True Monsters
Rated "R" for the graphic crime scene!
Horatio swallowed hard to rid his throat of the sickening taste of bile. The smell of blood and flesh in the early stages of decomposition was everywhere.
There was a monster on the loose in Miami.
Five days ago, a family had found slaughtered in their own home. The weapon, an axe was found. Washed clean of all fingerprints and most fibres and blood. Each victim the mother, an eight-year-old son and six-month-old boy had been hacked to death. Thin layers of flesh were the only thing holding the bodies together. It was going to be next to impossible for Alexx to figure which blow killed each victim. Horatio only prayed the blow was the first one and death came quick. Now, he knelt over the body of a woman in an identical scene. The bodies of her five-year-old boy lay less than three feet away on the living room floor. The body of her infant son, adopted at birth three months ago, lay resembling a doll broken into pieces with exception of the blood-soaked bed sheets in the crib in the next room. Neither family was connected as far as detectives could tell.
But they did have one thing in common. In each family, one child were adopted and one was not.
In the first case the husband was cleared immediately. He was the father of only the older boy and had died three years prior. The murdered woman had adopted the second baby as a single parent. The baby's birth and adoption had taken place in Texas. Both sides of the baby's birth family had been agreeable to the adoption. When they heard the news they were devastated not only for the baby boy but for other little boy and his mother. Both birth parents and relatives they could never hurt the family, not only because they loved the baby and thought he was in the right place but there was weekly contact between all parties through e-mails, pictures and Skype. In the second case, there wasn't a father to consider. The mother had been for years. Her five-year-old son was conceived from anonymous donor sperm. Her adopted child came to her care through a private agency. It was a closed adoption. Only the biological family's medical information was shared with baby's new mother. The birth family did not know where the adoptive family lived and vice-versa. Their involvement was impossible.
One family lived in a rental home in a working class neighborhood. The second lived in the suburbs. The only thing the cases had in common was the family dynamics.
Did the killer have a grudge against families with adopted and biological children?
If so, how did he—or she know the victims. So far, the consensus was the killer was male because the strength it took to do that much damage to a body, even with a freshly sharped axe. Still it couldn't ruled out the perpetrator could be female. Hopefully, there was some trace evidence from the killer left on the axe that could found at the lab to narrow this down. Two different adoption agencies were used—both in different cities. And the conception circumstances of the biological children were completely different. In the back of his mind, Horatio began to wonder if his own family could be in danger. His family dynamic was similar. Kyle was his biologically, but Aimee's by adoption. Then Faith was born, connected to both by biology.
Horatio didn't want to cause his wife and son any more anxiety, especially considering all they already been through. And he definitely didn't want to lock Kyle up in the house. Kyle deserved to live his life the same, with school, friends and other activities. However, Horatio was certainly going to be more conscious of the family surroundings till this monster was found. At the Caine home, Aimee Caine was folding laundry when the news of a second triple homicide interrupted the program she was watching. One-year-old Faith played happily in her playpen, babbling to herself, oblivious to what was on the television. Kyle had been in Hialeah with her parents all weekend. He would be home momentarily. She had just spoken to him on her dad's cellphone. Aimee heaved a heavy sigh knowing that yet again her husband wouldn't home till very late.