Tammy stared at the last text message she had received from the father of her unborn child hours earlier.
I gave you the money for the abortion. You kept it. It's your problem now.
"Bastard," Tammy mumbled.
After describing him to Dolores, the older waitress knew exactly who he was. She had even given Tammy directions to the apartment building he lived in. If the older woman found it odd that Tammy didn't know the address of her unborn child's father she kept it to herself.
After swallowing her pride and circling the neighborhood a few times, Tammy found herself standing in front of his apartment building. The street lights were on, illuminating the run down complex. She could see the paint was peeling on the outside and the few plants that adorned the entrance were now withered and dead. She understood that the father of her unborn child was working his way up in his family's law firm. They had met several times after their night of passion and she distinctly remember him telling her that he was living on his own to show that he could survive without the financial help of his parents. At the time, Tammy thought it was admirable. She still did. What she didn't appreciate were all his lies.
After hearing what Dolores had to say about the man Tammy thought she loved...it seemed as though she didn't know anything about him. She didn't blame him for being upset that she wound up pregnant. She could understand his anger. She thought he would eventually come around and want to raise the baby with her. After talking with Dolores, the idyllic dreamland she had conjured up in her mind of them living together as a family was crushed and she was pulled back into reality. Had she been an experiment to him? Tonight Tammy was determined to give him a piece of her mind and maybe even hit him a few times.
As if fate were stepping in to help her, she spotted him once she reached the fourth floor. He was leaving his apartment and heading towards the staircase at the opposite end of the hall. Tammy took a deep breath before tightening her resolve and quietly following him.
Meanwhile, Dani was already on the roof...waiting. According to the landlord, the rooftop was dangerous. The sign posted on the door that led to the roof was hardly intimidating.
Enter at your own risk.
There were no railing and there was a rumor that years ago a resident had accidentally fallen to her death. Despite this, there was a small greenhouse on the roof that Billy maintained. Small carnations in yellow plastic pots lined the greenhouse along with a shovel and some bags of soil.
"Billy?" Dani knocked on the door of the greenhouse. "Billy?" She twisted the knob of the door, not expecting it to be unlocked. She was surprised when the door easily swung open, "Billy? I got your text message. Are you in here?"
Plants of all sizes surrounded her. A single hanging lamp illuminated the small space. According to the landlord, this was Billy's domain. He was to take care of the plants and allowed residents up there if they wanted to see them. Dani looked around the collection of mismatched flowers, trying to spot her friend.
"Billy are you here?"
Dani exited the small greenhouse and wondered why Billy had asked her to meet him here.
"You came?" a familiar male voice asked.
Dani whirled around to see Derek standing a few feet from her, a knife in his hand.
"Derek? What are you doing here?" Dani asked, taking a step back.
Derek smirked, "I never took you as a smart one but you really are dumb. Did you actually think it was Billy texting you? He's been gone for days. Why would he text you to meet him here in secret? Are you that big of an idiot? I guess you are since you're here."
"You sent that text? Why? How? How did you get Billy's phone?"
"How do you think?" Derek responded, holding up Billy's cell phone.
"Jackson?" a female voice called out, surprising both Derek and Dani.
Dani watched as the pregnant woman approached Derek. Why was she calling him Jackson?
"What are you doing here?" Derek growled.
"Jackson, what's going on?" Tammy asked, her hands covering her belly.
Derek cursed, "If I had known how much trouble you would turn out to be, I never would have laid a hand on you. Why are you here?"
The verbal attack felt physical and Tammy's steps faltered. Her fists clenched and she shook her head, "You bastard. How...how dare you! I have to find out from strangers what your real name is and where you live. You told me your family was rich and we had to keep our relationship a secret. So why do I find out that you're living with your boyfriend and your real name is Derek not Jackson? Why would you do this to me?"
Derek stared at Tammy for a few moments before laughing, "You're such an idiot. Are all women this dumb?"
"Derek, why did you call me pretending to be Billy?" Dani asked, wondering if she could call 911 without him noticing.
"He lied to you too?" Tammy shook her head in disappointment. "Just how many people are you lying to?"
"Enough!" Derek shouted, "Jackson is my real name. Jackson." He turned to Tammy, "Unlike you, my mother was smart enough to know that she couldn't take care of an unplanned child. Not with her drinking problems. So she gave me away to the wealthy Bombays. I wasn't lying when I said that I needed to work my way up to prove to them that I could thrive in their company. You were a mistake."
"Why?" Tammy sobbed. "Why did you do this to me?"
"You? All you ever think about is yourself. What about me? I didn't want to sleep with you but my adoptive parents expect the perfect son. Being gay isn't acceptable to them. So I tried. I thought it'd be easy. I'd sleep with you and if it didn't work out that would be the end of it."
"So it's true? I was just an experiment? I'm pregnant!"
"I gave you money for an abortion. Is it my fault you couldn't go through with it? I thought that would be enough but now I'm realizing I'm going to have to take care of you one way or another."
"What are you saying?" Tammy asked, taking another step back.
"You're too much of a liability. If my family finds out, I'll never be successful. I've worked too hard to have everything taken from me because of someone like you."
Dani pulled out her phone to quickly dial the police.
Derek rushed to Tammy and pulled her hair back, a knife to her throat, "Always the nosy neighbor! Who are you trying to call, Dani?"
Dani's hands froze around her cell phone. She saw the fear in Tammy's eyes and slowly straightened her back, "Derek, that's enough. Let her go."
"Why should I listen to you? Put the phone down, Dani. You should want this too. Because of her, Billy's dead."
"What?" Dani didn't understand.
"She kept texting and texting. All I ever wanted was to be left alone. Messing around with her was necessary but it was making Billy suspicious. Billy was my boyfriend but it wasn't any of his business. He knew how my parents felt."
"You were dating Billy?" Tammy whispered. "My Billy?"
"He wasn't yours! He was mine," Derek tightened his grip on her hair, causing her to cry out."And because of you, he's gone! He saw it on my phone. Your stupid text messages. You two were in some class together and he figured it out. Imagine how devastated he was to know I was cheating on him...with a woman."
Tammy began to wail in pain and Derek hissed, "It was your fault. You were just supposed to be a one night stand. Someone that I could forget. That's all. I couldn't come out to my parents. I tried...but I couldn't. You were a mistake. That thing inside you was a mistake!"
"What about Billy?" Dani asked.
"Billy was always too nice. As mad as he was all he kept asking about was her baby. He knew Tammy from his class and asked me if I was her baby's father. I denied it but Billy kept going on and on about how I had to take responsibility. He wouldn't give up. He didn't even care that it would mean the end of us! He even threatened to tell my parents! What else could I do? He gave me no choice," Derek explained.
"What are you trying to say?" Dani asked, hoping she understood incorrectly.
"Don't worry, Dani. It was a quick death. The hardest part was getting rid of his body."
"Why are you telling us this?" Tammy asked, tears running down her cheeks.
"Because you two will be dead soon too. This is going to get messy. Two deaths at once," Derek looked at Tammy's Belly. "Make that three. Maybe you two fought over me. One might get stabbed, the other thrown from the roof. It seems to me that Tammy will have to be thrown." He dragged her towards the ledge of the building. "Don't worry Tammy. I hear falling from a building this high is painless."
Tammy reared back, causing Derek to lose his footing a bit. She stepped on his foot and pulled out of his arms. They were facing one another. He still had the knife in his hand. Dani saw that it would take one quick push for it to be over for Tammy. Even if she called for help, it wouldn't come fast enough. She grabbed the shovel that was leaning against the greenhouse.
Derek grabbed Tammy's arm, "Be a good girl and die, Tammy."
"You're crazy!" Tammy shouted as she struggled to push him away. He cut at her arms with his knife.
"Me? Crazy? You have no idea!"
He grabbed her hand and began pushing her. Dani ran forward and slammed the shovel down his back, making his knees buckle. He released the knife and Tammy protected herself on instinct by whirling around so that Derek was closer to the edge. She pushed Derek away and his eyes widened as he fell backward. Dani grabbed at Tammy and pulled her towards her and away from the ledge. His screams lost in the wind as he plunged to his death. The two fell over one another, Dani being on the bottom.
"Are you okay?" Dani asked.
Tammy shook her head, unable to speak. They heard a large crashing sound followed by a car alarm going off.
"Could you do me a favor?" Dani whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Get off me," Dani wheezed.
Tammy quickly pushed herself to the side and off of Dani. Even after the police arrived ten minutes later, they were both still in shock. Jax had also come with Roberto in tow.
"I'm sorry Dani. I should never have left you alone...but at least it's over now," Jax was rubbing her arms up and down and Dani didn't say a word since she was still reeling from what had just happened.
"He killed Billy," Dani whispered.
"I know."
"You know? How?"
"We got the confirmation from forensics about an hour ago. The body in the woods belonged to Billy Gearson," Jax said. "Dani, I'm sorry."
All of a sudden, everything felt very real for Dani and she couldn't stop herself from crying. Jax placed his jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm. She showed him the text message from Derek pretending to be Billy.
"He was a monster."
"Roberto thinks he was also the Maestro."
Dani looked up, surprised, "Really?"
Jax nodded, "He had some alibis for some of the murders but maybe they were lying for him. It would make sense. Plus all of the music gear in his apartment. He listened to classical music..."
"Wasn't it you who told me that listening to classical music didn't make someone a serial killer?" Dani reminded him.
Jax grinned, "Rule number five, remember? Partners never rub it in when they're right."
Dani mumbled something about unfair partners before placing her phone in the pocket of the jacket covering her, "Is it really over, Jax?"
He smiled and squeezed her shoulders, "I think so. Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. I just need to go home and get a little sleep."
The look in her eye told him they both knew she wouldn't be resting much. Dani didn't care. She wanted to get away from everything and process what had just happened.
"Let me walk you to your door," Jax said.
Dani shook her head and gave him back his jacket, "No thanks. I really just want to be alone for awhile. Okay?"
Jax wanted to argue but simply nodded, "I'm heading back to the station. Call me if you need me."
Dani agreed before walking downstairs to her apartment. She stopped in front of Derek and Billy's apartment. The police were taping it off before leaving. She shook her head in disbelief as she thought of Derek murdering Billy. Dani entered her apartment, her hand automatically reaching for the light switch. She felt the switch flip up and down but the room stayed dark.
She cursed as she realized the light bulb must have burned out in her living room. She reached for her phone only to realize she had left it in the pocket of Jax's coat. She cursed as she continued making her way to her bedroom. Arms outstretched like a mummy, she felt around for furniture to help guide her. She hissed when her leg accidently ran into a side table.
She reached out and touched her sofa, feeling the soft fabric beneath her fingers. She followed it towards her bedroom. Dani then reached both hands out, swinging both arms in the air, before taking another step forward in the darkness. Her hands came into contact with what felt like a human chest. She stilled and her mouth went dry.
Her hand slowly traveled upward. A neck. A chin. A nose. She felt the exhale of hot air on her fingers and she jumped back as though she had received an electrical shock.
A familiar male voice whispered in the darkness, "Hello Dani."