Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! This is a story that is very close to my heart, and I'm writing it out of deep respect to all of the people I have known who have lived through any type of trauma. It's also a love story, so I hope you enjoy! -Dana
Chapter One
"Liv... Liv. You check this guy's history yet? Earth to Liv."
"What? Sorry. No priors. Not even a parking ticket."
"Damn, how are we gonna nail him."
"I guess you're convinced, then?"
Fin frowned at me. "Well, you heard what Huang said. We're looking for someone who knew her, probably had a grudge against her. I'd say this Jeremiah definitely qualifies. He's almost twenty years older, he leaves his wife and kids for her, they get married, three months later she files for divorce and takes him for all he's worth. Sonofabitch has got to be pissed off."
No, it wasn't that. It was the victim's eyes, her shell-shocked, horrified dead eyes staring at me from the slab. They told a story, those eyes, and it wasn't about a love-struck insurance broker named Jeremiah.
I ran my hand through my hair, intensely uncomfortable. This certainly wasn't the first time I had disagreed with Huang, but it was the first time I didn't have a good reason. I had a hunch, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I was determined to follow it. Where Huang saw a rape-homicide perpetrated by someone known to the victim, I saw something else. But I didn't know why.
Lewis.
A compulsive serial offender, motivated to attack, torture and kill because it is his deepest desire to do so. He will target animals, children, strangers, anyone. The entire world is a loathed and detested object to be dominated and swallowed up into his narcissistic self-concept. He is a predator by nature, unable to receive love or to give it, and he identifies only with his compulsive need to take sexual pleasure in the annihilation of another.
And now, he is everywhere. I see him everywhere, in my thoughts, in my dreams, as I walk through the city. I see him reflected in the destruction around me, whether he is there or not, whether I have concrete evidence or not for his presence. Everything, every evil in this world, can be traced back to him.
My hand trembled holding my search results, not daring to look up from my desk. This is it, I thought. This is the end, this is the time to pack it in. When you've become nothing more than a hack profiler out to prove that every crime in history was committed by the same monster.
"...Olivia? Hey, are you okay?"
If there is one thing I hate about Fin, it's his soft side. He would be so much easier to understand if it just weren't there.
"Yeah, I'm fine Fin. Let's take a trip to Jeremiah's insurance office."
