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Cancer
Chapter 1
“The women’s lumberjacks have done it again, they are leading the race and it looks like they’ll win. Here comes our top runner up and if she can make this throw then that will cinch the lead making the women’s team the champions for the year. Shannon Downs is stepping up to the mark. Eyeing the distance and making sure that her arm is ready for this tough swing.” The announced followed her movements for the crowd on the radio.
“She’s picked up the axe giving it a little twirl in her hand to make sure the balance is correct. The windup as she pulls it back continuing to twirl it in her hand and there it is her arm is up and over her head with the axe swinging through the air and into the target.”
“And she’s done it again folks, another bullseye. I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley with that axe.”
“Here is the men’s team competitor, Brian O’Leary. He’s got the muscles of a lumberjack and those women in the crowd who love a good beard are certainly getting an eyeful with this one. This isn’t like most of the other competitions that we’ve seen this weekend, it’s the last chance for the men to pull ahead in this year’s event.”
“There he goes flexing to loosen up the muscles and get his arm ready for this important throw. His wind up is a little different than Shannon’s, he throws in a forward twirling motion. He let the axe go.”
“Isn’t that simply a beautiful throw? It’s turning end over end as he nails it. This is going to be a close one, Dave. I believe the judges are going to have to get the measuring tape out to determine who is the winner. That’s how close this competition is right now.”
“The crowd is holding their breath as we wait for the judges to give us their verdict.”
“Oh, wait. What’s this folks? Brian O’Leary is our winner. The judges are saying he hit the mark by 3 millimeters closer than Shannon did.”
“She is not happy. She’s refusing to shake his hand and walking away spitting in the dirt.”
“Oh, this is not good. We haven’t seen this kind of anger over a loss in several years.”
“Shannon is there anything you want to say to everyone who supported you in this competition?”
“They can go screw themselves.” She commented and shoved the microphone away striding to join the others of the women’s team.
“You heard her Dave, she is not commenting. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this feud.”
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Everyone from the lumberjack competition had been staying in trailers or motel rooms all over the city.
Brian O’Leary had gone out to celebrate with his friends and was walking back to his room before they had to carry him back.
He hadn’t had that many drinks considering he could drink his buddies under the table on most occasions, but tonight it had gone to his head. The few short blocks from the bar hadn’t seemed that far earlier, but he concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
A figure stepped out from the alley, “Here let me help you.”
“No, I don’t want your help.” He protested as the sidewalk moved under his feet.
“Okay,” he mumbled giving in as the other person guided him toward the back of a truck.
The truck bed groaned with his weight as his legs hung off the tailgate.
“This is so nice.” The person helping him put a blanket over covering his body from the cold night air.
The bouncing of the truck over the roads into the woods didn’t stir Brian even when it stopped abruptly in the middle of nowhere.
His body was pulled out of the truck and onto a tarp at the foot of the truck. Lights came on providing an eerie feel as the sound of a chainsaw tore through the still night.
When the first cut was made, he didn’t move. With the amount of sedatives that had been put into his drink, he wouldn’t even feel his last moments on earth as the chainsaw tore through his flesh.
Ignoring the blood gushing everywhere, she lifted the chainsaw with a practiced motion as she removed all of his limbs from his body.
Unsure of the exact moment a coroner would have pronounced him dead, she rolled each body part into its own parcel placing them in the bed of the truck away from the gory mess left on the tarp.
Having prepped the area, she tossed the entire tarp into the fire she’d lit. As the flames gained momentum, she bleached her equipment before returning it to her back seat. Then as a last precaution, she stripped out of all her clothes standing naked in the cool night air as the fire burned away the evidence.
Her phone rang in the stillness of the night interrupting her commune with nature.
“Yes,” she answered her pale skin glowing in the fire’s light.
“Is it done?”
“Yes, I’m just enjoying a little night air in the woods.”
“Perfect. When will you return for your next victim?”
“Tomorrow at the latest. I’ll have to be careful because they are going to be looking for him when he doesn’t show with his team in the morning.”
“Don’t cause any suspicion by leaving early. We need to have his body placed in the next town where you’ll pick up your next friend.”
“I have it covered. They won’t be onto us for weeks or even the entire month.”
“Don’t get cocky. Better serial killers than you have gone down because of these two detectives. I want you to succeed.”
“I understand perfectly. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”
She stood in the night air for just a few more moment savoring her first kill. This was what had been missing from her life and now she knew exactly what needed to be done to exact her justice.
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Leslie
When I’d gotten back from dealing with the ghosts of my past, I started feeling restless. Running again felt wonderful, but after I’d had a few up close and personal encounters with our killers, I was a little shy about working out without other people surrounding me.
If things continued through the end of the year with these serial killers, then I was going to have to see a therapist to work through some issues.
I was still reeling from having been shot by the Aries killer two months ago. Then only a month later, I’d broken up with my boyfriend Jerome because he didn’t understand my passion for justice. Now after two months of crazy personal battles, I’d gained psychic powers that had helped us uncover the Gemini killers. I was just getting my mojo back and I wasn’t about to let another killer kick my butt.
Some of the zodiac killers had started off with a bang and we were hot on the trail while others had been able to stay hidden until later in the month. The Zodiac Master continued to recruit new killers each month willing to do his dirty work for him. Although, they seemed to enjoy it, I didn’t find any pleasure in it because I had to find them before they completed whatever evil mission he planned for them.
Scanning my pass to the gym, I headed straight for the punching bags. With all of the pent up emotional energy from the last few months needing an outlet, it would have been better if I had a picture of the Zodiac Master to put on the bag.
My fist connected with a solid thud as I funneled my anger into the punch. A left, a right and quick jab were just what the doctor ordered to help cleanse my aura and get me back on the right track.
“Do you need someone to hold the bag for you?” One of the trainers asked as he passed by.
“Nah, thanks though. It’ll throw off my rhythm.”
“Let us know if we can he
lp with anything.” He walked away to check on someone else.
This gym had seemed like the perfect fit for me due to its proximity to my home and it provided a safe place for me to workout. These days I needed a place that I could go without having to look over my shoulder the entire time.
Flora had been using the past few days to help me work through how to use exercise and practice control for the gift I’d been given. I’d used my time on the bag to help release all of my bad thoughts and energies, now it was time to clear my mind as I used the treadmill to regain my stamina. I was certain that running daily had saved my life when stuck in the woods with an archer determined that I was his prey.
The treadmill felt different than running on the concrete, but it felt good to be focused on the miles moving under my feet than on all of the problems running through my head.
It would have been easy to give into my normal thoughts and work through the case, but this time I was determined that whenever something connected to the case flitted across my brain I would simple redirect it to the side for later.
After a good five miles, I felt so refreshed as I headed for the showers in the back that I didn’t noticed the man on the bikes watching my every move.
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Ryan
My head had been messed up for months. I’d become a cop to help people and to use my passion to put criminals behind bars. Somedays that didn’t seem possible whereas others, it was a slam dunk and I could sleep well at night.
Then Detective Boxe had walked into my life six months ago and things hadn’t managed to calm down yet. She’d brought the whole dog and pony show of the supernatural world with her. While leery of how real the visions and sightings of ghosts really were, I couldn’t say anything against the way it had helped us with the case.
We’d both been tasked with finding the first serial killer targeting women in both of our cities. It had led us to team up with the FBI and their Agents Gavin Watson, Kevin Johnson and Adam Dalca. Even with their ample resources, we were still trying to find the Zodiac Masters starting the sixth month of the regular calendar year.
Cancer this month’s zodiac sign that sounded horrible to begin with and if the past six months had taught me anything it would hold something we’d never seen before. A new twist on how to murder people while staying one step ahead of us.
If all of that wasn’t enough to keep someone up at night, I had the added pressure of being a fiancé to Shea who was now expecting our first child. I couldn’t let her down, but this case wasn’t something I could ignore either. The Zodiac Master had made it clear that both Leslie and I had to work together or we wouldn’t make it out alive.
When she’d been shot, the Zodiac Master had apologized for his minion and promised that we would be safe until the end of his little game. Not that the promise of a serial killer was going to be what I based all of my hopes and dreams on, but I did hope that it would keep her from dying until we had a chance to beat him at his own game.
I’d been trying to stay busy when we weren’t chasing after the killer of the month by digging into the Urban Energy Company that seem to helping the environment. Only I wasn’t so sure that was really the case and suspected they had a darker secret mission that was being carried out by someone in the company. We’d found too many intersecting pieces to the serial killers for them not to be connected in some way and it was my goal to find out why.
Agent Kevin had gone undercover as a tech guy, but he hadn’t been there long enough to provide much in the way of useable information.
For tonight though, I was going to put all thoughts of serial killers out of my mind and concentrate on my dinner date with my fiancé.
Shea was ready when I arrived home and I couldn’t wait for an evening out on the town. We only had a few short months left to enjoy each other’s company before the third member of our family arrived making date night an impossible proposition.
The steakhouse was one of the best in Ft. Worth that was still affordable for a cop’s salary.
“We have the doctor’s appointment in the morning. Will you be able to get away from work long enough to make it?” Shea reminded as we were seated.
“I’ve already informed Agent Watson that I wouldn’t be in until after lunch. Now, tell me what’s been going on with you besides being our baby’s incubator.”
“Oh, you’re so silly. Incubator indeed. Well, we’ve been having the spring and summer rush to place homes on the market. I’m hoping to have the new girl trained enough as my secretary [AM1] that she can take over when the baby gets here. I can still do some of the paperwork and listings from home or the office, but won’t do the actual field work for the last few weeks before the baby comes.”
“You know we’ve never really talked about whether you would be taking a maternity leave or returning back to work immediately. What are your thoughts on it?”
“With you gone more than normal lately, I’m going to take the extra time off so we don’t have any problems with conflicting schedules. I want to bond with the baby and take some time to find the right nanny before I go back to work.”
“Hasn’t your mother volunteered to do that job?” I snickered knowing that Shea wasn’t really keen on the idea.
“I’m perfectly okay with my mother watching the baby, but I’m going to want to find a permanent solution. While she’ll enjoy being a grandmother, I don’t think that she wants to take on the role of raising the baby even on a temporary basis.”
“I wish that I could promise to be here all the time or even that I’d be around more, but right now that doesn’t seem to be something I can do.”
She laid a hand over mine, “We have months before the baby will be here and the first year not much happens. The use a lot of diapers, eat, sleep and try to crawl. As long as you spend as much time as possible with the baby, then I think you’ll be fine. There are tons of dads that travel for work, we’ll be okay.”
“Just because others can do that doesn’t mean I want to be away from our baby.” I was appalled at the suggestion.
“Saving the world comes first. Imagine if it was our child that was going to be killed because of when they were born? Some other mother or father out there doesn’t need to have their baby killed because some person has a vendetta against them for when their birthday happens to fall.”
“I can’t help it, I have all this guilt that I’m leaving you alone when we should be doing all the things to prepare for a baby.”
“Honey, you are. We’re going to the doctor’s visit together. Baby steps until you have this killer taken care of and you can work normal cases again.”
I distractedly rubbed a hand through my hair, “What if I don’t want to go back to normal cases? What if I’m bored with solving robberies and single murders?”
“Oh, no I believe that this is giving you training that you’re going to need for some of the harder cases when you return to active duty. I think this case is driving you crazy because you’re loving it. You don’t want to go back to something that doesn’t fulfill you again, but I’m pretty sure that the FBI is aware of the special skill set that you and Leslie bring to the table.”
“None of this bothers you? I haven’t even seen you enough lately to tell you what’s been going on for you to know all of this. Joining the FBI would take more training and require that I leave you and the baby for an even longer period of time.”
“It bothers me, but not in the way you think. When you’ve been home and weren’t able to chase the killer, you’re not yourself. You aren’t sleeping or when you do fall asleep you’re having nightmares which disturb your rest. I want you to catch this guy and find some peace. He’s consumed you.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ll try to do better. I shouldn’t be putting this onto you.” I waved to the nice dining room, “This was supposed to be a night out for us to reconnect and celebrate. Now I’ve ruined it with work again. I just can’t seem to separate the two.”
“What yo
u do isn’t just a job to you, its part of who you are. A strong man that wants justice for others isn’t a bad quality in a husband or father. Something about this has seeped into you and become almost an obsession. When it goes over to the dark side and I feel that you aren’t able to come up for air then I’ll you know. At the moment, you need to be focused on catching this bastard and locking him up for good.”
“Tell me, what did I ever do to deserve you?” I felt such a release of emotions that I wanted to cry and I wasn’t the pregnant one.
“I’m not sure you deserve me,” A saucy wink accompanied her words, “but I’ll tell you what you can do to make it up to me.”
“Anything.” I promised.
“Rub my feet.” She grinned at my expression of astonishment, “These heels are terrible on my feet and I’m going to have to give them up soon, but until then I’ll take as many foot rubs as I can get.”
“You got it. I was afraid that I was going to have to watch you eat your steak with pickles and ice cream or something.” I brushed my hand across my forehead in mock relief.
“Although, if you’re gone for the rest of the month I may have to replace you with a professional foot rubber. I can’t guarantee that my feet won’t belong to another by the time you come home.” She teased.
“Random thought, but did you know they have professional people who come to your house and cuddle with you?” I shifted topics to something much lighter and out of the ordinary.
“No, really?” She leaned forward showing just enough cleavage that I started to wish dinner was already over. “How on earth does that even work?”
“From what I understand, you call up the service and let them know when you would like your cuddler to arrive. Then you explain what kind of service you would like: someone to sit on the couch and watch t.v., someone to sleep with—platonically of course, or some light cuddle-petting. It’s completely up to the individual and you can request a regular person so that you don’t have to get used to a new one each time.”
“So getting a professional foot rubber might not be too far out there then? I wonder if I can add back rubs to the package.”
Cancer: Murders of the Zodiac Page 1