changed when I saw the person stand outside of Judy’s, waiting, and then when Maddie exited the bar, he followed. My gaze cut to Shawn’s briefly. This was it. I swallowed hard as I saw the person take something out of his pocket and then reach out and place it on Maddie’s face. The viewpoint was as if we were looking from the back, so I couldn’t see what the person looked like.

  “We need another view,” I stated.

  Maria pressed some buttons and then we were looking at the screen from the front view. She sped up the feed until it was at the time we needed, and we watched as Maddison was again grabbed from behind, her body going limp, and the person dragging her a few feet to the sedan.

  “I want every person here running a cross-check on the vehicles registered to Lakeshore U’s staff,” I ordered. “And pause on this bitch’s face.”

  Maria did, and I squinted. It was gray and grainy.

  “It’s a woman,” Shawn said.

  I nodded. It definitely looked like a woman. “Yeah,” I agreed. “See if you can clean this up,” I stated to Maria.

  “Will do.”

  Shawn and I went back upstairs and started to cross reference the employee list with the car records the school had for all of their employees. I didn’t want to tell Reagan that we saw Maddie get taken. I wanted to wait until I knew more. Unfortunately, we had fewer people working because it was the dead of night, and a holiday weekend, but every single person was helping us. I thought we finally had the break we needed. I just hoped Maddison’s kidnapping was connected to the murders. I hated to wish for that, but I was running on fumes.

  “Sergeant,” Officer Kendrick called, walking up to my desk.

  “Yeah?” I replied and looked up at him.

  “I think I have something.” My heart started to race as he set the paper down in front of me. “Katrina Carpenter owns a white Toyota Camry. She works in the IT department at Lakeshore U.”

  “Address?” I questioned.

  He flipped the page. “Yes, right here. I also have her facility photo.”

  “A redhead?” I asked, hoping and praying.

  “Yes.”

  We fucking had her.

  “All right. Roll out. This fucking ends now
.”

  “Who the fuck is this, Katrina?” Jack asked.

  I stepped toward the still struggling girl and ran my finger along her cheek. “This is Mini Reagan.”

  “Mini Reagan?” He balked, clearly surprised. I thought the resemblance was uncanny.

  “Who are you? What are you doing? Let me go!” Mini Reagan shouted and struggled against the rope.

  “What do you mean ‘Mini Reagan’?” he questioned again, ignoring the girl as he stared at me.

  “Well, I was going to get the actual Reagan, but then I saw the younger version and thought you’d like her more.”

  “Like her more for what?”

  “Let me go!” Mini Reagan shouted.

  I grabbed a piece of duct tape and placed it over her mouth. She mumbled against the barrier and still tried to wiggle free from the rope. I ignored her as I turned back to Jack. “You said you wanted to have a threesome.”

  He drew back his head. “You have a girl tied up in your basement, and you think this is what I want?”

  I walked toward him and ran my finger down his hard chest. “Do you know what it’s like to take pleasure from someone and then kill them?”

  “Do you?” he snapped, his gaze moving to Mini Reagan as she continued to fight as though that would do anything.

  I grinned and looked back at Mini Reagan too as I spoke. “I do. I’m the Lakeshore Killer.”

  “You’re … what?” Jack stuttered.

  I smiled proudly. “The Lakeshore Killer. They haven’t named me that, but it’s fitting, no?”

  “You killed those two girls?”

  “Three,” I stated. “Killed my third last night.”

  “Are you fucking serious?” he asked, taking a step back.

  “It’s so much fun, Jack.” I looked at Mini Reagan and smirked.

  “Katrina, this is some crazy shit.” Jack began to pace.

  “Yes.” I turned back to face him. “But just imagine what it will be like to taste her, to fuck her, and then kill her. I can’t even describe to you the high I’m on when I’m in control.”

  He stared at me for a beat. “Okay, show me.”

  I clapped excitedly. Mini Reagan’s cries for help were muffled by the tape. “I usually do this with them unconscious.” I moved to get the ether I had set on a built-in shelf behind our captive.