P O V: Amanda Rollins

Residence of Alex and Casey Cabot,

Amanda Rollins, Christine Cattaneo.

63 Varick Street, Tribeca, NY

Saturday, June 18th, 2022, two-fifty am

Everyone has been awoken, and Haley and her friends have arrived. Coffee and teas have been made. We gather in the kitchen, sipping our beverages, waiting as Annie sets up a makeshift bulletin board on my fridge. "Let me introduce you to agents Sherly Barnes and Kristian Gaines; these ladies are from the most wanted task force and will now run point on the operation."

Kristian sips her coffee, giving us a quick wave as she taps the pictures on the fridge.

"Meet our suspect: Kent Reynolds, and his many aliases Darren Miller or Dustin Reid, Mike Bryant. Kent is fifty-five."

I stare at the image of the bastard who dismantled my world. He looks so ordinary it makes it crystal clear that the people you need to fear the most aren't the ones you think of when you picture evil. The most authentic evil people are those with whom you interact daily, teachers, cops, bus drivers, and your next-door neighbor.

"Kent was born here in New York City and was a guest of Crossroads in the late eighties for accidentally murdering his classmate, but his record was ex-sponged when he turned eighteen, and after his eighteenth birthday, Kent Reynolds ceased to exist."

"He started using his alias?" "Correct. We've never been able to catch or convict him because he targets the most innocent victims, kids he terrifies into silence. By the time they come forward, the statute of limitations has passed."

"So, how did we finally get him?"

"He slipped up, became desperate."

"How?"

"After talking with Peyton, we discovered Christine had given her the underwear she wore on the day of the attack to keep as evidence because her manager was burning her clothes. Besides the underwear and the memory cards. Peyton still had most of the fan mail he sent Christine."

"We tested the DNA on the underwear and got a hit. The lab also got fingerprints from the package lid sent to Chris, which had gotten knocked under her desk and escaped any damage from the explosion. Once we unsealed his JV records, we had a name."

"We got lucky in another way. Thanks to the hidden cameras outside the 1-6, we caught him delivering the package to his accomplice, Kim. Dean and Kenny have confirmed their mom talked to him and accepted the package. We know Kim was not made aware of what was inside the package. However, she was the one who delivered it to an officer inside the 1-6 who placed it on Christine's desk. We confirmed this with officer Jalen."

My heart sinks as her message now makes total sense to me. Kim killed my best friend; my sister betrayed me. Even if she didn't know what was in it, she knows now and refuses to come back and face the consequences of her actions.

"After tracking down his sister, we obtained his medical records. Kent has terminal liver disease. He's dying. So Kent has become desperate for one last flame of glory. He eliminated Christine. He thinks he'll be with her in heaven when he dies. My best guess, anyway. After Christine's death hit the Broadway world, we started getting tips about possible past victims. We also had a young lady come forward who told us she thinks she has a stalker."

The young girl comes forward waving. Noah, Wyatt, Russell, Preston, Mia, and Eliza all seem to know her. "Hey, I'm Jenny Mitchell. I am currently staring in Les Miserables as young Eponine. Two months ago, I started receiving mail from someone I had never met at my home address. He called himself Scar like from the Lion King and said we were kindred spirits because we had both been through painful moments which had left scars on our souls."

"My parents were killed in a car crash two years ago. My manager adopted me after their deaths. After the mail started coming, I noticed this man following me; I tried to tell my manager, but she never listened to me. She's always on the phone making deals and being all Hollywood elite."

"So one day I got pissed off figured if she saw me talking to a stranger, she would finally pay attention. I met him in the park; he told me his name was Mike Bryant, and he was a photographer who thought I was beautiful. Mike asked if he could take my pictures in the park along the rocks and river. I agreed, knowing my manager would get pissed because she had exclusive rights with a photography company. Mike was excellent. He gave me cotton candy. My manager never lets me eat sweets. She keeps me on a strict diet. Mike bought me hotdogs, pushed me on the swings, showed me his house, and let me play with his dog, Emmie. Mike introduced me to two girls living at his house, Sophia and Hillary. We played in the backyard, and he held a BBQ. His food was delicious. Mike played guitar, and us girls would sing."

"Every week, I would sneak out of my home for the last two months when my manager was out of the house on business meetings. Mike would pick me up two weeks ago. Mike told me he was the one who had sent the mail to me. He asked if I wanted to celebrate because I got cast in a movie that could make my career. My manager told me it was immature to celebrate because it wasn't a hit yet. I loved how Mike wanted to celebrate with me. He seemed proud, like my daddy always was of me. I miss having someone love me and tell me how proud they are of me."

"My parents always took the time to celebrate any accomplishment I achieved daily. They hugged me and reminded me I am beautiful, intelligent, and capable of conquering the world. My manager never hugs me or tells me anything positive. It's lonely. She won't let me play with the other kids because she thinks it will distract me from getting to the Hollywood elite list before I am eighteen."

"Mike treated me like an individual with a mind and opinion. When he asked if I wanted to celebrate, I said sure; I thought he would BBQ or take us to the sky zone. Instead, he popped open a bottle of champagne. It was pink reminded me of my favorite song, Pink Champagne. At first, it was nasty, but after I drank it more, I liked it; the champagne made me laugh a lot. He told us, girls, to sing the song and recorded us as we danced around, drinking champagne and popping open bottles. We started feeling dizzy and hot. So he suggested we take off layers of clothes."

"When we were naked, Mike put the camera on the table. It was still recording. Mike touched our hair and told us we were beautiful. Mike kissed us on our mouths. Made us touch him in his private places and kiss him back. I told him each time he touched me or kissed me. "I don't want that...Mike, please stop."

"Mike laughed and said if that were true, then you wouldn't be letting me touch or kiss you. If you didn't want this baby, you wouldn't kiss or touch me, but you are making me so happy with your touch."

"I didn't know how to fight him. Mike is stronger than I am. Every time I pushed him away, he grabbed my arm, squeezed it hard, and made me lie on the coffee table or the floor. Mike dragged his fingertips of his right hand down my stomach and thigh. He didn't stop there, though. Instead, he slid his hand back up my thigh and pressed against them hard enough to make me squeal."

"He entered me, and it hurt badly. Mike made me lie on the couch, and he told Sophia and Hillary to hold me down. That was all he needed. As soon as I was on my back and held down, he started pushing himself inside of me, applying more and more pressure until he was finally inside me. It was a painful sensation that felt wrong on many levels, but I couldn't fight him in the haze the champagne put me in."

"Calm down, princess - it will feel better soon. I'm making you a woman; you're shedding your innocence, baby, making your daddy proud."

"It was agony. The pain never faded, not after he ripped me open. Nothing about him felt good. Mike made me feel helpless, unclean and used. At some point, I passed out."

"Mike made me have sex with him every day after that day. When he wasn't having sex with me, he made me hold Sophia and Hillary down while he raped them. Sometimes he made us have sex with each other."

"Last night, my manager walked in on us and threw me out of her home. Mike and she were fighting for a long time; while they were fighting, Hillary told me she was scared because she found out she was pregnant. She started crying and said she wanted to go home to her parents. Hillary told me Mike wasn't their real daddy. He had kidnapped them two years ago. Told them he would kill her parents if they screamed or tried to escape."

"We heard a scream and a gun being fired. I looked out and saw Mike shoot my manager. Mike doesn't know I saw him; I hid in the girl's room. When he came in, we pretended to be asleep. Mike got on top of me and raped me. He started talking to himself. I heard him say he is taking me away forever after the Tonys tonight. The four of us were going to be together forever. I don't know if he plans to kidnap us somewhere outside of the USA or kill us."

Annie squeezes Jenny's shoulder. My eyes burn in anger; Jenny can't be any older than fourteen. "You did good, Jenny. Jenny will wear a wire tonight, so any communication between her and Mike will be recorded. Jenny has already been taken to the hospital and had a rape kit done."

"We are going to be all over the Winter Garden tonight. Full-scale invasion undercover FBI agents, US Marshalls, and NYPD To catch this bastard, we will need every pair of eyes watching and every ear listening. Captain Benson, I want you and detective Rollins backstage, keeping an eye out for Jenny. It won't look out of place. You both have kids who are performing and making speeches."

"While the show is going on, a team will execute a search warrant at his house. Jenny has given us a layout and has seen a backroom where he makes pipe bombs. I suspect we will find more than enough evidence to prove it's where he made the pipe bomb that killed detective Cattaneo. I have an unmarked car sitting on the property to ensure he doesn't try anything."

"Detective Stabler and Sargent Bell will be in a van outside monitoring the camera. We have the corporation of the academy. We will have vans and undercover cars on every exit. I'm taking Jenny back there soon, so he doesn't suspect she has left. He's passed out drunk and won't wake till morning. He takes a sleeping pill at night, according to Jenny."

"I want in." Jet's voice calls out from behind, startling us all. "I've cleared it with Ayanna already, but are you sure you are okay to work, Jet?"

"It's the only thing I am sure of, agent Frost. I know I can catch this sick bastard; in every other aspect of my life; I feel helpless and hopeless, but with work, I am confident; we all know I'm the best hacker the NYPD has, so utilize me because if you don't and this bastard gets away, you'll be killing my mother again."