by Kelly Shade
“It’s over,” Blake said calmly. “You are safe! When you are talking about it, it won’t happen again. You will help me catch the sick person who did this to you.” Maria cried for a few minutes, but the trembling stopped. Jane gave her time to shake it off.
“I don’t remember anything . . . I . . . I . . .“ Maria was tired and confused.
“I want you to close your eyes and relax. Try to remember how he smells, how his presence felt, his voice. Every detail is valuable,” Jane said calmly.
Maria closed her eyes, and pure terror appeared on her face. She clenched her fists and Jane could see how her nails were piercing her skin. Maybe it was time to put her in a light trance.
Jane squeezed her forearm precisely where there were cuts. Knapp squeaked in pain. Before Maria could ask why Jane did it, Blake let go of her arm and spoke quietly.
“As the pain is fading away, you will feel more and more relaxed. With every deep breath, it will hurt less and less. You will start feeling brave and strong. The person who did that to you is going to appear in front of your eyes. You can see him clearly. Every detail of him, his smell, his voice. You can see it, smell it, feel it, but you are not afraid. You know he is not real. He is inside your head, and you can beat him. Tell me what he is wearing?”
Maria seemed relaxed. Her eyes were closed, her heartbeat stable, as if she were sleeping. But she spoke. Quietly.
“It is dark. He is above me.” Knapp stopped. Jane waited. She would continue, and Blake was aware of that. “Oh my God, his eyes are red. He is a demon! Let me stop, please!” she screamed breathlessly.
“He is not a demon, Maria, don’t be stupid. He is wearing contacts. That’s all. You are not afraid of lenses, are you?” Blake said calmly and touched Maria’s forearm again.
“No, I’m not afraid.” Knapp’s horror disappeared magically.
“Tell me how he smelled? Did it remind you of something?” Jane asked.
“His breath . . . he is close to me, talking in my face . . . his breath smells like burned iron.” Maria constricted her lips in disgust.
“And his clothes, what did they smell like?” Jane continued.
“Wood. Forest,” Maria said with the same expression.
“Okay, you did great.” Jane squeezed the injured forearm again, and before she let go she said softly, “Whenever you see that figure in your dreams, you will feel strong, and you will kill it. You won’t be afraid of him. What he did to you was wrong, but he made you fearless. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she nodded in agreement.
Jane removed her hand. When she "woke up" her heartbeat started to rise. A nurse and a doctor stormed into the room shouting at Jane to get out. Blake left them to do their job.
Ryan was waiting with the team. All of them, Nick, Ian, and Connor, looked tired and pissed off. For most of the people, a situation like this would provoke fear but for homicide detectives this caused only anger and determination to get the man responsible.
“How is she?” Hunt asked looking at the team of worried doctors around Maria.
“I pushed some mental boundaries. She didn’t take it too well. But she’s going to be fine. I assume any minute now the doctors will get out of that room wondering what went wrong with her,” Jane said while she removed the hospital apron.
A moment later it happened precisely as Jane said it would. The puzzled medics got out of Maria’s room, and they had a heated conversation.
“Well? Did she say something?” Nick asked when the doctors were out of sight.
“Yeah, a lot,” Jane whispered with a devious smile. “Did I tell you I got some hairs while we were fighting?” and she showed him a napkin with several gray hairs in it.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? The results would be ready by now!” Hunt yelled, but everyone shushed him. After all, they were in a hospital at five in the morning.
“Because you wouldn’t let me talk to Maria,” Jane said irritably. “Am I right?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t let you torture an innocent woman for information if we have freaking DNA! Damn, Jane!”
“Yeah, but we wouldn’t know Maria Knapp was under hypnosis for days. The killer worked with her, she knows him well. But when she sees him, she actually sees only darkness,” Jane whispered.
“Is that possible?” Ian asked.
“It’s when you reach the subconscious. You plant a suggestion, and you make the person believe whatever you want him to believe.” She stopped. There were many people around them.
Jane wanted them go to the nearby snack bar so she could share the information she got from the victim.
“The person who did it should be a master. It is hard for me to do it.” Blake looked as if she were admiring the person.
“Can’t you stop it? Can you un-suggest it?” asked Ryan.
“I have no idea what the trigger is,” Jane answered.
“The what now?” Nick grimaced.
“It’s too hard to explain. Never mind. I can’t,” Jane said irritably.
The story provoked different reactions. Anger and fury were all over Hunt and Ian. They didn’t approve of the way Jane acted. Ryan and Nick, on the other hand, were listening to Jane’s every word . She had to explain several times, but after a while, everyone knew the full testimonial of Maria Knapp.
Hunt’s phone rang. The team went quiet and waited for a development in the case.
“Damn! Are you positive?” Hunt looked stunned. “Thank you for informing us. I’ll send the crime scene unit right away. But ,unfortunately, I know who is responsible.” he sighed “Good day to you, too!”
“So?” Ryan had no patience.
“Maria Knapp was killed in her room,” Hunt broke the news. “Someone went in and injected poison directly into her heart. She didn’t stand a chance.” Hunt put his head in his hands and continued talking “The monitor showed low heart activity and the nurse went in immediately. The syringe was sticking out of her chest. Maria was gone. The nurse called security, but they couldn’t find anyone in or around the clinic.”
Everyone was shocked. They thought they at least had saved one life today.
“We shouldn’t have left her alone! Dammit!” Nick punched the table with his fist. Ian agreed silently.
Ryan was looking only at Jane. He knew what that meant to her.
“What do we do?” he asked quietly.
“We gotta catch the bastard and put him in jail!” Ian said.
“Jail isn’t going to help. He started a war,” Jane said thoughtfully .“I’m going to kill him!”
Hunt looked at her with disapproval.
“Revenge is not an option, Blake!”
Jane didn’t answer.
After the terrible news, everyone’s appetite disappeared. Everybody agreed they had to go back to the station and do everything to find Rewera. At least now they had DNA. How hard would it be? Once they knew the real name of the person, the investigation would be the easy part. After all, they were well-trained homicide detectives. Well, except Jane, but she had it in her. She didn’t need training; she had prepared herself from a young age. Even Ryan received proper training from Hunt in the first year he was hired at LAPD.
Hunt woke up Barbara Bradley and ordered her to be at the station as soon as possible. He wanted the DNA checked immediately. This was a big case for his department, and he wouldn’t let it be transferred to another team. He had to make sure they could deal with that murderer before the media and the big bosses stepped on their necks. Hunt preferred not to share that possibility with the team. Connor wanted them to worry only about the case.
Barbara Bradley showed up in the homicide office. It was odd seeing her out of the lab or the morgue. Abigail Wilson, the police chief, was also surprised when Bradley almost bumped into her.
“What are you doing up here?” asked Wilson, who was trying to clean the spilled coffee on her suit.
“I have to take a DNA sample to check,” Barbara said while ya
wning.
“Any progress on the serial killer case?” Abigail looked interested. Her career would take off if her people could catch a terrifying criminal like Rewera.
“I don’t know yet. But the bloodbath he made is all over the news,” finished Bradley and he headed to the homicide office area.
“I’ll come with you!” Wilson followed her.
Hunt and the team were waiting nervously. Jane put the hairs in a baggy.
“How long will it take?” Hunt asked when he gave the evidence to Bradley. “This is a priority, okay?”
“Of course, Connor!” said Barbara. She was a little offended by the way he talked to her. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m done,” she added and walked out.
“How is the case going?” asked Wilson when Barbara went out.
“Good,” answered Hunt “We almost got him.”
“I’ll call Peter Burris. You need an actual psychologist on this one.” Abigail glanced at Jane. Her attitude toward Blake had changed.
“You want us to work with Burris on this one, seriously?” Hunt protested, and he saw the support everyone was giving.
“Yes. I want him on the case,” Wilson said coldly and stormed out.
“What now?” Ian asked.
“Now we all grab a cup of coffee and try to wake up. I know it was a hard night, but we can’t take a break now. Till the results are out, you may eat or whatever you want. I’ll call you when I receive the DNA results,” said Hunt.
Nick was happy to hear he could grab breakfast. Ian followed him. Ryan waited for Jane. He wanted to spend alone time with her. Blake was going to use the free time to visit her favorite park location. After a night full of action and emotions Jane needed a smoke to relax. She stood and headed to the exit. Ryan followed.
Chapter 17
The ‘I-know-who-the-killer-is’ expression.
Blake and Gray walked to the park in silence. Ryan was awaiting the proper moment, but it seemed like it would never come. They went to the bench, and Jane took a battered cigarette box out of her pocket.
“Give me one,” Ryan asked and reached for the pack.
Without any question, Jane gave him a cigarette. He lit up.
“Look, I wanted to tell you . . .” Ryan started nervously “We are okay. You can rely on me as a friend and as a partner in the field. I think it is better to forget what happened. And no hard feelings, right?”
“Yep,” Jane said. She knew this wasn’t the end of the topic. Maybe for now, but definitely not for long. Ryan’s eyes were giving him away. He wasn’t looking at her as in the beginning. The horny-teenager look from the first time they met was long gone. Now he was showing concern, respect and love. Blake didn’t want to hurt him, and the only way was to keep him away from her. She caught herself. She also genuinely cared about him. It was nearly impossible to keep Ryan safe in their line of work. Maybe I should go on my own path, Jane thought. It was less risky.
Ryan coughed, but he smoked the cigarette. Jane laughed a little and advised him not to continue. For her, smoking was already a bad habit she couldn’t get rid of.
Gray’s phone rang.
“It’s Hunt,” Ryan said excitedly when his phone rang. “The results are ready!”
They headed back. Jane was as excited as Ryan. Maybe finally she could put a face on the monster she met the night before. Now she could know who she had to go after. Now, she could hate an actual person. Blake and Gray met Lee and Valdez at the elevator. They also were eager to know the results.
Hunt was waiting for them with the documents. But he didn’t have a happy expression. Jane suspected something was very wrong.
“I guess bad news?”
“Yeah, sit.” Hunt sighed and waved his hand to the large table. The team exchanged confused glances and sat down.
The door opened, and Peter Burris joined the team. Connor nodded for him to sit down.
“It turns out our killer died twenty-nine years ago,” Hunt said and threw the file to Jane. Everyone looked to her to learn what was in it.
“Harrison Gil,” Jane read out loud. “Committed suicide at the age of eighteen. His mother and father were killed. They were British, but he was born in the US.” Jane was pointing with her finger and summing up the information. “Julia Ezra was a girl he was in love with. She was found dead. All the leads pointed to him.” Blake bit her lip and turned the page “On prom day Harrison exploded in his car. Witnesses say he was in the vehicle. Police found his DNA and closed the case. They thought Harrison murdered his mother, father and the girl. Then he killed himself with a home-made bomb in front of the school.”
“Is it just me or does that sounds fishy?” said Nick with suspicion.
“It is fishy, Lee,” answered Hunt.
“So we basically have nothing!” Ian growled.
“What do you mean by nothing?” Jane lifted her eyebrows. “Now we know Harrison faked his death. The killer had a British accent which he got from his British parents. He “died” at the age of eighteen, twenty-nine years ago, which means now he is forty-seven. He changed his name and probably his age, but he is around there. We also know Harrison started to kill when he was young. It is more than obvious that Harrison Gill is H.G. Rewera. For God’s sake, even the initials are the same! The story with the girl proves it. Everything fits. The only thing that I don’t understand is why now? I mean most of the killers have the same MO, but this one changed it. I’m sure he was killing throughout these years. But was his motive to change the tactic?”
“Or maybe he switched his DNA with a dead boy? I guess every hacker can do that. Am I right, Gray?”
“Yeah, it’s possible. A good hacker can do that.” Ryan muttered.
“No. He changed his identity so he could kill as his real self. The new name is the mask. Rewera is a narcissist. He is proud of himself, and the name is showing it. He could write just Rewera, but he put his initials--H. G.--which means he wants to be credited for the murders,” Jane objected.
“You have a point. We have to check each and every serial killer case nationwide. Probably he started somewhere else.” Ryan was biting his knuckles nervously.
“Gray, you do that while we are checking the last poems. I’ll go get the file,” Hunt ordered and went to his desk. But a minute later a shout came out of his office. “Fuck!” followed by the sound of broken glass.
Jane, Ryan, Nick and Ian hurried to see what happened. Hunt’s coffee mug was in pieces on the ground. Hunt looked furious and his hands were clenched in fists and his face was red.
“It is gone! Someone stole the file from my desk!” Hunt’s jaw muscles pounded.
“Calm down! The poems are on the victims’ backs,” Jane tried to calm him.
Ryan got the broken cup and threw the pieces in the trash.
“Let’s go!” said Gray and patted Hunt on the shoulder.
On the way Peter Burris joined them.
All six of them ran to the morgue. Barbara Bradley jumped off her chair when they burst in and slammed doors.
“We need to see the corpses of Alexa Krueger, Faith Saldivar and Willow Josey,” Hunt said firmly. “Now, Barbara!”
She hurried to find the bodies, and in ten minutes they were displayed. Hunt went to the first body and turned her around to see her back.
“Damn!” he cursed. The skin was peeled off her back. There was no sign of the poem. Ian hurried to check the other woman, and Ryan went to the third. All the same.
Barbara Bradley paled. She was terrified.
“I went only to get lunch for thirty minutes. They weren’t like this when I went out!”
“He was here and in my office. Gray, lock down the building!” Hunt shouted.
“There is no point in that. He is long gone,” Jane said and Gray agreed with her. “At least we have the last part. I don’t think it is a clue but It’s something.”
“He didn’t write the last part, Blake!” Hunt yelled.
“He didn’t write it, but he to
ld it to me!” she said and recited the verse the killer told her when he captured her.
The others looked puzzled. There was nothing to go after.
“Now we know he is scared of us. He risked stealing evidence from the morgue. He is horrified!” Jane finished with a devious smile.
Peter Burris spoke, “I think you got it all wrong. He is showing us he can do anything. He is warning us. He wants us to be scared.”
“Hunt, would you remind me why the fuck he is here?” Jane was annoyed.
“Because we need all the help we can get. And I think Burris also has a valid point,” answered Hunt.
“Do you have any idea what to do now?” Nick turned to Blake hoping he could stop the rising argument.
“It’s going to be a waste of time if we interrogate the victims’ families. We won’t find anything there. I think the smarter idea is to check Harrison Gil’s old school and friends.”
“Why? I don’t think he keeps in touch with them!” Ian laughed.
“Valdez, every psychopath became a psychopath because of a traumatizing childhood. If we want to catch this guy, we need personal info about him. The only way to predict someone’s actions is to know his reasons. And believe it or not, psychopaths also have reasons, not good for us, but excellent for them!” Jane explained calmly.
“I agree with Blake. Lee, Valdez, Gray and Burris! I’m putting Blake in charge. She will tell you what to do and where to go.” Hunt took a long breath “I have to write reports and check the surveillance cameras. Barbara, you need to come with me for a statement. And I would like you to watch the video records with me. You may see something,” he finished, and they all went upstairs to the homicide office.
Jane told Nick and Ian to check all the students who were at Harrison Gil’s class. They got to work and quickly found everyone. After more than twenty phone conversations with them, Nick and Ian had some information about Gil.
“Most don’t remember him. The car explosion was the only thing that reminded them who Gil was. Some remembered his name. They said he was a shy, quiet boy. Four ex-students knew him better. I called them in. All of them said they can come after working hours, so around five thirty, six at the latest,” reported Nick.