Chapter 1


“So, what happen to you now, not so aggressive anymore? Where is your pride, your machismo? Or I am not what you were expecting?”

The Blue Lagoon motel was crowded with cop cars, everything was blocked to the point that even a rat would not be able to pass through. SWAT team truck, fire trucks and ambulances were mixed into the picture but not for long. Detectives would take over soon and this entire circus would be finished. The owner of the hotel would take a hit during the investigation, but other than that, with time, it would be forgotten. Perhaps a newspaper article would have a column for history that one would be able to search for or stumble upon on by mistake or curiosity. Usually, big homicides were big only in the beginning. All homicides were added to the statistics and later, as time passed by, hopefully be set as an example to the rookie detectives, when they would be sitting and learning about how this psycho killer had been captured or killed. In many circumstances the killer would go away undetected and go free until captured, sometimes free forever. Usually, a psychopath killer, was a man- nobody would think that a woman could do such a thing or be so on edge and go around killing people indiscriminately. Women are vulnerable and fragile creatures, one would say, but if something went wrong in your head, it didn’t matter who you were gender-wise. The gray matter in the brains of many people are expected to be the same, but some chemical intrusions and reactions could cause in some people brain and conscience to go into different worlds and perhaps possibilities and levels.

She was in the driver’s seat and her partner to her right holding himself by the handle attached above his side window. Her partner still had doubts about her driving experience but not her detective work, she could sense it. Not that she saw him being afraid of driving with her, not at all. He was holding himself like a man, like a cop, like an officer of the law. She would glance at Mike from time to time whenever some stupid driver in front of her would not let her pass and she would use her siren and sometimes megaphone to clear the idiot to the side. Mike was a mature, big man; about six foot three, in his thirties. To her, he resembled Marlon Brando except for his chin, which had a little gap in it, but in either case, he just resembled him, right, he wasn’t him. Most of the time he was Mike the cop. He was stopped on the street from time to time for an autograph, even while on duty. People loved him, especially females. Now, he was sitting beside her, her partner Mike Brennan, looking ahead and talking on the radio with the patrol officer that arrived to the scene as soon as he got the call. Mike was very meticulous with his work, she noticed, and being a rookie detective, she knew that this person was respectful of her.
“Just hold on. We will be there in no time” she said glancing at him briefly and concentrating on the road ahead.
“You love it. Don’t you? I can see it in your eyes, Strong” he said in between, finishing his conversation on the radio transmitter. She heard a brief description from the officer on the other end of Mike’s transmitter.

~ 2~

When she came out from the academy, scoring higher on her test than any guy. She passed through like a barge passing under the bridge, flawless, and faced the reality of the detective world, yet she was depressed for a while. Men were pigs and her mother was right at some point saying it to her. Even becoming a professional cop, not some ticket master, could make ones feelings go south. They were like savages, even in the office. Nobody grabbed her butt she noticed, but it was aimed at one too many times. She would remember this for the rest of her life, when one cop being so cocky tried to pull her gun out of her side holster as he come up behind her. As soon as she felt it, her right elbow hit him under his chin, automatically, so hard that he was taken to the hospital with a moderate concussion. After that, Mike came to her rescue when the chief assigned her to him. He was her savior. He understood her and was polite and normal.

“You are Strong and we Strong do not tolerate the weak” her father used to say to her and her brother. Her name was Judy F. Strong, F for Felicity. She had no other choice she thought; her destiny was becoming a cop and a god damned good one. She made it to the detective level and her brother was in the FBI. Her dad was a cop as well as her uncle and grandpa, and the rest of the men in her family line. One could not even imagine a family cookout with these people. Everything became a story after a few drinks when they were off duty. She was mesmerized and at the same time excited by the stupidity of the people who were in their stories. Like this guy, who after robbing one of the convenience stores had sat down in his car and fell asleep as he felt a little tired. Or another one, of a guy who after beating his wife had come to the police department claiming she had beaten him. It was a long time ago, now days it was different. She was facing the world that was changing rapidly in its cruelty and advancement. People were getting smarter and harder to catch. This case was different and she was sure that with time she would catch this crazy person. Crazy, was not even enough to describe it, there was more to it. Her question was how many more bodies they would count before they would seize this sociopath?

“We are almost there” Judy repeated again, looking in front of her, holding the steering wheel as she continued “I think we have a serial on our hands, I can sense it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Mike was asking, not questioning her, but out of curiosity.
“Remember the previous one couple weeks ago and now this description.” Judy answered turning the siren once again and cursing at the same time under her breath.
“It must be connected” Judy continued.
“Let’s not make any fast judgments and wait until we see it. Until we see the actual scene” Mike said calmly.
“You want to make a bet? Lunch? I think it’s fair” Judy said.
“It’s on” Mike answered.
“I hope our guys didn’t contaminate the scene too much” Judy said thoughtfully and asked “Only one of the maids went in, right?”
“Yes, as far as I know. Our crime investigation crew is on its way as well with their equipment” Mike answered.
“I bet it’s a female” She said after a pause looking in front of her through the windshield of the unmarked car.
“You’re saying it based on the way the victim’s testiculus were handled?” Mike asked using a Latin word. He loved to do it now and then Judy had noticed. As they turned around the corner, they were met with all kinds of lights and vehicle shapes parked chaotically on the street blocking it so civilians would not be able to pass through. Yellow tape surrounded the entrance to the room where the homicide had taken place. As soon as they parked they were met by the officer who had sent the brief description over to them while they were on their way. They pulled out their badges as they got closer to him.
“Finally” he said a little aggravated. The officer looked at Mike briefly and concentrated on Judy.
“You should take it easy going in there. Brennan and Strong, right?” the officer continued looking at Judy. The three of them stopped when they reached each other.
“What? Do you think I am a pussy and cannot handle it?” She asked and continued “Officer…” she paused looking at his name stitched to his uniform “Rooney. Hope you didn’t go in”
“No, I didn’t. I was in the doorway, trying not to let anybody in” Rooney replied. “We pulled the maid out, that’s all.”
“Good job” she said. “Detective Brennan! We shall proceed” she said strictly and Mike got into the game in the blink of an eye. She was close to being promoted to Sergeant but it would take another year if she would not solve this case.
“Yes mam, lead the way. Please.”
As they were parted from Rooney, they giggled a little but not for long. They took their shoes off and put their rubber gloves on as they went into the hell.

~ 3 ~

She was looking at the victim while grasping the whole scene. The victim’s body was propped in a semi-sitting position that resembled a leaping frog in some way or maybe the letter “A”. His neck possessed red marks, marks of strangulation Judy thought. His head was touching the wall. It was an awkward position and Judy thought that his neck was broken. The skin on top of both his shoulders were penetrated with nails holding his body in place close to the wall. His legs were spread wide, bent at his knees, and his toes pointed in opposite directions. Fingers of his both hands were locked together in-front of him little above his knees. He was a male of course, in his thirties, she speculated for now. He was not a bad looking guy, from what she could see. He definitely worked out as evidenced by his shoulder’s length, that’s all she could bet on. White, with no tattoos on his body, meant possibly that he was a professional, they would have to check his clothes later. He was about five foot eleven or perhaps six feet tall. His eyes were cut out from their sockets and looked to be observing her from his mouth. His mouth resembled a smiley face as the corners of it were cut upward to his ears. His tongue was sticking out from his left eye socket. His arms were cut open from the shoulders to his wrists very precisely, revealing bones. Fine, deep incisions in his arms resulted in muscle and skin tissue that had been spread apart, probably with hands, she thought as they possessed some depressions on both sides. His feet were bent like he was a frog preparing to jump revealing his knee caps, the skin was cut out around them, with white bone devoid of any blood any longer. His abdomen had been cut resembling a flipped over letter T starting at his Adams apple and ending at his belly button. His guts weren’t coming out but it was cut exactly so with a kind of surgical device, perhaps a scalpel and his skin was pulled to the sides of his body presenting the whole anatomy of his digestive system. His penis and testicles was cut off and inserted into his anus. Blood was all around underneath the body like a big and dark hole. She could not know what was on his back as the victim was nailed to the one of the side walls. When the CSI (crime scene investigation) unit would separate him from the wall, they would probably discover more or maybe not. Victim #1 didn’t possess any injuries on his back.
“What do you think?” She asked quietly. Mike was standing close to her, taking in the horrible scene the same way she was.
“I think you were right” he said quietly. “This is fucked up Strong” he said. He sounded different now, she thought.

As Judy remembered, victim #1 was standing on both feet broken at his knees and bent outward. Only one shoulder was nailed to the wall for support. Both his hands were resting on one of the night lamps, attached to the wall, hanging down over it. His body resembled a semi-circle or perhaps letter “C”. One end of a broom was inserted into the victim’s anus holding him in place. His eyes, well, they were there as well, before the broomstick. There was a consistency to the cuts and violence across the victim’s body with exception of the victim’s private parts. They were cut off and inserted into the victim’s mouth instead.
CSI team came quickly as both of them were still standing and observing the surroundings now. They couldn’t touch anything yet as the criminal photographer had to make some nasty pictures. Judy went out as CSI team went in and called Rooney.
“We need to get statements from the owner or whoever was at the front desk, witnesses if any and people who stayed in the adjoining rooms. The maid, off course and surrounding places” she pointed with her finger around “like this bar across the street, hardware store and that diner on the corner. I will go over later the same places so we can compare our reports.” Judy finished as she was looking straight at Rooney’s face. He was shaking his head up and down looking back at her.
“Yes, mam” was the only thing he was able to mumble.
She turned around and went back into the room.

~ 4 ~

They were married for five years and had one child on their hands to take care of. She was suspicious after she gave birth to their son that her husband was going around cheating on her. She wasn’t in the mood for sex for a while after she gave birth, and couldn’t understand his needs perhaps as well. He wasn’t begging or desperate but that feeling, that little numbness on the back of her head told her that something was wrong, something wasn’t right. She decided to follow him one day and regretted it for the rest of her entire life. Their baby was with a babysitter while she was out. For fifteen dollars she had paid to the babysitter, she was able to find out what her husband was doing after work. This entire time, his “guy thing” gathering after work and going away parties and company celebrations were total bullshit. He was fucking around with prostitutes. She saw the girl he picked and measured her to her standards. She had a blond wig, red dress, high heels and no panties on. She noticed that her left hand had four fingers, the thumb was missing. She wasn’t bad looking but compared to herself, the girl was ugly. How could he do this to her? The question lingered in her head.
Miami was a beautiful city at night fall with a lot of possibilities for anybody, male or female, it didn’t matter. It could be a “little” humid during the summer and hot as hell. The women would leave one excited for the rest of the night. There were no perverts in Miami, everything was natural and came with the area and territory.
His mother’s day card was a total lie when she opened it in the morning, shit, everything was a lie now. She was questioning herself while spying on him. Was this a good idea? Yes, it was.
She could handle her life without him, no problem. But he was so gorgeous and sexy after all and she loved him and caught herself thinking, he was the father of their child. Maybe he could seek professional help and they would spend a little money on that to prevent their marriage from falling apart.
She would fuck him when he got home and she would fuck him well, no questions asked, he would be surprised what she would do to him. Now she knew that sex should be a part of their relationship but it was too late, he never came back as a person, as dead corpse, for sure, but she would not know it yet. As the working girl slipped into his car, she fainted watching them from a distance. She would find out later that her husband was number three.

~ 5 ~

When Carla was thirteen her dad was trying so hard to make a man out of her, that at one point she believed she was becoming one. Karate and Jujitsu classes demonstrated her strongest side. He would take her anywhere for competition, and she was good, more than good, excellent at it in her age group. Her dad was her idol until he just died on her, vanished. Just like that. A crane went down with him in it. Her dad had been a high crane operator. It was a closed casket funeral. She couldn’t believe it was possible. Oh my god, she was crying her eyes out, she remembered. She remembered, crying every day, especially at night fall, into her pillow. Sometimes her mom would join Carla in her room right after tucking her in. Carla would be laying down in her bed, straight as a straw and mom would be sitting beside her with her napkin holding her nose. The first few months they would cry, it seemed like, endlessly. Later it faded away but the feeling of loss was always present.

Her stepfather was barging in, an over a year later, with his hands all over her body, when her mom was not around. His hobby was boxing and he was strong and quick and he was a cop. She was trying to resist him but her age and weight wasn’t enough against the middleweight champion in his amateur league.
“I don’t know what I am going to do to you if you tell this to your mom or anybody.” Her stepfather hissed through his teeth while holding her by her t-shirt, her feet several inches from the ground. She remembered not telling her mom or anybody anything until mom found out for herself. Her mother walked in on them while he was trying to slip his ugly snake into her, that’s what she called it, there was no other word for it. It was a disaster that night. He was out of the house immediately, and there was no way to call the cops as he was one of them. He was waiting for her after school sometimes taking her to his place, doing things to her she didn’t like to do.

He was her first one and authorities couldn’t sort out their asses from their faces. It went easy for her, she remembered. She couldn’t resist going home with him that day, she was ready. She pushed him off the stairs while he was trying to have her. They were on top of the stairway and he was trying to pull her panties aside, sniffing her as she pushed him in his chest with her both feet. He fell down hard. She came down slowly just to be sure he wasn’t faking and was waiting for her to do just that. He was breathing hard, she could tell by his fast raising chest, as she looked down at him. He was spread on the floor of his duplex apartment in an awkward position and wasn’t moving. She speculated that his neck was fractured or broken and something else. One of his ribs was sticking out from his body.
“Are you happy now?” Carla asked clenching her teeth as she pushed his broken rib with her right foot. He moaned and fainted. It took a while for him to come to and she used the time to place a chair on top of his body with back support under his chin, she had seen it in a movie once. She was standing between chair legs holding the back ones. He slowly opened his eyes and realized that this was it; she knew it too as she set down, pushing hard holding chair in place with her both hands. He was in panic and struggled.
“What? You can’t resist me, fucker?” She asked and giggled from her double-meaning joke, she thought was funny. Carla noticed that he couldn’t even answer, something else was wrong with him but at this point she didn’t care. His eyes were bloody and a string of blood was making its way from his right nostril down to his ear as well as from both corners of his mouth down to his neck. He struggled some more for a moment and then he was gone. She slid from the chair and sat on top of him with her legs against both sides of his shoulders. Carla came close to his mouth with hers and inhaled his last breath as he passed away with a terrifying look on his face. Her mother was happy and thought it was an accident and lesson for him from god, she couldn’t even think it was her daughter’s doing.

Fifteen years later Carla was enjoying it too much. In between, she learned the anatomy of different kinds of small animals; birds, mice, rats, snakes and lizards, ferrets, bunnies, cats and dogs. She would save the lunch money her mother would give her and would buy her next victim in a pet store. She wasn’t stupid and switched the stores trying to be very cautious and avoid detection as well as giving some rest time to herself. For example, if she purchased a snake in one she could easily buy mice and rats in the same store later, not raising any attention as it was the food. Cats and dogs were her delicacy and were the last items on her list, way later in her life. She would break the animals she bought and watch them die with interest, enjoying it. Later, perhaps at the age of sixteen, she would open their bodies for inspection with her bare hands. She loved to look at her bloody hands and the way the animals’ bodies smelled after she would dissect their abdomens or rip their heads or other parts off of their bodies.
She was trying to slow down, but the feeling. The feeling was unstoppable, Carla couldn’t control it. She couldn’t control herself at all. She was asking herself many times, how she became the way she was, but there was no answer.
She was a registered nurse now, a surgeon’s assistant; she couldn’t become a surgeon and was angry about it, very angry. She couldn’t afford it and it was too long of a process. To become who she was now was the right choice. She was one of the best in terms of performing her duties. She really loved her job.

~ 6 ~

After several minutes of investigation of the hotel room, not letting any detail slip, Judy and Mike went outside. The weather was beautiful but the day was ugly. Judy and Mike took their time inhaling a tad of humid Florida air. It was winter in Miami and the weather could be unpredictable here. The temperature in the morning and the night could be cool but during the day it would be nice and warm, in the seventies on average. It was always sunny and winters were mostly rain free. Surrounded by the warm waters, the Florida peninsula rarely got cold, even in the winter, and the sun was almost always shining. When Floridians did complain about the winter weather, they complained about the strange way you had to dress. When you left home in the morning, the temperature could be cool and crisp, tempting you to wear sweater and a coat, but by the afternoon it could get hot and you were encouraged to ‘dress in layers.’

They looked into each other’s faces for a moment, silently admitting how screwed up the scene was. Judy was still in her socks as she flipped and closed her pad; Mike started to put his new pair of gloves on before going back into the hotel room.
“I will have to go around a few places to take statements and we can meet at that diner to eat. What do you think?” Judy asked plainly nodding with her head in the direction where the diner was. “Say, in one and a half hour, maybe two? You still have things to take care of inside and that diner would be my last stop anyway.”
“I owe you Strong” Mike answered turning his head to her as he stepped into the door frame of the motel room almost filling it with his body.
“You don’t owe me anything Mike” she said and caught herself for the first time pronouncing his name like this, versus calling him detective or partner all the time. It was a little awkward but not out of place or boundaries.
“Rooney will join us if you don’t mind; we have to compare our statements and findings, if there are any. I will see you in a while.” Judy looked at him back and bent down to put on her shoes. The street was becoming emptier and normal as the official vehicles left the scene. They left unnoticed and quietly until only a few cars were left standing and yellow tape still marked the motel room entrance trembling in the wind from time to time.

Judy’s questioning turned up nothing of significance, no leads so far. She got everything written down anyway, who knew, maybe one day when you came back to it, it would make sense after all. She was sitting in the diner waiting for her fellow partner to show up. Two of them entered and looked around, finding her as they moved in the direction of her table. She looked at them and smiled at the way they looked. Rooney looked a little bit uncomfortable, she thought and Brennan was kind of relieved when their eyes met. Mike’s shoulders dropped down and he felt relaxed when he found her with his eyes sitting casually at the table. They slipped into the seat opposite to her.
“You didn’t order anything?” Mike asked looking at her as Judy sipped water with lemon from the straw.
“I was waiting for you fellows” she answered cordially. “We have three menus on the table though. I think it’s enough on my side.” They took their menus smiling. “Thank you” came out from both of them in unison as they looked at each other in surprise.
“Jinx” Judy heard and looked at them as they looked at each other rolling their eyes.
“Let’s order and go through our findings” Judy said as they nodded their heads in agreement. The waitress took their orders in her head a few minutes later and vanished out of their sight after refilling their coffee cups and leaving more cream cups on their table. They were alone now.
“So, what’s the story on your side?” Judy asked looking at Rooney who had just burned his tongue sipping coffee and was rapidly waving air into his mouth with the palm of his right hand. As he stopped, he said.
“Nothing interesting, nobody saw anything out of the ordinary. The hardware store was closed at seven, pub was open but because of the basketball game nobody went outside to smoke. Everyone smoked inside. Nobody at the bar had any clue about what happened that night. The diner didn’t reveal any valuable information. One person saw the car pulling into the motel’s parking, but it was only one man inside and nobody else, no passengers. He stood there smoking before going inside. This kind of “witness” ” Rooney did a quotation gesture with his fingers in the air above his coffee cup and continued “was going up the stairs and hit her foot and had to sit down. As she sat there, she watched a man she said, as there was nothing else to do besides rubbing her foot. She saw a nicely dressed man tried to get a room at that dump. I took her credentials in case you would want to speak to her again.” Rooney said.
“That would be a good idea, anything else?” Judy asked and looked at Rooney in search of more information. Rooney tried to continue but was interrupted by the waitress as she appeared out of nowhere and placed their plates in front of them almost silently. Before she vanished she whispered but all of them could hear “this is on the house”. They were left stunned for a moment before Judy said to Rooney “OK, go on.” Rooney slipped a piece of paper to Judy with the witness’s name, phone and address written on it and continued.
“Ah” Rooney paused looking at his notes and recuperated “the boy at the register, he wasn’t an owner, was apparently stoned and only remembered a man asking for the room furthest from the highway, if possibly available. He paid cash and didn’t record himself in the registry book. The maid was still traumatized over what happened and the only thing she remembered was the body, the way we found it and nothing else before she fainted as she walked into the room.”
“I guess not much” Mike said as there was a little pause in their conversation.
“No, not much at all” Rooney added.
“Was he married, any relatives?” Mike asked Rooney
“No, he was single and free. We have checked his credentials and know now who his relatives are.”
“Did anybody talk to the victim’s relatives yet?” Judy asked looking at Rooney again.
“No. Not yet. We have their info but we thought you guys would do that” he coughed into his hand and continued “delivering a message like this is a big responsibility and I guessed you were more qualified than us, regular cops. It’s your investigation after all.”
“All right, we will do that tonight” Judy said “let’s eat first; it will be a long day for us.” They were eating in silence and surprisingly the food was good, or perhaps she was hungry she thought. Rooney broke the silence.
“Are you going to keep me posted on your findings?” Rooney asked clearing his plate totally, not leaving anything on it, except his fork and knife crossed at the middle of it as he glanced at Judy and a split second later at Mike sipping semi-warm coffee from his cup.
“Rooney, are you serious? This is not a movie you know. Your job is done unless your boss tells you otherwise.” Judy said “thank you for your cooperation; we will be back to you if we need you. If you really want to know the progress on this case or add something you forgot, you can always contact our department. But so you know, it’s a long and tedious process.” Judy continued in a strict voice. Rooney stood up and put some cash on the table
“I understand” Rooney said “I will check in from time to time”
“You don’t have to leave money, we’ll take care of it” Mike said moving Rooney’s bills to him with his hand.
“No, it’s alright. I feel more comfortable like this. Detectives! I’ll catch up with you later.” Rooney turned and left the diner. Now they could really talk.

“So, what’s the scoop partner?” Judy asked looking at Mike and noticed that his plate was almost untouched. She hadn’t paid as much attention to him before as she was hungry and now felt a little guilty.
“We have nothing.” Mike answered drilling his fork into his plate, playing with it as he made holes in his mashed potatoes and continued.
“We have the victim’s credentials and we will have to stop by his relatives and search his place before the office. I already got the warrant on his apartment. Other than that, no finger or shoe prints, no leads at all. It makes me sick Strong. We spent all this time finding out relevant information about the victim and nothing about the killer. He or she walked away and we look stupid. We need a little break as soon as possible Strong and it would be sad if we are going to find our next victim. We are the ones who should detect and prevent this from happening and we are failing.” Mike said with sadness. Judy never saw him being that emotional as he was now.
“We need one witness, we need a break before this monster will strike again Strong. Do you understand?” Mike whispered and sipped coffee from his cup and continued “I hate to lose like this, when someone's life potentially on the line and nothing we can do about it. If we are not going to have a break in this case, it will go to the FBI and we are going to look like amateur idiots, like we are not good for anything serious.” Judy waited for Mike to vent and said.
“We are doing our best partner” and was interrupted by Mike’s comment immediately.
“Ah, stop this nonsense Strong and call me the normal way, it’s been long enough and I hate this detective and partner crap.” Mike said looking at her now across the table.
“Are you ready?” Mike asked and when she said “yes” he slid out from the bench and stood up. He put few more dollars on the table and waived Judy’s hand when she tried to put her money down. They left the diner as Mike opened the door in front of her letting her exit first. They had to visit the victim’s relatives and one of the witnesses Rooney suggested, and would need to write detailed statements in the office later.

~ 7 ~

Carla was her name, it was actually her real name by birth, but no men believed her anyway. Carla was thinking that she was pregnant. She wasn’t sure, but something was different with her body, something wasn’t the way it was before. She would have to see if her period would come this month and if it didn’t, she would have to stop with her hobby for a while. She easily determined that he was cheating. She noticed that his wedding band was on his right hand but the finger on his left hand possessed a faint round imprint where the ring had been before. Carla had followed a few rules and one of them was not to do business with a married guy if possible, if she was able to find out. She thought it was a mistake but this time the possibility had clouded her judgment. She needed letter “R” and was desperate.
Carla bent over and looked into the open car window, smiling, regarding his handsome face. She saw in her head already how she would prop him later.
“Come on, get in” he said bending to the side unlocking the passenger door for her. She smiled and slipped into the cheating asshole’s car. It would be another nice night on the town for her, not for him for sure. He didn’t have the slightest clue what was waiting for him tonight.
“Fucker, you have no idea” Carla thought.
“Where are you taking me?” She asked innocently as her stomach had started to swirl and her heart beat rouse up. She was trying not to show her excitement but even if he did notice, he wouldn’t understand the real reason behind it.
“I have a place in mind” he said “it’s nice and spacious”.
“No” she said and continued “take me to the cheapest motel, I am fine with that and you will save yourself some dough, perhaps for my tip.” He was happy to hear that and drove off to a different place he knew. As they drove away she unzipped his pants and slipped her hand inside. She looked at him with the excitement of a little girl.
“You sure you can drive?” Carla asked knowing that he was hooked now. He nodded in response and glanced at her. She was stunning, he thought. Her beautiful face, to him, resembled Susan Hayward, perfect and lovely yet simple. Something was wrong with her hand though but on the whole, she was a package that many men would pay for. Hand, he thought, he is not fucking her hand, he is fucking her, and so what if she was missing her thumb finger. Nobody’s perfect in this world.
“What happened to your hand?” He asked and didn’t get an answer. She pulled her hand out of his pants and pulled her dress up a little and put his right hand between her legs. She felt him touching her lips and squeezing her clit. She didn’t like it and was getting angrier but played along. Finally she took his hand off of her.
“You concentrate on the road honey and get us into the place safe. I can see you are all excited.” Carla said seductively. She looked out her window turning her head so he couldn’t see her anger build up. Because of her anger, she lost her thumb finger and that incident was replaying in her head stopping her from doing stupid things to this asshole. She almost got caught.

When she was dissecting letter “C” victim, her scalpel slipped on his rib bone and totally took her thumb off of her left hand. If the crime unit had been able to sort the blood out then, they would have found two different kinds of blood types on the victim mixed together. They hadn’t noticed and didn’t find it. She took the severed finger with her that night and threw it into the river as she stopped her car on one on the many bridges in Miami. There had been a shooting in Miami that night at one of the big shopping mall’s parking lots and she had used the incident to her advantage. The shooting had been between cops and one of the gangs and she claimed that one of the random bullets had hit her resulting in her thumb being shot off, when people at work wondered about her thumb. When she came home that night she had to make her wound look to be the result of her story. She took matches and a regular knife and got the job done. After fainting a few times and silently screaming as she had her waist belt between her teeth, she was a registered nurse and she knew how this kind of wound should look, she did it perfectly. She created rugged matter around the wound after she used the knife, cutting it in different directions and burning it with simple matches all around and inside the wound. She drank that night, a lot, Seven Crown she remembered. Every time she would come to, it would be funnier and funnier to her as she had to remember what she was doing previously and every time it was harder and harder to do that. She passed out at last for a long time and woke up in the morning looking at her bandaged hand. She couldn’t believe she had done all this by herself and was proud of her job. Even the surgeon she was working for in her clinic was convinced of her injury, she was that good. She never went to any hospital and felt better that no record existed.

She turned her head to face him finally after struggling with her thoughts. She was thinking to take a break but not now, after her first name was revealed, maybe. She finished “CA” successfully and this guy would be a letter “R”.
“What is your name babe?” he asked looking straight ahead of him.
“Carla” she answered and continued “but for you I can be anybody, it’s your money honey”
“No, I like it” he answered and she was surprised. “It’s not your real name right?” he added.
“Yes, it is” she answered.
“OK, I believe you” he said after a slight pause even though he didn’t. She was surprised to hear that even though she couldn’t read his mind.
“How long are you in this business if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Long enough to touch you just so that you would cum in a split second” she lied. He laughed still looking in front of him. Maybe he was different she thought, but the letter “R”, she didn’t want to miss it.
“I will follow your directions and whatever you don’t like to do, we don’t have to” he said glancing at her finally.
“Interesting” he paused
“What’s that?” she asked
“In Spanish your name means feminine manly and Germanic from Charles, meaning: a man. But you are a girl and god damned a pretty one. People with this name have a deep inner desire for love and companionship and usually want to work with others to achieve peace and harmony. That’s all I remember.” He finished as they approached one of the dumps she liked but had never been to. He offered to take her somewhere else if she did not like the place. She was impressed by his comment.
“Stop the car here and I will walk the rest of the way. Don’t worry I will see you as I don’t have a car anyway and nowhere to go anyway, look around. Get the farthest room from the high way possible. The truck noises give me a headache and I love quiet.”
“OK mam” he whispered and stopped at the corner “see you soon” he added.
“I will knock on your door, OK?” she asked and continued without waiting for the answer, which was irrelevant anyway “that’s how I am” she finished and closed the passenger door.
“You are the boss” he said and laughed while driving off. She saw his car pulling into the parking lot and he got out and went inside the motel. Carla went around the dumpy place and tried to see how many rooms were occupied and had light in them. There weren’t many people she thought, a couple of them looked good to her, now it was a matter of luck.
A few minutes later he came out and went back into his car, looking around in search for her. He stood by his car for few seconds and drove away and around the motel. Carla ran around as well holding her high heel shoes in her hand. She observed him going into one of the preferred motel rooms and was happy.
It’s happening again, she thought. The powerful feeling she couldn’t stop was rising in her, building up her anger and excitement at the same time. She felt like before taking a math exam in high school or better, her interview in the private clinic. She felt this knot in her stomach and knew that only after she hurt him, it would go away. She dashed quickly to his room from the bushes, she was hiding in, and knocked on his door.
“It’s open” she heard. She inhaled a little air and exhaled quickly turning the knob. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

~ 8 ~

Judy and Mike were finally in the office, after taking their notes and statements. They wrote their reports and Judy heard Mike say to her leaning on her cubical wall, yes, she had her private area.
“Are you done, want to go for a drink or two?”
“Give me few minutes, I have to finish this, just a few minutes.” A few minutes became half an hour, but Mike was patient. She stopped by his cube now.
“OK, I am ready” she said and smiled lamely as she knew she made him wait.
“OK, give me a few minutes here” Mike answered and added “just fucking with you Strong, let’s go.” They walked to one of the pubs they liked as it was not far away from their office. They sat down at the bar and Judy ordered her usual, double vodka cosmopolitan with three cherries and Mike as always Seven and Seven.
“It’s on me” Mike said “OK? No questions Strong” as he opened their tab.
“OK” Judy complied as he was her boss anyway.
“So, let’s go through this quickly again, as a summary” Mike said as he sipped his drink from the straw.
“Nothing turned up that we can place our finger on” Judy replied and sipped hers and continued “You were there for a long time, I mean in the room. Anything interesting?” Judy asked. “I was thinking if anything connects those two victims but couldn’t find any connection, they are totally different people.”
“I was thinking about that too before we met number two’s relatives and as soon as we did, the thought was gone. Poof” Mike said. “Looks like it’s not done and is only the beginning which I am afraid of. We are going to have another body soon, I can feel it in my bones. These letters are pointing to something, perhaps name or place, who knows.”
“Eventually, we will capture her” Judy said after few seconds of silence and continued “she would slip somewhere, better to be soon though, but she will, they all do. The question is when?” Judy said exclaiming.
“Why are you so sure it’s a woman?” Mike asked
“The way she handled the victim’s bodies” Judy said “All this hate directed at the private parts of the victim, you know.”
“You think this person was abused in her childhood or something else happened?” Mike asked.
“I think she was” Judy said and continued “she has some kind of medical experience. I can see it by the way her victims were opened. It does look like the work of someone very familiar with anatomy, like that of a surgeon or something, maybe nurse but professional enough. If we have time we should stop by local hospitals, in a ten mile radius, just to see if anything or anyone would stand out, but that’s a long shot. Just think about it” Judy finished her drink and put her glass on the bar table as she continued “cheap motels and victims are males and professional, not gay, if you believe their relatives’ stories. Who would go into a cheap motel in the middle of the night unless somebody of the opposite sex suggested it? Maybe an affair with what seems to be a good person, quickie, some kind of booty call. Maybe a prostitute involved. We should drive around tomorrow night to see how they look, see if we can spot something out of the ordinary.” Mike was digesting Judy’s thoughts and was quiet as he listened to her. He was processing everything in his head, spinning and sorting it out like a puzzle, and the execution plan would come later but the worst part is that nobody knew what would come next and when. Judy was right about that.

~ 9 ~

She knocked on the door and heard an inviting, “It’s open!” from inside. Carla turned the knob and went into the room before looking around, making sure there was nobody outside. She closed the door and asked “Did you miss me?”
A towel was around his waist as he came out from the bathroom.
“You want to go and freshen up yourself?” He asked as he dropped down on the bed propping his head on his left hand bent at the elbow and the right, relaxing down on his towel. “Yes, I did miss you” he answered.
“I’ll be back” Carla said and went into the bathroom.
She came out a few minutes later, naked, looking even more beautiful, he thought. She crawled on top of his body and took his towel off of him. She took him in her hand and felt him grow and expand, she didn’t care. He closed his eyes but it was a big mistake on his part. Looking at his build he could have prevented it, she thought, if he wasn’t stupid and paid attention, but who does in the situation like this.

Carla put her left invalid hand on top of his mouth and delivered a blow with the right palm of her hand to his cartilage with tremendous strength. She saw him opening his eyes quickly and looking at her in disbelief, but everything ended so fast for him. His nose bone went inside his scull penetrating his brains and killing him instantly. She bent down and inhaled his multiple breaths before he died. Oh, this feeling was awesome, she thought, there is nothing else like this feeling. She felt strong and powerful taking someone's life, the life of a trash that doesn’t belong in this world. She thought of herself as a cleaner picking up shit after others’ mistakes.
“I am a manly man to you?” she hissed through her teeth looking into his unblinking and glossy eyes.
She sat on top of him for another few minutes watching and feeling his body getting cold and stiff. She slid down off of him, put her gloves on and got to work.
First eyes and tongue, followed by hands and abdomen and later his private parts but this time she inserted only his balls into his anus and his penis hanging outside resembling an animal tail. She took him down on the floor and propped him as a letter “R”. This was easy she thought as she arranged his body straight on his left side and hands in a circle with fingers locked. She extended his left foot diagonally. She looked down at her creation and said “C, A, R” spelling it. After a while she went into the bathroom and took a long and nice shower. She noticed as she was standing and washing herself that these cheap motels had strong water pressure and shower-heads that spread water all around her just the way she liked it. After she was done with her shower, she dried the bathtub with toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. She left the door of the bathroom wide open so it would vent. As she cleaned the bathroom mirror she looked at her face. Her wig was gone as well as the makeup. She was normal Carla, all natural and a beautiful woman. Carla pulled a different set of clothes out from her purse including shoes and slid her disguises back into it. She looked around the room one last time and closed the door on her way out. She would walk in the shadows taking back alleys and eventually would get a taxi or a gypsy cab home. She wasn’t afraid to walk by herself like this, she had a be-begun in her purse, which was enough to scare even a cop.

~ 10 ~

His wife was still sleeping after very exhausting night before. Her husband didn’t come home that night and she cried a lot and drank some vodka by herself sitting in the kitchen. It was Saturday morning around eleven when she heard a knock on her door. Their son was still asleep as he didn’t have to go to preschool during weekends. She found herself dizzy as she stood up from her bed abruptly and went to open the front door. Detective Brennan was looking at her, as she opened it, showing his badge to her.
“Misses Bell?” he asked and she found herself nodding as he continued “your husband’s name David, David Bell?” He asked her calmly.
“Yes” she answered and started to cry, not knowing what was cop about to say.
“What happened to him?” she asked as tears went down her cheeks and her lower lip started to tremble.
“I am detective Brennan” the detective paused and continued calmly “I have a bad news about your husband. I am very sorry for your loss”
“We need you to identify his body, would you please come with me.”
“Whose body?” she remembered asking.
“Your husband’s misses Bell” detective Brennan replied as she dropped down on the floor in front of him.

Margaret Bell found herself laying on the sofa in her living room as she came to. She didn’t know how much time passed and was disoriented and confused for a while. She set down. Mike offered her glass of water and she took it.
“What happened to him?” She sipped from the glass and asked looking at the detective with desperation and repeated “tell me what happened? Please?”
“I believe your husband was murdered last night.” Mike said quietly and calmly looking into her face.
“You believe?” She asked and continued “means, it could be something else?”
“I apologize Misses Bell for the confusion” Mike said “I am certain that he was murdered.” She just sat on her sofa silently, not looking at anything in particular, with a blank expression on her face. Mike didn’t want to interrupt and was waiting in silence, waiting for her to come back from whatever world she was in. Her son came to her in his pajamas and she struggled when he touched her.
“We have to go Alex. We have to dress and go.” She said strictly.
“Where mommy?” Alex asked innocently like the child should and continued “who is this man and where are we going?”
“We are going to visit your dad” she replied touching the hair on his head, neglecting to address the part about who the man was.
“Why he is not home?” the boy asked and looked first at his mom and a split second later up at Mike.
“That’s what we are about to find out” Margaret said and stood up taking Alex’s hand and leading him in to his bedroom to change.
“We’ll be back in a moment” Margaret said to Mike in a sad tone of voice
“Take your time mam” Mike answered as it was no rush.

They came out a few minutes later changed and groomed, and followed Mike to his car after Margaret closed the door to her apartment. As Mike drove, his back seat passengers were quiet and spaced out. The boy was leaning on his mom and she was holding him around his tiny shoulders with her right hand.
“Where did you find him?” Margaret asked breaking the gloomy silence.
“In one of the motels close to the beach” Mike answered and looked into the rear view mirror attempting to make eye contact with her out of politeness.
“When?” Margaret asked.
“Around three thirty AM today after we received an anonymous call that there was a body in one of the motel rooms. We are speculating, but it looks like whoever the caller was, was in the middle of committing a burglary when he discovered a body on the floor. He left the room but contacted us.” Mike said and asked “Did you husband tell you anything about where he was going last night?”
“No, we were not that kind of couple anymore. I followed him though and saw the working girl he picked up.” This was something, Mike thought and asked
“Would you be able to provide her description, we believe she was the last person he saw last night?”
“There is nothing to describe; blond wig, lots of makeup, red dress, purse and high heels.”
“Did you catch a glimpse of her face?” Mike asked and glanced in the rear view mirror again
“No, it was not clear from where I was standing.” Margaret said.
“Did you notice anything unusual about her, something that would stand out?” Mike pressed slightly.
“Yes” Margaret said and continued “she put her left hand on the roof of my husband’s car and I noticed that she was missing her thumb.”
“Are you sure?” Mike asked and added “did you clearly see it?”
“Yes, I did. She was missing the thumb finger of her left hand” Margaret repeated. Mike was feeling it now, the break came unexpectedly and with time and effort all this killing would stop. He knew it instantly, he sensed it.

~ 11 ~

The coroner’s office was too bright for Margaret and she was squinting her eyes as they entered it. She wasn’t up to this task, she knew it as soon as she entered the room. Bodies propped on stretchers covered with white or black cloth wasn’t her kind of place to be. She stopped and was trying to hold herself together but couldn’t. Margaret dropped on her knees holding her son by his waist. Mike was close and knelled to talk to her.
“Do you need a minute Misses Bell?” Mike asked
“Yes, give me some time” Margaret answered still holding her son.
“Let’s have Alex wait outside with one of our officers, OK?” Mike asked and continued “we have pistols and other guns for him to check. What do you think Alex?” Mike asked. Alex looked excited.
“Mom, please” Alex said and Margaret approved. Mike took them both outside the coroner’s office doors. Mike left Margaret on the bench and took Alex’s hand in his.
“He will be here Misses Bell” Mike pointed across the corridor at the double doors.
“Are you ready?” Mike asked the little boy not waiting for an answer from his mom.
“Yes” the little boy answered and straightened himself like he was in the army.
“Misses Bell, please wait here and I will be back” Mike said.
“I am not going anywhere” she answered weakly. Mike and the little boy disappeared behind the double doors.
“This is officer Alex” Mike said to the little boy “Alex, please meet Alex” Mike said and continued “show him our arsenal and I will be back in a few” Mike said squinting with one eye. Officer Alex buzzed the door open and little Alex went inside. Bored to death of his shift the officer took the little boy around and before Mike left the weapons and evidence room he heard the little boy talk excitedly.
“Oh my god! This is a Beretta twenty two and this one is nine millimeter. This is a M16 sniper rifle!” Mike stood there for a second listening before he left the room. Mike approached Margaret, who was sitting on the bench where he left her.
“Are you ready?” Mike asked quietly.
“Yes. I don’t want to take more of your time and be a babysitter for my kid.”
“He is having fun, don’t worry about your son, he is in good hands.”
Margaret stood up and followed Mike back into the coroner’s office. She was ready and the bright light wasn’t that bright anymore as they entered the office again where medical examiner Dr. Troy met them and offered her condolences. They went through the aisle and stopped in front of a window. On the opposite side of the window she saw a body on a stretcher covered by white cloth. Doctor entered the room and stopped in front of the body.
“Are you ready?” doctor asked and waited.
“Yes, open it” Margaret answered “just open it” she moaned. Doctor the cloth and revealed the victim’s head. Margaret fainted instantly with “that’s my husband, that’s my David” as she went down, but Mike kept her from falling completely.

~ 12 ~

“I am not a psycho” Carla said to herself. She spread a nice and beautiful white line on her coffee table and exhaled a puff of smoke from her joint. She was home by herself now, all to herself, she could enjoy herself as much as she wanted, but she felt that she was different and shouldn’t do what she was doing. She stared at the white perky line in front of her and exhaled deeply. She did a few rapid puffs from her joint and leaned back on her sofa.
“Fuck you Carla” she heard in her head “oh my god it’s so good, and you are so tight.” She snapped out of it and sniffed the white and inviting line in front of her with a straw and settled back on her sofa rubbing at her nose with her fingers rapidly for a moment. She felt nice and high, strong too, she was on top of the world at this moment. The chemicals went into her head and spread around her brains, numbness went through her body and a split second later she was ready. She was ready to do anything and she felt like a superman or whoever that character in the stupid outfit was.
“I liked all of you, but I cannot stop myself, I just can’t stop. I have to feel it in my head, in my body. I have to take a life in order to live.” Carla was crying sitting on her sofa and couldn’t control herself anymore. Her chest was moving up and down rapidly and her hands were on her face fixed at her mouth closing it as she breathed through her nose.
“I will have to do “L” and later another “A”” she said. “I love this, it’s beautiful and powerful, nothing compares to this.” Carla puffed another batch of smoke from her mouth. The joint was so small that she couldn’t hold it in her fingers any longer. She dropped the roach into the ashtray. She would put all her leftovers all together at one point and smoke them to the end, no questions about that. Carla stood up and went on the balcony. She looked down from the twenty forth story of her apartment and was thinking of ending her life again. Every time she was on her balcony, she was thinking about how fucked up she was and what she was doing on one hand, killing people and on another, being a registered nurse, saving them. She looked down on the street below and pictured herself spread on the asphalt.
“Why am I like this?” Carla screamed into the humid Miami air and waited for a moment but the answer never came. She went back into her apartment and closed the balcony door behind her. She put Elvis’s vinyl disk on her player and started to dance to “Love me tender”. She took her clothes off and dropped it piece by piece on the floor leaving herself naked as she looked at her body in her full size mirror. She was beautiful, she thought, skinny body, dash of ribs visible, nice perky ass and no excess skin at all, long legs finished her body, making it stand out from the crowd as it helped her to get her clients. She danced and laughed as everything was swirling around her in rapid succession.
She woke up on the floor of her apartment the next day, feeling a little lightheaded. The thought entered her mind again, the thought of taking someone’s life. The phone ring was deafening. She picked up her phone in confusion and found herself talking to the front desk at the clinic. They needed a substitute as somebody had gotten sick and it wasn’t her shift today. She brushed her teeth got dressed and went downstairs as the car, sent by the clinic, was already waiting for her.

~ 13 ~

Judy came into the ME’s office as soon as she heard that Mike was trying to reach her.
“Hello Misses Bell” Judy said and helped Mike to stop Margaret from falling. Mike and Judy took Margret from both sides under her arms and left the room. Out in the corridor they sat her down on a bench. Judy went back into the office and came out with a cup of water in her hand. They watched her for a moment and Mike broke the silence.
“We have a break Strong. She followed her husband and saw the girl he was last with.”
“It’s possible that it could not be her” Judy said and looked at Mike.
“It’s possible and when we will find her we have to be careful and observe her behavior while questioning her.” Mike said and added “you will do the questioning and I will observe.”
“You think we will be able to find her soon enough?” Judy asked.
“Well” Mike said and paused for a second. He continued “I said a break right?” Mike asked.
“OK, what is it?” Judy asked as she looked at Margaret who started to open her eyes slowly.
“She is missing a thumb finger of her left hand Strong. How many working girls in Miami could there possibly be missing a thumb?” Mike asked more himself nor anybody around him.
“Not many” Judy answered as she gave Margaret a cup of water. Margaret took it and sipped.
“Where is my son?” Margaret asked and looked up at Mike.
“I will bring him right away” Mike said and continued “we will need you to sit down with our sketch artist Misses Bell. Would you be able to spend another hour or so with us?” Mike asked gently not pressing too much. Margaret nodded in agreement.
“This is my partner detective Judy Strong” Mike introduced Judy to Margaret and added “just wait here while I’ll bring Alex back.” He left them and few minutes later came back with a totally excited little boy.
“Mom!” the little boy exclaimed as he hugged Margaret and continued “I know who I am going to be when I grow up. Remember you and dad asked me.”
“Who?” she asked weakly.
“I will be a detective” he said proudly. She just smiled back nodding her head and not saying anything.
“Where is dad?” Alex asked innocently and didn’t even wait for an answer. Margaret opened and closed her mouth. She would tell him later, she thought.
“That’s a good idea as we need more detectives like us” Mike said and added “would you like to see the detective’s offices?”
“Yes, detective Brennan” little Alex answered very formally.
“This is my partner detective Judy Strong” Mike introduced Judy to Alex and Judy and Alex shook hands. Mike helped Margaret to get up and the four of them went into the detective’s quarters taking the elevator to the third floor from the basement.
It took a little bit more than an hour for Margaret to explain who she saw and to provide a description for a sketch with one of the forensic artists. Little Alex was mesmerized and quietly observed the whole process after Mike took him around the room and showed him how everything looked while other detectives worked. Mike provided a car for Margaret and Alex and they were gone saying goodbyes.

~ 14 ~

Mike and Judy looked at the statement again. Judy took it in her hands and read it again to him and to herself while Mike was looking at the drawing.
“We are going tonight and every night until we find her, and we are not talking to hookers. Just driving around and making it look like we are a kinky couple looking to explore different things in our lives.” Mike said after Judy had finished reading the report. Mike crushed one of the roasted peanuts in his fingers of his left hand and threw it into his mouth one by one as it was two and with his right pushed a little square tray with more nuts towards Judy.
“We need a different car as our will be too obvious.” Judy added and took couple of them from the tray.
“I’ll take mine, and we have to change into normal, less formal and more paganus attire” Mike said using his Latin vocabulary again “more civilian” he finished as he looked at Judy across the table. She saw it that he was different now, he was happy Mike and as was she. That’s how it was in their world, one break like this and the whole investigation took a different turn. One loving wife took a step further in order to figure out her husband’s needs and was about to change for him, if he had come back that night. Now there would be a closed casket funeral.
“Let’s go home and change and don’t be flashy OK, Strong, just normal and casual.” Mike said.
“OK boss” she answered and laughed as she continued “so, we are a couple and kinky one. Interesting.”
“Indeed” Mike said. On their way out they talked to the chief, it took them another hour and they separated as Mike dropped Judy off by her place.
“I’ll pick you up at nine” Mike said.
“Will you?” Judy said and looked directly into his eyes.
“Yes, I will my second half” Mike said trying his new role already.
“I’ll wait for you honey.” Judy answered and smiled “see you soon” she added as she got out from the unmarked car and made her way to her apartment building door. She stopped by the entrance door turned back to him and waived her hand. Mike saw it and waived back, he was convinced that they could pull this project off.

~ 15 ~

Judy entered her apartment door and quickly closed it behind her, leaning on it. She felt rush and excitement in her lower body and couldn’t do anything that would take her thoughts away from Mike. This guy would be it for her if they weren’t partners. She was thinking to quit after they were done with this case or transfer to a different department and propose to him. Girls rarely would do such a thing, but this guy, this guy was definitely a keeper. It was still about two hours until Mike would come. Judy took a shower relieving herself with moans and rapid breathing through her teeth. She didn’t do that often but she couldn’t stop herself today. She felt a little bit high as the warmth spread through her body as it built up, first slowly and then faster emptying her body. As she felt drained for a split second, another wave of pleasure came filling her back as it spread through her, like an electric shock, adding goosebumps to the skin on her hands. She loved it. After she was finished with her shower she made a salad for herself and ate it in the living room while she watched TV. She fell for him and the ring of her home phone distracted her. Judy picked up the phone from its cradle to answer.
“Judy” she said and heard Mike’s voice on the other end.
“You think I should have slick hair? You know, with gel. What’s your opinion on that?” Mike asked and continued “hope I didn’t disturb you Strong?”
“No, just have it natural, I like you like that.” Judy said playing their game.
“I will have to tell you something” Mike said.
“What is it honey?” Judy asked as she felt herself breathing fast.
“After we finish with this case I will move to a different department” Mike said.
“Why Mike? Why?” Judy asked forgetting, for a moment, that she was about to do the same.
“I would love to have a date with you and see where it would take us” Mike said “we cannot do this being a partners. I feel something for you Strong and I feel it for real. Feel it in my chest Strong” Mike continued “do you understand?” She dropped her hand down and unzipped her pants. Judy slipped down her fingers between her legs and felt wetness there, slimy and warm. She rubbed herself. She felt her cheeks getting red and hot.
“Let us finish this case and we will talk” Judy said and rolled her eyes from her building up pleasure.
“Do you think there is a chance for us?” Mike asked.
“Let us finish our case” Judy repeated again and knew he was hooked.
“I apologize if I crossed the line, but I couldn’t hold it.” Mike said.
“Don’t be, we will talk” Judy said and added “see you at nine” as she heard him say the same.
At approximately eight fifty she was standing outside as Mike pulled to the curb and leaned to open the passenger door for her.

~ 16 ~

Carla came home exhausted and drained. She wanted to proceed with her hobby but was so tired that she thought she would slip to the point where the hunter could become the hunted. She didn’t want this. She knew it hurt and she didn’t want to experience what she was doing to the other men. Even though she was trying to kill them quickly, still the way she killed them was terrible and painful. Carla went to the shower and when she came out she made up her mind as she had two days to stay home because of her overtime today. She cleaned up her coffee table and dumped leftovers of white powder dividing it in three even lines. She sat there, thinking, for a moment looking at her creation as she said to herself.
“To do or not to do” she smirked “it will be my last party, I promise you, whoever you are” she rubbed her belly “don’t worry, you will be my healthy baby. This is my last time, I’ll keep you safe, I love you already my creature.” Even though it was too early, she felt something moving in her and she laid back on her chair. She knew how she got pregnant, it was her “C”. While she strangled him she felt him cumming and probably the condom had a hole or something was wrong with it, she could only speculate. She came back from her thoughts and bent down towards the table taking one line at the time. She laid back on the couch again, weightless and free. A moment later she spread all her roaches on the table and rolled a joint. She put it in her mouth and lit it. She made a few rapid puffs first and then a deep one. It went into her brains and mixed with other chemicals already absorbed by her body, now she was real and normal Carla.
“Manly man” Carla said and smiled stupidly as she knew how her face looked right now. It was stupid face of a single, pregnant woman in her thirties and this was not the first time she had looked at herself in the mirror while under the influence. She took her 1827 original golden dollar, her father had given her for her twelfth birthday and flipped it in the palm of her hand. She knew that it was something of value and when she checked she was not surprised to find that this particular coin was worth over half a million dollars.
“Heads, I am going to the club, just for fun, no funny business and tails, staying home.” Carla said and threw the coin into the air flipping it with the thumb of her right hand. It landed on tails.
“Movie night she said” exhaling with a little “woof” at the end. Staying home was even better. She flipped the channels of her TV and stopped on one of the talk shows she liked. She stood up and vent into the kitchen for some popcorn, almost empty, maybe four shots max, bottle of vodka and a shot glass. At this point nothing had bothered her at all, she was where she was by the luck of her coin.
“Tomorrow” She said to herself “no rush. There’s always tomorrow.”

~ 17 ~

Mike leaned and opened the passenger door for Judy. Judy noticed that he was a little shy as he tried to avoid looking into her eyes.
“Mike” Judy said as she looked at him “let’s keep it the way it was. We haven’t done anything wrong. Let’s concentrate on our case and store our personal things in the box for the time being” Judy paused and continued “we’ll talk later.” Mike just nodded in silence as he pulled from the curb and drove in the direction of the place Margaret gave them. There was an awkward silence for a moment and Mike broke it.
“OK Strong. Let’s go over our plan once again. We are a happy couple who are looking to explore new things. We are not getting out from the car even if we see her. We will talk through the window but not to her the first time. If we see her we should not be obvious, no staring and keep it relaxed and normal. We will talk to a few girls and will drive away to find a good spot to watch her. If she will get a client, we will follow. We have to talk normal, like regular people, no professional language. You following me so far?” Mike asked and quickly glanced at Judy.
“Yes Mike, I understand” Judy answered.
“For that” Mike continued as he pulled into one of the big mall’s parking lot “we have to have a little bit more disguise.”
“What do you mean?” Judy asked not understanding what Mike was trying to say as they were already disguised. Mike found a good and lonely spot, parked and shut down the engine. Mike opened the glove compartment of his car and extracted a flask and baggy with a couple of joints.
“The outfit is good, but this” he pointed at the props “will steer those girls even further away from thinking that we are cops. Those girls are not stupid, they can smell us for miles away Strong. We will not smoke, we will just light it up to make my car smell like weed. And a couple of sips of this fine bourbon will do.”
“You are my boss” Judy said unscrewing the flask and sniffing the content of it moving her hand slowly from side to side from right nostril to the left and vice versa. Judy sipped the bourbon but didn’t swallow, she just rinsed her mouth holding it inside for a few seconds and spit it outside the window. Mike was lighting one of the joints without inhaling it. When the joint was hazy enough, he moved around the car with slightly open windows. Judy repeated her procedure again and passed the flask to Mike as he gave her the joint. As the smoke went up under the roof of their car it started slowly venting out through the slightly opened windows. As time passed in silence they repeated their ritual a few times. Finally Judy giggled and said.
“I can’t believe we are doing this crap. What if security or another cop would see us? They will not believe we’re undercover.”
“We will explain, but I hope it will not happen” Mike answered slightly chuckling too showing Judy his perfect white teeth. Now they were closer to be ready and after another ten minutes passed Mike started the engine.
“Judy, my darling. I think we’re ready, what do you think?”
“Honey, I think we are” Judy answered. Mike put his car into the drive mode and drove away reluctantly. Judy also felt relaxed and ready as she looked at Mike seductively blinking rapidly with both eyelashes.

~ 18 ~

It was a beautiful night Judy thought looking into the window as they were cruising Miami streets getting closer to their destination. Perhaps smoke from joints they burned did its work. They were excited as they tried to recall their academy years and Judy, being a female, had more tales to tell. They were laughing when Mike pulled to the curb again.
“What happened sweetheart?” Judy asked “change of heart?” She added as she looked at herself in the mirror refreshing her lipstick and fixing her mascara in couple of places. Mike pulled a little plastic bag from a pocket of his shirt.
“Oh no!” Judy exclaimed “No way, we are not doing this shit.”
“Relax, it’s a baking soda” Mike answered and continued “just put a little under your nose, not much, just to be noticeable.” Judy took the little plastic square bag, no more in size than fifty cents and opened it. It was just a little bit on the bottom and she dipped her moist pinky into it and sniffed. Yes, it was baking soda.
“Judy, do you think I would do something like this to you? You should trust me.” Judy looked into the mirror and smeared a little under her nose and just as little on her chin.
“How does it look?” Judy asked turning her head to Mike ignoring his first question.
“I don’t think you need it on your chin, too messy. Take that away” Mike recommended. Judy complied.
“OK, are we ready?” Mike asked Judy and himself.
“Yes my darling” Judy answered.
“Yes” Mike added exhaling deeply and nodded his head. They turned around the corner and drove slowly. A couple of blocks later they saw what they came for.
Working girls were walking around of different ages, colors and sizes. Mike and Judy approached with open windows and with stoned faces they looked around, but on the other hand paying a lot of attention. Mike, being a driver, had more leverage as he was less visible and Judy looked only in front of her rarely using her peripheral. They stopped and talked to a few girls, but undecided were kept moving further down the boulevard. Their prey was nowhere to be found. They went all the way and left the place. They parked the car some distance away as they had to wait at least an hour and come back for one more round. Mike said.
“I hope she didn’t change the spot or area. We need to have binoculars tomorrow and tonight when we will do another round, we should also scope the area for a good spot not too close. I think stalking would be a better approach, what’s your take on this Strong?”
“I was thinking the same” Judy added and exhaled “I hope we didn’t miss her. Maybe she already went with somebody?”
“Let’s not speculate” Mike answered.
“We are close to one of the hospitals” Judy said and continued “let’s stop by and see if anything comes up, while we are waiting anyway.” They drove to the hospital and showed a sketch as well as a description of their suspect’s hand. Nobody knew or saw the person they were looking for. For Judy and Mike it was no surprise.

The next day Judy and Mike spent driving around hospitals in Miami and close to the border asking questions and showing their suspect’s sketch. They didn’t even think to visit small one day surgery places yet but the thought did enter their minds. They decided that it would be later on their list as a last resource as they had a lot to do on their busy schedule. As the day was coming to an end, they came back to their office and prepared their gear for tonight’s hunt. They found a report from the CSU which confirmed many things they already knew and one thing that stood out was the device that was used during the crime. According to their team the same scalpel was used on all three victims. It was usual, used by many called “B.P. handle” 2-piece scalpel design where the blade was replaceable and the handle reusable. Developed and designed in 1915 by Charles Russell Bard and Morgan Parker, founders of the Bard-Parker Company. Now that hospitals in the area had been eliminated as possible sources, they would visit smaller surgical centers where this particular brand was used.
They had found a few places last night where they could safely sit and watch the street without attracting any attention to themselves. They took Mike’s car and drove to their destination.

~ 19 ~

Carla was in bed all day and as evening approached she started to get ready. She was well rested and ready to do her hobby. She packed her number 10 new blade attaching it to the scalpel’s handle, one backup blade, a second set of clothes and shoes. She put her now red hair wig into the purse as well as she would use it later when she would get to her destination. Mascara and other girl’s stuff was in her purse already. The letter “L” sounded so inviting and she felt excited just to thinking about it. She looked at herself in the full length mirror before leaving and stood there for some time. She finally closed the door of her apartment behind her. Carla didn’t like the place where she was going but it was the easiest way to pick up her prey.
“Men are so stupid and will do and pay anything for pussy” she said to herself going down in an elevator. She took a taxi to her place of hobby.
“Hey beautiful, you want to wait for my shift to finish?” a Spanish taxi driver said paying more attention to her then to the road ahead of him.
“Listen, I am not in the mood to talk” Carla said and squinted her eyes to read his name on the taxi dashboard “Carlos” who else would it be she thought rolling her eyes up.
“OK senora, you are the boss, but I can tell you this, you are so beautiful mammy, you should know that.”
“Carlos, you probably have fifty kids at home and a pregnant wife, what are you trying to do here? I don’t want to talk to you, just drive.”
“I am not married” Carlos replied and added “why are you so mean? OK, I will not talk to you.” Carla was surprised to hear that Spanish guy was single and added.
“Are you sure you are not married, like somewhere else, besides this country?” She asked.
“No senora, I am not, it’s the truth.” The taxi driver answered.
“You think you can handle me? You are a good looking guy and I don’t care what you do, looks like you are a hard working man.” Carla was thinking now, but he was on the radio constantly and it would be suspicious if he didn’t report. Finally she said.
“This is my home number and you can call me when you are off your shift” she passed a folded paper with her invalid hand just to test him and he took it kissing it not even paying the slightest attention to the damage.
“Thank you mommy” Carlos said and stopped the car at the curb, he took no money from her as he let her go. He was a good guy she thought; good looking, not pushy, a gentleman who knew how to handle himself with her, after all he started the conversation. We would see she thought.

As she approached her place, she went back in time and remembered, she had to fight with a few bimbos to claim her spot when she first started. One almost died if Carla didn’t know CPR. Now she was coming in casually whenever she wanted. She didn’t have friends and didn’t talk to anybody and they avoided her as well, she noticed. Even now as she came and walked nonchalantly looking at the street, most of the girls just ignored her as if she didn’t exist, like she was a ghost. She wasn’t desperate to pick somebody up and wasn’t waving or calling to passing cars like other idiots did. Men found her and that’s how she thought it should be. They would stop by her even if they already picked up a girl and she would ignore them. She thought of herself as a magnet that would attract any little particle to itself. Sometimes she was thinking of herself as a shit to a flies and laughed knowing that she wasn’t bad looking shit after all, the flies were an issue. Carla was picky in selecting her clients and was trying to have non-attached guys. She knew that she made a mistake with “R” but it was too late, she was in a rage, ready and unstoppable at that point. Everything worked out perfect she thought not knowing the truth. She extracted a lollipop from her bag inside side pocket and after unwrapping it slipped it in her mouth with her damaged hand holding it in place for some time exposing it. She rolled the candy’s stick between her middle and pointer fingers looking in different directions as she stood by the curb.

~ 20 ~

Mike saw her before but wasn’t sure yet and now as he took his binoculars away from his face and looked at Judy he met her eyes looking at him with big smile on her face. She saw her too.
“This is unbelievable detective” Mike whispered and continued “let’s wait and follow. As soon as we get a license plate we’ll also call in.”
“Why are you whispering?” Judy asked and added whispering herself “Yes Sir!”
They were sitting in silence for some time watching through their binoculars. She let a few cars go and now was talking to one driver for quite some time. A few more minutes passed before their “causarius”, that was the nickname Mike gave her which meant invalid in Latin, slipped into a car. Mike turned the engine and started to follow. Judy transmitted the license plate number to one of the officers on patrol with instructions not to stop the vehicle they followed under any circumstance and to be ready when they called with a precise location. In addition, Judy instructed to forward the message to all other officers on patrol. They had to be careful following and Mike was good at keeping a safe distance. Judy was transmitting their current location constantly keeping the patrols aware. After a while they saw the car they followed stop before one of the cheap motel entrances and “causarius” got out. The car proceeded further to the parking. The driver got out and went to check-in. Mike and Judy passed by not paying attention as they listened to the music in their car putting it up loud. As soon as Mike and Judy were out of sight in their car they stopped and Judy transmitted the exact coordinates. A few minutes later, the first patrol car and then a few more cars pulled up close to them. Mike and Judy got out and gave instructions to the cops. They also called in an ambulance just to be proactive. They all waited for another few minutes before Mike and Judy started to move towards the front desk of the motel.

~ 21 ~

Carla felt that she was getting bigger and bigger each day as her pregnancy progressed. She was talking to the guy she chose and at the same time felt something moving in her. It was kind of a new and awkward feeling to her. At one point she was thinking to cancel her hobby for tonight and go home but the longer she talked the more she wanted him. In addition, it’s been some time since she practiced last.
To Carla, before taking somebody’s life was a feeling similar to jumping from a plane, thrilling and exciting. A little bit of fear at first, stomach ache mixed with a little nausea followed by slight buckling of knees as she felt a tad lightheaded. It was not visible to any of her clients but yes she was as normal as human being could be. Well, with a little physiological issue she thought. Most of the humans would not be able to live normally with themselves after taking someone’s life, it would be a damage that could not be erased. Dreams and guilt would follow as well as depression even if it happened in self-defense. Hours of therapy and pounds of drugs to mellow one’s broken soul. Carla, on the other hand, was different. She was already damaged and she was already psychologically broken. She felt no guilt when she was taking one’s life, guilt and dreams didn’t follow her being neither a killer nor a nurse. She felt like a chameleon as she transferred herself effortlessly between leisure and reality. As soon as she inhaled that last breath of life which would leave someone’s body traveling into hers, she felt different. Not like she was GOD and could do anything in the world, but like a collector as this last stroke of life had a place in her head. Every time, starting with her asshole stepdad, breath would travel into the same place, same way and would taste and smell the same. She remembered all four of her victims as their mouth smells were varying from alcohol and weed to onions, garlic and tobacco. That last puff that she would inhale would be always the same. She noticed that when she finished her “C” and compared it to the cop. It was irritating when she was trying to place the similarities together and lastly she did. Now she knew what she wanted, how exactly it would feel and where it would go. She knew she would be satisfied, normal and relaxed. After finishing them off and when she was back home, she wasn’t doing drugs and alcohol because she was grieving and guilty, she was doing it because she wanted to. By the time she was home, she would be already changed to Carla the nurse, but right now, she was gradually becoming Carla the killer.

Finally she was invited into the car. Carla opened the door and dropped on the passenger seat.
“The cheapest place you can think of” she said as she looked into her hand mirror.
“The cheapest it is” she heard him say as he continued “Derek” he said and asked “what’s your name?”
“Carla” Carla answered looking at his reaction.
“Nice name” Derek said as he drove not questioning her about anything. Carla looked around as they drove listening to Derek’s work stories. Everything was normal as she asked him to stop a couple of blocks before the motel. She gave him instructions and got out from his car. Another car passed them by with loud music on, two clowns in it were laughing probably drunk and high like kites, Carla thought. “Where are the cops when you need them” she said to herself and continued “if it was me in that car? I would be probably stopped already. With my luck…” Carla was never drinking and driving after her friend got a DUI and Carla was in the same car with him. She thought it was her bad luck. She walked in the shadows to the motel and found a good spot where she could see the doors. It didn’t take long for Derek to check-in as he pulled into the last unit’s space. He didn’t look around as he opened the door and left a dash open as he disappeared behind it. She waited another five minutes and crossed the parking lot, walking towards his room. In the distance she saw the couple going into the office holding each other. Carla slipped into the Derek’s room and closed the door behind her.

~ 22 ~

Mike and Judy saw somebody in the distance entering the last unit’s door and casually entered the office door. The elderly man at the front desk calmly said “Twenty without towels and twenty five with.”
Mike and Judy pulled out and showed their credentials and the elderly man startled declared “That’s our price and that’s how we operate officers.”
“We are not here for the room” Judy said and they explained what they were doing. They confirmed the room number for the guy that just checked-in and transmitted the info to the other officers and instructed them that it was time to join them. Another eight cops came on foot and they quietly surrounded, not fully but in a semi-circle, the room. The room had two windows, one in front and one in the back. There was no door between the two rooms and only one entrance which was a plus. Four cops covered the back and three the front window. Mike was getting ready to kick the door in and Judy and another cop would be the ones apprehending the suspect. The bed was on the right in the room and the door had hinges on the left and opened inwards, which was an advantage.
They all pulled their guns out and took their positions even though the instructions were not to shoot. Mike looked around silently and nodded counting from three to zero with his fingers. As soon as he showed an O with his fingers, Mike kicked the door in with all his force.

The door gave in, semi-easily, without much resistance. Judy and another cop burst in first and to the right, screaming to surrender and taking in the scene. Judy pointed her gun in front of her with two hands and commanded the suspect to put her hands up. She had been right in thinking it was a woman. She repeated her command two more times. The suspect was sitting naked on top of a struggling man’s body. The man’s feet and hands were tied to the bed with the pillow covering his head as their suspect was trying to suffocate him leaning on top of the pillow. The killer turned and looked at the cops with disbelief and a split second later had a crazy smile on her face. Quickly taking her scalpel in her right hand and the spare blade between her pointer and middle fingers of her left hand the killer turned around. With lightning speed she stood up on the bed, bent her knees slightly and jumped on Judy. The only thing Judy was able to do was to take her gun off safety. Everything was happening so fast and unexpected. The officer who was with Judy jumped on the bed to help the victim and to prevent him from suffocation, Mike was a little behind closing in fast but not fast enough. Judy went down hard with the naked killer on top of her. Judy looked at the killer’s face and got scared, it was no human looking back at her- it was a monster in a human body. Judy tried to move her right hand with the gun up before she hit the floor and was successful. Judy saw the killer’s left hand going down fast as it aimed at her heart. Judy hit her opponent in the throat with her left fist, thinking that it would be enough, forgetting that psychopaths are twice or maybe three times stronger than normal people, especially in a rage. The proof was right above her, looking at her and smiling viciously. The killer didn’t wait or hesitate and penetrated Judy’s ribs on the left side with her right hand twisting the scalpel in place and was about to hit her in her throat with the spare blade located in her left invalid hand.

~ 23 ~

Carla couldn’t believe that the cops would be able to find her so quickly. She was very cautious she thought, how they found her so fast, how? That was her question but not for long.
There was a loud “Boom” in the room and Carla felt instant pain passing through her body. She felt bits and pieces tearing from her body and going into her stomach first and quickly coming out from her back. She felt all this like she was on absinthe and hallucinating, she felt a hole in her body where her baby once was. She shook violently and first tasted and a moment later gagged on blood in her throat. She thought of her unborn instantly and got even angrier. Carla screamed, spitting blood on the cop’s face and tried to slash the cop beneath her with her left hand while twisting her scalpel, which she had in her right hand in the cop’s rib cage. Carla felt a cold gun muzzle hitting and hurting her left breast.
“I am sorry baby” Carla gurgled and Judy thought she heard it too. It was too late.
“Fuck you!” Judy screamed in pain and agony pulling the trigger. Another “Boom” stopped Carla’s heart as pieces of it attached itself to the ceiling and Carla’s not moving body dropped on top of Judy’s covering her in blood, muscle matter and bone debris. Judy looked at the killer’s face and noticed that it was different now as her muscles relaxed and sagged transforming the killer into a normal person. To Judy, this person on top of her finally found peace in her death according to the expression on the killer’s face. She was a beautiful woman Judy thought and shook her head from side to side closing her eyes. Judy felt pain spreading throughout her body as she exhaled deeply looking and smelling the killer’s face, hair and the whole body. Judy was still shaking as she tried to move the killer’s motionless corpse to the side with no strength left in her. She felt weak and very tired. She felt blood oozing from her left side but she didn’t think it was fatal or even serious. As Judy pushed again the body finally gave in and she vaguely saw Mike and another officer on top of her, looking and telling her something. She couldn’t comprehend what they were asking or saying and the world started to swirl around her head as she passed out with a sad face saying and hoping they heard her.

“She was pregnant Mike, I just killed her innocent baby”.

__________
Slava P ©
Created: 8/1/2017