“Now what?” Emily says with some nervousness.
“Don’t worry, no one will ever know what you just told me.”
“Ok.” Emily stares into the detective’s eyes for a few tense moments, but catches herself and looks away. For the first time since she was a child, she feels safe and secure even if it’s just for a short time staring at the Monterey bay.
Trying to change the awkward moment, Emily asks, “How’s your case going?”
“Not very well.”
“Want a fresh pair of eyes?”
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-One
Tuesday 2300 Hours
The Killer drives alone through the quiet neighborhoods looking for signs of life that will fulfill his own morbid fantasy. Houses are dark, with only a few who have porch lights illuminated to keep prowlers away. The occupants are safely inside fast asleep.
The Killer can’t sleep. Every time he closes his eyes he sees through the eyes of the peregrine falcon flying high over the shoreline relentlessly searching for his next prey. When awake, he’s relentlessly searching for his next prey at bars, restaurants, and shopping centers. It’s become a way of life and ultimate survival. He won’t sleep again until the next phase has been completed. The only way the Killer can survive in this life and move into the next is by sacrificing another victim. He continues to search mercilessly, but now with a renewed energy that has been instilled in his psyche. He is on a mission of human destruction so he can live ultimately free.
The Killer notices a woman walking alone. Before he can respond, the woman gets into a car with a man. How lucky for her, he thinks. He keeps searching.
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-Two
Tuesday 2330 Hours
Emily is seated on the floor of the motel room studying the crime scene photos for each of the murders. She has arranged the photos by importance to the serial killer. She feels a little lightheaded after drinking a couple of beers, but extremely relaxed considering everything she has been through.
Rick watches her work and can’t believe how naturally things come to her. She is expertly ordering the photos and lists probable suspects and where the suspects and victim’s paths could’ve crossed. He had worked with many detectives and police officers in the past, but none had the natural intuition and tenacity that Emily exhibits.
Emily says, “You do understand that this killer is driven by compulsion and won’t stop until you stop him?”
“That’s becoming apparent.”
“He’s not going to just let you arrest him either, he definitely won’t go quietly. He’ll take collateral damage with him if he can.” She holds up a close up photo of the tear marks on one of the victim’s neck. “He somehow thinks that he’s going to become something else.”
“What do you mean by something else?”
She leans back against the bed. “Like he’s becoming another person or thing in his mind that will give him the ultimate power. It’s power he seeks unlike his partner who seeks another kind of power in the domination and torture over women.”
“So the amputation is all a part of him becoming whatever he’s fantasized about and not just a trophy?”
“Exactly. In his mind all of his victims are a part of him and in turn they are all a part of each other. That’s his supreme power.”
“What a pair.” The detective leans back in his chair exhausted. “How would these two killers even meet?”
Emily shakes her head, “Who knows, but I’d guess that they have something in common. Maybe they met somewhere recently or some unusual circumstances put them together. Whatever it is they both feel that they have a specific purpose, and they need one another in order to carry out that special purpose.” She yawns. “I’m sorry, it’s late for me.”
Rick looks at his watch and stands up. “It’s just past midnight and it’s been a long day for me too.”
Emily moves the organized photos and profile list toward the desk. She gets to her feet. She faces Rick, but doesn’t know exactly what to say. She’s already poured her guts out to him and looked at grisly crime scene photos, but now she’s at a loss for words. She can’t seem to shake his gaze or his unmistakable desirability.
The lamp on the nightstand flickers. It flickers several more times and then the bulb goes out completely. The room is now dimly lit, but Emily and Rick don’t move from each other’s gaze.
Emily manages to say, “Well I guess that’s my cue to go.” She turns to leave and walks to the door.
Rick follows her and says, “You sure that you’re okay now?”
Emily turns and replies, “I’m okay. Thanks.” She smiles.
Ever since the day he saw her on the beach with her dog, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. And now, she’s confessed her role as serial killer hunter to him, and he’s not going to let her go so easily. He feels her attraction to him, but she’s guarded, waiting for his response to her. She trusts him, but doesn’t want to force the situation. That much the detective knows for sure.
Rick decides to makes his move. He gently takes her left arm and says, “Wait.” She turns, but not with a questionable look on her face, it was more of an answer that he wanted.
She looks away for a tense moment and says, “I don’t know if.”
The detective leans in and kisses her, softly at first. Emily responds with intense heat as they both become embroiled in each other’s arms for several minutes, probing each with affectionate kisses.
They move over to the bed and slowly undress each other as their anticipation rises. Emily runs her hands down the detective’s chest and then she unbuckles his belt. The detective responds and reciprocates, he continues to undress Emily.
Rick then begins to make love to her slowly and passionately for several hours. Neither one knew that they possessed that much energy and hunger for one another. Afterward, they both gently fall asleep satisfied and never wanting to be without the other. It was as if there wasn’t another soul that could understand what drives each of them.
Emily suddenly awakens. The clock reads a quarter to five in the morning. She sees Rick still sleeping peacefully and doesn’t want to disturb him. He desperately needs his rest. She quietly gets dressed and then stands silently next to the bed watching him sleep. It pains her to leave him, now that she’s finally found him. They are more connected than she even realizes.
Emily knows that she must get away for a while to think and come up with a new strategy; no one is safe with her until these outstanding cases are solved. Someone wants her dead, and she can’t take the chance that someone else will get caught in the middle, especially someone she cares deeply about. She must continue with her original plans of leaving town for a while.
She knew if she woke Rick up he would only convince her to stay and that they would work everything out together. She can’t compromise his safety. She will return soon. She hesitates for another couple of minutes just to be near him, watching him sleep peacefully before she leaves the motel.
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-Three
Wednesday 2130 Hours
The small apartment building was located just four blocks from the beach in Santa Cruz. It was a no frills apartment building for working professionals who don’t want the responsibility for the upkeep of front or back yards. The people who live in this apartment building don’t have any pets and usually work long or unusual hours. Even at this later hour, many of the occupants aren’t home.
The interior of Matt’s apartment was basic in décor with only the necessities to live. The furniture is sparse throughout the two-bedroom floor plan and comfortable. Matt sits on the couch with his feet on the oak coffee table complaining to Ken. The television is turned to some reality show rerun with the volume turned down.
“This job is getting so boring. With or without a serial killer on the loose.” Matt takes a swig of his domestic beer.
“It’s the town.” Ken replies casually watching the tele
vision set.
“So what you’re saying if I want more excitement transfer to a big city?”
“Maybe.”
“It’ll just be full of ten times more Detective Lopez’s out there. One is enough.”
“I’m just saying that there’s more to do and more opportunity that’s all.” Ken looks at his partner.
“Maybe you’re right.” He looks at a beautiful blonde on the television. “Maybe there would be more unsuspecting babes in a bigger city.”
“But these cases are driving me nuts. How can you stand Lopez?”
“We have a job to do.” Ken opens another beer.
“Doesn’t he bug the crap out of you?”
“Not really.”
Matt joins his partner and opens another beer. “He’s so annoying with his criminal profiles and psychological theories. It doesn’t matter how many profiles he writes, the killers are going to be right under his nose anyway.”
Ken replies matter of fact, “He’s solved more cases than anyone else at the department.”
“Big whoop. It still doesn’t mean that he’s not annoying.”
“Maybe not.” Ken smiles.
Matt continues to vent, “This town wouldn’t know how to catch a killer it they crawled up their ass. Even if the killer walked right into the station and yelled at the top of their lungs, ‘I’m your killer’.”
“You have good point. Our detective supervisor will never catch the killers.” Ken continues to watch the television.
“Touché.” Matt taps his beer bottle to Kens.
“Let’s go out and do something.” Ken says.
“Sure, I’m up for it.”
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-Four
Thursday 0130 Hours
Emily’s neighborhood is quiet. A cat slinks down the side of the street looking for the mouse that belongs to the scent it has been tracking for the past hour. It skirts under a parked car when two men dressed in dark clothing move swiftly around the Brandon’s house and disappear into the back yard.
It is quiet inside the Brandon’s house; they have been asleep for a couple of hours. Sergeant sleeps on a comfortable doggie bed in the garage so that he won’t bother the Brandon’s sleep. The dog sleeps deeply dreaming of wide-open meadows and chasing butterflies. His paws gently twitch with each deep breath.
Two masked figures easily open the large sliding door leading into the living room. It barely makes a sound even in the deathly quiet night. They slip inside the house never uttering a word to one another. One of the masked figures gently closes the slider. They both then make their way toward the bedrooms down a long narrow hall without making a single sound. The bedroom at the end of the hall has the door closed.
One of the masked figures gestures to the other to open the closed door. The other figure steadily opens the door with a gloved hand revealing the spacious bedroom. Theresa and Robert are sleeping peacefully and haven’t been disturbed by the intruders. The heavy drapes are pulled tight over the windows to keep any unnecessary light from creeping into the room.
The bedroom is located at the back of the house, so it’s unlikely that anyone will hear any noise coming from the bedroom. Each intruder stands on opposite sides of the bed and stares down at the sleeping couple for a moment. They each remove a firearm and take aim. With a nod from one of the intruders, Theresa and Robert are violently awakened with the two intruders pressing a gun against their heads. Terrified the couple cries out trying desperately to wake from their nightmare.
In a seething whisper one masked intruder demands, “Where is Emily Stone?”
Theresa responds through sobs, “I don’t know.”
He repeats again, “Where is she?”
Again, Theresa answers, “I don’t know.”
Sergeant is barking wildly from the garage and clawing at the closed door.
Robert tries to explain, “We don’t know. She came by and said she was leaving and didn’t tell us where. She usually doesn’t.”
The masked intruder strikes Robert leaving a bleeding gash across his forehead. Theresa screams out in terror.
The other masked intruder leans into Theresa and threatens in a quiet voice, “If you’re lying we’ll be back to kill you.”
The two masked men quickly leave the bedroom and disappear out the sliding door. Robert manages to sit up and nurse his deep wound.
Theresa frantically picks up the phone from the nightstand and dials 911.
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-Five
Friday 1000 Hours
Emily is still exhausted from the long drive to Indiana since she drove straight through only stopping for gas and food when absolutely necessary. She didn’t even have a chance to check her voice mail for messages because she didn’t want to talk to Rick right now until she got her bearings and some much needed rest. She was able to get some restful sleep in a motel just outside of town before setting out to find her close friend and confidant Sergeant Mike Sullivan.
The town looks too good to be true and it’s hard to imagine that there are still towns in the United States that are clean, relatively free of crime, with friendly inhabitants and neighborly people. Driving through town, Emily realized how much she has missed the scenery as well are her friend Mike.
Emily knows that at ten in the morning he will most likely be at a local favorite establishment called The Steaming Mug for his morning break. She smiles and reflects that he will probably be eating a decadent pastry dripping with chocolate and sugar sprinkles, but will rationalize that he’ll start his diet tomorrow.
Emily pulls up in front of The Steaming Mug next to a police patrol car and parks. She quickly gets out and enters the coffee house. Not being disappointed, she spots Mike sitting at a small table reading the newspaper with a half eaten bear claw on his plate.
Emily smiles and says, “I thought you were on a diet.”
Mike looks up and gasps, “Em!” He jumps up from the table and gives his friend a bear hug. “It’s so good to see you. When did you get here?”
“Late last night and then I came straight here.”
“Why didn’t you let you know you were coming?” He gestures to sit down at the bistro table.
Taking a seat, Emily continues, “Well I really didn’t know until the last minute.”
“Where are you staying?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Mike studies his friend carefully and senses her stress. “What’s going on Em?”
Emily stares down at the table. It’s difficult for her to put into words. “Mike, it’s been bad.”
Mike is concerned. “Did something happen on one of your investigations?”
“No, well yes and no.” Emily becomes frustrated.
“Which is it?”
“I started tracking a serial killer in Santa Cruz and I.” She hesitates before continuing, “And I think he’s after me now.”
“How is that possible?” Mike is very concerned, but pleased that she decided to come home.
“I’ve been followed and some masked men broke into my house in the middle of the night to threaten me.”
“Did you go to the police?”
“Well yes, but for another reason. You know that I can’t let them know too much about me.” She begins to pick at a corner piece of the bear claw.
Mike leans back and relaxes. “I know, but I’m glad you decided to come out here for a while. We’ll figure this thing out, okay.”
“I was hoping that you might have one of your rentals available for a week or so.”
“As a matter of fact I do. I’m remodeling one of my duplexes, and you’re welcome to stay there for as long as you like.” He takes her hand. “Carol and I would love for you to stay with us. I know the kids want to see you too.”
“Thank you, but I really need to be alone so I can think this whole situation out.”
“I understand, stay as long as you like.” Mike knows that there’s more to Emily’s grief
than she’s telling him, but he’ll give her time – for now.
* * * * *
Chapter Forty-Six
Friday 1045 Hours
Donald storms around Emily’s house looking for an open window or sliding door. He knew that she must have gone somewhere else so he couldn’t confront her about her attack on him. Did she actually expect him to not figure out that it was her? It took him almost forty-five minutes to loosen the rope from his wrists so he could escape. His back was killing him from the assault. He should really think about suing her for assault and ruining his personal property. He knew that she was trouble for him the first time he laid eyes on her. Why didn’t the whole neighborhood see his point of view? The rage begins to boil in his blood the more he thinks about Emily and the attack. His heartbeat pounds in his ears making it difficult to concentrate.
Donald observes that the sliding door to the bedroom is barricaded over with heavy cardboard and duct tape. It’s the perfect entrance and no one will ever know he’s gained access into the house. He quickly pulls the cardboard from the window frame and steps inside Emily’s bedroom. He moves through the house and up the stairs not quite sure what to look for. A room off of the dining room proves to be promising.
Donald walks into the small den; it seems to be Emily’s office. He begins searching through bills and miscellaneous paperwork on the computer desks. He finds several notes from Valparaiso Indiana from an M. Sullivan. There is a cell phone bill that shows many calls to Indiana – the same phone number. He spends a few more minutes looking through files and the filing cabinet but nothing captures his attention. He writes down Emily’s cell number and all the information he could find about M. Sullivan in Indiana. Now at least, he has a place to start to locate her. Emily Stone will wish that she never set foot in his house. He will make sure that she never interferes with his life again.
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