(BOOK 2) MARK/HOFFMAN: A Saw Fanfiction

SEVEN

Hoffman had sifted through the folder that John had given him before his death, but hadn't taken a good look at it until now. 

The five people in the trap were all involved in a fire that killed eight people. He remembered the case, but it wasn't something he worked closely on. The game seemed a bit complicated, but maybe that was because it was his first test that he would be working on alone.

He'd wait a little bit before starting this game, but preparation would have to begin immediately.

However, right now, he had some unfinished business to take care of.

Strahm being alive wasn't something he was necessarily happy about, but it is what it is. He had a new plan already.

Hoffman made his way to Agent Perez's hospital room. When he walked in, he noticed Strahm sitting by her empty bed. Her pillow was soaked with blood. 

"I'm truly sorry about agent Perez," he told Strahm. 

A suspicious Strahm looked at him in irritation for a moment before responding. 

"She said your name, you know? The last thing she said was Detective Hoffman. Why'd she say that? Why'd she say your name?" 

Hoffman was a bit confused by what he was saying. Why HAD she said his name?  

"I don't know-"

"No... how did you walk out of that building?"

Hoffman decided to take a cheap shot and replied with: "How did you?" 

"On a gurney with a fucking hole in my throat," Strahm snapped, which caused him to go into a coughing fit. 

Strahm was still recovering from the tracheotomy he had given himself. His voice was raspy and it seemed hard for him to talk. 

"Look at you. Couple of scratches and a story about how your arm straps broke. Jigsaw doesn't make mistakes." 

Hoffman didn't like that Strahm was onto him. He played dumb. "Is this you theorizing again? Cuz Jigsaw's dead." 

"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about you and your whole crooked department!" Strahm said angrily. 

In this moment, Hoffman really wished Strahm had died in that trap. 

"My departments' gone. They're all dead. There's no one left," Hoffman said. 

"Besides YOU," Strahm added. 

Shit. Hoffman shifted uncomfortably and decided scaring him away might be his only option right now. 

"I've been chasing Jigsaw since the beginning, and I got him, so unless you have something else to say, back the fuck off," he growled through gritted teeth. 

Strahm was quiet. Somehow Hoffman didn't feel much better at all. 

"Read the papers, I saved that little girl."

As Hoffman walked toward the door to leave, Strahm said: "Your girlfriend stopped by. I'm sure she told you."

Hoffman stopped and looked back at him over his shoulder. "She came to visit you? Why?"

"She just wanted to see how I was doing. She seemed like a nice woman."

Hoffman was furious. No matter what he did, Abby was always smack dab in the middle of everything.