Don't Look Back

Chapter 6

Denver, Colorado, Thursday May 24, 11:45 a.m

    The creak of the floorboards in the kitchen above jerked her awake. He was back.
    Fear engulfed her insides turning her body to stone. No. Please no. Her breath came out rapid and harsh against her dry throat. She couldn't go through this again. Not again.
    She had no concept of time down here. He'd taken her on Monday. What was today? Did anyone know she was missing? They had to. Her family was protective. They'd look for her.
Oh God. Mom and Dad. Grief pierced her heart. They would worry. She couldn't die. Her parents wouldn't survive it. She had to get out! But how? She was tied up on a cot. And she hurt.
     She licked her cracked lips and struggled against the rope tied around her wrists. It didn't even budge. It was tied too tight. Her captor was strong. Hot tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
     She was going to die. Her parents wouldn't see her graduate. Wouldn't see the support and monetary assistance they'd provided paid off. She wanted to make them proud.
     Footsteps sounded on the stairs. He was coming down.
     Pretend to be asleep! She screwed her eyes shut and tried to still her body. Her heart pounded, the sound so loud she was sure he'd hear it.
The door opened and she heard him walk in.
"I'm back." He called out in a sing song way that made the hair on the back of her neck stand. She continued to keep her eyes closed. Maybe he'd leave if he saw her asleep.
"I know you're awake."
Dammit. Dread built in her stomach. She wasn't going to open her eyes. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"It's okay." He said, his voice deceptively friendly as if they were having a normal conversation over coffee. "You'll open your eyes soon enough."
She heard his movements over to her right where she had noticed a metal table. There was a clicking noise and then something scraping. What was he doing? Unable to help it, she opened her eyes.
He had his back to her shielding whatever he was doing on the table. Look at him, memorize everything so you can tell the cops. He was tall and slim. His hair brown.
He then turned and she saw...normal. He looked normal. Like any guy you'd see on the street and not even look twice at. He had no distinguishing features. That's what scared her the most, the normal exterior disguising the monster. He came closer and she saw something glint off the ceiling lights.
A knife. He had a knife in his hands. Oh my God. A scream rose in her throat but came out a rusty croak. Her throat was dry as dust.
He stood next to her head and held a cup to her mouth. "Drink."
"No." She shrunk back against the table. She wasn't drinking anything from him.
"It's just water. Drink or I'll make you drink." He said harshly. She lifted her head and took a sip.
The cool water was like a balm to her parched throat and she moaned. She greedily gulped more, some of it spilling down her chin. Then he took the cup away before she'd gotten her fill.
"Good. You'll need it to scream." He sneered, his eyes shining with malice.
She flinched. Her heart pounded harder. "Please. Just let me go. You'll never get away with this."
He laughed. "I already have." Then he slowly started removing his clothing.
No. Please God no. She saw his body was excited. He was getting off on this. Sick freak! She couldn't let him do this. Pulling harder against her bonds, she tried to loosen the rope.
He came back to stand next to her and pulled something down over her head to lay around her throat. She glimpsed familiar pink lace. Her panties? What the hell!
He bent so close to her all she could see were his dead eyes. "Let's play."

                                     * * *

Denver, Colorado, Thursday May 24, 12:00 p.m

Deacon escorted Sara down past the bullpen towards the conference room at the end of the hall. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight. Lieutenant Falcon was waiting for them outside the room.
"Sir, this is Sara Lockhart." Deacon turned to Sara. "This is my boss Lieutenant Falcon." She smiled and held out her hand. "Hello sir."
Falcon shook her hand abruptly. "Glad to see you're doing okay Miss. Lockhart." He dismissed her turning to Deacon. "Deacon, everyone is already inside. Hurry up." In other words:stop wasting time with the witness.
Deacon nodded and Falcon walked into the room. He noticed Sara's brow furrowed. "Don't mind him. That's his usual sparkling personality."
She looked up at him and her eyes twinkled. "I won't. You better get in there. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble."
Deacon grinned and leaned down to whisper, "Any trouble would be worth it." He was rewarded with her pretty face flushing.
"Deacon!" She scolded, her eyes darting around to see if anyone heard him. He chuckled and then took pity on her. "Come over here."
He walked her over to a couple of chairs placed in the hallway close to the room. "Sit here until we finish. We'll get you to the safe house after."
She dropped into the chair somehow managing to make it look graceful. "Do you know where the safe house is?"
"No, I'll find out soon though."
Sloane caught up to them. "Hey. Deacon, I'll stay out here with Sara while you're inside."
Deacon raised his eyebrows surprised. "Thanks."
He observed Sara for a minute. Her color was back and she wasn't shaking anymore. She'd be okay with Sloane.
"Sloane will keep you safe. Just rest for a bit."
She nodded at him and smiled that sweet smile that heated his blood. He pulled at the collar of his shirt suddenly uncomfortable knowing Sloane was watching them. He nodded to her, turned swiftly and walked into the room.
Falcon raised his eyebrow, no doubt irritated he'd taken his time with Sara. He didn't care though. He had to make sure she was okay.
"Okay, people. What do we have?" Falcon asked.
Mark spoke up. "I tested for fingerprints but the only ones on the box were Sara's."
Deacon remembered the way Mark had talked to Sara, making her laugh and touching her hand. He felt jealousy spear his gut. Mark wasn't her type? Was he?
"We dusted outside and looked for other evidence but found nothing. He was careful." Mark said.
"I figured." Deacon said. "He was careful with his victims and I expected him to be so now."
"What about the neighbors? Did anyone see anything?" Falcon asked.
Jackson leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. "I did a sweep of the neighborhood and questioned some of the residents. We got shit as well."
"How the hell is that possible?" Alex growled. He raked his hand through his hair again. Something he did a lot. Deacon was tempted to tell him to cut it off.
"The neighbor to her right is a eighty four year old woman who watches her shows every morning at the same time like clockwork. She didn't notice anything." Jackson explained. "The neighbors across the street and on the left weren't home. I also spoke to a woman two houses down but she didn't see anything or anyone out of place."
Deacon frowned. That was really weird. Usually you would notice someone loitering about.
"But how?" Liz voiced his question. "He had to have been following her. How did he do that without anyone noticing?"
"Maybe that's exactly how." Alex said. "He followed her and observed her neighborhood. He knew the ongoings: who lived where and did what at what time."
"Somebody would have noticed him doing that." Falcon countered.
"Not unless he blended in. He could have disguised himself." Deacon stated.
        "For God's sake." Alex muttered. "He's really pissing me off."
        "What about the bracelets and hair, Mark?" Falcon asked.
        "I've submitted them in for testing. Just waiting for the results. I put a rush order on them."
         "So we're back to square one?" Falcon snarled.
         "I might have something." Jackson typed something on the laptop in front of him. "I've been following the victims movements before they were taken. Trying to figure out what places they all visited. I've found some, like the college, restaurants and cafes. I'm just narrowing them down."
       "Were all of them enrolled in college?" Deacon asked.
       "They were." Jackson answered. "That's the most obvious connection."
        Deacon agreed. Though that didn't mean that was were the killer found them. He had to choose a victim from a place that would allow him to notice them. Where he could observe them. A professor maybe?
         "Did they have any classes together?"
         "They didn't. They all had different majors as well."
          It could still be a professor. But Deacon wasn't sure. They needed more information.
          "Okay, keep working on that. Talk to friends and family. There has to be something." Falcon ordered. "Now, for the other matter. We have a safe house lined up. Adam Marshall made a suggestion. Apparently he knows Sara very well."
          "Who the hell is that?" Deacon asked. How did he know Sara?
         "A-dam is the Assistant States Attorney." Alex supplied giving him a "calm-the-fuck-down" look.
          One glance around showed the others were giving him weird looks. Dammit. Just what he did not need.
         "He's also married to Sara's best friend. We saw her yesterday morning at their work, remember?"
         "Yeah. What did he find?" Deacon strived to sound aloof.
         "There's a condo in LoDo that belongs to a friend of theirs. She's supposedly a best selling author currently away on a book signing tour. There are two penthouse suites that Adam co-owns with the author. He's used them before for the same purposes."
      It sounded good, Deacon thought. Better than his apartment which had been his first choice. He didn't think Falcon would have approved of that.
      "Alright. So we continue to look for clues, try to find his hunting grounds and keep the witness safe." Alex summarized, wrapping up the meeting.
      Everyone filed out of the room leaving only Deacon and Alex.
      "Yo D." Alex walked over to him. "You know I have your back yeah?" At Deacon's nod he continued. "Be careful with Sara. Something is happening between y'all and I don't want you to make a mistake."
      Deacon bristled. "I know how to do my job. I'm not going to let anything go wrong."
      "Man, I just said I have your back. This is me having your back. Just be careful. We can't let this guy get away."
      He understood what Alex was saying even if he didn't like it. Deacon knew better. He wasn't going to let his attraction to Sara interfere with their investigation.
       "Don't worry. I won't fuck this up."