Can You Protect Them: Federal Paranormal Unit

by Sheri Lyn

  It only took him ten minutes to drive the three miles, small towns and their stop lights were annoying to him. He entered the store and looked around to see how many people were around. He wasn’t sure if more would mean he was less likely to be remembered or less people meant the clerk would be bored and pay less attention. Either way, there were two other people in the store, and they were too busy.

  He found the aisle with knife sharpening tools and grabbed one. His knife would be fine if he took some time to make it sharp as possible. Then he headed to find rope and tent stakes. The stakes hopefully made it appear he was going camping and needed supplies, maybe he should buy a tarp to be safe. It could add to the idea of camping.

  With a nod of his head at his brilliant thinking, he grabbed the last of his supplies and headed up to the checkout counter. The clerk glanced up at him and started ringing up his purchases. The young kid spent more time watching his cell phone than he did at him. He shouldn’t be easily remembered here. He paid the kid in cash and walked out whistling again. This plan was coming together better than he expected.

  He glanced at the time on his phone after leaving the store, he’d spent longer than he thought shopping. He had to head to the first house, especially if he wanted to get there before the realtor to get a good look around. It took him about twenty minutes to get there, which gave him about fifteen minutes before he was supposed to arrive. He quickly jumped out of the car and walked around back. The house was big, so it would easily hide a body baking in the back. Just in case someone came by randomly. There were no houses as far as he could see, which meant privacy — no trees which meant great sun. The only negative so far was the distance from the house to the main road. It was fifty feet, or so, he really didn’t want to take a chance someone would come by, and here the hooker screaming. He walked around front again, just as the realtor arrived. He smiled and hoped it was a warm smile and not a serial killer evil look. He shook the thought off and walked towards her with his hand outstretched. “Hello Ms. Zane, I’m John Gacy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She smiled and shook his hand and then gestured to the house. “Since you walked around outside, should we start with the interior?”

  He nodded and turned back toward the house. He saw all he wanted, but he couldn’t be rude and still see the second house.

  ***

  Forty-five minutes later and the tour was finally over, the house wasn’t that big, but she made it seem huge. They were finally outside and getting ready to head to the second house; she mentioned while they were inside the next house was farther back from the road. This could be exactly what he needed. They pulled out, and he followed behind her, they only went about ten miles down the road before she turned right into a driveway. He couldn’t see a house yet, and that was very pleasing to him. It took about a minute and a half to see it; the driveway was huge.

  When they parked, he stared at the house for a moment. He climbed out and cocked an eyebrow at Ms. Zane. He had to keep up the buyer charade, and this house was not the one they showed on their website. It was exactly what he wanted though.

  “I know, the image we used was an older one, the house has been abandoned for five years, and it’s gotten run down. I thought if I could just get someone to see the potential we could sell it.”

  He shook his head and started walking toward the house. “I’m here now, so show it to me. I will reserve judgment for now.”

  She walked him through every room of the house, and it was in good shape overall, but he really didn’t care about any of that. She finally opened the door that led to the back of the house, and he laughed out loud. This was the house! It had been empty for at least five years, it was rundown, far from the road and the backyard had an eight-foot privacy fence. Plus, no neighbors for miles. Yes, he found what he wanted.

  He said all the right things and finally was able to leave with a promise to think it over and get back to the realtor. Good luck contacting him again, he didn’t give his real name, and it was easy to change his number if it came to it. He drove back to town and treated himself to the best dinner he could find. Then he had a few hours to kill, so he went back to the motel and slept for a few hours.

  ***

  He woke up at eleven o’clock that night and laid in bed just fantasizing about what was coming. He was more excited now than for his first kill. This would be the best one yet. He got out of bed and left the hotel room, he was on a hunt, and he had plenty of time.

  He drove down the street and started looking around for the perfect hooker to pick up. It took about thirty minutes to find a location where they could be found; the small town wasn’t as prevalent in the decadent sins of the flesh as its bigger counterparts. But he did finally find one, or at least she could pass for a hooker.

  He pulled up next to her as she walked down the road, “Excuse me, Ma’am, Are you free for a couple of hours?” She stopped walking and turned around to look at him, then at his car. She took a step closer and looked up, and down the road, they were on. Once he assumed she was reassured they were alone, she responded

  “Depends on how much money you got.”

  He just shook his head with a smile and held up three hundred bills. “Does this work for you?”

  She licked her lips and scratched her arm absently while starting at the money. “Yeah, that will work.” She walked around and climbed in the car; once she was seated, she fidgeted and leaned forward and back several time.

  “I have a motel room not far away, is okay if we go there for a couple of hours?” He could tell she was looking for her next fix and needed the money to pay for it. Probably the only reason she got in his car, she didn’t act like any hooker he had ever met, but she was willing to sell her body, so she fit his full house.

  She never replied to his question, so he shrugged, and watched her fidget out of the corner of his eye. A few minutes later he pulled up to his room and climbed out of the car. She walked up behind him, scratching her arm and swaying from foot to foot. He just sighed and pushed the door open. “After you ma’am.” He gestured for her to enter ahead of him and then shut the door behind him. “The bathroom is back there if you want to clean up or use it. I need to grab my bag from the car.”

  He waited until she walked in and shut the door before he walked back to his car to grab the rope, duct tape, and crowbar. He wanted to sleep a few hours, and he didn't want her running away.

  ***

  His phone alarm went off at five in the morning; he groaned for a moment until she remembered why he was getting up so early. Today was the day! He looked over to the girl he knocked out the night before; she was still out cold. Probably withdrawal more than his hit. Either way, it was easier to transport her to the site and get her set up. Plus it was dark outside so no one who cared would see him carrying her out. He climbed out of bed and brought his supplies to the car. He needed the rope for today, and the tape was just to be safe.

  He went back into the room and picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder and out to his trunk. He dropped her inside, slammed the lid and made the drive out to the property he had selected earlier in the day. While driving his mind wandered to what he could do while she was baking. He decided to check for a local game, he had time to kill, and a little extra money never hurt.

  Fourteen

  Remi

  Remi yawned as he glanced out the window to the internet cafes door and its closed sign. Three more hours before they’d open. He was exhausted, frustrated and anxious. A bad combination to be sure. They’d left in the middle of the night because he was too keyed up to sleep. Six hours later they were parked and waiting. The worst part of any job was the waiting.

  “Why don’t you try to get some sleep. I’ll let you know as soon as they open the door. Not much we can do till then. And you’ll be no good to anyone if you’re groggy, grouchy or just plain an asshole.” Knox winked as he said it, so Remi didn’t take to much offense at his words.

  “You don’
t need sleep? Let me guess you don’t get grumpy from lack of sleep? Don’t tell me you’re that fucking perfect. I don’t think I can handle that.”

  Knox laughed, “On that note, sleep babe. You’re already grumpy as shit. Adorable, but grumpy. And I don’t require as much sleep as you mortals do. I’ll be fine.”

  “Ass,” Remi grumbled as he scooted down in his seat and closed his eyes. “Good thing you’re cute.”

  The next thing Remi knew Knox was shaking him gently. “Babe, wake up. He’s finally opening up. Two hours late, but he’s here.”

  Remi jumped and glanced around in a blind panic for a minute until he remembered where he was. “What do you mean late? What time is it?”

  “Eleven.” Knox held up his hand to forestall any comments. “I know the poker game is starting now. I already let them both know about the delay.”

  Remi yawned and sat back again, “Is anything going to go right, today?”

  “If it helps, I kind of forgot to mention Theo’s ability to you guys. Bas had a bit of a surprise. We’re just lucky Theo has quick reflexes.”

  “What happened?” Remi asked in surprise.

  Knox grinned evilly, “Well you see. Theo can change how he looks, sort of a shapeshifter. Everything gets altered down to his voice. It’s quite freaky, honestly. The only constant is a birthmark behind his right ear. It never goes away.”

  Remi opened his mouth to reply, shook his head and closed it again. He licked his lips, paused and then tried again. “That’s freaky as shit. I’m so damn glad he’s on our side. Could you imagine him as a bad guy.”

  “He does a lot of undercover work as you can guess. Bas is in as a dealer as planned. Theo went in as muscle. From what they said it’s normal, and it helps to put someone that can move around easily on our side.”

  “Okay then. This should be interesting. You ready to go schmooze the local clerk into giving us the footage. Something tells me you’ll have much better success then I will. He didn’t look my type.”

  “And he was mine?” Knox asked disgruntled.

  “Yup, he’s breathing isn’t he.” Remi jumped out of the car with a laugh as he delivered his parting line. He quickly crossed the empty street and glanced in the windows of the building next to the cafe. As soon as Knox joined him, they moved to the cafe and pulled the door open.

  “Hey guys, good timing. I just opened for the day. What can I get for you?” The clerk asked with a lazy smile.

  Knox pulled out his badge and flashed it at the clerk, Remi quickly pulled his out and held it out as well.

  “What’s going on?” The clerk asked slowly. “Wait, that’s an Alabama badge.”

  “It is, but I’m with the Bureau, and I have jurisdiction. He’s my partner on this.” Knox replied smoothly. “Have you been watching the news? Seen the reports about the guy they call the Professor?”

  The clerk gulped and nodded, “Yeah, what about him.”

  “Well, we traced to emails he sent from this location. You have camera’s, right? Maybe a log of who rents computer time, that sort of thing?” Knox smiled encouragingly and leaned forward. “You want to be a hero and help us catch him?”

  “What? Me? How? I don’t… um…. Yes, what do you need.”

  Remi bit his lips to hold back a smile at the kid's obvious hero worship of Knox. The man was secreting some sort of pheromone or something; the kid was practically drooling in his eagerness to help.

  Knox smiled, “We need to see the camera footage for two days ago. I can even narrow the times down to make it quicker. Do you think we can do that?”

  “Yeah, that’s easy. It’s been slow this week so it shouldn’t be hard at all. That’s why I was late; there wasn’t much reason to open on time. My boss doesn’t give a shit most of the time anyway.” The clerk gestured for them to follow him into the office behind the counter. “We save them on a hard drive, so we don’t have to recycle anymore. Gotta love technology.”

  Remi tuned the kid out as he rambled on and on as he loaded the footage of the requested date and began to scroll through. There were a total of three customers all that day. One emo teenager, and two men of similar ages, late thirties or early forties if he had to make a guess.

  “Any chance you can pause on their faces and print a picture for me. Or even better send me their faces?” Knox winked as he asked, making the clerk blush and race to start typing on the computer.

  “Sure, no problem. Anything to help you.”

  Fifteen minutes later they were back in the car, and Knox was forwarding the two photographs to their undercover crew. “So, we have suspect number one. His driver's license was scanned because he paid by credit card, it has him listed as Brent Matthews, age thirty-six and five feet eight inches tall. He lives here in Maport.”

  Remi nodded and began typing the information into his computer. Within seconds all the information they had on him was listed. “No priors, no outstanding warrants or tickets. He’s clean as a whistle.”

  Knox nodded, “Suspect number two, paid cash but did fill out the paperwork. He’s listed as a John Gacy.”

  Remi snorted, “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s really the name listed?”

  “What?” Knox asked in confusion. What did I miss?”

  “You don’t know who John Wayne Gacy is? The Killer Clown? He murdered something like thirty teenage boys back in the seventies.”

  “So, you think this is an alias and no chance of being his name?” Knox nodded, “Stupid question I know, but I just wanted to throw it out there.”

  Remi snorted, “Look at him. Everything about him screams average. Brown hair, brown eyes, maybe six-two, a bit overweight. He’s just the type that blends in and gets forgotten. Nothing stands out about him at all.”

  “That doesn’t make him a serial killer,” Knox argued. “But between the two, yeah I lean towards him too. Did you run him?”

  Remi rolled his eyes, but did as requested, “Nothing comes up at all. It’s a fake. That’s our guy. That’s the professor.”

  “What now?”

  “Well, we need to know if he’s at the game or not. If he is we arrest him, if not we can keep looking. We’ve got him on the ropes now; his days are numbered either way.”

  “Alright. Let’s head that way. You see if you can get confirmation from one of them in the meantime.”

  Thirty-five minutes later and they were sitting outside a warehouse staring at the front door, debating what to do. Were Bas and Theo not answering because they couldn’t or because they were busy gathering information. Did they run the risk of blowing up the chance of doing another poker game someplace else if he wasn’t there?

  “Fuck it. Let’s go in. I’d rather make sure they’re safe, and figure something out to catch him next time.” Remi growled as he threw open his door and climbed out of the car.

  “Babe,” Knox called out as he raced to catch up, “Just give me a second to come with you. Don’t go halfcocked. Let’s do this smart.”

  Remi stopped and took a deep breath before nodding, “Yeah, sorry. I’m calm…. Now, let’s go in.”

  Knox huffed out a laugh and moved to his side, “Just another reason I love your cranky ass.”

  Before Remi could process or reply, Knox threw open the door and raced inside. Remi wasn’t sure what he expected but what he saw sure as hell wasn’t it. A guy he could only assume was Bas was standing at the edge of a poker table with a group of five guys sitting there. They were laughing and chatting away. Theo or the muscle at least stood a few feet to the side with a clear sight on all the players.

  As soon as Knox entered Theo and Bas moved into position with weapons drawn on the gamblers. Remi moved up behind the sitting guys and nodded to his fellow officers.

  “Here?”

  “Yup, he’s right here,” Bas called as he trained his gun on the guy on the end. “He’s not been taking to kindly to the talk around the table about the psychopath killer they call the Professor.”

  “I've
asked you repeatedly not to call me a psychopath. I am happy you arrived together though. Does that mean you have accepted the suit?”

  “Seriously, we catch your sorry ass, and that’s what you want to say? What in the hell is wrong with you?” Remi demanded.

  “I'm not sure what you mean honestly. I found myself invested in your courtship. I merely want to know how it is proceeding.”

  “And you’re not a psychopath. We’re here to arrest you for the murder of three people, and you want to know if I’ve fucked Knox yet.”

  “I don't recall using those exact terms, but only three Detective?”

  Remi smiled as he pulled out his handcuffs and moved behind the Professor, “Yes, only three. The old man is alive and in the hospital.”

  “Pity I won't be able to complete my full house… The stage was all set. Can you find her before I win?”

  Knox scowled and turned to the other gamblers. “This is your lucky day. Get out before we arrest you all.”

  Remi waited until the room was cleared out and he moved to stand in front of the handcuffed man. “I know your name isn’t John Gacy, so why don’t you tell me what it really is?”

  “You can call me Cupid. But my mother called me Randall, Randall Elliott."

  “Randall,” Remi repeated slowly, “let me tell you what’s going to happen next. We’re gonna have the local police hold you for us until we’re ready to head back to Alabama. I’m going to take that picture of you and have the news broadcast it all over the noon news. We’ll find her, and when we do, we’ll make sure not one news source will ever publish your name or your picture again. You will not be remembered, you will be a footnote in annals of cop life, but that’s it. You’ll be forgotten once again. And if by some chance they do bring it up, they’ll say ‘hey do you remember that psychopath that killed those people.’

  “Come now detective you are just trying to push my buttons. We both know you will never forget me. Every kiss with your beau