Sorry about delaying this. I kinda got distracted by the sequel story I'm working on. Sorry, my bad. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Chapter 23

Once the family was gone, Logan hesitantly made his way back down the fire escape. Amber was in there waiting for him when he got there. She immediately noticed how stressed out he looked. "What happened?" she asked.

"...I don't know. We were talking and her family showed up. They started accusing me of being associated with the killer. It all happened so fast. I had no time to explain myself, they wouldn't let me, and Kylie ran off before I could say anything." he took a shuddering breath. "Why is this happening? I lost Toni, lost my dad, now I may be losing Kylie too."

"Wait... your dad?"

"Yeah, I found out my father died right before I got here." he could feel himself getting choked up.

"Oh no, Logan. I'm so sorry." Amber had to feel for her friend. It has just been one thing after another with him. It seems that both of them were cursed or something. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know." he shrugged. "I'm just going to go home... I guess. There's not much else I can do right now." he headed for their front door. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, but if you need anything just let me know."

"Unless you can convince Kylie to let me explain then I don't think anyone can help me." he said as walked out the front door. He wouldn't even let Amber say anything else. He's really heartbroken.

Logan walked down the sidewalk, fighting back tears. He has lost so much over the last few months, he couldn't take it anymore. "Why is this happening to me?" he said to himself. "What did I do to deserve all of this?"

He kept walking as the conversation he just had about his father ran through his mind.


"I'm so sorry you have to hear it this way." Trent stated sadly.

"I can't believe this." he raked his hands through his hair. "What was he even doing in an old shack?"

"I don't know, didn't you say that he might have gotten some information on that serial killer guy?" Trent asked.

"Well, yeah, but I was just guessing. I don't know if it's true. And that doesn't explain why he was in an old shack."

"Well, whatever it was, it got him in a lot of trouble. That's what he gets for getting involved in something like this."

Logan looked to Trent incredulously. "How can you say something like that so casually? He was your uncle."

Trent sighed sadly. "I know and I'm also devastated by what happened, but you gotta admit. It was stupid of him to get involved in this. He would still be around if he didn't."

"It's his job to report on things like this. Why wouldn't he get involved?"

Trent shrugged off his question. "I'm just saying. Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you later." he held out his hand for him to shake.

"Right, sure." Logan looked down at the offered hand. He found it weird he wanted to shake hands with him, but he was too mentally drained to care at that moment. He shook hands with Trent before leaving. He didn't know what to think. All he wanted to do was see Kylie. She was the only person that made him truly happy.


And now, he was probably never going to see her again. This sucks.


Kylie reached the lair first. She ran in with tears in her eyes, passed by everyone without a word, and ran up to her room. Once her door slammed shut, the rest of her family finally came in. "What was that about?" Mikey asked.

"Turns out that my daughter was hanging around someone who knows our suspect."

"I'm sorry, what?" Sierra asked.

"Essentially, Raph accused a kid of associating with the person that we are suspecting." Melanie explained.

"Hey, you saw the same thing I did."

"Yeah, I did, but that doesn't mean anything."

"Well, you sure didn't stop me." Raph said.

"I stopped you from punching the kid in the face. That's enough."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"I'm gonna go talk to Kylie." Melanie sighed as she headed up to her daughter's room.

As Melanie climbed up to the upper levels of the lair, Don stepped out of his lab. "Hey guys, I got something." he said to all of the adults in the room. All of his siblings and his wife crowded into his lab. "So, this guy, whoever he was, had every right to encrypt this thumb drive. There's some damning evidence in here." Don showed them the files stored in the drive, all of them labeled as video journal entries, only one audio recording, and picture files labeled with the most recent of the victims' names.

"Let's check out the video files first?" Vanessa asked.

Don played the first one and everyone listened in. A man's face popped up on the screen, the face of the man that they had found dead earlier tonight. He looked to be sitting in a home office while recording. "My name is Devin Shelton. This is video log number one, the date is April 14th, time" he looks down at his watch. "12:24 pm. I was given the task of looking into our city's serial killer. Boss thinks that there is no way that this person is cleaning up this well after himself unless he's getting help and I can't help but think that he might be right. So far, five women have been made victims of these killings. I'm going to use my connections within the police department to find out what exactly they know. Maybe someone in there is keeping things from the public." the recording ended.

"I wonder who his connection is. It can't be Mike, they didn't know each other by this point." Sierra added.

Don played the next video. "Video log number two, the date April 30th, time 10:30 pm." he sighed before speaking. "I was able to gather a little bit of information, but it wasn't much. The connection that I had, didn't have much to tell me. And, unfortunately, two killings occurred within the same week on the 22nd of April and then on the 25th of April. Traci Stevens is number six in this string of murders and Toniann Watson is number seven." his face suddenly changed. "I did notice a pattern with these women though. Most of them were seen at least once at a cafe called Tasty Delights. Traci was one of them. I know the owner of the cafe, so this might have gotten a bit more personal. I'm going to have to dig a little deeper and follow some people around because something just isn't right."

By the third video, Devin was starting to look a little more solemn than before. "Video log number three, May 9th, time is 6:52 pm. There was another death yesterday, Jade Roe makes victim number eight. As I had said before, I followed around the owner. The owner is my nephew, his name is Nathaniel and I have very good reason to believe that he is the killer. I was able to get a good shot of him as he was walking to Jade's apartment. It had been hours and I never saw him come out, the next thing I knew, the police and an ambulance showed up. He was the last one to go in there. I never would have thought that my nephew would have been the killer. I hadn't spoken to him since my brother and I weren't on good terms." he sighed. "I'm going to have to tell my brother about this even if he doesn't want to believe me. He's a detective on this case, he needs to know."

He sighed before continuing. "I also heard that they found his cell phone, but they couldn't get it to work. It was given to the other detective on the case. Michael Evans, I believe his name was. I should find out more about him. Maybe we could work together to figure something out if my brother chooses not to believe me." he chuckled to himself. "Probably not the best idea for him. He may not accept my help either, but I'm gonna try."

"So, he's related to the killer?" Sierra asked.

"Sounds like it." Leo added.

"Man, that really sucks." Mikey chimed in.

"Well, we've got one more video and some audio. What else could he possibly have to say?" Vanessa asked.

By the time they got to the fourth video log, Devin's calm, journalistic demeanor was different. He looked frazzled. "Video log number four, May 15th, time is..." he rubbed at his tired eyes and sighed. "...whatever. I just found out some disturbing news. Well, disturbing for me anyway. I confronted my brother about what his son and daughter have been up to and... well, the good news is, he believed me." he let out a chuckle, but those watching could tell that he wasn't happy. "My brother, aka one of the detectives on this very case, told me that he already knew about what he was doing and was allowing it... he was even helping him. The killers and accomplices are members of my own family. Why he flat out told me all of this I don't know. Maybe he was just messing with me, but why would he do that? We haven't spoken in ten years and we finally meet up and this is what he has to say. Did he think that I wouldn't take him seriously? Does he think I'm not going to say anything because we're family? There has to be a reason for this I..." he stopped talking when someone opened the door behind him.

It was Logan. "Hey Pops, dinner's ready."

"I'll be right there. Give me a minute."

Logan shuts the door and Devin looks back at the camera and sighs again. "I'm taking this seriously and I'm going to say something. This can't continue. Family or not. I have to get in contact with this Michael Evans. He may be the only one who can stop this. I recorded everything my brother said, so I'll leave that for Michael to look at. There's no telling how he'll react when he finds out about this."

"That explains why it feels like Mike is constantly running into dead ends. His own partner is sabotaging him" Don said. " I knew something was going on in there."

"Run that back." Raph said and Don rewound the footage. "Stop it right there." he stopped it on Logan when he was in the doorway. That's him. That's who we saw talking to ol' Nate." he said with a sneer.

"But that doesn't mean he was involved." Leo assured him. "Maybe he was talking to our suspect only because of that family connection. Not knowing that he was talking to the killer."

Raph crossed his arms. "Yeah, well, whoever he is, he's not going anywhere near my daughter until we find the whole truth."

Leo shook his head. "Don, call Mike. Let him know that we were able to find what he needed."


Meanwhile, upstairs, Kylie was still crying and had curled up in a ball on her bed. Her mother sat on the edge of the bed, comforting her. "Oh, Kylie, I know this sucks now, but it'll be okay."

She sniffled and sat up. "Why is it that the one guy that takes an interest in me turns out to be involved with a killer?"

"Look, we don't even know if he is involved with the killer." Melanie reassured her.

"But you and dad said you saw Logan talking to the guy."

"Exactly, we only saw him. We don't know what was said between them. You know your father, he jumps to conclusions when he thinks his family is in danger. So all we need to do is find out the connection between them. They could just be old friends for all we know." Melanie explained.

Kylie wiped some of the tears from her eyes. "You think Logan is innocent?" she asked, hopefully.

Melanie shrugged. "I don't know for sure. All I know is when I looked at him, I didn't see a killer. I didn't see someone who would even be a willful participant in this. I saw a scared kid."

Kylie chuckled. "Well, he was almost punched by dad." she reminded.

"Yeah, he does have that effect on people." she added with a chuckle of her own. "If your boyfriend is innocent then we'll make sure that he stays out of this."

Kylie shook her head. "He's not my boyfriend."

Melanie reached up and wiped the remaining tears away. "Judging by the tears in your eyes, I'd say you wanted him to be."

Kylie sniffled again. "...Maybe."

Melanie smirked. She knew her daughter and she knew that she was smitten. "Don't try to hide it. I know you. You don't show interest in people unless you care about them."

The teenager sighed and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I guess."

"Things will work out. You'll see." Melanie reassured.

"...And if it doesn't?"

"Then... I'll just have to teach you to move on." she shrugged. "But I don't think it'll come to that." she stood up off the bed and kissed her child on the head before leaving the room.

As soon as she walked out, RJ walked in. "Hey twin." he greeted. Kylie was quiet at first, choosing not to talk to her brother. "...You're mad at me."

Kylie sighed. "No, not really. I mean, I was, but staying mad is just exhausting, so I stopped."

RJ chuckled. "Saved by your laziness."

"Shut up." Kylie threw her pillow at him and he easily sidestepped out of the way.


Mike had just made it into the police station. There was no sign of Henry anywhere which was worrisome, but while he was gone Mike was going to take the opportunity to get some answers. The first place he went to was the intelligence department to talk to their intelligence analyst. Ever since Don told him of his suspicions toward the police department, there's something that has been bothering him. That cell phone that Henry said was not salvageable. As soon as he gave it to Don it was able to get fixed almost instantly, so why couldn't they figure it out. He walked right over to where Kevin was sitting and chatting with other tech operators. He was a fairly young guy with a five o clock shadow, short curly brown hair, and a pair of glasses set on his face. "Hey, Kev." Mike greeted him when he saw him.

"Hey Mike, what do you need?"

"I just need to ask you a question."

"Uh, sure, what's up?"

Mike nervously rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want to accuse anybody in here, he didn't want to believe that anyone in here might be an accomplice, willing or unwilling, but he had to find out. "A couple of weeks ago, there was evidence brought in. A cell phone..." Mike stopped talking when he saw the look of confusion on their faces. "What?"

"Um, I'm sorry Mike, but I don't remember a cell phone ever being brought here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Guys?" he asked his fellow tech operators.

All of them answered with a shake of their heads. "Nothing?"

"Sorry, no. Do you want us to look up something for you?" Kevin asked.

"Or someone?" one of the tech operators chimed in.

None of this sounded right. If they never knew about it then that would mean that Henry intentionally didn't submit it as evidence. He didn't want to believe that his partner was in on this, but at this point, it seemed likely that he was. "No, thanks, guys. I'll talk to you later." he leaves the department and headed out to the main room when heard his phone ringing.

Before he could even try to answer it, he was called into the chief's office. He flinched when he was called. He quickly stuffed the phone into his pocket and went to see what the chief wanted. He was already pacing back and forth. "Take a seat."

Mike took a seat in the chair across from his desk. "What is it, chief?"

Chief Cahill sat down at his desk with a sigh. "I've heard some troubling news."

"What?"

"I heard about what happened at that shack downtown. I need you to explain to me what exactly you were doing and how you were involved."

Mike took a deep breath before explaining what happened last night. "So, the man that was found in there, Devin, he approached me earlier that day claiming that he knew who the killer and his accomplices were."

"Why didn't you let any of us know?"

"Because he told me that someone within the police department cannot be trusted. So in order to gain his trust, I told him I would meet him somewhere private. Unfortunately, when I went to go meet him, he was already dead, so someone got to him before me. Did we contact the family?"

"...Yes, we did and as it turns out, Devin was Henry's brother."

"What?! Are you serious?"

"Yes, apparently it was. I got a call from him this morning, so you won't be seeing him for a few days. Which brings me to my next issue. Henry has let me know that you have been associating with some... unsavory characters." he said vaguely.

Mike was confused by that statement. "What? What do you mean unsavory?"

"As in mysterious people we know nothing about, but they are associating with you. Henry spotted you hopping into the back of an unidentified armored truck a while back."

So now, Henry has been spying on me? This just keeps getting weirder. If he was following me around then, then who's to say that he wasn't following and listening when I first met Devin. "Well, you told me to do more, so I'm doing more." Mike shrugged. "Beggars can't be choosers right now especially with the new information that I just received."

"And what would that be?"

"I... shouldn't say right now. It's only speculation. I want more concrete proof."

"Do you believe him?" Cahill asked. "This Devin person. You believe that someone in here is somehow involved in these killings?"

Mike only shrugged. "I guess it's possible, but if this guy trusted me enough to only approach me about the info he received then I'm going to follow through with it."

"So... now what?"

"Now. I'm going to see this 'unsavory character' about what was found."

"But the body was searched, he didn't have anything on him."

"...He had a backup plan apparently."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, I just need you to trust me for now. If I brought the information here, and if the person that I'm currently thinking of really is an accomplice then bringing it here probably wouldn't end well. I'm going to catch these people, I promise you that."

Cahill looked to his detective, thinking about what the best option should be. He figured that he should just trust his gut on this. "Fine, get out of here." Mike stood up and started to head out. "Whatever you've got planned, be careful."

"I will." Mike nodded and walked out of his office. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was Donnie. He quickly called him back as he headed back out of the station. "Hey, sorry. I got called into the boss's office. What's up? What did you find?"

"All the proof you need." was Don's simple response.

"Great, I'm on my way over there right now." he hung up and made his way to his car.


I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to lose interest in this story, but it's almost over and I am determined to finish it. I learned that mystery stories aren't my strong suit. But at least I can say I tried.

Just going to get these last few chapters out and then I'm going to move onto other projects.