John was at the station 4 days after the fight when Bo came in his office holding several sheets of paper. John looked up from the file he was studying and gave Bo a questioning glance.
"What is that?" John asked.
"It's that information you wanted on Willow Summers. Boy, when you get involved with something its never small," Bo said shaking his head.
"What do you mean?" John asked puzzled.
"Willow Summers isn't the wife or daughter of the owner of Summers Investigations She is the sole owner and founder of Summers Investigations. So whatever she wants to see you for must be big." Bo replied with a half smile. "You really have no idea what she wants?"
"No I don't," John said, "What else do you have on her?"
"Lets see, She went into foster care at age five, the kid saw her parents murdered right in front of her, graduated high school at age 14, didn't go to college till she was 16, graduated college at 18 and then started Summers Investigations. That's all we got so far. Want me to keep digging?" Bo asked
"How old is she now?" John asked.
"She is 23." Bo said. "So, you want me to keep digging?"
"No, I am going to meet her in 2 days so I don't think its necessary to go any further. I don't think she is gonna try to kill me or anything." John replied still puzzled on why she wanted to meet with him and Michael.
"Oh and John?" John looked up "She is also a black belt in the Aikido form of martial arts so be careful."
John nodded as Bo left his office. She must be one smart woman to accomplish all that at such a young age. He had a lot of questions for her when he talked to her. He also wondered what she had done between what she graduated high school and started college. From what Bo had said she seemed pretty ambitious and wouldn't just sit around for 2 years. She would have to be to have graduated high school at age 14, she must be a genius as well, kind of reminded him of Mikey. He had flown through school as well. Straight A's he thought proudly.
John could understand why she had learned martial arts though, having her parents murdered in front of her probably left her with the desire to defend and protect herself, that was something he understood all too well. That was partly the reason he went into law enforcement himself. He looked at the picture Bo had given him along with the information. She was very attractive but there was something familiar about her. He couldn't place it but it was there. He would ask her if they had met before when he saw her. Now he had to call Mikey and tell him what he had found out about her.
A couple of hours later John came back into his office and found Natalie looking over the information on Willow Summers. John came up behind her and kissed the side of her neck. "Mmmm" she said before turning around and kissing him on the lips.
"You know it's against the law to look at police files don't you," John said teasingly.
Natalie laughed stuck her wrists out and said sexily, "cuff me agent McBain."
John pulled her to him and rasped in her ear, "maybe later, love."
Natalie giggled and then said seriously, ". I can't believe someone that young could own one of the best and most expensive private investigation companies in the United States." She read a little further down the page. "Wow, this girl has had just as bad a life as me." Natalie felt bad for her. She herself had had some terrible things happen to her and knew how it felt to feel helpless and alone. John helped her with a lot of it but sometimes she felt that there was no one she could talk to about some things, things she hadn't even told John. She didn't want people to feel sorry for her so she didn't talk about her childhood much.
She really wanted to meet this woman. She sounded fascinating, but Natalie still wondered what she wanted from John and Michael. She hoped it wasn't anything bad.
John was just about to say something when his office phone rang. He picked it up "McBain" he said. He listened for a minute then said, "I'll be right there." After John hung up the phone he grabbed his coat and said to Natalie, "I'm sorry I have to go. Will I see you later, I had something I wanted to ask you."
"Sure. What's wrong? What did you want to ask me?" Natalie asked nervously. She hoped it wasn't something bad.
"There's been another murder." John said. "I will talk to you later. I need to get over to the crime scene." With that John rushed out of the room.
Natalie was about to leave when Michael came in looking for John. "Hey, is John here?"
Natalie said no and kept reading the report on Willow.
"What are you reading," Michael asked coming over to look over her shoulder. Natalie handed him the first page of the report and Michael started reading it. They were both silent for a few minutes reading, when Natalie handed the second page she had just finished. She sat quietly while he read it. When he was finished Michael looked up and said. "This is interesting but it still doesn't tell me anything about why she wants to meet with John or I." Michael looked impressed when he said, "I can't believe she started a company at 18. Its amazing."
"Now do you see why I want to meet her? She sounds fascinating." Natalie said.
John had just arrived at the crime scene when he spotted something unusual, there was a small music box sitting in the bushes about five feet away from the victim. Odd, John thought, the first victim had received the music box in the mail. He started to walk the scene making noted about body position and other things he noticed. As he started to examine the body he noticed that there was something in the woman's hand.
John bent down and with a pair of tweezers pulled out a piece of paper. John put on his gloves and unfolded the paper. He cursed as her read it. It said, "Hello investigator I see you found my latest prize. I will keep playing and more will die unless you tell me what I want to know." John wondered what the hell that meant. He bagged the note and looked around for more clues while he pondered what the message meant. He thought of the last victim, she had died the same way, strangled with a red leotard. He wondered if he had missed something.
Unnoticed by anyone a man sat across the street watching the police, though he was concentrating the most on John McBain. The man smiled evilly when he saw John notice then read the note. He knew it made no sense to McBain right now. That was the point, when he wanted McBain to figure it out he would. He hated John McBain and wanted to torment him. He also knew McBain didn't have a clue who he was or just what he had done to people related to John McBain. There was one other who he hated more but that one was gone for now so he had to focus on McBain.
He smiled as he thought of the other. He had really had fun with that one. That's where he had first seen the music box, the one he now used as his calling card. For years he had chased that one until his prey had simply vanished, he blamed McBain for that as well. The stranger smiled again when he thought of the information that he had about McBain and his family, information that McBain himself didn't even know. Maybe he would tell him, when the time was right. He thought chuckling.