A/n: Hi, I know it's been a long time since I've updated, and I can't promise my next update will be soon, but at least here is the new chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
A/n2: this chapter's got some action that can be triggering for some people, it's not heavy, but I still wanted to warn you for it!
Chapter 7: A set up.
An hour and a half later the five of them were still seated in the conference room, but now they had Chinese food with them, that they were slowly eating while discussing the case further, hopefully getting somewhere, because no one else was getting any further. So it basically now all depended on what Stacie and Cynthia were able to find with their hacking skills. And they hoped that they were able to find something soon, because the longer they watched the feed, the closer they got to probably seeing the killer get busy with her victims again, and that was something they didn't want to witness. It was bad enough that they had to see their friends, and colleagues, being tied down to chairs, without them knowing that they were being watched, so anything else was just going to be too much for all of them.
''Seriously, it doesn't matter how long I'm an agent, I'll probably will always be surprised by the crazy things killers can do, and can come up with'' Chloe said.
''Me too'' Beca said, ''I also still don't get how they can think of doing something like that'' she added, gesturing with her chopsticks to the screen.
''You and me both'' Amy said, shuddering at the thought of all the things they've already witnessed in the past couple of years on the job.
''Well, that's why we all take those Criminology classes, so we can try to understand'' Jessica said.
''I know, but still'' Beca told her, before putting a piece of meat in her mouth.
''Yeah, it's still weird, if you think about it'' Chloe said.
''They do say that most killers are mentally unstable, so we can probably never fully understand why they do what they do'' Benji said.
''Yeah, probably'' Jessica agreed, ''But we can still try, though'' she said with a shrug.
''That's true'' Chloe nodded.
''By the way...come to think of it'' Jessica said, looking over to Beca and Amy, ''You guys somehow always seem to get the weird ones, don't you'' the blonde said. After hearing about the case, and reading the files, she could not believe how far this killer was going. She actually thought it was crazy to go that far only to get to someone. She really felt for Fat Amy, the blonde must have a hard time losing so many people to the same killer.
''Or...Beca and Amy are just making them weird'' Benji joked.
''Thanks, Benji'' Beca rolled her eyes.
''Sorry'' He said, realizing that the joke fell flat, and wasn't really funny to begin with.
''I actually think that Aubrey just likes us doing the weird ones, because she knows we can handle them'' Amy said matter of fact.
''That's true, she does sometimes give you two specific cases, for that exact reason'' Chloe said, ''Because she just knows you both are good enough to handle and solve them''.
''Well, that's at least good to kn-'' Beca said, but she was cut off by a scream interrupting their conversation. All five heads instantly turned to the big screen, and what they saw made their eyes widen in shock.
''I thought there was only one killer'' Benji said, sitting up straight.
''I thought so, too'' Beca said, her eyes glued to the screen.
''Who are those men?'' Fat Amy glanced over to Beca.
''I don't know'' the brunette shook her head.
Bumper and Ashley were still seated in the middle of the room, strapped to their chairs, but only this time the killer and her two men were in the room with them. The agents already realized a while ago that the killer and her victims must be in some sort of factory, but they had yet to figure out where exactly this factory was, and even if it was close by. The team also didn't know that their killer was working with other people, but it now definitely made sense as to why the killer was able to do the things she did without getting caught, or getting overpowered. Because you need a lot more strength than just yourself to kidnap two people at the same time.
Another scream was heard through the speakers and their eyes immediately went to the person it came from, Ashley. The killer head her two men beat the girl up pretty badly, while she sat helplessly on the chair, her arms and legs still strapped to it. Bumper, who couldn't do anything himself because he was in the same situation, started to shout all kinds of things towards the men, trying to evoke something in them to stop beating up Ashley and instead take him, but it was futile. The men just kept on going at it, ignoring him.
''Where the hell does all that screaming and yelling come from?'' Aubrey rushed through the door of the conferenceroom.
''There'' Benji pointed to the big screen, making the blonde look up to it, her eyes widening at the sight.
Just as Aubrey looked up to the screen, the killer turned around, revealing herself to the team, a slight smirk curving her lips as she looked directly into the camera. And the creepy thing was, is that it looked like she could see right through it and to them. Which was something that definitely gave them the chills.
''We got thrown out'' Stacie came bursting through the conference room door, laptop in hand, and Cynthia, Donald and Jesse following close behind.
''We almost got through the last firewall but then everything went black and the system automatically started back up again'' Cynthia told them.
''Try again'' Chloe urged them.
Stacie put the laptop down on the round table and tried everything again to hack into the code and this time get through all the firewalls, but again it didn't work, and her screen went completely black again, only this time she couldn't even come out of the blackness. Nothing worked anymore.
''I see you found me'' a voice came through the speakers, making every head turn back to the screen again. ''It's about time, by the way'' the woman said.
No one said anything, and just let the killer talk, because the more she talked the more they had a chance of getting to know where she was, or what she was going to do next.
Amy was really weirded out by now. It was one thing that the killer looked like her, but it was a completely different thing to hear that the killer almost had the exact same accent as her, too. The killer really tried everything to make it hard for her, and that kinda freaked her out, because she was getting afraid of how far the woman was willing to go to break Amy. What the woman was willing to do to completely ruin her life.
''Awh...it's cute that you're still trying to get through my firewalls'' the killer laughed, making the agents cringe at the sound, ''But if I were you, I wouldn't try again'' she said, throwing a wink at the camera, before walking out of screen and the room.
A couple of minutes later the woman walked back into the room with a laptop in one hand, and another camera in the other. She hooked up the camera to the laptop, and within seconds the angle of the feed changed, letting the agents see their fellow colleagues from the front now, instead of from a higher and further point of view.
''As you can see, the more you try, the more I let my men beat your lovely agents up'' the woman told them, as she walked around with the camera in her hand, showing the team what was happening, including the heavy beating Ashley was getting for the past ten minutes or so.
Once the killer was pleased with the sight of Ashley, she told her men to stop hitting the brunette, and instead go further with Bumper. Fat Amy immediately let out an inaudible whimper when the first fist collided with Bumper's stomach. She couldn't bear seeing her friends get beaten up, but all she could do was stare at the screen, while tears started to form in her eyes and slowly roll down her cheeks. She couldn't believe what was happening right infront of her eyes. She couldn't believe that everything that has happened in the past weeks was because of her.
''Hey, are you alright?'' Beca worriedly looked beside her to her partner, having seen the way the blonde reacted to what was happening.
''N-no...no, I'm not'' Amy shook her head, biting her lip to keep the sobs inside.
''Amy...Amy...Amy...'' the killer spoke up again, turning the camera away from her victims and around to herself, ''How does it feel?'' the killer questioned, which made the blonde frown, ''How does it feel to see your precious baby daddy getting the beating of his life'' the woman smirked, her words filled with taunting.
Amy's eyes instantly widened, as shock overtook her features, and everything inside of her turned to stone. She just sat there stock still, while her fellow agents slowly turned their gazes from the screen to the blonde, no one really sure what to say or what to think. And if that wasn't enough, on screen Bumper's head shot up too at the mention of 'Baby daddy', but the beatings were too intense to say anything about it; to ask Amy what the woman meant by that.
''Amy...what is she talking about?'' Aubrey softly questioned the girl, who was on the brink of falling apart, as flashbacks started to appear before her eyes.
''Amy, please answer me'' Aubrey demanded, but Amy wasn't answering, the blonde could only concentrate on the screen, as everything the killer said went as a whirlwind through her head.
''AMY!'' Beca shouted concerned, getting scared at the reaction the blonde was giving to what just happened.
''I-I...I have to go'' Amy said, before rushing out of the room, sobs escaping her mouth, as she ran as fast as she could.
Amy ran into her office and closed the door behind her, instantly locking the door so no one could get to her. Feeling drained Amy fell back against the door with her back, and slowly slid down to the ground, tears still blurring her vision and falling from her eyes. It seemed like they just wouldn't stop.
Just when Amy thought she had some peace and quiet, rapid knocks landed on the otherside of the door, and she knew exactly who it was.
''Amy, please let me in'' Beca called through the door. ''We're all worried about you, and we just want to know if you're okay'' the brunette said, but she didn't get any answer from her partner back, which only made her worry intensify, because she has never seen Amy like this before.
Fat Amy not being in the mood to be surrounded by people right now ignored her friend and instead wiped away the tears from her face, before standing up from the ground, and walking over to her desk. Silently she sat down behind her desk, and let out a deep breath, before starting up her computer. When everything that the killer said finally sank in, it struck something inside of Amy, and it made her realize something that she hadn't realized before. As it turned out she had seen the woman before, she had come across her, she just never thought about it again because she wanted to forget about that part of her life as fast as she could. It was too painful to remember it, so she locked it away, and threw away the key.
When her computer was finally turned on, Amy opened up the database and searched for her own medical file. New tears started to leak from her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away, she needed to push her feelings away for now. When she found her own file she opened it and came face to face with the pages that described one of her worst nightmares. She quickly read through them, and eventually found what she was looking for, the name of the nurse that helped her that day. After she wrote the name down she closed the file again, and opened up the database again. She quickly typed the name of the nurse in it, and within a few minutes she got a hit. And to her surprise it wasn't just one hit, to her surprise it was a 30 page document about the woman that came into view on her screen.
In the meantime Beca still hadn't stopped knocking, or yelling, through the door, and in the end Amy couldn't ignore it anymore. In the end she couldn't leave her partner hanging like that any longer. So with a sigh Amy stood up and unlocked the door. Beca hearing the lock being turned immediately bursted through the door before Amy even had the time to properly open it.
''Why are you locking yourself up like that?'' Beca said angrily, but her face instantly softened when she saw her partner's facial expression. ''I'm sorry, Ames'' Beca sighed, ''I'm just really worried about you, especially because I'm not used to you not telling me stuff'' the brunette said, ''What happened back there? What was all that about?''.
''Please, can we leave the questions for after the case'' Amy looked up to Beca, her eyes red from the tears, ''We have to deal with enough already''.
''Yeah...okay, sure'' Beca nodded, only now realizing how much all of this was affecting the blonde. It was worse than she thought. ''What were you doing?'' Beca asked, when she noticed the computer screen.
''I...I found out who our killer is'' Amy replied, as she walked back over to her desk, and sat down behind it again.
''Wait...'' Beca's eyebrows shot up, as she sat down on Amy's desk, ''How did you do that?'' she asked, as she looked from the blonde to the screen.
''When she said the things she said, something triggered inside my head'' Amy told her, ''And that trigger made me realize something that I hadn't realized before''.
''Okay...and what exactly did you realize?'' Beca asked, looking back to her partner again.
''That I've seen the woman before'' Amy said, still looking on at the screen. ''That I've actually come in close contact with her'' she told the brunette, a flash of hurt crossing her eyes, that she immediately hid by blinking her eyes.
Beca wanted to question the look on Amy's face, but in the end decided against that, because she knew she wasn't going to get any information out of her friend about it. At least not yet. ''So...'' Beca said, turning her gaze back to the screen again, ''Who is our killer then?''.
''Cara Harrison'' the blonde replied, ''She's 26 years old, and comes from Sydney, Australia'' Amy said.
''That explains the accent'' Beca said. ''So now that you know who this woman is, do you have any idea why she does what she does?''.
''Honestly...I still don't understand'' Amy shook her head.
''All right...'' Beca sighed, ''Can we at least find out where she is?''.
''We can try'' Amy said, as she opened up the search engine in their database, and typed the name of their killer in it.
''Okay, uhmm...'' Amy started, as a few hits popped up on the screen, ''Her last known address is from an apartment on Applegate Avenue, which is across town'' Amy said, as she read further, ''Oh, she's got siblings''.
''Who are they?'' Beca asked.
''Their names are Bill and Theo Harrison'' Fat Amy replied, ''And look at that...'' she said when pictures of the siblings popped up on the screen, ''They look exactly like Cara's henchmen''.
''So, we're dealing with a family affair here'' Beca said.
''It certainly looks like it'' Amy nodded. ''Besides that, there isn't much to find about her'' the blonde said. ''At least not from here in America''.
''Are there any other connections?'' Beca questioned, ''Like parents, grandparents, guardians, or something like that?''.
''I don't know'' Amy shook her head, ''Why?'' she asked, as she looked up to the brunette.
''Well, there isn't much known about them here in America, right'' Beca said.
''Yeah, right'' Amy said with a nod.
Well, maybe, if we find out more about them, if we find out more about their family, there will be some connection that will lead us to where they are'' Beca explained.
''Yeah, that makes sense'' Amy said, as she went right back to typing. She tried finding Cara's parents, but everywhere she searched she came up empty. It started to look like the three siblings didn't have any parents, or other relatives, at all.
''I literally can't find anything about any parents, or relatives'' Amy told Beca, ''The only thing that keeps coming back is a man named Seth Morrison'' the blonde said.
''That's weird'' Beca frowned.
''It is'' Amy agreed, ''Oh, and here's a newspaper cut out about him'' Amy said. ''Apparently Seth Morrison was part of a gang that abducted, raped, and then dumped their victims in alleys''.
''Wait, didn't we have a case like that like a year or two ago?'' Beca said, vaguely remembering a case like that.
''That's highly possible'' Amy said, knowing they've had some crazy cases in the past.
''I think, just to be sure, we should take a look in the archive'' Beca said, as she stood up from the desk.
The two girls walked out of the office and to the archive room, and luckily on their way they came across no one from their team, which Amy was really glad about, because she definitely wasn't in the mood to explain everything to them. In time she will tell them, but for now it was still a little too painful to bring up, and talk about. And besides she hadn't even told Bumper about it, so she had to do that first too.
Eventually they reached the archive room, and right away both girls went over to the storage drawer that held the cases from the last two years. Everything was neatly sorted and perfectly put away, so finding the case file wasn't that hard of a job.
''I think this is it'' Beca said, as she took out the file and walked to the table in the middle of the room. Amy coming up beside her.
''You know...I actually do remember this case'' Amy said when she saw Beca lay out the file on the tabletop. She picked up the five page report and swiftly read through it, easily finding the keywords, and high lighted sentences. It instantly reminding her of the horrors that they had witnessed through the three weeks that they were on the case, which made it the most talked about case in their department last year. And in the end it was Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and herself that were eventually the ones that caught the whole gang and got them arrested. Well...most of them. They were actually unable to catch every single one of them, because the gang was too big, and a couple of them had already fled the state.
''Now I know why I couldn't find any information on Cara's parents'' Amy said, while reading the fourth page.
''Why?'' Beca asked, as she looked up from the papers she was reading.
''Because Seth Morrison was the caretaker for the three siblings'' Amy replied, ''Apparently their parents died when they were very little, and they automatically ended up in the system because they had no other relatives, and eventually Morrison took them in'' the blonde told Beca.
''Wow, lovely childhood'' Beca snorted, ''First your parents die, and then your caretaker turns out to be a gang member who rapes and murders women''.
''Well...I don't think they minded it that much'' Amy said.
''What do you mean?'' Beca furrowed her brows.
''Here the report says that the three of them had been in the middle of it all, and knew about the gang, but were threatened to stay silent'' Amy said, ''Well, at least that's the story that was told, but nothing ever confirmed that the three were actually in serious danger. Here it even says that there was speculation that the two brothers were helping them on the side, but they didn't have enough on them to arrest them and bring them to court''.
''Seriously?!'' Beca said incredulously, not believing her ears, ''No wonder they turned out like this''.
''I know, right'' Amy sighed.
''But, hey, if you remember this case...how come you didn't recognize or remember Cara Harrison?'' Beca frowned.
''I didn't remember or recognize her because I never saw her'' Amy told her, ''None of us did'' the blonde said, ''She disappeared hours before we arrested the gang and her brothers''.
''Really, that is actually really suspicious if you ask me'' Beca said, as she gathered the file together again.
''Yeah, it is'' Amy agreed, ''You know...I get that these people were raised in such an environment, and probably didn't know better, but that still doesn't explain why they do what they do'' she said.
''I don't get that either'' Beca said, ''But at least now we know that this case is related to our case, so it gives us a tiny step up''.
''Yeah, at least we have that'' Amy sighed heavily, ''But what do we do now?'' she questioned, looking up to the brunette.
''Now we gotta find out if Seth Morrison has any property in his name, because you don't just out of nowhere have a whole factory to yourself'' Beca said, determination covering her face, as she felt closer than ever to finally finding out where their killer is.