Prologue
The wind was warm and dry as it slashed against my face through the open car window, gently ricocheting off the rusted black doors of the volkswagon. But despite the semi infernal conditions of the weather, a long shiver racked my nerves. I clenched my jaw and fists until the slight shaking finally stopped, keeping my eyes glued to the scorched land scape of rural Arizona. I heard a low grunt of contemplation beside me, and the sound of a finger pad tapping against the side of the wheel, "You seem a little tense, Abend." My dark eyes never moved from the seemingly endless expanse of patchy dead grass and stone hard sand,"this field of work can get a bit intense sometimes, Leon" I replied to the policeman as he drove. He grunted again, most likely not entirely satisfied with my answer, but I returned to my distant mental status. After about another half an hour of driving, I was beginning to wonder what I was expecting to find in this vacant desert. Then there was a sudden bright flash of light, and I mean bright, and a sickening thud which resonated from beneath the car. My still focusing gaze shot to the rear view mirror. A man lay in the street. And when my eyes finally adjusted, my chest suddely felt empty. Of lungs, heart, everything. My blood ran cold. Despite the eyeless sockets and slashed features... I recognized him. There was a yell and a crash, then everything went black.
I awoke to the feeling of pressure on my arm, but my eyes didn't open. My body was barely jostled to semi conciousness, so I still wasn't able to form a proper sentence when I heard the calling of my name. When the pressure left my arm I emitted a temporary sigh of content, but before I could settle into the same bliss, I felt a powerful force against my back and I was suddenly crashing against the cold wood of the floor, "Ah!" I exlaimed as my forehead collided with the hard floor. I began to coil in fetal position with a pained groan, "What- what the hell Lex?!" The tall woman before me glared down at me. My partner Alexis Engel. "Take a shower and get dressed," she says, "you have a meeting over video chat with the director of the task force ina half an hour." Before I could ask a single question she was out the door and preparing to mkae coffee. "Hurry up, Alex!" She shouted from the kitchen. Another groaned passed my lips as I shifted to a standing position. Wearing a semi formal gray shirt and black jeans, I greeted the director on the screen. "I apoligize for the short notice, Detective Abend, Detective Engel," his pixelated green eyes meeting ours as he spoke, "but this is quite urgent." I nodded in understanding. He seemed to be stalling with hesitance, then he finally spoke. "It has recently come to our knowledge that the previous case you solved.. had complications," he stated, "and we believe that the man we have behind bars is a false claimer." Lex's mouth dropped. "how?" It was the only word that I could find in my thoughts, but couldn't quite release it from the mental realm. The directors gaze seemed to avoid direct contact with my own as he spoke, the wall behind Alexis and I suddenly intensely enthralling to the directors glazed orbs "the murders are persisting, but he has a new strategy. The signature carving is still the same, its just he's moving out of state. He kills atleast one person in each state every day, gradually moving north east. That is all of the information we have currently accumulated, and now we are relying on you two to solve this case." I grunted in thought with a slow nod, Alexis flashed a glance at me then back to the director. "We hope to not dissapoint, Director Crowley."
"Thank you, Abend. Really, if anyone knows anything about this twisted jack ass.. it's you two. But just keep in mind, everything you know about this entire case could be a complete lie. Good luck." And the meeting was over.
Chapter One
Research began immediatly, Lexi had left about a half an hour after the meeting to retrieve some of the newer current files while I recovered the older ones. There wasn't much, but enough to compare to the newer information and base some of our own evidence from. When Lexi returned I was ready for the hard grueling case ahead, equipped with three cups of coffee for the both of us along with a freezer stocked with every comfort food that came to mine and a refrigerator filled with enough caffeine to fuel a small town for atleast a month. Okay, maybe that was a slight exageration. The point was, there wasn't going to be much need to leave the house until we got a witness. When Lex arrived, there was already a slight look of exhaustion in her eyes, which brightened almost immediatly when she saw a large mug of coffee awaiting her arrival. She took the seat beside me almost immediatly, gratefully swallowing bitter dark liquid in her red mug. "Before you begin your intimate relationship with my mug, could we please deal with the murder case at hand?" Lexi shot a cold glare at my snide remark before setting the warm glass back on the table and withdrawing the files form her brief case. My blood ran slightly cold at the sight. An average sized gray folder with the inscription, Case #12: The Drifter Case displayed on the front was placed before me. However the folder was far from sufficiently supplied. There were twelve files on the profiles of the newer victims, and one sheet of observation. "Well on the positive side," Lexi began, "there's a new witness everyday, meaning we have one interrogaation a day and we might be able to find what these victims have in common to see if there's a certain group we need to protect. If we turn this into a traveling investigation, we're sure to catch our culprit." I nodded in response. We would definitely have to be on the move with the killer, otherwise we would continuously be going to the crime screen and coming back to head quarters examine the new information, which would only leave the murderer more time to kill more victims. Time was definitely of the essence. Everyday this murderer was on the road and not behind bars, one person died. Whether a child or a grandparent. This was all I could think about, and I couldn't help but feel like I could somehow redeem myself for what I've done in my past.
Chapter Two
We gathered all of the information we would need in one day, packing most of the town's banquet in my cupboards, along with whatever clothing we could wear to blend in with the night. Getting on the road however was not a quick task, trying to cram everything in my '97 GMC Surburban was proving to be alot harder than it should be for only two people. But ofcourse Lexi had all of her clothes along with her makeup and her entire knife collection. I swear she almost slit my throat the last time I told her it was a little creepy she had a 15 set knife collection in her closet and a gun collection two times that. When I saw that she was bringing the knifes I questioned why she didn't bring the guns, they would be a lot easier to use in a situation requiring self defense. Ofcourse I never said it outloud, afterall I do value what remainder of life I have on earth. Anyway, fortunately it was still light out by the time we finally left my house.Luckily we had caught this murderer's track before he could get too far, according to the tracker in the car he was in Montello, Nevada, most likely preparing to pass into Utah. Looking back on previous information we found that this person was most likely a man from around the canadian border, the same place where the previous suspect was traced back to. Also where I was from. I bit the inside of my cheek in hopes to shake the thought and began to focus harder on the road.
"Any idea when the next rest stop is?" Lexi said with a long stretch, her eyes hazey and moist with the presence of her nap. "About 10 or 15 minutes, hope you can wait because we aren't gaining on him yet." Lex nodded. She took a long sip of her vitamin water before inhaling the cool night air which tousled her short dark hair when it drifted through the window. Throwing occasional glances at the tracker we traveled all the way to Hiko, Nevada where we met our first witness along with the victim's family members who lived a few hours away from the crime scene. The crime scene was on the witness' property.
Chapter Three
When we arrived at the house, an older woman in her 60's and a younger woman in her 30's emerged from their small rustic cottage,"My name is Clary," the older woman self-introducted, "this is my daughter Charlotte. She was there when the incident happened, hasn't spoken since. The doctor said she has post traumatic stress syndrome, she's had it for about six months but there's been no actual talking since a few days after the event." Alexis's gaze found the ground in thought before bringing them back to meet Clary's, "do you have enough information to tell us what happened, Clary?" Clary shook her head in response,"Charlotte used to work with deaf children at her last job, I can translate her sign language if you like. She's never spoken about it before, but we decided to risk relapse for the sake of whoever else's life may be taken next." Alexis smiled warmly in thanks as I took long steps toward where yellow 'POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS TAPE' sagged where they gripped to rotting tree trunks. My stomach threw itself to the back of my abdomen which slowly converted into a chasm of disgust. Alexis turned pale as she took the space behind my shoulder,"oh my god.." her voice faultered from a low whisper. quickly composing herself she whipped back to Clary and Charlotte who slowly edged closer,"don't come any closer," she ordered, already trudging to follow me under the police tape. Alexis paused,"I'll get the camera and some note paper to write down details. Do you have your phone to call the agency?" I replied with a distracted nod. Pulling out my phone as I sent a message to the closest members in the agency a couple of towns ahead: He knows Lex and I are on his trail check any and all signs of intrusion on our files as well as any phone calls outside the agency call Reign she lives a few towns across from you. We are going to come at him from all sides and take him down- Abend/ Engel
Turning back to the scene, I could not tear away my eyes from the awkardly removed and sliced intestines to form the phrase ''following?' with the severed pieces. The body was missing..
"Alex!" In seconds I was sprinting towards Alexis's frozen form. One the wind shield written in the blood of the victim 'the victms wil duble'. Normally the spelling errors would be hilarious, but this was so much different from reading the expression of adolescent artistic expression through graffiti. This was one of the rare yet ridiculously common indication of the worst living not emenating from the anti christ but seeping from the twisted conscience of human beings.
Chapter Four
Taking Alexis by the wrist I guided her into the cottage of Charlotte and Clary. Charlotte prepared a potato soup from a recipe she had creater herself along with a tall mug of mint and honey accented chamomile for Alexis. Charlotte explained through Clary how she was up late one night smoking a cigarette when she heard a short movement of metal before vigorous sawing sounds penetrated the silence. Unable to identify the sound she had tried to crain her neck from the porch to see what the noise was but it was too dark to see beside the glinty of a thin blade. She had grabbed the shot gun from the door way and gone to check the sound only to scream when she saw a man turning his face to meet hers with a smug smile on his face as he held the small intestine strewn from the mutilated the corpse to the other side of him, draped across his arms like a proud fisher man holding the catch of the day. "He's threatening to double his victims, Clary. I recommend you stay somewhere closer to town until further notice. A few of our co workers lift in the next town, you'll be safe as long as you stay near them."
"Where will you be?" Clary asked hopefully, her warm gray carmel flecked gaze finding mine hopefully. "We have to pursue and arrest him before he gets his next victims. We can't be stationary long," I threw a reminding glance towards Alexis, she quickly registered it would soon be time to leave. As the room fell silent I quickly excused my self to "clean up". Taking a used rag from Clary I walked back to the car to wipe the congealing blood from the window. Quickly finishing the task I tossed the rag in the garbage before taking the notes and pictures Alexis had taken and placing them in the file in the back seat. Changing my shirt by the car I tossed the dirty one in the trunk before reentering the small home to collect Alexis. Walking into the warm candle lit house, a sense of home came over me which I hadn't felt since I first moved from Canada. Shaking the thought from the blanket of my mind I found Alexis curled with a blanket in front of the the fire place. Clary and Charlotte communicated silently with graceful hands and worried faces. I offered an awkward half hearted comforting smile before gathering Alexis in my arms and carrying her out to the car.
Chapter five
Pushing the door shut with the back of my foot, I inhaled the chilled air along with the strawberry must scent of Alexis. A scent I had known for five years and always seemed to turn my heart into a lung, swelling at the inhalation of her natural scent. Placing her in the passenger seat I started the car, turned on the heater, and following the tracker.
Impressum
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 13.07.2014
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