𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 |~𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍~|

Chapter Twenty-Eight

We were on a case in Roanoke. 

There was a man who had been killing women who reminded him of his ex-wife. His name was Fred Walters. 

He had a knife to a woman's throat, and, somehow, I had ended up as the one with the gun, doing the negotiating. 

It didn't seem like it was working, though. 

Just as I thought he might have been starting to turn, he lifted his knife to the woman's chin. 

That's when I fired my gun. 

I ran up to him and kicked his knife away. I grabbed the woman's hand and let her hug me. Her throat was fine. I let JJ take her to the ambulance and looked around at the man I had just killed. 

It wasn't my first time killing someone, but this time felt different. I had met this man's son. 

His son was Matt Walters. He was 26 years old. 

Matt's mother had left them when he was 11. She ran away with another man, leaving Fred to provide for himself and his son. 

And now, I had just killed the only family Matt had left. 

I took a deep breath and returned to the jet. 

Once I got home, I reached into my pocket. I had kept some of the photos. 

I put a picture of Fred Walters and his son up on my wall. I sat on my bed and stared at it as tears leaked out of my eyes. 

Then, I got a call. "Hello?" 

"Hey, Laney. When are you coming to LA for my gallery?" 

I wiped my nose. "My plane leaves Thursday evening." 

I could hear Harris smiling. "Ok. I can't wait to see you there. This is such a big step in my career, you know." 

"I know." 

"Ok. Well, I'll see you soon. Bye." 

"Love you," I said, before hanging up. 

The next day was pretty boring. I slept in and then got some coffee from a local cafe. The day after that, I went to the bookstore to see if they had anything new. They didn't have anything that caught my eye. 

When I got back to my house, it was dark. As I sat in my car, I grabbed my bag and looked around for my keys. When I stood up, they clattered to the floor; they had been on my lap the whole time. 

I leaned over to grab them and didn't even see the man come up behind me. 

Before I knew it, there was a dirty, pungent hand clamped over my mouth and I was being thrown into the backseat of a van. I kicked and thrashed my body, desperate to be free, but it was no use. 

The last thing I saw was the shadow of a man bringing his fist down onto my head. 

-~-~-~-~-~-

I opened my eyes. 

My head was pounding. 

I was in some sort of basement or cellar. My body was tied to a chair. 

I tried to scream, but there was a piece of cloth in my mouth. Then, a man came down the stairs. He took the gag out of my mouth. 

"Do you know who I am?" he asked. 

I caught my breath. "You're Matt Walters." 

"Do you know why you're here?" 

"I... I killed your father." 

"Damn right." 

I took a deep breath and looked around the room. There was a table, a large bathtub, and other numerous devices that looked like they could be used for torture. 

"You.. Your father killed 5 women. He would have killed a sixth if I didn't stop him," I said. 

He nodded. "Yeah. What about the 5 men you've killed?" 

I felt a pit in my stomach. How did he know? "All of them were murderers." 

"Well, by that standard, I should be justified to kill you." 

I gulped, my throat feeling dry. "No, thats- its not how it works- i'm a federal agent- i dont know- i'm allowed to-" 

"Shut up. I'm not gonna kill you before I make you pay." 

"Please don't do this," I said. 

He unstrapped me from the chair, but my hands and feet were still tied together. Then, he was tying me to the table. 

"Please, don't. This isn't going to help anything." 

"I told you to shut up," he said, putting the gag back in my mouth and grabbing a knife from his desk. 

Then, he lifted up my shirt and dragged his knife across my stomach.