AN: I strongly apologize for the delay. My sister's father passed away from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and I have been helping her cope.
The rancid smell of fish and seawater filled her senses. The scent reminded her of the days she would follow her brother down to the pier. As they swung their skinny tanned legs off the side of the warped planks, shooing away the seagulls when they tried to snatch their ice cream, Ryan would tell her stories. Of how he was going to join the Tamaran navy when he became of age, of how he would move up to captain and challenge all of the pirates that came across his boat. She could recall his bubbly laugh and how the water brought an adventurer out of her otherwise timid and complacent sibling.
"Don't cry, my princess," The detective-turned-criminal spoke in a hushed tone. Kory blinked, adjusting her vision to the darkness. Chained to some type of crate, she twisted both of her wrists in the cuffs, trying to retain blood flow in them. Still, each movement was delayed, as if she'd drunken too much liquor.
Being so inhibited, it took her a few minutes before the interior of the location sharpened. Dick's partner, Marty, rose out of his seat and greeted her with an open water bottle and a tray of sandwiches. "Are you allergic to anything?"
"Psychopaths." Kory grimaced as he grabbed her chin and shoved the bottle inside, plugging her mouth so she couldn't speak. Greedily, though, she chugged the entire amount.
"It's the drugs. They are quite effective, but give you cottonmouth." Was this Detective Grimes talking now or the Felon? Kory had read that some killers adopted split-personalities to keep their rational self from the grizzly acts they committed. Even in her state, she could see the glaze hovering over his eyes. This was the killer.
The bottle was removed and he picked up one of the sandwiches, holding it out like an offering. "Bite?" She tore into the sandwich, crunching on the lettuce and tomato, imagining his head between her teeth as she gnashed. "You never ordered any meat entrees, so I figured you for a vegetarian." It chilled her, how collected he was as he told her this- that he had been following and watching her so closely. He could have been sitting three tables down and she would have never noticed.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked through bites of food. Something itched and when she looked down to see what it was, he grinned proudly.
"Do you like your new outfit? I bought it for your trip."
"Trip?" The hazy light from above reflected off the sequined scales of the jade mermaid tail- a color close to that of her eyes. She shivered and glanced at her chest to find it only covered in two purple seashells, strung together by a single strip of cloth. The Felon moved away, chewing on his own meal.
"Yes. Your trip. It will be in a few minutes, so don't bother resting up for it. I need you awake for the big moment."
"What big moment?"
"When you meet my daughter."
"I thought you were going to kill me," Kory let a breath of relief escape, "We're just going to visit your daughter?" The Felon laughed hysterically, as if she'd uttered a hilarious joke.
"No, no. You're going to visit her. Not me. Lily only deserves the best- that's why I picked you, Ariel. She is a very sweet little girl."
"Where is she?" Kory's sights darted around the damp room, searching for the poor little girl. Did he force his daughter to watch what he did to the other women? The Felon stopped cackling at her question.
"No. She should be here, but she's not."
"Then… where is she?" A brilliant smile broke across his face. She didn't think it was possible, but she felt her soul shudder at the sight.
"Where all princesses go when they die." He edged closer, offering the last remaining sandwich. "Don't worry. You'll be there soon."
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"Got anything, shrink?" Vic turned to the resident psychologist that had been called in to the precinct. Seth Gordon shook his head, opening and closing his mouth several times before he found the right words.
"I- it's hard. For years, I've been psycho-analyzing Marty and now this? I should have seen it coming."
"But why princesses? Is it some sick, perverted fetish he's been hiding and it… exploded or something?"
"That's just it- these murders symbolize innocence, purity." Melinda shifted her gaze from the doctor to the photo of the dog bites on the third victim.
"You sure about that, shrink?"
"Positive. While many serial killers sodomize or rape their prey-" Dick, standing alone near his desk, emitted a disgusted sigh, "The Felon doesn't. That's why he's not killing these women for himself."
"Then who? His wife ditched him after what happened with Lily." Seth nodded grimly as Dick finally joined the conversation,
"He's killing for Lily. I guess after her death, he snapped and wanted to honor her in some way. Although, I wish he had picked some other way instead of kidnapping Kory, but that's not the point," The lead detective addressed his co-workers, "All of this connecting stuff is great, but it's not telling us where he's got her." They all moved closer to the board, studying it intently once again, hoping something jumped out at them.
"Every murder had to do with the princess. Belle was torn apart by 'beasts,' Mulan was be-headed like she would've been, and Jasmine was mauled by a tiger like the one she owned."
"Well, Ariel is all about water, so it's got to be somewhere with lots of it." Seth, on the other hand, disagreed,
"No, it could still be a swimming pool, too. Something indoors and out of sight from the public. All of the previous ones were done in closed spaces. He doesn't want to chance someone seeing him and ceasing his actions."
"But we know that he keeps the girls somewhere near fish because of the tiny scales I found on each of them. So a possible location could be Gotham Harbor."
"No, Gotham isn't equipped for small fishing boats, only large oil freighters."
"Bludhaven," Dick announced and they all shared a knowing look, "Their harbor has enough room for fishing vessels. That's where he killed Tara, too, so it would make sense for him to use that space every time because it was off limits to the public. Once we gained all the information we could out of the place, it would have been completely ignored," He held back his anger and instead focused on the wall behind Seth's head to clear his mind, "And Marty knew that." Dashing to his desk, Dick called the squad to inform them of the location.
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"All details to Bludhaven Harbor. Possible suspect and hostage. All details to Bludhaven Harbor." Marty sighed and turned down the radio he had hooked up in the hideout he'd created. This was the first of two stops, like a miniature underground railroad.
"Time to go, princess!" He called to the bleary-eyed beauty across from the desk he'd set up.
"Where… we going?" She mumbled as he gathered her nearly-unconscious form in his latex-covered hands. Even if they'd already connected him to the murders, there was no need to taint her before he sent her away.
"I told you: to see Lily. My partner must've realized I came back here, where Rose was killed, so we have to go, go, go!" Placing her in the back of the old van he'd bought for the special occasion- always in cash, of course- the piece of junk roared to life, leaving a trail of exhaust as he sped out of the warehouse. Heading back towards Gotham, he couldn't stop the enormous grin from rising when the ten or so cruisers blazed by on the opposite side of the interstate. "Run, run, run as fast as you can, Dick."
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Drawing his weapon, Dick moved along with the team and rounded the corner of the warehouse. The leader motioned for them to go ahead. They burst into the room and began searching the perimeters. Seeing the empty chair and desk, though, and the two pairs of handcuffs hanging from a crate nearby, the detective backed out of the room. Faintly, the leader's voice announcing the room was clear sounded as he made his way to his Pathfinder. Giving into the strain, he leaned over the hood and tried to hold back the rage surging through him.
It drugged his mind, this anger, and it wasn't until his fist created a dent in the shiny black fender that he realized how controlling it was. Would Marty leave her unharmed and give up or would the night end with a clarification at the morgue? Once again, Victor passed by and squeezed his shoulder.
"We'll catch him, man. He won't get her before we get him."
"Jesus, I never told her I loved her." Dick blurted out and glanced warily at Victor. He didn't need some hard-ass officer right now. He needed a friend to tell him to suck it up and set him straight with a few short words.
"You will, man, once this mess is over. Now, suck it in and wipe those tears away before that saltwater corrodes the paint on this baby." Dick stepped away from the vehicle and slid an arm across his face, destroying the evidence.
"Grayson!" An officer shouted from the doorway of the warehouse and both Victor and Dick trailed after the man. "We found empty syringes on the desk. It looks like he drugged her up pretty good before they split."
"You smell that?" The younger officer stilled, sniffing the air for a moment, and nodded wordlessly. "Exhaust fumes, which means they left recently, probably within the last five to ten minutes. He's taking her somewhere else- a closed in place, like Seth said."
"All of the indoor pools should be closed, it being this late at night."
"Don't put it past him to find a way. Send teams out to every public location with an indoor pool."
"Where are you going?" The officer called after the detective as he headed out with Victor.
"Another place. Have a team follow me."
AN:
Chapter Eleven: "Holding out for a Hero" by Frou Frou.
The next chapter is nearly finished and I promise that it will be a great deal longer than this one. Although, I'm not sure if you'll be too content with the ending… mwahaha.