by Hadena James
in line, girly,” Xavier coughed some more.
Twenty-Six
Quite impolitely, I told the doctor what he could do with his recommendation that I stay in the hospital. Xavier did the same. They had cleaned us and dressed our wounds. It was now time to hunt down our serial killer.
Gabriel was frowning as we exited our new motel rooms. I had strapped on an extra knife at my wrist. Gabriel could see it.
“There’s been another murder,” Gabriel said. “This time, he killed some waitress that worked at a pizzeria. She was walking into the pizza place when he walked up and gutted her in the parking lot. No one stopped him.”
“This is definitely devolution,” Lucas said.
“Of humanity? Because six people watched as he cut off her cheek,” Gabriel said.
“People don’t want to get involved,” Lucas responded. “Although, that seems extreme.”
Gabriel’s cell phone rang. He spoke into it quickly. He hung up and screamed. His face screwed up in rage like I had never seen from Gabriel.
“Another?” Lucas asked.
“Another FBI agent. We have his picture up everywhere,” Gabriel was shouting.
“It won’t matter,” I said. “He’s on the hunt, moving ahead. Moving faster than us. But not for long.”
“Why?” Gabriel asked.
“Because he really wants to kill me,” I said. “I bring out the worst in him. Or at least I will.”
We talked for a few minutes and a press conference was arranged at the Marshals’ office. Gabriel drove at break neck speed to get us there. The press was already assembled.
I gave the usual speech but used adjectives like “small”, “pathetic”, and “unmemorable”. Lucas gave me a thumbs up from the crowd. I was bound to rattle him into action with the speech.
Press conference concluded, I stood on the steps of the Marshals’ office and thought. I thought about the woods where his son had been found. It was still nagging at me.
“I want to go to the woods,” I told Gabriel after a few more minutes.
“Which woods?”
“The one where the son was found,” I answered.
“Fine, get in,” he pointed towards the car.
The two of us drove in silence. We pulled into the parking lot. There was a dark patch where snow had melted and the concrete could be seen.
“This is where he burned the cars?” I frowned.
“Sort of,” Gabriel answered. “There is more than one entrance into the park. I’m told this is the least used and the remotest section of Anchorage.”
“That’s interesting,” I responded. I stared out the window for a moment, getting a feel for the place. The parking lot was maybe big enough for five cars. The trees were much denser, closer to the road. We had missed the smoke of the burning cars earlier. I could see why.
“I am not letting you go in alone.”
“I don’t expect you to,” I answered getting out of the car.
I examined the scorched parking lot. The snow had melted and ran, cutting odd valleys through the unmelted snow. I stood and shook my head.
“What?” Gabriel rolled down the window.
“He isn’t coming back here; the fire was either cleansing or desecration. I’m not sure which,” I got back in the SUV.
“So where is he?” Gabriel asked.
“Probably killing someone,” I told him.
“Where do we go?”
“I don’t know,” I shook my head again and thought some more. If I was a serial killer where would I be? I’d be trying to kill me.
“Let’s just hang out for a few minutes,” I finally said.
Gabriel left the car running. He scooted his seat back, closed his eyes and in minutes, he was catnapping next to me. My mind was too busy for a catnap. It was going through a list of places Dr. Ericson was familiar with.
My cell phone rang. Xavier’s name flashed on the screen.
“What’s up?”
“Hello, Marshal Cain,” Dr. Ericson’s voice came over the line. I slapped Gabriel so hard he coughed. I put the phone on speaker, motioning for Gabriel to keep silent.
“And what did you give Xavier, Lucas and Michael to put them all to sleep?” I asked.
“Nothing, Xavier went back to the motel alone, I merely hit him in the head. Do you want to come save him?”
I thought for a moment. Yes, I did, but Dr. Ericson was obviously crazier than I had estimated. I took that into consideration a moment longer.
“Where?” I asked.
“Where what?”
“Where am I supposed to meet you?” I made sure he heard the exasperation in my voice. Emphasizing that he might not be as smart as me.
“How about the spot where my son died?” He told me.
“Sure, race you there,” I hung up. “Go find a tree and scurry up it quickly.”
“I’m the boss,” Gabriel protested.
“Ok, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find a tree and climb it before he gets here. You stay in my view at all times, Aislinn.”
“How are you going to get there without leaving footprints?” I asked. Gabriel seemed to think about this a moment.
“I’ll manage,” he got out of the car.
My feet hurt from the cold. It had finally seeped into my boots. My bones felt like they were breaking. I was too old and too broken down, even at twenty-eight to enjoy cold weather. Plus, I had new injuries. The cold air soothed my lungs and throat. It was the only good thing.
I had been standing for at least thirty minutes. However, it beat Gabriel’s position. He was blended pretty well. He had found a pine tree to hide in. When he came down, he’d be covered in sap and pine needles.
Finally, the crunching sound of feet in snow. It seemed to be coming from all directions at once. I felt very exposed. Yet, I knew that shooting me from the safety of the trees was not in his plans. It would be too easy.
“Marshal Henders, why don’t you climb down from that tree and make yourself scarce,” a voice suddenly called out. Gabriel didn’t move. My eyes finally found Dr. Ericson. He was standing near Gabriel’s tree, gun pointed up.
He fired six shots. There was a noise and Gabriel came crashing down to the ground. I hoped he was wearing his vest. I drew my gun and fired. Dr. Ericson laughed. He pointed the handgun at Gabriel’s head.
“He’s still alive, you should drop that,” Dr. Ericson said to me.
“And Xavier?” I asked.
“Also alive for now,” Dr. Ericson said. “That depends though on how fast Marshal Henders can get to him.”
Gabriel groaned. I tossed my gun about fifteen feet away. I added my cell phone before he could comment on it. Gabriel groaned again.
“Let’s talk,” I said.
“No, I don’t want to talk, Marshal Cain. I’m going to finish you off while Marshal Henders goes to save Dr. Reece, then I’m going to kill myself. I had planned to put my wife in this spot, but you screwed that up when you stabbed me.”
“You stabbed me first,” I reminded him.
“You’d better get a move on, Marshal or Dr. Reece isn’t going to make it out of this alive. His address is on your dash,” Dr. Ericson reached down and took Gabriel’s gun.
“Go Gabriel, I got this,” I told him. Gabriel struggled to his feet. He gave me one last look and took off through the trees. The look said it all. I’d better come out alive.
“I understand you are a sociopath. I’ve never skinned one of those, it will be a new experience for me.”
“You think you’re going to have time for all that?” I asked. The darkness was washing over me.
“Oh that is a neat trick. It’s like your humanity just disappeared.”
“It did.”
He walked into the clearing. His eyes traveled up and down my smaller frame. He wasn’t checking me out, he was summing me up. Trying to decide if I wa
s going to be as much of a challenge as he thought. Most nut jobs did this to me, I was used to it.
He growled and rushed me. His shoulder caught me in the stomach and we rolled into the snow. Momentarily, he had the upper hand. I kicked my leg up, wrapped it around his neck and pulled him backwards. He lost his leverage and rolled over, off of me. I drew the knife at my wrist.
This was shorter than my boot knife, only three inches, but I kept it sharpened. Instead of a standard hilt, it had a flattened handle with two holes. The holes slid over my fingers, allowing the knife to stand over my fist.
My fingers were already in the holes. I lunged at him, jumped on top of him and plunged the knife into his face. It pierced his cheek, went through the skin and hit teeth. Blood instantly began to pour from the wound. I twisted the blade as I pulled it out, making the wound a gaping hole.
His other hand clipped me, slamming into my cheek, drawing blood as the skin against my cheekbone split. I didn’t feel it. I drew back for another attack, my blade drove home again, my fist hitting his shirt, as it slipped through the skin at his side. I had aimed for a kidney and missed. He laughed at me.
I smiled back.
“You know the problem with most people,” I told him. “They always underestimate me.”
I let go of the small wrist knife and dug out a second boot knife. His eyes widened. It was a matched set. One I hoped to get reunited soon. He fired a small gun. It tore through my shoulder. I hadn’t seen him pull it. It didn’t matter.
I sunk the knife in to the hilt, felt it hit bone, and break through it. Blood began to trickle from his chest. His fingers flexed, firing again, but the shot went wide. I twisted the blade and yanked out as hard as I could. Bone splintered from his chest. He gurgled and
