Chapter 20

? POV

"Shit, shit, shit!" I muttered loudly, in a panic as my accomplice and I made it back to our getaway car. I looked in the side view mirror and saw the rapid flashing red and blue lights as police cars and an ambulance surrounded the apartment complex I had just left. We barely managed to escape.

"This isn't good." my accomplice gripped the steering wheel tight. "We are so screwed. How did this happen?"

"She woke up before I did." I muttered. "She went through my pockets and found the ice pick. I tried to stop her, but she was way tougher than she looked."

I'll never forget that look she gave me as she stared down at the ice pick in her hand. Probably wondering why I was even carrying around an ice pick in the first place. Something must have clicked for her because her once curious glance turned into a look of realization... and fear. With no time for my original plan, I had to improvise. I noticed that she had a baseball bat sitting by her door. I picked it up and did what I had to do before finishing the job.

"What do we do now?" my accomplice asked, knuckles turning white.

"Don't worry, there's no way she survives. The job is still done."

"But I couldn't clean as thoroughly. What if they find something?"

"They won't. You did enough."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. Now, let's get out of here while they're distracted."

My accomplice gave a frustrated sigh "You better hope so." we pulled off from the curb, headlights off until we got far enough away.


Vanessa yawned as she began to make her way out after a long night at the hospital. It was early morning and the sun was just rising. She loved what she did, but she couldn't wait to get home. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. As she was heading toward an exit, there was a commotion. EMTs had made their way through the emergency doors, rolling someone in on a gurney. "Get her to the O.R.! Get her prepped for surgery!" one of the doctors ordered.

Before they disappeared into an empty operating room, Vanessa managed to catch a glimpse of who was being hauled away on a stretcher. "Oh my God, May!"

"You know who this is?" a doctor asked.

"Yeah, I know her father. Her name is May-lee Jones." Vanessa said.

"Alright, I need you to contact him and let him know what happened."

Vanessa nodded and shakily pulled her phone out of her pocket. She found his name and called. When he didn't respond, she gave a frustrated sigh. "Come on, Case." thinking quickly, she called Don.

"Hey."

"Donnie! I need you to get a hold of Casey!" Vanessa said.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's May. She's here in the hospital and she's unresponsive."

"What?! What happened?!"

"I don't know. I'm going to try and find out. Tell Casey."

"Right. Okay." Don quickly hung up and Vanessa went to go see what she could figure out. She stood right outside the O.R just waiting for anyone to walk out so she could ask about what was going on. When one of the nurses popped back out, Vanessa stopped her.

"Hey, do you know what happened to that girl in there."

The nurse shrugged. "All I know is that someone attacked her at home. Several, small wounds in her abdomen, as well as, a head wound."

A head wound? Vanessa looked to the nurse. "Thank you."

The nurse hurried off and Vanessa sighed.

Hours later, Casey finally showed up in a frenzy. "Vanessa, what happened?"

"I don't know the full story. All I know is that someone attacked her at her place. I don't know who."

Just then, Mike and Henry came through the hospital doors. "Oh no, what are you guys doing here?"

"We were called down to investigate. They think that our killer might be involved."

"Oh God." Casey had to sit down before he collapsed. Vanessa sat down next to him and rubbed his back to comfort him.

"Vanessa, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asked and stepped away.

Vanessa followed him out of earshot. "What's up?"

"What did you hear?"

"I only know that she came in with multiple wounds to the abdomen and a head injury. Until they're done working on her, we won't know anything further."

"Do you think it could be him?"

"I'm not sure, it's definitely possible. The puncture wounds were small just like the others, but that doesn't explain the head trauma." Vanessa said. "That completely throws everything we already know out the window. Unless... she fought back."

"Do you think she managed that?"

"That's Casey's kid, she's a fighter."

"Alright." he agreed.

"What did you find at her place?"

"Surprisingly not a lot of differences. No signs of forced entry, everything was still cleaned up and she was in the bed when she was found, but there were somethings that were just off."

"Like what?"

"Like, she was fully clothed when in the bed and also, the cleaning wasn't as thorough. It's as if they were in a rush."

"The cops?" Vanessa suggested.

"That's what I was thinking. If you really think that she tried to fight off her attacker, the noise from the struggle could have scared a neighbor into calling for help. I mean, they were in a pretty small apartment complex and those walls couldn't have been too thick." Mike deduced. "It possibly threw another wrench in their plans."

Vanessa remembered something important from a while ago. "Okay, I don't know if this will be much help, but I vaguely remember her with someone a couple weeks ago."

"Any info helps. What do you got?"

"Okay so, I was sitting at this cafe with the girls when I saw her, I guess, on a date. I'm not really sure."

"What was the cafe called?" Mike asked with a stern look.

"Tasty Delights, it's on the east side. It just opened up, so it's still new."

"I see and what does this guy look like?"

"Tall, maybe 6'1", muscular build, pale skin, red hair, brown eyes. Last I saw, he was wearing a tight t-shirt and jeans."

"Great, thanks, hopefully this will help. Maybe I can get some security footage from there, see if we can identify this guy."

"Hey man, just back off, okay!" they turned at the sound of Casey's voice. He had gotten up in Henry's face and looked like he was about to punch him.

"Whoa, whoa, what happened?" Mike quickly stepped in between the two men.

With an annoyed growl, Casey pointed to Henry. "Get this guy the hell away from me!"

"Okay, no problem." Mike led Henry to the exit of the hospital. "Listen, I think you should head back to the station and I'll update you, okay."

"But what about-?"

"Don't worry about anything here. I'll handle it." Mike said. "Head back to the station and let them know what's going on."

"Alright fine." Henry walked out with a frustrated sigh.

Mike took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Casey and Vanessa. She had gotten him to calm down, but she also looked pretty upset for some reason. "I'm sorry about that, Casey." Casey remained silent as he ran a hand down the length of his face. "He is just obsessed with trying to find this guy."

"Yeah, but he can do that without-" Vanessa started.

"It's okay, Vanessa." Casey cut her off

"I won't ask you anymore questions today. You need to be with your daughter right now. All I ask is that you call me when you're ready to talk or when May is available to talk." he said.

Casey looked up at him and nodded. "You should go too, Vanessa."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I wanna be alone right now."

"Okay, I understand. Just let me tell the nurses that you're here for May."

Vanessa walked up to the front desk and let them know about Casey being there and that she was leaving for the day. She said goodbye to her distraught friend and left the hospital with Mike. Mike let out a breath once they were outside. "That could've gone better."

Vanessa turned to Mike with her hands on her hips. "Yeah, it could've if your partner hadn't set Casey off like that."

"I'm sorry about that." Mike scratched the back of his head.

"You're not the one that should be apologizing."

"I know, but Henry is dead set on finding this guy that he sometimes forgets that people may not want to be questioned right away."

"The issue is that he lacks any sympathy."

"I will tell him that, believe me." Mike promised. "Did Casey tell you what he said?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Only that he was asking typical questions, but with an almost accusatory tone. He said that it felt like he was blaming him for this happening."

Mike shook his head."Okay, I have to make a stop at that cafe then I'll head back to the station."

"You need a ride?" Vanessa offered.

"Nah, I'll walk. Need to think."

"Alright, I'll see you later." Vanessa headed for the hospital parking garage across the street.

Mike began his trek to the cafe when someone called out to him. "Psst, hey." a person whispered from the alleyway he had just passed.

Mike stopped and moved back to look into the alley. There was someone standing there with a hoodie on, trying to look discreet by hiding his face as much as possible. To Mike, he just looked suspicious. "You talking to me?"

"Yeah, come here." he beckoned Mike into the alley.

Mike's senses went on full alert. "I'm fine right here, thanks. What do you want?"

The man sighed and looked up and down the sidewalk. When he determined that the coast was clear he said "Fine. You're Michael Evans, right? One of the detectives on the serial killer case?"

"Yeah." Mike said slowly. "How do you know that?"

"I know a lot of things. I also know who your killer is."

Mike paid full attention when he heard that. "What?"

"I know who the killer is." he said again.

Mike wasn't too sure, but this guy sounded upset. Like he was getting choked up as he mentioned the killer. Maybe they have some connection to each other. "And how, exactly, do you know this?

"I-" he paused, seeming conflicted. "I just know, okay."

Definitely has some sort of connection. "Fine, do you at least have proof?"

"Yes, I have an entire folder and a flash drive as a back up. It's full of evidence that you need. And it's locked up safe, right now." he said in a hushed tone. "And I'll give it to you if you promise that we can talk privately."

Mike raised an eyebrow at this. That was a bit of a weird request. "Privately?"

"Yes, as in you can't go to your little police friends with this. This info is for your eyes and your eyes only."

Mike responded by crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes at the hooded man.

"Listen, I know all of this sounds suspicious, but just... trust me, okay. I'll explain everything to you later." the hooded man snapped. He suddenly looked to his left. Mike followed his gaze and saw something suddenly disappear into the next alleyway. Mike couldn't tell what it was. The sun hadn't fully risen yet and there was just enough shadow to keep whatever it was, hidden. Apparently, that was enough to make the hooded man even more nervous. "Do we have a deal?"

Mike looked at the hooded man. He was definitely paranoid about something. He couldn't worry about that now though. If he had any proof to back up his claim then he was going to take it. Mike sighed and frustratedly rubbed his bald head. "Fine. There's an old, small shack downtown, near the water. You can't miss it. It's the oldest looking thing there. Only a couple people know about it. Perfect place to talk privately. Will that work?"

The hooded man nodded.

"Alright, I'll meet you there tomorrow night. Nine o'clock?" Mike ordered.

The hooded man nodded again. "And Michael, let's keep this between us, okay. Don't trust those around you. You can't." he stated, cryptically as he headed in the opposite direction.

Mike instantly became suspicious again, but a part of him really let those words sink in. "...Sure, okay."

Mike walked away from him, left alone with his own thoughts. Don't trust those around you? What did that mean? He took out his phone. I have to tell Henry and the Chief, at least. His finger hovered over the call button. Something was holding him back. Was it what the hooded man told him? He seemed to know a lot. And if my hunch was correct then he does seem like he had some sort of connection with the killer. Maybe I should trust him, but I can't go in there without back up. It could be a trap. He sighed and pocketed his phone. He had a lot to think about. Until then, he was going to check out Vanessa's possible lead.


Vanessa solemnly entered the lair. As soon as she did, she was immediately bombarded by questions from her family.

"What happened?" Melanie asked.

"How is she?" Mikey followed up.

"And who did this to her?" Raph angrily punched his fist into his open palm.

Vanessa held up her hands to quiet them down. "Someone came into her apartment and attacked her. She's not doing well, last I saw. They think that because there was no forced entry, that the killer did it. Mike was called in to handle it."

Silence overtook them. The fact that the killer got to someone that they knew was a problem. It hit a little too close to home.

"...We have to find this guy." Sierra said.

"I know and we will." Leo said.


Mike had found the cafe that Vanessa was referring to. It didn't look to be open yet, but there were a couple of people inside setting up for the day. Looked to be three women and a man from what he could see through the front doors. Mike calmly walked up to the doors and knocked on the glass, catching their attention. The man inside pointed at his watch and yelled loud enough for Mike to hear through the glass pane. "We're not open yet."

Mike quickly pulled out his badge and said, "I just want to talk."

Slightly startled, the man quickly unlocked the front door to let Mike in. "I'm so sorry about that. I didn't know. How can I help you officer?"

Mike stepped inside, it was a very cute looking cafe. A place that would attract mostly women. "Detective Michael Evans." he introduced himself. "Are you the owner?"

"Yes, I am."

"Do you mind if I have a word with you in private." Mike said as he eyed the three women standing and staring, nervously.

"Sure, of course. Follow me."

Mike followed the young man into a back office. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." Mike asked once the door closed behind him.

"Trent." the owner answered.

"Listen, Trent. I'm gonna be straightforward with you. Another incident possibly involving the killer just occurred. And the victim was last seen here with another man by witnesses. I'm gonna need you to show me the security camera footage you have of this place from the last, let's say, three weeks."

"Um, sure let me see what I've got."