by Linzi Baxter
“But then I couldn’t play with your toys.” I stood from the chair next to Robert's desk.
Robert rolled his eyes. “This is not a toy. It’s a mock-up of an AI technology I’m working on.”
“You know AI will take over the world,” I joked.
“AI isn’t going to take over the world. It’s the future.”
Jared ignored my conversation with Robert. “Sasha, let’s head up to my conference room and run a few simulations.”
“The boss owes you lunch, Robert. Thank you for restoring the file.”
Robert nodded. “I will send Lily my food order today.”
The rest of the day flew by. We were able to adapt each of the changes Jared wanted. We planned to run full simulations in the testing center the next day.
I left Jared’s office at three to work a few more hours on my own before heading home. I glanced down at the clock on my computer and it was well past five. It was time to go home. More often than not, I got so lost in my work that I didn’t realize how much time passed. The neighbor lady always let Benji out for me when I worked late, so he would be fine.
There was still a light on down the hall in Mr. Walker’s office. It wasn’t normal for him to be at work late. The clock hit five, and he was generally out the door. Instead of heading for the elevator, I walked down the hall to his office and peered inside. My heart beat faster as I saw his shoes. I took a couple deep breaths and walked into the room. I stood over his body. He was dead. A pair of scissors were sticking out of his chest.
I reached into my bag and pulled out my cell. My fingers shook, and I tried to unlock my phone.
“What are you doing?” The voice startled me, causing me to drop my phone directly on where the scissors were penetrating Mr. Walker’s chest. My phone slid off the body and onto the floor.
“I came to see why the light was still on and found his body on the ground.”
Mike glared at me for a second. “I’m not sure I believe you. I overheard someone say you wanted him dead. Stay where you are. I’m calling the cops.”
I closed my eyes and thought back to the few times I’d mentioned killing my boss today. It wasn’t like I would actually do it, but I didn’t have an alibi for the last two hours I’d been in my office.
While Mike was on the phone with the cops, I grabbed a Kleenex off Mr. Walker’s desk and reached down to grab my phone. With a swipe of the Kleenex, I wiped the blood off the phone. Then I walked back to my office. Still in shock he was dead… I would be the prime suspect because I never kept my mouth shut.
4
Brandon
“Is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?” I was still in shock after hearing I had a brother. I’d spent the last six hours reading his file. One of SA Carson’s teammates was flying my brother from New York to Houston. With each flip of my brother’s police record, I was in shock. His file claimed he worked for the New York Mafia.
Paolo Manocchio was the same height as me, around six three. The most significant difference was Paolo had large muscular arms and was built like a heavyweight fighter. He was dressed in a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and a thick winter jacket. It wasn’t cold in Texas, but from the scowl on his face, no one had told him where he was going or why.
“I can explain everything.” I took a deep breath and glared at the FBI agent who’d brought my brother to the Huntsville Unit. “My name is Brandon Quinn.”
“Okay, Brandon, you want to explain?” Paolo crossed his arms over his chest and glared.
It wasn’t every day that I needed to tell an alleged member of the mob he was your brother and that I needed his help to talk to our serial killer dad. So, I wasn’t sure where to start. I hadn’t even believed SA Smith at first, but Paolo’s DNA was in the system. They compared it to my dad’s, and it had come back that he was the father. I thought I lost my only sibling years ago. This wasn’t the best start of meeting my brother. “I swear this wasn’t the way I planned to meet you.”
“What ripped out of my bed flown across the country to a prison?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I work as a detective for the Houston police department. My specialty is serial killers.”
Paolo threw up his hands. “I haven’t killed anyone.”
A lie detector test wasn’t needed to know he was lying, but I wasn’t there to deal with his alleged murders. That was a job for the New York police force. “I never said you killed anyone. I’m working a serial killer case, and the expert I need to talk to will only talk to his sons—both of them.”
His eyes went wide. “My dad died years ago.”
SA Carson spoke for the first time. “Whoever told you that lied. We tested your DNA against Fredrick Langley’s, and you’re his son, and Brandon’s brother.”
We were running out of time. It had taken almost all day to get Paolo to Texas, and visiting hours were close to being over. “I don’t know much except he claimed he wouldn’t tell me the info I needed unless we both came. Up until this morning, when Special Agent Smith informed me of what Fredrick said, I didn’t think I had any siblings left.”
“Why does Fredrick Langley’s name sound familiar?” Paolo grunted.
Some people recognized his real name, but most knew him by the name the media had given him. I believed the encouragement the media gave my father for killing the drug dealers and rapists fed into his need. “Fredrick Langley is known in the media as the Street Cleaner.”
“You have to be fucking kidding.” Paolo reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes. “What does talking to this man get you?”
“He is a good profiler, and I need help with the Houston Internet Slayer. My partner is his latest victim.”
Paolo let out a huff, before lighting his cigarette. “I agree to do this, and you will pay for dinner and a flight back to New York.”
I didn’t care if I had to pay for the ticket himself, as long as it got me information. “Deal.”
Paolo stuck out his hand and when I grabbed it, he pulled me into a hug. “I was an only child growing up and my mother died when I was young.” He took another drag of a cigarette. “Now, you ready to go talk to our deadbeat father?”
Twenty-six years wasn’t long enough to stay away from my father. I would never be ready to walk through the door and sit down with him, but Tammy’s life was more important than my hatred.
“All I want from him is answers. Once I get my answers, I’m done. You can talk with the fucker longer if you want.” Fredrick liked to talk, and I worried he was using this as a way to get me or Paolo to visit more often.
Paolo stared at me for a second. “How about you go introduce me to my serial killer father?”
Thirty minutes later, I stared at Fredrick Langley, who I hadn’t seen in years. He looked the same, except for the gray hair. “Fredrick, can’t say it’s good to see you, but I need some insight on a case.”
Paolo leaned back in his chair next to me. “I was woken up by the FBI and flown across the US because you wanted to meet me. A letter would’ve done just fine. Instead, you put a young girl's life in danger because you wanted to meet me?”
My hands clenched the folder full of case notes and photos. The interrogation room had a door and glass with a mirror. SA Smith and Carson stood on the other side, listening for any hints or information I didn’t pick up.
“I’m sorry this is the way we are meeting, but I figured it would be my last time getting to see my boys. I’m sick.”
He should’ve thought about that before killing my mom and sister—or the other thirty-five people he murdered.
“First and last,” Paolo muttered.
A gray brow rose above Fredrick’s eye. “That was your grandfather's choice. He didn’t want your mom being around a cop.”
I could only imagine that having a son-in-law in the force would be bad for business for a mob boss. “I bet if he knew about your side fetish, you would’ve been welcome, and my mom and sister would
still be alive.”
“I can’t change the past, but your mother wasn’t who you think she was.”
“My mother might’ve had demons, but are you saying my six-year-old sister wasn’t who I thought she was either?”
“You killed a six-year-old girl?” Paolo crunched his fists next to him.
Even my brother thought it was bad. I’d looked at Paolo’s file—he’d never hurt a woman or a child. There were reports of men he might’ve killed, but there was never any evidence that linked him to the crimes, and he always had an alibi.
Discussing the past wasn’t going to get me any closer to the answers I needed though. I pulled out the pictures of the victims and laid them across the table. “I can’t find the pattern between the kills. It’s random—two men, three woman, and two teenagers. The only thing they have in common with the kills is how he notifies the public.” Even the dump locations had no rhyme or reason. “Do you see something in the photo that might link the kills?”
Fredrick didn’t look down at the photos. “I’m so happy my boys are together before I die.”
“I don’t have time for a family reunion.” I pointed to the pictures on the table. “What insight do you have that would help me find the next victim?”
He studied the photos for a moment. “It’s the third of the month today, isn’t it? You have less than three days to find the victim. Has she sent you a message yet?”
“I know who the victim is. Nothing else. What do you mean by she?” Forensics was combing every inch of the box for evidence.
Paolo pulled the photos in front of him. “I don’t know why you came to him for answers. There is no way a woman could kill that guy.” He pointed to the first victim.
Fredrick smirked. “She’s playing you. It has become a game to her and now she gets off more on your reaction than the kills. Have you looked into the people around you?”
I stared down at the photos. “Who could possibility be playing a game with me and why?”
Paolo leaned back in the chair. “You know how the files are linked, but you’re playing a game. Why don’t you give Brandon the information he needs? In my opinion your no better than the serial killer.”
“Because he is a serial killer.” I muttered trying to figure out the puzzle.
Fredrick ignored my comment, “It seems being raised by your mafia grandfather gave you a few tricks.” Fredrick grouped the photos in three separate piles.
I reached across the table and grabbed the first set of photos. I’d read through their profiles a million times and cross-referenced them against the other victims. I still didn’t understand the connection.
Paolo said, “The family reunion is nice, but I have somewhere to be.”
Nothing was getting me closer to finding Tammy. “Tell me why you think these victims are linked and who you think the woman is?”
Fredrick looked at the mirror. His hands were cuffed to the table in front of his body, and I didn’t need to look under the table to know his legs were also cuffed together. SA Carson had informed me that we were the first visitors my father ever agreed to talk with.
“I haven’t been outside in years. How about a walk around the yard?”
It had been years since I’d wanted to kill someone on the other side of an interrogation table, but I was close.
Even though my father was in the ward part of the facility, a prison was connected, and the yard area would make it so he couldn’t escape.
The door behind us clicked open. SA Carson walked in and uncuffed Fredrick’s hands from the table. “Thirty minutes outside.”
Paolo grunted. “One walk around the yard, and if you don’t give Brandon the info he needs, I will beat the crap out of you.”
Fredrick nodded.
Paolo stood next to me. “Let’s get the info you need and have a drink before I fly back home.”
We followed a guard down a narrow hall to a locked door. He unlocked the door, and the warm Texas sun beat down on us as we walked out into the small yard fenced in with wire. Another guard holding an AK-47 joined us.
“How are they linked?” I asked.
“You know your mother loved spending time out in the sun. She said it could turn any bad day into a good day.”
My mother had loved the sun. She would take me to the park every day, and we would spend hours outside.
“Can we cut the bullshit?” Paolo asked. “I’m not even sure why I’m here.”
Fredrick waved his hands around. “I told you I’m dying and wanted to see both of my sons before I die.”
Bullshit. “You had years you could’ve contacted Paolo. So cut the shit and tell me what I need to know.”
“And here I thought you would be happy I introduced you to your brother.”
“I would be happier in my bed, back in New York. A letter or phone call telling me I had a brother would’ve worked just fine.” Paolo stepped forward and backed Fredrick into the building. “Now, how do these victims link together?”
“The first set of photos link to the same kills I was accused of.”
“This is someone copying you?” I searched my mind, trying to remember all my father’s cases. “I’ve studied your case file—you never killed teenagers.”
“See? That is where you are correct and wrong. I never killed a kid in my life.”
“Yet, my kid sister was killed somehow.” There was no doubt in my mind that he killed my kid sister.
“Son, you always had rose-colored glasses on. I might’ve killed your mom, but I never killed anyone else.” Something about the smirk on his face made me want to punch the wall.
“Will anything you are about say help me find the missing victim?”
He didn’t need to say the words for me to read between the lines. “The victims I was accused of killing are linked to the cases. Each one was killed on the same timeline as my alleged victims,” Fredrick began. “But I’ve said from the beginning, I wasn’t the person in the house making the kills. It was your mother.”
I closed my eyes and focused on keeping myself from strangling my father. He was insinuating my mother was a serial killer and that he’d found the victims for her. I leaned forward, trying to keep my hands by my side instead of wrapping them around the man’s throat.
Paolo pressed a hand to my shoulder. “He’s not worth going to jail over. You know how the cases might be linked. It sounds like you need to go back and study your father’s kills.”
“Not my kills.”
I lunged forward, and Paolo pulled me back. Paolo was right. I headed for the exit, never wanting to see Fredrick Langley again.
“Ohh and, son, you might want to check out the family storage unit,” Fredrick insisted. “You both might find some interesting things there.”
Not wanting to deal with him any longer, I walked out of prison. My world was turned upside down. I now had to look into my father’s crimes again. Fuck. I hoped he was only trying to get a rise out of me by accusing my mother of doing the killing.
When I exited the building, I turned my phone back on. A message appeared. Hoping it was from my partner, I clicked on the message.
“Hey, Quinn, I know this is strange for me to call… you know how I might’ve joked this morning about my boss. Well, he might’ve been killed, and now I’m at the station being questioned.”
5
Sasha
If anyone had ever asked if I thought I might spend time in jail, I would say yes—but for running down the street naked or drinking in public, not for killing my boss. God, he’s dead. To top it off with my scissors and my fingerprints.
The sight of him lying on the floor was still running through my mind. Now I sat in an interrogation room waiting to be interviewed. Jared promised he would have a lawyer sent down for me. I’d even called Brandon, because he was the first person who came to mind. My mother died when I was a baby, and my father was killed when I was eight years old. After my dad was killed, I went into foster care. Ms. Carla was a
n excellent caretaker, but she passed away a few years ago.
The room didn’t have any clocks. I wasn’t even sure how long I’d been sitting in the cold metal chair, hoping my lawyer would get there soon. Jared had also mentioned something about surveillance tapes.
After another ten minutes, the door swung open, “Sasha Patterson.” A gruff voice echoed through the room.
“Brandon… I swear I didn’t kill him.”
His hair was messy from running his hand through it. He still had on the buttoned-down white shirt, but his eyes were a little dull compared to the morning, “You’re free to go, but you need to keep an eye out for someone who wanted to frame you for murder. They only thing that saved you was a camera your boss had near your office—it showed you never leaving your office. Whoever killed your boss used the side entrance to his office. Jared didn’t have cameras on that side, so we don’t know who is behind the murder yet.”
The best news I heard all day. My stomach growled and echoed through the room. He walked over and uncuffed my hands. It felt so good to get the cold metal wrapped around my wrists released.
Brandon pressed his hand to my lower back as we walked out of the room. “Let’s go and get you something to eat.”
I didn’t have any of my stuff. They handcuffed me and walked me out of the building with Jared yelling at the officers every step of the way. I thought they were close to arresting my boss, along with me. “I need to stop by the office and get my phone and purse. They didn’t let me bring anything with.”
He held the door open for me as we walked down the hall. Officers mingled around us, not paying me any attention. A few said hi to Brandon as we walked by. “Jared brought your things down to the station. The Black brothers, Lily, and Kaylene have been in the waiting room.”
“What time is it?”