Ma Fille Chapter 4

I drove home as quickly as I could and walked into the house to find my father sitting at his dining room table. The minute that he looked into my eyes, I knew something was wrong. "Dad."

"How many?"

I looked at him with a cocked eyebrow "How many what?"

"You know what I am asking you Caretta…How many have you killed?"

His eyes bore into mine, and I shook with fear "You…You found out?"

"Of course I found out...I am your father Caretta, I know when something hasn't exactly gone well."

I took a step back and looked at him "When?"

He held in his hand, An Ipad "When I talked to Jack Crawford at the FBI, and Will Graham, they both gave me a very interesting criminal profile, one that you fit except for a couple of things, oh and there is this."

He slid the IPad across the table to show me the front the Article was titled "The Scissor Slasher strikes again" 'A tongue twister of a title, well played Freddie Lounds…you bitch.' I thought with gritted teeth.

"It would seem that this Scissor Slasher has a talent for carving up the faces of his or her victims, as if the killer really wants to cut out the eyes, such a coward is this killer who doesn't want his or her face to be imprinted in the victim's eyes. Such hate that a pretty face can be turned into an utter grotesque art."

"Such interesting words, and what an interesting name…" I said out loud then looked into my father's eyes "So What are we going to do?"

"Answer my question first Caretta, then I will tell you everything.

"Are you asking me how many I have killed? Or how many I am willing to admit to?"

I kept my eyes pasted to his like his were pasted to mine. "Don't play games with someone who has played the game and won."

My eyes narrowed and I looked away from him "Four."

He took a deep breath and sighed "So besides Richard Martin, there are three more."

I nodded "You going to turn me in dad? or maybe you have someone waiting outside for me, maybe you are wearing a wire."

"No. No I wouldn't do any of that to you." He stood up and looked at me "As a matter of fact I had to clean up your mess to make sure that you didn't get caught."

The light bulb clicked in my head "You are the one that disposed of Rich? you cleaned up his blood." I am not sure if it was relief or fear in my own heart but I had to take a seat myself, and put my face in my hands.

"What are you thinking right now Caretta?"

He was standing to the side of me, leaning against the table, when I looked into his eyes I saw something I had never noticed before, his eyes were dark, like there was something about him, he wasn't the normal man that I had grown up with, he has seen things. "What did you do with the corpse?"

A slight silence took over the room for a moment "I think it's a good idea that we leave some mysteries uncovered for right now."

He touched my shoulder "I am the only one that you have right now Caretta."

I set my hand on his "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you Caretta, On the contrary you are more like me than what you can possibly imagine."

The sudden thought entered my mind and I had to say it. "Why did you ask me this, what happened when you med with the man from the FBI?"

He leaned against the table "They found a body, the body of a man that worked on a radio shack. He was stabbed with a pair of Stainless steel scissors."

I looked at him and my brow furrowed with confusion. I didn't say what I was thinking at the time but I sat back in my seat "What am I going to do?"

"You are going to do what I tell you." He stated "I will help you, and you are not going to take care of anyone unless I tell you, you can."

I nodded shaking slightly. "Now, I want you to tell me about the four."

I shook harder "Usually when someone tells someone to do that than they are going to get caught."

He sighed and bent down to me "You are going to have to trust me Caretta, if we are going to get through this then you are going to have to trust me."

He walked over and took a seat at the other end of the table and I sat forward again, folding my hands together and my eyes growing dark "You say that I can trust you dad. Then you are going to have to be honest with me."

"How can a father never be honest to his only daughter?"

I looked at my hands and thought back "The first was a man who I had witnessed beating his wife with a belt. I followed him one night and beat him with a pipe. The second was a cop who tried to rape a young woman, I shot him with his own gun. The third was a woman who I witnesses try to run a runner off the road. I ironically, hit her with my car, and then there was Rich...I stabbed him with a pair of scissors multiple times."

It was my father's turn to look at me in confusion

"As you can see dad, the RadioShack worker was no work of mine, I don't know whose it was. I am not the scissor slasher either... Though I appreciate the fact that you think that I am that talented."

My father sat back and sighed "Alright, now we can put this behind us and move forward."

I looked at him "How can you say that dad? I killed four people."

He stood up and kissed the top of my head "Cute...very cute."

That was all he had said of the matter, and he didn't keep up his end of the bargain either.

"Why do you have the sudden urge to come with me all of a sudden?"

"I just thought I would accompany you to your new job, and I want to meet the people that you will be working with."

"It is a technical college for Criminal Justice dad what kind of people do you think I will be working with?"

"It is a technical college for Criminal Justice dad what kind of people do you think I will be working with?" I said with a slight laugh in my voice."

"You have no idea."

I had been living with my father for the last couple of days, "Besides, when we get done here I am going to be taking you over to be meeting a friend of mine."

'Another fellow shrink father?"

He looked at me "How did you know that?"

"I am your daughter, I know these things...and I may have been listening in on your conversation with her this morning."

"You even know it is a female."

"Women are drawn to you dad, you may not see that all the time, but they are naturally drawn to you, you are a gentleman, you are handsome, smart, witty...foreign..."

He rolled his eyes slightly "What does me being foreign have to do with anything?"

"Like I said, women are naturally attracted to everything that you are...They find it sexy."

"Caretta." He gave me a warning tone and I laughed "Speaking the truth that is all I am doing, don't get cranky with me." I replied in surrender.

I walked into the building and was immediately welcomed "You must be Caretta Lector." The woman at the main desk said with a smile

"Yes, I am...How did you know? My classes won't be until tomorrow."

"You walked in with Dr. Hannibal Lector and you look just like him."

I looked over my shoulder and my father just shrugged with amusement. I nodded "Yes, I am."

"Come with me and you can meet the Dean, he is really looking forward to working with you."

I followed her into an office and was asked to take a seat "So it would seem that you make a pretty big impact on society." I said quietly as the woman left the room

My father remained standing and roamed through the books on the bookshelf next to him "I try to make a positive impression everywhere I go Caretta."

"So that the community looks over someone with demons?" I asked still a little frustrated that my dad was still keeping secrets from me.

"Everyone has demons Caretta, it is just to what level are those demons taking over."

"Very philosophical." I said

He looked at me and smiled "You of all people should know that I am a very philosophical man."

"A very secretive one too."

He sighed "You will find out all of the demons I hide soon enough Caretta, one step at a time."

The door suddenly interrupted our conversation "Well, I wasn't expecting you for another couple of Days Miss Lector."

I stood up and smiled at the tall man with salt and pepper hair and a graying beard. I shook his hand politely "My father insisted that he meet the people to whom I would be working for. I thought it would be a good idea to also pick up my rosters."

He smiled "Very smart." He looked at my father "Hello Dr. Lector it is a pleasant surprise to see you again."

My father smiled politely as I had done and shook the man's hand "What a strange thing, to see you in this environment George."

I cocked an eyebrow and George Grey smiled "Not to worry Miss Lector, Your father and I, as well as another woman, frequent the opera, your father has also been well known to give wonderful dinner parties."

I nodded "Yes my father's culinary skills have been known to attract some attention, though I didn't realize that you were an opera man." I said looking him up and down. Dr. Grey looked as if he belonged more in a football arena, bulldog shaped with big shoulders.

"Yes, I enjoy it rather, my wife enjoys it and I try to enjoy it for her sake."

The three of us laughed in unison

"Well now that you seem to be acquainted let me get those rosters and I will look forward to seeing you on Tuesday."

I nodded "Thank you sir."

As soon as he left the room I couldn't help but give a smug look to my father "I should have known that you knew him from the opera."

"You meet very interesting people at the opera, I could never get you to accompany me."
"That is because I thought the opera was boring when I was sixteen."

"And now?"

"I may have had a change of heart when my friend took me to one in Spain." I said with a slight giggle in my voice "I had no respect."

Dr. Grey entered the room and smiled "Here you are. Oh and Dr. Lector I must say that you must put on another one of your dinner parties."

"You know how I work George inspiration has to strike me first." My father replied "But when I get ready to I will let you know."

"Good." Dr. Grey looked at me and shook my hand one more time "I look forward to seeing your class Miss Lector."

"Please, call me Caretta."

My father looked at his watch "Caretta I am sorry to say that we are going to have to get going. I forgot that we have another appointment and I am afraid we are going to run a couple of minutes late as it is."

I had forgotten as well, the shrink… I smiled once more at Dr. Grey and quickly caught up with my father who was out the door.

"She has a nice house, I can see why you are drawn to her."

"I didn't say I was drawn to her."

"You didn't say you weren't either."

"Caretta, She is a colleague of mine and a friend, I have been going to her as long as I have been in practice."

The door opened to a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a smile "Good morning Hannibal…and this must be your daughter, she looks like you."

"I get that a lot." I said

I looked at my father who said "I am going to sit out here and let you two talk alone, it will be good for me not to hear everything right away."

I nodded slowly and my father could tell that I was nervous. He kissed my head and shook his head whispering in my ear "Just don't give away anything that has to do with what happened and you will be okay."

I nodded again "It's alright Caretta, like your father, I am not going to say anything to anyone, confidentiality."