Dislcaimer in chapter 1
Chapter 2
Armed with coffee and Danishes, the major case squad's detectives set about outlining what they had so far for Capt. Deakins. The big conference room held all their clues on the corkboard: pictures of two dead cops, whose deaths may or may not have been case related. Both cops had been shot, with bullets and casings gone. Both cops' badges were missing. Neither man worked in the same department or precinct. Neither even seemed to know each other. Not much to go on.
"So, are you thinking this is a serial? Are these even related? "Deakins asked his two star detectives.
"We don't have enough to know yet, Capt. I asked for a report on cops killed on or off duty for the last 10 years. Both in and out of New York, just in case"
"These are not first time kills for this guy. He's been at this a while. Whether involving cops or not, we can't be sure yet. But anyone who takes the bullets and casings from the scene, leaves no other clues at all, that is a sign of someone who knows what they are doing," Goren said certainly. "If they are cop killings, he must be taking the badges as some kind of trophy."
"Ugh… just what we need. The guys upstairs want answers. Let's try to give them something today," Deakins could feel another one of his tension headaches starting up again. He rubbed the side of his head in pain, and turned to leave. "Keep me posted."
Eames' phone chirped as they were leaving the morgue, with no more information than they came in with.
"Eames." She listened intently to the caller on the other end of the phone. "Oh shit. Ok, we'll be right there. No one go near the body."
"We have another dead cop. Bullets are missing, as is his badge."
Bobby hung his head, shaking it. Then shifted his shoulders and set them steadily. "Let's go."
Eames pulled the SUV up to the other flashing lights. She got out, readying herself to see yet another dead cop. These murders were striking too close to home. Every cop killed was too close, but over and over again just forced her to relive her worst memories. She hung back a little while she watched her partner approach the body.
The Man watched the two cops. They stood out against the backdrop of blue that surrounded the crime scene. The killing scene, as he liked to think. He really was getting quite good at this. Even cops who were on duty and should have known better were sucked into his little traps. He killed them easily and quickly, disposing of the potentially damaging bullets, taking their badges, and then disappearing, leaving virtually nothing behind. There is that TV show… the one that talks about every criminal leaves something behind. Either that was TV or he was better than that. He liked to think he was better, much better.
The pretty cop hung back. This was getting to her. Well, good. He had done some checking on her, and he understood why she might be reluctant to look at yet another dead cop, given her husband's death. What a surprise he had in store for her! Very soon now, he thought, getting slightly hard at the thought of filling her in on his little surprise.
He watched the way the big cop looked over the body. This guy was smart. From what he had read, he was really really smart. The press even calls him a genius. Certainly a well-known criminal profiling genius would be a fitting to challenge to him. The combination of the two was intoxicating to his narcissism. His surprise link to the lovely Detective Eames and the challenge of the genius Detective Goren just made this whole game more enticing.
And the icing on the cake was the way the two worked together. He delighted in watching them watch each other. The way she looked up at him; the way he watched her walk; the way he touched her lower back and opened the doors for her; the way he tilted his head listening to her; the way she would stand just a little too close for professional distance. They had a special chemistry, one even they may not have been aware of. No, this was going to be more fun than the others. They were a challenge to him, and they were tied together just as they were tied to him. What an interesting threesome they would make.
They returned to the office in silence, each one buried in their own thoughts. Bobby couldn't make out why Eames had shut down so much. She had become virtually silent during this last trip to the field. Her shields were up and he wasn't quite sure why or what to do about it.
"Do you want to tell me what is wrong?" he asked quietly.
"Nothing more than three dead cops. At least," she snapped, immediately sorry for being so sharp with him.
"You've worked cop cases before, Eames. This one seems to be affecting you more than the others."
"Look Bobby, I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well, and this, well this is just too much. It is happening so quickly, and we still have nothing to go on. Let it go, please?" she asked pleadingly.
Bobby knew when to stop asking, and while he was determined to not let it drop, he would respect her wishes for now.
They both left the parked SUV and headed up the elevator. A clerk handed Eames two envelopes on the way up. One was clearly the reports she had asked for. She started opening it before she even made it to her desk.
She quickly started scanning the report. In the last 10 years, there had been 300 cops killed in or out of the line of duty, across 10 different states. In 200 of those cases, the same MO, missing bullets and casings, and surprisingly enough, missing badges was reported.
"Oh, my God," she gasped as she flipped through the pages, handing the ones she had skimmed to Bobby.
Bobby read page after page, his mouth starting to drop from surprise. "How could this have gone on without anyone catching onto it?"
"Look Bobby, they all happened in different counties, across different states, in some cases it looks like it even happened on duty. No one was looking for a serial killer."
Then her eyes saw a familiar name, and her face went ashen. She reached out for her desk as her world started to spin around her. She fell into her chair, Bobby racing to her side to catch her.
"What is it Alex?" Bobby asked in a frightened voice. "What did you read?"
TBC……
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