Reckoning

Episode 20

Rosalind Dyer

It was nice to get out again. It had been over three years since she felt the sun kiss her skin. The familiar dirt path made her relive memories of her… victims. Gary had stumbled over by that tree, as the drug she had inserted into his drink started to affect his balance.

Michael had invited her to have some kinky fun on their date. He was eager for the pleasure he expected when she told him she would receive from him, just not what he expected. His pleas for mercy were amusing, and the memory as he held both his chopped wrists together in a form of prayer, begging for his life, made her shudder in pleasure.

"We're not here for a tour of memory lane." Sean snapped her out of reminiscing.

"Let's take a break." She suggested that when they reached the shaded clearing that she used to drug her prey. Men, women, they were all predictable. The promise of outdoor sex on a remote picnic area made them eager to her plan, and the trek made them all thirsty.

"It's going to be a long day. We wouldn't want to burn out too early." She continued.

They all stopped right at this clearing, underestimating their stamina and the afternoon heat. Luckily, she had brought specially prepared bottled water to quench their thirsts.

The officers that accompanied her were no exception, and Officer Harper used her radio to inform them of their break.

"We're going to hold here, all units standby."

"Copy."

Officer Nolan, the man who caught her before she fell, handed her a bottle of water. He was such a gentleman. She wondered why he hadn't earned his stripes yet, he couldn't be just a P1, he was too old for that position. But then, the way he shifted in place nervously was in sharp contrast to the other veteran officers with her. He was a rookie cop. That was brave of him, and foolish.

Her cuffs were temporarily removed, allowing her to drink the bottle of water while she stared at Nick. His frustration and resentment were so delicious.

Her guards also drank water, but they mostly remained silent. The female refused to acknowledge her, and the male leader of the trio in tactical gear, who Officer Chen called Tim, refused to acknowledge her presence. Then there was the other one, the big guy.

Unlike the others, this one didn't avoid her gaze. Her instincts told her he was not prey. He was different. She couldn't get a proper read on him, and he gave nothing away.

"Thank you, Officer Nolan." She beamed at her escort and handed back the bottled water. "You're very sweet."

"Don't take it personally." Officer Nolan replied as he tucked the half-empty bottle back inside his bag. "I'm just doing my job. I don't want a cruel and unusual punishment filed against me."

"That will be ironic, huh?" She held out her hands to him to cuff her back. "Me accusing someone else of being cruel. I could teach a master class in unusual punishments."

Nolan suddenly tackled her to the ground, and the wind was knocked out of her. Suddenly, gunfire erupted, and a few seconds later, she saw him move to face the threat, his face determined and calm.

His weapon fired a few rounds in response as the rest of the officers ducked for cover. Sean was screaming like a baby, and her sharp hearing heard the sound of a man screaming.

"Fuck! I'm bleeding!"

She watched with amusement at the chaos that surrounded her. A few officers headed to the voice of a man screaming in pain while Sean wailed like a baby. She looked over and rolled her eyes, it looked like a piece of shrapnel had just hit the skin above his eye. Pity, she thought Sean could carry the pirate look well.

"You're okay!" Nick told the panicking Sean. It was just a piece of debris that flew when the bullet hit the boulder. "It's not serious! Calm down, Sean!"

She wasn't complaining when the group decided to return to the base camp. More time for her to enjoy the great outdoors. It looked like her silent sentinel's return fire hit their ambusher, and she smiled when she saw who it was, Peter, the husband of Christine, one of her victims. She was struggling with her marriage and had shown some interest in her during therapy.

She remembered that Christine's tongue was exquisite as the woman ate her cunt numerous times in her office, while poor Peter dutifully waited outside and until today he didn't have a clue that his wife wanted to leave him.

More officers arrived, and they debated for a while on whether they should continue or not. In the end, it was Sean who convinced the group to continue. He was really eager to prop up his image in preparation for next year. He knew the man was eyeing the District Attorney position.

They resumed the trek, this time with more officers to escort her. Officer Nolan walked beside her, while her three guards remained around her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She smiled at Officer Nolan. It looked like something was in his mind. "I've peeled a woman's face off, and yet you put your body between me and the bullet. Why?"

"It's my job, I don't get to choose who I save." Nolan replied.

"How noble." She smiled as she looked up at him. He would have been perfect to bring here, before she was caught. "It's funny, people look at me like I'm an alien, but it goes both ways. You don't do sadism, I don't do selfless. All of you look strange to me…. Except the big guy."

 "Jack?" Nolan looked back at the armed guard behind her. Finally, she had a name for this mysterious person. Jack. The name somehow suited him.

"Nolan." She heard the warning tone in Jack's voice.

"If you keep opening up your big mouth and revealing details to a dangerous serial killer, then I don't think you're ready to graduate from the program, boot." Tim stated.

"Seriously, you're this talkative when we're on the job, Nolan? What's wrong with you?" The female guard added.

"Right, sorry." Nolan looked flustered. "Shutting up now."

"Relax, there's nothing wrong with learning a name, it's only polite, Tim." Her smile widened when she saw how Tim straightened up and gave her a wary look. It always amuses her how often Cops think she couldn't overhear them talking and then express their surprise when she reveals personal details about them. Panic, then worry, then fear always flash through their faces.

"No matter, we're here." She stated when they reached the familiar clearing overlooking the city. "Over that tree, there's a body buried on the base."

Immediately, a few officer took out shovels from their packs and started digging. They worked quickly, and in a few minutes, one of the officers reported that they had discovered a body. Her smile widened when a second body was discovered, the decomposition indicating that the death had to be less than a year.

"Six months, nine tops." Police Sergeant Grey stated. They all turned to look at her, and she took in the horror on their faces as they realized there was another serial killer on the loose. Poor Nick was shaking in rage.

She was quickly whisked back to the station, and she now sat on the bench. She was annoyed that they didn't let her see the body, she was eager to see her student's work and how it compared to hers.

John Nolan

Boy scout. That's what Rosalind Dyer called him when she refused to speak with Nick and demanded she speak to him. He didn't fully understand the reason why, but it must have been because he was the most talkative cop in her escort, a mistake he was now only beginning to understand the consequences of. No cop wanted a serial killer's attention focused on them.

"Thank you for seeing me, John." She smiled pleasantly.

He steeled his nerves and sat on the bench across from her. The entire holding cells were emptied and the prisoners transferred to other stations so that they could focus their resources in guarding what many considered the most dangerous woman in the city.

"You asked to see me." He began. "Why?"

"I like you." Rosalind replied. He almost believed that what she said was the truth. Maybe she was telling the truth. "Nick's boring, and Jack... he'd sooner kill me without hesitation if it weren't for that badge."

"Jack? He wouldn't do that, he's a cop." He replied.

"A fine one, but I know a killer when I see one." Rosalind replied. "Only he's shackled by these laws and procedures you have, and he wants me dead."

He could see her body shudder in pleasure and frowned at her reaction. "We're getting out of topic. Who killed that woman?"

She ignored him, and he felt naked as he endured her gaze. Rosalind didn't blink.

"You know the best part of getting caught?" She asked.

He shook his head in confusion.

"Getting to relieve every detail with Nick." Rosalind turned to the camera held on top of a tripod, and he wondered how she knew that at that moment, the captain, the sergeant, and Armstrong were watching the feed from Grey's office. It was like she was speaking to Nick directly, taunting him.

"I didn't expect that." Rosalind sighed. "Seeing Nick again and walking the trail with him to visit the graves, it's glorious. I enjoyed sharing my experiences, seeing how they horrified people. Except Jack. I could see it in his eyes. Where is he anyway?"

"He has to file some paperwork because of the shooting." He explained.

"See, a killer." She smiled and leaned closer. "It's amusing to see him forced to defend me despite how he clearly loathes my existence."

"Cops are jaded. You really have to work to get a reaction from them because of the wall they put up." Rosalind continued speaking. "I remember at the trial, the jury and those horrified faces, and the families… I ate their pain like a five-star meal."

Bradford was right. This woman only wanted attention and an audience. They were just wasting time, and he stood up and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Rosalind asked. "I wasn't done speaking."

"I'm done listening. Clearly, you don't have anything to say that will help us." He replied.

"Wait."

He turned around and faced her. It looks like she was finally coming down from that high.

"Tell me about the body we discovered." She asked. "I only saw a glimpse of her face before you took me to the van. How did she die?"

"Visual autopsy showed she suffocated to death." He replied. "Most likely in some kind of a container. Her face showed signs of intradermal hemorrhage."

"Stupid girl." Rosalind muttered as she shook her head. "Wasting all that air screaming. She probably shortened her life by an hour."

"What about her hands? Was she trying to free herself?" She asked with a grin.

"Yes." He was starting to understand why Jack and the other TOs kept their distance from this woman. "I imagine her last few hours of her life were truly awful. Now I've shared something with you, it will only be polite that you share something with me. So, who killed that woman?"

"Slow down, Officer Nolan." Rosalind replied, her smile turning seductive as she raised an eyebrow. "We're still in the foreplay stage."

He suppressed a shiver and continued. "How did the killer know how to find the burial site?"

She leaned closer to him, as if she was sharing a secret. "Because I told them."

"You were able to communicate? How?" He asked. As far as he knew, Rosalind Dyer's communications were heavily monitored.

"But what about you?" Again, she ignored his question. "What would you do if you were trapped like that stupid girl? Consume the air as fast as possible and get it over with? Or hold on? "

"I'll hold on, for as long as I can." He replied, pouring every ounce of conviction he could muster into his voice.

"You're only going to make it harder on yourself." Rosalind advised.

She really didn't understand true empathy. "I'll be giving my friends a chance, the best possible chance of finding me in time."

"Maybe that's the difference." She muttered. Again, her smile vanished, her face turning back to that alien, emotionless mask. I was jarring to see how she quickly shifted expressions.

"Between what?" He asked.

"You… and me." Rosalind replied. "I've always known, even when I was little, no one was coming to save me. Is that why you're so good? Yes ma'am, no ma'am, serve and protect ma'am?"

He couldn't stand her mockery of the force and interrupted her little rant. "I'm good, because my brain is not broken. Now, are you going to give us something, or are you just wasting our time? Because we will ship you back to prison right this instant."

It seemed like he made her annoyed as she took a deep breath, as if she was trying to reign in her emotions. "Okay, I'll take you to the second grave."

"Okay. You think we're going to find another body in there?"

"I know you will." She replied. "I just need you to do one thing for me first."

"And what's that?"

 "Ask Nick if catching me was worth it."

Jack Routh

He had been on edge all morning, and he finally had time to relax as he switched uniforms inside the locker room. The statement and the interview regarding the shooting incident took a few hours to complete, but overall, it went smoothly. They had been ambushed, and it was his bullet that struck the shooter, but he wasn't the only one who returned fire.

Detective Armstrong seemed to want to speak with him when they discovered the shooter's identity, but the man held back in the end. He probably knew the shooter personally.

 "Jack, sorry about this morning." Nolan approached him after he put on his duty belt. He still stood out with his different gear, since technically he was now part of Metro but attached to Mid-Wilshire two days out a week. Even their body cam models were different, with his new one better suited to record darker environments and settings.

He observed Nolan for a moment. He had let the matter go, but sometimes the older man was too friendly to criminals. He decided to remind his fellow rookie what was at stake.

"John, it's over now. Like she said, it's not a big deal knowing our names, but you should consider how you interact with that monster. You saw how she reacted, right? How proud she was of that new body we discovered." He explained to his fellow rookie.

"I know. For a brief moment, I forgot how dangerous she was." Nolan admitted. "I spoke to her earlier. She seemed so normal, except the topic was about the murders and the victims. There's no remorse in her at all."

"That's how psychopaths are." He shared. "They're not like in the movies, exaggerated and acting like they're the source of all evil. They're friendly, warm, and even charming as they draw you in." 

"So, not like Hannibal Lecter?" John joked.

"No, as much as I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of that serial killer, that's not how they really operate." He explained. He had kept a close eye on Rosalind that morning, and noted her reaction when she pointed out the grave where she buried her victim. She looked euphoric, and when a new grave was discovered, she even looked proud as she wore a satisfied smile. 

"Anyway, Grey told me to keep you in the loop and check on the latest victim." John replied. Right, there was a new serial killer following Rosalind's footsteps, and time was of the essence. There was a second body, killed in the last three months. "We're heading to the morgue. Maybe we can find something new from the autopsy and help save this third victim."

Rosalind killed every three months, and even proudly tattooed a day of death on her victims' skin. Autopsy reports from her case file showed that she tattooed her victims while they were still alive, and the new body they discovered also had a date tattooed on her torso, just below her breast. That meant whoever this killer abducted was still alive, they barely had a day before he would kill her.

His wife called in everyone available to take up their slack, as she assigned several units to follow up on this new serial killer. Angela was assigned with the other cops at the newly discovered grave site, searching the vast area in a grid pattern for possible graves or clues to their killer. Bradford and Lucy accompanied Detective Armstrong to investigate how Rosalind was able to communicate with the outside world.

The rotting smell of the decomposing body was strong when they arrived at the autopsy room, but he was able to ignore it and shook his head when Nolan offered the paste with the strong scent of menthol that cops usually put under their nose to tolerate the rotting smell.

 "We need to pull up a print." Harper asked the medical examiner.

"That's doable. These prints are fresh compared to the last one." The examiner replied. "It's going to take some time, though."

"What's under her nails?" He asked when he took a closer look at her hands.

"Good eye." The M.E. replied. "I noticed that in the first victim as well, so I took a swab. It's a microbe strain, but it's indigenous to animals in Africa and Asia."

That was an interesting connection.

"So, does this mean both victims flew internationally?" Harper asked.

"Unlikely, for the microbes to remain in the victims' hand? They would have come to contact with it before they died." The M.E. replied.

"And with the number of times we wash our hands and use hand sanitizers, this has to be local." He added. "Maybe they met the killer in the zoo? That's the only place here in the city that could possibly have those exotic animals."

"That's a good point." Nolan replied. "I remember there's an old zoo that was abandoned when the new one opened. It shut down in the sixties."

"And the microbes could still live in the soil in that area, provided there's no extensive development or renovation." The M.E. added.

"Abandoned, isolated, that's a perfect place to tattoo a victim and kill them." He stated. "We better check it out."

"Let's go." Nolan looked eager. He knew the feeling, at least they now had a good lead to the third victim.

Their two vehicles arrived half an hour later in front of the old abandoned zoo. Harper, as the senior officer, led them through the gap in the gate and investigated the dilapidated complex.

He spotted an old worn-down cabin a good hundred feet from the gate, and quickly signaled the other two. They both nodded, and Harper told him to take the lead after Nolan reported their status to dispatch.

"The path here is well used." He observed as he knelt down at the dirt trail heading away from the main concrete path. "And the knob on the door is shiny."

"It means it's been used often. There's definitely a Ted Kacyznski vibe in there." Harper replied, using the comparison to the deranged unibomber in the nineties who lived alone in a cabin in the woods.

"I'll head to the back, you two take the front, we'll breach in five seconds." Harper ordered as they all pulled out their firearms. "Don't shoot me."

"Breach, don't shoot you." Nolan repeated his TO's instructions.

He and Nolan took positions by the door, and he mentally made a countdown in his head as he checked to see if the door was locked. It was. When he reached five, he kicked down the door, and Nolan rushed in, and he followed after him.

The cabin was filled with old zoo equipment, cages, and old incubators, stacked high to the ceiling. He looked around for threats and moved to the next room a moment later. He felt his heart beat faster as he noticed the stains of blood stains on the plastic sheets that hung from the door frame.

They reached the last room and spotted Harper arriving from the opposite hallway, and there they spotted a woman tied to a rusty metal bed frame. He didn't let his guard down and looked around as Harper quickly checked the woman's health.

"She's alive." Harper observed. He looked over and saw the fresh tattoo marks lined with blood on the woman's torso. He looked closer and realized the tattoo of the day of death was incomplete and that the killer has not yet added the year.

"7-adam-16, I need an RA, code 3 at the old LA zoo." Harper got on her radio and started relaying their status. "Alert the captain and the watch commander. We have found the next victim, and she is alive."

"The killer's still here." He stated. "We interrupted their tattoo session."

"You're right." Nolan replied, raised his weapon once more, and walked closer to a corner. "The barrels, there are blood stains inside. This is where they suffocated the victims and..."

Nolan trailed off, staring at a far window, and he turned to see what Nolan was looking at. He spotted a masked figure watching them, wearing some sort of burlap sack on his head.

"Harper..." Nolan nodded at the figure peering through the window.

"Yeah, go go." Harper replied.

"7-adam-15, in pursuit of the suspect. Requesting airship and backup." He heard Nolan behind him as they chased the masked figure. He ran through the back door and noticed movement ahead of him and followed him through the thick bushes.

He saw the suspect slip through an exposed storm drain and jumped after him. The tunnel was large, and the walls were overgrown with plants and roots. It was extremely dark, and he slowed his pace. He knew this was a perfect place for an ambush.

A metal bar hit him in the arm, forcing him to let go of his firearm. The second strike he blocked with his left arm and absorbed the punch in his gut by the suspect. There was a pause as the masked figure looked at him, and then he responded and punched the suspect with his right hand right at his head.

The suspect coughed and staggered on his feet, but he didn't give him any chance to recover and wrenched the metal bar away from the man's grip and kicked him in the chest. The suspect flew back and hit the wall, and before he could slump down on the floor, he took a few steps forward and hit him in the stomach with his knee.

 The masked suspect coughed and fell down on his knees. He was still conscious, and he pulled out his cuffs to secure him when the suspect suddenly lunged at him and tackled him at the waist.

The floor was slippery, and he slipped, and the suspect pushed him to the ground. They rolled over until they both fell into a shallow depression filled with water, but it was enough for him to get submerged as he felt the suspect's arms wrap around his neck in an attempt to choke him underwater.

With his upper body submerged, he could barely see, but he saw the silhouette of the suspect's head. This was Rosalind's follower, another monster in the making that was following her footsteps, and now they were trying to kill him, suffocate him in the way those two women were. He remembered the tattoos of their day of death, their fingers as they desperately clawed at the metal barrels that encased them. Their torture.

Rage filled him, and he thrust his right hand out, fingers extended, and felt something soft give way under his thumb. Immediately, he felt the grip around his neck loosen, and he rose up from the water's surface and took a breath as he continued to push his arm forward and pushed the suspect off him.

The suspect, now confirmed to be a man with his screaming, wreathed around the floor holding his masked face.

He quickly found his gun and pointed it at the suspect. "You're under arrest."

"My eye! My eye!" The suspect yelled.

"Jack?" He heard Nolan's voice behind him.

"Over here. I got him." He replied as he continued pointing his weapon at the suspect.

Between the two of them, they quickly secured the suspect in cuffs, and he pulled him out of the tunnel and back to the surface.

"You okay?" Nolan asked. He looked down and saw the wounds he had sustained in his arms and nodded. The suspect whimpered and moaned in pain, and he dragged him by the back of his shirt to the cabin.

He could already hear the sound of the airship above him and the sound of police sirens getting louder.

"7-adam-15, suspect in custody. Need EMS for suspect and officer Routh. Code 4." Nolan reported in his radio.

"You two okay back there?" They looked at Harper, who was standing by the door.

"He was determined to escape." He nudged the whimpering masked figure on the ground. "This idiot tried to drown me."

"Let's see who you are." Nolan pulled the burlap mask off the suspect, revealing a young man around his age, with a bleeding right eye.

"Caleb?!" Nolan gasped.

"You know him?" He asked.

"Yeah, we hung out with him after you left. Lucy met him at the bar." Nolan explained. "She was even happy he didn't leave when she had to make an arrest at the establishment and revealed she was a cop. Lucy even told me he visited her at the station. What happened to his eye?"

He crouched down and stared at the man's remaining eye, and realized what this man was up to. Caleb stared back at him with a frightened expression on his face and tried to shrink back from him despite the cuffs. "I gouged it with my thumb. It's nice to meet you, Caleb. Mind telling me what you have planned?"

"Get... get away from me!"

"What are you planning with Lucy Chen?" He asked.

Caleb didn't reply, and the scent of something pungent reached his nose. He looked down and realized their suspect had just pissed himself as a wet stain grew from Caleb's beige pants. He quickly stood up and moved before the puddle of piss reached his feet.

"I'm not that scary, right?" He asked Nolan.

"You... just gouged out his eye." Nolan replied, looking nervous as he stared back at their suspect.

"You're definitely scary." Harper answered.

Lucy Chen

She shivered unconsciously as she stared at the picture of the man on the screen. She had been checking his posts on Instargram constantly, even during patrol, that even Tim got annoyed. He was sweet, he had cute pictures of him playing with puppies and hanging out with his coworkers.

They danced, they kissed, and she thought there was really a spark, something special between them. She touched her lips and felt the urge to shower again, despite having done so three times since she heard the news. She felt dirty.

Caleb was the serial killer, and was communicating with Rosalind Dyer through yet unknown means. The man refused to speak, only muttering that he had failed Rosalind.

"Some good news." Sergeant Grey had called on all of them that were directly involved in the investigation. Jack had just arrived from the hospital after he was treated for some minor injuries. She could see the painful welts on his wrist and left arm and knew he had sustained those from his capture of Caleb.

"Nora Valdez, the woman Nolan, Routh, and Harper rescued, she's going to be okay." Grey stated as he stared at the three officers with a proud look. She looked around and saw the satisfaction in everyone's faces, but what attracted her attention was the gleeful look on Nick Armstrong's face.

"Caleb Wright, Rosalind Dyer's protégé is still recovering in the hospital, but he's now watched over by the FBI field team." Grey continued.

"I just want you all to know how proud I am at each and every one of you." The captain added. "Her life, and the lives of more women, were saved because each one of you gave your all in the last thirty-six hours."

"What about Bryan Coleman?" Tim asked. The man her T.O. asked about owned the address they managed to find hidden in Rosalind's books in prison.

"There's still no sign of him yet. But his face is everywhere, but the FBI suspects he's a victim of Caleb Wright and just used his identity and address. They're still following up and searching for him." Captain Andersen replied.

"What do we do now?" She asked.

"You all go home and take a well-deserved day off tomorrow." Sergeant Grey replied. "Dismissed."

They all stood up, and she was about to leave when the captain asked her to stay. Tim gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, and both John and Jack gave her a quick nod.

"How are you holding up?" The captain asked.

"I'm so confused right now." She took a breath to compose herself. "He was so sweet and… we were planning to go out this week for a proper date."

"Understandable." Zoe Andersen always looked stern and strict, but she could see a hint of sympathy in the captain's eyes. "You don't know who you could trust anymore."

"Aside from fellow cops, no." She admitted. "Maybe… maybe detective Armstrong was right. Dating outside of the force is really a bad idea."

"Don't let this one experience change your view." The captain replied. "I believe Rosalind and Caleb specifically targeted one of us to get closer to the investigation. Why else would Caleb Wright appear in a bar where off-duty cops hang out after their shift?"

"I just feel lonely." She confessed. "And now, maybe my life is to really become Sister Lucy Chen of the Mid-Wilshire nunnery."

She was surprised by the laugh that came out from the captain. "Who told you that?"

"Your husband." She replied. Zoe Andersen Routh's smile became even wider. Her features were enhanced when she smiled, and she could see why Jack was totally smitten by her. "He was joking Captain, but he did say the name rolls off the tongue."

"Want me to punish him?" She knew the captain was joking at that point.

"Of course not, Captain. Jack saved my life by exposing Caleb, who knew what would have happened to me." She knew she would have likely ended up like one of those women, trapped in a barrel with a tattoo of their day of death on her abdomen. "So, any advice for my love life?"

"Date a cop." Zoe Andersen replied. "It worked out for me."

"So does Jack have any brothers or cousins?" She asked while grinning.

"Jack's an orphan, but I'm sure there are men like my husband in the force." The captain replied with a smile and nodded to the door behind her. "I suggest you hang out with your friends tonight. Tell Jack to bring me dessert later."

She followed the captain's gaze and saw Tim, her fellow rookies, and the other T.Os waiting for her outside.

"Enjoy your day off tomorrow, Officer Chen." The captain added. "Remember, it was not your judgment that was wrong when you met Caleb. There are plenty of good people out there. Dismissed."

She gave the captain a grateful look and left the briefing room.

"We're going out." Tim stated. "You don't have a choice, boot, everyone voted on it."

"We're going to eat and then get drunk." John added with a smile.

"You really don't have to." She replied.

"C'mon, it's not every day that you dated a serial killer." Angela put an arm around her.

"You have to share stories." Harper added. "Let's go, the night is still early."

She did have a nice time. The alcohol certainly helped take the edge off, and the conversations around her kept her from thinking too deeply about what could have happened. The training officers shared more of their experiences as officers, and she nearly snorted her drink out of her nose when Angela shared an incident when she arrested a DUI who had a kink for getting treated roughly by a feisty Latina.

Nolan had offered her his spare bedroom, and she quickly accepted his offer, she did not want to sleep alone in her apartment.

The next morning, she woke up when she heard voices outside her door. She looked around her unfamiliar surroundings and took a moment to reorient herself. She was safe, and she was at John's house which was nearing completion.

The smell of brewing coffee made her leave her room, and she found John sitting on the island with a blonde woman who looked familiar.

"Hi!" The pretty blonde greeted her. "Lucy, right? We met at Jack's party."

"It's good to see you again." She replied, as her brain started to kick in. This was Grace Sawyer, John's old love before they separated because he got someone else pregnant.

"I heard you had a rough time with a case you were working on." Grace added.

"John was kind enough to offer me his spare room." She replied.

"He was always the gentleman." She watched as Grace put a hand over John's. The two shared a look only lovers could give to one another.

"Are you two…?"

"Dating? We are." John replied with a truly happy smile he hadn't seen before. "Decided to continue what we had before we separated."

"I'm happy for the two of you." She really was, despite seeing how these two acted made her lonely again. Was everybody hooking up aside from her? Jack was now married, Tim was dating her best friend, and now John was rekindling an old flame. Poor Sister Lucy.

"I was just here asking John for advice." Grace continued. "My son Tony's a senior, and he's dating this girl. She's lovely but…"

"What is it?" She asked.

"I think she doesn't have the best home life." Grace confided. "The girl doesn't elaborate when I ask her about her family and quickly changes topics. Oliver knows her address, but I had to force it out of him, and he revealed that his girlfriend's been living with her friends for weeks now."

"Do you think she's being abused at home?" She asked. Abused kids always got to her.

"We don't know, and we have no evidence that she does." Nolan added. "It could be she's just rebelling, it's normal for kids her age."

"What's her name?" She asked. Maybe she could ask Rachel to look into this girl.

"Tamara Collins." Grace answered. "Could you do something about it?"

"There's not enough evidence for us to check, but social service can." She replied to the unasked question. My friend works there, I'm sure she could look into Tamara's case."

Rosalind Dyer

It was all normal. Strange.

She was bored. It's been two days now, and no one came back to her cell to beg for her help. The police were truly incompetent, despite the trail of breadcrumbs she instructed her follower to leave behind. So far he's been reliable, but maybe he ran into some complications. The LAPD were really throwing everything they had, from what she observed. She knew it was only a matter of time before Federal agencies stepped in.

The mind numbing routine continued through the morning, but without the books. She was transferred to a new cell as a precaution, and she noticed the new faces of the guards now patrolling her cell.

She needed stimulation and she needed to relieve those memories again. She was getting impatient. With her eyes closed, she started to reminisce about the murders she committed and the focused on the fear and dread in their faces as she slowly chopped off their body parts little by little. They were still alive as they watched their limbs get removed one by one. Paralyzed by the potent drug she made them drink, they could only moan as tears fell down their faces. It was glorious.

She raised her head when her sharp hearing caught the sounds of footsteps approaching her door. Finally.

She smiled when Nick arrived and the door to her cell opened. He was always so predictable, but it was strange to see the smile on the detective's face.

"Nick, had a good day?" She asked.

"A great couple of days." The detective replied. "I told you at the station that it was worth it catching you and not being there by my wife's deathbed. After the last few days, I;m sure she would have understood."

"It seems you made your peace then." She observed. This was no fun.

"I did. Poor Caleb got caught." She stilled and raised her eyes to gaze at Nick's. She saw an expression she had never before seen in his face when they stared at each other. Satisfaction.

She remained silent, wondering if they were trying to catch her off guard. How did he know? Did Caleb leave evidence behind?

"You lost." He replied. "We found out how Caleb got you contraband. Poor Caleb sang like a canary. He even wrote notes about what you told him, including the last gravesite and all the bodies. "

She remained still, analyzing every expression on Armstrong's face. He was not lying.

"Oops, clumsy me." Armstrong accidentally dropped a full page photo of Caleb, and she saw that his face bloodied with his eye missing from its socket. Her follower had a strange expression on his face, he looked terrified.

"That's disappointing." She replied. "What happened?"

"I'm not telling you." Armstrong replied. She wanted to make him eat his tongue as he gave her a smug smile. "You're done Rosalind. You'll never get out of that cell again, no more deals from the D.A. You have nothing."

"I know your secret." She smiled.

"I don't care. No one will ever listen to you."

Her eyes narrowed as Nick turned her back on him, and she flinched a bit as the iron door of her cell slammed back, causing a mild breeze that fluttered a few strands of her hair. She must know what happened.

That night, she ran many simulations and variable in her head, and only one unknown factor kept appearing. That mysterious police officer who she instinctively knew was not like the other prey. Jack.

Zoe Andersen Routh

Tonight!

I get pulled over by the police,

Richard says Oh God he's right behind me! (Oh God he's right behind me!)

…and James says bloody hell when a woman throws a cop to the ground.

 "They included that!" She turned around to see Jack laughing beside her.

"This is going to be hilarious." Jack replied.

She laughed herself as Jack was introduced as the Stig's American Police cousin even if she didn't know what a Stig meant. Her husband's face was never shown, and her identity was never revealed in the episode. She doubted anyone would recognize her since she wore large shades when she was featured in the episode.

They merely showed a clip of James May giving her a tour of the cars they used, and mocked his attempts at flirting. She didn't even realize they had filmed her, and James May was genuinely a good conversationalist and he had an interesting insight on cars. He had approved of her choice with her GR86, instead of purchasing a Porsche or an Audi.

She watched the episode with her husband and absently traced the healing welts in his arms. When Harper reported that she would follow a lead, she did not expect that it would turn out the way it did.

Finding the next victim was incredible, but catching the killer was even better. She remembered watching the body cam footage of Jack's fight with Grey and Special Agent Garza, and the interrogation that followed.

The fight between her husband and Caleb was short but brutal, and she felt mostly relieved that Jack came out on top. She didn't care that Caleb Wright lost an eye in a fight, in truth she believed it was a fitting punishment for him. Now every time he looked in the mirror he would be reminded of his crimes and failure.

Caleb Wright had psychological issues, not a true psychopath like his idol Rosalind and he broke down after hours of interrogation from the FBI field team. As usual she received congratulatory calls from the Mayor and the Chief, and subtle hints about moving Jack to a protection detail for mayor Stevens.

The metro division captain was happy, and Jack's success proved their proposal of training Metro officers and assigning them to various stations had merit. If it were not for Jack, Caleb would still be at large, and most likely would have murdered one of her officers.

When the show finished, Jack stretched and stood up. "I'm going out."

She sighed and watched as her husband grabbed his keys, bag, and helmet. While their marriage was going well, there were some habits of Jack that she was still not used to, and they became more prominent now that they lived inside the same house. They had disagreements, of course, but because they were both willing to compromise, they rarely fought. She was still a bit of a control freak, and Jack liked to wander around the city with no plan. If there were no tasks and chores in their house, he liked to travel and explore.

Then there was their project. They were converting the soundproof room into a sort of speak easy office. Jack wanted to collect old movie posters that they could hang on the walls.

"Movie posters again?" She teased. He was collecting old memorabilia of his favorite shows, though she sometimes wondered when did he ever find the time to watch them with his busy schedule.

"This time I'll check Pasadena." Jack replied as he put on his jacket. "Heard there's a good comic book store there."

There were already a few movie posters he had bought, he hadn't framed them yet and stored them in the soundproof room in carton tubes. They were mostly vintage Star Wars posters, though she saw one that had Star Trek in it, with the crew in their uniforms standing on a bridge with the spaceship in the background.

Jack had asked her if she could dress up as the curly-haired woman called Deanna for Halloween. She knew he had asked that since the woman's black and blue uniform had a short skirt.

"Have fun." She kissed her husband and decided to watch one more episode of the car show. She found their humor and banter amusing. As she was about to select an episode their doorbell rang.

Jack Routh

The comic book store was bigger than he expected, and there were already half a dozen people inside. He walked in and stared curiously at a replica sword. It looked like a standard design of a two handed sword, with a white wolf pommel at the hilt.

"It's a limited edition."

He turned around and saw a thin man with balding curly hair approach him.

"I'm just looking." He replied. "I was just attracted to the sword's design, that's all."

"$220, that's the best price I can give you." The shop owner replied.

"I'm looking for old movie posters actually, from Star Wars to those Buck Rogers." He explained. "And if I'm going to buy a sword, I'm looking for something more… functional and less aesthetic."

"If you want authentic replicas, there's the medieval fair next month." The owner replied. "Hang on for a minute, I have a couple of posters at the back."

"Sure." He looked around once more and stared at the displays of mecha toys, but nothing interested him, although he was tempted to get that Robocop figure, he knew Zoe would find it funny standing beside her alarm clock.

They had divided the sound proof room as their home office, and Zoe was already starting to decorate her half with unique pieces she found at garage sales. He needed to catch up, and he already had a theme in mind, an old movie theater with a touch of a speakeasy style.

 "Here are the posters. And I found this gathering dust in the back, if you're interested." The owner returned and carried a long slim box along with the tube of posters. 

"What is it?" He asked.

"It got sent to the store by mistake, it's an actual forged sword rather than an aluminum replica." The owner lifted a box, revealing a slim sword with a unique design. There was no cross guard, and the profile made it looked roughly like a katana, only more elaborate and there was no curve. The most interesting part was that the entire sword was forged in one piece, right up to the hilt.

"It's Thranduril's sword, from Peter Jackson's the Hobbit Trilogy." The owner explained, looking desperate. "The best price I can offer you is $200, and I'm already selling it at a loss."

He lifted the sword from its Styrofoam packaging and found that it did have some weight to it, but not enough that he couldn't wield it. It was also balanced well, and he liked how comfortable it was to hold.

"What about the posters?" He asked.

"Only Marvel ones I'm afraid." The owner replied. "The only thing left is Galaxy Quest, and I'm not sure if you like that one."

"I'll take it along with the sword." He replied immediately. He loved Galaxy Quest, and considered it to be the best Star Trek film despite not sharing the same Universe. He took the poster from the tube and unrolled it, and admired the hand-painted effect it had, making it look like a feature film made in the sixties or seventies.

"That's going to be 215 in total." The owner immediately replied, looking happy. "You made my day, I'm Stuart."

"Jack." He replied as he returned the man's handshake. He quickly fished out the bills from his pocket and handed them to the owner. "Do you have a spare tube I can buy? I don't want to bring the entire box with me, just the sword and the leather sheathe it came with."

"Say no more." Stuart pulled out an old Hulk poster and handed him the now-empty tube. He transferred his sword to the tube, and secured his purchases with tape that Stuart provided and stuffed them inside his backpack with the tubes poking out of the zipper. He was about to leave when a man in a Thor mask arrived with a gun in his hand and approached the counter where Stuart was.

"Empty the register!" The robber demanded. "Nobody move!"

"Please don't hurt me!" Stuart was shaking as he punched a few buttons on the cash register.

"Hurry up!"

He slowly dropped his purchases to the ground and moved closer to the robber while he pulled out his backup piece from his leg. Once he was behind him, he bashed the man behind the head with the butt of his pistol, causing the robber to collapse on the floor.

"It's alright, I'm a cop." He called out. He looked around and secured the robber's gun and pulled out his phone. "You have something to tie his wrists with, Stuart?"

"Yes I have some zip ties for the large collectibles… you're a cop?" Stuart asked with wide eyes.

"I am, now go get those zip ties." He replied and called control. "Dispatch, this Officer Jack Routh, badge number 33186. Just stopped a 211 at a Comic Center in Pasadena, corner of Washington and Hill. Send a unit to pick up the suspect."

"Copy that, directing a nearby unit now."

"Thank you officer." Stuart returned with the zip ties, and he grabbed one and quickly secured the suspect's wrist.

A unit quickly arrived within a few minutes, and he spent the next five minutes explaining the events with his fellow officers after he showed them his badge. He then gave an official statement and returned back to pick up his helmet bag and his purchases.

"Thank you once again officer." Stuart escorted him to the door.

"Like I said, it's my job Stuart." He replied. "Stay safe."

When he arrived back home to his wife thirty minutes later, he was surprised to see Zoe sitting outside in the picnic table under the tree, and with her were two visitors he didn't recognize.

One was a pretty woman, wearing a brown leather jacket and pants, while her companion was a young man around his age. They both had bags with them, and it looked like they had been waiting for quite a while when he saw the drinks and snacks on the table.

"Jack!" Zoe called out to him once he parked his bike and removed his helmet. "You have guests. They've been waiting for half an hour."

"Right, sorry, but who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Sydney Fox, professor of Anthropology in UCLA." The woman introduced herself. "I've been teaching your classes in LA city college while you recovered."

"I know this is unusual, but I'm not here about your students." Sydney explained. "I need your help."

He wondered what a simple professor of Anthropology would need his help for.