by Kelly Shade
Gray agreed. There was one hour left until the landing. Ryan decided to use that hour for more questioning.
“Are we going to share what happened today?”
“Maybe we should. I don’t know yet. I’m not sure we can be off the radar to deal with Dimitria Grigorovich and Michael Morse without them realizing our absence,” Jane said thoughtfully.
“What about the other thing?” Ryan asked nervously.
“I think we can save them from the fact that I almost killed an old woman,” Jane winked.
“Okay” sighed Ryan. He looked as if he were going to force himself to say something he didn’t really want to say.
“Yes?” Blake saw the expression on his face.
“Well. About us, we kissed and I kinda . . .” he started stuttering, but Jane’s sharp glance made him man up. “I want to know what that means!”
Jane smiled at him. He was avoiding her bright green eyes. Ryan was looking down, playing with his fingers. The silence was more than awkward. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“I want us to be more than whatever we are right now. You know that.” He looked up at her. Blake was biting her lip. She leaned in and kissed him. Then she said, “It is way too dangerous around me to let you that close.”
“You let Jason get close!” Ryan teased.
“I didn’t care about Jason.” Jane lifted her guard.
“I can deal with a not official relationship if that works for you.” Ryan felt it was not a good idea to attack her. “It looked like you enjoyed kissing me.”
“I did.” Jane’s face now was serious “I do not want to talk about it again. It was an act to annoy Lilia. It was a mistake, and it is not going to happen again.”
“I can take care of myself. What do you take me for? A thirteen-year-old? My life is in danger every day on the field,” Ryan said angrily.
“I meant what I said,” Jane said firmly.
Gray knew he couldn’t change her mind. He sighed, rubbed his forehead and said, “It’s your decision. If you change it . . .”
“I won’t,” said Jane and looked through the window. “We are almost there; we have to call the team.”
Ryan leaned back in his seat. He was speechless.
Chapter 16
Drop by drop . . .
The airplane landed at midnight, and Jane and Ryan hurried to call the homicide team. They woke up everyone and set up a meeting at the station. Ryan was still angry with Jane, but he tried to act professionally. Since they had gone to the airport in different cars, Blake and Gray went separate ways to find their vehicles.
Ryan and Jane arrived at the Los Angeles police department at the same time. Apparently, when Ryan was in a bad mood, he drove fast. Together they went to the office and waited for the rest of the team. First to arrive was Connor Hunt, who was followed by Ian Valdez and Nick Lee. They were confused why Jane asked them to come to work so early. Jane had to explain several times, and at last, Hunt agreed to check the location.
When Ryan got to work, he took his laptop to research the area. There were about seven hundred houses in the area. Gray did a background check on owners and their wives, children and tenants. That took a while, but he successfully narrowed down the number of possible victims. Now, they had ten locations where women lived who were Rewera’s type.
“I’ll call for more people,” Hunt said. “But, Blake, if you are wrong . . .”
“I’m not! Make the call.” Jane was sure enough to risk Connor’s career on that. “Let’s pick the most probable houses. We will go there, and the other teams will search the other houses.”
“How do you expect us to do that?” Ryan asked irritably.
Jane glance at him angrily. Blake took a deep breath and turned to Ian, Nick and Ryan.
“On a hunch. Look at the pictures of those women. Pick one that you think is the type more than the others.”
Nick and Ian exchanged puzzled glances, but they took a look at the photos. They pointed at two different women. Jane was pleased to see that they picked the right ones.
“She has a naughty vibe. I don’t know. And this one, too.” Nick explained his choice and pointed at one more picture.
“This one is kind of . . . She looks rude and . . . Damn . . . I just have a feeling it’s her.” Ian also tried to justify his pick.
“Outstanding, guys!” Jane congratulated them. “I pick this one,” she pointed at another photo, “Gray, what’s your choice?”
“Umm . . .” Ryan hesitated. “That one.”
“Great, now we have five locations. Should we split up?” Jane was way too happy for a person who was going after a serial murderer.
Hunt hung up the phone and informed them that the teams are on their way. He ordered them to pair up. Ian and Nick were always together as a team, so Jane had to be with Ryan. Hunt decided to join Blake and Gray on the ride to the Venice canal historic district.
“I expect after this ends, you two will share what happened in Chicago,” Hunt said when they were alone in the car.
Ryan and Jane agreed.
They arrived at the first location, the one Nick picked. They rushed into the house to see the woman from the picture lying on the floor, dead.
“Damn, Blake . . . I hoped you were wrong about this.” Hunt scratched his head. The view was as terrifying as usual when Rewera was the one who committed the murder. Blood all over the kitchen was just the beginning. The poor woman had her veins cut, and her white shirt was soggy with her own blood from the cuts on her back. Rewera wrote his poetry with a knife on the woman’s back. Her hair was braided, makeup on, nails polished. It was him with no doubt.
“We have to move. There is nothing we can do for her, Hunt! Let’s go!” yelled Jane when she saw her boss stunned and staring at the young woman’s body.
Before Hunt could move, Jane received a call from Ian. He and Nick had found another victim of the serial murderer. Blake pushed Connor outside, and all three ran to the next location. The house was empty. On the way out another team called Hunt. They had found one more, but someone told the people the police were searching for a killer and the whole neighborhood was in a panic. Hunt hurried to them and left Ryan and Jane alone.
“Come on. There should be one more. He may be with her now!” Blake whispered and ran to the last location they predicted. They stood at the front door breathless. Ryan was ready to kick the door, but Jane stopped him. She pointed at it. It was slightly opened. Jane put her finger to her lips to tell Gray to be quiet. She held her ear to the door so did Ryan. The humming was the only sound coming from inside. Blake and Gray prepared their guns and walked in slowly and quietly. They were in a dark hallway. The sound was coming from the kitchen area. They stepped silently toward the door. Jane stopped Ryan. Now she could hear a voice.
“You wanna go out with me now, don’t you, huh?” said a nasty high-pitched voice with a British accent.
Ryan wanted to go in, but Jane pushed him back. She was trying to see through the little gap of the door. It would be good if she could make the guy step closer to them. Ryan waited a minute more, but he couldn’t sit and do nothing.
“She is alive!” he whispered to Jane and kicked the door.
The murderer stood behind the girl with a blade ready. When he saw Ryan, he stabbed the woman and pushed her against Gray and ran through the back door. Ryan followed him. Jane kneeled by the woman and checked her pulse. She was alive. Blake called for an ambulance and ran after Ryan. Jane found herself in the dark backyard. It was quiet. Blake looked around. She couldn’t see anything. There was no trace of Ryan or the murderer. The sickening feeling in her stomach made her go back in the house. Jane carefully untied the woman from the chair. Her breathing was irregular, her heartbeat was slowing down and fading away. Jane placed her head on a pillow and turned her softly to the side.
“The ambulance in on its way. Just keep breathing okay?” Blake spoke quietly while looking at the victim’s blurry eyes.
“Get
it out please,” the woman spoke breathlessly.
“It’s going to be worse if I remove the blade. We have to wait for the paramedics. You are going to be fine!” Jane had no idea if the woman would survive, but she had to calm her. Blake went to the window to see if help was coming. Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind.
Jane tried to fight, but she couldn’t get away from the firm grip. Then, Blake reached to his head and took a few hairs from beneath his hat. She stopped fighting. He put zip ties on her hands and a cloth in her mouth. He forced her to sit on the chair; he tortured the stabbed woman. Then with the same voice, she heard before he spoke. “Catch me or join me, sweetheart!” he was breathing in her neck “You are a psycho like me. If you join me, I’ll reward you, but otherwise,” he licked her and Jane shivered.
“Good luck, Caroline, or do you prefer Jane?” he laughed valiantly. “There will be blood all over California because you ruined my fun!” He touched her legs slowly reaching from behind, and she could see he was wearing black silicone gloves. His touch felt gross; Jane had the feeling she needed to bathe immediately. This thought made her close her eyes. She had to get away from the reality. The killer spoke again; this time he was performing. He started pompously.
“Through the dark and quiet night,
your fire is burning bright,
you can try to strife
but deep inside is my cold knife,
drop by drop a liquid life,
you go down but I will thrive!”
He finished and removed the cloth from Jane’s mouth so he could hear her reaction.
“Come on. You can do better,” Blake said coldly tried to keep her emotions in check.
He laughed loudly. Jane felt a knife on her skin. He cut her forearm and licked the blood which flowed.
“It turned you on, my pretty psycho! I know it did. Catch me. I want you to catch me, or I will catch you!”
“Why don’t you kill me now?” Jane asked icily.
“The game is not over yet. Not until you suffer enough. Goodbye, my psycho!” he said, and Jane could hear his steps. When the sound of his shoes was gone, Blake jumped a few times to turn the chair over. She fell, and the chair broke. Her hands were still tied, so she went to find a knife. After Jane opened few drawers in the kitchen, she saw the one with the knives. Blake took it off, and it crashed on the floor. With great effort, she kneeled, and with her hands behind her back, she grabbed one small fruit knife and used it to cut the zip ties. After freeing herself, Blake went to check the woman. She faded but still had a pulse. Jane caressed her hair and sat on the floor next to her. She stared at the victim until help arrived.
The paramedics went in with Ryan. He turned pale when he saw Jane. Maybe because of the adrenalin, Blake didn’t feel the pain of the cut. Her bloody forearm looked severely wounded. A puddle of blood had formed on the floor under it. Paramedics tried to take care of Jane, but she sent them away. The stabbed girl on the ground needed the help more. Ryan went to Blake. He took a bottle of water to clean her arm. When he saw the little cut, he relaxed. Paramedics were shouting and running in and out of the house with specialized equipment. The poor woman didn’t have much time. Jane and Ryan helped the medics bring her to the ambulance.
Hunt, Valdez and Lee hurried to them.
“What happened?” asked Nick breathlessly.
Jane explained it all except the small detail that he touched her and the last sentence he said to her. Hunt ordered search parties. Blake and Ryan shared the same opinion on that; they both said the murderer was long gone. Even though Connor knew they were right, he had to try at least.
“How did he get away from you, Gray?” implored Hunt.
“Well, as you know Jane and I went in the house. Jane stayed with the injured woman. I ran after him, but when I got out, I saw only a dark figure who climbed like a cat on the nearby house. I followed him, but he disappeared. I just saw the back of a person in a long black coat and hat,” Ryan finished.
Jane went to her car. Her long black hair was soaked in blood. Her shoulder started to hurt again. She leaned back in the car seat. She was furious with herself. She missed him, and now he wanted to play. From now on every victim was on her. Blake couldn’t take the guilt. What if she went rogue and killed this man? Would that work or would it make things worse? Jane rubbed her eyes. She needed to decide what to do.
“How are you?” Ryan interrupted her thought. He leaned on the opened door with crossed hands.
“I fucking missed him, Gray!” she spoke quietly.
“We saved a life today because you predicted the locations, Jane! Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Ryan tried to calm her.
“Do you have any idea how many people he will kill next? They are on me, Gray!” now Jane shouted. “I couldn’t even glance at him! Fuck!” she punched the steering wheel.
“I missed him, too. And because of me, he went back in! He could have killed you! How do you think I feel?” Ryan kneeled to look at her face. Her eyes were blazing with fury. The crazy look was back. Her eyelids were trembling. Jane felt the ice cold sweat on her forehead. She took a few long breaths to calm her heartbeat.
“He wanted me to join him . . . to be his partner. Ryan, he touched me, he licked my blood. He is way madder than we thought. We have to catch this sick bastard!”
Ryan’s face changed when he heard those words. Pure anger was written all over him. He stood up.
“We will, I promise!” was the only thing he could say.
“Let’s go to the hospital; maybe the victim can tell us more about him,” Jane suggested.
They called the team to let them know where they were going and drove off.
Doctors informed them that Maria Knapp, the victim, was in surgery. The murderer missed her heart because he was in a hurry. Luckily, Maria was going to survive. She lost a lot of blood, but the doctors assured Jane and Ryan she would be fine.
“I’ll get you a soda,” Ryan said, and he went down the corridor leaving Jane in the waiting area. She checked her phone every two minutes. Blake wanted to talk to the victim as soon as possible. These kinds of experiences would be a reason for amnesia and Jane needed to reverse the process, if possible. Of course, the woman would have trauma for life, but Jane knew people’s minds and knew how to lessen the damage. That was possible only if she was able to be with Maria right after she woke up.
Ryan got back and handed Jane a soda can. Until that moment Blake didn’t realize she was dehydrated. She drank it quickly, and the liquid made her feel better.
“Better now?” he asked, trying to sound casual. Blake’s face looked even paler in the light. Her black hair was the reason she looked like she put white paint on her face and neck. Jane’s thick lips, usually pinkish, now were beige and cracked. The only sign she wasn’t going to fade was the expressive green eyes. They were full of life, anger, fire. They were more alive and focused than ever.
“Yeah, I’m okay!” Jane said honestly. She was okay. All the hate she was feeling was making her feel stronger and determined. “Ryan, I . . .”
The surgeon left the surgery room with his team following. He saw Gray and Blake, and he hurried to clarify the victim’s condition. The procedure went okay, and Maria was stable. After all the language they couldn’t understand, the doctor said Maria would be awake in a few minutes. A stretcher showed up from the surgery room, and Blake recognized Ms. Knapp on it. Ryan and Jane hurried to get to the room first. Doctors, of course, didn’t recommend visitors just after surgery, but Gray convinced them the woman saw a serial killer and they couldn’t afford the chance she would forget.
“Maybe I should go alone,” Jane said. Ryan wasn’t happy to stay like a guard at the door again, but he knew Blake had better people skills than he had.
Jane walked in just as Maria Knapp woke up. She looked exhausted and in shock. Blake knew she had to be careful. If she pushed too much, Maria’s brain might decide to wipe away the traumatizing moments, and she would be of no
use to them. Slowly Jane got closer to her bed. Blake introduced herself quietly. Fortunately, Knapp remembered her.
“Thank you, Ms. Blake!” Maria said with a hoarse voice. Jane took her hand and sat on the bed next to her. Blake softly explained who attacked Maria. Knapp burst into tears because of the news that she was the last of four victims. The women who were killed were Maria’s friends.
“Why us?” cried Knapp.
“I guess you all were popular at school. There was a person who was stalking you, and you rejected him. Also, you all have dark hair, bright eyes and nice figure. It’s his type,” Jane explained.
Now was the time to ask questions. Blake was in a dilemma. Should she hypnotize Maria or not? After a couple of minutes in silence, Jane decided the woman needed to be conscious and in her right mind. She needed to accept what happened to her and live with it. That would only happen if Maria talked about the awful night. Blake took few long breaths and began with the questioning.
“Maria, I know it is hard, but you have to tell me everything from the moment the killer walked in until the moment we arrived.”
“I don’t . . . I can’t,” Maria cried.
“You are strong enough to deal with it. Don’t be afraid. If you help us catch him, you will save a lot of lives.” Jane spoke calmly and tried not to push too much.
“Yeah, okay!” the woman shook her head nervously. “I . . . I had a dream, the same nightmare for a week. I’m sitting on a weird sofa, and I’m drinking tea . . . there is a black bird flying around me. I have a sip, and the liquid tastes bad, and then I’m falling into the darkness. I woke up, sweaty and scared. Then I heard noise coming from the kitchen. I walked down, but I thought I was imagining it because of the lack of sleep . . .But someone grabbed me from behind. I panicked. I couldn’t even scream. Then everything went black, and I was falling down, and I saw the raven . . . it was like my dream!” Maria started shivering again. Jane caressed her hair.
