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Chapter 16

John sat in a small hotel room waiting to hear from Natalie, he was still in Philly, and he was nervous every second of every day, it had been only been two days, two long miserable days, he was going crazy being cooped up in this flea bag hotel, going crazy that he couldn't be with her, help her, keep her safe. He did speak to her a few times over the past few days, little conversation here and there, quick ones thou, they weren't sure about this guy, how or if this guy knew every aspect of her and her life.

John was getting very impatient in only a few days when he heard the hotel room phone ring, he answered it and ran out of the room with his hand on the gun that sat in his holster. Walking carefully to his car as he observed the area he didn't know what hit him, what pinched his neck, what pricked him, he went down unconscious as a large man carried him towards a van.

Natalie sat at the station with a donut in one hand and a cup of bad tasting coffee in the other, she was reading over all the clues to the murders, bringing focus to the last two, the only two men, they were the only two men and the only two that seem to be giving her clues, clues to who he was, what he wanted and why he might be doing this, she thought.

She worked with the Forensics staff at the station but Jake had taken a vacation, not really but he was away from the station till this was settled, the killer obviously watched the station and knew all the comings and goings so it was best he wasn't around. He obviously had no problem with her working with the other techs, or he would have killed again and he hadn't not in two days. She basically ran the show here on this case and that was what they thought he wanted

Two days and they were still waiting on important information on Jason Johnson, the best, the best tech till something happened and he dropped out, they had found out it wasn't a conscious choice for him to drop out, he had, had an accident, some sort of accident making him brain dead, so that lead of him being the killer was a dead end. It was impossible, he was at Philly university Hospital and had been for the past two months, since the day he... the day.. . Natalie looked at the date of his accident, hmmm. She told herself and she wrote the date down on a legal note pad she used for notes.

Natalie didn't know why but she got a feeling, a gut feeling Jason Johnson and his accident had something to do with these murders, with the murderer. She shook her head as she stared at the familiar date of Jason's accident, why did it look so familiar she thought. She was brought out of her trance when Mattie walked into the room.

"You're not going to believe this" Mattie told her as she continued to look thru the files in her hand

'What?"

"Jason Johnson, the information on his accident"

"Yeah, spill it Mattie, spill it out, I have no patience for games... I'm sorry, please what is it?"

It was the night we all went to O'Malley's for a few drinks, you know after the big prelim at that abandoned warehouse in the out skirts"

"What?" Natalie said and realized why the date was familiar, that was the last day she was second best, the day Jake had given them some stupid preliminary crime scene at some old warehouse, how did that tie in to the killer.

"Mattie, I'm getting a bit confused lets start from the beginning of that day and all the occurrences."

Natalie took out her legal pad again and she and Mattie went thru hour by hour.

"The five of us Techs went will Lt Harrison to Fowley Street, we were given each a crime scene in a different part of the building, we were partnered up all but Jason do you remember that?"

"Yeah I do, Jake, I mean Lt Harrison said he was good enough not to have a partner, he also said I didn't need one but .. But I did have one, that's right, that guy, the guy that Jake told he wasn't good, what was his name? How could I forget about that guy, Natalie shook her head and made a note on her pad to find out about that guy. After a few seconds she turned back to Mattie

" Lets proceed with the days activates, something's telling me they are important to this."

" We finished on the clock with our crime scenes, Jake, I mean" Natalie was cut off by Mattie's words

"Its okay Natalie, everyone knows you two were seeing each other, and have been "

"What? No we weren't, not back then, not till after.. after.. after Jason left"

Natalie thought about the timing of things and she couldn't breath for a minute, she almost doubted Jake for a minute, did he do this, do this for her, cause the other guy, Jason Johnson was better than her, did he not give him a partner so he would fail, she shook her head this was ridiculous, she knew Jake, he loved her, he was a good man, he wouldn't take anyone's life on purpose, he did love her, could he, would he do something like this for her. No, she told herself and she continued.

" So we finished up, there were a few mistakes, Jake got a little pissy with the guy I was working with, what was his name? I can't remember it... Oh yes I do, Douglas Finney, that was it, so Jake got mad cause he said I did all the work and Dougie, sat back and watched as I worked my ass off, which I remember was true, what ever happened to that guy? Mattie, find out when we are done here, so back to that day, Jake told everyone that Jason had done the best that day and all by himself, that he was the best of the group. Better than all of us. That he had an eye for this kind of work"

Natalie sat silent for a few minutes just going over things in her head

"Then we all came back from the warehouse, we were exhausted, drained and we all went for drinks at O'Malley's, even Jason" Mattie said continuing with the facts of the day

"Even Dougie" Natalie chimed in

"What Nat?"

Natalie shook her head, Dougie, he was at the bar with them, she even spoke to him, "OMG! "She covered her mouth. All the pieces, the clues were fitting.

She remembers that night, how could she have forgotten it. "Dougie sat with me at the bar, he ordered red wine, he offered to buy me a glass, I told him I didn't like it that much, I was of a beer girl, we laughed, he was a decent guy, he apologized for me not being the best today because of him, I told him it didn't matter, he seem to be more upset by it than I was, we laughed some more and I told him it was alright, I told him although this was something I really wanted, that I would've loved to be the best today, that right now in my life it seem to be all that mattered the most to me, that it was still alright. He was very down on himself, he kept doubting himself." Natalie looked up at Mattie with her next question.

"What time did Jason have his accident? Leave the bar? Do you know? Is it in any of the reports?"

"He left the bar a little before ten and the accident happened on his way home, Natalie..."

"What?"

"You're not going to believe this... they found red wine in his system, lots of it, his blood alcohol level was extremely high, they found empty bottles of red wine in his back seat... it was ... it was the same type that the red wine killer has been leaving as his mark when he kills."

"Mattie... are you sure?" Natalie asked and Mattie shook her head, Natalie took a few moments to think about all of this in her head, she knew they were on to something, this wasn't a coincidence. As of right now she had two possible suspects in her head, Jake, or this Dougie guy. She heard Mattie speak and she turned to her.

"Did you see what time Dougie left O'Malley's?"

"A little before ten"

"Are you sure Nat?"

"Yeah, Jake came into the bar, he came over to us, he looked a little pissed, at first I thought he was jealous because I was hanging out with Dougie, but then he got nasty with Dougie for screwing things up for me, said I should've been the best today, and it was because of Dougie and his lazy ass I wasn't, Dougie left upset, Jake stayed for a few minutes, said something about getting a conference call in a few minutes at the station, so he couldn't stay long, he asked me out again, said we could see each other now since my training with him was over as of today. I agreed. He left a little before ten also." Natalie shook her head; these other facts still didn't clear either Jake or Dougie Finney.

Natalie sat at her desk silent for a minute, things were getting jumbled in her brain, and she took a step back, jotted down some notes before she would proceed.

Jake takes us to warehouse

Me and Douglas Finney work together

Jason alone

Jason did the best, he's the best

Jake's mad at Douglas cause he said he screwed up things for me

Go to O'Malley's

Dougie offers me Red wine, I refuse

Dougie is sorry about today, I tell him it's important for me to be the best

Jake comes in, Dougie leaves a little before ten

Jake asks me out again, I accept, Jake leaves for conference call at station

Jason Johnson wraps his car around a tree around, drunk off red wine

Finds bottles of same stuff killer left with his murder vic's.

From that day forward, I'm top of class

"Top of Class, the best, from that day forward, I was the best" Natalie told herself over and over again, still unclear who was the killer, she had it narrowed down, it could be Jake or Dougie Finney

Both Natalie and Mattie were silent for a few minutes going over everything in their head when Nat's cell phone rang, she looked at the caller id and it was John.

"Hey " Natalie spoke into the phone softly, happy that he was calling; she sure could use a little advice about this case right now.

"I did it all for you, I've got something of yours, get all your facts straight and come quickly, before it's to late."

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John woke to find himself tied to a chair, he still felt a little groggy from the sedative someone injected into him, he tried to focus but was finding it hard to when he heard someone speak.

"Nice of you to finally wake up asshole" John heard the voice come from behind him.