by A P Morgan
A smile filled my face as I thought of the poor woman huddled in the cage waiting on me to bring her dinner. Good thing I’d already ordered a doggy bag to take home because the night was just getting started.
Chapter 2
Leslie
I walked to my desk every morning in fear that I was going to find a newspaper telling me that we were going to find a growing body count. So far it had been quiet, but it was only the first few days of the new sign.
With no sign of impending doom, I caught myself humming. Crap that was always a sign that someone was in a relationship. Jerome and I had talked as I’d driven him home from dinner with my friends. Any relationship was going to take work, but I had to know that he wasn’t going to be jealous about the guys I worked with.
I’d finally convinced him that I didn’t date in the same place that I worked. Keeping business and pleasure separate had always seem to be the best way to stay out of trouble. Female cops already had a bad rap and there were always the rumors about sleeping our way to the top. There was no reason to fuel the flames by dating someone that I worked with on a daily basis.
Promising him another date with no sex to get to know more about each other had been hard, but would be worth it in the long run. At least that was my motto for the day, but if I didn’t work off this extra energy from the last case soon I might not be able to keep my resolve.
A text from Ryan pulled me out of my self-speculation,
Ryan: Anything on your desk?
Leslie: Nope. Maybe we’re just missing it and he wants to see if we can figure it out before giving us hints.
Ryan: That’s what I’m afraid of, but all of the reports don’t have anything specific that matches.
Leslie: The bright side is that it’s only been a few days. The bad side is that he could already have killed again and we’re starting out behind again.
Ryan: All of this waiting is making me antsy. Knowing there’s something this evil out there, but I can’t do anything about it.
Leslie: Yet. We can’t do anything about it yet. We will though.
Ryan: Yeah, meanwhile I’m stuck doing all of the reports that didn’t get turned in while I was gone.
Leslie: It could be worse.
Ryan: How’s that?
Leslie: You could still be up in the cold and snow right now.
Ryan: Good point. Message if you find out anything.
Leslie: Will do.
Now, Ryan’s anxiety was making me anxious. I needed to be put to work and I knew just how to do it.
“Joe, didn’t they need someone to do some follow up interviews on that triple homicide from yesterday?”
“Yep. You volunteering?” He smiled in sympathy, “Can’t sit still huh?”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, shaking my head no. Embarrassed that I couldn’t hide what was bothering me the most.
“Well, let’s go see what you’ve learned while on this intercity task force.” He grabbed a sport jacket from the back of his chair.
Shortly, I was trying to figure out what on earth I’d been thinking while listening to the old lady’s fifth attempt to offer us cookies while she told us her eye witness account of what happened.
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As I slid into the booth across from Jerome, I noticed that he was a little more reserved than he had been the other night. I was hoping that we could put the past behind us and move on into the future.
“Hey, big case today?”
“No, we just did a few follow up interviews. Routine stuff that has to be done. I feel bad for Joe because I was supposed to be his partner, but I’ve been pulled off twice now and it’s like waiting on pins until it happens again.” I didn’t gloss over Ryan’s involvement, but there was no point of bringing his name up constantly either.
“How can you be sure that it will happen again?” Jerome’s question made me pause.
“Beside the fact that there was a note after Heather Sandford was found dead? My instinct says that this person is trying to get us engaged in catching him or her.”
“What if she wrote the note herself just to throw you off track?”
“Hmm, that could be a possibility, but I don’t get that feeling. It just feels like something’s been left out of the equation. I had no connections whatsoever to this lady, but there were newspapers left on the desk that pointed to Wisconsin. Why would she send that to us?” I asked puzzled. “Even if for some reason she was using the connection between Jesse and Ryan, why would I get a newspaper?”
“Maybe she’d seen something about your recent case and thought that you would be interested?” He was cautious about mentioning Ryan and I was beginning to feel that we were having two different conversations.
“I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ll give it a try. You’re a cop and you have a cousin that’s working in Alaska and someone dies in a car accident. The next day you find a newspaper on your desk about this car crash in Alaska, but your cousin knows nothing about it. Now, do you A: ignore it as a crazy coincidence? Or B: think that this is a threat to you or your cousin? How did the person who sent the paper know that you were related? It’s not like you put out neon signs saying this is my relative. The person who sent the paper had to stalk you and check out your information. There is nothing that screams investigate more than a mere coincidence and this is pretty specific.”
“I guess. I’m not sure that my brain works the same way that yours does though. I never would have though more than just a moment about it being weird that I’d gotten that paper. I’d assume that my cousin had sent it to me for some reason.” Jerome shrugged in resignation.
“Understandable. Would you want us to both to think the exact same way? The world could get kind of boring if we were all the same.”
“No, I wouldn’t want you to be the same as me. I just never would have looked at it like you do.” He took my hand and gave it a squeeze, “You wouldn’t be you and that’s what I am really liking. You keep surprising me. Let’s find something lighter to talk about over dinner.”
“What made you want to go into research? Did you always want to do something in this type of field?” I wanted to find out what made this guy tick and see if we were compatible in more ways than just the bedroom.
“I’ve always been curious how things worked and asked my mom tons of questions. She hated it and finally started asking questions back at me so I’d figure some things out on my own. Once, I could read that was how I spent all of my free time. I’d be walking along and see something and wonder how it worked.”
He rubbed a finger along the back of my hand making it hard to concentrate on what he was saying.
“We didn’t have google back in the day and actually had to read about a subject that we wanted to know more about. So that’s what I did, I started reading and by the third grade I’d read every non-fiction book in the school library. My mom started taking me to the city library, but that only last until I able to take the bus by myself. I devoured learning.”
“So why aren’t you an engineer or analyst for a company making lots of money?” I slapped my hand to my mouth as the words left my mouth, “I didn’t mean your job wasn’t good enough, but if you’d studied like that in school then wouldn’t you have been better suited for something more than fact checking for a paper?”
He laughed breaking some of the tension that had been hovering around us since we’d sat down. “See that’s what I like about you, you’re honest. No, I could have gone the technical route and gotten a few degrees, but I didn’t like to learn about only what the teachers would tell me to learn. I went to a college across the country because I had a full scholarship, but I dropped out after the first semester when I found out that I didn’t have to stay.”
I could feel the astonished look on my face, “I’d be losing if we were playing poker tonight.”
“It’s okay. People assume that I got all of my intelligence from going to a college or university. I have take
n online classes and have a Bachelor of Research with a few specialties added to it. I wanted to have the degree, but with an online class I didn’t have to sit through hours of lectures that meant nothing. I would take a class and have most of the homework done in the first week. Then I would schedule it to submit on time and passed with flying colors.”
“Wow! That is amazing. Do you have siblings that are as smart as you are?”
He shook his head, “No, my dad abandoned us when he found out mom was pregnant. When she wouldn’t have an abortion to keep having a good time, he disappeared the next day and didn’t look back. Once I got old enough, she told me who he was and I’ve looked him up. He’s since gotten married, but it wasn’t until I was heading off to college. He didn’t settle down for many years and from what I’ve found out, we didn’t miss much.”
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I’d do without my sister Karen. I know that I’m the younger of the two of us, but she never made me feel that way when we were growing up. If there was an adventure, she’d grab my hand and pull me right into it with her. Maybe that’s why I followed her into the world of cops because I knew there would always be something exciting around the next corner.”
“It fits your personality. You’re too determined to figure things out and be independent, but at the same time you can’t stand injustice. It’s rare to find someone that actually believes in the system.”
I almost spit out the water I’d just taken a sip of at his words, “Oh, that’s too funny. I hate the system. It doesn’t work at all. This is exactly why I thought we should get to know each other better.”
“How is that possible? You chase bad guys and put them in jail. How can you even do your job if you don’t believe in what you’re doing?” Jerome asked in disbelief.
“You’ve gotten it mixed up. It’s because I do believe in what I’m doing that I put the bad guys away. Now, is everyone that gets put away a ‘bad’ guy? No, but that’s not my job. Things are a bit more cut and dried in homicide because we don’t arrest someone unless there is a good amount of evidence to support that they did it. Whereas being in the squad car, I came across all sorts of things that needed to be fixed and that isn’t because I don’t believe in the system.”
I paused to think of a way to explain it better, “We say that we’re impartial to everyone, but if we gave everyone the same treatment, we would see less crime. Those who use their money or position to be craftier at maneuvering through the system do get away with murder while those without money aren’t protected in the same way.”
“So should we just have a socialist system instead where everyone has to work the same amount and throw capitalism out the window?”
“No, not at all. You have to give people a sense of pride about themselves and what they’ve worked for even if it means that they’re richer than someone else. What I’m talking about it is not being able to use your wealth against those who don’t have any or making your crimes go away because you have money. Murder is still murder no matter if you’re the dealer on the corner or the Mayor.” The words burst out passionately and I knew that if we were going to make things work, he was going to have get used to my outbursts.
“Hmm… and you probably don’t have any major opinions on the subject do you?”
Shocked I was a little worried that maybe he hadn’t been listening until I saw the smile he was trying to hide. “You had me worried there for a minute.”
“I already knew that you were passionate, but this just proves that you are right where you’re supposed to be. Find justice for those that can’t do it for themselves.”
I reached across the table to take his hand, “Truly? You don’t see my job as a problem?”
“No, those days when you were gone made me think some things through. Some people are made for running into danger and rescuing people while others wait around for someone to rescue them. You are the most animated when you’re in the middle of a case and sexy too.” He gave me a wink, “I tried to think of other jobs that you could do that would take you out of danger and away from testosterone filled men.”
I started to bristle, but decided to let him finish before I jumped to conclusions.
“There isn’t a job that wouldn’t change who you are as a person. I didn’t start dating you to change you. I let my past get in the way of what would be best for you. I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do because you’re an independent single or until recently single woman who is fully capable of making your own decisions. I was just picturing other options to see if I was able to handle this.” He nervously took a drink. “Are you mad?”
“No. I am who am, but I wasn’t wanting a relationship to change everything I’ve worked for, I was looking for companionship and someone to share my life with. I know that’s a pretty heavy thought, but I can have sex with anyone. I want someone who can picture us sitting on a porch after retirement enjoying the day.”
“I have always thought sitting on a porch was some sort of story people told teens to keep them from having fun. Now, that I’m getting older, I can see the benefits to having someone around that you’re comfortable with who can share a moment with you.”
“Exactly. It’s not something that we have to decide right now, but I don’t want us to keep dating if we aren’t moving in the same general direction. Some sort of future together, but I’m still going to be a cop as far as I can tell. Is that a possibility?” I asked anxiously not wanting to give up our great chemistry.
“I’ve been on my own except for small dating incidents and I would love to try something long term to see where it leads. How do you feel about kids?”
“Well, I enjoy the process of making them that’s for sure.” Giving him a cheeky answer, “Kids could be in the future. I’m not opposed to that, but I’m still not giving up my job.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to and while kids frighten me to death, I could be convinced in the right situation to start a family. I know nothing about being a father.”
“I don’t think anyone really knows how to be a parent. From what I’ve seen over the past few years in the squad car, I think it’s a fifty-fifty chance on getting it right through a lot of trial and error. You might have the best parents in the world, but the most horrible little psycho or the worst parents and a saint for a child. It’s hit or miss most of the time.”
“What do you say to shelving the idea of kids until we are at least engaged, but that we give the baby making process another try?”
“I’m on board with that.” I responded not even trying to convince myself that we should just have a non-physical date.
“Check please.” Jerome held out his hand to catch the waitress’ attention.
“Here,” I opened my wallet and took out three twenties and put them on the table. “That should cover it. Let’s get out of here.”
I couldn’t get the smile off of my face as he took my hand and we headed straight for his home to practice while we made up our minds for the future.
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The next morning at work I used my computer skills to set up a search engine to run through all the headlines across the major cities for anything with a string of deaths over several days. Relieved to be doing something, I still wasn’t sure that it was enough. To be waiting for bodies to be discovered meant that lives were taken instead of us preventing them from dying in the first place.
I was still on more of a standby fill in because of the past two months so I didn’t have any active murders to work. Instead, I decided that I need to start a second search for murders that been committed where strange symbols were used.
There had to be a way to stop this from happening and we were just overlooking it.
I also ran a comparison on my previous cases involving murders against those that Ryan had put behind bars to see if any of our cases connected.
My inbox started filling up with finished reports and I hit the print button as I walked to get more coffee before starting the ta
sk of combing through the list of names to see if we had a hit.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing was matching between our cases. There wasn’t a reason that whoever was behind this was singling us out.
Deciding to check the reports about headlines instead, I found a few with missing persons, but nothing that would indicate a serial killer. I would run the search data again in the morning, but for now I wasn’t able to find anything to work on.
I’d been at this for hours and was no closer to a solution when the clock hit five. I hated being one of those who watched the clock so that I could leave for the day, but today I was going to take advantage of it and go for a long workout. I’d told Jerome that we could do a lot of texting or talking, but only two ‘date’ nights a week. I wanted to take it slowly and I wasn’t going to get a chance to work off the built up energy with him so a workout was the next best thing.
A normal workout would be a couple of miles on the tread mill, and lifting some weights. Tonight, I put the headphones in and hit the treadmill for a ten mile run while I thought of possible weapons that could be next on the list.
We’d ruled out nunchucks and ropes or nooses depending on how you categorized it. There were only about a million other possibilities that we could be looking for, guns, knives, bombs, although that one seemed a little extreme, but then what wasn’t extreme about this master killer. Poison was a good possibility, but there were so many others that used it that weren’t serial killers it would be harder to get an exact number deaths.
That wasn’t enough weapons for twelve months of zodiac signs and why hadn’t the killers started in the month of Aquarius when Aries was the first month of the Zodiac symbols? Could they be unversed in what the signs actually meant and had just started at the beginning of the calendar year because that was a good place to start?
With all of the ideas and questions moving around in my head, I looked down at the tread mill and realized that not only had I run my ten miles, but I’d done it much faster than I’d planned to. Slowing down to a cool off walk, I hoped that Flora would be back soon because I had a ton of new questions. She was going to have so much to talk about when she got back and I was curious how well received she had been by a family that had kicked her mom out.
