A Ride Home: Tampa FBI Two

by C. Soto

  They got to the office around 1:30 p.m., enough time to check in and grab a drink and meet everyone in the conference room where they would learn what IT found out.

  Chapter 24

  Everyone gathered in the conference room promptly at 2:00 p.m. The IT team was there setting up their equipment to show the analysis they had found so far. Once they were done setting up the feed, Kimberly started in on what they found.

  The Supervisory Agent from IT, Kimberly, started the meeting, “We analyzed the bus cameras and ran the passengers through facial recognition. There was no hit that showed the same passenger following Elisa. We are still running analysis on the videos from the stores along that route. We are hoping that will be complete by tomorrow. We have a search running to hit on all silver vehicles.”

  She paused looking at the next bullet point, “The video from the T-shirt shop showed Sara never made it back to the bus stop. With this elimination evidence of seeing her again, we can assume she was taken from the grocery store. The video didn’t catch her leaving the grocery store walking into the parking lot. It was only one angle of the parking lot, which unfortunately did not pick her up.”

  John chimed in, “She had to have a reason on why she would walk the opposite direction of the bus stop. Who did she see in the parking lot that made her take a different direction? Also, how did the person convince her to go with them? Someone would have noticed a person being forced into a vehicle at that time of night. There was a lot of traffic going in and out of the grocery store, so someone should have saw someone being forcefully pushed into a vehicle.”

  The Supervisory Agent looked at John, shaking her head. “Yes, something had to have compelled her to change her course.”

  She got back on track to her analysis of the footage, “We are starting to run analysis on the footage from the gas station from the victim Addie, we are searching for silver cars. Hopefully, the killer had that same vehicle as he does now since that was two years ago.”

  She took a drink of her water, “We also have reviewed the USB drive that was left for Tammy. There was a polymorphic virus and worm on the USB drive that was designed to extract information from the device it was inserted in, and spread to the devices on the same network. I am sure your phones were not connected to the same WIFI, and the FBI phones have extra encryption to deflect any types of attacks, but we will need to scan them to be sure since you were all in the house when the USB was originally played. The virus was designed to extract files and send the data to the hacker. I’m sure the killer wanted the case files if you would have used a device in that infected network to access them. The worm of the virus, had it successfully gone to your phone, would have extracted your GPS information, and would have informed the hacker to your phone’s location.”

  She paused to flip her notebook page over, “We do need to analyze the thumb drive further to try and track back where the information was going to go to. The information was encrypted, so it may take us a bit longer to crack. Hopefully if we can, that will lead us right to their doorstep.”

  She took a breath and continued, “Tammy, we will also need your personal devices right away that you had connected to your network. If you want to give us the keys to your house I can send someone right over or you can have someone go with you after this meeting?”

  Tammy seething with rage as the new information was presented. “Yes, I’ll go with an agent after this meeting, and they can scan all the devices at my house to ensure nothing else got infected.”

  Eric looked at the group before him, “As we can see, this killer is smart. Trying to get information by an infected thumb drive and extract information from our Agent working on this case. My assumption was his goal was trying to see what information we have on him from our investigation. He is trying to stay one step ahead of us and has literally been in our backyard. We need to work smarter people and find this son of a bitch.”

  Eric was fuming, this was yet another attack on his agent from this killer. The killer continued to be one step ahead of them. He had to keep reminding himself, they had the best working on the case, and they would find where he slipped up and catch him. He just hoped it would be in time to save Sara.

  Kimberly took the floor again, “We can meet first thing in the morning, as the analysis should be complete by then and then we will have a better idea where we are at. We have analysis running right now of the businesses from the bus routes and we are tracking the movement from Sara on the day she went missing. Between reviewing footage from the day Sara went missing and comparing the footage with any vehicles or person who was also on Elisa’s bus route, that should help us find this suspect. We documented from your board all the places that the victims went to. We are starting with the current victims from the past two years and have requested surveillance from those places that the victims frequented.”

  She paused to take a drink, “We have a lot of information. It may take a little time to find the connection, but we will find it. It is better than not having anything to go on. Now we need a little patience while our programs run through the footage, and we will find our killer. Let’s regroup in the morning when our area will have more to share.”

  Once she was done, she looked at Tammy, “I will have an agent meet you out in the lobby say in about twenty minutes to go with you to your house to run diagnostics to ensure your network is not compromised.”

  Tammy responded with gratitude, “Thank you so much, I’ll be down there in twenty minutes.”

  With the end of Kimberly’s presentation, the IT agents started grabbing their equipment they bought with them to go back to their work area.

  The team and the chief all stood and thanked her and her agents, shaking their hands as they grabbed their equipment and went back to their area.

  It was just the team and the chief left as they all took their seats with stress in their eyes. Eric looked at everyone, “I think you should all call it an early night. We have to wait for their part to finish before we can go back to the drawing board. Was there anything useful in the interviews you conducted today?”

  John speaking on behalf of his half of the team, “No sir. Nothing new was discovered than what was already in the original interviews. There was nothing stand out about the locations the killer chose to pose the bodies in. We were hoping the families would be able to tell us if there was significance to the area, but they were not sure. That leaves us that the families either were not sure, or the significance is to the killer and not to the victims, which makes finding the link that much harder.

  James spoke on behalf of him and Tammy, “Sir, we didn’t learn anything new either. We did go to the courier service and the package with the USB drive was left in the drop box. It had the delivery address and cash for the service, so they delivered the package. The courier employees did not physically see the person who dropped off the USB drive nor were they able to capture him on camera since he never entered the store.”

  Eric sighed, this was not what he was hoping for today. He felt like they were no further ahead after a full day’s investigation than what they had been before. He hoped the next day they would have further leads with IT handling the footages from all the cameras. This guy had to be on camera somewhere. He wasn’t invincible. They just needed to find the camera that captured him, then they would have him.

  Eric looked towards his team, “Well wrap up today’s work and add whatever you need to the investigation. It looks like we are at a standstill until tomorrow. James, are you headed to Tammy’s house with her?”

  “Yes sir. I will be staying with her until that psycho is behind bars.”

  “Okay, good. Well let’s all meet back here at 8:00 a.m. and hope for better news tomorrow. Take advantage of the down time while we have it, as my hope by tomorrow we’ll be full steam ahead. Unless something pressing comes up tonight and we all get called back in.”

  They all looked towards the chief, “Sounds good sir.”

  As they were
wrapping up, one of the IT agents came back with their phones. “We ran a diagnostic on your phones and as assumed they all came back clean. However, you can never be too sure, so always good to double check.”

  The chief looked towards the agent and thanked him for ensuring that the phones remained secured.

  After that he walked out and headed towards his office. Tammy and James got up and stated their goodbyes. Her and James had to be in the lobby as the twenty minutes were almost up.

  John, Derrick, and Emily remained seated around the conference table wondering what to do next. None of them wanted to call it an early night but knew there was nothing new to look at until analysis was complete. John looked towards them and in irritation stated, “Man, I’m tired of not catching a break. Every time we head in a new direction, it leads to nothing new. This sicko has some poor woman in his grips, carving her up as we speak, and we what … sit here and go home?”

  Emily reached out her hand to cover his, “I know John. It’s not what any of us would rather do, but we are at a standstill and there is nothing else to review right now. Let’s go home, regroup, and then we can all come back with fresh eyes in the morning and hope tomorrow is our day! We’ll get him John.”

  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “I know you’re right. Well let me call Samantha and at least I can spend some time with her while I can. At least there is one positive thing about today, going home to her.”

  Emily’s smile widened, “Yes, I never thought I’d see the day. She is good for you John, I’m so happy you two met. Go spend time with her and try and relax for the rest of the day.”

  He winked back at her and got up and gave Derrick a pat on the back and embraced Emily in a hug. “Alright guys talk to you later. I’ll need to call the police department and let them know where I’m going so they can send a unit over there tonight. You guys make sure you do the same.”

  John walked out to the car and called Samantha to invite her on an impromptu date. First, he would be going to the gym to let off some steam, then go get ready for a date if she said yes.

  Chapter 25

  The driver was giddy today, his special package was delivered. He received an alert on his phone once the USB drive was inserted. He sat back and enjoyed the feeling of the moment. He had the upper hand now, he was in control, not her. He could only imagine her face as the FBI lady opened the video player and saw herself standing there naked. This thrilled him to know he caused discomfort in her day. He only wished he were closer to her neighborhood so he could park and watch her as she played the video. To see the horror etched on her face.

  He didn’t particularly know the ins and outs of how the virus worked. It was something he got on the dark web. He knew what he wanted it to do. He had to figure out a way to get the information she had, since accessing her house was a no go now that she upped her security. He searched for what he needed and got the product that would fulfill his needs. He had a few of those gadgets. It was perfect.

  He pulled up the application on his phone to see what information was downloading to him. Much to his irritation nothing was downloading. It was either an empty drive she was using, or someone sold him something fake, which was not settling well with him. However, he used the person in the past, so he trusted the product that was given to him. He sat and thought, Hmmm... maybe the FBI lady had a computer that was protocol for them to use on foreign devices.

  He did not take this well that she thwarted another attempt from him to gain access to what he needed. He wanted to track her GPS as well, that way he’d know what locations they went to and see if they were getting too close to him.

  He knew he may have to take her if they did sniff too close. That way he could extract the information he needed by his methods. He didn’t want to play that card quite yet, as that could potentially ruin everything for him. He had gotten away with killing for all these years. He didn’t think suddenly they would find him now. He would have to think about what he would do with the knowledge he had and play it smart. Did he really want to kill an FBI agent, someone so high profile?

  He looked at the time and knew he had a few hours before his wife would be home from work. He had enough time to go visit his new friend he picked up the night before. He was salivating as he thought about their time spent the night prior. As he spread out his knives before her and her eyes widened with fear. She stalked each of his movements as he caressed each knife in his kit. He was toying with her, maximizing the moment, and holding her in suspense for what he would do next. He didn’t do any real damage on their first night together. His process was to inflict pain, but not deep enough to kill her. He needed to prolong his victim’s pain for as long as he had her. It was a drug to him. The power and the control. To see the blood flowing from her skin by his markings. He envisioned himself an artist in a weird sort of way. She was his canvas, he always admired his work after each session. He would gently nurse the victims’ wounds afterwards, no need for them dying from an infection. Then the next visit he would start again, until he was finished them.

  He got to his cabin forty-five minutes later and walked through the door. He heard a muffled cry and rattling coming from the bedroom. He knew by the sounds, his friend must be up. This was getting more exciting by the moment. He heard her trying to break from the restraints. He thought to himself, Oh poor thing, thinks she can break free from me. All she will do is rub her wrist and feet raw, causing more damage to herself.

  He quickly entered the room, the door slamming open, and the sound echoed from the door hitting the wall, and her eyes went huge in fright. He stood there staring down at her, becoming excited by each second he watched her tears stream down her face and the vibration of her fear hitting him. It was like a scent he could inhale all day. There was nothing better than witnessing and smelling fear on someone.

  He took a step back, turned and went towards the kitchen. He would give her a little to drink for now. He would feed her before he left, but not right then. He didn’t want her getting sick. However, since she hadn’t drunk or eaten since the night prior and it was already towards the end of the day, he thought she may be dehydrated so a little water before they began would be fine. He needed her to last until he was done with her.

  He walked back and unscrewed the water bottle and held it towards her lips. She tried to move her head from side to side, refusing the gesture, too scared to want his hands anywhere near her. He smiled at her refusal and then took the cap and put it back on the bottle and set it on the tray near his supplies.

  He smiled towards her, “That’s fine you don’t have to take a drink, I thought you’d be thirsty. You will now need to beg if you want a drink.”

  He looked at her as he set the bottle on his tray. She looked like she regretted her decision immediately, as he could imagine the parchment in her throat must have hit her as she stared at his movements of placing the water on the tray. More tears leaked from her eyes as she followed the water, knowing she missed her chance to replenish even her simplest need of thirst.

  He laughed loud as he started to near her, and her eyes widened in fear. He could see her body trembling in fright. He placed his hand on the top of her head and started to stroke her hair. Taking strands of it, as he let it comb through his fingers, feeling the silky texture between his fingers. He loved playing in women’s hair, the feel of it gliding through his fingers. When he was finished with a lady he would redo their style. The 50’s era look was his favorite. He was still indecisive about what color scheme would go for her. He had a couple of options but hadn’t decided on the perfect dress for her yet. He knew once their time came to an end, the masterpiece on her body would tell him the perfect look for her. He couldn’t rush the art and the beauty of the piece. He was patient and he would wait for her to tell him what her final look would be.

  He ran both of his hands over his canvas studying the work that was already made. Loving how the piece was starting. He could feel the vibrations of her tremors
beneath his hands. He loved the moving art, the feel of it underneath his fingertips. He could feel the heartbeat of his piece, thumping against her chest. He laid his palm flat so he could feel each beat. The power on how he alone controlled the rhythm to that beat. It felt like he held her heart in his hands.

  After he was done inspecting his canvass he walked back towards his tray and retrieved the knives he would need for their sitting.

  Chapter 26

  John took advantage of his time left early from the office. He called Samantha and they planned a date for this evening. He was excited and was at home getting ready for their date.

  He had a lot of emotions running through him. Frustration at being at a stalemate with the killer on the loose. Having to face all the parents and loved ones of the victims. It was the same thing every time. Having to look them in the eye and see that a piece of their soul was broken the moment their loved one was murdered. Having to face that heartbreak was enough to suffocate him with their grief. He vowed to do all that he could do to find them justice. Some days it worked and others he felt he fell short of the justice they so rightly deserved.

  On the other hand, the last few months with Samantha had been nothing short of miraculous. Every time he thought about her his heart would thump a little harder. She made him ache for something he never knew he wanted. A relationship, him? He thought he was destined to be one of those playboys out in the field way past his prime. However, she came in like a tornado sweeping him off his feet with one gust of her fiery spirit. She was like a drug to him now, and he couldn’t imagine after having a taste of her, what a life could be without her in it.