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Take It All: Ruelle
"I...slow down." Mom pats the back of my head.
"Mom, please." I huff.
"Start over. This case you caught, the dead woman, she was murdered by a serial killer?"
"Yes. Who's killed a dozen women, maybe more." I hold the rag against the back of my head.
"And Loeb gave you this on purpose?" Mom questions.
"He wants to hurt us." Jim inquires as he takes over, now holding the rag against the back of my head.
"And how am I in danger?"
"He murdered the loved ones of any cop who investigates him. It's how he's been able to get away with it so far. Anyone who comes after him, he's killed someone they love and the investigation's been buried.
Bullock knows a cop—came home and found his wife.
Her throat had been cut."
"Oh." Mom sits down.
"That's why Loeb gave me the case." I rasp out.
"Either we give up, like everyone else...and live, knowing we let a killer go free...or we keep on, and someone we love is killed." Jim grabs her hands.
"You both are not giving up, are you?" Mom looks at us.
"I can't." I shake my head.
"That's why I need you three to get out of Gotham right now. Tonight." Jim looks at me.
"No."
"This is not up for discussion. I need the three of you safe. I won't have Dominic-"
"You wanna protect us? Find him. We're gonna stay here." Mom informs. "But I do like that you think of us as loved ones." She kisses him.
"I do." Jim nods. "Love you." He turns to me.
"And it only took a serial killer to get you to say that."
"Loeb gave me this case, and I'm not letting you take over. We get him together or just me." I nod.
"Brianna-"
"Pick one." I tell Jim before I get up and exit the bathroom.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"What's this about, Harvey?" Zion shakes Harvey's hand.
"Have a seat." Harvey tells him. "These are my partners, Jim Gordon and Brianna Brady."
"Detective." I place a file down before sitting with Jim and Harvey. "Eight years ago, you investigated the murder of a woman named Julie Kemble.
"That was a long time ago." Zion replies.
"It was the Ogre. Julie Kemble was his first victim. But you dropped the investigation, and because of that, eleven more women have been murdered."
"Seriously, guys, you know-"
"Stop." I tighten my jaw. "We also know the Ogre killed the loved ones of the cops that hunt him down.
That pattern started with you."
"We think you found something that spooked him." Harvey adds.
"Your notes from the investigation." I stand up and sit on the table. "The last page, something's been scratched out. I wanna know what."
"He killed my wife." Zion reveals. "I still got a daughter, Harvey."
"Beth Tudor. Katherine Wood. Jessica Parker. Eleven women." I place the girls' photos down. "Each one was someone's daughter."
"It has to stop." Jim inquires.
"Yeah. I was doing background on the dead girl. Someone told me she was a nurse for a private medical clinic uptown. It was on Grant and 80th. Some cosmetic place." Zion informs.
"We'll put cops on your daughter until this is done." Harvey nods before we leave.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Freaky, huh? You wonder how they recognize themselves after." Harvey looks at the photos of women on the wall as I glance at my phone. "Your mom is fine, kid. No one's gonna touch her or Dom at the precinct. Relax."
"You do understand it's because of me that she's in danger. Anything that happens is my fault." I tell him.
"You can't hold yourself responsible for the actions of a psychopath." Jim says. "It's my fault. I'm the cop."
"This isn't your fault."
"Detectives...I'm Doctor Cushman. How can I help you?" A man walks over to us.
"We're looking into the murder of a woman named Julie Kemble. She worked here about eight years ago."
"Of course. Terrible thing. Julie was a talented nurse. But she'd only just started here when it happened. She'd been recommended by one of our patients."
"The patient's name?" I question.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't give you that. Confidentiality." Cushman tells me.
"Really? You're gonna make us get a warrant?" Harvey inquires.
"Yes."
"Jesus." I mutter before we head out.
"I specialize in fake boobs, but I got ethics. I need a warrant." Harvey mocks.
"We'll talk to Judge Harkness. I'm sure..." I stop in my tracks to see a black car in the alleyway.
"That car was in front of the precinct." Jim points out and I start walking towards it. "Brianna."
"Kid, wait up!" Harvey calls out and I take out my gun from my holster. "Hey, kid! Don't." He warns and I stop.
"You gonna come out or am I gonna have to resort to bullets instead?" I tighten my jaw and the car turns on before going right for us. I push Jim and Harvey out of the way before jumping to the side. The car passes us and I start shooting at it.
"Brianna!" Jim shouts.
"Bastard." I lower the gun.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"You sure about this?" Captain questions.
"It was him." I nod.
"You saw his face?"
"No. I should've been looking for a tail."
"It's obvious he tracks our investigations." Jim inquires.
"Called in a description of the car and a partial plate, but I'm not too hopeful." Harvey says.
"So what's the next move?" Captain wonders.
"Brianna, you got a call. Says it's urgent." Officer Woodlock tells me and I head over to Jim's desk before picking up the phone.
"Brady." I place the phone to my ear.
"Brianna. I didn't get a chance to say hello properly in the alley." Jason says and I clench my jaw.
"Listen to me-"
"Don't bother tracing this. I won't be long."
"I'm giving you one chance to turn yourself in. You make me come after you, and I will put you down."
"Something tells me you've begun to buy your own press, Miss Brady. How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen? The future hero cop who's gonna clean up Gotham. The rising star of the GCPD."
"I'll stop you, that's for damn sure." I sneer and Jim walks over to me.
"No, Brianna, you won't. But keep on your present course, and I will kill someone you love."
"Newsflash, elitist dick, you can't kill what's already dead." I rasp out. "You wanna kill someone? I'm right here. But I gotta warn you, I don't go down so easily. So you better step up your game."
"Save your bullets for another day, Brianna. This is your only warning." He hangs up.
"Oh, no. Tell me that wasn't him." Harvey heads over with Captain. "Kid..." He sighs.
"He's used to intimidating cops. We have to show him we're not afraid." I nod.
"And how do we do that?" Captain asks.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"You're okay with this? You're sure?" I question.
"Yes, baby. It's the right thing to do." Mom nods and Jim kisses her cheek. "Go." She kisses my forehead.
"We'll be right here." Jim grips my shoulder and I nod before walking towards the press.
"I called you here today...because the people of Gotham deserve to know that there's a serial killer in their midst." I start. "For years, he's killed with impunity, aided by a culture of silence and fear among the police. That ends now. We'll be providing the names and photos of all of the victims. Please call with any information. And to the man who committed these horrific crimes, your days of hiding are over. I'm coming after you, Jason. And I'm not gonna stop." I clench my jaw before walking away.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Got it. That was the doctor. Harkness sent over the warrant. The dead girl came to the clinic by way of a Miss Constance Van Groot." Harvey tells us.
"Van Groot—that's one of Gotham's oldest families. Shipping." Jim inquires.
"Yeah. We thought the Ogre might be rich. Could be the old lady had a son."
"You got an address?" I ask.
"Right here." Harvey holds up his notepad before we leave.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Think she's here?" Harvey questions as I knock on the door. "Miss Van Groot!" He calls out as Jim pushes open the door and we enter.
"GCPD!" Jim announces.
"I need to say this is not exactly legal."
"We're running out of time." I hear gasping and we take out our guns. "No!" I run over to the man and me and Jim lift him up before Harvey cuts the rope.
"He's good." Harvey assures.
"Call it in. I'm gonna go check the rest of the house." I get up.
"Brianna." Jim warns.
"I'm fine, Jim, just call it in." I head upstairs and raise my gun before entering a bedroom. "Hello? Miss Van Groot?" I look at the bed. "I'm a police officer. Well, I will be, but I have a badge. I'm with Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock from GCPD." I walk towards the bed before me and Harvey pull over the blanket to reveal Miss Van Groot's body.
"Ugh. Gordon!" Harvey shouts. "Now!"
"Brianna!" Jim enters.
"Jim Gordon, Constance Van Groot." He waves his hand out and Jim follows my gaze to Miss Van Groot.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Name's Jacob Skolimski. He's not talking, but near as we can tell he was the old lady's butler." Harvey says into the phone as I tap my fingers against my gun that's in my holster. "Yeah, yeah. Coroner said the old bird's been dead for years. My guess, Ogre killed her, daddy pretends she's still alive, so crazy serial killer son can keep living off her money. Yeah. Listen, Brianna and Jim are running pretty hot on this one, Cap."
"Alvarez called." Jim walks over to us. "Nothing on the son in the system."
"We have to make him talk." I head downstairs. "Make this simple. Give us your son's name and address."
"Or what? I'm not afraid of you." Jacob tells me.
"Only because you don't know me." I lean my fists on the table.
"Listen, I get wanting to protect your son, but how many more women is he gonna have to kill before you realize he needs to be locked up?" Harvey questions.
"What are you talking about?" Jacob asks.
"Don't play dumb with me. You were hiding a rotting corpse upstairs for years, but no, no, my son's an angel, he didn't murder close to a dozen women that we know of."
"My son...he made one mistake. One. Anything else is lies."
"So tell us the truth." I inquire before sitting down with Jim and Harvey.
"It was not a place for a boy to grow up. Miss Van Groot kept herself sealed off from the world, but she doted on my son. Treated him as her own. Still, I...I didn't realize how deep it went. I tried to tell him it wasn't true, but he had built this fantasy, and...Miss Van Groot led him on. She was deranged. Cruel, even.
I don't know where my son is. He called me today, told me the police would be coming. But I haven't seen him since the day he killed Miss Van Groot. My son is not a bad man."
"Your son has been seducing and killing women for almost a decade." I inform and he laughs.
"Why is he laughing?" Harvey wonders.
"My son—seducing women? Oh, let me show you my son—two pictures. It's all I managed to save. You've heard a face only a mother could love? Well...his mother couldn't. She left us after he was born. Oh, yes...my son, the seducer." Jacob places down two photos in front of us.
"Cushman." I realize.
And I was right.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Jason Van Groot?" Captain questions.
"His real name is Jason Skolimski. He used the old woman's name when he went to the clinic." I tell her.
"But there's no Jason van Groot or Skolimski in Gotham. The guy's a ghost." Harvey adds.
"So, the old woman rejects him, he goes to the doctor, gets himself a pretty new face. That's where he runs into the nurse." Captain inquires.
"And we're off to the races."
"I don't suppose you got a picture."
"Missing from the file. No surprise there." Jim
comments.
"But the good doctor was kind enough to do a sketch. It's been ten years since he last saw him, but at least it's a start." I hand her the sketch.
"So we have his real name, but not what alias he's using, or what he looks like beyond a decade-old sketch." Captain hands it back to me. "Did he say anything else on the phone today? Anything we might've missed?"
"Nah, just warned me to back off. Told me not to believe my own press as the rising star of the GCPD."
"Brianna." Jim turns to me.
"What is it?" I furrow my eyebrows.
"The paper that said that...they ran an old photo of me, from a charity gala. I wasn't alone." He rushes down the stairs and I follow him.
•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•
"Barbara!" Jim bangs on the door before it opens by Cat.
"Is Barbara here?" I ask.
"No. Why?" Selina questions.
"Where is she? When's the last time you saw her?"
"At the Wayne Ball. She left with some guy."
"Was this the guy?" Jim shows her the sketch.
"It's kind of a crappy drawing." Selina comments.
"Was this the guy?"
"Yeah, I think so. Why? Who is he?"
"Dammit." I take out my gun before leaving.
Hold on, Barbara.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
🪐🌙✨🚀🌌☄️
no thoughts, just milo☺️
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