by Paris Morgan
I prepared my home for a long absence. It was time to return to the very thing I’d been running from for over fifteen years. The memories of my mistake were still fresh, as if they had occurred only yesterday.
Rolling up the map with all the information I’d collected, I put it in my bag, just as the electricity in my home went out. I had hoped that I had another twelve hours before she showed up.
The stone fireplace had a special brick that when pressed, would allow me to hide in a small space. While it had seemed like a large fireplace that would heat up the entire cabin, I had created a walking space that was hollow behind it. I hadn’t ever expected to use it, but I knew it was always possible considering the type of work I’d done in the past.
Mary Ann wasn’t worried about hiding or trying to cover her tracks at the moment. She entered my cabin like she owned the world.
“Galen,” she called out, “guess who’s home?”
Silence met her as I struggled to stay quiet.
I could imagine her progress through my home as I sat in the corner, holding my revolver, hoping to use it only as a last resort.
The large living room was open, with a small loft area for the bedroom. Living alone, I hadn’t seen the need for lots of walls, and in the winter, it helped to keep cabin fever from setting in with the large, cavernous feel.
When she reached the ladder up to the loft, I could feel her anger that she hadn’t discovered me hiding under the bed. Not that I was doing much better by hiding in the fireplace, but while I felt guilty for my mistakes, I wasn’t ready to die yet.
“Hello, Galen, I know you’re here. I’m willing to wait for you to come out of hiding.” She took up a seat on the couch to settle in until I decided to pop out.
My cameras weren’t connected to the electricity of the cabin, and I was able to watch her movements as I planned to wait her out.
Every so often, she would get up and move about the house, poking in new corners in hopes that I would be hiding there. She kept up a running conversation that made me realize that I’d dodged a real bullet. Although, I had only pushed it further into my future, because now I was a hostage in my own home.
The sound of my refrigerator opening made me smile. She was making herself at home. Now, if she would only lay down or fall asleep, I could sneak out the back and make it through the woods to where I’d parked the car.
I waited to be certain when she did fall asleep that she was really out before I made my move. The back wall slid open, and I kept my revolver out in front of me just in case Mary Ann had managed to fool me.
The woods surrounding my home were quiet as I walked along the path to where I had my vehicle parked on the other side of the mountain. Since the first body had been discovered, I made sure that I’d had a second way to get out of the woods. My closest neighbor was about five miles on the opposite side of the mountain, and they’d let me park a car over there for the past few weeks.
Nothing moved as I made my way in the dark, glad that I’d escaped her clutches this time, but knowing that it meant going back to something I didn’t want to deal with again.
***
Hours later, I’d made my way across the country to the Dallas airport. While I’d wanted to forget all about civilization, as I called it, returning to the peopled world was like getting on a bike.
Rows of taxis were waiting to whisk me away to my destination, and I was thankful that I hadn’t become a complete hermit, or I wouldn’t have had the new tools for getting around. Then again, if I’d become a hermit, I never would have dated Mary Ann and incurred her wrath in the first place.
Guess I was still making horrible decisions that were always going to affect my life.
He was still living here in the suburbs of Dallas, and I hoped that he would be home because I had no way to contact him. I hadn’t done more than let him know I was alive from time to time, but I hadn’t called because I didn’t want to hear the judgement in his voice.
I raised my hand to knock, but the door was thrown open.
“About time you came back into the world.” He grabbed me, engulfing me in a hug.
“How did you…?” I trailed off. I should have known.
“The closer you got to home, the more I could feel your presence.” Adam hadn’t let go of me as he pulled me inside and over to the couch.
“I wouldn’t have come home, but I had a huge problem that’s connected to what you’re working on.”
“Wait, you’re not back for good?”
“That all depends. I think your killer is stalking me. In fact, when I left she was sound asleep, which is why I made it to your house in the wee hours of the morning.”
“Speaking of morning, Happy Birthday.”
“You know that’s one of the reasons she was on my doorstep, ready to kill me, right?”
“Yeah, but you got out, and now we can go get her,” Adam assured me.
“It’s not that easy. Not only will she be gone, but she’s going to be pissed off that I was able to evade her. If I thought just turning her into the authorities would work, I’d have done it. If for no other reason, so I didn’t have to come home.” I’d forgotten how easily he could read or sense my thoughts.
“Breakfast should be ready in just a few minutes. We can discuss it while we eat.”
“Ugh. If I wasn’t starving, I would tell you to go to hell, but I can’t. Please, tell me you didn’t call Mom? I’m not here on a social visit.”
“I haven’t yet, but you’re going to have to come up with a pretty good explanation as to why you’re here and didn’t see her. You know she’s probably already sensed you as well.”
“Oh, well, I hadn’t thought of that. It’s been a while since I had to worry about others with my gift around. To be honest, I don’t even use it because there’s not much use in reading a squirrel’s thoughts.”
“Don’t let Mom hear you say that. She’s always thought our gift was important, and not using it was one of the worst things we could do.”
“I remember. There’s a lot I remember, not all of it good.”
Adam stopped what he was doing at the stove to look at me. “You know what happened wasn’t really your fault. There was no way we could have saved that family.”
“That’s what everyone told me, but it didn’t feel that way to me. I’ve done a lot of thinking all these years alone. I can’t change what happened, but if I don’t use my gift, then nothing can happen. No one dies because of me.”
“But you’re not taking into account all those who are alive because of you. We saved more lives than we took. Isn’t saving one life more important than wallowing in self-doubt about all the ones we couldn’t?” Adam argued.
“Who are we to play God, though? What if it’s part of the grand design that those people died? Or that other things would have happened if we hadn’t messed with things?”
Adam continued to crack eggs into the pan. “How are we to know that we aren’t following the plan by using our gift? Maybe the universe gave it to us to balance the bad things out.”
“You know, if that was the case, then I’d think that they’d give us a map or plan to work with, sort of like the one I’ve been putting together the past few weeks.” I withdrew the map I’d been working on before I’d had to leave my home.
“Ha, I knew that you weren’t just wasting away up there in the mountains. You’ve been working all this time. It’s a good thing you decided to join us, because this last case has been driving us insane. We were able to use one of the locals who tapped into the spirit realm for just a second. I thought she had potential, but I’m afraid that she may have burned out.”
I grinned. “You found someone new to guide. Is she single? Cute?” My brother had always had a soft spot for those with the gift, but then he had this entire moral code that kept him from sleeping with them because he was their mentor.
“Nope. When we met, she was dating someone. I think there’s someone else in her future, but it
just hasn’t worked out yet. You know I’m waiting for the perfect one, and so far, we haven’t crossed paths.”
“Always the knight in shining armor,” I chided with humor, but it was the truth.
“Of course. How else am going to prevail against evil?” He slid a perfect looking omelet onto my plate.
“You should have been a chef, saving the world one meal at a time,” I mumbled as I took a bite. “Now, this is something I’ve missed.”
“Well, you could have learned if you’d tried.”
“Gourmet cooking just wasn’t my thing.”
“Profiling certainly is.” Adam appeared impressed as he looked at my map. “She’s been all over the country now. Mostly loggers from the looks of it.”
“Not just loggers, but those that she’s dated who left her. She has a type, which includes those born under the sign of Cancer. If I remember correctly, because we dated years ago, her birthday is also this month,” I explained, feeling dumb for not learning more about my ex-girlfriend.
“She’s part of something much larger than just a few grudge kills. We’ve been tracking this Zodiac Master for six months now. He finds a new killer each month before doing away with the old one. It’s driving us crazy because he’s always one step ahead of us.”
“Ah, man, that sucks. I guess you need the information that I’ve gathered on this one because it’s personal for me.”
“You’re always welcome, but only if you promise to see Mom.”
With a sigh, I agreed. “Help me catch this crazy lady and I’ll go see Mom before I leave town.”
“Done. Now, let’s get you to headquarters so you can meet the team and get an update.”
***
We arrived in the conference room where the rest of Adam’s team was arriving.
“Your new girl’s the one in the green shirt, isn’t she?”
“Yes. Can you feel that amount of energy coming from her?”
“She has no idea, does she?” I quickly took a look around at those who were wandering through the door.
“No, she doesn’t. You don’t see something like that every day.”
“Quite a team you’ve got here.”
“It should be because they were all handpicked by Agent Watson. He got the position when the last agent got a little out of hand. He seems to work well with the two detectives that were put on this case.” Adam stood in the back with me, pointing out the players.
“The auras on a few of these guys are questionable. I’d do a financial look into the one setting up the laptop.”
“Martha? She wouldn’t hurt a mouse, but I’ll have one of our guys check on it. Who else?” Adam knew that I was able to sense things that other sensitives didn’t pick up on.
“That guy in the purple shirt, and the one on his left.” I couldn’t tell you why they had auras that spoke of evil connections. Occasionally, it just meant that something dark was going on in their lives, like the death of a loved one, but it was best to check them out anyway.
“It’s like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes, isn’t it?” Adam grinned as I moved into my normal role of profiler.
“True, but it doesn’t erase the past.” I brushed past him to take a seat as the Agent in charge walked through the door.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in. Agent Galen Dalca, back from the ends of the earth.”
I accepted his handshake. “Good to see you again, Gavin.”
“Ah, it’s not a social visit, is it?” He looked at me, and then at Adam.
“Did you bring him on everything or just this briefing?” Agent Watson directed his question to my brother.
“Just this meeting. He knows more about our current case. In fact, he has all the details that we need to catch her.” Adam grinned as he threw me into the deep end.
“Looks like we could use your help for a short while if you can stick around.”
“You’re going to need me for my own protection.”
“Would you like to start the briefing?” Agent Watson offered. “I’m curious to know what you’ve got that would bring you out of hiding.”
I shrugged in response, not really seeing much of a choice.
“Attention everyone, we have a returning agent with us today that has some information to share about the case.” He waited until everyone had settled down before turning to me. “Go ahead, Galen.”
“For those of you who don’t listen to the rumor mill, I’m Galen Dalca, former profiler for the FBI. I retired about fifteen years ago, and went to live far away from people up in Wyoming. When I’d get bored, or needed to be with people, I’d get a day job as a logger on a crew. That’s where I met Mary Ann.”
Everyone was listening, but the two detectives were my main focus as I talked.
“She was nice, and we started to date. Things went okay for the first few months, but I started wanting to get away from people again, and she became very clingy. When I disappeared in the middle of the night…” I heard a few snickers from around the room. “Yes, I ghosted her. In my defense, I did leave her a note, but sometimes that’s what you have to do for your own sanity.
“Anyway, a few of the other loggers were friends, and they informed me that she questioned everyone, trying to find out where I lived. Thankfully, they had seen what she was capable of, and no one really knew where I lived anyway. I’ve kept an eye on her whereabouts so I’d know where not to be.
“Fast forward to ten years later. Brian O’Leary is murdered after his big win at the annual logging competition. I’ve watched as she’s made her way back to Wyoming over the past two weeks. Somehow I knew she was going to show up on my doorstep this time, and I was prepared.
“She came walking into my home like she owned it. I had a safe space, and when I could escape, I did so. We’d never talked about my connection to the FBI when we dated, so I knew the safest place was back here at my brother Adam’s house.”
“What he’s not telling you is that he’s an amazing profiler, and has already done some of our work for us this time,” Adam interrupted, pulling up the map I’d made of Mary Ann’s journey.
“Adam told me that you’d figured out four or five deaths you think might be connected. I’ve got fifteen listed. I would’ve made number sixteen.”
“That’s amazing, but are you sure that she didn’t follow you here?” someone questioned with a snicker.
“I’m certain. Anyway, I’ll be around if you have any questions.” I sat down, ignoring the looks from a few of the other agents who’d heard of me from back in the day.
Agent Watson sent a quieting glare in the direction of those who were still whispering. “Thank you, Galen. Now, I’m going to have Ryan come up here and tell you what he and Detective Boxe found yesterday.”
Ryan stood and made his way to the front of the room.
His aura was surrounded by a white light that normally meant a heroic deed was in his near future. There were hints of worry around his eyes as he faced the room.
“The Zodiac Master sent both Detective Boxe and myself two puzzles a few nights ago. There weren’t any clues until we ran the picture through the database and traced the cow tags to a farm just outside of the Dallas area.
“It led us to a woman that we believe may have known the Zodiac Master. From her description of his actions as a teen, he fits the profile of a budding serial killer. His name is Henry J. Stevens. He left the farm almost fifteen years ago and hasn’t had any sort of contact with his mother since that time. She was actually relieved because she thought he might come back to kill her.”
“Martha, I’m going to need you to start doing a search for all the Henry’s listed in the area. We think he may have changed his name over time, and wouldn’t be as easy to find if that’s the case.”
Ryan started to sit down, but Detective Boxe jumped up to join him, which made him uncomfortable for some reason. This was interesting, and might lead to a talk with Adam about them.
“His mother was certa
in that he’s learned how to blend into society. She thinks he’s taken on the mannerisms of someone who has emotions. The things we would normally be looking for in a serial killer may not be present in this man, simply because he’s changed his stripes to blend in.”
An agent burst into the room. “Agent Watson, you’re going to want to watch the news, sir.”
He pulled up the daily news report. “We are coming to you live from the scene of a grisly murder in Wyoming. Early this morning, a man was murdered at his cabin in Sheridan, Wyoming. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a motive, but this symbol was left in the man’s blood.”
The Zodiac Cancer symbol flashed across the screen, along with the words, ‘I’ll get you.’
“From the message, we can assume there will be another incident, and officials are working on it right now. Members of his family arrived on the scene to find his body chopped into parts.”
“She’s escalated since she didn’t get me last night. All of her other kills were well planned and tied up in packages for the police to find. This time, she’s mad and doesn’t care who knows it. Can you rewind and pause the footage of that scene?
“There, look at the blood splatter. It’s not nearly as much as it would have been if she’d used a chainsaw. She wouldn’t have left a wall or any space that didn’t have blood spatter.” I walked over and pointed to the very obvious strip on the ceiling. “See? This is much smaller than what it would have been if she’d fired up the chainsaw. She used an axe instead. For whatever reason, she’s switched weapons. Granted, they’re both used to cut wood, and the Cancer sign has a greater infinity for Mother Earth.”
“So what we’re dealing with is a pissed off ex who has decided that she’ll do the Zodiac Master’s work for him, but she’s gone off the script? He’s not going to like that,” Ryan summed up.
“Actually, he might. He wants to keep us off-balance, and by doing this kind of thing, that’s exactly what would happen. He wasn’t counting on the fact that one of her ex’s was a former FBI agent. This should work in our favor,” Leslie chimed in with a grin.
