Las Vegas - January 15th 1:45PM
Gabrielle lay motionless on the bed, her body so heavy with relaxation; she was almost sunken into the mattress. He lay next to her, watching her breathe, the slow and deep up and down motion of her chest was nearly hypnotizing. He ran his fingertips lightly across her bare belly, if she'd been awake, she would have giggled at the tickling. His inner clock told him is was time. He sat up on the bed, in a kneeling position next to her. With one last long look at her peaceful face, he reached up over her head with one hand grabbing both her wrists and moving her arms back down, letting her hands rest on her stomach. He then maneuvered her legs, pulling them together, knees and feet touching side by side. He brushed a few stray strands of hair off of her face then caressed her cheek as he said his final goodbye. Her head bounced softly on the mattress when he took the pillow out from underneath it. Taking her chin in his hand, he held her face with a gentle firmness, and placed the pillow over her nose and mouth. He watched her chest, that hypnotizing motion, the up and down movements slowed, and after a few moments, finally stopped.
~~
"It wasn't the strangling that killed her." The ME said. This was a different doctor than the first one Bobby and Alex had encountered, the one who didn't like New Yorkers. This ME, a single woman, had no problem with New Yorkers, and stared directly at Bobby as she spoke. "The bruising was done post mortem, over kill you might say. Your vic died from a cocktail of sleeping pills and whiskey."
"Over the counter pills?" Bobby asked, ignoring the intensity of the direct eye contact.
"Yes, and a lot of them." The ME answered, giving up and moved toward her desk. "There weren't any gelatin capsules in her stomach."
Alex interrupted "He mixed the powder in with her drink."
"Yes" The doctor answered as she sat down and picked up a file on the desk. "And quite a lot of them too, judging by her tox screen. She would have been in a coma like state in moments."
Bobby and Alex each nodded their thanks to the doctor and followed Fearless and Stevens out the door. In the hall the four detectives paused a moment. Alex took an exasperated breath and asked: "What now?"
"I want to check that fan group site, see if he's taken the bait, or if I need to leave another message." Bobby told her.
~~
Terrance looked into the mirrored elevator wall and adjusted his wig. Pulling his lips back, he double checked his teeth and pushed on them with his thumbs. He hadn't worn the ugly teeth, the Austin Powers teeth, as he'd come to think of them. No, this time, he knew being as normal looking as possible was his best bet, knowing that a normal person leaving a hotel room wouldn't be thought about twice, would barely be remembered even once Gabrielle was found. The hall had been empty when he left room 1226 anyway. The elevator dinged as it stopped softly, a moment later the doors opened onto the 9th floor. Terrance stepped out of the elevator and had to step to the side to avoid being run over by a fat woman in a tent like dress and her balding husband who had been waiting for the elevator to take them to the lobby. They were in such a hurry to get to the slots, and the fortune that waited; neither of them took the first glance to the man exiting the elevator.
Leaving the elevators behind Terrance started down the hall to his own room. His focus centered on who he was going to choose next. Mindy, he thought. Mindy was ripe for the picking. And there was that new girl, FeistyCheerleader, the one whose e-mail he had noticed, she had possibilities and his corral was getting a little empty. Terrance chuckled softly to himself as he let himself into his room, just three floors below Gabrielle's body.
~~
Alex called Deakins from her cell phone and told him about the second victim, while Bobby raised the screen of the lap top and logged on to the fan group. There weren't any private messages for him on his group email account. Cursing, he checked the main board and found several new messages posted. He read each one carefully; looking for some sign that one of the authors was the murder. When he didn't find any, he checked the members listing. Behind him he listened to Alex's half of the conversation with their captain. Not knowing what Cheryl's screen name had been, or even if she had belonged to the group, made his task more difficult. He scrolled down the members list, reading each of the hundreds of names. No one had used a first name. Remembering how Jamie's emails had slacked off after her killer had started talking to her, Bobby went back to the message boards and tried to figure out who had stopped posting recently. He heard Alex say goodbye to Deakins and her phone gave a short beep as she ended the call. She stood behind him, looking at the laptop from over his shoulder. "Anything?" she asked.
Bobby shook his head. "So, I'm trying to figure out if Cheryl belonged to this group."
"And if she did, at least we know for sure how he's picking out his victims, and who might be next." Alex finished his thought.
Bobby nodded and continued scrolling through the posts. "Let me try to leave a message." Alex said. "Maybe you're not very good at sounding like a twenty year old air head." A small grin appeared. It wasn't often she was able to suggest to Bobby that he wasn't good at something, and she was enjoying it.
"Yeah. Good idea. Maybe you will be better at sounding like an air head." Bobby said returning the teasing.
Alex rolled her eyes, knowing she'd been beaten and went over to Fearless' desk to use his pc.
~~
Minneapolis, MN January 15 8:49PM
TO: MinnMin
FROM: hells-survivor
Date: January 15 2003, 5:18 PM
RE: HEY!!
Hi Mindy Sweetheart, I'm sorry I haven't answered you sooner, but I've been busy with work. I'm in Vegas shooting, and we've run in to some technical troubles, so I have a few days off. How do you feel about coming out, spending some time with me? Let me know if you'd like to as soon as you can, and I'll get you on the next plane possible.
I can't wait to meet you All my love, Mark
Mindy stared at her screen in disbelief. This was it; she was finally going to get her chance. Her breathing turned fast and heavy, she clicked the reply button and began to type.
~~
Las Vegas
"So I walked right up to him and told him I thought he was cute, and that he should take me out."
"Wow! What'd he say?"
"He said ok. We're going out tonight."
The second maid, Helen, laughed at her friends' boldness, wishing she had her single life to live over again. She stopped at the door to room 1226 and gathered towels up in her arm from the cart. Still chuckling, she waved goodbye to the younger maid who kept walking down the hall, headed to her own assigned rooms. Helen rapped twice on the door "Maid service" she called out. No answer came from inside, and Helen assumed the quests were in the casino downstairs. Using her passkey, she let herself in and turned directly in to the bathroom. "Huh." She said aloud to herself. None of the towels had been used. She'd seen it before, most of the time actually. People check in, dump their bags in the room and head directly to the slots or the tables. She laid the fresher towels on the counter near the sink anyway, and double-checked the toilet paper supply. Finding everything in order, she stepped out into the main room intending to turn down the bed. Two steps past the bathroom threshold, she saw the bedcovers crumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed. Sighing to herself, she took one more step before she saw the naked woman lying there. Flat on her back, with her hands resting on her stomach, no pillow underneath her head. Helen's senses screamed at her that something was wrong. "Lady?" She whispered cautiously. "Lady, you ok?" Helen quietly moved up to the bed, reaching out to touch the woman's arm. "Lady.." The arm was cool to the touch. "Oh my God." Helen whispered. Then she began to scream.
~~
Terrance tossed his napkin on to his plate and took one last sip of his ice tea, draining the glass. Standing up from the booth in the hotel restaurant, commotion in the lobby caught his attention. Watching through the glass that surrounded the restaurant, Terrance saw the hotel manager scurry across the lobby to meet a pretty red head and a tall black man as they entered the hotel. Each carried a kind of suitcase like unit. Leaving the restaurant, Terrance saw for the first time the red and blue lights that were flashing across the lobby floor, coming from outside. Melding in with the rest of the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion, Terrance smiled in spite of himself. Gabrielle must have been found. These people, the ones with the brief case like equipment, they must be crime scene investigators, he guessed. Well, he thought to himself, Good luck to ya.
Still smiling, he took the elevator up to his floor. By the time he had reached his room, all thoughts of Gabrielle and the people downstairs had left him, he was focused entirely on his e-mail, Mindy and that new girl, FeistyCheerleader. Shutting the door behind him, he went directly to his laptop. He'd left the Internet connection open, and immediately saw that he had messages waiting for him. Grinning horridly, he sat down at the desk and clicked on the envelope icon. FiestyCheerleader had posted a new message to the board, and Mindy had replied to his invitation. He read Mindy's first.
TO: hells-survivor
FROM: MinnMin
Date: January 15 2003, 9:03PM
RE: re: HEY!!
Mark! I would LOVE to come to Vegas to see you! OMG! I can't tell you how excited I am! I checked, there's a flight leaving Minneapolis at six tomorrow morning, I've booked my ticket, I'll be in Vegas at 9am your time. See ya then, I can't wait!
Terrance smiled, already planning what he was going to do with Mindy, and clicked on the posted message from FiestyCheerleader. He read her message, and knew she was the right kind of girl for him; a diehard Mark Price fan. He didn't click the reply button, that would have sent his message to everyone on the board. Instead he clicked on Fiesty's e-mail address to send her a private message.
Gabrielle lay motionless on the bed, her body so heavy with relaxation; she was almost sunken into the mattress. He lay next to her, watching her breathe, the slow and deep up and down motion of her chest was nearly hypnotizing. He ran his fingertips lightly across her bare belly, if she'd been awake, she would have giggled at the tickling. His inner clock told him is was time. He sat up on the bed, in a kneeling position next to her. With one last long look at her peaceful face, he reached up over her head with one hand grabbing both her wrists and moving her arms back down, letting her hands rest on her stomach. He then maneuvered her legs, pulling them together, knees and feet touching side by side. He brushed a few stray strands of hair off of her face then caressed her cheek as he said his final goodbye. Her head bounced softly on the mattress when he took the pillow out from underneath it. Taking her chin in his hand, he held her face with a gentle firmness, and placed the pillow over her nose and mouth. He watched her chest, that hypnotizing motion, the up and down movements slowed, and after a few moments, finally stopped.
~~
"It wasn't the strangling that killed her." The ME said. This was a different doctor than the first one Bobby and Alex had encountered, the one who didn't like New Yorkers. This ME, a single woman, had no problem with New Yorkers, and stared directly at Bobby as she spoke. "The bruising was done post mortem, over kill you might say. Your vic died from a cocktail of sleeping pills and whiskey."
"Over the counter pills?" Bobby asked, ignoring the intensity of the direct eye contact.
"Yes, and a lot of them." The ME answered, giving up and moved toward her desk. "There weren't any gelatin capsules in her stomach."
Alex interrupted "He mixed the powder in with her drink."
"Yes" The doctor answered as she sat down and picked up a file on the desk. "And quite a lot of them too, judging by her tox screen. She would have been in a coma like state in moments."
Bobby and Alex each nodded their thanks to the doctor and followed Fearless and Stevens out the door. In the hall the four detectives paused a moment. Alex took an exasperated breath and asked: "What now?"
"I want to check that fan group site, see if he's taken the bait, or if I need to leave another message." Bobby told her.
~~
Terrance looked into the mirrored elevator wall and adjusted his wig. Pulling his lips back, he double checked his teeth and pushed on them with his thumbs. He hadn't worn the ugly teeth, the Austin Powers teeth, as he'd come to think of them. No, this time, he knew being as normal looking as possible was his best bet, knowing that a normal person leaving a hotel room wouldn't be thought about twice, would barely be remembered even once Gabrielle was found. The hall had been empty when he left room 1226 anyway. The elevator dinged as it stopped softly, a moment later the doors opened onto the 9th floor. Terrance stepped out of the elevator and had to step to the side to avoid being run over by a fat woman in a tent like dress and her balding husband who had been waiting for the elevator to take them to the lobby. They were in such a hurry to get to the slots, and the fortune that waited; neither of them took the first glance to the man exiting the elevator.
Leaving the elevators behind Terrance started down the hall to his own room. His focus centered on who he was going to choose next. Mindy, he thought. Mindy was ripe for the picking. And there was that new girl, FeistyCheerleader, the one whose e-mail he had noticed, she had possibilities and his corral was getting a little empty. Terrance chuckled softly to himself as he let himself into his room, just three floors below Gabrielle's body.
~~
Alex called Deakins from her cell phone and told him about the second victim, while Bobby raised the screen of the lap top and logged on to the fan group. There weren't any private messages for him on his group email account. Cursing, he checked the main board and found several new messages posted. He read each one carefully; looking for some sign that one of the authors was the murder. When he didn't find any, he checked the members listing. Behind him he listened to Alex's half of the conversation with their captain. Not knowing what Cheryl's screen name had been, or even if she had belonged to the group, made his task more difficult. He scrolled down the members list, reading each of the hundreds of names. No one had used a first name. Remembering how Jamie's emails had slacked off after her killer had started talking to her, Bobby went back to the message boards and tried to figure out who had stopped posting recently. He heard Alex say goodbye to Deakins and her phone gave a short beep as she ended the call. She stood behind him, looking at the laptop from over his shoulder. "Anything?" she asked.
Bobby shook his head. "So, I'm trying to figure out if Cheryl belonged to this group."
"And if she did, at least we know for sure how he's picking out his victims, and who might be next." Alex finished his thought.
Bobby nodded and continued scrolling through the posts. "Let me try to leave a message." Alex said. "Maybe you're not very good at sounding like a twenty year old air head." A small grin appeared. It wasn't often she was able to suggest to Bobby that he wasn't good at something, and she was enjoying it.
"Yeah. Good idea. Maybe you will be better at sounding like an air head." Bobby said returning the teasing.
Alex rolled her eyes, knowing she'd been beaten and went over to Fearless' desk to use his pc.
~~
Minneapolis, MN January 15 8:49PM
TO: MinnMin
FROM: hells-survivor
Date: January 15 2003, 5:18 PM
RE: HEY!!
Hi Mindy Sweetheart, I'm sorry I haven't answered you sooner, but I've been busy with work. I'm in Vegas shooting, and we've run in to some technical troubles, so I have a few days off. How do you feel about coming out, spending some time with me? Let me know if you'd like to as soon as you can, and I'll get you on the next plane possible.
I can't wait to meet you All my love, Mark
Mindy stared at her screen in disbelief. This was it; she was finally going to get her chance. Her breathing turned fast and heavy, she clicked the reply button and began to type.
~~
Las Vegas
"So I walked right up to him and told him I thought he was cute, and that he should take me out."
"Wow! What'd he say?"
"He said ok. We're going out tonight."
The second maid, Helen, laughed at her friends' boldness, wishing she had her single life to live over again. She stopped at the door to room 1226 and gathered towels up in her arm from the cart. Still chuckling, she waved goodbye to the younger maid who kept walking down the hall, headed to her own assigned rooms. Helen rapped twice on the door "Maid service" she called out. No answer came from inside, and Helen assumed the quests were in the casino downstairs. Using her passkey, she let herself in and turned directly in to the bathroom. "Huh." She said aloud to herself. None of the towels had been used. She'd seen it before, most of the time actually. People check in, dump their bags in the room and head directly to the slots or the tables. She laid the fresher towels on the counter near the sink anyway, and double-checked the toilet paper supply. Finding everything in order, she stepped out into the main room intending to turn down the bed. Two steps past the bathroom threshold, she saw the bedcovers crumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed. Sighing to herself, she took one more step before she saw the naked woman lying there. Flat on her back, with her hands resting on her stomach, no pillow underneath her head. Helen's senses screamed at her that something was wrong. "Lady?" She whispered cautiously. "Lady, you ok?" Helen quietly moved up to the bed, reaching out to touch the woman's arm. "Lady.." The arm was cool to the touch. "Oh my God." Helen whispered. Then she began to scream.
~~
Terrance tossed his napkin on to his plate and took one last sip of his ice tea, draining the glass. Standing up from the booth in the hotel restaurant, commotion in the lobby caught his attention. Watching through the glass that surrounded the restaurant, Terrance saw the hotel manager scurry across the lobby to meet a pretty red head and a tall black man as they entered the hotel. Each carried a kind of suitcase like unit. Leaving the restaurant, Terrance saw for the first time the red and blue lights that were flashing across the lobby floor, coming from outside. Melding in with the rest of the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion, Terrance smiled in spite of himself. Gabrielle must have been found. These people, the ones with the brief case like equipment, they must be crime scene investigators, he guessed. Well, he thought to himself, Good luck to ya.
Still smiling, he took the elevator up to his floor. By the time he had reached his room, all thoughts of Gabrielle and the people downstairs had left him, he was focused entirely on his e-mail, Mindy and that new girl, FeistyCheerleader. Shutting the door behind him, he went directly to his laptop. He'd left the Internet connection open, and immediately saw that he had messages waiting for him. Grinning horridly, he sat down at the desk and clicked on the envelope icon. FiestyCheerleader had posted a new message to the board, and Mindy had replied to his invitation. He read Mindy's first.
TO: hells-survivor
FROM: MinnMin
Date: January 15 2003, 9:03PM
RE: re: HEY!!
Mark! I would LOVE to come to Vegas to see you! OMG! I can't tell you how excited I am! I checked, there's a flight leaving Minneapolis at six tomorrow morning, I've booked my ticket, I'll be in Vegas at 9am your time. See ya then, I can't wait!
Terrance smiled, already planning what he was going to do with Mindy, and clicked on the posted message from FiestyCheerleader. He read her message, and knew she was the right kind of girl for him; a diehard Mark Price fan. He didn't click the reply button, that would have sent his message to everyone on the board. Instead he clicked on Fiesty's e-mail address to send her a private message.
