The Killer Among Us

Chapter 15

Thirteen days left

Jacob

Trauma is like an open wound that never quite heals. Mundane things can suddenly rip it open and you are left, once again, with the hurt and the suffering of the past. The worst part for me was that whenever my past wounds opened again, they bled over all the good in my life, ruining all the process I fought so hard to attain.

Pondering over that thought, I stood in a grimey alley awaiting whoever it was Eddie arranged for me to meet. Thoughts of him robbing me circled through my mind early that morning, so I left most of the money Gregg gave me in my car.

Surprisingly, not many people seemed to even notice me, leaned against the wall of an alley in the middle of the day. No one looked twice and I embraced my anonymity.

After a while, a dark figure approached me, startling me slightly.

He lifted up his hands, showing that he came in peace and not to harm me.

"I'm supposed to meet someone. Are you him?" He asked with a slight accent that I couldn't quite decipher.

His hair was black, curly and greasy. So was his smile. Everything about him screamed criminal and I did not trust him for a second.

I glanced around the alley and nodded to him once. Fewer words always seemed to work for me.

"Do you have the money?" He was leaning in closer, looking as suspicious as one could.

Everything about this situation irritated me.

I handed him $500, avoiding our hands touching at all cost.

He reached into his black jacket, retrieving a 9mm automatic handgun and handed it to me with a sly smirk.

Before taking it, I made sure no one was watching us from a distance.

It felt heavy in my hand. Heavy but good. Immediately I felt powerful. It rested in my palm comfortably, like an extension of my hand. Self-hate filled me at the fact that this wasn't the first time I held a gun.

I shot him a forced smile, ending the transaction.

I tugged the gun in the back of the waistband of my jeans and covered it with my plaid shirt and my leather jacket. "This will have to do," I convinced myself.

As I was crossing the street, trying to put as much distance between myself and the alley, my phone rang in my pocket. Anxiety rushed through me.

"Could this be him?" I wondered, my eyes widening in alarm.

My display read "Unknown Number," which increased my panic even further.

Still, I answered the phone, starting the conversation with a quick, "Hello?"

"Jacob?" I did not immediately recognize the voice, so I froze on the spot.

Then, he identified himself, "This is Detective Burke. Do you have a moment?"

My body slumped in relief, losing its stiff posture. With a shaky chuckle, I responded, "Detective Burke, of course. What can I help you with?"

Leaving me no time to compose my thoughts, he answered, "You see, I have a problem here, Jacob. Because we received a call informing us that you printed out a shitload of research at a local coffee shop."

My heart was racing, but he continued, "You spooked the barista, Jacob. When she went to use the printer, it finished what you didn't print out. Did you not think I was going to find out?"

I let out a nervous laugh. There was no way to argue that I did what he accused me of and so I just simply threw at him, "Since when is it a crime to print out articles?"

At that he laughed slightly.

"Since you are clearly trying to involve yourself in my investigation, Jacob." The way he said my name, like he was superior to me, set me off.

"I am not. I just wanted more information," I simply stated in a weak attempt to defend myself.

Before I could bring forth more pathetic excuses, he interrupted me, saying, "I know you took the picture." My heart instantly dropped. "Forensics left it in the trash can for further investigation and when they went to retrieve it," he paused, "It was gone."

"Help me understand, Jacob. I know this must be a tragic situation for you and your family. But you can't take evidence from a crime scene. I simply won't have that."

His clearly forged sympathy quickly replaced my panic with pure, hot anger.

"I wouldn't need to interfere if you were any good at your job," I spat at him, making my hostility towards him obvious.

"How about we talk this through in person, Jacob? What do you think?"

I was rushing to get to my car as soon as possible. Time was precious and I would not waste more on this call. If he was not going to find him, I would.

He didn't let go, however. "Why don't you come down to the station and we can talk this over?" he paused again, "Before you do something that could ruin the investigation."

My phone pinged, indicating that I received a text message. I held the display in front of me and clicked on the message. In the background, Detective Burke was calling out to me, "Hello?"

The text message read, "Tell the police and I will kill her."

A flood of questions drowned my senses. Was The Solemn Serpent following me? Did he know that I was close to finding his apartment? Did I trust Detective Burke? How did he know that it was me who took the picture?

But I had no time for questions, no matter how overwhelming the situation was.

There was no way I would so blantily risk Aria's life.

I deleted the text message and told Detective Burke, "I won't be coming down to the station."

"Jacob-"

"I will find my sister. And you can't stop me, in fact no one can."

Without waiting for his response, I hung up the phone.

I knew what I had to do. I had to find Aria by myself, the police couldn't help. The Solemn Serpent was playing with me.

What he didn't know, however, was that I came prepared, ready to beat him at his own game. It's funny how far you would go to save someone you love, when you have nothing left to lose. 

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