Hey guys; I'm back. I had to exhale and channel creativity without forcing it or controlling it. As usual I intend to take chances so hopefully you'll connect with it. Thank you guys so much and enjoy!
"The search continues for…" Antonio was trapped in a cycle of repetitive behaviour. Glances at the clock on the wall were broken by scrolling through the PDA and flicking through the diary, only to resume counting down the minutes. "…wreaked havoc in the D.C. area. Thus far five young women have been found, raped then murdered in their apartments…" His favourite voice stopped him from going crazy with preoccupation.
"We're not going to make it. Have you heard about the serial killer-rapist her in D.C.?" She said in reference to his niece's quinceañera.
"Of course. She'll only turn fifteen once." He replied with the onset of guilt.
"I know you feel bad."
"I think the word is awful. You know I've missed every birthday my nieces and nephews have ever had, that's not to mention Christmases, baptisms. All I had to do was get to Val Verde this evening and I…we've missed it. We're on the case right?"
"Number six was found by her boyfriend an hour ago. The forensic psychologist is in the bullpen."
"Okay. I haven't sent a gift."
"I mailed it yesterday, I had a feeling this would happen."
He took in a sudden breath and there she was. Doctor Raquel Marquez in all her captivating beauty, emitting charms like a radioactive atom; he was caught in the half-life. She had a way of commanding the way he breathed, possessing him with that voodoo women use to render men powerless. Whether it was seated behind her eyes or below her navel, she cast spells that like ropes ran ring around his ankles and like handcuffs bound his wrists together in a submission that could only be overcome by avoiding eye contact.
"I'm sure you're all well-informed." Pollock declared. "Victim profile?"
"Blue collar, early twenties, waitresses, Caucasian, mid-back brown hair, childlike facial features and they all live alone. He follows them home after their shifts but lack of forced entry implies they let him in."
"Weapons?" Nicole asked.
"Derringers."
"All the victims live in public housing right?"
"Yes, so no CCTV from the buildings. The rapes about power; rushed, rough and they're still in the uniforms. A few resisted but most surrendered out of fear or despair."
"And the murders?"
"A gunshot to the head, close range. His time is limited. The murders take place between 11p.m. and 2 a.m. He never leaves a physical trace; no semen."
Antonio picked up on her jittery behaviour but tried not to mention it; she hated to feel under scrutiny. She read through the autopsy reports in his offices then made a demanding request.
"I'm not redoing the autopsies." He protested.
"Not all of them, just the two that resisted rape…and victim number six."
"You got a theory?"
"Everyone leaves a trace."
"I'll try. Are you okay?"
"Peachy." She replied unconvincingly.
Jess stopped in the hall, consumed by a vision. A chef stood in a boxing ring with three lights shining overhead. There were flashes of white lights accompanied with the sound of pictures being taken. Jess climb un the stairs and over the second rope into the ring where she saw the six deceased victims each rolled in dough on the ring floor. She touched the face of victim number six, Vanessa Bright, who then became animate. Her grey-blue hands held Jess firmly by the arms and shook her. "You're not trying!" She screamed.
"Believe me; I am."
"Why didn't you find me? Will you find her?"
"Who is she?" Vanessa looked up at the lights and as Jess did the same, the Chef dragged her by her hair. By the time she turned around, the chef had gone.
"See?" Vanessa said, still looking at the lights.
Janey's voice mocked her. "You're wasting time little Jess. Wake up!" One of the lights went out and Nicole came into view.
"What'd you see?"
"We're running out of time. There's going to be a number seven."
Raquel assisted Antonio at the autopsies and Nicole was right, there were minute traces of DNA found in the cotton of their uniforms but nothing on the database to match, while they ran a blood sample from under Vanessa's nails, they caught up with each other.
"They must love you here." Her comment was draped in elusive cloth.
"What do you mean?"
"In Baltimore, married Agents would both get the boot."
"I guess we're lucky."
"I know she is."
He tried to decode Nicole's distant behaviour, knowing she wouldn't want to and couldn't be coaxed into sharing it until she was ready, yet still unsatisfied. His impatience was an itch that never cooled until it was scratched but what she wasn't telling him left his skin inflamed.
"I can think of more creative ways to spend five hours." He said, holding her tighter.
"I bet." She said, moving his hand back to her hip.
"Nic, what's wrong?"
"It's just stuff. I'm fine." She turned off the lamp in hopes of ending the conversation.
"If it's,"
"I'm fine, really." She repeated to convince herself more than him. Rubbing his arm soothingly and kissing him so as to make him forget what he was thinking was futile; he thought of Raquel.
Jess went to sleep with no thought of the man who crept in next to her; her mind was penetrated by her vision. She and Jack had become close, so close that with him, she did one thing she said she'd never do. Lately she had been consumed by an inner quiet caused by her transformation into a woman who became more different to her old, safe, Indiana self everyday. Now she shot people without remorse left her reports undone for an all-nighter at a club and forgot to do one vital thing.
Antonio woke up to the sound of Nicole rustling in the dark.
"Is it four already?"
"No. Jess called." She replied, putting on her jeans.
"To work?"
"To talk.
"I wish you'd tell me what's wrong."
"Please let it go."
"How is it you always make me feel guilty for caring?"
She exhaled deeply. "I don't understand why it's all or nothing with you. If you give me space I will come to you but I have some things to figure out on my own first.
"Fine." He uttered in his trademark, passive-aggressive, Cancerian tone that conveyed wounded pride.
Nicole placed the brown bag on Jess' desk and sat beside it. "It's not so hard; I'll even take one with you."
"It's not the test, it's the results."
This isn't supposed to happen to me."
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Nothing's even happened yet."
"It's been ten days Nicole. I don't want this baby."
"There's only one way to find out if there's a baby to speak of."
Before Antonio and Raquel arrived that morning, they each took a pregnancy test; only one was positive.