For a moment I didn't
know what to do. I was certain Nadine could take care of herself,
but then I realized her 'attacker' was wearing the same uniform I
went to work in.
Rushing forward I
explained in a hushed voice, “Hold up, she's with me!”
“Rhodes?” the
officer turned and I saw it was my boss, Sheriff Jim Parkes, looking
none-to-pleased. “What the hell...”
“Not so loud, we don't
want to give away our position,” I hissed and gestured that the
three of us move out of the park.
Nodding, he let Nadine
go, but gestured that she was to lead the way.
Once we were a safe
distance Parkes growled, “Okay, this should be far enough. Now
what the hell are you playin' at? And you'd better not tell me you
were going to try another decoy routine.”
“Would you believe...”
Nadine began, but I cut her off.
“Actually we were,
Chief. This Detective Nadine Collins from Maine. She and her people
dealt with a similar set of murders but never caught the killer. She
thinks our boy may be the same guy...”
“And you came to try
and help us catch him,” my boss finished with a nod. “You know
there are procedures to be followed like introducing yourself at the
station.”
“You were already gone
and Deputy Rhodes thought we might find you here,” Nadine supplied
smoothly, while I gave him a rather believable account of what had
supposedly happened up in Maine. As I spoke I noticed a faint
greenish haze slowly building around us at ground level. I had an
idea what that Nadine planned on letting my boss breathe her in so
she could influence him, but I gave her the faintest head shake. You
don't work with a man for years without getting to know his
mannerisms and way of thinking. And I could already tell he was
buying my story because he trusted me. Hell the man had recruited me
himself as soon as I had come back from the army He didn't even
bother to ask to see her credentials, instead he gave us the full
rundown on the situation.
He'd managed to pull in
some extra help from the state. Several troopers were hidden
throughout the park, while others were quietly patrolling the streets
in unmarked vehicles. If our perp struck, we were going to run him
to ground tonight.
As we spoke I noticed
the mist Nadine had created earlier was drifting off towards the park
entrance and spread out until no trace of it could be seen. 'Trying
to do some recon, good plan,' I thought to myself as Parkes continued
to fill us in on the situation.
Once he'd finished,
Nadine and I shared what we had figured out about our Killer's
targets. Like me at first he seemed unimpressed until we got to the
part about the women having an air of confidence which impressed him
as much as it had me.
“That would explain
why he's so violent with them,” he breathed after a moment.
“Probably trying to kill the same woman over and over in his mind,
but what about the cannibalism?”
“We're dealing with a
sick mind, Chief,” I shook my head, “There could a be dozen
demented reasons why he's eating them... sort a souvenir? A way of
keeping them close to him? I don't know...”?
At this point we both
turned to my companion saying, “You got any...” and then stopped.
She had started moving back towards the park, following the same
path her mist had taken moments before. “Detective Collins? What
is it?” Parkes shouted as the two of us started towards her.
But just as we were
about to reach her, she shouted over her shoulder, “He's here! And
so is someone else... a girl!” A second later, she was gone.
Normally, Nate... I mean Nadine wouldn't have let anyone see her
inhuman speed in action, but a life was in danger and this was no
time for being subtle.
Not that I had any
reason to worry, Parkes was busy barking orders into his radio
alerting the rest of the team of the situation. He'd barely gotten
the order out when a scream erupted from the darkness. The killer
had struck.
Without pausing we both
raced into the park trying to figure out what direction the scream
had come from when it erupted again, this time calling for help
repeatedly. Following the sound we veered off the path and into the
trees and bushes off to our left. The cries were getting louder when
suddenly a young woman burst out of the darkness and into our arms,
tears streaming down her dirt covered cheeks.
“He's near the lake
and he's got her...” she blubbed, still shaking. “He jumped me
and had me on the ground when she came out of nowhere and threw him
off me... She'd just helped me up when he jumped her from behind and
stabbed her in the back... she just stared at me and told me to
run...”
As she spoke two of my
fellow deputies appeared on the scene.
Grabbing his shoulder
radio Parkes barked, “Suspect sited near lake attacking a female
detective, all boots on the ground converge on that area and engage.
Patrol cars are to surround the park and form a perimeter, pursue
anyone seen fleeing from the area.” Then turning to the new
arrivals he ordered, “Take her to safety and call for a medical
assistance and more back up. Rhodes you're with me!”
Weapons drawn we raced
towards the lake. I could hear the sounds of a struggle up ahead,
which suddenly stopped, sending a chill down my spine. Had Nadine
already finished the guy?
Still rushing forward we
burst out of the trees and the sight that greeted us was more than a
little unnerving. Both Nadine and the Cannibal Killer were on the
ground, several feet from each other. The latter was rolling around
clutching his head and like he was having convulsions. Whereas
Nadine, was simply lying on the ground unmoving, eyes wide as if she
were staring into the pits of Hell itself...
