"Have you looked into that at all?"Derek asked."I know you well enough to know your work is some of the best out there, so I don't doubt the early release was warranted.But who might have a problem with that?"
"The most obvious place to go would be to a previous victim or their families."Alison pushed some food around on her plate."Detective Moore is looking at that angle also.Still, there’s the five-year wait.It doesn’t make sense to me for someone to wait that long.If someone was annoyed about the release, why not act sooner?"
"Perhaps something delayed them," Derek said."That could be my bias talking.I want the Sands case linked to your sister, but there’s a two-year delay.What caused that?"
"There’s a lot we don't know about both cases," Alison admitted."If someone is targeting me, I’m wondering if it’s someone in the psychology field.The report that was found at the scene looked professional, but that doesn’t mean the killer is a professional.Again, the five-year gap bothers me.If someone is trying to destroy my reputation, then why?And why now?"
"Why do you think?"Derek asked, helping her to talk it out.
"The most obvious conclusion is that someone doesn’t agree that Thomas should have been released, and with his past, I can understand that.Still, I also know people can and do change, and I saw that in Thomas.I also know the field, and it’s not uncommon for people to take the same information and findings and arrive at different conclusions.It’s a science, but often, it feels more like an art.If I were to put myself in the killer’s shoes, I would assume they believe they’re doing the world a service, taking a dangerous person off the street while making a point about early release.It could be all of that, or it could be none of that.Still, I can't help but second-guess myself and the decisions I’ve made."
"Don’t," Derek warned."You’ve proven yourself again and again, and you will continue to do so.If someone is attacking you, we’ll deal with that and prove them wrong.You can second-guess yourself all you like, but I know the truth.I know how brilliant you are."
Alison sighed and pushed around some more food on her plate."Thank you.I need some time to work this all out in my head, but again, I don't know what I would do without you."
"I might have some good news," Derek said."I was down at the coroner’s office today, and there's a chance the killer left some DNA evidence at the scene."
Alison dropped her fork, and it clattered on her plate.It frightened her even though she had been the one to drop it.She quickly picked up the fork and held it over the plate with no intention of using it.
"There were some skin flakes under the victim’s fingernails," Derek continued."They don’t know yet where the skin came from, but there’s a chance that it could be from the killer.We should know more soon."
Alison’s hand vibrated as the fork threatened to fall for a second time.She quickly placed the fork back on the plate and held Derek’s gaze.She could see the look in his eyes that mirrored what she felt.Neither of them wanted to get excited about it; they had been in this same position before, and it didn't lead anywhere.
"Okay," was all that Alison said.
"Okay," Derek agreed.
That was her external reaction, but Alison had butterflies not only flapping in her stomach, but in her heart and mind also.Thomas Warren was dead, and she believed there would be more deaths.She had to stop that.
Still, more than that, was the only thing that could take precedence over a murder investigation: her sister’s cold case.If the DNA evidence led somewhere, they had their first chance at some actual physical evidence tied to the case.Not a lease, not a hunch, but some physical evidence.
They had a chance to finally put her sister to rest.
CHAPTER FIVE
The figure sat at his kitchen table, watching the news.They were already reporting on the death of a man in the community center, but so far, the name had not been released, and neither had any other details other than that he was dead.There was some speculation that it was a gangland killing, which meant that some information had been leaked to the news station that shouldn’t yet be public knowledge.
He knew that was to be expected with the man’s past, but he also knew the death wasn’t a gangland hit.
He turned down the TV volume and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose, becoming almost meditative.He could see it all again as clearly as if he were back there.
The shine of the wood on the floor, the darkness through the windows high on the walls, and the smell of wood mixed with antiperspirant.It had been a nasty smell at the time, but as he reminisced in the memory, he enjoyed it.The smell was now linked with the kill—his very first kill.
He expected it to be harder than it was, for there to be a hump for him to get over before he could do it.Everything had been planned, and he had waited multiple nights for a chance to be alone with Thomas, and when it finally came, and he stepped into the gym with the man who might have frightened him if he didn't have a gun, he found the climax to be frightfully easy.
The man smiled as he sat in the chair at his kitchen table with his eyes gently closed.That was not to say that he didn't enjoy it or that he found any disappointment in the act.It was one of the most exhilarating things he had ever done.
When he had pointed the gun at Thomas and ordered him to his knees, he was prepared to face some resistance and perhaps have to use the gun instead of the knife, but Thomas had done exactly as ordered.Perhaps Thomas’s time in prison had trained him to do as he was told.
Then, when he drew the knife from his belt and stepped forward, he had moved like water, flowing without hesitation until the blade was buried deep in Thomas’s neck.It slid in like a knife stabbed into a potato to check if it was cooked.
The man had gasped in delight at how easy it slid in—a small amount of resistance as skin and muscle were pierced and the blade driven in, and Thomas was reduced to nothing more than the animal he was.There was a moment, right before Thomas slipped forward and collapsed face-first to the floor, when he wanted to withdraw the knife and stab his body again and again, but as soon as Thomas toppled, the spell was broken.
I did it.I stepped up and did what needed to be done.None of us knows what we can do until we try, and now, I know that I can kill with ease.
It had been the last part of the puzzle.When he had entered the community center, there was a part of him that doubted he could kill another human being.That was not in doubt anymore.
The man opened his eyes again.He took another deep breath to cleanse himself.Killing Thomas Warren had given him some power; he hadn’t drained any of Thomas’s power, but unlocked what was always inside.
