Another 1,042 words drained out of me. But at least the story is still moving forward. I need to give myself a bit more freedom to write terribly, because I think I’m still holding back, trying to make this good on the first try. But I just need to keep writing forward, writing terribly, and just giving Future Jackson something to work on.
Anyway, 18 k reached, hoping to reach 20k by tomorrow!
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The captain was standing by my desk, impatiently tapping his foot.
“You need to get a cell phone, Smith.”
“Don’t believe in those things,” I replied.
The captain just stared at me, with that look that always set my nerves jangling. “There was another murder last night. I’ve got men on the scene already, but not you, because you can’t be reached when you’re not home.”
Dread fell upon me like a cold shower. Had Jack called me last night to distract me from where he was going to be? I should have been at the Twin Palms last night, surveilling. Jack must have realized I wasn’t there and managed to get away with another murder. “I’ll head to the Twin Palms right away.” I turned to go.
“It wasn’t the Twin Palms,” Alistair said. I stopped mid stride and faced the captain again.
“Then, where did it happen?”
“Paradise Inn.”
I stood there, dumbfounded, blinking. I must not have heard Alistair right. “Paradise Inn? Last night?”
“Yeah, last night, early morning, still waiting for the coroner to estimate time of death.”
How was this possible? I was there. I could not move. I ran over my moves last night in my head. Had I seen anything out of the ordinary? Was there something I had missed?
“What are you waiting for?” Alistair barked. “Move it!”
I hurried out of the station and saw Ernie in a car, waiting for me already. I was glad to see him, as that meant I wouldn’t have to show up at a crime scene after disembarking from a bus again.
“So, fill me in,” I said to Ernie as I got in. “What do we know?”
“We know nothing,” Ernie said as he pulled out of the lot. “Someone killed a girl middle of the night. Housekeeping finds the body this morning.”
“Anything weird? Photos? Writing on the wall?”
“Not that I’ve heard of, but I imagine we’ll know more once we get there.”
The scene at Paradise Inn was a mirror of Twin Palms from a few days ago. Several police cars were already on the scene, and the usual gang of transients that populated the area had made themselves scarce.
I got out of the car and looked up to where the activity was centered. Third floor. Had to be 313. That phone call had been legitimate. He must have just heard the time wrong. I kicked myself mentally for not staying all night.
I made my way up to the third floor, Ernie two steps behind me and froze when I reached the room. It was not 313.
It was 312.
The room I had just been in hours ago was the room that had police coming in and out of.
I stepped into room 312. It hadn’t changed much from the last time I’d been here, other than the girl on the bed. Another young one. A fleeting concern for Jessica floated through my brain, but was quickly quelled when I saw the short black hair. I did a quick mental double take. Why would I have any concern for someone I had just met briefly?
There were no messages scrawled in blood or in anything else on the walls. I peeked into the bathroom. Nothing in there either. But I knew this had to be Jack again. His choice of room was no coincidence. He was still playing games with me. But I could not for the life of me figure out what game he was playing.
Hopefully, tomorrow, the drop point would give me the opportunity to get the drop on Jack. Then I could ask him personally what the whole point of this was. Right before I sent him to eternity. I had decided right there and then that Jack could not be allowed to live. I could not trust him to the hands of the legal system, with the possibility that he would get a reduced sentence. Even twenty to twenty five years, what was that to an immortal? He would get out again, and he would murder again. And that blood would be on my hands. Again. No. There was only one option.
Jack had to die.
That night, I tossed and turned, never actually getting to sleep. It was probably for the best. No telling what demons I would face this night in my dreams. But it left me less than alert by the time it was time to get up. Cat had long abandoned the bed, due to my restlessness and had instead nestled on a pile of clothes I had tossed on the floor last night. He appeared to have slept better than me. One long stretch and he was ready for the day. I wished I could have said the same.
I went through the usual routine, food and water for Cat, coffee for me. I had a long day ahead of me. The drop would not happen until this evening, so in the meantime, I would go over the evidence gathered on yesterday’s murder. See if maybe Jack got sloppy and left behind something I could use to catch him.
The day dragged on interminably, which is saying something coming from a guy who is thousands of years old, and with no good leads. Nothing solid. The girl was Abby Nicholson, a teen runaway who had disappeared two months ago. Thankfully, the duty to inform her parents was not assigned to me. I have had to face more than my share of grieving parents and family, having to tell them that Jack had murdered their loved ones. Every time I had to do it, a piece of my heart shattered. I was pretty sure there was very little left there after all this time.
Finally, I was able to head out. I made my way to the drop point. It was in a small park. It had a children’s playground, a few benches, and an ornate fountain in the center. According to Xavier, he would leave the photos in the trash can in the men’s room. He couldn’t tell me what time the photos were picked up. He just knew that by the next morning, he could pick up his money.