Cody read the letter over and over. He didn't notice Anna and Toby were now standing at his desk, staring at him.
"Uh... You okay man?" Toby asked.
Cody didn't reply. He kept his eyes glued to the letter.
Anna reached over the desk and put her hand on Cody's shoulder, lightly shaking him, "Hey, Cody! What's wrong?"
Cody's eyes popped up as he looked back and forth from Toby to Anna, "How long have you two been standing there?" He said in a confused tone.
"About three minutes," Toby replied, "What's makin' you look so nervous?"
Reading over the letter one more time Cody's eyes widened as he hurried out of his chair, "I gotta talk to Boss," He said as he hurried to Jimmy's office. Toby and Anna followed closely behind.
"Boss, I just got this letter. I'm pretty sure it's from our serial killer," Cody said in a hurry as he laid the letter in front of Jimmy, on his desk.
Toby and Anna gave each other a shocked look, then turned to Jimmy, knowing he would read the letter out loud.
"Years have changed you
Once you were an innocent young boy
Until a man took your innocence away from you
Waiting is all I do now
I see the bodies in front of me, but they bring no satisfaction
Long are the hours I wait for you
Long are the days I think about having you to myself
Did I not give you enough clues to find me yet?
Is there going to have to be more bodies?
Eventually our day will come."
"Oh my God," Anna said quietly once Jimmy had finished.
"Do you see it?" Cody asked, not waiting for Jimmy or Toby's reaction.
"See what exactly?" Jimmy asked.
Look at the capital letters at the beginning of each sentence.
Jimmy looked over the letter again,
Years have changed you
Once you were an innocent young boy
Until a man took your innocence away from you
Waiting is all I do now
I see the bodies in front of me, but they bring no satisfaction
Long are the hours I wait for you
Long are the days I think about having you to myself
Did I not give you enough clues to find me yet?
Is there going to have to be more bodies?
Eventually our day will come
"You will die," He said aloud.
By this time Toby and Anna were hurrying over to see the letter for themselves.
"What are we gonna do?" Toby asked Jimmy.
"My first instinct is to put Cody on protection detail. Get him in a safehouse, twenty-four hour security, and desk duty at work."
Cody took a deep breath, "But?"
Jimmy looked up at Cody, "You may be our only chance of catching this guy. If I hide you away, we may never find out who he is and what he wants."
"I'm pretty sure we all know what he wants," Anna said, "Well, more like "who he wants"."
"But why Cody?" Toby asked, "Why not me?"
"Feeling left out are we?" Cody asked sarcastically.
Toby rolled his eyes, "No, I just mean, what's his beef with you? Anna, Jimmy, and I are all trying to figure out these murders, so why does he only care about you?"
While Toby was talking, Anna carefully read over the letter. When he was finished, she began, "In the first paragraph he is clearly talking about Cody being kidnapped by James. Then, in the second paragraph he says that the bodies bring no satisfaction, which makes me think that he's killing to get close to Cody. He also says that he's longing for you," She said as she looked up from the letter and at Cody, "And waiting to have you to himself. He's getting impatient."
"What about the last paragraph?" Toby asked.
"Well... I could try and think of a long and reasonable explanation for that paragraph, but I think he's just trying to piss us off with that one."
Jimmy got a pair of gloves, and a baggy out from his desk drawer. He put on the gloves and placed the letter into the bag, "Toby, take this to Maggie's lab. Stay there until she gets back here... Anna, call Maggie, tell her to get back here now. I want every test possible to be ran on that letter... Cody, where is the envelope?"
"On my desk."
"Toby, on your way to Maggie's lab grab the envelope. Put it in a bag. And don't forget to put on gloves first!"
"Got it Boss," Toby called out as he headed out of the room, Ann following behind.
"What about me?" Cody asked.
"Close the door, then sit."
Cody did as he was told. When he had sat down, Jimmy began, "You have a choice to make. I can't make this for you. I can't order you to do either, which is why I'm letting you choose."
Cody nodded.
"You can either have the protection detail, stay at the safehouse, and do desk work... Or, you can keep it like we've been doing up to this point. It's more dangerous that way-"
Cody finished the sentence for him, "But it may be our only way to find the bastard."
Jimmy sighed, "Yes."
Cody sat silently for a moment. "The first paragraph is what gets me."
"The part about you and James?"
"Yeah. I mean first he tells you he has information about the killer, when you get there he says that someone will die if I don't talk to him, then... Then you get that picture of me..." Cody looked at the floor, "Lying on his bed. And then this note, talking about him."
Jimmy sat silently as he waited for Cody to continue, although he had a feeling he knew what Cody was going to say.
"What if... What if I really do need to talk... To James?" He said as he slowly brought his eyes back to Jimmy. Bile came up in his throat at the thought of having to face that man again.
"Cody, I haven't given up on you, Toby, Anna, or myself. We are four strong, smart, and capable detectives. As long as we stick together, we can and will figure this out... Without James."
The night slowly passed as they all waited for Maggie to come back with the results of all the tests she was running. Each of them falling asleep at their desks... Except for Jimmy, he stayed awake. He sat at another one of his detectives desks and watched over Anna, Toby, and Cody.
It was five o'clock in the morning when Maggie left out of her lab to inform the team of her results, "I'm done!" She said loudly as she came around the corner.
The three sleeping detectives popped up.
"I didn't sleep with her I swear!" Toby yelled, half asleep.
"Bad dream?" Anna asked with a laugh.
Toby stretched as he got out of his chair, "I was in some woman's bedroom when her husband came home. She was telling him that I slept with her, even though I knew I hadn't..." He looked at Anna and smiled, "And believe me, I would have remembered sleeping with her. She was hot!"
Anna glared at Toby, but before she could reply Jimmy interrupted, "Do you mind if we hear the results? It's kind of a matter of life or death."
"Sorry Boss," Toby said instantly.
Cody folded his arms and leaned against one of the desks in the room as he waited for Maggie to begin.
"Okay, so, I didn't find any fingerprints or DNA." She saw the sad and angry looks that everyone had on their faces, "But," she added with a smile, "I did find something."
"What?" Cody asked with wide eyes.
"The paper and the envelope were made by the same company. I noticed that they both had a different feel and look to them then regular paper does, so I ran tests to check the materials that made the paper. Once I had the results I looked up companies that use those same materials and I got one match. It's Hanson Paper Company in Lynn, Massachusetts."
"We need to find out who buys and sells their paper," Jimmy said as he looked at his detectives. They all began to go to their desks and look it up when Maggie stopped them.
"I already know who."
"Well?" Jimmy said impatiently.
Maggie smiled, "No one."
"What do you mean?" Toby asked.
"The company shut down a few years ago. All that remains of the Hanson Paper Company is the abandoned warehouse in Lynn."
The sun was just beginning to rise as Jimmy pulled up the the warehouse, "Cody, Toby, you two take the back. Me and Anna will enter through the front. Everyone got their vests on and their earpieces in?"
"Yes," They all replied as they exited the car.
"One last thing," Jimmy added, "Do not rule out the idea that this is a set up. Whoever we are dealing with is very smart. Do not put your weapon away until you are one hundred percent sure that this warehouse is clear. Understood?"
They all nodded, then Toby and Cody parted from Anna and Jimmy, making their way to the back of the warehouse.
"When I say three, we go in quietly," Jimmy said to his team. "One... Two... Three!"
With that they entered the building, pointing their guns in every direction, making sure the building was clear.
"First floor is clear," Cody said when they all met up in the middle of the building a couple minutes later.
Jimmy nodded, "Now we move to the second floor."
As thy were beginning to part directions and go up the two separate flights of stairs gunshots began ringing inside the warehouse.
They all ran for cover behind some crates that were inside and began firing back at the shadowy figure that was one floor up.
Their hearts were pounding but they kept their mind on the job that they were trained to do. 'When your fired at, you take cover, find the shooter, and fire back.' That's what they had been taught.
Suddenly the shadow figure disappeared and the gunshots stopped. After a few seconds Cody looked up from the crate he had taken cover behind, that was when he saw Jimmy lying on the floor, "Boss!" He yelled as he ran over to him.
"Cody stop!" Toby yelled, but Cody didn't listen, "Damn it!" He yelled as he ran over to Cody and Jimmy, "Anna, you stay down, if he comes back, yell!"
Cody turned Jimmy over, "Boss, can you hear me?"
Jimmy's eyes slowly opened, "My vest... Took the hit," He said as he tried to catch his breath, "Hit my head when I fell... Dizzy."
They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Shooter!" Anna suddenly yelled. Gunshots firing immediately afterwards. Not waiting for Jimmy to stand Toby and Cody dragged him behind a crate.
Cody began firing back and kept firing until the figure disappeared again. That's when Cody heard someone gasping for air. He looked around and saw the pool of blood that surrounded his colleague and friend.
"Toby!"
First of all, I know I could have made the shooting more detailed, but i didn't want to. I figure that if you're getting shot at, and you're shooting at someone, then you aren't gonna notice details. It would be more fast paced... I don't know if I'm making sense but in my head, it works! haha
Also, I would like to thank a few people: Wyntirsno, tiger002, Fletty, and lor4eto. Y'all are amazingly wonderful and faithful reviewers! Every review means the world to me and if I didn't add your name it doesn't mean I appreciate the review any less. I am so grateful and thankful to everyone who reads and reviews my stories! Thank you all!