Chapter 7. Threats

Everyone possess the power to kill. Those who aren't afraid to use it control life itself.

|~| Richard Ramirez.

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Kory stood over the dead and replayed the scene in her head. Or at least she tried to. Agent Douchebag, although it felt wrong to call him that when he was obviously in so much distress, was pacing and distracting her.

"Special Agent Cross" she tried but he seemed not to hear her. She tried again; "Agent Cross" Nothing.

She walked up to him, stood in his way and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Carter, it's no use beating yourself up. We played a rigged game with a lunatic and we lost. Now we're going to do all we can for Jolene Parker. We are going to solve this case and bring her killer to justice. We'll get justice for her and for the people she left behind"

"You're right" he said finally. He looked up and she could see the pain in his one visible eye. It was so deep, so intense. She found herself near tears.

"Ok. Let's go through this. Assuming he used his usual MO, he contacted her through Cupid's arrow. Sweet talked her, charmed her with stuff he learned while stalking her. They went on the first date. He was charming but absent minded. All he could think of was the kill and the joy he would derive from it. He plied her with alcohol, to be confirmed by the FP (forensic pathologist), and coerced her to take him home. Probably suggested she wasn't fit to drive and what kind of date would he be if he let her take a cab while drunk. Took her to the apartment which he probably knew about, had been in, while he was stalking her. Made her open the door or did it himself. So question is, did he kill her immediately or..." She wore her gloves and walked to the body.

Jolene Parker lay face down with the knife jutting out of her back and the letter pinned to it. Kory tried to move the body as little as possible as she checked it to disprove or verify a hunch.

"There are cuts and burn marks that couldn't have been gotten if or when she was trying to escape. They're too precise. He tortured her. We don't know for how long until we confirm from the FP and the restaurant they had their dinner in, that is if he keeps to his MO and picked a restaurant. Are CSI en route?" She asked Agent Douche- dammit Cross.

"Yes they are. For now I start door to door, you stay and go over the scene, see if you can find any evidence" he said in an ice cold voice that made her shiver. Oh he was mad.

"Wait" she said as he started leaving. "I know how you feel right now but you can't let your feelings cloud your judgeme-" "You mean like you're doing?!" He shouted back, interrupting her. She sighed.

"If the Commander or your SAC think that you're too emotionally attached to this case they will take you off and assign someone else. I know this case means a lot to you. I may not know your reasons but I understand. But don't project. Keep..." "If I need a therapy session I'll be sure to call you, Shrink" he said quietly and walked out. She sighed and turned back to her crime scene. She walked through the apartment to get a feel of the place, see if she could read what happened. There were signs of a meal in the kitchen. The food remaining on the plate didn't seem up to a day old.

He ate while torturing her.

The bedroom was untouched. The sheets perfectly laid, the room organised. It was pristine, just like the untouched part of the living room. She would bet her ass that the apartment was usually organised and clean, just like its owner.

The bathroom in the hallway had been used recently. It was still wet and there was a used towel carelessly tossed on the ground. She put a tag beside it for the CSI. She was sure he used it because Parker, from what she'd found out so far, would never leave a towel out of place.

She looked in the drain and almost danced in glee when she saw blood reminants. Sure they already knew he was the killer but if some of that blood was his, they could run it through the database and if they were lucky and his DNA was there, they would have a name and face to their killer. Plus, it added more weight to the court case. She tagged the tub too.

She walked back to the kitchen and tagged the dishes. If he used them to eat, which she'd bet her ass he did, they could also run his saliva through the database. If he wasn't in the database, that would suck but at least they'd have evidence so if and dammit when they caught him, it would add weight to the prosecutor's case.

She walked into the living room just as the CSI unit came in. She stopped one person, the most familiar of all the faces.

"Jones" He turned his charming smile on her. He was a tall muscular guy with rich brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and richly tanned skin. He was aware of his charms and liked to take advantage of it in every way.

"Hey Beautiful" he said. She cocked a brow.

"Do you call me that because you can't remember my name?" She asked, only mildly curious.

"How could I forget a beautiful, unique name such as yours Kory?" He asked in his smooth voice. She had to admit if she wasn't aware of how much of a player he was she might have fallen for him long ago.

"You see I'm not the only Kory in Headquarters so what's my last name?" She asked with a smirk.

"What's mine?" He shot back.

"Touche" she replied and he laughed. "I tagged some things. Those should be paid special attention. Mark them as urgent. Thanks" he nodded.

"Gotcha Hannagan" he winked and strode away. She smiled and went in search of her partner.

She found him in the second apartment to her left. She knocked and strode in since the door was open.

Agent Cross avoided her eyes.

"Mrs Daniel, this is my partner, Lieutenant Hannagan. Hannagan, Lory Daniel" he introduced.

"Nice to meet you Lieutenant, even under such circumstances" Daniel smiled a watery smile. Kory nodded and Cross continued his interview.

"When did you last see her?" He asked. Daniel looked to be in her mid thirties. She had blonde hair and golden eyes. She had a baby balanced on her hip which she bounced as she paced. Tears flowed freely from her eyes.

"I saw her yester... yesterday" she hiccuped. "By 7pm. She told me she had a hot date. She'd just met someone in a cafe and couldn't wait to go on a date with him" Kory looked at Cross.

"You're sure they met at a cafe?" Kory asked.

"Yes. At Wendy's, right down the street" Daniel replied.

"No mention of a dating website, Cupid's arrow?" She asked. Realization dawned on Daniel. Fear and terror bled into her eyes.

"This is about that serial killer, The Mailman. The one who leaves a message in his victims backs and pins it with a knife. I've seen it on the news. Oh my God he got to Jo?" She began sobbing and the baby started screaming. Or well, crying.

"Let me, Ma'am" Kory said and collected the child. She rubbed her back and cooed and soothed until the baby quieted down. The mother on the other hand wasn't as easy to calm.

"Do you have someone we can call for you?" Kory asked.

"My..... my husband. He's on his way" she said as she sank into her couch. She kept glancing at the baby in Kory's arms every second so Kory placed the baby carefully back in her mother's arms.

She held the baby to herself and seemed to derive as much comfort from the baby as she was giving.

Just then a man ran into the apartment. His hair was dusty brown and his eyes the same sky blue as his daughter's. His wife ran into his arms and he hugged her and the child.

"Are you ok honey? I came as fast as I could. Is Layla ok? Why are the cops here?" Mr Daniel asked.

"I'm fine and Layla is fine but Jo..." She broke off there and began crying.

"What's happened to Jo?" Mr Daniel asked as he ushered his wife to a seat.

"Mr Daniel, I'm Special Agent Cross and this is my partner, Lieutenant Hannagan. We're investigating the murder of Jolene Parker" Mr Daniel looked utterly shocked. He held his family closer to him.

"Jo's been murdered? What? Oh my God when? I can't believe this. It can't be. I have to see" he stood up, dazed, and headed toward the door. Kory quickly stood up and blocked his path without seeming at all threatening.

"Sir Ms Parker's apartment is a crime scene and is not open to civilians at this time, I'm sorry. Please just sit and try to calm down" she put her arms around his shoulder and gently but firmly guided him back to the chair his family was seated on.

"Oh my God then it is true" he buried his face in his hands and attempted to compose himself while his wife rubbed his back. The little angel on her mummy's lap also put her hands on her father as if attempting to comfort him. Were the circumstances different, she would have cooed at the cuteness. Silently of course.

"How could this have happened?" He asked when he had composed himself.

"That's what we're here to find out. When did you last see Ms Parker?" Kory directed the question to Mr Daniel.

"Well, Lory and I saw her yesterday, a little early in the evening. She was apparently preparing for a meeting or something. I'm not sure, I'm not good at remembering stuff, I just know she was preparing for something" he said. Kory touched his shoulder.

"A date. She was preparing for a date. They think The Mailman is behind this honey" Ms Daniel said.

Her husband gasped and held on to her and the baby tightly as if keeping them away from the famed serial killer.

"My God. A serial killer in our apartment? Then it isn't safe here. We have to pack up and...." "Wait Mr Daniel, we don't believe that The Mailman will return here. He has no reason to and he hasn't in all his murders so far. But if it would make you feel safer I'll have some cops posted outside your building until this whole thing clears up" Kory said.

"Oh. Thank you miss" He said.

"Lieutenant" she corrected on instinct.

"Right. Thanks Lieutenant" he said again.

They questioned them and then all the other people on Parker's floor. When that yielded no more than they got from the Daniels, they left the door to door to dispatch and went down to the lobby.

Kory walked to the angry looking receptionist and badged her.

"Lieutenant Hannagan and this is Special Agent Cross. We'd like to ask you a few questions" she said.

"Oh so now you notice my presence. For a while I thought I was invisible. You guys just ran in so fast without talking to me I started thinking I was a ghost. You know that's not how things work here. You talk to me before you enter my building" Kory held up a hand to stop Agent Cross who took a step forward looking like he was planning to throttle the receptionist. She knew his temper was short after the whole being too late for Parker thing so she didn't judge.

"Sorry ma'am but we had to respond to an emergency. Someone was in danger and it was a race against time to stop them. Now let's start this over. I'm Lieutenant Hannagan and we're here to investigate the murder of Jolene Parker. Now I..." "Jo? Jo's been murdered? What?" The receptionist, Tracy, as it read on her name tag, asked. She stumbled to the chair behind the desk and sat.

"This can't be happening. You're playing a sick joke on me aren't you?! If you don't get out right now I'm calling the cops!" She cried angrily.

"Um we are the cops. I'm sorry for your loss Tracy. But we need your help to catch Jolene's killer. We need your help to get justice for her and to make sure he never hurts anyone again" Kory intentionally used first names to create a semblance of intimacy to get the girl calm and talking.

Tears rolled out of Tracy's perfectly made face and her heavy mascara began to roll along with it.

"I just can't believe it. Jo-Jo's gone?" She asked no one in particular.

"So you two were close?" Kory asked.

"Yeah. We speak all the time when she comes back from work. She works at a fancy restaurant uptown named Beau. She's such a nice person. Why would someone do that to her?" Kory looked at Agent Cross and he nodded and wrote down the name of the restaurant and began a search on the map to find the place and directions to it.

"I'm terribly sorry. You said that anyone who wanted to get into the building had to talk to you first. Were you here when Jolene got back last night? Did they check in with you before going up?" Kory asked.

"Well I wasn't on duty last night. In fact I was off for the whole day. Mark was on but that guy never pays attention to anything. Fat chance he even realized she was back. Wait you said they. Did she come back with someone? Is that the person who did this to her?" Kory looked at Agent Cross as if asking if it would be right to reveal those details about the case. He gave her a look that said your call. She sighed. She'd find out in a little while anyway. Reporters were already swarming the place trying to get the first scoop. Soon they'd have to face them and let the public know what was going on.

"We believe she returned to her apartment last night with the man who killed her, yes. Are there any security cams in the building?" Kory asked.

"Oh my God. A murderer was in this apartment" Tracy said, as if just realizing it. "Um.. there are cams in the lobby. You can ask building security to show you the footage" she said after a while.

"Did you know that Jolene was going on a date? Did she describe this man to you?" Kory asked when Agent Cross left to talk to the security.

"Yeah I knew she was going. She spoke non stop about having finally met a nice, charming man. But you know she didn't describe anything in detail. All she said was he was tall and really hot" Kory noted down things on her pad.

"One last thing. I need Mark's number and full name. The guy that was on yesterday" Tracy nodded and scribbled down the number on Kory's notepad.

"Thank you for your time Tracy" Kory said and left to join her partner. On the way she called Mark. As Tracy suggested, he didn't notice when Parker returned home. He passed out from too much alcohol before 7, which means he didn't even know when she left. Kory confirmed this from the residents of the building via the cops who were doing the rounds.

"Any luck?" She asked Agent Cross when she saw him heading toward her, although by the look on his face she was sure the answer was in the negative.

"The only luck around here is with that bastard. The guy on duty yesterday forgot to turn on the lobby cams" he replied, voice hard as stone.

"Let's go check out the cafe, Macy's, where they supposedly met and then we'll drive uptown to where she works" he nodded and they left the building. As soon as they stepped out Kory shivered a bit, reminding herself that in the rush to get to Parker, none of them had bothered to get their coats. She walked quickly to the car and entered.

"Are you ready to talk about your connection to the killer?" Kory asked quietly when he got in.

"None of your business" he replied gruffly.

"It is my business Agent because I'm primary on this case which means all information pertaining to this case has to be submitted to me. Now I'm hearing that the killer usually contacts you after his kills. This could be what we need to crack this case wide open. If we can just find what your connection is to him we could..." "Enough. It's my business. My problem. I'll solve it myself" he said. Her eyes hardened. Enough trying to reason with him.

"You will go in voluntarily or I will personally cuff and drag you into interview. I can do it too. The feds will make a fuss but ultimately, it's my case and you are a person of interest who is resisting. I do have probable cause to bring you in and book you" she said. His hands tightened on the wheel as he drove.

"Are you threatening me?" He asked, the fury in him almost a living entity.

"I don't know, am I?" She threw right back in the same icy tone he used.

"I could have you pulled off this case. I could have your badge" he said calmly.

"Maybe that's right but you won't" she said.

"And how are you so sure?"

"Because I know you're one of the good guys who rarely plays politics and just prefers to work in the background, the shadows. And don't ask me how I know that. I was and still always will be a profiler" Kory replied, voice tight with bearly restrained anger.

"Fine. I'll go in after our little trip to Beau's" he said. He seemed calmer now, like her anger had calmed him down somehow.

Jackass. She thought.

"Thank you. We'll conduct the interview in my office" he nodded and drove in silence from then until they arrived at Macy's.

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xoxo,

Mimi.