My living room was completed when we returned from Alaska. I sat on the couch, drinking a soda. Nyleena sat with me, not talking. We'd just finished watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I hadn't left my house in over a week. We were officially on leave while we all healed. Gabriel hadn't left. He'd videoed with his cell phone my encounter with Dr. Ericson.
Lucas had saved Xavier before Gabriel had even been found in the tree. Dr. Ericson had injected him with blood thinner and sliced open his leg. By the time I killed Dr. Ericson, Xavier had been at the hospital getting treatment. It had come out over the police channel in the car.
Ericson had been smart enough to cut the microphone off, but not smart enough to destroy the radio.
Gabriel had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and five to his vest. His chest looked like he had slept on quarters that had left bruises.
"How do you feel?" Nyleena asked.
"Like hell," I told her.
"No, I mean," she paused. "Lucas and Xavier talked to me about you having issues on the case."
"I am a monster," I told her. "But a good monster. I can live with that."
"What are your plans for the rest of the week?"
"Well, they say the stitches will come out at the end of the week. After that, I will have a few new scars. Otherwise, I do not really have plans."
"Why don't you come out with us on Friday night? We're all going to dinner. I'll even consider inviting Malachi," Nyleena said trying to sound playful. She and Malachi didn't exactly like each other. While they trusted each other, they only tolerated one another when necessary.
"I do not know who would suffer worse through that dinner, you or Malachi," I said. "Probably you, Malachi does not have a huge range of emotions. You really are a masochist."
"We all have our faults," Nyleena wiggled her eyebrows. "Come on, we can make a weekend out of it. Dinner Friday and then away for the weekend, we jump in the car and just drive. We could be in Nebraska by Saturday afternoon, go to Ash Falls Archeological Site or somewhere equally historic and dull."
"You know," I frowned. "I do have something to do actually. Mind if I ditch you for the day?"
"Sure, but what?"
"I have to go see an old friend," I walked into my garage. The door whirred open as the car roared to life. I dug out my cell phone and made a call.
I drove in a daze, eventually pulling into the maximum security facility, but not remembering how I got there.
A guard led me down a hallway into an interview room. Across the table, chained at the feet and ankles, sat my brother. I sat down in the opposite chair.
"Hi," I said.
"What happened to your face?" He asked.
"Serial killer."
"I read the article."
"So did I," I sighed.
"What is it, Aislinn?"
"I have come to realize something about both of us."
"What's that?"
"We are both monsters, but good monsters. The only difference is that I sit on this side and you sit on that side."
"You are not a monster."
"Yeah, yeah I am. I'm ok with it. I just want you to know that I'm doing well in my new job. I know how you used to worry."
"I worry even more now. The killers in here have created a fan club for you."
"It's nice to have fans," I smiled. For the first time in ages, I heard my brother laugh. The sound tugged at my heart. Yes, I was a sociopath, but I was also human.
Gabriel sat in a large office with windows that looked out across the city. The Sprint Center could even be seen. Technically, this was not a federal building, but there was a floor of federal offices, hidden in plain sight. He was not nervous, but irritated as he waited.
"Marshal Henders," the deep voice of the speaker came into the room.
"Sir," he said.
When the man walked around and came into Gabriel's view, it was obvious that he had never been in uniform. Never attempted to apprehend a bad guy. Had probably never seen one up close and personal either. Gabriel's irritation grew.
"I have the report from retired US Marshal Alejandro Gui who states that Marshal Aislinn Cain is extraneous and places the entire team at unnecessary risk. Do you have anything to say to that?" The smaller man asked.
"Loads, sir," Gabriel responded. "Have you seen the video?"
"I have and that brings me to another issue we have. Why did you go off and leave a fellow US Marshal to face down a serial killer alone?"
"Ever since Alejandro Gui turned in that report a month ago, you guys have been busting my balls about Aislinn Cain. You've read all of Lucas McMichaels' reports. You've read Xavier Reece's reports. Yet, you still question it. I think the video speaks for itself. I didn't leave a fellow US Marshal with a serial killer. I left a sociopath to take care of business. Which, she did, with distinction. Reece might have been able to do it. McMichaels probably could have done it. Giovanni and I would not have survived it. Aislinn Cain did, that's what she does, survives. Even if I had really left that clearing, it would have been Cain getting into a car and the serial killer being put in the coroner's van. Now, I realize that our methods aren't by the book. And I realize that we have a higher than normal death rate for suspects we are taking into custody. You need to realize that it is a side effect of what we do and having a genius sociopath who is functional and forces herself to feel something, is not only terribly rare, but very useful to us, sir." Gabriel was working not to grind his teeth. This man, in his expensive suit, who surveyed the city from above, without getting his hands dirty, was just another example of how much the system was broken.
"Gui says she is unstable and a time bomb," the man pressed.
"Gui is an alcoholic and a steroid user with paranoia issues, sir," Gabriel replied.
"You think his assessment is wrong?"
"I think Alejandro Gui is just one stressor away from being on the wrong side of the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit. Cain is not a danger to this team in any way, shape, or form and has proven herself on every hunt she's participated in. She has a vast library of information available in her head. She isn't afraid of the monsters we have to catch. And she is quite capable of taking care of herself. I know that we may coddle her sometimes, but this is not because she isn't capable, it's because we need her in ways that you cannot imagine. She is the one that told me to put on a bulletproof vest to climb a tree. She is the one that told me to go to Reece and not to worry about her. And she was right on both occasions. Without the vest, I wouldn't be here and she handled Henry Ericson just fine, sir."
"Which brings us back to the unstable part of Gui's report."
"She is not unstable or at least, not any more unstable than the rest of them. But I believe that is exactly how this team was constructed; you took the most unstable good guys and tossed them together. I have seen her when she goes all creepy. I have heard her talk about the lack of emotions in that state. I agree with Lucas's assessment. She's a sociopath, but not in the traditional sense. She's something new, something much scarier. She faced down a psychopath and survived in Alaska. She's done it time and time again. She puts the team before herself. And she's good at catching the monsters, sir."
"What should I do with Gui's report then?"
"Honestly? I think you should crumple it up and find a trash can. His report was written solely because he didn't like her when he was in charge and he likes her even less now. Mark my words, one day, he's going to snap and end up being hunted by us. He doesn't want her around for that because he knows he can't outsmart her or manhandle her the way he does other women. He's the one you need to be watching, sir. Not Aislinn Cain."
"Fine, Marshal Henders, for now, she remains your problem. If you are correct in all your accusations against Gui, then I will of course, file the report in the appropriate trash bin. Until then, keep a tighter leash on her. I do not want her face flashing up on news reports. There is no need to glorify a monster."
Gabriel chuckled. It didn't lighten the mood.
"We glorify monsters every day, Cain is at least worth the glorification. You know, you really want to understand her place on my team, you should visit the prison. Go take a survey or something of them about US Marshal Aislinn Cain and look at the results very carefully. Most of the bad-asses inside that place will tell you what I'm about to tell you, they wouldn't want to fuck with her. Most agree she'd kill them, sir. Those that are smart enough fear and respect her. Those that don't, never make it inside The Fortress."
"Are you done with the theatrics?"
"It isn't theatrics. You don't get a fan club of serial killers behind bars without a reason. Marshal Cain has a fan club there and they are all sending in requests to be interviewed by her and McMichaels. The Tallahassee Terror described his encounter with Cain as enlightening and of Cain herself, he said 'she is the boogeyman of serial killers. When we have nightmares, we dream of her.' But then you have that report, maybe you should re-read it, sir."
"You're excused."
Gabriel left the office shaking. The small man in the expensive suit smiled. He took Alejandro Gui's report and shredded it. He'd been right to go with his gut. Aislinn Cain was going to be just fine hunting down serial killers. Gabriel Henders was right, she knew how to survive. He stood, adjusted the stack of papers on his desk, and picked up the phone.
"I'd like to be connected to Special Agent Malachi Blake," he told the woman who answered the phone.
"This is Blake," someone said after a few moments.
"I've just heard from US Marshal Henders about their last case. I thought you'd be interested to know that Aislinn Cain killed another serial killer."
"Imagine that," Blake gave a short bark of laughter. "With reason I hope."
"Oh lots of reasons, he was trying to kill her. Henders trusts her survival instincts enough to leave her in the woods with a serial killer and expect her to walk out."
"I told you she'd be a good fit, once Alejandro was gone. I didn't expect his demise to come as it did, but, then, shit happens and he should have been more careful."
"Are you still worried about her?"
"I will always be worried about her," Malachi answered. "But she's going to attract them to her regardless of whether she has a badge or not, so she might as well be a Marshal. Besides, Lucas and Xavier have become attached to her, so they will help her when it's needed."
"You know she has a fan club inside The Fortress?"
"Yes, serial killers think she's great."
"Malachi, I know it's none of my business, but do you love her?"
"I am incapable of such a thing, but if I weren't, then yes, I'd love her. As it is, she is the only person that fills the void for me."
"Do you want me to continue to watch her?"
"No, it's not necessary, I'm sure you're busy with whatever it is you do."
"I sit on the board that controls the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit. I get all the reports."
"It's fine Uncle, I just wanted to make sure that Gabriel didn't feel the same way as Alejandro."
"All right, I have to go. I'll see you later." The man hung up. He motioned his secretary who was frantically waving her arms through the window, into the room.
"You have to be in court in thirty minutes," she said as she came in.
"I had business to attend to," he answered.
"Judge Greer, I know that the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit takes up some of your time, but it's a board, some of the others could help more."
"Barb, one day, you will understand why I let it take up so much of my time. What am I dealing with today again?"
"You have a tough one, the prosecutor is Nyleena Clachan. The defendant is Ramon Vega, suspected spree killer out of New York. The FBI handled the case and someone bungled something, so Clachan is out for blood and you know how brutal she can be."
"Bungled how?"
"They missed catching him for six hours because an FBI agent didn't check in when he went for lunch. Clachan is demanding his badge. She's going to crucify him on the stand."
"And rightly so," Judge Greer grabbed his briefcase. "Barb, go home for the rest of the day, you look tired."
"I was up all night sorting through paperwork," his secretary admitted. "We had seventeen reports filed on the Alaska case."
"And?"
"And most were favorable. One from a state trooper said that if the team had worked harder, they would have caught him faster, but he was the husband of a victim during the end. His sister-in-law was also a victim and the killer's wife."
"File it with the rest of the complaints," Judge Greer told her.
"Will do, I'll shred it and make sure that it makes it to the incinerator today."
"Good, see you tomorrow." Judge Greer left his office and met his driver in the parking lot.
"I see you are in a good mood today, Judge," the driver said to him.
"I am. I love it when things work. To court, driver, and make it snappy," the judge laughed.
"On it," the driver slipped into the car.