Seven Bridges

by Ciana Stone

  Panic had her fingers clawing at the surface of the door as she gasped for air. Izzi couldn't scream for help, couldn't separate herself from the poor woman who'd died here. Help.

  As if in answer to her plea, someone pulled her away from the door and turned her around. Immediately her vision returned, and she could once again breathe. Izzi blinked and looked up into Galen's eyes.

  And the world went silent. Calm.

  "You're okay." He said softly. "Do you hear me? You're okay."

  She nodded. She was okay. Strange how quickly that had happened. "Thank you."

  "Sure," Galen moved his hands from her shoulders and stepped back a pace. "Can I ask what just happened?"

  "I felt her. Terrible pain. She couldn't breathe."

  "He had her against this door," Galen revealed.

  "Yes. He stabbed her twice in the left lung and once in the right. She was bleeding out when he took her heart."

  "Correct."

  "And he left no prints, not one hair or skin cell. Not a drop of blood or saliva?"

  "Correct."

  "And no heart?"

  "It hasn't been found. But if this is a copycat killing, it may not be found. The killer might have kept it."

  "And died with it in a car accident? I don't think so." Izzi looked around. Now that she'd been taken by the energy, made to feel the pain and had moved beyond it, she could pay attention to other things. She took her time, looking around the room, stopping to close her eyes and absorb what energy the objects possessed. There was nothing more for her here. She walked back over to where Galen stood with Dennis.

  "Can we talk?"

  "Sure."

  She led him out into the hallway. "Would you consider going to Gib and asking if we can have someone follow that path and see where it leads?"

  "I would consider it if you tell me why."

  "Because I think he's playing with us, and I need to know what's at the end of that path."

  "Fine, but it's getting dark soon, so we'll request they do it at first light."

  "Thank you."

  "Don't. I'm going to be straight with him and say the request comes from you but that I support it. That way, if it's a wild goose chase, it's your bird we're chasing and not mine."

  Izzi smiled despite their surroundings. "Fair enough."

  He headed for the front of the house, and she made her way into the kitchen and out onto the back stoop. Not so long ago, a woman and her three children called this place home. Now all they'd known and loved was gone. Their future was wiped away because a monster found them, one who delighted in the agony of others.

  Now, this was a place permeated with horror and death, and until the monster paid for his sins, it would never be clean. Please let us find him. She sent out a silent wish.

  Sadly, she was not shocked to hear a whisper in reply.

  Not today, my love.

  Not until you're ready to be mine.

  Izzi's eyes moved, her gaze searching the darkness. Was he out there? Watching? She couldn't tell. She didn't think he'd be reckless enough to come so close.

  That gave her a thought. Something she'd discuss with the others when the time came. Perhaps what they should be doing was challenging him to come closer. Make the game personal. If he won, he got her. And if he lost, she got him.

  And then he would cease to be.

  Chapter Ten

  "First one up, as usual."

  Gib looked behind him to see Galen standing at the coffee station. "Hotel beds," he said in the way of an explanation.

  The truth was, he wasn't sure he wanted to tell anyone what had really kept him awake. When the team returned to the hotel the previous evening, they were given the use of a conference room. Once they'd eaten, they went over the evidence that had previously been collected at the crime scene, looked at all the photos again, and discussed their observations.

  Izzi listened to everyone without volunteering to add or argue. He found it odd that she didn't contribute in any way. When the discussion wound down, he finally looked at her. "Is there anything you want to add?"

  "I'd prefer to wait until we visit the scene of the crash and speak with the ME if that's all right."

  "Absolutely."

  "Great. Well, I'm pooped, so goodnight everyone. Rest well."

  She practically ran from the room. Everyone else left but Leo and Galen. Gib looked at Leo. "What did I miss?"

  "Beats me," he cut a look at Galen. "She stuck with you most of the time, so maybe you have some insight?"

  "I'm not sure. All I can tell you is that when she went into the bedroom, something happened. She went to the closet door, where the Unsub killed the woman, put her hands flat on it, and every bit of color drained out of her face. She was gasping for breath and looked like she was about to fall.

  "I went to her and turned her around, and her eyes were white. It was creepy. It was like she was in a fugue state or something. Then she blinked. I told her she was okay, just to breathe, and she did. She said she felt the victim's pain."

  He looked at Gib. "I wasn't aware she had such an ability. She said the woman was stabbed twice in the left lung, once in the right, and was bleeding out when he took her heart."

  "That matches the ME's report," Leo offered.

  "I'm aware, and I don't mind telling you that took me by surprise."

  "I know what you mean," Leo agreed and looked at Gib. "Maybe you should check on her?"

  "Maybe so," Gib stood. "Thank you. See you in the morning."

  "Get some rest," Leo said and was echoed by Galen. "Sleep well."

  Gib went to his room and found the interconnecting door between his and Izzie's room open. There were no lights on, and he wondered if she was already in bed. He tapped on the doorframe and waited for a response.

  "Come in," she turned from where she stood in front of the sliding glass doors to the balcony.

  "Are you okay, Iz?"

  "No."

  Her directness shocked him. Izzi typically avoided admitting to any kind of weakness. "What can I do?"

  She hurried to him and threw herself into his arms. "He was there, Gib. At the crime scene."

  That delivered a jolt. "What do you mean he was there?"

  "I heard him. In my head. I was standing in the kitchen, thinking how sad it was. Once a family lived there, a woman with hopes and dreams for her children, doing what she could to make a good life for them.

  "I bet there was a time they were all in that kitchen while she made cookies, times when she fixed pancakes or a birthday cake, or they had hotdogs. Times they laughed and smiled, and love filled that little house.

  "Then he showed up, and he turned it into a tomb – a place of horror and death. He took everything from them and then just walked away. I wished that we could find him. End him. And then I heard him. In my head."

  "What did he say?"

  "Not today, my love. Not until you're ready to be mine."

  Gib held her tighter. "That's never going to happen, Iz. I'll kill him with my own hands before I let him touch you again. I swear on my life."

  "I know and I love you for it. I do have a request, and it's going to seem strange."

  "Ask anyway."

  "I'd like to work more with Galen."

  "Can I ask why?"

  "Because he doesn't care about me. God, that came out wrong. What I meant is we're not close. With you and Leo I'm always picking up on your worry for me, and, not to be insulting or make you mad, but it can be distracting. I love you for it, but it makes it hard to do what I do. With Galen it's different. There's nothing coming from him to interfere with my insights or my own thoughts."

  "I wouldn't be insulted by that, and yes, in the field, stick with him if you need to partner up. I'll mention it to Leo so that it appears to come from me."

  "Thank you."

  "You don't have to thank me. Is there anything else I can do?"

  She didn't reply for such a long time, he thought perhaps he'd said the wro
ng thing. Then he heard her whisper. "Promise me we'll close this case, Gib. I want us to find and stop him so we can finally have a life. A real one. One with a home and a dog and two cats and maybe a bird."

  Gib smiled.

  "That sounds damn good to me, Iz. I thought that maybe once we stop this Unsub, it might be time for me to try my luck in the private sector."

  "Seriously?" She pulled back and looked up at him.

  "Seriously."

  Her smile was genuine and filled him with relief, and with hope. He hadn't lied. She'd have known if he did. Ever since she'd agreed to work with him, he'd been thinking about it. And he thought about it as soon as he woke this morning. Now, he tried to put it out of his mind as Galen took a seat at the table with him.

  "You look like a man who didn't sleep," Galen commented.

  "And you look the same whether you sleep or not. Listen, before everyone else gets here, while we're at the crime scene, could you stick close to Iz? She has a harder time getting impressions when Leo or I are close. She picks up on our concern for her, and it's a distraction."

  "Sure," Galen agreed. "It makes sense."

  "I appreciate it."

  "Don't mention it," Galen looked over Gib's shoulder. "Looks like the troops are amassing. I'm going to grab some food from the breakfast buffet while there's time."

  "Of course."

  Within minutes everyone except Izzi was seated at the table, eating and discussing the day's schedule. Initially, they planned to visit the site of the car crash where the man's body was found that the police believed to be the Unsub. Gib had revised the plan after speaking with Izzi and Galen. Now, he, Galen, Izzi, and Fiona were going back to the home where the family was killed. They would be accompanied by a forensic team from the State who would take impressions of the footprints Izzi and Galen found and to see where the footprints led. The rest of the Unit would go to the crash site and wait for Gib and his group there.

  Gib saw Izzi arrive as everyone else was finishing their breakfast. He rose, and just as he started toward her, Fiona stepped up beside her at the coffee station. "Do you want to grab something to eat on the way?" Fiona asked.

  "No, this is about all I can handle in the morning," Izzi smiled, capped her cup and looked around Fiona at Gib. "Good morning."

  "Good morning."

  "So, what's the plan?"

  "You, Fiona, and Galen are going with me to get a look at those footprints you and Galen found. A forensic team from the State will meet us there to take impressions. We'll rendezvous with the others at the scene of the car crash."

  "Sounds like a plan."

  "Do you have everything you need?"

  "I do."

  "I'll get Galen."

  "Great."

  She looked at Fiona. "Let's walk outside. Looks like a pretty morning."

  It was nice, with a clear sky and air that held more than a bit of cold. Still, with a cloudless sky, it wouldn't be bad to be outside. Izzi drew in a deep breath then looked at Fiona, who was watching her. "What?"

  "Just wondering."

  "Wondering what?"

  "If you're still the same. I know it's only been a year, but things change – people change."

  "Do they?"

  Izzi didn't know that she agreed with that statement. "Really? How many people have you known who've actually changed?"

  Fiona frowned and was silent for a few moments, then replied. "Good question. I mean, I know people who've made changes – stopped drinking or smoking, things like that. That's change."

  "That's giving up a pattern of behavior. Not change. I'm betting they're still the same people. Nothing has changed about who they are, just what they do. And how many of them just found another addiction? Health food, exercise, sex, dancing, cooking, you name it."

  "Good point, and I guess people don't change, but honestly, you don't seem the same to me. When you left, you seemed …"

  "Go ahead, you can say it, Fi."

  "Okay then, you seemed broken somehow. Small and fragile and –and broken."

  "Probably because I was."

  "Because of being that psycho's captive?"

  "No. Because of Gib almost dying."

  "But he made it, Izzi, and you could have stayed."

  "No, I couldn't. I wanted to, but I wasn't strong enough."

  "For what?"

  "For fear that it would happen again, and when it did, I'd lose someone I cared about. For good. I couldn't take that chance."

  "Especially with him?"

  Izzi looked at Fiona and smiled. "Yes."

  "I get it. Everyone does. I mean, the ones of us who've been with the team for a while and worked with you and Gib."

  "Really?" Izzi had often wondered what the people on the team thought of her and Gib as a couple.

  "Yeah, really. You brought him back to life. Even his kids say that."

  "They're just being kind."

  "No, they're not and you know it. Neither am I. You did bring him back, and when you left, it broke him too."

  "That wasn't my intention."

  "I believe you, but you need to think long and strong about why you're here, Izzi, because every day that you are, Gib will lose more control over those restraints he put in place, holding his emotions in."

  "What are you trying to tell me?"

  "That I don't want you to break him again."

  "I won't."

  "Are you sure about that? I mean, how is it different now?"

  Izzi considered her answer before speaking. She and Fiona were friends, but she wasn't in the habit of confiding in people or sharing certain parts of her life. Still, she knew Fiona and all the Unit cared deeply about Gib, so she gave the short but truthful answer.

  "I realized that while I can live without him, I don't want to. Not even for a day."

  "Because you're still in love with him."

  "Yes."

  "Good enough for me. Him too, I imagine. Here they come."

  Within a couple of minutes, they were in the car and on their way. Izzi opted to sit in the backseat. Fiona climbed in beside her, leaving Galen the front passenger seat. Gib drove, and once they were on the road leading to the crime scene, he initiated a conversation. "Galen, I want to hear from you and Izzi again on these footprints and their significance."

  Galen turned his body to cut a look back over his shoulder at Izzi. "You want to take this?"

  "No, thanks, go ahead." It wasn't that she was hesitant to speak, she was simply curious how Galen would frame their request for this part of the investigation.

  "Fine," he directed his attention to Gib. "One. It's clear the Unsub didn't drive to the house. It'd rained earlier in the day, a real downpour according to local law enforcement and neighbors who were interviewed. If a car had driven in or out of the driveway, there would have been tire tracks, and there were none.

  "Two. If he didn't drive, then he walked, but it stands to reason that he wouldn't walk miles on end. Logically, he'd have found a place to park his car where it wouldn't be spotted, and wasn't far from the victim's home.

  "Three. We found footprints, and when I asked one of the Deputies, he said that the path was mostly used by kids as a shortcut from Miller's Crossing at the foot of the hill to the victim's road. When asked, he said it wasn't uncommon to find cars parked there. High school kids often parked off-road in the remains of an old driveway to a pasture that was once part of a large local farm. Now, it's just a place for kids to gather to go swim in the small lake there.

  "Which means it wouldn't seem out of place to see a parked car, and if the Unsub was continuing his methodical preparations as we assume, he would take care to not appear out of place."

  His answer prompted questions from Fiona and Gib. Izzi kept silent, listening, and paying attention to the energy in the vehicle.

  Every living thing puts off energy, and one of her so-called extra senses was the ability to pick up and interpret that energy. She was quite adept at picking up on it, but interpr
etation wasn't easy. People were complex, and what might feel like the energy of anxiety might also be excitement. No two people's energy was the same, and their reactions were colored with different genetic and environmental factors. Each brought a unique set of life experiences to bear, which altered their energy to be different from all others.

  Still, she could glean a few things. Neither Gib nor Fiona were dismissing the possibility. They leaned in the same general direction as Galen and Izzi. None of them were convinced the Unsub had left such apparent clues. It didn't fit his profile at all.

  "Unless he's done," Fiona said.

  All talk ceased.

  Gib shared a look with Galen, then glanced up into the rearview mirror at Izzi. She looked at Fiona. "What would lead you to that conclusion?"

  "The elephant that's been in the room for years that no one wants to acknowledge."

  Izzi felt a sudden shift in the energy. Fiona's comment had either upset or shocked both men. Why? "What elephant is that?"

  "The age of the Unsub. You were seven when he invaded your home. Your mother was twenty-seven. All the women he picks range from twenty-five to thirty-two. There's never been a victim older or younger, signifying this seven-year span to be meaningful for him."

  Since she and Gib had just discussed the age of the Unsub, Izzi found it an odd coincidence that Fiona was now bringing it up, but didn't reveal that. She just nodded. "I agree. And the elephant?"

  "His age. How old would you guess him to be? I know you wouldn't have any idea from the first encounter, but you were his prisoner for three months, so you must have some idea how old he is."

  Izzi felt the anticipation of the people in the car. She'd been asked about the Unsub before – anything she could tell that would help identify him. So far, her answers had not proven helpful.

  "As I've said before, I never touched him. He took great care not to let that happen. He took great care to make sure our skin never came into contact when I was his captive. If he touched me, he wore protection.

  "I never saw his face, looked into his eyes, or heard the true sound of his voice. His mask had some kind of – voice distortion. I don't know what, but it gave his voice a mechanical sound. And he always wore black, covering his head, body, and arms.