Roman was feeling restless. It was closing in on 7 PM and there had been no one coming to the house. His team had spent the entire day there, all eyes on the house, but no one arrived or even look suspicious driving by.
"Maybe someone warned them," Jimmy said.
"Who?" Roman asked.
"I don't know. Maybe Bayley. We have taken over her house. I wouldn't like 20 cops camping in my house and sending me away," Jimmy said.
"We gave her a free mini vacation with a guardian tagging along. We got her phone and she has no access to the internet. She hasn't been able to tell anyone what's going on and we're keeping it that way," Roman said.
Roman moved his eyes away from Jimmy and back to the house. He was beginning to have a bad feeling inside. Louisiana had said men came and went during the day but no one had arrived today. They hadn't found any hidden cameras to have warned them about her having been saved and cops awaiting their return. If no one showed up in a couple of days, they would have to look into every neighbor on the street. Someone might be part of it and had seen what happened last night. His phone started ringing and the sound startled him.
"For fuck sake!" He growled.
He fished his phone up from his pocket and saw Jey's name on the display. Jey had been asked to stay back at the station so he could be the one to deliver any news as soon as test results came back. Roman hit the green button and put the phone to his ear.
"Talk to me," Roman said.
"It's bad, uce," Jey said.
"Bad how?" Roman asked.
"Most blood found in that house belongs to the guy. Her blood was only on her clothes and in the area they fought," Jey said.
"What are you saying?" Roman asked.
"You know damn well what I'm saying," Jey sounded desperate. "We figured out who he is too. His name is Sami Zayn. He went missing months ago. His wife filed a report."
Roman's breathing took up as he tried to process that information.
"Are you hearing what I'm saying, uce?" Jey asked. "Sami was the one who was kidnapped. Sami was the one who was chained up and tortured in that house."
"Fuck!" Roman yelled.
Roman hung up and tried calling Seth. It rang several times but wasn't picked up.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Roman mumbled.
"What is it?" Jimmy asked.
Roman held up a finger to make Jimmy shut up while he tried calling Dean. It was the same thing. It kept ringing but wasn't picked up.
"Fuck!" Roman yelled.
"Roman?" Jimmy asked.
"It's bad, Jimmy. We need to get to the safe house. Come with me," Roman said.
They ran outside and jumped into Roman's car that was parked further down the street. He sped as fast as he dared until they made it to the safe house. He ran inside the house and screamed for Seth and Dean. No one answered so he continued forward. He stopped when he made the living room and saw the bloody mess on the couch.
"What the fuck?" Jimmy asked. "Is that Dean?"
It was hard to see it once had been Dean. It looked like someone had tried to make art out of his face.
"Where's Seth?" Roman asked. "Seth!"
They ran through the house until they found Seth in one of the beds. He was a bloody mess too. He had clearly been attacked in his sleep. Next to him on the bed was Dean's phone. Roman knew Louisiana had placed it there on purpose to make him pick it up. He picked it up and found a video recording left by her. He pressed play and she appeared grinning on the video.
"Hi, Roman," she waved the knife in the air. "I guess you know by now what happened to the other guy back in the house. I wasn't exactly truthful, was I?"
She let out a laughter that sent chills down his spine.
"Your boys were easy to play with. Divide and conquer. I told Dean he wouldn't like what was coming next, and he challenged me by saying two words. Try me," she said.
"Damn it, Dean," he mumbled.
"To be fair, I would still have done it no matter what he said. I just liked messing with him first. And Seth came second. None of them even got the chance to scream. Dean was caught by surprise, and Seth was sleeping. He sure as hell never saw it coming," she said.
She laughed again and tapped her bottom lip with the knife.
"I'm sure you're wondering what happened last night. Sami somehow got loose. I don't know how but I'm sure you and your men already figured out how and that I will read about it online. He came at me with my own damn knife, and we fought. I didn't want him to die already but I had to. I didn't have any spare clothes. I was gonna run through the night but that nosy neighbor Bayley was outside and saw me so I decided to test my acting skills. Are you and your men that bad at solving crimes, or am I that good at fooling you? I knew it would be easy. Like Dean told me, women don't usually leave a crime scene like that. You all wanted it to be a man so desperately. You never came to find me," she said.
"Is she talking about Sami or someone else?" Jimmy asked.
"Ssh!" Roman shushed Jimmy.
"It was easier here. I killed them, took a nice shower, and dressed in something else. I had time on my side this time," she said. "I'm keeping the knife. I know I'm gonna need it. There's no other surprises left for you in this house, and I'm not hiding anywhere to ambush you. I'm sure you and I will cross paths again in the future, and our dance will be glorious."
The video stopped and Roman looked over at Jimmy with a sigh.
"I..." Roman started. "Fuck!"
Tears ran down his face. His two best friends were dead in this house because of the task he had asked them to perform. He felt guilty. If he had done his job and actually gotten her to the hospital, they would be able to tell him she hadn't been tortured. He would have been able to stop her.
"It's not your fault," Jimmy said.
"Shut up!" Roman snarled.
"I know how you're thinking and it's not your fault. She fooled us all. Not just you," Jimmy said.
"I gave the orders," Roman said.
"And no one voiced their opinion against them because we all fucking agreed so get your head out of your ass and let's catch this bitch," Jimmy said.
Roman nodded and tried drying his eyes. New tears fell. His brain refused to work with him in that moment. He couldn't force himself to stop crying.
"The murder house," Roman said. "We need to go over that case again."
"Why?" Jimmy asked.
"Something she said," Roman said.
Roman pressed play on the recording again and found the three sentences he was looking for.
"Like Dean told me, women don't usually leave a crime scene like that. You all wanted it to be a man so desperately. You never came to find me," Louisiana said.
"She's not talking about Sami. She's talking about an old case. I think she's the one who was behind the original slaughtering in that house, and she came back to fulfill yet another dark fantasy. She kept track of that house and knew it wasn't selling," Roman said.
"That's an insane theory," Jimmy said.
"Is it?" Roman asked.
"No," Jimmy sighed. "It actually makes a lot of sense. I think you might be right."
Roman looked at Seth's body again and sighed. He would never get over the guilt of his two best friends having died by the hands of this woman.
"Call it in," Roman said. "I need some air."
"Are you okay?" Jimmy asked.
"Far from but I will be once we catch that bitch," Roman said. "We're gonna hunt her down. I don't care if it takes the rest of my life. One day I'll find her and bring my boys some justice."