"A Nightmare to Remember" Chapter 2

By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

Email: rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

Castle Wyvern, One Minute Before Sunset

Elisa paced back and forth behind the stone form that would come to life in a few moments and tried to collect the facts she had so far been able to collect so far that day. Mike Havender had been brutally murdered by person or persons unknown and died at roughly 2:15 a.m, presumably by decapitation. The murderer or murderers left not so much as a hair behind to even identify the person's sex or race and seemed to be into gore big time. No trace of the murder weapon could be found in the body of the victim leaving them with only a vague idea of what to look for in a suspect. Add that to the extreme sleep deprivation in the victim and lack of residual electrical activity in the nervous system and she had a heck of a case. Just then she heard the familiar sound that all too often greeted her when she came to the castle around this time. Slowly but surely cracks spider-webbed across the stone form of Goliath and then with a mighty roar the leader of Clan Wyvern awoke from his stone hibernation.

Turning around his eyes lit up as he saw her there and within seconds Elisa found herself in a bearhug at the hands of the lavender giant.

"Elisa, it is good to see you." Goliath said as he put her down on the ground.

"*Yawn* Yeah it's good to see you too Big Guy." Elisa said as she covered a rather large yawn.

For the past four hours she had begun to feel the burn as it were and hoped that she could get home to bed. After all she would be of no help in the investigation if she could barely keep her eyes open on the job.

Focusing back on her conversation with Goliath she could see that he had that concerned 'what-is-the-matter' look and almost wished she hadn't yawned right then and there. Ever since that confrontation with the Hunters a few months ago Goliath had been growing more and more protective of her. In a way it was nice to have a 'Guardian Angel' to watch out for her but lately his overprotectiveness had been getting a little annoying. Fortunately he was going to get what he wanted tonight because as soon as she had briefed them on the case she was going straight home to bed.

"Elisa are you alright?" Goliath asked as other members of the clan climbed up the side of the tower to join them.

"Yeah, aside from the fact I didn't sleep much more than an hour or two since last night, I'm fine." , she replied a bit too sharply as she started the briefing, "Captain Chavez assigned Matt and I to a new case today and it was urgent enough to warrant her calling me back to work for the day."

"What's up?" asked Brooklyn as he stood next to Goliath.

"There was a particularly brutal murder at 123 Washington Dr. early this morning, victim was decapitated which presumably was the cause of death." , replied Elisa as she tried to summarize the facts, "The thing that makes this case ugly is the killer's M.O, basically the killer cut of the victim's then rubbed the wound in a random pattern on the wall before hanging it from a light fixture. From the pattern of blood we assume that the killer is pretty strong seeing as how the trail of blood goes up the wall and to the ceiling without missing a beat."

She looked around and could already see that the clan had committed itself to catching this creep.

"The gruesomest part however was the fact that the head was found in a pot on the stove boiling in it's own juices which means this killer has a thing for gore." Elisa explained as she finished her explanation of the crime and waited to see what the clan would say.

"Do you have any idea who is responsible for this murder?" asked

Goliath in a tone that did nothing to hide his disgust at the picture she had painted.

"Unfortunately that's the biggest problem so far, the forensic team that looked the place over found no signs of struggle, forced entry and nothing that didn't belong in the apartment." , she replied with frustration and a but of worry, "Whoever did this is very good at not leaving anything lying around that we could use but the thing that really worries me was the fact that we have almost nothing concerning the murder weapon. Aside from the fact that the blade is roughly five inches long and curved like a hawk's talon we have nothing."

"What do you mean?" Goliath asked with growing concern.

"According to the head Forensic examiner there were no trace slivers in either the tissue or the bones around the wound." , Elisa explained as she frowned in puzzlement at the information she was relating, "Which is almost impossible but apparently this creep found a way to do it. I was just hoping that you guys could patrol around the neighborhood where the murder took place, just in case this sicko tried something again."

"Do not worry, Brooklyn and I will patrol that area tonight and inform you of anything we discover." Goliath replied as he made his way to the edge of the turret.

"Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna have a quick word with Xanatos and then I am going to bed." , Elisa declared before yawning once more, "I need to bag some major Zs if I'm going to be able to snag this killer."

"Sleep well then Elisa." Goliath said and with that he and the entire clan jumped into the air and glided away on their designated patrol routes.

She watched them for a while until they were no more than dots on the horizon and then turned towards the stairs to begin her long trek to Xanatos' office.

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Xanatos' Office, Castle Wyvern, 6:15 p.m.

"Knock, knock, knock!" came the sound from across Xanatos' office in the direction of the door.

With a flick of a switch Xanatos switched off the video monitor in the wall that had just moments before had been showing him a recording of Detective Maza's conversation with the clan. It was indeed a horrifying dilemma but at the same time it was also intriguing, after all a person who could kill and leave nothing for the police to work with would be quite valuable to the right people. Unfortunately it was difficult when you knew nothing of the killer including his motivations for doing what he did, after all everyone needed something. At the moment he assumed that the Detective needed his assistance to try and identify her quarry using his unique sources. After all he had been in this city for quite a while and had managed to pull quite a few capers off right under the NYPD's nose. Thus it was only reasonable to assume that he would be able to dig more information out of the city than a normal but exceptionally talented Detective might.

"Come in detective." he said casually as he turned to face the entrance to the office.

Coming in he could see that the Detective was indeed almost dead on her feet and in obvious need for sleep. Keeping that in mind he decided to try and keep this impromptu meeting brief and to the point. When she finally reached the desk he was surprised to see her look at him, then the viewscreen mounted on the wall and then back at him before smiling knowingly. He returned that smile with a pinch of admiration along with it, apparently the Detective was picking up on his habits. Not that it was at all surprising considering the fact that she had almost four years experience with him. So instead of waiting for her to come out and ask him for assistance he decided to beat her to the punch.

"It would seem that you in a bit of a rut Detective." , he commented neutrally, "I'll see what my people can dig up and inform you if I find out anything."

"Actually I was going to ask if you check into an old F.B.I case that might have some relevance." , Elisa stated as she seemingly fought to stay alert, "According to Matt there were a few homicides a few years back that involved a slashing spree in a small town that was a accompanied by a large number of teens avoiding sleep like the plague."

"Wouldn't that question be more appropriate for Detective Bluestone to ask his ex-partner about?" Xanatos asked carefully as he tried to deduce why Maza would come to him with this request.

"Matt tried but Hacker seemed to dodge the question and left a minute or two later." Elisa replied as she seemed to be studying Xanatos' face.

"Then maybe it is something too heavily classified by the club that Agent Hacker and I belong to." , stated Xanatos as his interest in the case continued to increase, "After all Detective, while Agent Hacker and I have some influence there some things are even out of our reach."

"I don't think that it had anything really to do with files being classified Xanatos." , Elisa declared as she remembered what Matt had told her, "From what Matt said it sounded like Hacker was simply afraid of what this case implied. It was as if he suspected he knew who was behind this murder but was praying that he was wrong."

This caused a flower of fear to begin to grow in the pit of Xanatos' stomach, a flower that was bound to grow in size before this dilemma was over. He had met Agent Hacker a few times at society gatherings and saw the man as being one not easily frightened. After all he was probably in on a great deal of things and had seen many things that an average man would have ran from. To hear that this case may involve someone who could shake that calm resolve did not do anything to ease his concerns. This was definitely something he was going to have to personally look into himself and look into soon. The Illuminati society only involved itself in the special problems, occurrences and dangers that tended to crop up from time to time which probably meant trouble for Manhattan. Looking at the detective he put his best poker face on and returned the focus to the conversation at hand.

"That would seem to indicate that something is most definitely rotten in the big apple wouldn't it detective." , he commented as he got up from his chair and turned to look out the window, "I'll see what I can find out for you."

"Thanks" Elisa replied with a tired voice.

Just before Elisa was out the door Xanatos said "Have pleasant dreams Detective."

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8:15 p.m.

Looking around Elisa remembered this scene well and felt perfectly at ease with what she saw.

It was the night after she had met Goliath and they were both trying to keep themselves from getting caught by Xanatos' goon squad. It had not been one of her more pleasant moments, especially when the dawn depraved her of a seven foot mound of muscle. Looking back at Goliath's stone form she knew that she had to draw the four armed persons away from her friend's stone form and then pick them off one by one. Waiting until they were close enough she dashed out onto the path in front of the goon squad and then tore off towards the 'Alice in Wonderland' area. She grinned to herself as she heard the sound of four separate pairs of boots running not far behind her and slowly gaining. Fortunately she had a better idea of the layout of the immediate area which meant that she knew what to jump over and what was on the other side. Eventually she found herself in the center of the collection of tables and quickly ducked down behind one of the tables. Quietly, carefully she waited for her pursuers to catch up with her but surprisingly all was quiet around her. Confused as this scenario was taking a decidedly different turn she slowly peeked her head over the top of the table in the direction that the good squad would be coming.

Nothing.

Not a single one of them. she thought to herself grimly as she stood straight up.

Slowly she proceeded in the direction she had come, perhaps the goon squad had lost her and was wondering around aimlessly. As she exited the area where the table was and began to follow the path back towards Goliath she wondered what was going on. Some part of her mind told her that this was a dream but the ideas for the dream came from her and she doubted that she would alter a past memory like this. Walking forward she knew she was getting dangerously close to the spot where Goliath was resting in his stone sleep and she prayed she wouldn't find a pile of gravel there. Then almost out of nowhere she began to hear what sounded like children singing, young children from the sound of things. Her concern jumping up a notch she ran in search of the children, there was no telling what the goon squad would do about witnesses. Running down the path she took a left then a right and then just as she was making another right she found them.

There, playing jump rope, were three girls dressed in frilly white dresses right out in the open as if they were oblivious to all but themselves. For a moment she almost mistook them for triplets since they all had the same curly brown hair but when she saw their faces she knew that was not the case. In a way they seemed more out of place then simply being in her dream, they looked as though they came straight from an episode of 'Leave it to Beaver'. After all even at the age of ten, which was what she guessed was the average age of the three girls, most girls wouldn't be caught dead wearing something so 'cute'. As she approached them the jump rope rhyme they were singing slowly grew louder until she could no longer ignore it.

"One...two...Freddy's coming for you" , they chanted in unison as the one in the middle jumped, "Three...four...better lock your door."

For some reason this rhyme was getting her on edge, this wasn't looking like the type of rhyme that kids that age from the fifties should be singing. What happened to the rhymes with candy and friends along with a rhyme to help them remember their mathematics? Listening to the girls singing she patiently waited in the hopes that the girls' rhyme would change to nicer topics.

"Five...six...grab your crucifix" , they chanted as they seemed to slow down as far as their actions went, "Seven...eight...better stay up late."

Unfortunately her wishes seemed to go unheard as the three little girls continued their little game and her unease also continued but it was slowly getting bigger. Remembering why she had come after these girls she briskly walked up to the closer one with the intent of telling them to stop playing and go home. The girls didn't move an inch in surprise at her approach or even seem to see her at all for that matter. Quickly she grabbed the child in front of her and with surprising roughness turned the blonde girl to face her. The child made no sign that she even noticed what had happened but instead simply finished the rhyme that she and her friends had been singing a moment ago

"Nine...ten...he's at it again."

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Elisa's Apartment, 12:15 Am.

Elisa woke with a start as she looked around the familiar dark bedroom as the few drops of sweat trickled down her back.

It had seemed so real! she thought to herself as she looked around her bedroom, as if expected something to jump out at her.

Almost as an added reassurance she reached over and switched on the lamp on her bedside table, basking in the comforting brilliance it bestowed upon her. Finding herself still a bit unsettled by the nightmare she left the bedroom and made her way to the kitchen, hoping that some warm drink would soothe her nerves. In a way her reaction to the dream puzzled her, she was rarely so disturbed by them that she would break out in a sweat.

After all she had seen, done and heard of many things that were far more awesome than anything her subconscious could cook up. So why was this nightmare defiantly standing out apart from the rest, why did she still feel the icy grip of fear when she thought about what she had seen. Most of all though why did she still remember that rhyme that the three girls in her nightmare had been singing?

It's just the case Maza! , she thought scornfully to herself,

Seeing that mutilated body would give anyone nightmares.

Still if that was the case shouldn't her nightmares be about more violent things than girls playing jump rope. After all she remembered what she had been dreaming about for almost a week after the incident at the dam with the three Hunters. It was the same scene over and over again, Goliath and Jason squaring off on top of the dam followed by her getting in their way and eventually falling off. Each time she remembered wishing for the same thing, that Goliath would reach her in time and catch her like he had on numerous other occasions. The dreams eventually faded away as her mind put what she had gone through in the proper portions of her mind. She could only hope that the same would hold true for this bizarre muse of the three girls playing jump rope and singing a rhyme better left to psychos.

After pouring a cup of warm milk Elisa walked over to the couch and sat down, trying to relax herself enough to go back to sleep. It would probably take only half an hour or so to calm down and then she could catch what few Zzzs she could get before resuming the case in the morning. She hoped that talking to Mike Havender's friends and employer might give them a lead on who might have wanted him dead or it would take longer than they had to catch the perp. After all if he followed the same M.O and drive a kid to stay awake for a week then they had perhaps eight days tops before the next victim became known. Grabbing a notepad from the drawer on the back of the coffee table she began mentally ticking off possible motives and possible classifications for the killer's mind. It would keep her mind off the dream she had and on top of the more important things such as doing her duty to the city.

This went on for roughly an hour before her eyes began to tell her in their own special way that it was time to hit the sack. It was one-thirty in the morning and she had to be at the prescient by nine which meant if she fell asleep soon she might be able to get another six hours sleep.

As she got up and began to walk towards her bedroom she found herself dusted with bits of reluctance, a wish for any excuse to stay awake. Shaking her head in displeasure at herself she walked into the room with the courage and determination that had made her who she was.

The question was would she remain that way?

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1:45 Am.

She took another long drag from her cup of coffee and continued to listen to her chosen music, the one that had been so effective the last time he had come after her. She had been at it ever since she had gotten home to her apartment and was managing just fine against the rigors of sleep. It would be no problem to stay awake until morning when she would have to go to work once more and put up a brave casual front for her fellow members of the work force. She couldn't let them suspect that anything was wrong or they might try to find out what it was and then the truth would come out. After that it wouldn't be long before she would be fingered for the murder just like Dan had been when this had all started in back then. After all even the most rookie of cops could do a little research, find out about the Springwood Slasher and then see where she had come from. The fact that the murders had continued in Springwood after she left might throw them off for a bit but they would just assume that those that happened afterwards were done by a copycat. Unfortunately that wasn't even her primary worry, the thing that occupied the bulk of her thoughts was how he had gotten to Manhattan.

He should have been restricted to Elm Street back in Springwood! she thought furiously to herself as she tried to make sense of this anomaly.

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223 Wilmore Avenue , 8:45 Am.

I wonder where Elisa is? Matt Bluestone thought to himself as he looked up and down the busy street for the familiar sight of the red Fairlane.

He had been waiting outside his apartment building for fifteen minutes and was starting to become concerned. Almost since the moment they had become partners Elisa had always been the one to pick him up on their way to work. She had actually only been required to drive since the piece of junk he had called his car broke down beyond repair. Elisa wasn't to-the-second punctual but she was rarely more than ten minutes late even in deep traffic which was the usual during the morning. The only time he recalled her being longer had been a day or two after the whole Hunter incident when she had shown up in a rental because her car was in the shop getting the hood repaired. When he had asked her what had happened she just said something about shooting first next time some punks were stealing from Xanatos' warehouses.

Looking back and forth one last time he considered going back to his room and phoning Elisa to see what the hold up was when he finally saw the cherry red top of her car. Smiling at the fact that he wouldn't have to wake his partner up via the phone he got up from the steps leading to the entrance to the building and walked to the curb. Once the car had come to a stop he casually opened the passenger side door and slid into the passenger seat only to find that her timing wasn't the only thing that was off for Elisa. Looking at her now the casual passerby might not see anything wrong with her but to her partner who had seen her almost everytime he went on shift he saw it right away. It looked like she hadn't slept all that well the previous night and had only gotten two thirds or so of the minimum requirement of sleep. For a moment he thought something might have been up but then he remembered the case they were working on together and dismissed his earlier notion.

"Rough night partner?" he asked casually as they pulled out into traffic.

"Kinda, had this weird dream that was giving me the wiggins all night." Elisa replied as she focused on driving.

"Yeah? What about?" Bluestone asked with curiosity associated with a hobby which he did indeed have.

"It started out as a replay of that night Goliath and I had in the park when Xanatos' goons tried to put a bullet into each of us." , Elisa replied with a slight cringe as she went over the events in her head, "The strange thing is that it changed halfway through, just as I am about to kick some XCG butt they disappear and when I go to find them I find three girls playing jump rope singing the weirdest rhyme."

"Hmmm, other young women dream of Fabio and Antonio Banderas but given that your boyfriend is a seven foot gargoyle I suppose it isn't that much of a stretch." Matt joked as smiled at her.

"He isn't my boyfriend and as for dreaming about Adonis bodied men I prefer my beau to be just as equipped in the head as anywhere else." she replied with a sneer as she changed lanes.

"Well then I guess that rules out any Calvin Klein models and most of the male acting population." , Matt declared as he decided to change the subject, "So, do you think that Mike's friends will know anything more about his death than we do?"

"Given that he seemed pretty well liked by the other tenants in his apartment building I don't think they had any reason to kill." , Elisa replied as she hanged a left, "That would leave friends and co-workers as potential suspects. I think we should split up to question them, I'll take the friends and you take the co-workers."

"Oh joy! Leave me to face another disgruntled member of the work force!" Matt said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh c'mon! It won't be that bad Matt!" , Elisa moaned as she took a brief look at her partner, "Besides it could just as easily be one of his friends that did this."

"Maybe but given that my trust in the U.S Postal Service has been severely hurt I am not willing to take chances with an electronics store" Matt replied humorously as he returned his partner's look.

"If it makes you feel any better the guy who apparently runs the store is an old man and most of the employees are pimple faced teenagers." Elisa stated with her patented half smirk smile.

"Great! Which means I'll either get my pocket picked or get sued for something" Matt replied with a smile of his own.

That did it. thought Matt as Elisa began to laugh heartily.

Though he didn't advertise it he had been trying for the last few moments to lighten the mood a bit before they delved into the world of serial killers. He hadn't said anything but he was hoping that this was a simple sicko who just got lucky rather than what his mind was pointing him at. So far he hadn't gotten any closer to nailing down the name of the town that he believed this may have happened in before. He had tried everything he could think of and the lack of results he was receiving in return were beginning to bother him. After all one would think something weird enough to get caught in his mind would be easier to find in the newspaper files or on the net. Either he was mistaken about this type of murder happening somewhere else or he just had to dig a bit harder.

Looking up he saw that they had finally arrived at the electronics store that Mike Havender had worked up prior to him being fired. It didn't look like any of the chain stores like 'Sam the Record Man' or anything like that but rather a privately owned one named 'Logan's Electronics'. Smiling a bit at the difference he got out of the car and waved goodbye to Elisa as she drove away to question Havender's friends at NYU.

Taking a deep breath Matt stepped into the electronics store and immediately disassociated it with any of the richer chains that one would frequently see in Malls and the like. All about him on wooden shelves and on wooden tables were the common variety of stereos and TVs but the thing that stuck out were the bristle board and marker signs. There was nothing about them that said 'big business' and neither did the rest of the store which was a bit comforting in the sense that it meant the owner would likely be honest. Slowly walking towards the cashier's counter he tried to imagine what Mike Havender's last days here might have been like. According to what they had learned so far Mike had been fired for popping pills, most likely stimulants, which had caused the owner to fire him. Given the age of the owner Havender must have been pretty out of it to allow an old man to sneak up on him and catch him red handed.

Finally he reached the cashier's counter and he asked "Could I please speak to the manager?"

Unfortunately the cashier was a punk looking teen who seemed born to give 'tude which was proven when he asked "Who wants to know?"

Sighing Matt knew he could probably, eventually, get the manager out front here to ask questions but by that time he may be ready to shoot this kid. So instead he did something to expedite things a bit and pulled out his badge and identification so as to show the teen what as well as who he was dealing with.

"Detective Matthew Bluestone, 23rd priecent, NYPD." , Matt replied as he put the badge right in the kid's face, "Now would you please go get the manager? I have a few questions I'd like to ask him."

Thankfully that got him results as the kid ran from the counter to the door leading to the back store room where the manager presumably was at the moment. A few moments later the manager did appear and he was exactly as Elisa had described him, a little old man who required a cane to get around. Still there was the nice grandfatherly look to him which hopefully possessed a co-operative attitude when it came to being questioned by police. Smiling a bit in the hopes of putting the elder at ease he was surprised when he received a spiteful glare in return. Apparently something about the way he looked was rubbing the man the wrong way and the manager was making no effort to hide it.

"Sir, might I ask you a few questions?" Matt asked gently as the old man sat down in a chair behind the counter.

"Ye 'ave come about the Havender boy 'aven't ya? I *knew* that kid was bad news the moment he started lazing about on the job!" , the man yelled with surprising volume, "I suppose ye 'ave come to ask where he might 'ave stashed his drugs eh? Well they aren't here! I cleaned the place out the day he was fired!"

"Ah, no sir, I am afraid that Mike Havender is dead." , Matt replied and heard a few gasps about the employees in the store, "I'm here to ask you if you knew anybody with a reason to kill him."

"It was probably one of his dealers comin' for payment! Without money from his job here he couldn't afford it and so the dealer killed him for it!" , the manager said bitterly and with plenty of spite, "That's what ye get when you start using drugs, you wind up *dead* either way."

"Did you ever happen to hear the name of this dealer or perhaps seen him giving the drugs to Mr. Havender?" Matt asked as he began to doubt that he would get a straight answer from the old geezer.

"No, I make sure to keep that scum as far away from my store as possible." , replied the old man with a wicked smile, "Besides from what I could tell he didn't meet with his dealer anywhere around here. Probably met him in some alley or up at the University dormitories."

Moving onto the next question! Matt thought to himself with a moan.

"Is there anyone else you think might have a reason to kill Mr. Havender?" he asked with the hope that he would get a half decent answer.

"Nah, none of his buddies ever came around here lookin' for him." , replied the manager with a genuinely honest response, "Still I think he had a few of 'em, before he started with them drugs he seemed like a popular kid."

"So basically you never had any complaints about Mr. Havender until about a week ago, correct?" Matt asked hoping to find the beginnings of a pattern.

"Yeah, that's right. Frankly I would have bet one of my other employees was into drugs rather than Mike." , the old man replied with a contemplative look on his face, "Such a shame but with kids these days they always find a way to screw their lives up."

"Yeah, well, thanks for your time sir." , Matt stated as he tucked away his notepad, "If you think of anything else just call the 23rd prescient and ask for Bluestone."

"Of course detective." the man replied and then went back through the room he had come from in the first place.

Stepping out into the sunlight he couldn't help but feel as though this case was gonna be another of those weird ones. It seemed to be a monthly event for him and his partner, every few days they would be handed some sort of unusual case that wound up being supernatural in nature. After all not too long ago it was the Hunters, then before that it was the night that Oberon came to town and so on and so forth. Basically it was getting to the point where he silently made a bet with himself on who the culprit for each case would be. Usually it stuck around aliens or the Illuminati but this time he didn't really think either of them really had a hand in this. Hacker's reaction to his description of the murder pretty much removed the society from suspicion since his ex-partner tended to keep up to date on these things. As for aliens he had always believed them to be a bit more mysterious in their work, he doubted that they had changed to the gory style of doing things. So where exactly did that leave him? Who was at the root of this case?

Just then he heard the crunch of a pop can being stepped on.

Whipping around he hoped to catch a glimpse of whoever had stepped on said pop can but all he caught was a plaid shirt and blonde hair. Sprinting to the mouth of the alley that his unknown shadow had occupied a moment before he looked down into it and saw nothing. Unfortunately he didn't need to see anything to confirm his hunch that someone was following the case covertly since he doubted he merited any personal attention. That of course got his paranoia factory working as he tried to deduce the identity of his observer as well as the purpose of the act itself. Was it the killer making sure there was no incriminating evidence at the store? Was it a member of the Illuminati keeping an eye on him after his talk with Hacker? There were simply too many possibilities for him to round it down to anything smaller so for the moment he had nothing. Nothing but one possible and very likely assumption that caused a trickle of fear to creep into his mind.

If they sent someone to keep an eye on me they might have very well done the same with Elisa. Matt thought to himself as he flagged down a cab.

Once inside he said "NYU campus please."