Chapter 2

"Daddy?"

"Hi honey."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I need to see you, though. Are you busy tonight?"

"I have class until 6, but I can meet you after."

"We'll pick you up at 6:30, take you for dinner."

"Sounds great! Love you, Daddy."

"Love you too, Katie."

Andy got home before both of his parents. He chucked his heavy bookbag on the floor beside the front door and turned on the game system to get some time in before they got home. His job in the game was to shoot the criminals without accidentally shooting any of the innocents. He was remarkably good at it. His parents had taught him to shoot, but his quick reflexes were his own.

Mike came in the door, saw his bookbag on the floor and the boy playing his game. "5 minutes, and then it's homework," Mike announced as he walked to the kitchen to prepare something for dinner.

"Okay, Dad," Andy said, taking out a few more bad guys. A few minutes later, he joined his father in the kitchen. "You're cooking?"

"Your Mom's working late," Mike said. Carolyn was in charge of CSU, and often she had to keep late hours. Mike was a private investigator and made his own hours. It was rare for him not to be able to be flexible with his schedule. Over the years, one of them had been able to be there for Andy almost all the time. Mike turned the oven on, seasoned the steaks on the pan, and turned to his son. "What's homework tonight?"

"Uh, I have to finish my geometry and then I have to work on that report for US History class. And I have to read the rest of Hamlet."

"Sounds like a lot for one night."

"Yeah."

"Get busy. I'm here if you need me, but not for Hamlet."

"Gotcha, Dad."

"Hi, honey," Alex said, giving her daughter a hug.

"Mom. Daddy," Katie said as she turned and hugged her father.

"You hungry?" Bobby asked.

"I haven't eaten since noon," she said.

"Let's go," Bobby smiled, and he and Alex escorted Katie out to the car. It had been a warm day, and the evening air felt good. Alex got behind the wheel, and Katie climbed into the back while Bobby sat in the passenger seat.

"Connecticut is nice this time of year," Alex observed.

"Yeah, it's been pretty nice weather lately."

"How are your classes going?" Alex asked as she drove them off the campus and into town.

"Good, Mom. I was worried about Psychology for a while, but I got an A on my last test."

Alex pulled into the parking lot for the little family restaurant, and they all piled out. "I love this place!" Katie squealed. "I haven't eaten here since the last time you guys came down!"

Bobby and Alex shared a smile. In a few minutes, the family was sitting comfortably in a booth inside the restaurant. Bobby had his binder out on the table.

"Are you working?" Katie asked him.

He shook his head. "Uh, in a minute," he said, holding one finger out to his daughter. The waiter came, and they all made their orders. Once they were alone again, Bobby looked to Alex for support.

"Honey, we have to tell you something."

Katie's face grew worried, and she looked back and forth between her parents, giving them her full attention.

"You know how we always told you our jobs were dangerous?"

"You're okay, right? You're not going undercover, are you?" The first question was for her Dad, the second for her Mom.

"No, honey, nothing like that," Alex said. Bobby unzipped his binder.

"One of the people…" He paused, thinking how to phrase what he had to say. "This is one of the ones that got away," he said, and showed her the last picture he had of Nicole Wallace, from 20 years prior.

Katie looked at the picture, then back up at her parents. "What did she do?"

"She's a psychopath," Bobby said. "She has murdered… a lot of people."

"She uses people," Alex added. "And then she kills them when she doesn't need them anymore."

"And she kills to get to the people she wants," Bobby added.

"I don't understand. Why are you showing me this?"

The two looked again into each others' eyes before they continued explaining to their daughter.

"She's back," Bobby said quietly.

"She's always… she and your father…" Alex wasn't sure how to describe it, really.

"Once she finds out I'm trying to catch her, she could try anything," Bobby said.

"We want you to be safe," Alex told Katie. She picked the picture up off the table and handed it to her daughter for a second look. The waiter brought their food. After he had gone, Alex spoke again. "If you see her, you have to get away from her as quickly as you can."

Katie was terrified. All her life, her parents had sheltered her from their jobs, from the horrible, dangerous people they encountered. They didn't hide the truth from her, but they didn't burden her with it, either. "But, why would she come after me? She doesn't even know me!"

Bobby put his palm on his daughter's cheek. "Katie, your mother was right. She's a psychopath. She may come after you only because it will hurt your mother and me."

"Well, you're in danger, too!" She looked frantically between her parents.

Alex frowned and nodded at her little girl. "Hopefully, this is all an unnecessary precaution," Alex said. "We just had to tell you. We have to do everything we can to keep you safe."

"I brought… other pictures," Bobby said. "I'd like you to look at them all. She's older now, twenty years. She could have different hair, cosmetic surgery… I'm sorry I can't show you something more recent."

"Keep your phone charged and with you at all times," Alex said. Too bad she couldn't give her a gun. It was forbidden to have weapons on campus.

"Don't let her get close to you, or your friends. She likes to inject her victims with needles." Bobby folded his hands in front of him and watched as his daughter memorized every detail of each picture. He was relieved that she was so studious about it.

"Her name is Nicole Wallace, but it's likely she'll use an alias," Bobby said.

"She posed as a college professor once," Alex added, and Katie gave her a quick look.

Finally, Katie shoved the stack of photographs back towards her father. "She's not coming after me," she said with finality.

Bobby and Alex shared a look and nodded. "I hope you're right. I hope we're just being overprotective," Alex said.