Chapter Twenty: Secrets Revealed

In Robin's hotel room--about an hour earlier from when the last chapter ended…

Robin, happy that she had a while to relax, had just finished taking a long, refreshing bath. After quickly blow-drying her hair and slipping into a silky robe, she picked up a couple magazines and plopped back into bed.

A few minutes passed while Robin was flipping through the pages of Cosmo when she heard a couple knocks at the door.

"Yeah? Horatio, is that you?" she called, glancing over the magazine cover.

Another knock.

"Okay, okay…I'm coming!"

Robin tossed the covers away, scurrying to get to the door. The chain-lock was still fastened as she peeked out…and suddenly, there was an intense pain that was slowly creeping through her head--someone had kicked the door open, knocking her onto the floor.

When she reached to comfort the bruise on her head, there was a strong grip at her left arm, pulling Robin up and tossing her back onto the bed. Trying to regain focus after the sudden impact, Robin blinked several times--seeing if she could make out the figure that had attacked her.

"Who the hell are you?" she yelled, attempting to squirm out of the man's grasp.

"I wouldn't scream if I were you…" the man said calmly, pressing a gun against her head as he kneeled over her trembling body.

Upon feeling the icy barrel between her eyes, Robin felt every muscle in her body tense up. She cautiously asked again, "…Who are you?"

Her eyes focused, revealing a man around his late thirties or early forties. His hair was a softer brown, but his eyes were cold and aged. His smile, as well, was far from heart-warming.

"I thought so…you don't remember, do you?" his voice remained calm, almost poised.

"What are you talking about? I've never…" she felt more pressure from the barrel, her throat prevented her from speaking.

"That's funny, Miss Elde…or should I say Doctor Elde. You are a psychologist, after all." There was a noise as the man pulled an item out of his pocket--to Robin, it sounded almost like the unsheathing of a sword.

He held a Swiss pocketknife in front of her face so she would be able to get a clear look, "Maybe now you've got a better idea…"

Robin's eyebrows lowered. Her voice was furious, "You! It was you who killed all those people! I swear, when Horatio gets to you he'll…"

Before being able to finish, she felt the cool blade pierce through her skin. As the knife was being dragged along her shoulder, tearing the familiar heart into its predetermined place, Robin wanted to scream until her lungs burst--but she was only able to let out a quick yelp before a hand was clapped over her mouth.

The man's tone switched to more of a growling tease, "Uh-uh-uh! Keep your voice down…it's still early. You wouldn't want to wake anyone."

He traced the blood-stained, flattened end of the blade along the open neck of Robin's robe, letting out a tired sigh, "It still hurts me, though…that you can't remember my face. For all these years, I've definitely remembered yours…"

Robin became silent, her mind swirling with fear and terror. The man continued, "Yes…don't you recall that day five years ago, Miss Elde? You were a fresh face in the business, just out of school, and you were assigned to your very first patient…how exciting!"

She was trying to think back--trying as hard as she could. The man simply went on as if he were brainstorming a biography, "Do you remember the name of your very first patient, Doctor?"

Praying that it was correct, she answered, "Rich…Richard…"

"Very good. His name was Richard Peters…" He nodded, leaving a slight pause before he finished the thought, "Are you connecting the dots?"

It hit her like a truck, "Peters?? You mean, you're Richard Peters?"

"Bingo. And I bet that you've just figured out that the last name is no simple coincidence…am I correct?"

"But…but Steven was arrested…and everyone thought that he was the murderer," Robin said through a choking feeling in her throat.

"That's right. Good team, aren't we?" he said with a strange hint of pride. "It wasn't just those first three victims, either…I made one more stop before coming to visit you. I bet it's driving your friend crazy to know that he's got the wrong guy."

"But, I remember you, Richard! I worked with you for about four months and you showed every positive sign of improvement…that's why you were released. Why are you going back to that same horrible state-of-mind?" Robin pleaded, almost ignoring the fact that there was a blade sitting dangerously near to her throat--and a gun sitting right next to Richard's body.

"Because of you, Doctor Elde…Robin. Believe it or not, I had fallen for you the minute I felt your comforting touch."

Robin felt her heart drop to her stomach, "You…you what?"

"I was in love with you for the longest time--Robin, you were the only doctor in that entire institution that treated me like a real person. All the other doctors would waltz into their offices with their PhDs plastered all over the walls, it was always about them…how good they could be…But you always put the patient first. You worked so hard to make them feel better…to make me feel better…"

Robin wanted so much to say something, to respond to this…but she was absolutely speechless. Then, fear struck her again as she noticed an angered expression blossoming on Richard's face.

"…And I thought that you felt the same way about me. You always talked in the softest, kindest voice…and you always looked beautiful and dressy…" Peters stopped, his emotions had drastically changed and were becoming more and more trancelike--as if he were reliving the past, "Then one day, the day that I was allowed to go home, I saw him come in…that cocky, red-haired bastard. I saw him touch your hand…and you smiled at him, Doctor Elde…you smiled. You lied to me!!"

He continued, never losing eye-contact with Robin, "I wanted to see just how much you lied to me, too…so, I followed you and your boss to his house after seeing you two at a restaurant…I can remember that the stars were out…so it must have been kind of late at night. And then…he…he started touching you…and kissing you…and taking off your clothes…and I knew that he wasn't good enough for you because the next day you ran away. I didn't know where you went…but you were gone…and it hurt me to know that I wouldn't see you anymore. So every time I saw something that reminded me of you…I had to have it, and if I couldn't, then I'd have to make sure that no one else could either…"

And at that moment, Robin forgot about the throbbing blow to her head, the bleeding gash on her shoulder…and all the fear drained from her…now, she just wanted to break down and cry. She now knew that she was the reason for the deaths of those people…all because of her careless actions. They were all killed at eleven o'clock at night…the same time that she and Horatio had went home together.

"I know you wanna find out why I chose those certain people, don't you? The little girl had the same pretty eyes that you had…so I put the same makeup that you wore on them…the young woman had the same lips as you… so I put your favorite gloss on them…the last woman had the same nose as you…so I put makeup on that too…I thought that you had the most beautiful face. You know how some people cut out parts of pictures in a magazine to make the perfect face?…Well, I took it one step further, and I gave it a mark…just like I did on you," he said as he traced the bleeding, heart-shaped cut.

"And one final thing, Doctor Elde…no one ever heard the shots from when I killed those people…and what I used was something that meant so much to you…I'm sure that you remember that dress that you wore that night? The soft, black one…made out of pure, rare silk? Were you, by any chance, missing the long, piece of fabric that you had worn around your shoulders?"

Tears had already been pouring down Robin's face as she was taking in all of what Richard had told her. Her body was shivering and shaking, but she was able to let out another hushed comment, "You mean you…you used a piece of my dress to…to kill them?"

Richard leaned down to the petrified young woman, kissing her lightly on the lips. Moments after, he reached to his side and picked up the gun. His voice was back to its calm, proper sound again, "Now, I know that you and I will never be able to be together, Robin…"

He paused, hearing Robin's cell phone chiming a little tune. After eyeing the print on the screen, he continued, "…because judging by the name on your phone, the police are on their way. So, even though this will hurt me more than anything I've ever done…I can't break my habits…If I can never have you, the he will never have you either…"

**Wow, that was a lot of writing! Hopefully you guys could understand everything that was going on. I know there was a load of content, but this was how I wanted everything to be revealed. The overall idea was that Richard Peters was Robin's first patient when she started in the psychology field. He fell in love with her, thinking that she felt the same way because of how nice she was to him, but he became jealous after figuring out that she had feelings for Horatio. When Robin ran away after her one night of passion, Richard got angry and confused--going back to his psycho behavior. After realizing that Robin was back, he decided to go after her and finish the job by getting his brother to distract both the CSIs and police. Whew, okay, if you have any questions about this chapter, feel free to ask…I'll try my best to answer them! One last mention--the next chapter is gunna go slightly back in time, just like this one. I wanted to show all aspects of what's going on in this time frame to be able to give the full content of the story. Thanks for sitting through all my rambling, once again! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**