He sat on the chair lent to him.
He folded his hands on the table. No signs he had been in a struggle with anyone. No nicks in the skin, on his hands or face. No bruises.
"I apologize for having to bother you again, but that young girl is still missing, and my boss is all over me to bring you in for questioning." An FBI agent named as Amanda, spoke.
Miss Amanda didn't make eye contact with him, but pretended to be busy shuffling the files on her desk. "There's been a.... an incident in Brooklyn and they'd like to talk about with you."
"Brooklyn?" He gave a snort. She'd taken him off guard there for a second, but he was all right. He was calm. All he had to do was stay calm. "I ain't been in Brooklyn in, well, near 7 years."
"I understand, Mr. Kinley. But you know how things work with law enforcement. They have to be thorough." She believed him. It was his smile.
He slid forward on the chair, feeling in complete control again. In fact, at this moment he felt more alive than he had in years. They thought he was an idiot. He certainly was a criminal, but he was not an idiot.
He frowned, looking concerned. "You said an incident in Brooklyn. You mean a murder?"
She rose from her desk. "I think I'd better let special agents Crooke and Stelark address that, Mr. Kinley."
She came around from behind her desk in her short skirt with her knobby knees. She pushed open the door.
"We're ready for you." She opened the door for a tall, slender man and a short, chunky woman with short, bright red hair that didn't come natural on God's earth.
Miss Amanda stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
The two FBI agents plus a cop beside the door seemed to fill the small office. The woman perched on the corner of the desk right in front of Jack. She was wearing a navy suit that would have looked like a man's if she'd been wearing a necktie. He wondered if she was one of them queer women.
She and Brandon Stelark made the decision to mention Christine's disappearance right away. It might be a card they could play against him.
She talked to him while they're standing. "Mr. Kinley, I'm an FBI special agent, Crooke, and this is my special agent partner, Stelark. We're out of the field office, and we'd like to ask you a few questions."
Jack nodded politely. "Morning to you." He met her gaze. "How can I help you? Miss Amanda said you wanted to know about an incident in Brooklyn." He gave a little laugh. He gave her his smile for the ladies. They always ate it up.
Miss Amanda had, hadn't she?
The cop lady standing beside the door responded the way he expected her to. She just looked back over her shoulder and back at him. She had to be queer as a three dollar bill.
"Mr. Kinley, have you left the state of Manhattan since your release from prison?"
"No ma'am. Got no way to leave if I wanted to."
"And you understand that if you left the state, you'd be returned to prison?"
He nodded his head. "I know the rules, ma'am. You can look for yourself in my records. Of course, I know you already done that."
She didn't take her eyes off him.
Miss Crooke asked him, "Did you kidnap Christine Rover from somewhere in Brooklyn?"
Jack felt his heart skip a beat. He felt empowered. It was almost like the old days all over again.
"Look at me," he said trying to sound sad. He gave a little wheeze for effect. "I'm a president of a company now. I couldn't wrestle a flea to the ground, no less kidnap an innocent girl."
"Answer the question, Mr. Kinley," the tall, quiet one said.
Kinley lifted his head to meet the man's gaze. He wondered why a nice looking man like special agent Stelark would let a queer woman wear the pants in the family, so to speak.
"No, sir, I did not kidnap a girl named Christine Rover." He liked the taste of her name on his tongue. Sweet, like that Hershey bar.
Jack took a white handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his upper lip. Ms. Crooke noticed that the handkerchief was folded perfectly into a neat square, so neat that it looked as if it had been pressed. A criminal who had spent most of his life in jail has time for pressing and fixing his handkerchiefs? Jack Kinley was definitely a strange character.
"Well, Miss Crooke, I appreciate you speaking up for me. Like I said, I have no way to get somewhere. You know that. I'm a busy person right now." He spread his skinny arms, arms that didn't look strong enough to wrestle a 27 year old woman. "I'm sorry about the girl and all, but it has got nothing to do with me here."
"My partner and I understand that."
Brandon nodded appreciatively.
"But you see, Jack, my boss keeps reminding me that you were convicted of murdering people and that you were suspected of kidnapping and killing at least 10 others—perhaps more."
Jack's eyes shifted at the mention of his own crime. "I didn't do that." He said softly. He looked her right in the eye. "You know I was falsely convicted for killing girls. I wouldn't kill such a girl."
He was a good liar.
She shook her head in feigned frustration. "I hear you, Jack. I reminded my boss that you never confessed to that crime." She glanced at him across the table. "But we're in a bad place. We've got the victim's family contacting us. A family who says you kidnapped their girl."
"Terrible world we live in, ain't it?" He remarked, settling back in his seat.
He was distancing himself from her. And while his voice sounded relaxed and matter-of-fact, he was definitely nervous now. The question was, why?
"You know, I was in prison with men who did them kind of things," Jack continued. "Terrible men."
His words were the invitation she was looking for. What she wanted to do was try and get Jack to talk about how a person might kidnap a girl if he wanted to.
"That's true." She said, as if they were best friends.
"You have spent more time with those kinds of men, haven't you?" She pressed a hand to the table. She watched his face change.
He was taking what she said as a compliment. As with most serial killers, she was guessing that Jack had self-esteem issues. The way she had put it to him, it sounded as if she thought he was smarter than she was, at least on this subject. Killers fitting into the profile that was unfolding with him needed to feel important. They needed to feel smarter than others, especially figures of authority.
Kinley wiped his mouth as if he were disgusted by the thought. "I've heard their own dreadful stories. They're clever, those men. Most people don't give them enough credit. We got a lot of them everywhere but I just don't get it why they're only pointing their fingers on me? I'm not just a killer. I'm also a victim here."
"Well, Jack, tell me something then, let's say you didn't really kill her... If a man did take a girl, steal her somewhere in Brooklyn, where might he take her?"
He shrugged. "Depends on what kind of man you are. What's to your likings. Some might drive to a lonely spot in the woods. Do what needs to be done and dump it."
Jack didn't say dump her. He said dump it. Depersonalization of the victim.
"But that's not what all men do, is it?"
Jack paused, as if considering whether or not to answer.
"No ma'am, some like to make it last."
"If a man was going to make it last, where would he take her?" Ms. Crooke's head was spinning with possibilities. Obviously, men like Jack were not normal so he knew things that others might not know yet and she thought he might open it up to her right at this moment.
"I have no idea."
"No offense, but I think you know something about this since you've been through this before."
"Pardon?"
"I mean these days, you've got less privacy than you used to. But I would just like to know a bit about it. I hope you'd take this in."
"I don't know that a man like me could get away with that these days. Privacy doesn't exist in my life anymore." Jack agreed. He sipped in a glass of water in front of him. "Because you're right, people don't mind their business like they used to so they try to dig in for others who are living in peace these days..... innocent men."
He had been bold enough to talk about himself, releasing himself into the hot spot.
She had thought it was suspicious. She hadn't called the police, though because she said "It wasn't any of my business." She felt that he was talking about her so she got him off the hook this time.
"So he wouldn't keep her long?" Brandon suddenly probed.
Jack shook his head. "Probably not, probably do his business and then shut it up."
Ms. Crooke could feel her heart thumping in her chest.
Was Kinley trying to tell her something opposite? Had he really killed the girl or not? Facing the criminal itself is already a daunting act.
"And then he'd just dump the body somewhere?" She asked, trying hard not to hold her breath.
He looked up at her suddenly. "How would I know?" He gave a laugh that could have almost been interpreted as devious. "You know how crazy men like that are? There's no telling what the hell they'll do."
And just like that, she knew the interview was over. She wouldn't get any more from him, at least not today. She looked down at his hands, the nails neatly clipped at the ends of his blunt fingers, thinking about what those hands had done.
Her stomach turned over, but she made herself smile. She looked over her shoulder yet again, back at him. "That will be all for now, Mr. Kinley. Thank you for your time."
She prepared to go. "We truly do appreciate you personally talking to us."
Kinley, always the gentleman, stood slowly. "Like I said, any time, ma'am. Always happy to help. 'Cause you know, I ain't bitter about what happened."
"Bitter about what?" She asked.
" 'Bout being falsely accused, of course. I understand in this fine country of ours, some innocent person got to go to jail to be sure we're catching all the guilty ones."
She picked up her things off the table.
What a clever man he was. He'd probably go to his grave denying he had killed people. Maybe he truly believed he hadn't done it. It was that way with some criminals, but she didn't think that was the case with Jack Kinley. He was a smart fox for a man who grew up without his parents' guidance.
Brandon talked "Alright, if you have something to talk about with us, Mr. Kinley, feel free. And I got your card. The one you gave me just lately."
Jack smiled and bashed a little. He looked so innocent.
Ms. Crooke was shocked to know that Jack just gave his personal contact to her partner. She couldn't believe that a criminal could possibly do that, because that would just be an easier access if ever he did a crime again. But why did he volunteer upon giving his number? Is he saying that he's not guilty anymore so he gave them his contact for them not to worry about tracking him? Or he had a new plan and a game set for all of them to play?
But she found herself talking to him after, "That would be great." She made herself offer her hand to Kinley. He pumped her hand and then Brandon's.
"You have a good day, Jack." She said as she and Brandon went down the stairs.
"That, I will. Now, you have yourself a good day too, ma'am." He nodded politely and shuffled out of the tiny room.
Stelark and Crooke made their way down the dark, stale smelling hallway. Their footstep echoed off the metal stairs as they hurried down.
"So what do you think about it?" Crooke whispered to Stelark as they reached the ground floor landing.
He glanced up the staircase then said "He was negative on the case but I think we still need to put an eye on him. Everything is distrustful."
Many minutes later, he went down the stairs. He slipped his hand into his back pocket and touched a small photo. It was an I.D of Christine Rover. He got it last night. "Sweet thing." He said.
When he closed his eyes, he could still see the way she had looked at him with her big, frightened blue eyes.
They'd never find Christine if they hadn't found her by now. Jack keeps this kind of business clean.
He's a very good opponent that no one could ever defeat.
Jack mentioned that some like to make it last so it means that he likes to keep it longer for some.
Now, he wondered, how long would it be until the next?
He planned it very carefully. He knew exactly when will and should it take place.
He went out of the building and he was about to go to his car from the parking lot when someone came and blocked his way.
"Hi Jack." He smiled, tilting his head while looking at him.
Jack looked surprised. He wasn't able to say anything. It was his doctor.
"Welcome back..."
Then he clamped a damp rag over Jack's mouth, with strong amount of Chloroform, enough to make Jack fall asleep fast.
The doctor brought him back to the hospital. He was caught once again.
In a while, the sun had already risen. Alice got up from her bed and she just can't move freely around her house because she was still thinking about the occurrence last night. She can feel eyes watching her. She just can't take that feeling out of her this time. She's very attentive to every detail inside her house in case there's a hole for her boss to peek inside and see what she's doing.
She saw no sign of anything so she tried to act normal like how she used to with her everyday life.
She had gone to work. As much as possible, she didn't want to see her boss again because that would be totally strange for her. She just yelled at him last night so she felt guilty now. She just doesn't know what face to show him when he arrives later.
She didn't want to witness him walking in the hallway on the way to his office and passing her by so she kept herself busy with her works, finishing the 5 projects left to her.
She thought "Still, he was kind for unloading my tasks... I appreciate that one."
She gets back on typing after.
Later on, Joe sat beside her and interrupted her again. "Hey!"
Alice was surprised so she faced him. She struggled against her rising anger. "What is it again, Joe?"
"How are you today?" He was ordinarily the flirt guy around the office who occasionally tend to annoy Alice.
"I'm fine. See, I got a lot of work to do... You've got no slot to my schedule."
"I can help you out, if you want."
"What for?"
"Problem with you is, you don't ask for help. You do the job alone. You're burdening yourself." He laughed a bit. "Let me help you, I'll do one." He took one folder from her desk.
"No, you don't have to do this Joe, this is my task. You should go there and do your work as an admin instead."
"Come on... I know you like it."
"If you took it, then what? You'll take the credit? No thanks. I don't need your help then."
He smiled and said "No. I'm doing this for you, Alice. No credits taken. No salary deduction. Just me and my helping hand..."
"Fine!"
"Alright. And hey, we talked about the case yesterday, right?"
"Ugh. What about it again, Joe?"
"I heard that the FBI agents said that Kinley was a suspect with the girl who is missing now."
"There's a missing girl?" She brushed back the hair that had fallen in her face, like she didn't care about world issues and everything. She had one cup of black coffee this morning, but she sorely needed another. She should have known better than to think she could deal with Joe and his lame stories again before 10 in the morning with only one shot of caffeine.
"No, the agents didn't say that Kinley was a suspect, but sometimes these things are complicated. This is completely bugging me, I don't know why."
"Really? You know, you have to have a certain amount of evidence to consider someone a suspect."
"So if Kinley isn't a suspect, why the hell did they call him in the first place?"
"For questions, duh... Just because FBI agents talked to him, doesn't mean he's the real suspect. They could be mistaken, at least. There are a lot of killers around our town, Joe. It's not only Jack."
"Alice, you don't know how this sounds, do you? This is unusual!"
"Unusual?"
"Well, I'd say this is pretty fucking unusual, wouldn't you? A pervert accused of killing girls and boys too, goes to jail. Then the killings stopped. He gets out and suddenly a girl disappeared last night!" He shouted the last words.
Alice didn't say anything right away. When she did speak, it was in the manner one used with a blithering idiot. "You said there was a missing girl last night? Kinley couldn't be the only one doing the kidnapping and whatever. How could it be him?" She was tempted to just leave him there on his ass. This was going nowhere, she thought. She didn't want to hear what he would say because he didn't, for even a moment, want to consider the possibility that Jack has nothing to do with it.
And, typical male response—head in the sand.
Alice smiled and thought that she just won this one. "Why do I feel like there's a responsibility from you to keep me informed?"
Joe finally talked back, "Because you're a girl... don't you really feel that you're in danger any time?"
"Okay, let's put this through this thought, I'm a girl, with no money and everything, not rich at all, supposedly, I was walking in the street and he passed by me, I bet he wouldn't even lay his eyes on me."
Still with that infuriating tone of his, he shot back. "There's no supposedly!"
Alice was shocked by his unforeseen behavior to her. She said "Are you trying to say that you're concerned?"
"It was the only way to protect you, Alice."
They look into each other's eyes and Alice felt the passion he has in his. She spoke quietly, "Wow."
Joe said "I just want you to be aware that a girl named Christine Rover was missing. I'm telling this to you to be sure that you understand about the difference of being safe and not."
Alice was touched. She thought "Was he just confessing to me right now? Why is he being so caring to me? Nah, probably a new fling technique huh?" She found his actions weird. But because she heard a familiar name from what he said, it caught her hearing. "Wait. What did you say again? Christine Rover?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Crap! I know her!"
"You do?!"
"She's my schoolmate in high school! What happened to her?! Is she dead?" She rapidly became curious.
"I don't know. All I hear from the news was she's missing. That's all. It's still not confirmed whether she's dead or alive. They can't find her body yet."
"Okay, I think this is the time when I should be truly inquiring about this mysterious case."
"You should be, on the first place!"
"Maybe he killed her? Don't you think? Oh my gosh, I never thought she'll be one of his victims."
"I know right? Are you friends with Christine or what?"
"She's not totally my friend. I just know her and I can still remember her for what she had done to me before. She's very pretty! Maybe that Jack Kinley is targeting pretty girls!"
"I don't know."
"God, I felt bad at a sudden. Now that someone I knew was missing, I'll take this as a warning. I think I feel the chills now, Joe."
He stands up and carries the folder he got from her desk lately. He said "Yeah, so better stay inside at night. Alright? Jack was known for killing people at night."
"Stop scaring me!"
"It's true. Believe me! Anyway, I have to finish this one for you. Be right back." He walked away.
Alice stared at her blank working space in the office. She felt the hairs of her skin in her legs slowly standing. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened to the person who she surprisingly knows. "Christine Rover? If ever you are what I thought you are this time, may you rest in peace..." She closed her eyes and frowned. She didn't like the feeling. She felt panicky.
But above all the news she gathered from Joe, she remembered what he said to her lately. Those just sank in her mind and it totally left an impression. She never thought Joe has that side.
She beamed then goes back to working with her unfinished tasks.
She had herself over and done with the hard copy of her presentation yesterday.
Then she remembered that her boss is asking for it this day so she stood up but her feet are bringing her nowhere. They just got her stuck in her old position. She didn't want to leave and visit his office again. He gave her that weird feeling whenever they're together.
She was standing there for so long then one of the editors in their company sees her. He's walking toward her place so she called him, murmuring, fearful of getting scolded by the other officers for making noises. "Hey! Adam! Adam!"
Adam came closer to her and said "Yes ma'am?"
"Is the president there?"
"Ah, I heard from the head office just lately that he's not around yet. They're also looking for him."
"Ahhh. I'm supposed to pass the hard copy of the outline of our presentation. But knowing that he's not around, I guess I won't be able to show this now."
"Maybe later, yeah."
"Okay, thanks for the info!"
"No problem." He passed her by.
Alice sat back to her seat, all calm and feeling better. She thought "This sounds good. He's late huh? That only means that I have more time left for preparation from meeting him again. What a good day!"
Her fingers touched the keyboard again. She's back to work.
The whole day passed by so quickly that she didn't recognize the time running. It was already 6 in the evening. She was almost done with the second project. She went to Joe's working area and asked him how the other project is doing. Joe leaned back in his chair, rolled it to face her and said "I'm done! This..."
He handed her the folder. Alice said "Impressive, Joe."
Joe rubbed the back of his head and said "Not a single sweat, Alice."
"Is that so? Do you think you could help me doing the others left then?" Then she chuckled.
"Well..." He paused a bit. "I'm not pretty sure." He laughed. They were just fooling around with each other though.
Alice looked at him. "Hey. Thanks by the way."
"Sure. Only for you!" He gave her a hard drive that seemed to contain the presentation. "Don't worry about the file name. That's the only file in there, no need for searching." He smiled. Alice saw the lovely dimple in his cheek. She said "Hey, I never knew you have a dimple on your cheek. How adorable!"
"Does that make me an adorable person now?"
"Hmmm..." She took the hard drive from him. "Only if you help me finish the other projects..." She was clearly joking. Joe chortled. "You seriously got the nerve huh?" Alice took a step backward while smiling then she said "Thanks for helping, really. I appreciate it!"
"It's just a small thing."
"You know what? Sometimes I don't know what to believe in, your bigheaded side or this side... I just don't know."
"What? Being adorable? I'm adorable, Alice." He joked. Alice faced back and walked away. "Yeah right."
"Are you passing that now?" He yelled. Alice stopped walking and turned around graciously. "Our boss is not around... maybe tomorrow."
"Really? He's not around? Where is he?"
"I don't know. A meeting or something?" She shrugged. Joe said "You're his secretary, you should know!"
"He didn't tell me anything about it."
"I see. Okay then... Do well on your work! And hey, because I did that for you, you now owe me a favor."
"What favor?"
"Coffee, later?"
"Is this the price I have to pay for letting you do this to me voluntarily?" She meant it sarcastically. "Well... if only the coffee would give a free rein to the favor I owe in you, then sure!" She walked back to her working station. It was an easy call. It was just another coffee date between her and Joe, nothing special for her.
She sat and sighed. She looked at the office of her boss which is just across her working station.
The door was closed. The blinds were folded. No lights were open. His office looked dull.
She stared at his place.
She thought "Where did he go?"
She remembered what happened last night. The way his smile died away as he spoke. She can't help it but to feel so guilty. She thought it was her fault why he was absent today.
"He looked fine last night. Was it my fault? Did I offend him? But no... that man isn't getting offended at all. But.......... there's something about him that's making me curious and feel so involved. He seemed to be a lonely man all his life."
However, when coming back to the thought of him stalking her last night, she thought that she was not supposed to be feeling that way to him. Then out of the blue, she felt tense of how he's going to react to him tomorrow after all the yelling she did to him. It made her toes curl. She felt so embarrassed until now and she took the benefit of him being absent for today. "Just got lucky!" She said.
But where could he be by now?
Nobody in the office has an idea.