The information they had on The Mimic was very little. They assumed it was someone young who could bear the weight of a dead body and was strong enough to overpower the victims. They were leaning towards a young man, someone outcast, paying homage to Kris.
Perhaps it was a young man, Kris was the patron saint for young men who believed they were being wronged. They had done their homework on the family, so they knew that it was Jordan who was the son and had figured out how to contact him.
The women all had the initials of the previous victims, so perhaps this kid wasn't picky. He was killing all races, whereas Kris had stuck to white women until he branched out and found me. Based on the current victims, he was likely a college student who was a psychology major.
We could maybe say he wasn't well adjusted and kept to himself, but Kris wasn't like that. He was flashy with a personality that drew people in even though he was prickly. He knew how to lay on the charm, so I believed that this new killer had the same personality.
Some of the women had had their uteruses carved out. It was a message, but what kind? It was the symbol of motherhood. It could be because he was abandoned by his mother, like Kris was. Most serial killers had severe mommy issues.
Kris killed because he couldn't protect his mother, and so he found a twisted way to protect young women he felt were being shunned by the world. This killer was targeting psychology majors, hardly women forgotten by the world.
Jordan and Annalise had come across the name Chrissy, an obvious homage to Kris. Was this girl actually the killer? Or was she connected to someone who did the actual killing? Kris never had a partner until he met Alexandra.
Maybe this pair wanted to be like them.
I looked at Annalise who withdrew into her chair at the mention of her mother. Jordan reached under the table to clasp her hand.
"We're seeing the connection here, right?" Zach said.
The members of the table looked at him.
"Let's say they are partners. Chrissy and a young man. She lures the targets and he kills them. They've been targeting Psychology majors who are participating in programs to become either psychologists or psychiatrists. The uteruses were removed, a clear sign of motherhood, and they have been reaching out to Jordan, the son. The targets are all who Maria was when Kris met her. She was the one who got away. When he later worked with Alexandra, the purpose was to kill Maria and Alec and take the children. They are finishing what they started. They're planning to take Jordan and are killing Maria over and over again, making up for lost time."
A silence fell over the room as we considered his words. I knew from the moment he finished that he was right. It made sense. Jordan was also around the same age as Kris, when he started his work. They are trying to trigger an awakening. It was all lining up perfectly.
"Do you agree, Dr. Gonzalez?" SAIC Sherwood asked.
"I do. Dr. Aleksandrov's assessment sounds highly plausible. We knew that eventually, someone would have this kind of response. It took longer than we expected, and I never expected it to be someone Jordan and Annalise's age. Most kids these days don't have that kind of response to serial killers. I always thought someone would do this closer to when Kris died. What I find strange is that the killer isn't contacting Annalise or Aiden." said.
"I'm much more vocal against Alexandra and Aiden has practically cut ties with us. Jordan did not know Kris, so maybe the killer believes that he was robbed of a relationship with him. Maybe he believes that Jordan did not have a chance to awaken the killer instinct. I just don't understand why it's happening now." Annalise said.
It was a sore subject for Annalise and Alec. Aiden had cut ties with them when he turned 18. He went to college in the east and never came back. Last we had heard, he'd gotten married and had already had a child.
"The interest in serial killers has grown exponentially in the last few years. We have to consider that this person is obsessed with true crime and has a good understanding of how we may operate an investigation. We've combed through the evidence gathered by Agents Aleksandrov and Valentine. Several IP addresses have been found, so we believe this person is rather competent with computers. We're trying to find a physical address that we can visit. We've also taken the manifests of all the students in the victims' classes and the people who attended the conference Agent Aleksandrov and Agent Valentine figured out connected the victims. We've also been scouring social media trying to find an account for Chrissy. If she was able to insert herself into the lives of their victims, she had to have an online presence. There is not a single person under 30 that doesn't have a strong online presence."
The agents went on for a few more minutes before SAIC Sherwood asked Jordan and Annalise to go and talk to the friends of some of the victims to see if they could get a description of Chrissy and check out one of the physical addresses they had come across.
Zach and I stood, shaking hands with SAIC Sherwood, a thank you for keeping us at the office while this was sorted out. We knew that if things did not resolve soon, we'd likely have to go into actual witness protection. What we had done in the past was done to lure Kris towards me, and eventually it worked. But this time, we would actually have to cut off ties with our families and it wouldn't be as easy as it would have been years ago.
He offered to bring us lunch when we were ready, but in the meantime, we were welcome to look through the evidence they had pulled together. We thanked him again, preparing to take our seats when a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.
Jordan hadn't left yet. He seemed to be talking to someone that was just out of sight, but Annalise was backing away appearing to give them privacy. I was too intrigued to give him the same courtesy, so I drew closer to the door and quietly opened it. Zach called out to me in a loud whisper to come back, but I casually called him over to listen.
He tried once more, though my head was already through the door. The voice was feminine, but one that I didn't recognize. I could just barely hear what they were saying.
"Jordan, why didn't you tell me? I have to find out on the internet? Is this even true?"
Uh oh. That must be Marina.
I could only see the side of Jordan's face, but his expression didn't seem alarmed. You might even say it looked resigned to this moment.
"I didn't know how to tell you." Jordan finally said. "It's not something that you bring up casually over breakfast. I was afraid that you'd run away from me before I could explain."
"Do you know how painful it is, to find that the man you expected to marry is the son of the most notorious serial killer of his century? Jordan, our children would carry his blood. You were going to continue the lineage. How could you be so selfish? You lied to me, Jordan. You pretended to be this upstanding citizen, when all this time you were hiding the most horrible of secrets."
"I-"
"No, you lost your moment to talk." Marina snapped.
"Please, hear him out." Annalise cut in.
"Don't talk to me. Your mother was a serial killer too, I can only imagine the sickness she passed down to you."
The words were venomous, tinged with jealousy. Jordan had never mentioned the dynamic those two had.
"Do not talk to her like that. This is between us. I know that I made a mistake by not telling you, but I was trying to avoid this, right here. You won't even listen to me. I've had to live with this my entire life, it has shaped who I am entirely. Do you know how hard it has been to wake up every morning and look in the mirror and see the face of a killer?"
I lowered my face, feeling Zach's hand on my back.
"I was born to a serial killer father, but I was also born to the best mother I possibly could have had. She raised me to be me, an FBI agent who fights for what is correct and to be the man that you fell in love with. I haven't changed. I am the same guy you met at the bar, and the same guy you've been dating all this time. I love you, Marina and I want to be with you."
There was a small pause.
I knew what was coming and my heart sank to my feet.
"I don't know that I can be with you. You put my life in danger by not telling me. Because of you, another serial killer is paying homage to your dad and can make me a target and you're here instead of protecting me. I can't live in fear and especially with an agent I don't even know sitting around my apartment with a gun at their hip, waiting to kill an intruder that is trying to kill me. I can't do that. I'm going to stay with family out of state. The FBI doesn't need to follow, and neither do you."
"Marina wait-"
She must have turned away because he jerked forward as if to catch her, but it sounded like she was already through the door. I put my head back into the room and went to sit. Jordan hadn't had many girlfriends before Marina, just two. All his breakups had been for the same reason and each time I was overwhelmed with guilt. Had I just married Zach in the first place, Jordan would be his and he'd be a normal boy.
"If you hadn't met Kris, you wouldn't have met me." Zach suddenly said
Mind reader.
"I might have."
"Kris did many awful things, but he did one thing right. And despite the situation that we're in, I wouldn't change any of it. What angers me now, is that people can't let it go. He's been long dead, and yet his memory lives on in the worst way. We the living, that survived his wrath, can't leave him in the past because it gets pulled back to the present every year. Yes, we should remember the victims, but they will always be attached to him. He was a demon walking among us, and he deserves to fade into obscurity."
I nodded, lowering my gaze to the top of the table. My eyes scanned over the notes that the agents had gathered, but none of it was sinking in. I was too busy thinking about what Marina had said. I turned over my shoulder, Jordan and Annalise were gone. His expression would haunt me forever, until he got married and started the life he'd always wanted.
"Marina is correct in being afraid. She's in the killers way, but I wish she had waited until all of this was over to leave him. Jordan needs to remain focused on the case." I said.
"Maybe she's doing him a favor. With her out of state, she'll be safer. Now he can focus, because he won't have to worry about her being a target." Zach suggested.
"But with those words? She hurt him."
"Or she knows Jordan pretty well. 'Don't follow', and he will not."
Yeah, maybe she did know him well. Zach settled in beside me, and picked up my hand that had my wedding and engagement ring. He brought it to his lips, a gesture that reminded me I had been lucky enough to find him.
A young agent, came into the conference room. Her name tag read Special Agent Nguyen. I smiled at her as she brought me an envelope that had just been delivered via messenger. They still had those? The envelope only had my name written on the front in flowing handwriting.
It wasn't an exact match, but it was in cursive and that in itself was a message. His notes to me were never made public, that information --if it was out there-- was probably on one of those dark web forums where equally psychotic people praised his work. All information is out there if you look hard enough.
Zach stood, calling out to SAIC Sherwood. I waited until he came inside and handed me a pair of gloves before I opened the envelope.
I slid the little white card out and set it on the table.
Luciana Aleksandrov: Born July 17th, 2027 Died Aug 2nd, 2047.
August 2nd, was today.
Hello! Sorry this is so late. It took me such a long time to write this.
I really am trying to get the creativity back in me, but it's been hard.
But how was this chapter?
Marina is gone, the killer has taken Luciana and has exposed all of their identities.
The killer is trying to truly finish what Kris and Alexandra started. Who's next??