The Ripper of Blossom Valley

by S D Christopher

  The next thing I learn is how powerful this pendejo is. He kicks me off and throws Drooling Man across the room, hitting Officer Frank's prone body along the way. By the time I look back up at him, he's got Maiko pinned up against the wall, her feet off the ground, both his hands wrapped around her neck. Desperate, I reach for my gun. Shit.

  I look around, and it's at his feet. It must've fallen out of the holster when he kicked me. Bob sees it too, and lunges for it, which distracts Mumbles long enough to let go of Maiko, who's gasping for air. He reaches down and grabs the gun just before Bob can, and shoots. I fall to the ground, thanks to the sound of my own gun.

  Looking up, I see he's got Maiko back against the wall, this time with one hand around her throat. The other is on my gun, which is pointed at me for the first time since I bought it from that dealer at the show. I hold my hands up, certain I can't flee or even move without him pulling the trigger. I risk a glance in Bob's direction, and he's down on the floor next to a china cabinet, blood seeping from between the fingers of his right hand, which is cupped over his left arm, trying to stem the bleeding. The look on his face. I'm so sorry. This is my fault.

  "So...what the fuck do we have here anyway, HUH?!?" Ow. "What the hell did you just do to me, woman?" She can't answer when you're choking her, asshole.

  He looks to me, then to Bob, then to Officer Frank and Maddy on the floor, then back to her. "So...you're the one been doin' this to all them pretty young ladies. Funny, I thought it woulda been a dude.” He tilts his head sideways a bit. “Wait, you a lesbo or somethin'?"

  "Please..." is all she can manage between gasping for air. He lets up off her throat a little, but then presses my gun to her forehead.

  "If you're the one who's bringin' 'em close to death, you are one sick, cruel bitch." Look who's talking, ese. "Do you even realize how cold-hearted you're bein’ by not givin' them girls the sweet release of death?" Is he being serious right now?

  "What? No, I--"

  "Sssshhhh...don't apologize, doll. It's too late. I'm glad I'm given the calling to help them pass over. It gives me purpose. A mission. Meaning. Cleaning up after your mistakes has been very rewardin'." If there's anyone who could benefit from a few sessions with Dr. Maddy, it's this guy.

  I hear a whisper, loud and clear. It's Drooling Man, trying to get my attention without the Reaper hearing him. I look over to him, and see him mouthing the words that I'm hearing: "Pray. Kneel down and pray." I pray all the time, but I don't think that'll help us, big man. Then he nods and looks down towards my feet.

  Now I see what he's getting at. With all the confusion and changes to the game plan, we all completely forgot about it. I slowly get to my knees and bring my hands together, bowing my head, but keeping my eyes on the Reaper the whole time. "Pray all ya want, spic. It don't help, believe me." This time, it just might, shithead.

  He turns his attention back to Maiko, just as I'd hoped. "There's a part of me that would love to keep finishin’ the work you've started, but now that you've seen my face, I don't exactly wanna keep you around. The pigs, they just wouldn't understand. So now, I'm fixin’ to show you and your friends here the beauty of the afterlife, what everyone else on this sad, sorry rock is missin' out on. Don't worry, I promise to treat your bodies appropriately, according to your sins. You'll thank me someday, when I join you on the other side."

  You'll be there before you think, scumbag. Still kneeling, I slowly reach towards Officer Frank, whose body is lying beside me. Drooling Man saw that his gun was still holstered, but from his angle, the murdering fuck has no idea. I grab Officer Frank's gun, and before the Reaper knows what hit him, two bullets do.

  "AAAAHHHH, motherfucker!!!" He stumbles and drops my gun, but the shots rattle through my head, and I drop Officer Frank's gun and fall to the floor. It feels like my head is about to explode into tiny pieces. It hurts so much, I can't even open my eyes. I hear a scuffle and force myself to get up and look. But my head's spinning now, and I stumble back on my ass. Great, thanks, body. Way to let me down in my most urgent time of need.

  I'm able to open my eyes again while sitting, and thankfully they've got the upper hand on him again. I can see blood on his pants, so I guess I didn't get any good kill shots off. But it was enough for Bob to get to his feet and knock him to the ground. He's basically laying on top of the Reaper fuck while Maiko drains him. It doesn't look pretty, but it's getting the job done.

  Reaper struggles, but between not having any strength in one of his legs, a rather large man pinning him to the floor, and his life force or whatever being sucked out of him, he finally starts to fade.

  He still has enough in him to taunt us one more time. "You...you fuckers are...you're lucky...lucky my friends aren't here...they would've...they'll carry on my work...somehow..." Shit. Drooling Man and Officer Frank were right. He wasn't working alone. I owe them an apology.

  He either realizes he's already said too much about his companions, or maybe he's just out of gas, but he falls quiet. Once he stops moving, stops talking, and closes his eyes, I expect Dr. Maiko to stop. But she doesn't. A few minutes later, long after he's stopped moving, she finally lets go, and Bob, exhausted, rolls off of him. We sit in silence for a few minutes, before we find something to wrap Bob's arm in to stem the bleeding.

  "What the hell did you people do to my dining room?!" Shit, she's awake! "I'm calling the cops."

  In unison, Maiko, Bob, and I all call out, "No!" And of course, I hit the floor. I hope Drooling Man or Dr. Mousey have a plan to explain all this.

  Chapter 29

  Maiko

  I hafta say, this was a pretty sweet plan. Yay me. Bob helped, too. Yay Bob.

  First, we had to convince Sarah, whose home we had turned into an elaborate trap, not to call the police. Frank's badge helped in that regard. But since he was the only cop there, and he wasn't exactly in a position of control, it took a little more convincing before she was content. We even talked her into letting me, Izzy, and Bob leave, and carry Maddy with us. Our plan would only really work if Frank and this Reaper guy were the only ones in her house when Troy showed up.

  “Why all the secrecy?” Izzy asked, while we were on the way to my lab.

  "Do you remember Lieutenant Foley's story? About his little brother?" asked Bob. "Dr. Gibson told me before we set out here tonight that, if at all possible, we should leave the scene and let Frank, pardon the pun, fudge the police report so that we're not mentioned."

  "So it's ok to leave a rape victim alone with the body of a dead serial killer and a severely injured cop, just so we can keep our cover?"

  "...We didn't say the plan was perfect."

  "It was only for a little while. I'm sure Troy got there shortly after we left." I had called him, panicked, and explained how Frank and I were talking on the phone earlier, when he suddenly heard a scream and had to go, that he hadn't called back, and that I was getting worried. I told him the street Frank said he was on, knowing our victim Sarah would flag down the cop cars once he arrived.

  Bob getting shot wasn't part of the original plan, and it made the new plan more difficult to carry out. We were sure to leave Frank's gun there, but take Izzy's with us. The Reaper was shot with Frank’s gun, so that would be easy enough to explain. We cleaned up Bob's blood as best as we could before we left, then went to my lab so I could properly clean his wound. The last thing we wanted was to bring him to a hospital with a gunshot wound he'd have to explain.

  While we sat there and waited for Troy's call to tell me if Frank was ok, I checked on Maddy. Her heart rate was still slow, but I knew from prior feedings that she'd come around soon. Troy's call helped us all relax a bit. Frank was fading in and of consciousness, but he relayed enough to convince Troy that he'd finally caught the serial killer they'd been searching for all these months. Still, Troy was getting him to a hospital, so it sounded like I may have caused Frank more harm than I'd intended, like the last time I fed off him. Maybe I drained him too much by accident. Or maybe
I was taking out some of my newfound frustration and didn’t go easy on him.

  Once Maddy comes to, she’s surprised to hear that William was dead. Such a strange name for a serial killer: William Doyle Nelson. Why do they always have three names?

  She asks how he wound up dead instead of just incapacitated, like her and Frank.

  I shrug. "I guess I've always been capable, but I always held back. This time, I didn't see the point. He was a monster."

  She looks concerned. "Maybe he could have been treated. It wasn't our place to decide. And what about the companions he spoke of? Assuming he's not lying, we may have only caught one of the killers, and have no leads on finding the rest. It would've been more useful for us to have him in jail."

  "It wasn't your throat he had his hands wrapped around, squeezing the life out of you." Maiko...what did I just say? "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--"

  "No, it's alright. It's been a long night for all of us. We know who he is now, at least. I'm sure Lieutenant Foley can track down his companions once he starts talking to the creep's family and friends." I agree with her and return to pondering why I reacted to her the way I did. I think back to when I fed on her back at the house, not long after Frank, and how it made me feel...

  Bob lightens the mood. "Well, doc, am I cleared to go home? I've got a sexy scar I need to show to a cute redhead."

  Izzy keeps rubbing her temples. "Yeah, and I need to take about twenty Ibuprofen and sit in my Fortress of Solitude for like a week."

  It hits me that I wasn't the only one who faced death tonight. Until now, the adrenaline didn't allow me any time for reflection. "Yeah, you guys should go. I'll head over to the hospital and check on Frank." I ask Maddy for the third time if she's ok to drive home, and she plays taxi driver for Bob and Izzy as I lock up the lab.

  ----------

  "Oh, Fudge! My sweet, dear Fudge! What did he do to you?!?!" Of course, by "he" I meant "I." But Troy's here, so I can't exactly be completely transparent just yet.

  "Easy, easy, doll face. Pretty much everything hurts, so be gentle, huh?" After I wrap my arms around him and pepper him with kisses that I realize taste different now, I exchange pleasantries with Troy. Then I ask Frank what happened, as if I don't know. As he relates to me the alternative version of events from this evening, I steal a few glances at Troy, to see how much of it he's buying. Not only do we not want to blow our own cover, or Maddy's, Izzy's, or Bob's, but it's not exactly ethical, or legal, for Frank to fudge the story. He's pretty convincing, though. It's actually a little scary how easily he can lie, I remember…

  Troy pats my shoulder. "Well, that reminds me. I should go check on our latest would-be victim." He smiles at us. "Plus, you two lovebirds should have some alone time."

  Once he's gone, we both exhale in relief, and I drop the sweet charade. "Are we safe?" I ask hopefully.

  "I dunno. Troy's got a pretty good bullshit radar, and this ain't my best bullshit. He believes me, but something's nagging at him. Probably how the fucker bled out from a couple gunshot wounds to the leg, and when Michelle finds that neither hit a major artery, it'll only stoke his doubt. Then there's how I'm in such bad shape without any signs of a scuffle with the douchebag. I don't think he's buying that I've got internal injuries from a few punches to the gut, or that maybe I had another heart attack during--"

  "Ssshhh...let's worry about all that later." I run my hand through his hair...well, his fading hairline, so his balding head and some hair in the back, really. He's way more worried about all of this than I am, which makes me wonder why I'm not so worried. As I look upon his face, I think back to all he's done for me. Then I think back to all he's done to me, and others. The deception, the manipulation, the self-preservation. I used to think that despite his rough edges and crassness, deep down he was like me, straight as an arrow, and just looking for a happy place in this sometimes cruel and chaotic world. But now that I stand here, looking at this feeble old man, I realize that the past year has shown me that we're not so alike after all, and he's been slowly molding me to his way of thinking. And I don't really love it. Or him. Not anymore.

  "Yeah, well...our secrets are safe. For now at least." Oh, Frank, always looking for the silver lining...or is it another attempt to pull my strings?

  Curious that he's more concerned about his story and our secrets than the other loose ends that still persist. So I remind him. "There's still The Paralyzer. Now that we know he does it just by touch, we need to be more careful if we're gonna catch him."

  This seems to surprise him. "We?"

  "And don't forget about William Doyle Nelson's companions. We got the Reaper, but not the Ripper or the Cleaner."

  "Well, look who's turning into the little detective." Stop patronizing me. I'm not some little girl you're in charge of protecting. And I'm not your mom, or your dad, or Vince. But I may as well be, it seems. His eyes meet mine, and he must pick up on my frustration, my doubt, my anger. He takes my hand in his. "Hey, don't worry. We'll find them. Together. And with doc's merry band of misfits, too." So he trusts them. Or he's humoring me.

  "Yeah, Dr. Gibson and her patients should be a huge help. And they'll be fascinating to study." If she lets me...she'll let me. "It would've been interesting to study Nelson, too...if I hadn't..."

  "I'm personally glad the fucker's dead...still, I wish it wasn't you that did it." I shoot him a look, unsure what he's getting at. "I still remember the first time I took someone's life in the line of duty. It can change people. I've seen it."

  "I know I probably shouldn't have gone all the way. But in that moment, as he was lying there...all those things he'd said and done, still fresh in my head. I just couldn't let that monster live." He didn't deserve to breathe one more breath on this planet. All the things he'd said...all the things he'd done. I turn and look at Frank again, and think about all the things he’s said and done. "The good thing is...now I know what I'm truly capable of, and how much it can help me..." I look into his eyes. One last time. "...how it can help me make the world a better place."

  I lay my hand on his shoulder. He looks at me, curiously. I think he sees now, but it's too late for him. As he starts to shake, I lay my other hand on his chest. Once he stops convulsing, I look at the heart rate monitor, and watch it dip, dip, dip. After a minute or so, it stops. The long, monotone beep is all that remains. What did I just do? What had to be done, I tell myself. And it felt pretty darn amazing!

  I start to weep as nurses rush into the room. One of them walks me to a chair, and I sit in silence as they call a doctor and work on him.

  In the chaos, I stand up, and slowly stride out of the room, wiping the tears from my face. I don’t let any of them see me smirking as I leave.

  Epilogue

  Jess

  Shit. No. NO! Nononononono!!! It can't be! He wouldn't! He just came back to us. Why would he...?

  "What's up, sis? You look like ya seen a ghost." All I can do is point at the TV. Lance and me stare at it for a minute or two without sayin' a word. Then he looks at me, mouth hangin' open. Then he looks back at the TV. Then he looks back at me again. "Jess, what happened?"

  "I don't know what happened, Lance. I'm seein' this for the first time, like you." He said he wouldn't do it alone again, not ever. He swore. That pig fucker. I can't believe he'd just lie to me like that. And now he's dead. My eyes well up for the asshole.

  "...authorities say Nelson was responsible for the deaths of all five women in what have been called the Ripper murders, all occurring in San Jose’s Blossom Valley neighborhood. Long-time San Jose homicide detective Lieutenant Frank Foley was fatally wounded in the altercation, and died later at an area hospital. The San Jose Police Department is hailing Foley as the hero in this tale..."

  Frank Foley. Too bad Will took him with him. I woulda loved tearing him limb from limb for what he done. Maybe I'll just hafta settle for one of these two tools on the TV right now who're singing his praises. What's that say? Captain Mike Doyle...Sergeant Troy
Weathers. Well, Doyle, Weathers, you just made the list.

  "What we gonna do now, sis? Back to Alabama?"

  "What? Hell no, brother. We ain't never goin' back there."

  "But they'll find us, Jess. They'll know we was involved. We gotta run."

  I turn to Lance, my not so bright, but sweet, lovable brother. "If we run, we look guilty, period. If they come askin' questions, we play dumb. Will did this all on his own. And maybe we suggest they talk to some of his coworkers. Those guys are all assholes anyway."

  "True...I didn't thinka that. You sure are smart, Jess. I'm glad I still got you, anyway." Me too, brother. I'm gonna need yer help cleaning up after me when I kill Doyle, Weathers, and anyone else who was close to this Foley dude.

  ----------

  Troy

  Unreal. Two weeks off. What the hell am I supposed to do with myself for two weeks? I've been working day and night for the better part of the last year, and they want me to sit at home twiddling my thumbs, or what, take up golf? I hate golf.

  Captain Doyle says it's standard policy when your partner dies in the line of duty. Helps people keep their heads straight. Did I seem messed up in the head at that press conference? We'd just learned that Frank passed at the hospital a few hours prior, and sure, I was numb inside, but I did my duty. I'm fine.

  Besides, I told Doyle, there's too much work left to be done. I have leads to follow up on for the serial rapist, and some things about last night still don't sit right with me. I just wish I'd gotten to talk to Frank for a bit longer at the hospital, but I assumed we'd catch up again today or tomorrow. I should talk to Maiko soon, see if he told her anything else.

  Doyle said not to worry about the rapist, SAIU would handle it, since that's their domain. "But Captain, it's all related to these murders somehow. Frank and I were sure of it." He said with all the unsolved murders in the city, my talents were needed there when I came back. My talents. I learned a lot from Frank, but I still feel like he was holding back a bit, especially in these last few months. I doubt things will be any better with Doyle, or whatever new partner they pair me up with.