Chapter Five

With Love, Rosalind

Wade sighed as he leaned backwards in his chair. He raised his hands straight up in the air, stretched his sore back and rolled his shoulders before positioning his hands behind his neck with his fingers intertwined. He begrudgingly thought he must be getting old if sitting caused him such stiffness. Luna had been going on about him needing to get out more after work; taking a walk or at the very least do some home exercises. He was more of a go home, get a beer in front of the tv, kind of guy those rare evenings when he actually got home at regular hours.

He yawned and sighed as he glanced through the large windows of his office and out in the bullpen. The men and women under his command who were currently at the station either talked to each other or talked on the phone.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the digital numbers on the iPad blink, then stop at 00:03:01. At once he sat up a little straighter. He held his breath, without even realizing it, as he reached for the tablet and took it in his hands.

There was a knock on his office door and he glanced up from the iPad to see Bailey Nune - Nolan's fiancée - stand outside together with Thorsen. They waited for his approval to enter and reached for the handle as he nodded.

"I never had a chance to go and get her," Aaron began to explain. "I barely made it out to the parking lot before her colleagues dropped her off outside."

Grey nodded but he wasn't really paying attention to what the younger man was saying. He was too caught up in what he was seeing on the tablet. In fact, he was so caught up in the gadget in hand that he didn't even realize the two of them had walked around his desk and up behind him and now stared at the same thing he did.

"Wow," Thorsen managed as he saw a picture of Tim Bradford leaving his house earlier this morning. "Looks like someone is stalking sarge," he felt a chill down his spine as a large red x covered his superior officer. "That can't be good."

Next came Lucy Chen. There was a picture of her leaving her flat and then the picture was marked with a red x.

"Wait," Thorsen said confused. "Didn't you offload this on the tech guys?"

"Turns out I got none the wiser," Grey replied somewhat sourly. "They didn't have time nor the resources to look into it."

It continued to Celina Juarez leaving home and then a red x appeared over the officer. As it shifted to Nolan walking away from their common home, Bailey all but gasped, then he too was marked with a red x.

"Didn't have time?" Aaron echoed with utter disbelief. "It looks to me like it's some kind of insane digital hitlist. It should be their top priority."

As the screen once again turned dark, Bailey found herself staring at it far longer than she had intended then she looked at the watch commander with a mix of disbelief and worry. "What the hell was that?" she whispered.

Before the sergeant could answer, the screen lit up again.

"Hello Sergeant Grey," Rosalind Dyer said with a wicked smile on her freckled face as her blue eyes sparkled.

Bailey temporarily froze at the sound of the velvety voice that seemed to be filled with a mixture of malice and joy. She felt her throat constrict as she leaned closer to Grey, her gaze drawn to the redhead on the small screen.

"No," she whispered. "Rosalind died. I saw her - dead - she was dead."

At that Wade said nothing, not sure what to actually say at the moment because he was just as stunned as the firefighter next to him. Finally, he spoke up. "Trust me - I know - I saw her too. She had a bullet lodged in her forehead."

Thorsen looked from Grey to Nune, both of their faces a little paler than before. Rosalind Dyer being escorted by Mid-Wilshire officers while on her hike through rough terrain in search for bodies was before his time so he hadn't had the misfortune to actually run into the beautiful but totally unhinged psychopath. To him Rosalind Dyer was just a name of a cruel and evil woman who'd taken up serial killing as a way of life.

However, to most of the others - especially Lucy and John - who'd interacted with her and her acolytes from time to time, she was true evil manifested in a human body. Again, he hadn't been present at the time but Rosalind's acolyte Caleb Wright had buried Lucy Chen alive in a barrel and watched it on a live feed. It was only due to Bradford not giving up on her that her life was spared. Neither Rosalind nor Caleb had any regard for human lives. To them, Lucy and the other victims - who hadn't been so fortunate – were just pawns in a game they liked to play from time to time. Aaron shuddered and sincerely hoped he would never have the misfortune to run into such a person. He had enough demons to deal with as it was, concerning everything that had happened in France.

"I wish I could see the look on your face right now," Rosalind said, holding the smile. "Just to clarify. I haven't come back from the dead. This was recorded while awaiting the arrival of my little boy scout. You see, I had a feeling he would be too noble to kill me even though I had poor little Bailey trapped in that lovely tank. If you get to see this then I assumed correctly. He would rather see his girlfriend get killed than to take the life of a serial killer. That is quite fascinating."

Rosalind's smile widened. "Originally, I only had a thing for Nick. The one annoying person who robbed me of the satisfaction to play with my victims; to torment them and then watch as hope finally leave their eyes while I ended their misery."

Bailey felt sick to her stomach as she listened to the other woman. She was talking about murders like it was no big deal.

Grey gently placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing her dismay.

"I loved to see Nick suffer, loved to play games with him. As you know, I even sent Caleb after him; told him he could do whatever he wanted with our dear detective if he promised to show it to me."

Grey stared exasperated at the screen at the now deceased serial killer.

"However, Caleb got a bit distracted, mesmerized by rookie officer Lucy Chen." Rosalind's smile grew even bigger. "I let him play a little game of his own. I figured there would be time for Nick later."

Grey set his jaw, his brown eyes growing colder by every word Rosalind was uttering.

"The fear in her eyes when she thought no one saw her in the barrel - the feisty spark of life

- the stubborn refusal to die. It really invigorated me to see her."

"That is really disturbing," Bailey muttered coldly.

Aaron stared mesmerized at the redhead; not sure he was hearing her correctly. Cruel and sadistic words were spoken with such a humble tone that it made him sick to the stomach.

"Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of seeing her give up and accept her destiny. All because her fierce protector and his colleague's turned up to free her. You were there too, Sergeant Grey-," she pointed out with a bright smile, "-but I won't hold it against you. It was Bradford who really spoiled the fun. I still don't know how he managed that."

"With Lucy recuperating, Nick continuing to hide in the shadows and Caleb gone, life went back to mediocre in my cell. I was planning something new when John suddenly came back," she paused, a smirk on her lips. "My boy scout John Nolan, so predictable, so kind and so completely naïve." Rosalind smiled brightly now, her eyes twinkling, as she looked directly into the camera. "He intrigued me in a way I can't put my finger on. I wanted to explore what made him tick, wanted to see the dark side of him, wanted to find that switch."

"As days become months and months turned into years, I was finally given a chance to see the world outside the prison walls again. Beth worked miracles getting me out of my imprisonment and I rewarded her by taking care of her parents for her."

"Did she just admit to two more murders?" Bailey asked with dismay.

"Rosalind was one of a kind," Grey replied.

"Maybe I should have stayed away from LA but I got bored. I still wanted to know more about Nolan so I decided to come back and see if a friend of mine had what it took to entrap my little boy scout's new girlfriend."

Bailey shuddered, remembering her entrapment in the tank.

"I wanted him to suffer. I wanted to break him. My precious Nolan, my homeboy," she trailed off as her smile turned into a smug grin and her eyes glittered. "He didn't even have the strength to kill me to save his girlfriend. That is such a tragedy, now he has to live alone in his misery before he finally joins me."

"I didn't die, asshole," Bailey said angrily, the heat of the moment getting the better of her. "We're even engaged now."

"Don't waste your breath on a ghost," Grey said calmly as he glanced up, put the video message on hold, and nodded at Lieutenant Pine who came walking towards his office. He didn't waste any time with pleasantries. "Good, there you are. We have a bit of a dire situation," he said sarcastically as he showed the Metro leader Rosalind Dyer's frozen picture.

Pine rose an impeccable eyebrow in what appeared to be fascination. "Interesting," she mused. "Rumors of her alleged death seems to have been wrong."

"No," Wade protested lightly, his voice serious. "I saw her corpse with my own eyes. This is something else."

Pine nodded. "Quite a mess, the whole thing."

"Is there any chance you can find out where the hell this is coming from?" he said sourly.

"Forward it to me and I'll have my guys look into it," she promised and nodded toward the bullpen. "Any chance Bradford is in? I tried calling him over the phone but he didn't respond."

Grey cursed under his breath as he realized Nolan hadn't got back to him after following Bradford and Chen to Miracle Mile. He glanced over Pine's shoulder as Harper and Lopez came running towards his office.

Not caring for pleasantries, Lopez stuck her head inside the room. "Sir, ma'am, there are coming in reports of an explosion."

"Where," Grey demanded.

"At Tim and Lucy's last known location," she answered.

"I've tried calling John and Celina," Harper added. "I can't get through."

Grey retook the tablet from Pine. "I am keeping that for a while."

"Where are you going?" the lieutenant asked.

"Miracle Mile," he called over his shoulder as Bailey, Thorsen, Harper and Lopez followed him toward the parking lot. "Maybe you should tag along?"

OOOOOO

To be continued