"Why?" John asked.
"Come on now, Johnny boy. That’s easy. They are all dirty, cheating, semen spewing pigs. That’s why. Just like yourself. Cop or not, handsome, you would have fucked me good if I had let it get that far. Then you would have arrested me and put in your report that intercourse was necessary if you wanted to achieve a confession from me."
John put his pad and pen down, got up and paced the floor, then turned to look back at Tamela. "Enough of the tough, cold, carefree, psycho bullshit. I’ve seen many psychopaths in my time, I do not believe you are one. Why would a beautiful, obviously successful, seemingly intelligent woman throw her life away? I need to know. Not for the conviction. For me. I need to understand. Look at me!" John yelled and showed emotion for the first time."Why, goddammit! Tell me now!”
"He raped me! Okay? Over and over in every way possible! My own father! My mother put me on the pill at fourteen because she didn't want the father of her child to impregnate his own daughter! Okay! Are you happy now!?" Tamela burst into tears and appeared human for the first time since John laid eyes on her. "I could have gotten married, had a family, children of my own. He took that away. He took away from me the life he gave me."
Tamela stopped crying and now buried her face in her hands. Her eyes were bloodshot and tired. John paced the room for what seemed like an eternity, stopped, looked at Tamela and then continued pacing. He seemed to be working something out in his mind. Pondering something bigger than he or Tamela. Finally, he said, "It didn’t give you the right to kill innocent men. Sure, they were guilty of adultery, but that doesn’t come with a death sentence. You need to pay for your crimes."
Tamela pushed a stray hair out of her eyes, looked at John and said, "I know. There is no life left for me in society. I belong inside where I just have to think about eating, drinking, sleeping and being around women as troubled as I am. I can’t function outside without killing. I have too much anger."
"I have your confession to five murders. I will send a team over to uncover the bodies."
"Okay," Tamela said. As John picked up his things and turned to leave, he stopped at the door, turned back and looked at Tamela. "Right now I am not speaking to the woman you have become but to that poor, innocent, little girl. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what this terrible world has done to you and your life. If I could go back and rescue you, I would. I’d change it. But I can’t. A small, lone tear ran down John's cheek as he opened the door and walked out. John Corbin would never see Tamela Barnes again.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Silas' knife cut into the soft flesh. He ran the incision from the chest to the belly button. He made the cut just deep enough so that the blowflies could lay their eggs into the flesh. The fresh cadaver had just been brought to him. His job was to find the exact time of death, the postmortem interval and if poisons and/or drugs played a part in the passing. This cadaver was a male in his twenties. No wounds or trauma. Cause of death a mystery. Silas’ occupation was a forensic entomologist. Or, in layman’s terms, he used insects to extract data from dead bodies. Silas enjoyed the sensation of the blade cutting through the tender skin and flesh, but he still preferred strangulation as his homicidal method. Much more intimate to him. He savored the flesh on flesh contact and found the sensation of his victim’s soul leaving the body then passing through his to freedom to be extremely pleasurable. The small incision complete, Silas would now wait for the blowflies to appear and lay their eggs and then monitor how long for the larva, otherwise known as maggots, to hatch. The usual time frame was twelve to twenty-four hours, depending on uncontrollable variables. The larva would tell Silas if and possibly what kind of poison or drug was in the man’s system at the time of death. Certain drugs will either hasten or retard the insect’s development. Silas' work, along with his hobby of freeing souls from their bodies, was one of the few aspects of life he truly enjoyed. He was also one of the best at his craft, being extremely intelligent and also having natural instincts for death and bodily decomposition. Silas now turned off all of the lights in his lab. It was time to sit back and take in all of the wonderful scents of death and decay.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
"The prodigal son has returned!" John yelled excitedly as Todd walked into the station for the first time in over five weeks. "Welcome back!" John added.
“Thank you," Todd said. "Definitely feels good to walk through that door again."
"I missed you, partner. Your ragged humor not so much." John said.
“Yeah, Yeah. If not for my humor, this partnership wouldn't have any at all gramps."
"Gramps? I wasn’t the one out for five weeks with a little boo boo," John said.
"No, you would have retired," Todd fired back as he sat at his desk for the first time in almost six weeks. "I have some good news."
"Shoot," John replied.
"We have a date set. September 23rd. I purposely scheduled it on a Saturday, so it wouldn't screw with us watching the Seahawks. Haha. I told Jacqueline Saturday was a better day for a wedding cause no one has to worry about working the next day. She said, and I quote: "Todd, you are right, I’m glad you are putting so much effort and thought into our wedding."
“Haha. You are learning partner," John said. "There are ways in marriage to get what you want, but also make the wife happy. That, my friend, is the trick to a happy, healthy marriage, so sharpen the craft. It will be crucial to your happiness."
"Thank you, Socrates. I’ll write that down in my marriage handbook."
"Speaking of Jacqueline, the little ladies have grown quite fond of each other."
"Yes, they have lunch together frequently. I hope that they don’t leave us to be with each other," Todd said.
"The one thing that I have figured out about the female mind is there is no figuring out the female mind," John said.
Later that morning, Captain Johnson walked out of his office and over to Todd and John. "Lunch on me today boys. Let’s go. I’ll even allow a drink or two to celebrate our boy Todd being back. Todd we missed ya."
"Thanks, guys, it’s good to be back." Todd said as they all headed out the door together.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
While walking out of the back room of the Alibi, Red noticed John in his usual seat. "John! Great to see you."
"Hey Red."
"Brooklyn Summer Ale coming up."
"Red, I really want to thank you for helping with the case. I’m happy to tell you that she confessed and is locked up."
“Excellent! Good job, John."That was some real Donnie Brasco shit, I’m glad it worked out."
"I didn’t like putting you in danger, but you handled it like a pro," John said.
“Hey, I’d rather die tomorrow having lived today than die in the future never having lived. I enjoyed it," Red said.
“Maybe you should look into getting on the force, we can always use bright, courageous officers."
"Hmmm. Maybe. I might just take you up on that sometime. So, how did it go down?" Red asked.
"I caught her in the act of attempting to stick a needle in my neck. Pulled my piece and arrested her."
"Damn. She was a real psycho bitch, huh?"
"You know, Red, behind all of the twisted, psycho, crazy behavior she displayed, I caught glimpses of a sweet, gentle, innocent soul between the lines. I actually felt bad for her. The things she has been through, I can almost understand the way she turned out."
Red looked at John and said "Things are always more complicated than they seem. Life can be one big grey area at times."
"Yes, very true. As much as cops don’t like grey areas, I am one that definitely understands it."
"Why? Why you more than others?" Red asked.
"I’ll tell you what my friend, you tell me why they call you Red and just maybe I’ll answer that question."
Red looked at John as a sly little smirk came over him, then he went into the back room to prepare for the happy hour rush. When
he came back out, John was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
John came home after work late on a Wednesday evening to a quiet, somber house. The children were in bed sleeping and Julie seemed to have something on her mind, as she was distant and withdrawn. John sensed it from the beginning but decided to let it play out and see if it would pass. "How are the children?" he asked.
“Fine."
“How was work?"
"Fine.”
"Okay, then. What is it?" John asked.
“What is what?"
"Do we really have to play this game? What is the problem?" he asked, losing patience.
Julie looked at him, went into the bathroom, shut the door and jumped into the shower without uttering a word. When she got out John noticed that she had put on her pajamas before leaving the bathroom, shut off the light and jumped into bed opposite John, turning the other way. John got up, turned on the light, sat on the edge of the bed and said "Okay, babe. Enough of this. Talk to me." Julie sat up, walked over to her dresser and opened up the bottom drawer. She then pulled out a pair of white panties that looked very familiar to John. "Found these in your pants pocket. You know John, if you had to sleep with her to achieve what you needed, I might understand, but you should have told me."
"Oh...Julie... I’m sorry... I forgot..."
“Obviously," Julie yelled. "You forgot to take them out before you came home."
"No. It’s not what it looks like. I...”
“Enough, Okay. I’m not upset. You had to do whatever it is you did, I’m sure. What hurts me is that you didn’t tell me."
John got up, went into the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, gathered his thoughts and emotions, then returned to the bed where he sat and looked at his wife. "Julie, I need you to listen to me and believe what I tell you. I did not sleep with her. She had a needle a foot from my neck before we even thought about kissing."
"Then how did her lovely panties and up in your pants pocket?"
"She seduced me at the bar, probably to hook me in. It was a part, a necessary step to getting her to confess to what I knew she was responsible for. I did not ever touch her. I didn’t have to. That’s the truth."
Julie softened a bit and rolled onto her back. Then she said, "Do you know how hard it is to believe someone when all the facts and rational thought point in the opposite direction?"
"Babe, I’m a detective. Of course I do. But now I need you to again listen to me. There are times that I feel sexual attraction to other women, but, I no longer feel the need to act on those instincts. Not because you think it should be that way or because society thinks it should be that way, but because I do not want to. You fulfill me, my desires and my heart. That is why I married you. I have no desire or reason to ever lie to you. I didn’t have to decide to ask you to marry me. I knew. I knew in my head, my heart and my instincts. I had never felt that way before you. It was my decision and I made it knowing that it was the correct one, without a second thought. I didn’t have to sleep with that woman, but even if I had to, for reasons beyond my control, my head and heart would have been with you the whole time, even though my body wasn’t. It would also be the first thing I would talk to you about after it happened. Julie, I love you."
"Oh John, I believe you. I love you too."
John got up, shut off the light, entered Julie's body and they stayed that way until a few hours later, falling asleep in each other’s arms.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
"Look how high that one is Daddy!" Gianna said to her father. John had taken his kids to Water World, a huge water park in Renton. Julie was working a double today, so John took advantage of having the children to himself. "Yes. Looks like fun. Want to try it out?" John asked.
"Um. No, not yet."
"Okay, well, maybe in a little while, let’s go on the smaller ones for now," John said.
“Okay," they answered in unison. They tried out every slide, every inflatable tube ride and went into the wave pool. By mid-afternoon, they sat down to eat lunch.
"Gianna, you know the only thing that we haven’t tried yet?" John said as he pointed to the highest, longest, steepest slide in the park.
"Oh, Daddy. I don’t know. I’m afraid."
"Me too," said Ryann.
"To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself."
"Daddy, what does that mean?"
"It means we must conquer our irrational fears to reach our goals and experience everything life has to offer. Fear of the unknown is just that. You fear what you don’t know."
"But Daddy, you said to respect my fears and listen to them."
"That is true, but as much as you need to respect your fears and instincts, you need to be able to understand which ones are real and which ones are irrational. The irrational fear always turns out to be worse than what it was that actually caused the fear. We must break out of our comfort zones and strive for more to become our best and experience the best that life has to offer. Now, I think we should finish our lunch, get into that line going up to that slide and conquer our irrational fears. Okay?"
"Okay, Daddy, if you promise it will be okay," Gianna said.
"I promise you both everything will be fine. I also promise you that if you do not try that slide you will regret it the whole ride home. So, what do you say? You two ready?"
"Yeah!" they both said in harmony.
“Okay, then, let’s go," John said.
Not only did they all go down the biggest, longest, steepest slide, they did so an extra three times. On the way home the two children fell fast asleep, little smiles on their faces, having conquered their fears and having learned an important lesson they will think about and remember whenever faced with life's unchartered waters for the rest of their lives.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
"The mind of a serial killer is a very complicated entity," John said to Todd as they sat at their desks on a quiet Monday morning. "They are callous, exploitive individuals, with blunted emotions and impulsive inclinations, with an inability to feel guilt or remorse. They are also usually very intelligent."
"Intelligent or not, they are still barbaric, nutcase monsters," Todd interjected.
“Maybe, but they are cunning, sneaky and dangerous. The higher the IQ, the harder they are for us to find and catch."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do they do what they do? Why are they the way they are?"
"I don’t think anyone really knows the answer to that question. It comes back to one of the most highly debated subjects in life, along with socialism versus capitalism, evolution versus intelligent design and capital punishment.”
"What would that be?" asked Todd.
"Nature versus nurture."
"You mean are they born that way or did life experiences make them that way?"
"Exactly. With different childhoods, alternate parents, and upbringings, would they have turned out differently? Or, were they born who they are? It is an age-old question. Is homosexuality embedded in our DNA or is it a choice?"
"I think people are born straight, but change their desires either because of some abuse they have endured as children or some damage they have suffered to their confidence," Todd said.
"Maybe, in some cases. But there are documented cases of homosexuality in the animal kingdom. How about poor inner city kids? Are they destined to be school dropouts, addicts or even worse, headed for a life of crime? Or can they break the cycle, inverse the circle and escape from this troubled life? Do they have the power to change it or are they doomed to follow in the footsteps of those before them?"
"I believe it is a personal choice. There have been many cases where the poor undereducated children have grown up to be successful and there are many cases where a child that has everything he or she needs to be successful fails at life," Todd said.
"True. Which proves the answers all lie in the middle, in the d
ense, uncertain zone we call the grey area. It’s the same with a psychopath. Are they born that way or is it a series of traumatic experiences and abuse that creates their reality and mental state? I think the answer lies in between. Some are born. Some are made. Nature or nurture. It’s fascinating really," John said.
“Yeah, maybe it is to you, but you are a nut job yourself. To a decent, normal dude like myself, it’s terrifying."
"That may be, partner. But it’s real. Boogeymen really do exist."
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Javier Mendez watched over the fair, combing over the rides, games, and concessions for his next possible victim. It was the first time he had succumbed to his urges since being in the States. He had done this type of thing many times in Mexico until the Mexican police started to zero in on him and his activities, which is why he defected to California and up the coast to northern Washington. Javier liked his victims to be six to ten years old, male or female, preferably thick but not overly obese. He liked the meat to be fairly lean, but tender. The challenge for Javier was finding one without parents or guardians around. Javier was very patient. If he didn’t find the right victim tonight there would still be tomorrow or the following day. He would wait for just the right prey and the right situation. That is how he got away with it for so long. Determined patience and cunning. He was like a wolf tracking down a doe or fawn that has wandered off from the group, patiently awaiting a crack in their defenses. There, across the way, was a young child, no more than six or seven, heading to a port-a-john alone. Javier’s instincts piqued like a spark and his stomach rumbled. It has been a long time coming, but Javier was ready to feast. The plump, young boy enjoying his first and last fair, would not make it to the bathroom.
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