Blood Thrill Page 12

  ‘I told you that we need to be careful,’ Jackie was whispering to Brian. ‘You know, you could be next, no one is safe and this is scary Brian.’ ‘Oh hush,’ Brian replied, all the while displaying a false sense of bravado. ‘First they kill prostitutes, and then strip club owners, and now the chief. What the fuck is going on?’

  With immediate effect the lieutenant had to now reign in full control, until another chief was appointed; Ellen now began to function as the interim Chief. She was sitting with Brian and Andrea behind closed doors to discuss the case. Something needed to done and it needed to be done quickly. ‘We’ve been checking the Darknet for chatter related to the chief, but so far nothing.’ ‘We need to also check if there is some sort of rivalry going on,’ Ellen was speaking her thoughts out loud. ‘We know about this person called Snake, and we are also aware about the activities of this individual known as Phantom. We need to look into the possibility of two rival killers going-up against each other, with one wanting to outdo the other,’ Andrea was saying, as though following a movie being played out in front of them. ‘Two killers fighting each other, in full public view, and we’ve got nothing,’ Brian said while rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

  ‘But why was the chief targeted?’ Andrea questioned. ‘Beats the hell out of me,’ Ellen replied. ‘Okay this is what I want you guys to do,’ Ellen was giving orders now, as the acting Chief of Police. ‘Brian - find out what went down with the chief over the past 24 hours. Andrea, check his call logs, official communication and keep your eyes on Snake. Update me as and when you discover anything new. Now go out and get me some results. I have to attend this press conference later today. Oh for fuck’s sake… this is going to be one hell of a press conference. Give me answers people and get them to me fast. My guess is that Serial Killer city is going to be stuck with us forever. Fuck this shit…’ With that they left Ellen alone in her office.

  Brian had the task of talking to the chief’s widow and breaking the news to her. Thankfully their three children had long since moved out, and were living their lives far away in other states. The chief’s wife was sitting in a state of shock on a white wooden chair, listening to Brian, while occasionally offering up a soft sob.

  ‘I know this is not the right time to ask you this Mrs. Johnson, but we would like to bring your husband’s killer to justice. ‘I know,’ she replied. ‘But when did you last see your husband?’ ‘We had an early dinner, and then he said he had some late-night work at this office. He left soon after dinner and now I know he didn't return. Sometimes he would work late and return home much after I had gone to bed. He was a busy man you know, keeping meetings at all the odd hours; everyone wanted to socialize with him. Sometimes when I woke up, he would already have been gone. Just the way he was. The last time I saw him was at dinner last night.’ ‘Do you per chance remember who he said he had a meeting with?’ ‘Oh… he never tells and I never ask. Things run much smoother between us that way.’ Brian could see that this conversation was not going to lead anywhere, which was when he thanked her for her kind cooperation, and left.

  Andrea was not having any luck either. No unusual calls were received or sent from the chief’s phone. He had spoken only to the usual people whom he had been constantly in touch with. The darknet was not throwing any light either. The trail was running cold at an alarmingly fast pace. This was not going to go down well for all involved.

  Brian had left Greg to scout the place and look for clues; anything however small was of crucial importance right now. Susan from CSI had also accompanied Greg on this mission. She was looking carefully at the grass-covered-soil that was all around the tree. ‘Had there been no grass here, we could have at least had footprints to work with.’ ‘Hey, why do you think this place had been so carefully chosen?’ ‘I know I know… why does it have to be so difficult?’ ‘We are searching for ghosts… two big fucking ghosts… hiding among the trees.’ ‘What did you say?’ She shot back. ‘What, you find that amusing.’ ‘No,’ she said. ‘Look in the trees.’ Greg was now amused, ‘What’s in the trees. ‘Shut the fuck up and look,’ she shot back. He took out a pair of binoculars and in a humorous manner began to scan the trees. From one of the trees located diagonally to the left of the head, he saw it, a small camera was pointing right at them. ‘Fuck there it is,’ he said. ‘Call uniforms, seal off the park exists, whoever is watching is right here.’ ‘Yeah the camera is way too small to transmit more than a hundred feet. Quick, I will search behind the tree and you take the opposite direction. Get your radio out, call in uniforms.’ Both of them spread out to spot the cameraman. This person could have been recording the video, either on a laptop or a SmartPhone. Susan was the first to spot an individual looking at his phone and walking away fast. She ran as fast as she could and using her feet slid under him, locked his legs between her feet, as a result of which he fell to the ground, with the phone flying away from him. She was the first to recover and lunged for the phone. Picking it up in her hand before the man on the ground could even react. He had still not closed the app that was receiving the video signal, which was in turn was being relayed to another phone. Whoever was on the other phone had all the information they needed. All the main players had been on the scene. Her mind had only one question - ‘Were they going to start targeting the cops next?’

  The news of this latest development spread like wildfire throughout the PD. The person with the phone had been apprehended and taken to the precinct, and was now waiting to be interrogated by Brian and Andrea. Andrea’s team had begun to trace both the phones. They were important leads that could now be tracked easily.

  Brian and Andrea were in interrogation with the latest suspect that they’d apprehended.

  ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Kenny’

  ‘Age?’

  ’26.’

  ‘Profession?’

  ‘Private Investigator.’

  ‘Bullshit.’ Andrea said. ‘I want a lawyer.’ ‘Keep Dreaming’ Brian replied. ‘You’re a suspect in a murder case. Good luck in trying to get out of here even in 24 hours, I hope you know what happens if the evidence points to you. You think you can kill the chief of police and then demand a lawyer. Think again pal.’ With that Brian got up and walked over to stand behind him. Talk now and at least expect us to show you some mercy and leniency. Your cooperation can go a long way; if not… you know what happens to people who’re cop killers.’

  ‘I did not kill him; I was only ordered to spy on the scene and relay the recording.’ ‘Who ordered it, was it Snake?’ ‘No… it was Crab.’ With that Brian lost his cool and pushed his head on the table holding it there in a firm iron grip. ‘I don’t give a fuck about all these reptiles and crustaceans. Start talking now if you know what’s good for you’ ‘I swear man… this guy called Crab; he gave me the cell phone and everything. I was asked to be close enough to get the signal and broadcast it, that’s it man… that’s all.

  14. Snake

  Kenny was placed in a private secure holding, while the rest of the team learnt that the person receiving the broadcast had been in the compound where the mayor's office was located. This made them spring into action. His office was no more safe and secure, and needed to be evacuated and searched. Deputy Chief Ellen had to make the call to the mayor and inform him of the unfortunate turn of events.

  The premises needed to be secured and the Mayor was whisked away to the PD, as this was considered the safest place for him, pinpointing the exact location of the phone that was receiving the broadcast, showed that it had been in the parking lot.

  Brian and team completely secured the area and started looking for any explosive devices that might have been hidden around the compound. Uniforms were all over, while the bomb squad explored the premises. The entire area was searched but nothing showed up. There were no bombs and there were no cameras capturing the parking lots, there used to be, but due to privacy concerns had been removed. The mayor did not want people thinking twice before
coming to see him. The place was secure enough - to not be troubled by planting cameras all over the area. This the criminals must have known, to have been bold enough to come into the compound and record the video.

  Nevertheless, this was a lead that the team wanted to explore to the fullest. A warrant had been secured, and a complete search of Kenny’s phone and the receiver’s phone had been conducted. Kenny turned out to be just a small time criminal who had been engaged to pull this operation off. The receivers’ phone however turned out to be a burner and no calls to or from that phone had been placed. The video being received however had been recorded, which did not amount to anything, what good was the info without the actual device in their hands.

  Deputy chief Ellen was addressing the team that morning. ‘Why was the mayor's compound chosen by the enemy? We need to look into this link - is this a secret message to the Police? Brian and Andrea I hope we have something by the end of the day today, this is moving much too slowly. This case is coiling all around the place, and we haven’t found anything as yet.’

  It was going to prove difficult to get a warrant to search the mayor’s phone. Andrea had a backdoor however to an elite secretive team within the FBI that could do this for her. These tech wizards would be able to get her a recording of all the calls made to and from the mayor’s phone. They hated to admit it, but the mayor had now become a prime suspect in the investigation. How it would all tie-up no one could say, but it was now really worth investigating. The mayor and chief were both good friends, but there seemed to be something amiss.

  In a few hours, Andrea had secured the recordings. She had her team scan all the tapings of calls to and from the mayor’s phone, and alert the rest of the team to anything that might sound unusual and suspicious. Listening to the recordings was when it became apparently clear that the mayor had not been happy with the chief, who he was now blaming for the current state of the city. He was heard complaining to a couple of close friends about the very incompetent chief, who was useless at performing his duties. He blamed the chief for all that had happened to the city. He was close to the DA, and most of his complaints were to the District Attorney, but was just complaining enough to bring charges against the mayor and his office? The DA would never agree to this and would ask for hard evidence, linking the mayor to the crime. And as of now, there was no evidence indicating that this was the case.

  ***

  Crab was now sitting with Snake and reviewing the recording of the broadcast. Unfortunately Kenny had been clumsy in starting the recording and subsequent broadcast, which meant that most of the excitement that they were all hoping to find was not there. It was mostly of no use to them. All they got was the cops securing the head and taking it away. They were however able to see the faces of Greg and Susan.

  ‘Where have you stashed the body?’ Snake questioned in his unusual hissing tone. ‘It’s in the warehouse,’ replied Crab. Throw the fucking thing in front of the PD tonight. Fuck those pigs.’

  With that Crab left and tonight he would have to dump the body in front of the PD. Failure to do so would mean that his body would be dumped in front of the PD. ‘One more thing before you go.’ Snake was saying. ‘Stick a knife down the throat of headless.’

  This was not going to fool anybody but nevertheless, Snake wanted to bring me into the picture. I for one was following up on the phone number that I had got the call from. Going to a different part of town, dialed Snakes’ burner phone once more, hoping that by some chance he might answer - and answer he did.

  ‘There’s a plane out to Albuquerque tomorrow. Get yourself a ticket and pay the extra fucking money to get seat 3D. Is that clear, we are going on a road trip.’

  The next morning with ticket in hand, went through security and having arrived early, seated me ass in the waiting area, carefully scanning the faces of people nearby. I began to wonder where that motherfucker might be waiting. Would he actually show? None of my other fellow passengers were showing any signs of being on the FBI’s most wanted list. What if this was just a trap? Maybe he was trying to frame me, in some way or the other. I now knew why he had earned that nickname; he was really slippery and difficult to pin down. This was not really working out for me, having arrived with only my backpack and phone, set my body in the direction of the toilets. This was where all men came to relieve the stress of waiting for planes. I was not scared of flying but actually enjoyed it, getting caught in crosswinds and everything. It was now time to get a snack - but I won’t deny it, meeting with Snake was making me nervous. Really wanting to get a snack as the wait was making me apprehensive. Maybe something on the plane would have to do, nothing for now. Walking around, I was still trying to scan all the faces and pick Snake out, he knew who I was, but as yet, I had never seen his face. The anticipation of meeting with another killer was telling. We were a rare breed; we were like King Cobras and rarely met, if ever at all. If there was a meeting per chance, the snakes would seize each other up and decide to either duel or leave the other alone. This was going to be us pretty soon, each looking to either kill the other or find reason to leave the other alone. I was sure that if he didn't kill me, then a compromise would be sought, each looking to leave the other’s territory alone. We were like pirates on the high seas; the only difference was that instead of water we operated on land, which made it that, much more difficult. Anyways the time was nearing for me to meet King Snake. The boarding call was given and I confidently strolled through check-in and boarded the flight, still no signs of that snake, but by now I was very sure of his imminent arrival. Sure enough; he was the last one to board. He was tall, with dark shades, hair pulled into a ponytail. He sat beside me and even offered a smile, which I did not return. He was strong and well built, with hands that were damn tough. He had seen battle, of this I was sure. ‘Must be a vet, might have been in the Navy Seals or some other elite Marine team.’

  It was a two hour flight and he offered to buy me peanuts. I accepted and also had a Coke with it. He was most warm and friendly towards me, like a mentor looking after his protégé. There was a Merc GLX left for him at parking, for when we got out of the airport. This was going to be a long drive I could tell, we drove on and on, making small talk. ‘That fucking flight was bumpy happens when you come to these Midwestern desert states.’ I could not respond as this was my first trip down these ways. ‘We need supplies, food and lots of beers. I hope you like beer?’ ‘Sure, not much of a drinker, but I could really get into it.’ ‘That’s good; we’re heading into the mountains, the Jemez Mountains. Wait till you see my beautiful log cabin in the middle of nowhere. This is the old Wild West, “The Good, the Bad and the ugly.” You’ll see all of that soon.’ He was now getting me excited. After all, weren't we the same – hunters, although he was the only one collecting a bounty. One serial killer was bad enough, now you had two, two hunters going into the wild. ‘I don’t like hurting wild animals,’ I said. ‘I don’t give a fuck,’ he replied.

  We were soon lost in the woods, with enough supplies and it was bloody cold up here, the beer didn't even need refrigeration. We left our bags in the cabin and he lit a fire behind the place in preparation of the evening. He had a chunk of beef on a skewer roasting to one side of the fire. With beers in hand and sitting on semi-reclining chairs he began as the sun began to dip. It was cold up here in these mountains, and the sun was disappearing earlier than what was considered normal in big cities. As it began to hide behind the mountains he seemed relaxed and at peace with the world. ‘Look, just look all around you… nature is the best. I come here to relax after a good kill. That fucking chief was pissing me off, you were pissing me off too. I got rid of him and now time to get rid of you and your interfering ways.’ My eyes darted to the skewer; it might be time for reach for it and put it to good use. Wasn't his heart still beating?

  ‘Don’t think you’re untraceable, I found you, unlike those fucking stupid cops. They can’t catch me and couldn't find you. I know you like to kill, but you’re such
an amateur. There is much for you to learn. Answer me this - do you have a kill ritual.’ No,’ I said. ‘Do you keep any trophies, mementos or souvenirs?’ ‘I keep all the electronic gadgets.’ ‘Hmmm, that sounds really stupid to me - you need something much more human. Maybe like a bottle of blood or a thumb.’ ‘Why would I need that?’ ‘There’s something special about each kill. You see, I have a little bottle of blood, taken from the chief’s neck. You can check, it’s on top of the fireplace, I just put it there. Killers keep something personal; it’s more connecting that way. It’s also a way of telling the cops to come kiss your ass.’

  ‘As you can see, you really do need a ritual. Our business is not like fast food, where you do your job and get the fuck out of the office. No, ours is much more distinctive. In many ways we matter a lot more to our victims, than all the other people in their lives. It’s like this… at the most important event in their lives we are the last person they see. Think about it. Our relationships are very unique. You need to develop a ritual, get an M.O. and leave a lasting impression. That way when you eventually get caught, you can sell your book rights.’ ‘What’s the use of money, when you’re in jail and awaiting the electric chair?’ ‘You don’t get it do you, it’s a way of saying Fuck You - Fuck you world. I killed you and now I’m being paid for it.’ ‘Sounds crazy, but I would rather die, then spend the rest of my time in jail.’