 
Yellow Eyes

Sonya Lee

Published by Sonya Lee at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Sonya Lee

License Notes

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Yellow Eyes

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Preview of

Extraordinary Reflections

Menacing Eyes
Chapter 1

It was a balmy fall night. The moon shined brightly overhead as people lie slumbering in their beds. No traffic disturbed the quiet of the neighborhood, most people having returned to their homes after a Friday not of partying. The two figures moved stealthily through the streets in search of the address they were given. Their eyes darted back and forth, watching the streets for any sign of late night revelers returning home.

The lead man spotted the apartment building they were searching for and beckoned his partner in crime to follow. Most of the people in the building were old, if they were quiet, they should be in and out of the apartment quickly. The partner carried the bulky item swiftly up the stairs and they found the apartment they were searching for. The lead man made quick work of the locks on the door and the pair entered with their package. The second man laid their package down on the floor with a thump and the two of them began to search the living room.

Katrina lie in bed dreaming of sandy beaches and finely sculpted men in swimming trunks when she was suddenly yanked out of her dream. She shot straight up in bed, her heart pounding at a staccato beat. She clutched her comforter to her chest and began taking slow deep breaths, trying to calm her rampaging heart. Slowly her heartbeat returned to normal. She glanced at the clock on her night stand, it was 3:31 a.m.

She had no clue what had awakened her. She looked around her bedroom and found it encased in shadows. She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds then opened them again. As her eyes began to focus, she could make out several things in the room. The closet door came into focus along with her dresser and mirror.

She could finally tell what most of the things in the room were, yet the room still unsettled her. She settled back under the covers and tried to figure out why she'd shot straight-up in bed in the first place. Then she heard it. The rattling of keys and the scraping of wood, the sounds were coming from the living room. Someone was in the apartment. A soft voice murmuring "shit!" Propelled her mind into overdrive. Allison was out of town for the weekend and an intruder had broken into their apartment. She was all alone.

Katrina's heart began its' staccato beat once again. She slowly lowered the covers and looked around her room, searching for unwanted intruders. She couldn't understand why someone chose their apartment to break into, there wasn't much of value, she thought, shaking under the covers. Who cares, I need to get out of here!

Katrina sent up a prayer of thanks to the man above when she remembered there was a fire escape outside her bedroom window. She quickly crept out of bed trying not to make a sound. She slipped on her flip flops, crossed to the window grabbing her cell phone, car keys, and cross-body bag in the process. She heard rambling and it seemed louder to her ears, she could also hear footsteps. She realized the intruder was making his way down the hall toward her bedroom. Panic overwhelmed her for a moment. The footsteps changed course causing Katrina to release a sigh of relief. The rambling started again, this time much closer. The intruder was in Allison's room. It wouldn't take him long to realize there was nothing in there.

Katrina looked at the bedroom window. It was slightly cracked open. "Now is not the time for this window to creak, Lord please let it open smoothly," she sent up a silent prayer. She pulled on the window and it soundlessly slid up. She climbed out the window and slowly lowered it, leaving it slightly cracked. She stood on the fire escape for several seconds weighing her options, she couldn't decide whether to go up or down the fire escape. If she went down, she might run into whoever was in her apartment. Concluding that running into burglars in a dark alley wouldn't be a good idea, going up seemed like a safer choice.

Katrina climbed to the third floor of the fire escape, but still didn't feel safe. She climbed the last flight of the fire escape to the roof before calling the police. Each number she pressed on her cell phone key pad sounded like thunder to her ears considering the stillness of the night. She noticed she was shaking as she dialed the police. She became more nervous the longer the police took to answer. Just when Katrina thought she'd lose her mind, the call was picked up.

"911, state your name and emergency".

"My name is Katrina Castillo. Someone just broke into my apartment at 921 Russet Street Apartment 2C."

"And where is the intruder now?"

"He's still in my apartment. Can you please send someone?"

"Where are you now Ms.?"

"I am on the fire escape near the roof of my building."

"I'm dispatching a car to you now. Stay on the line with me."

Katrina held the phone close to her ear and began taking deep, even breaths trying to calm herself down. After taking several deep breaths, she began to notice a burning smell. She cautiously took another deep breath to confirm her suspicions. "Hey, ma'am, ma'am!"

"Yes, miss, calm down, you need to stay calm."

"I smell smoke!"

"Do you see any smoke or flames?" asked the dispatcher.

"No, but I smell smoke and its getting stronger," Katrina stood up and walked a couple of steps down the fire escape. The smell of smoke was even stronger. She moved to the third floor and leaned down, there was a red glow coming from one of the windows in her apartment.

"My apartment's on fire!"

"I'm dispatching the fire department. You need to get off of the fire escape now!" said the dispatcher.

"But what if the intruder is downstairs waiting on me?" said Katrina as she cautiously began to move down the fire escape.

"You should be hearing sirens any second now. He won't stick around for the police and fire department to arrive if he's set a fire," replied the dispatcher.

"What if he isn't a common burglar?" replied Katrina, stopping her downward descent.

"Ma'am, only 10% of home invasions end in death, but 25% of fires end in death due to smoke inhalation. I can hear the sirens through your phone. Get off that fire escape!" yelled the dispatcher.

Katrina began climbing down the fire escape as quickly and quietly as humanly possible. She was so scared she dropped her cell phone. She looked down to see where it had landed. She faltered for a moment, she was about to change her mind and stay on the fire escape. Her psyche told her she might need to call 911 again and her phone was on the ground. She continued the rest of the way down the fire escape. When she reached her phone she noticed that the call to 911 had disconnected during the fall. The police might be on their way, but they're not here now. It would be just my luck the intruder is hanging around waiting on me, she thought. She slowly sneaked towards the front of the building and peeked around the corner. All was quiet except for the wail of sirens heading in her direction. There was no one on the streets. Katrina was about to step out of the alley and onto the street when the front door of her apartment building flew open. A short hooded figure ran out of the building and headed north, in the opposite direction of the sirens. She didn't get a good look at the individual, but noted that the figure appeared male. He was short and muscularly built and he moved pretty quickly. She continued to watch the individual until he turned the corner and disappeared from her sight.

A police cruiser screeched to a halt in front of her a minute later.

"Ma'am are you Ms. Castillo?"

"Yes, a man just left the building. He went that way and turned the corner!"

"Can you describe him?" asked one of the officers.

"He was short, and had on a dark hoodie and dark pants, the clothes could have been black, but I'm not sure. I didn't get a look at his face, but he looked muscular. His upper part of his body was bigger."

The officer grabbed his radio and relayed the information to dispatch. He was turning to get back in the car when Katrina remembered the apartment.

"Officer! My apartments on fire!" she nearly yelled.

"Are all you neighbors home?

"Yeah, there are mostly older couples in my building. They rarely go out at night. The only person that might be gone is Mr. Peterson in 3B. He works midnights at the Morae Hotel."

"Sampson, we need to get these people out of the building!"

"I'm on it O'Bryan," said Officer Sampson as he ran to the building and started pushing people's doorbells.

"Ms. Castillo we need you to wait by the police car."

"Sampson, I'm going to knock on doors while you ring the bells in case someone doesn't wake up, dispatch has already notified the fire department and they should be here any minute." Officer O'Bryan ran into the building. Katrina walked over to the cruiser scanning the street as she did so. It would be just her luck that the intruder came back while the police were busy evacuating her building.

The sound of sirens was getting louder. The fire department arrived and assisted in the evacuation of the building. Katrina stood next to the police cruiser, in mild shock from the nights' events. Several of her neighbors had come over to see how she was doing and to commiserate on the events of the night.

Once the fore was out, the fire department announced that it was safe for residents to go to their apartments to gather a few things. The fire chief insisted they find alternative sleeping arrangements for the night. He informed them that all residents would be able to return to their apartments on tomorrow evening. Katrina and Allison would have to find alternative sleeping arrangements until their apartment was repaired.

Most of the residents of the building were just milling around. No one appeared ready to re-enter the building. Katrina was watching as Mr. Carr comforted Mrs. Carr, when she noticed two Detectives approaching her. One of the detectives was Caucasian with blonde hair, green-eyes, about 5'11 with an athletic build. The other detective was African American, about 6'3, muscular, brown eyes and light complexioned. Both were wearing identical looks on their faces. Suddenly a vehicle pulling up behind them, caught her eye. It was the coroner's van. Someone hadn't made it out of the fire safely after all.

Katrina looked around to see which of her neighbors was unaccounted for, she saw Mr. and Mrs. Green from apartment 2A, Mr. and Mrs. Carr from apartment 2B, the Johnsons from apartment 3A, the Bronsworth from apartment 3C, and the owner of the store Mr. Charles who lives in the apartment behind his store. Katrina let out a sigh of relief, all of her neighbors were accounted for, no one seemed to be missing. But why is the coroner's van here? She thought. Katrina dropped her head and said a silent prayer for the poor soul that had been lost in the fire.

"Excuse me, Ms. Castillo, I'm Det. Johns and this is Det. Christian. We were wondering do you have a roommate?" asked the detective Christian.

"Yes, she went to D.C. today to visit her parents, she'll be back late Sunday night."

"Did you have company staying over tonight?" asked Det. Johns.

"No, why?"

"What's your roommate's name?" asked Det. Christian.

"Allison Kessing, why?" she asked, becoming more vexed with each question.

"Do you have a picture of your roommate Ms. Castillo?" asked Det. Johns.

"Yes, why?" asked Katrina. She was starting to feel like a ping pong ball going back and forth between these two. They continued to ask questions but never answered any.

"Ms. Castillo, there was a female body found in your apartment, partially burned. We need to determine if it is your roommate's." said Det. Christian.

"Allison left this afternoon, I dropped her off at the airport myself, it can't be her!" Katrina started shaking. She couldn't believe what the detectives were saying. It wasn't Allison she thought. It couldn't be, she prayed.

"Ms. Castillo, I need you to calm down, and locate the picture that you have of your roommate."

Katrina frantically searched her cross over bag trying to find her wallet as quickly as possible. When she finally located it she pulled it out so fast that it fell to the ground. She bent to pick it up but her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped it again.

"Ms. Castillo, I can get that for you, just hold on a minute, take some deep breaths, it's going to be okay," said Det. Johns. He reached down and picked up her wallet, some money and two pictures fell out of it. He retrieved those from the ground. "Is this your roommate?" he asked pointing at a picture of Allison and herself during homecoming at State University last year.

"Yes, that's Allison."

"This isn't the body we found upstairs in your living room, Ms. Castillo," said Det. Christian.

Katrina's entire body relaxed and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Allison was alright. Her calm state was short lived before she asked the inevitable question, "Then who is it?"

*****

The Guardian watched the scene unfold. He watched them leave the building. He recognized one of them immediately. He watched as Katrina crept through the alley and then jump back as the last assailant left. He watched as the fire department made it in time to save the building. He watched Katrina as she was leaning against a squad car looking beautiful and distraught at the same time. She had made it safely from the apartment. He was relieved to find his one foray into her apartment had saved her life. The mechanism that had jolted her awake would have to be removed from her bed before the police found it. He refocused his attention on the scene before him. He watched her say a silent prayer for the lost soul. He has watched her do so many things these last six years. He has enjoyed watching her. Taking care of her without her knowing he was doing it. Now that the entire scene had unfolded he knew tonight's event was only the beginning, there was so much more to come and he would be there for it all.
Chapter 2

The two detectives escorted Katrina to the local precinct to continue the interview. En route to the police station she called Allison to make sure she had arrived in D.C. The whole incident had shaken her so badly she just wanted to hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, Allison?"

"Katrina?" a sleepy Allison replied. "What time is it?"

"I'm sorry to call you so late, it's about 4:45 a.m. here, and I just needed to make sure you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be okay, I'm at my parents' house? Why are you calling so early?" asked Allison sleepily.

"There was a break in at the apartment."

"What do you mean there was a break in at the apartment? Are you okay?" cried Allison wide awake now.

"I'm fine. I'm headed to the police station now. I'll call you later and explain everything okay. I have to go. The police are waiting on me. Give your mom and dad my love," said Katrina before hanging up the cell phone and walking into the police station.

The precinct was newly built. It was part of the Renovate Chicago Project that began in 2003. Katrina looked around the precinct. It was crowded. There were police officers sitting at glass tables with state of the art computers at their fingertips. Suspects sat handcuffed to seats and patrons waited to file complaints. The space was open and airy. There were several prints of Chicago artists hanging from the walls. The corner offices had floor to ceiling glass walls. There were a lot of officers on duty. More than Katrina expected to see so early in the morning. Detectives Christian and Johns escorted her to their desk and asked her to take a seat. Katrina sat down and laid her bag in her lap. She was thankful to still have the blanket the fireman had given her back at the apartment. She pulled it more securely around her. She wasn't comfortable sitting out in the open in her pajamas.

"Do you need anything to drink or eat Ms. Castillo?" asked Det. Christian.

"No, I'm fine. I just want to answer your questions so that I can, oh hell! I can't go back to my apartment," she said in exasperation.

"No, I'm afraid you won't be going back to your apartment anytime soon." Det. Johns paused before continuing. "Can you tell us what you did yesterday? Start from the last time you saw your roommate. Where did you go? What did you do?"

"Well, I dropped Allison and Sophie off at the airport at about 3:30 this afternoon. Then I went to the library to catch up on some assignments for school," said Katrina.

"Who is Sophie?" asked Det. Johns.

"She's my best friend Kim's little sister." said Katrina.

"Describe Sophie to us," said Det. Christian.

"She's petite, about 5'2, French, short black hair, with brown eyes. You don't think it was Sophie, do you?" asked Katrina in surprise.

"No, the description doesn't fit. Go back to what you did today. You mentioned catching up on some assignments. Are you a teacher or a student?" asked Det. Christian.

"I'm a graduate student at State University." Katrina took a deep breath. "I left the library at about 7:30. I met my friend Kim for a cup of coffee at 8:00."

"What does your friend Kim look like?" asked Det. Johns.

Katrina was beginning to dread every time she mentioned one of her friends. At this rate she'll have described every female with whom she attends classes. She shook the thought off and began describing Kim. "She's about 5'9, slender, with long black hair and green eyes."

"What's her race?"

"She's part French, part African American, although she generally doesn't classify herself."

Det. Christian and Johns exchanged looks, Det. Christian shook his head.

"You just said that Sophie is your best friend Kim's little sister. But you mentioned Sophie was French." said Det. Christian questioningly.

"Yeah, Kim is older by seven years. Kim's mother died when she was three and her father remarried. Sophie's mother is French," said Katrina. "Sophie doesn't have any problems defining herself."

"What else did you do tonight?" asked Det. Christian. He decided to continue the interview in case she started wondering why they were so interested in Kim and Sophie.

"We left the coffee shop about nine. Kim tried to convince me to go clubbing with her, Adan and Maxi. But I have a big paper due on Monday and declined. I told her I would catch up with her tomorrow if I had some free time. I made it home about 9:30 and took a shower. I read a couple of chapters from one of the books related to my paper. I worked on a rough draft until about midnight, than I went to sleep."

"You didn't speak to anyone from the time you arrived home until you went to sleep?" asked Det. Johns.

"No, my phone was on the charger. It was dead by the time I got home."

"How did you know there was someone in your apartment?" asked Det. Christian.

"I don't know what woke me. I was sleeping extremely well when I shot straight up in bed but I couldn't figure out why I was startled out of my sleep. I laid back down to go back to sleep when I heard someone rambling in one of the other rooms. I grabbed my stuff and went up the fire escape."

"If you went up the fire escape, how did you know the apartment was on fire?" asked Det. Christian.

"I was on the phone with the dispatcher when I smelled smoke. I came down the stairs to make sure my senses weren't playing tricks on me. The smell of smoke got stronger the closer I got to my floor. When I could peek into my apartment, I saw the fire," said Katrina.

"What did you do then?" asked Det. Johns.

"I told the dispatcher my apartment was on fire and she told me to get off the fire escape. But I was scared. I thought the intruder would be downstairs waiting on me. The dispatcher could hear the sirens through my phone. She told me the intruder would most likely run away when he heard the sirens. So I climbed down the fire escape. I was shaking so badly that I dropped my phone. I was still a little scared so I kind of sneaked up to the front and peeked around the corner of the building. I was about to come around the corner when I saw the guy leave my building."

"Did anything seem familiar about him? The way he walked, did he say anything, or did you notice anything that would make him stand out?" Det. Christian inquired.

"The only thing I noticed was the way he was walking. It was the way that body builders' walk. You know how they walk when they've gotten too big. Their arms spread out instead of touching their sides. He was short. He didn't look right walking down the street. It was like his upper body didn't match his lower body." said Katrina.

"Could you see his face or hands, anything to identify what race he was?"

"No, I was too busy trying not to be seen by him. When he came out of the building I jumped back and thanked my lucky stars he went in the opposite direction," said Katrina.

"How tall would you say he was?"

"I think he was about 5'7, I'm 5'4 and he didn't appear to be much taller than I am."

"You're a petite woman, so when you say he was big for his height, what exactly do you mean? Was he about Det. Johns' size or my size?"

Katrina looked at Det. Christian, he was about 6'3, and muscular, yet in proportion to his body the size fit him. She looked at Det. Johns, he was about 5'11 and had an athletic build. Katrina decided to look around the precinct, neither Det. Johns nor Det. Christian fit the body type of the guy she had seen. She found an officer that fit the build and pointed to him. "Do you see that officer over there with the woman and baby?"

Detectives' Christian and Johns looked in the direction she was pointing.

"He just sat down. The woman has on a pink hat."

"I see who she's referring to, Officer Lance."

Det. Johns spotted Officer Lance and examined him. Officer Lance was about 5'8 and extremely muscular. Some of the guys in the precinct called him Arnold, as in the Terminator. When he first joined the force he took down a half crazed druggie without any assistance from the hoard of police officers standing by watching. That's when the squad started calling him "Arnold". The addict he took down was about 6'4 and had at least 150 pounds on Officer Lance. Yet, Officer Lance wasn't even winded when he came up with the guy in cuffs.

Det. Johns called Officer Lance over to their desk to be sure they were looking at the right officer.

"Yeah, he's the one I was referring to, he has the right build for the guy I saw leave the building, but he carries his better. His gait isn't awkward as he walks," said Katrina.

"Lance, how tall are you?" asked Det. Johns.

"I'm 5'8, why?"

"And about how much do you weigh?

"275" said Officer Lance. "Are you trying to set me up on a date?" he asked giving Katrina the once over.

"No just getting some measurements for a perp," said Det. Christian.

"Gee, thanks, glad I could be of assistance. When you find him, I'd like to meet him. I want to know if he's as pretty as I am," said Officer Lance as he walked back to his desk shaking his head.

"Is there anything else you need from me Detectives, I'm tired and need to find a place to crash."

"No, this is all the information we need right now. We do need you to make a list of any valuables you might have had in your apartment for the theft report," said Det. Christian.

"We don't keep expensive things in our apartment. The most expensive things that we have are the laptops we brought from home," said Katrina.

"We still need an inventory just in case," said Det. Johns.

"Okay, I'll try to come up with a list."

"Where will you be staying since your apartment is a crime scene?" asked Det. Johns.

"I'm going to call my friend Kim. I can stay with her and her sister until Allison and I find a new place," said Katrina. An officer walked over to the desk and handed Det. Christian a picture. Detective Christian tapped Det. Johns on the shoulder. He gave Det. Johns the signal "to watch her reaction" as he interrupted their conversation.

"Before you go, we need you to look at a picture. Tell us if you recognize the girl in the picture," said Det. Christian.

"Is this the girl they found in my apartment?"

"Yeah, we only have one side of her face because the body was burned pretty badly. Let me warn you she's pretty banged up, so brace yourself," said Det. Christian.

Katrina tried to brace herself, she had never had to look at a dead body before. Det. Christian handed her the picture of the dead girl. The picture slid through her hands and fell to the floor. Tears welled up in Katrina's eyes as she doubled over in pain. No sound would pass her lips. She couldn't breathe. She knew the face on that picture, had known it for years, Kim! The room started spinning and then blessed darkness.
Chapter 3

When Katrina awoke, she was laying on a soft leather couch. Somewhat disoriented, she tried to determine how she had gotten there. She looked around the room and spotted Det. Christian. Suddenly it all came back, the break in at the apartment, the fire and the picture of Kim, her face all swollen and battered.

"Are you okay, Ms. Castillo? Is there someone I can call for you?" asked Det. Christian.

Katrina reigned in her emotions as best as she could and replied, "I'm okay, I think." She hesitated for a second, "No there's no one you can call for me."

"What about your parents, a sister or brother, maybe one of them can pick you up?"

"I'm an only child. My parents are out of the country right now."

"Do you have any other family members in the city or a close friend you can call?" asked Det. Christian with concern in his voice.

"No I don't have any other family here. You knew it was Kim, didn't you?" she said accusingly as she looked him in the eye.

"Yes, once you told us her description we were pretty sure it was her," replied Det. Christian flinching from the pain he saw there.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" asked Katrina.

"We can never say it is a certain person until we have a positive I.D.," he replied.

"Have you contacted Kim's parents? She lived with her sister, is she okay?" Katrina shook her head to clear it.

"There was no one at the apartment when the officers made it on the scene. They are trying to locate the next of kin right now," he said. He decided not to mention the state of the apartment when the officers arrived. It had been ransacked.

"I forgot I dropped Sophie and Allison off at the airport today. Sophie goes home on the weekends. It was part of the deal her parents made with her. She couldn't come to State unless she came home on weekends," said Katrina.

"Why does she go home every weekend?" asked Det. Christian.

Katrina looked at the floor, not wanting to look him in the eyes as she betrayed a family secret. "Sophie was kind of a wild child when she was in high school. She got into a lot of trouble with drugs and promiscuity. Their parents finally got her some help. Unfortunately by the time she straightened up, she was graduating high school. In order for their parents to pay for Sophie's college education she had to make a deal with them. Sophie has to come home every weekend her freshman year, submit to random drug testing and maintain a "B" average. After her freshman year, some of her restrictions would be eased."

"Why not just make her go to school where they lived, they could keep a better eye on her there, then in another state?" he asked.

"Well they also wanted to get her away from some of the bad influences in her life, mainly her ex-boyfriend Timothy Herring." He's the one they blame for getting her hooked on drugs in the first place," said Katrina.

The door to the break room opened, and Det. Johns entered. "I just wanted to let you know the Virginia Beach Police Department has done the notification. Kim has a younger sister named Sophie, right?" he asked.

Katrina nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"She's fine. She made it home to her parent's house about 8:30 p.m. They stayed in last night." Det. Johns leaned against the wall and allowed Det. Christian to continue his interview.

"Ms. Castillo, can you think of anyone who might want to hurt your friend Kim?" asked Det. Christian.

"Please call me Katrina and no. Kim was well liked for the most part, there was some girl envy and jealousy at State, but nothing that would make someone do this to her. She had some trouble with an ex-boyfriend, Ken McWilliams, about a year ago, but she hadn't seen or spoken to him in about six months," she replied.

"What kind of trouble did she have with the ex-boyfriend?"

"Well, he was extremely jealous, and accused her of cheating all the time. They didn't date very long before he ended the relationship. Soon after he ended it, he tried to reconcile with her. When she refused to reconcile with him, he started harassing her."

"What do you mean he started harassing her?"

"He would show up at parties she was attending. He would call at all hours of the night begging her to take him back. And a couple of times he showed up at her job," said Katrina slightly embarrassed by the awkward situation her friend was in several months ago.

"You said it had been about six months since she had seen or heard from him. Do you have any idea what made him stop harassing her?"

"Kim called his parents and told them about the situation. I could tell from the conversation that they had, that this wasn't the first time his parents had gotten a phone call concerning Ken harassing young ladies. His parents threatened to stop financing his education if he didn't leave her alone."

"Did she notify Campus Police that he was harassing her?" asked Det. Christian.

"No, she wouldn't do that to his parents. Her parents and his are good friends. She didn't want to cause them any embarrassment, so she contacted them instead," said Katrina.

"We're going to have to check him out. Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, he graduated last spring and moved to Honolulu, Hawaii to continue his research on volcanoes. I doubt if he could do something like this anyway. Besides he didn't fit the build of the guy I saw leaving the building. Ken is 6'3 and lanky."

"Johns, get in touch with Honolulu PD and make sure our friend hasn't left the island."

"I'm on it," said Johns as he exited the room.

"What about you, can you think of anyone who might want to hurt you, or holds a grudge against you?"

"No, I keep a pretty low profile," she said.

"What about a boyfriend/girlfriend?" he asked levelly.

Katrina's head snapped up. "No, I don't have a boyfriend, and I most definitely don't have a girlfriend. I've been pretty busy lately with my research. So I haven't had much time for socializing."

Det. Christian gave Katrina the once over. It was hard to believe that she didn't have someone in her life. She was what the older cops would call a looker. She had a light caramel complexion. Her hair was long, thick, and wavy. She had long eyelashes that gave a glimpse of the hazel green eyes beneath. There was a tiny star shaped birthmark below her right eye. She was on the petite side, but she had curves in all the right places. He could tell this even though she was wearing pajamas. They just happen to be silk pajamas, the lounging kind. He had to remind himself that he was a married man.

"What about ex-boyfriends?"

"No, I haven't dated anyone in about a year and a half. My schedule has been so hectic that I haven't had the time."

"Have you had any problems at school, or in the neighborhood?"

"No, I lead a pretty simple life. I go to class, go to work, hang out with friends, and visit my parents."

"You haven't felt anyone watching you?

"No, I haven't. Look Det. Christian my life was going fine until tonight. Is there anything else you need? I'm exhausted. I need to find a place to stay. I need to call my roommate and update her on this situation and several other things to take care of," said Katrina in exasperation.

"No, this is it for a while, if we have any more questions we'll let you know."

"Will I be able to get some of my things from the apartment? I don't have any clothing. Walking around in my pajamas isn't a usual occurrence for me. I don't see how those silly people do this on a daily basis," said Katrina.

"I'll get an officer to run you by your apartment. You'll only be able to get things from your bedroom. The rest of the apartment is to remain untouched. You can pick up your car as well. Here's my card in case you think of anything else, and call me when you get settled so I can know how and where to reach you," he said.

"Can I get my jump drive from my computer? I'll need that. It has all my research on it and my papers that are due."

"Yeah, just let the officer examine it before you take it."

"Thanks Det. Christian."

"No problem. Take care of yourself," said Det. Christian. He told her to wait in the lounge and he would send someone to escort her home. He left the staff lounge and found Officer Vasquez. He spoke to her for several moments updating her on the situation and requested she escort Katrina home. Then he went to find Det. Johns to see if he had learned anything else.
Chapter 4

Katrina left the police station with Officer Vasquez. She was a veteran on the force, having worked for the Chicago Police Department for twenty-five years. She told Katrina about her career on the less than ten minute drive to the apartment.

Katrina had never noticed just how close the police station was to her apartment she thought to herself as they pulled up in front of her building. Officer Vasquez reminded her that she could only get a couple of items from her apartment and not to touch anything in the living room before they entered the building.

Officer Vasquez walked up the flight of stairs slightly ahead of Katrina. She reached the apartment door first and told Katrina to wait by the wall. After she examined the crime scene tape she removed it and told Katrina she could go in.

Katrina started walking towards the apartment door, but she froze before actually entering. She started shaking all over. She backed away from the door, images of Kim's bruised and battered face flashing through her mind. She could see Kim's body lying in her living room battered and burned.

"Ms. Castillo, are you okay?" asked Officer Vasquez.

"I just realized that Kim died in my apartment tonight. I can't go in there," she said in a shaky whisper.

"I can go in and gather some of your things for you," said Vasquez.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. I keep ..." Katrina trailed off without finishing the sentence. She slumped against the wall. Tears ran down her face.

Officer Vasquez walked over to Katrina. She started rubbing her back. "Just take a couple of deep breaths, Ms. Castillo. That's it. We won't be here much longer." Officer Vasquez grasped Katrina's hand. She was providing Katrina with comfort she hadn't known she needed.

Katrina took another deep breath. "I'm okay. I'm okay now," said Katrina.

"You were telling me what you needed from your apartment, and where it's located," said Officer Vasquez.

"Yeah, I have an overnight bag packed in my closet. It's in my room, the last room straight back. I also need my jump drive from my laptop. My laptop should be inside the desk next to the bed."

"Okay, you just wait right here, and I'll be back in a minute," said Officer Vasquez. Officer Vasquez entered the apartment. She returned in under a minute carrying the overnight bag and a puzzled look on her face.

"I located your overnight bag, but there wasn't any sign of your laptop in the apartment Ms. Castillo," she said.

"Are you sure, my desk is right next to the bed. You didn't see my laptop inside the drawer and printer on the desk?" asked Katrina in confusion.

"The printer is on the desk, but the laptop wasn't inside of it or anywhere that I could see in the room. I think you need to come into your bedroom and see if there is anything else missing," said Officer Vasquez.

"I can't go in there." Katrina said shaking her head. "Besides, we don't keep expensive things in our apartment. The most expensive things anyone would find are our laptops. We didn't even bother with TV's or radios because we could listen to music and watch TV online," said Katrina in exasperation.

"Did your roommate have a laptop?"

"Yes, but she took it home with her this weekend, she had a paper to do as well."

"I'll add your laptop to the burglary report. Are you sure you all don't have anything expensive worth stealing in the apartment" asked Officer Vasquez.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure." Katrina paused for a second, "Oh, hell, a police report won't do me any good, my jump drive was in that laptop with most of my research on it," she said in annoyance.

"Here's your bag," said Officer Vasquez. She handed Katrina a red overnight case, hoping to distract her from her latest predicament. "Do you have someone you can stay with tonight?"

"No, my parents are out of the country. I don't want to stay at their house by myself. I think I'm going to check into a hotel for a couple of nights until Allison gets back. Then we can decide where we want to stay until the semester is over."

Katrina and Officer Vasquez walked down the stairs and exited the building. The sun was shining brightly overhead. The day turned out lovely for mid-October. Officer Vasquez looked up and down the street, but didn't notice anything unusual. She walked Katrina to her car. As Katrina got closer to the car she noticed an envelope on her windshield. The windshield wiper was keeping it in place.

"Oh, great! I got a ticket!" she exclaimed as she picked up the envelope.

"That's not a ticket. We don't use envelopes for our tickets. Perhaps one of your friends stopped by and left you a note," said Officer Vasquez.

"My friends are the nosy kind, they would have called me, not written a note," Katrina said in frustration as she opened the envelope and read it. "It's just a note from one of my neighbors telling me to let her know when we get settled into our new place. She's going to hold our mail for us." She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Officer Vasquez.

"It's good to have caring neighbors. It's like a family that looks out for you," said Officer Vasquez.

"Yeah, that's one of the reasons Allison and I decided to live here. Older people are more caring. They look out for one another. We always felt safe here," said Katrina as she glanced back at her apartment building. That sense of safety no longer applied. She couldn't bear the last memory she had of her apartment. So she quickly got into her car.

"You go ahead and get to where you're going before rush hour hits."

"Thanks Officer Vasquez," said Katrina as she closed her car door. She looked up at her apartment one last time. A chill ran down her spine. Someone had murdered Kim in my apartment, she thought with a stab of pain. She couldn't stand to look at the building any longer. She started her car and pulled into traffic.

*****

He lowered his binoculars, a smile forming on his lips. He'd finally seen her again. It had taken all his strength not to go into the police station when they took her in. He was starting to lose his patience. It had been six years, but a little more time wouldn't hurt, he told himself. He looked back at Katrina again. She looked so lovely in her red silk pajamas, an excellent color on her. She looked a little tired and concerned to him, his beautiful Katrina. He wondered what had her worried. It was time for her to get some rest. He knew she wouldn't be coming back to her apartment anytime soon, but that was okay by him. No matter where she went, he would be there. He was her Guardian after all.
Chapter 5

Katrina

Katrina drove towards downtown Chicago, bombarded with thoughts of Kim and Kim's family. She drove listlessly, half paying attention to where she was going. Why would someone want to hurt Kim? She was so kind, daring and honest. Tears poured down her face. A horn sounded loudly in her ear jarring her from her thoughts. Katrina stopped at the red light on Michigan Avenue. She grabbed some tissues from her purse and cleaned her face. When she looked up again she spotted the Morae Hotel. She decided to check in. Knowing Mr. Peterson would be there provided her with a sense of comfort.

Katrina pulled into the valet lane. A young African American male stepped to her car and opened the door for her.

"Good morning ma'am. May I have your name?" said the valet. The valet looked her up and down but did not mention her attire.

"Katrina Castillo," she replied a little uncomfortably. The valet had just reminded her of her clothing situation. She would have to attend to that when she had gotten some rest.

"Do you need any assistance with your bags Ms. Castillo?"

"Yes, there's an overnight case on my back seat, can you grab it for me?" replied Katrina. She handed him her valet key and stepped out of her vehicle.

Katrina searched for the young man's name tag. "Excuse me Derrick, would you happen to know Mr. Peterson?" she asked.

"Yes, everyone knows Mr. Peterson, he's a fixture at this hotel," replied Derrick.

"Do you know if he's working today?" she inquired.

"Yes, he's actually working right now. You'll see him when you pass the concierge desk to your left," he replied.

"Thank you." Katrina walked into the hotel and spotted Mr. Peterson right away. A sense of relief overwhelmed her, she wasn't alone after all she thought. Mr. Peterson was standing next to the concierge desk. He was a big strapping man, his height reaching 6'3. He was solidly built from his years of serving in the Marine Corps. He sported a bald head with ebony colored skin. Allison had asked him once why he shaved his head.

He had replied, "it's easier to fool the young ladies like yourself into thinking that I'm younger than I am." She was never able to tell Mr. Peterson's age. So she guessed the bald head did help. She did know that he had put four sons through college and he currently had six grandchildren in college. His wife had passed a couple of years ago. So he decided to come out of retirement. He said he didn't like sitting around the house all day with nothing to do. She tucked that memory in the back of her mind and quickly made her way over to the concierge desk.

Mr. Peterson looked up and spotted her walking towards him.

"Katrina, I'm glad to see that you're okay, you are okay, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Peterson. I'm fine and I'm glad to see someone I know," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I decided to check in here for a couple of days until Allison gets back."

"Why aren't you staying with your parents?"

"They're out of the country right now, they won't return for another week. I didn't want to stay in that big rambling house by myself," she said.

"Have you spoken to them? Do they know what happened?" inquired Mr. Peterson.

"No, I don't want to worry them. I can't reach them now anyway, they're on safari."

"Where is Allison?"

"She went home this weekend. Her parents were being honored at some big dinner, so she flew home to join in the celebration."

"You look exhausted. Let's get you checked in. I'll tell them you're my granddaughter, so you can use my family discount."

"Mr. Peterson you don't have to do that. I'm fine."

"Well, you and Allison are like my grandchildren so I don't mind," he replied.

"Thanks Mr. Peterson, I really appreciate it."

Katrina and Mr. Peterson walked over to the desk and got her registered. She requested a suite with two queen sized beds. She wasn't sure how long she and Allison would be staying at the hotel. She decided to get the room for four days to be on the safe side. Once she was checked in she quickly went to her room. She needed a bath and a bed with all due haste.

The Morae Hotel was one of the best in the city of Chicago. It wasn't overly expensive, but it was uncannily comfortable. The hotel's receptionist told her the suite consisted of a living room, kitchenette, a bath with a shower and Jacuzzi, and two queen sized beds. The room was gorgeous, but she barely noticed. She walked into the bedroom. Her eyes went straight to the pillow topped bed. It looked extremely inviting. She decided to take a shower before crawling into bed for some much needed sleep.

She plugged her cell phone into the wall so that it could recharge and grabbed her overnight bag. The bathroom was huge. It was decorated in rich tones of gold, brown, cream, and black. There was a sunken Jacuzzi to the left of the entrance and an enclosed shower to the right. Straight ahead were the toilet and sink. Katrina considered slipping into the Jacuzzi, but decided against it. She was too tired and might end up drowning herself. She decided on a quick steaming shower to relax her muscles and frayed nerves.

After her shower she checked the charge on her cell phone. She had enough bars to call Allison. She dialed her number and Allison picked up on the first ring.

"Katrina, what took you so long to call me? I've been waiting around all day for your call. I've been worried about you," Allison exclaimed in a loud voice.

"I was at the police station most of the morning. I've just checked into the Morae Hotel. I needed a shower and a change of clothing before I called to tell you what happened, if that's alright with you," Katrina said with irritation in her voice. "Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you, but it's been a long day."

"It's okay. I've just been so worried. We heard about Kim's death here in D.C. It made the national news," said Allison.

"I haven't had time to think about everything that has happened. I haven't even watched TV today. So I have no idea what the news has said concerning her death," said Katrina.

"The news hasn't provided very many details. But I know it's going to be in the spotlight for a while. A beautiful French-American Heiress killed in the U.S. Her family will make sure it stays the top story until her killer is found," said Allison.

"Allison, I just wanted to let you know where I was, can I call you back later after I've gotten some sleep?" inquired Katrina.

"Sure, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You can call me if you need me. If I need to come home early, my parents will send me back, just let me know. Okay?" said Allison.

"Thanks. I'll call you when I wake up, okay?"

"Sleep well, and put the safety lock on your door," said Allison.

"Sure thing chief," said Katrina. She hung up the phone and walked over to the door to throw the security lock. Katrina walked to the bed, pulled back the covers and laid on the pillow top mattress. She glanced at the clock. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. She was so tired, but couldn't imagine closing her eyes. She was terrified of seeing Kim's battered body in her dreams. She decided to try happy thoughts to help clear her mind. She thought back to a vacation she and her parents had taken to Spain one summer. She remembered the beach they had visited. The water was so warm and she enjoyed being in it. She fell asleep swimming in Spain.

Chapter 6

Precinct 9

"What do you think about our little Ms. Castillo?" asked Det. Christian.

"She seems genuine. It almost broke my heart when she realized it was her friend Kim that was killed. The devastation on her face won't leave my mind for a while," said Det. Johns."

"I didn't know you had one of those," chuckled Det. Christian.

"What a heart or a mind?"

"Either one," replied Christian jokingly.

"Once a comedian, always a comedian."

"I wasn't buying her act at first about just suddenly waking up. Has anything like that ever happened to you?" inquired Christian.

"Yeah, it's hard to explain. But it's like that feeling you get from that dream. You know the one where you're falling off a cliff and you suddenly wake up. Your senses are on high alert and you're in tune to everything around you. You've never had that dream?"

"Everybody's had that dream before. I don't think you're human if you haven't had that dream. Still, I wonder why she went up the fire escape instead of down?" said Det. Christian.

"Do men ever understand anything that women do? Have you figured your wife out yet?"

"Point taken," replied Det. Christian.

"Heads up, here comes Vasquez.

"Christian, Johns, I just wanted to let you know Ms. Castillo's laptop is missing from the apartment," said Vasquez.

"Did she notice anything else missing?" inquired Det. Johns.

"She never made it into the apartment. She broke down at the door. I had to go in to get her things," said Vasquez.

"So how do you know her laptop is missing?" asked Det. Christian.

"She wanted me to get her jump drive out of it. When I went into her room to get her things, the laptop wasn't there. I scanned the room, but didn't notice it in plain sight or where she said it would be. Nothing else appeared to be missing or disturbed," said Vasquez.

"Now we have a robbery homicide on our hands," said Det. Johns.

"Thanks Vasquez," said Christian. Vasquez turned to walk away. "Hey Vasquez, did she mention where she would be staying for the next couple of days?"

"She said she was going to check into a hotel. She said she'd let you guys know which one. Let me know if you need anything else?" replied Vasquez as she walked away.

"Sure thing," said Christian.

Johns' cell phone rang. "Hello. Hey Katz what do you have for me?"

Christian sat at his desk tapping his pencil, contemplating the events of the night while Johns listened to Katz.

Johns said, "We'll be there in ten minutes."

"What's up?" Christian asked as he grabbed his coffee off of the desk."

"Katz is done with the autopsy. He's found some unusual things concerning our vic's murder. He wants us to stop by ASAP so he can show us what he has," said Det. Johns. Christian and Johns exited the building and hopped into their cruiser. John was the designated driver for their team. He said he couldn't trust Christian not to break every traffic law when they were on the streets.

"What do you think he found?" queried Christian.

"I'm not sure, but it must be something out of the ordinary. He actually sounded excited and freaked out at the same time, if that's even possible for Katz?" said Det. Johns shaking his head.

"Nothing fazes Katz. He's seen so many weird things in his time." Christian shook his head in wonder. "He once told me that nothing surprises him anymore. He said he's seen some of the vilest things that humans could do to one another. Now when a dead body hits his morgue he expects the worst," said Christian.

Christian and Johns arrived at the coroner's office in less than seven minutes. Det. Johns parked in the rear of the building. They entered through the employee entrance. They found Katz outside his office door taking a smoke.

"You know this is a non-smoking building Katz. What's got you smoking again?" asked Det. Johns.

"Sorry Johns," Katz said in a shaky voice. "I just needed to light one up. I haven't smoked in three years."

"So what's making you start back now?" inquired Christian.

"I've seen some weird things in my time, but this guy is extremely wacked. Before this, nothing ever surprised me anymore, but this case gives me the creeps. Normally I am the one creeping people out," said Katz between puffs of his cigarette.

"Put that thing out, Katz!" Det. Christian yelled. "Pull yourself together. This isn't you. Get your head back in the game, and tell us what's going on!"

Katz put the cigarette out on his shoe. He took a couple of soothing deep breaths and signaled for them to follow him into his examination room.

"Guys, this autopsy isn't for the faint at heart. If you need a minute to get yourself together let me know. 'Cause when I need one, I'm taking it." He pointed to the body of a young mixed heritage female. "This is Kim Dubois. She was a twenty-five year old female, 5'9, 140 pounds. Although the time of death was between 1:30 and 2:30, I found evidence that Kim was tortured for several hours prior to her death. The perp probably grabbed her between 9:30 and 10:00 last night. The friend last saw her when?"

Christian pulled out his notes and replied "Ms. Castillo said they left the coffee shop at about 9:00."

"So my original timeline is pretty accurate. Ms. Dubois sustained multiple punches to the left side of her face. The blows to the face were so severe it appears that part of her face was caved in. She also received several blows to the chest, legs, back, and vaginal area. The beating happened before she was sedated," said Katz as he took a couple of deep breaths and glanced at Johns and Christian.

"She was sedated. Why'd he sedate her?" asked Johns while holding a handkerchief over his nose.

"I'm not sure, maybe because what he was planning next was extremely painful. He wasn't ready for Ms. Dubois to die. He probably didn't want her to pass out from the pain either," said Katz.

"What did he do to her?" said Christian.

"I'm getting to that," said Katz in agitation. Katz took another deep breath, walked to the other side of the room and then back. "After the beating, the perp sedated Ms. Dubois. He then bound her feet and hands with duct tape. He cut her stomach open. From there Ms. Dubois became lunch for your garden variety wood rat. He didn't allow them to eat her alive. He removed her body from the wood rats after an unspecified period of time. He sewed her back up. Then the perp gave her a bath. This wasn't your typical clean me up bath. It was an alcohol bath. And yes, to answer the question in your eyes, Ms. Dubois was still alive when the perp soaked her in the alcohol bath."

"An alcohol bath, like the alcohol you drink?" inquired Christian.

"No, the kind you rub your body with to alleviate pain," said Katz. "Her entire body, head and all were immersed in rubbing alcohol. There were remnants found in her hair. But he washed her face with soap and water. Lastly, our perp pierced Ms. Dubois' heart with a thin circular blade."

"Damn, he put her through hell. Are there any signs of sexual assault?" asked Christian.

"No, she wasn't raped. There wasn't any sign of sexual activity at all," replied Katz.

"Geez, I need some fresh air," said Johns.

"I'll walk you out," said Katz.

"This guy needs to be in a psych ward," said Johns.

"That's what we get paid for," said Christian. "Let us know if you find anything else."

"I've got you on speed dial. I don't want another one of these coming my way any time soon," said Katz.

Johns and Christian exchanged a look.

Johns said, "This is only the beginning for him. With what was done to her, do you think he's done this before?"

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," said Christian.

"We need to find out where Ms. Castillo is staying and put a protection detail on her," said Johns.

"You think he's coming after her next?" asked Christian.

"Who knows what a psycho will do, but he was in her apartment for a reason. I'm thinking he was going to snatch her next, but she escaped," said Johns.

"Well, she said she was going to check into a hotel, do you think she's found one yet?" asked Christian.

"I'm pretty sure she had one in mind when she was talking to us. One of her neighbors works at the Morae Hotel. I bet she went there," he replied.

"What's makes you so sure?" asked Det. Christian.

"Just call it a cop's wisdom, besides the people in her building are like family. She can't go back to her apartment, so the closest place to find that feeling would be the hotel. She knows Mr. Peterson works there and going there allows her to be near someone she knows."

"So I guess we're headed to the Morae Hotel?" said Christian.

"That's a fact jack," said Det. Johns.

"You are so corny," said Det. Christian.

"Says the man using the word "corny"?" replied Det. Johns.

*****

Her ears were ringing and the ringing was getting louder. Katrina finally shook herself awake. The ringing wasn't in her ears, it was the suites telephone. She picked up the phone with a drowsy "hello".

"Ms. Castillo, this is the front desk. We have a special delivery for you," said the voice on the other end.

"A special delivery? What kind of delivery?" she replied sleepily.

"I'm sorry Ms. Castillo. I didn't realize you were sleep. I didn't mean to disturb you. We'll just hold it downstairs until later on, you can pick it up at the front desk," said the voice.

"No, you can send it up," said Katrina finally awake. She looked over at the clock. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. The person on the phone said okay and hung up. She got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She picked up a face towel and soaked it in hot water. She washed the sleep out of her eyes then she went to sit back down on the bed. She was about to get back under the covers when there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" she said as she looked through the peephole.

"It's hotel concierge, I have a special delivery for you," came the reply.

She shook her head to wake herself up, she had forgotten that fast that they were delivering something to her room. "Give me one second," she said as she ran into the bathroom and grabbed the complimentary robe off the door and tightened it around her waist. She picked up her wallet en route to the door again. She opened the door. The gentleman stood before her holding a fresh bouquet of yellow stem roses, he handed them to her.

"Thank you," she said as she handed him a tip.

She closed and locked the door. She walked over to the desk and placed the flowers on it. She immediately began searching for a card. She couldn't figure out who might have sent her roses. No one knew where she was except for Allison and Mr. Peterson. She seriously doubted that either one of them would send her flowers. Yet, they were such a lovely gift. She finally located the card hidden deep down in the roses. The outside of the card simply had her name on it. She opened the card, it read:

I SEE YOU, YOUR HURT AND PAIN.

I'VE WATCHED YOU TIME AND AGAIN.

IN DUE TIME THINGS WILL COME TO PASS,

I'M YOUR GUARDIAN, I'M HOME AT LAST.

Katrina dropped the card on the floor. She started shaking. Who'd send me a crazy card like this, she thought. What did he mean he's watched me time and again. Could someone have been watching me and I didn't know it? She wondered. Stop jumping at shadows she told herself. She shook off the eerie feeling that was creeping down her spine and walked over to the bed. She was just about to lie back down when she remembered Detectives Christian and Johns. She was supposed to let them know how to get in contact with her. Katrina was reaching for her wallet when the phone rang. She stretched across the bed to grab the phone on the night stand.

"Hello," Katrina waited a couple of seconds for a reply. The caller on the line said "Boo" Katrina hung up the phone. A chill ran down her spine. She tried to shake it off but it wasn't working this time. She quickly reached for her wallet again and retrieved the card Det. Christian had given her earlier that day. She picked up her cell phone, it was fully charged now, and proceeded to call Det. Christian.

"Hello," said Det. Christian.

"Hi, this is Katrina Castillo," she said.

"We've been waiting to hear from you for a while Ms. Castillo, is everything okay?"

"I'm a little spooked right now. But I was just calling to let you know that I checked into the Morae Hotel. I'm staying in room 2426 in case you or Det. Johns needs to speak to me again."

"Det. Johns and I are on the way there now. Is everything okay?" asked Det. Christian noticing the tremor in her voice.

"I received some yellow roses today and someone just called and said, "boo." It kind of freaked me out. It's probably just my overactive imagination considering the events from last night," said Katrina.

"I can understand a call bothering you, but it was probably some kids prank calling. But why would getting flowers make you nervous?"

"I don't know who sent them. I don't know how they knew where to send them? The two people who know where I am aren't likely to send me flowers," she said.

"Was there a card with the flowers?" asked Det. Christian. He signaled Johns to speed up.

"Yes, it had this little poem, which is why I'm a little spooked."

"What did the card say?"

"Hold on a second let me get it." Katrina walked over to the desk and retrieved the card. "The card isn't signed," she said. She read it to him. "I've never had the feeling that someone was watching me, but the card suggests that someone has and that creeps me out."

"Just stay calm we should be there in five minutes. We had some follow up questions for you anyway. If you're uncomfortable just set the security lock on the door and don't open it for anyone. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yeah, okay," said Katrina in a quivering voice. She walked over to the door to reset the security lock, she hadn't put it back in place when the bellhop delivered the flowers. "Det. Christian, can you stay on the phone with me until you get here?"

"Yeah, I can do that," he said. Several thoughts floated through Det. Christians head, but the main one was, has this psycho found her already? He was trying to think of something that would get her mind off of the flowers and the phone call, but was at a loss.

Katrina was on the other end, holding the phone tight. She wanted to ask exactly how Kim died, but didn't know if she really wanted to know. Suddenly there was a scraping sound at the door. Katrina jumped and focused on the door. She whispered into the phone. "Someone's at the door."

"Is the security lock in place?" he asked. "Johns hit the siren!" yelled Det. Christian.

"Yes," she said at the same time.

"Do you happen to have any hair spray or perfume in your bag?" asked Det. Christian.

"Why are you asking me about perfume and hair spray?" asked Katrina in fear and exasperation.

"If the perp happens to get into your room, you can spray him in the eyes with it." said Det. Christian.

"If he gets into the room, I'm going to do more than spray him in the eyes," said Katrina angrily.

"Do you have any kind of self-defense training?" he asked.

"I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do," she replied.

"If he gets in, you need to take him by surprise," he said. "Do you hear anything else?"

"No, it stopped." said Katrina.

"Hide in the furthest part of the room in case he decides to break the door down. Hide behind the curtains. Make sure that he can't see you if he gets in the room. You don't know if he has a gun or not so you need the element of surprise."

"What good is the security lock, if it can't keep people out?" exclaimed Katrina moving behind the thick curtains in the room.

"They're more for giving you a sense of security. If someone is determined to get into a room, nine times out of ten they can get in. We just pulled in front of the hotel. We'll be at your door in two minutes."

Katrina stood behind the thick black curtains listening for the slightest sound. The scraping sound began again. Her hands began to quiver. Her cell phone slid from her grasp. Frantic thoughts raced through her mind. "What if they don't get here in time? Will I be able to take him?" A flash of Kim's battered face flew through her mind. She started taking deep breaths. She needed to calm herself down. She started focusing inside, not letting the fear rule her.

Detectives Christian and Johns rode the elevator with impatience and concern on their brows. They hoped Katrina was alright. Det. Christian had lost her on the cell phone, but they hadn't heard any yelling or screaming, so they assumed that was a good thing. The elevator finally arrived on her floor. They exited cautiously and examined the walls to determine which way her room was. They carefully looked around the corner, but saw no one in the halls. They sprinted to her suite's door.

Det. Johns stopped Det. Christian just shy of the door. Det. Johns pointed down and bent to pick up an object on the floor leaning against the suite's door. He came back up with a laptop. There was a post it note stuck to the top of the computer. It read: "Compliments of the Guardian."

Det. Christian knocked on the door and yelled Katrina's name. His voice snapped her out of the trancelike state she'd gone into. Katrina breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up her cell phone and walked over to the door on shaky legs. She peered through the peephole before releasing the security lock and opening the door.

Det. Johns stood in the door way with her laptop.

"That's my laptop," she said as she reached for it.

Det. Johns stepped back and said, "You can't touch this, its evidence. It was laying in front of your door. My guess is, this made the scraping sound as it slid down to the carpet."

Katrina looked at the laptop. She read the post it note, realization dawned in her eyes. She slowly backed into the room away from Detective's Johns and Christian. "It's the man that sent me the flowers, who is he?" she said in a whisper. "How does he know where I am?"

Detective's Christian and Johns entered the room.

"It's going to be okay. We're here now," said Det. Johns. He looked at Det. Christian. "We need to call the precinct and update the captain on the situation."

"I'll make the call now," said Det. Christian. He stepped into the hall and placed the call.

"I need you to take a seat Ms. Castillo," said Det. Johns in a soothing voice. He knew she was on the verge of losing it and he needed to keep her calm. Katrina moved over to the bed and sat down. Det. Johns scanned the suite. "How many bedrooms does this suite have?"

"One with two queen sized beds," she said. "I got it for me and Allison."

"Do you know when she'll be returning?" he asked. He was trying to infuse a normal conversation into the situation. If he could get her to talk about normal everyday things she might able to pull herself together.

Katrina looked at Det. Johns. "She's supposed to come back tomorrow. She only went for the weekend."

"Have you talked to her since you've been here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I talked to her just before I fell asleep. She told me Kim's murder made the national news. That was the gist of our conversation besides me telling her where I would be staying when she got back. I was pretty drained and needed to get some sleep," said Katrina.

"What did you do after you left your apartment today?" asked Det. Johns.

"I pretty much drove straight here. I didn't stop anywhere. I left my apartment and drove down Jackson Street until I hit Michigan. I knew I needed to check into a hotel, but hadn't thought about which one, when I spotted the Morae. I thought about my neighbor, and decided to check in here."

"You didn't call anyone?' inquired Det. Johns.

"No, my phone didn't have any bars. I wasn't able to charge it again until I got to the hotel," she said.

"Did you notice anyone strange when you went to the apartment?"

"No," Katrina thought back for a moment, "no one was around. I didn't even see any of my neighbors."

"A lot of them chose to stay with relatives after the fire this morning. How about as you were driving, did you notice anyone following you?" he asked.

"I wasn't paying any attention. As I was driving I started thinking about Kim and I started crying. I looked up and saw the hotel. It was like a beacon of light. I knew Mr. Peterson worked here. I knew I'd see him while I was staying here. So I pulled into the hotel. I asked the valet if Mr. Peterson was working. He told me I'd find him at the concierge desk. Mr. Peterson helped me get my room. I came up and took a shower. Then I called Allison. I talked to her for about five minutes. Then I went to sleep."

"Around what time was this?" he asked.

"I got in bed around 12:30," she said. "I slept until the phone started ringing. The front desk called up to let me know I had a special delivery. I didn't think anything of it until I read the card. Then I started wondering."

"What were you wondering," asked Det. Johns.

"Who sent me flowers? I never receive flowers unless my father sends them. He's out of the country. He wouldn't know where to find me now anyway. But the more pertinent thing would be the note that came with the flowers, it still puts me on edge just thinking about it. How could this guy know where I'm at already, the note said he'd been watching me. I'm beginning to think someone has really been watching me" she said.

"Let's not focus on that right now. After you read the card what did you do?" asked Det. Johns.

"I called you after the prank phone call, that might not have been a prank after all," said Katrina.

Det. Christian walked back into the suite and Johns decided the interview was over for now.

"The captain's been updated," said Christian.

"I need you to go and see who delivered these flowers. There isn't a florist listed on the card. Our perp could have delivered them himself," said Det. Johns.

"I'm going to question a couple of the bellhops while I'm at it. They would have noticed someone out of place hanging around the hotel," said Christian.

"We'll meet you downstairs in a couple of minutes," said Johns. Det. Christian left the suite.

Katrina turned to Det. Johns. "You said we. Do I have to go with you?" she asked in exasperation.

"Do you want to stay here knowing that some guy might be stalking you and knows where you are?" he asked incredulously.

Fear leapt into Katrina's eyes. She was tired of being an emotional roller coaster. She hadn't gotten very much sleep and was missing too many important details for her own comfort.

"Look, I don't mean to scare you, but this is serious. This guy is following you. We need to get you to a safe place," said Det. Johns.

"No, it's okay. I'm just not as sharp as I normally am, due to lack of sleep and everything that's had happened in the last 24 hours. I'll gather my things. Where are you'll taking me?" asked Katrina.

"We'll figure that out when we get back to the station," he said.

Katrina went into the bedroom. She picked up her bag and sat down on the bed. She tried to figure out what was going on, but couldn't come up with a plausible idea. She was lost in thought when Det. Johns asked if she was ready. She told him she needed five more minutes. She got dressed and they left the suite. When they arrived in the lobby, Det. Christian was waiting on them. He said the hotel had removed the delivery information from the flowers. It's hotel policy. The flowers had come from Anthony's Florist. He had a patrolmen headed there now to see if the perp came in or ordered over the phone. With any luck the perp used a credit card and they'd have a lead. He told them this information as they headed for the car. They left the Morae Hotel and went straight to the precinct.

The Guardian

The Guardian watched them leave the Morae Hotel. The smaller detective had her laptop. It was wrapped in a plastic bag. He was upset that they were keeping her laptop. He retrieved it after the police and fire department had left the scene last night. He checked the laptop for damage before he returned it to her. He knew she needed it for her classes. That's why he'd taken the chance and retrieved it for her. They need to give it back to her, he thought. She had important work to do.

The Guardian touched the jump drive in his pocket. It was a good thing he had taken the jump drive out. He prided himself on being prepared. Katrina would still be able to continue her work. He would see to it. He'd kept her jump drive on the off chance they'd confiscate her laptop when they found it had been returned to her. He always thought of every case scenario. He had succeeded for now. The police were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. Safe house here we come he thought. He strolled right pass them. The detectives didn't even glance his way. He overheard Det. Christian say the word "precinct". The other officer's nameplate read Johns. They appeared to be pretty sharp despite their lack of years on the force. He wondered if they'd be sharp enough to keep Katrina alive.

He walked to his car, the newly designed Dodge Charger. He loved cars with engines that purred. He opened the car door and got in. He sat there awhile contemplating his next move. He always had to be three moves ahead. He knew he had a little time before the next move. He decided to send Katrina a little present. And he knew just how to do it. She had papers to write after all.

The Guardian drove to State University's library. The library was packed today. That's the reason he chose State's library. Students were busy working on mid-term projects or studying for mid-term test. No one would notice another body in the library. Besides, he was extremely proficient at blending in. He sat at one of the cubicles pretending to work on a paper. It took thirty minutes before a computer became available. He sat down and proceeded to e-mail Katrina the most recent documents from her jump drive. As he was leaving the library he thought of Katrina. The last thing that would be on her mind is checking her e-mail. He ran through several case scenarios and thought upon the perfect one. He still had that burner phone from last month.

The Guardian walked back to his car and opened the trunk. The phone was in his specialty bag. It still had a little blood on it. "I'll have to clean this if I'm going to be using it in public," he thought. He texted Katrina a simple message, "I'm here to help. Check your e-mail. You'll find something important that you need." That should allow her to complete her papers, he thought. He turned the cell phone off and got into his car.

With that move completed, the Guardian proceeded to the next step in his plan. He knew the police were going to place Katrina into one of their safe houses. That's what he'd do considering the state they found her friend in. He knew the location of all of CPD's safe houses. They would want excellent security and the ability to see someone coming from a distance. Only two of their safe houses fit that description. The Guardian knew which one they would choose. Yeah, he knew police and how they thought. The Guardian is a man of many talents.
Chapter 7

Katrina

Detectives Johns and Christian escorted Katrina into the officers' lounge. They had given her a visitors badge and brought her a chef salad from the cafeteria. They told her to eat and relax on the sofa until they could get everything set up. Katrina sat at one of the tables and opened the chef salad. Her mouth started watering. She hadn't known how famished she was until she smelled the turkey and ham. She ate the entire salad and drank two cans of diet Dr. Pepper.

She was sitting quietly at the table twiddling her thumbs waiting for one of the officers to come and retrieve her. She had been sitting for about ten minutes when she thought about her cell phone. She wanted to charge it. At the rate her life was going she might need it to call 911 again.

She searched around the lounge for a socket. She finally located one behind one of the end tables next to the sofa. She set the phone on the table and began moving the end table to reach the socket. Her cell phone vibrated then played the jingle for a text. Katrina looked at her phone in wonder. She hadn't received a text in months. She wondered who was texting her now. She opened her text message box and read the message. The message said, "I'm here to help, check your e-mail," it was signed the Guardian.

Katrina's blood started to boil as she read the message. "Here to help my derriere," she thought. "How is breaking into my apartment and stealing my laptop helping me? How is killing my friend helping me? How is sending me yellow roses with a creepy message helping me?" she fumed. Katrina walked out of the officer's lounge in search of Detectives' Johns and Christian. Officer Vasquez was walking down the hall, so she stopped her.

"Excuse me Officer Vasquez," said Katrina.

"Yes, Ms. Castillo, right?" replied Vasquez.

"Yes, I need to find Detectives Christian and Johns. I just got a text message from the guy who killed my friend Kim," said Katrina angrily.

"Follow me. They're in with the captain," said Vasquez.

Katrina followed Officer Vasquez down a long hallway. Several police officers were leaving the locker rooms to her right and left. It must be a change in shift, she thought. Vasquez made a quick right and then a left. They had made it to the officer's desk. Katrina could see Detective's Christian and Johns' desk but they weren't sitting at it. She continued to follow Vasquez. She could see Johns and Christian sitting in a glass enclosed office. When they reached the office Vasquez pushed the door open.

"Excuse me, Captain, Ms. Castillo just received a text message. She thinks it's from the suspect," said Vasquez.

"Come in," said Captain Weatherspoon.

Katrina and Vasquez walked into the captain's office. Officer Vasquez introduced Katrina to the Captain.

"Let me see the message," said Johns reaching for her cell phone. Katrina handed it to him. Johns and Christian both read the message.

"What makes you think that message is from the perp?" asked Captain Weatherspoon.

"He signed it "The Guardian," replied Katrina.

"It's the same moniker, the perp used who sent the flowers and left the laptop at the hotel suite's door," said Det. Johns.

"Let's check your e-mail," said the captain. "You can use my computer."

Katrina sat at the captain's desk and pulled up her university e-mail. There were seven new e-mails. The subject bar read, "I thought you might need these." All the e-mails came from the same person. Katrina clicked the first e-mail and opened the attachment. The word document opened to reveal the paper she was working on at the library.

"It's the paper I was working on at the library," said Katrina. She checked the rest of the e-mails with attachments. She looked at the officers. "They're all my most recent papers, ones I've been working on this semester. Why would he return my computer, but keep my jump drive? Why would he send me my papers?" she asked.

"Katrina, do you keep backup copies of your work?" asked Det. Christian.

"Yeah, anything I'm working on gets backed-up to my jump drive in case my computer crashes. Why?" She inquired.

"Well, follow my logic for a moment," said the captain. The perp has returned your computer. So more than likely he checked it out. He sees the papers, other school related materials and decides it has no relevance to him. He's gotten what he wants, a peek into your world. So he decides to return it to you. He wants you to feel beholden to him like you owe him something. He decides to keep your jump drive so that he can have something personal of yours." The captain paused for a moment. "Or on the other hand he's our garden variety abuser. The kind that causes you harm and then tries to win you back by doing something nice. In this case giving you something he knows you need."

"He's more than likely the garden variety psycho. There's no coming back from what he did," replied Katrina.

All parties shook their head in agreement.

"Captain did you need anything else from me," asked Officer Vasquez.

"Yeah, you might as well pull up a seat. You're joining the team. We're going to need you to pull guard duty when the safe house is ready," said Captain Weatherspoon.

"We're putting her in a safe house?" asked Vasquez.

"Yes, we were just discussing which one we want to use," said Det. Christian.

"I'm thinking we need a place that's spread out. Not close to other houses. Clear lines of sight," said Captain Weatherspoon.

"Then we need to use the house on Donaldson. It fits that description perfectly," said Christian.

"That's the one I had in mind as well. I'll make the call. The house should be ready in about an hour. While I'm making the arrangements, Katrina I need you to recall everything you did from the time you woke up yesterday until you met Detectives Christian and Johns," said Captain Weatherspoon. Captain Weatherspoon excused himself from the room to make the arrangements.

"I have to go through this again," said Katrina in vexation.

"Sometimes people remember much more once they've been away from the situation for a while. Captain Weatherspoon is one of the best interrogators the CPD has. He'll pick up on things we might have missed yesterday. I think you'll remember more now that you've had a chance to think about what happened," said Det. Christian.

Captain Weatherspoon walked back into his office and stood in front of his desk. He faced Katrina. "Are you ready to go through the events of yesterday?" he inquired.

Katrina shook her head in acceptance.

"I want you to take a deep breath and relax. Good. Now close your eyes and think back to Friday morning. What's the first thing you remember doing? Give me details, describe people and places and how they appeared to you," said Captain Weatherspoon.

Katrina retold the events of her day on Friday. Captain Weatherspoon would interrupt her retelling in strategic spots and probe for more information. Katrina had reached the point in the retelling when she met up with Kim. Captain Weatherspoon interrupted her once again.

"How did you know what time to meet her?

"We scheduled it the day before. We had been meeting at least twice a week at the coffee shop to practice her Spanish. She was going to Spain during the winter break and wanted to increase her fluency," said Katrina.

"Did anything unusual happen while you all were in the coffee shop?" asked the captain.

"No. We got a couple of cappuccinos and split a cinnamon roll. We sat at one of the tables and talked. Some of our friends came in and talked to us."

"Who were these friends that you talked to?" asked the Captain.

"Adan and Maxi stopped by and teased Kim for a couple of minutes. They knew she was going to Spain and needed to brush up on her Spanish. So they spoke really fast just to annoy her. Then they tried to talk us into going clubbing with them. I declined and Kim told them she would talk me into it. She told them she'd meet up with them later. She figured she could use them for more practice. A couple of minutes later Aisha and Saadat stopped to speak with me. Kim went to the restroom while I talked to them."

"Did Kim dislike Aisha and Saadat?" he inquired.

"No, she knows when we get together we only speak in Arabic."

"You speak Arabic?" asked the captain.

"Katrina speaks seven languages," said Johns. "She speaks Spanish, Arabic, French, Italian, Mandarin, Russian and of course English.

Katrina looked at Det. Johns with speculation in her eyes. "You've been checking up on me?"

"Not really, just a routine background check. You were the last one to see your friend alive after all," said Johns.

"So what are you trying to imply?" demanded Katrina.

"I'm just stating the facts. You aren't a viable suspect for your friends' murder in any case. You don't have the strength to inflict the wounds your friend received before her death. So you can rest easy," said Johns.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we can get back to your sparing match after I have finished my review of Friday night's events," said the Captain. Katrina and Johns looked at the captain, slightly embarrassed by their back and forth banter.

"How long did you speak with your Arabic speaking friends?

"Five minutes or so, we stopped when Kim came back from the restroom."

As Katrina relayed this information, Detectives Christian and Johns were writing down the information they hadn't gotten in the first interview.

"I just realized something. When I was talking to Aisha and Saadat a couple of guys at another table looked at me strangely."

"What do you mean they looked at you strangely?" asked the Captain.

"I'm not sure how to explain it. I think they were just surprised that I spoke Arabic. They listened to our conversation for a while. Then they left the coffee shop a couple of minutes later," she said.

"What did these two guys look like?" asked the Captain.

"At first glance they looked African American, but their clothing suggested Africa. But I had heard a word or two of their conversation. They had been speaking Arabic. But it was a dialect of Arabic I wasn't familiar with. I can't tell you how tall or short they were. I didn't pay attention to them when they left. Kim and I left the coffee shop about fifteen minutes after they did. I offered her a ride but she said she needed to walk off the cinnamon roll. She walked towards her apartment. And I got in my car and drove home.

"You didn't notice anyone outside of the coffee shop?" asked the Captain.

"No, the streets were empty. Kim had walked home from the coffee shop many times before. So I didn't press her about dropping her off. The area around campus is relatively safe." said Katrina.

Captain Weatherspoon was poised to ask another question when his phone rang. He answered the phone instead. The conversation was short. He hung up the phone and looked at his audience.

"The safe house is ready. We already know the particulars of what happened when she got home so there's no need to rehash that information. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Vasquez take Ms. Castillo to the safe house and take Timms with you. I'll clear your overtime. Someone will relieve you at midnight. Now get a move on," said the captain.

"Captain is it safe for me to stop by my parent's house and gather a few things?" asked Katrina.

"Yeah, but don't stay for too long. We need to get you to the safe house. This guy has already found you once. We want to minimize your exposure," he said.

Katrina and Vasquez left the Captain's office to find Timms. Once they located him they headed to Katrina's parents' house to pick up some clothing before going to the safe house.

Johns and Christian went to find the patrolman who questioned the florist that delivered the flowers earlier that day. Det. John's and Christian didn't learn very much from the patrolman. "The Guardian" had used a prepaid credit card that could be purchased in any store around Chicago and its many suburbs. They assigned him to try to chase down any possible leads using the serial numbers from the card but they weren't hopeful of gaining any information on the Guardian. After speaking with the patrolman, they set out to meet Vasquez and Timms at the safe house. They figured they could get there and check the area out before the other officers arrived with Katrina.
Chapter 8

Vasquez and Timms drove Katrina to her parents' house. They lived in a brownstone near 35th and King Drive. The area had gone through renovations within the last ten years. What at one time were run down brownstones, were now gleaming tributes to a neighborhood teeming with life. Katrina had fond memories of her old neighborhood. Although she missed summers in Chicago, she wouldn't take back the summers she spent traveling with her parents. Her parents had been gone for two weeks. Katrina hadn't checked the house in over a week. She hoped her mother's plants were still alive. She'd hate to tell her mom her prized chrysanthemums had died due to neglect.

The cruiser pulled up in front of the house. The neighborhood was fairly quiet for a Saturday night. Hardly anyone was out on the street. Officers Vasquez and Timms got out of the car first. They scanned the area in search of signs of danger. They tapped the car, signaling to Katrina the all clear to get out of the car.

The front of the house was dark. The porch's light must have blown thought Katrina. She had left it on the last time she checked the house. They walked up the stairs to the front door. Officer Timms unlocked the door and entered first. The alarm beeped. Katrina came in behind him and then Officer Vasquez. All the lights in the house were off. Katrina could make out the alarm key pad. She approached it to turn off the alarm. As she was deactivating the alarm the floor boards creaked making her jump. Katrina let out a little shriek. Officers Vasquez and Timms drew their firearms.

"Are you okay, Ms. Castillo?" asked Timms.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just a little on edge. I forgot how much this house creaks," she said.

Vasquez and Timms placed their firearms back in the holsters. Katrina walked through the house turning on the lights as she went.

"We need you to get your things, we shouldn't stay here very long. Where is your room?" asked Vasquez.

"Up the stairs to the right," she replied.

"Timms will go up with you, I'll remain here," said Vasquez.

Katrina and Timms walked up the stairs. Katrina turned on the upstairs hallway lights as they climbed the stairs.

"I left these lights on the last time I checked the house," she said.

"Are you sure," replied Timms.

"I believe I did," she said in confusion.

They traveled down the hall to her bedroom. Katrina's bedroom door was closed. She hesitated before turning the knob. Officer Timms noticed the hesitation.

"What's the problem, Ms. Castillo?" he asked.

"We don't close our bedroom doors unless we're sleep. I left this door open the last time I was here," she said a little unsure of what she might find when she walked into her bedroom.

Officer Timms stepped in front of Katrina. He stood at the door for a couple of seconds listening for any sound coming from the room. Katrina stood back, holding her breath. She wasn't so sure she wanted to be in the house at that moment. He turned the knob and opened the door. He threw the light switch and scanned the room looking for hidden danger. His mind registered the devastation in one glance.

Katrina's clothes were strewn all over the floor. Most had been cut to shreds. The dresser drawers had all been dumped in the middle of the room. The dresser mirror had been smashed to bits. The sleigh bed's mattress was shredded against the wall. The box spring boards were splintered. The headboard had the word "Bitch" carved into it. The word "bitch" was written across the walls. The smell of urine permeated the room. Timms walked into the room heading for the closet. The door was wide open, he turned the light on. All of Katrina's clothing was piled in the middle of the floor, shredded as well.

Katrina looked into her childhood bedroom. She couldn't believe the destruction. All of her clothes were ruined. Her favorite bed was destroyed. Derogatory words were written all over her room. Tears rolled down her face. She walked out of the room shaking her head in disbelief. Timms followed behind her. He called down to Officer Vasquez.

"We need to get a burglary detail here ASAP," he said.

"What do we have?' asked Vasquez going on alert.

"I would say vandalism, but it seems to be directed solely at Katrina, so I'm thinking our perp's been here," he said. "The only damage upstairs appears to be in her room. The other rooms appear to be untouched."

Katrina looked at Timms, terror evident in her eyes. She understood now that the anger was strictly directed towards her. Someone disliked her very much and for the life of her she couldn't fathom why.

"But the alarm was still on," she finally said.

"A good thief can bypass an alarm system with the right knowledge," said Timms.

Vasquez came up the stairs to inform them that the burglary unit was on the way. She looked in the room and let out a low whistle. She escorted Katrina downstairs. She felt sorry for Katrina and all she's had to endure in the last 24 hours. She didn't want her to look too hard at the room. If she saw all that Vasquez had seen and understood, she knew Katrina would probably hire several body guards to protect herself.

Timms called the captain to give him an update. The captain told Timms to get Ms. Castillo to the safe house ASAP. Johns and Christian were already on their way, they would be able to back them up. When Timms walked back downstairs there was a knock at the door. Timms went to let the burglary unit in.

As soon as the burglary unit entered the house Timms informed them they needed to interview the witness right away because they needed to get her to the safe house. Katrina didn't have very much to report. The house had been vandalized or more specifically her bedroom hand been. There wasn't anything missing. There were just several personal items of Katrina's that were destroyed. As soon as the interview was over, they headed for the safe house.

When they arrived to the safe house an undercover police cruiser was parked in the driveway. Johns and Christian exited the cruiser.

Katrina looked at the safe house. She hadn't known what to expect. Her first thought about it was that it didn't look safe at all. The shutters appeared to be falling off. The windows were covered with years of grime. Several shingles were missing from the roof. She slowly exited the car. Det. Christian told Timms and Vasquez to pull their cruiser around to the back of the house. She followed Johns and Christian into the safe house.

The inside of the house was a complete surprise. The front door had two dead bolt locks. The living room was painted white and included a state of the art surveillance system. She spotted several monitors displaying several angles of the outside of the house. She looked at the windows and noticed the shatter proof glass. The grime on the outside hid this fact. The floors were hardwood. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen and a dining room. The house didn't have an attic or a basement. Katrina felt that she might be safe here after all.

There was a knock on the back door. Katrina sat on the couch and Det. Johns went to let Timms and Vasquez in.

"We're safe and secure," said Christian. "We did a perimeter check just before you got here. We'll take the first watch and you guys can take a break."

Johns looked at Katrina.

"Let me show you to your room. You need to get some sleep," said Det. Johns as he showed her to the first bedroom.

"I don't know if I can," she said.

"Exhaustion isn't good for any one, try to at least take a nap," he replied. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Katrina glanced over the room. It was sparsely decorated. There was a bed, a TV and a nightstand. There weren't any closets in the bedroom. She dropped her bag and climbed into bed fully dressed. She could hear bits and pieces of muffled conversation. She heard a door close quietly. The stillness of the room started to relax her. Her mind was too muddled from exhaustion to think. She continued to listen to the small noises until she eventually fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter 9

The police are so predictable thought the Guardian. He watched as Johns and Christian scouted the area. He smiled. They'll never know that I've been on the premises, he thought. No, the Guardian doesn't leave clues. He accessed the safe house two hours earlier. He was now tapped into their audio and video system. He could hear and see everything the police heard and saw. He watched as Katrina examined the house. He knew this wasn't up to her normal standards but she was being a trooper. Just hold on a little while longer he thought.

They entered the house and he could see the surprised look on Katrina's face, the inside décor of the house wasn't what she expected. He could tell by the look on her face. He knew all of her facial expressions. Johns showed her to her room and told her to get some rest. He watched as she lay down on the bed and promptly fell asleep.

There didn't seem to be any sign of trouble near the safe house. Katrina's pursuers hadn't gotten their hands on that piece of information yet. He knew that it was only a matter of time. He decided it was time to be proactive. He needed information. He thought back to earlier today, he had just missed them at her parents' home. He should have known they would go there next. But at the time he needed to insure that she was okay. He'd also needed to get her out of harms' way. Katrina's pursuers moved fast. He knew of two of them, and there was a strong possibility that a third existed. But he wondered if more were involved. They moved too quickly and got information they shouldn't have too quickly. He didn't think two to three of them could do what had been done so far.

He'd yet to figure out why they had targeted Katrina and Kim. He was at least assured that it didn't have anything to do with who Katrina really was. The only clue he had right now was that the crew was searching for something in her apartment. Neither girl was wild, or out of hand. They both kept low profiles. So he didn't know what they could have that the pursuers were after. He realized he needed to figure out the catalyst fast. Katrina's pursuers kept increasing the pace. He didn't want to get left in the dust. He had already failed to save Kim, he'd be damned if he lost Katrina.

The police at the safe house appeared to have everything under control. It was time for him to stalk his prey. He knew where they lived, but that was their cover. He had already searched their apartment and come up empty handed. They had killed Kim someplace else. He needed to find their work house. Their work house would give him clues to what they were up to. He checked the transmitter he had placed on their car earlier today. They were on the move. He was familiar with the area in which they were driving. He had an idea where they were headed. The transmitter stopped moving where he thought it would. He knew exactly where they were and proceeded to head in that direction.

Traffic was pretty light for a Saturday evening. He made it to the coffee shop in fifteen minutes. There were several cars parked out front. The Guardian scanned the area. The cafe's lights were dimmed. He didn't notice anyone else heading towards the cafe. He walked to the door and skimmed the poster as he entered. "Spoken Word Night," that explained the crowd. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. There were a couple of seats available. He chose one close to his prey, but also allowed his back to be against the wall. He spotted several graduate students in the audience tonight. He recognized many of them from watching Katrina. All the students Katrina had spoken with on Friday night were in the house: Saadat, Aisha, Adan, and Maxi.

The Guardian listened to the conversations around him. One was in Spanish and the other in Arabic. He couldn't speak as many languages as Katrina, but he spoke the ones that counted tonight. He relaxed in his seat, just another poetry buff. He leaned his body forward and caught part of the conversation. He assumed they were confident no one spoke their language. They both spoke freely concerning the incident with Kim and Katrina.

"We have to find those diamonds. I can't believe that little bitch wouldn't tell you where they were," said the first.

"I don't think she even cared, she laughed throughout the torture, I think that might have been her plan all the time," said the other.

"She's one twisted chick. She finally gave us the location, but it came a little too late," said the first.

"We were too close on Friday night, if you weren't so clumsy we would be gone by now," said the other.

"Who knew she had all that shit in her apartment. I had never been to her apartment before. I don't know why Bastian wanted to take the body there anyway. It would have been better if it wasn't found until we were gone," said the first.

"He was hoping to scare the crap out of Katrina if he hadn't found the diamonds. Seeing her friend like that would have made her talk real fast," said the other.

"Yeah, I guess. The laptop must be with her since it wasn't at her apartment or her parent's house," said the first.

"It was there the first night, but thanks to your clumsiness we missed our opportunity. Bastian said you walked around the apartment like a clumsy elephant. You woke Katrina up, you made so much noise. She managed to escape and you were nearly caught by the police. You could have gotten it when you broke in, now we are trying to play catch up," said the other, his control slipping at the thought of how close they had come.

"Calm down, I've already apologized for the slip up. It's only a matter of time before we get what we need," said the first.

"Yeah, but time isn't something we have a lot of. Edward's source says they've moved her to a safe house. I don't have a location yet, but I'm sure by tomorrow we'll have one," said the other.

"She's not important, only the diamonds are, she doesn't even know she has them. We'll know where to find them soon enough. We just have to get access to retrieve them," said one.

"That's provided Bastian doesn't want to kill her anyway. He doesn't like loose ends."

"Yeah, I learned that the hard way but at least with this score we can retire."

The crowd began to clap, snap and whistle. The performance was over. His prey stood up to leave. He waited several minutes before following them. It was all starting to make sense now. Or so he thought.

The Guardian got into his car and checked his transmitter once again. Just as he'd thought, they were headed towards their apartment. He waited five minutes then followed. He needed to do a little more reconnaissance. From what he'd heard, they have a source inside the Chicago Police Department. That's how they'd gotten her parents address so quickly. He parked his car and traveled on foot through the alley behind his prey's apartment. He advanced on their apartment window and crouched down. He was glad for the lack of security lights in the back of the complex. The moonless night also provided extra cover. He opened his bag and pulled out his audio transmitter. He knew it was dangerous to be this close, but this transmitter only worked within twenty feet of the source. He was glad they lived on the first floor. He was not in the mood for dangling from the roof to listen to their conversation.

He sat below their kitchen window and began positioning the audio transmitter. He picked up a conversation, but the voices were wrong. He repositioned the transmitter. He picked up a second conversation, one of his prey spoke the words "Donaldson" and "four officers". It has to be Edward's, their source inside the force he thought. They now had Katrina's location. He listened as they started making plans to get the diamonds.

The Guardian began to make plans of his own. They were going to strike on Sunday night during the football game. They figured the cop's guards would be down. Their source had told them the cops were big football fans and they wanted the element of surprise.

The Guardian listened to his prey until they retired for the evening. He knew just what they were going to do. He smiled. They'd have their hands full tomorrow. Even the best laid plans can come undone, he thought. And theirs was already unraveling at the seams. They just couldn't see it yet.

The Guardian packed up his things and returned to his car. It was time to head back to the safe house. He had gotten all the information he needed. He knew there were at least four players in the game. He knew what their plan was and why Kim had died. He looked at his watch. He had plenty of time to set things in motion. Yeah, he was ready for them now. He loved being the good guy. 
Chapter 10

The guardian awoke early on Sunday morning. He had a lot to do. But first things first, he had to check on his yellow rose. The Guardian moved into the living room. His video feed was still strong. He checked the monitors. Katrina was still sleep, but Detectives Christian and Johns were awake. Det. Christians was in the kitchen making coffee. By his calculations the officers were more than likely on 12 hour shifts. Yes, he knew his law enforcement very well. It's how he survived.

The Guardian went to take a shower. He'd stop and get coffee on the way. He had lots to do to prepare. Today would be the beginning of the end. His Katrina would be safe once again. Stealth was the key to achieving his goals. He drove to his work house. It was a small residence in a working class neighborhood. His neighbors believed he was a traveling computer technician. It's what he'd lead them to believe. If anyone asked what he looked like, the description would have been far from his actual features. His neighbors would describe him as blonde, green-eyed, 5'11 with an expanding middle. He had many disguises. This was just one of many. Yes, he knew how to evade recognition. This was just one of his many talents.

It was just before early Mass. Some of his neighbors attended early morning Mass at the Catholic Church on the next block. The majority would attend the mid-day Mass. He stopped in front of his work house. It had taken him less than thirty minutes to make it there. He didn't see any of his neighbors out and about. He checked the perimeter and pulled around to the garage. He preferred his work houses to have attached garages, but every now and then he wasn't able to accommodate himself.

He neared his back door, checking for tell-tale signs of disturbance. He always kept his work houses wired. The police didn't get the call in the event of a break in, he did. But he was too smart to rely solely on an alarm system. He got around them all the time. So he had invisible trip wires strategically placed around his houses. They were so sensitive that anyone who tripped them would never know that they had done so.

All appeared to be in order. The Guardian entered the work house. It was sparsely decorated. There were two bedrooms, a living room, dining room and a kitchen. The house had a basement in which he kept a washer and dryer, along with a pool table, bar and beer signs placed along the walls. The basement was a typical man-cave which he'd never used. He turned on the kitchen light. He proceeded down the hall to the first bedroom. He scanned the room, ever alert for tell-tale signs of disturbance. He noticed nothing amiss. He walked over to the bed and crouched down on all fours. He looked under the bed. There was a layer of dust. He reached under the bed and felt for the groove, when he located it, he pressed down. The compartment slid open. He checked off in his head the list of things he would need; night goggles with heat sensor, 9mm Glock with silencer and extra clips, grappling rope, and his M16 Snipers Rifle. He retrieved all of the items he would need. He pressed the groove and the compartment slid back in place. He stood up and examined the room. All appeared to be in place.

The Guardian exited his work house. His next stop was his prey's house. He wanted to make sure nothing had changed. Yes, today would be the beginning of the end. But his prey didn't know that yet.

Safe House Sunday Afternoon

Katrina was awakened by the smell of Applewood bacon. Somewhat disoriented, it took her a moment to remember where she was. She sat up in bed, trying to get her bearings. The room was in shadow. She fumbled out of the bed and began looking for a light switch. She found it near the far wall and turned it on. She barely remembered coming into this room last night. She examined the room once again. There was a full sized bed, an armoire, and a TV with stand. There didn't appear to be a closet. She guessed the police didn't want to leave any hiding places for any criminal elements.

She looked at herself. She had fallen asleep in her clothing. I must have been exhausted she thought. She picked up her bag and placed it on the bed. She wanted to take a shower. She rambled through her bag searching for an outfit. She had only one set of clean clothes left, but several sets of undergarments. She thought about what her mother once told her, "You should always have clean undergarments, you never know when you might end up in an emergency room." That's why her overnight bag had plenty of undergarments, but hardly any clothes. She wondered if there was a washer and dryer set on the premises.

She grabbed her bag and went in search of the bathroom. No one was in the living room. The monitors were on and she got a glimpse of the outside of the safe house. All appeared to be clear on the streets. She walked down the hall towards the back of the house. On her left there was a closed door, but on the right the door was opened. Katrina peered inside. She saw two twin beds. Vasquez was straightening up one of the beds. The room also had an armoire and TV with stand. The door behind Katrina opened, Katrina turned around. Officer Timms almost walked right into her.

"Excuse me, and Good Afternoon," said Timms.

"Good afternoon," said Katrina with a quizzical look on her face. "What time is it?" She began looking at her arm and realized she didn't have on a wristwatch.

"It's 12:30," replied Vasquez.

"Really," she said in astonishment. She had never slept so late in her life.

"Yeah, you were pretty wiped out last night," said Timms. "If you're hungry, Christian cooked a mean breakfast."

"The smell of Applewood bacon is what woke me up," said Katrina.

"You could tell what kind of bacon it was by the smell?" asked Timms.

"Anyone who has spent time in a kitchen can tell the difference," replied Vasquez. "I know your wife does all the cooking just by that comment. I'd be surprised if you could boil an egg."

"People boil eggs," said Timms with a chuckle.

"Get that child some food, before I prove that you can't even make a bed," said Vasquez.

"The kitchen's this way," said Timms.

"I need to take a shower first," said Katrina. "I'll eat after I've had a shower. I can find my way around a kitchen," she chuckled.

Timms walked back to the living room and took up his post at the monitors. Katrina took a shower and washed her hair. She returned her bag to the room and met Vasquez in the kitchen having a cup of coffee.

"I thought the captain was sending someone to relieve you," said Katrina.

"He did, you were sleep when Roberts and Williams came last night. We've been placed on twelve hour rotations. We relieved them about an hour or so ago," said Vasquez.

"What about detectives Christian and Johns?" asked Katrina.

"They're on sixteen hour shifts being the leads on the case. They stayed all night. They left when we returned. Neither one wanted you to wake up to strange faces staring back at you. They went home to freshen up. They'll check in at the precinct and head back this way," she said.

"Do you know how long I'll have to stay here?" inquired Katrina.

"We're just playing it by ear right now. It's obvious that you're in danger, but we don't know from whom. Until we can get some leads, we're keeping a close watch on you," said Vasquez.

"I have to call Allison, she's coming home today," said Katrina.

"Does she have any family she could stay with?" asked Vasquez.

"Yes, she has a couple of cousins who live in Hyde Park. She'll probably stay with them," said Katrina.

Katrina finished her breakfast, while Vasquez regaled her with stories of her son's antics as teenagers. Once she finished eating breakfast, she decided to call Allison. Vasquez told her not to mention anything that happened since the last time she had spoken with Allison.

"Just tell her she needs to stay with relatives for about a week. You can tell her you've been placed in a safe house, but don't tell her where it's located," said Vasquez.

Katrina went back to her room and searched her bag for her cell phone. It was dead. She'd forgotten to plug it up last night when she got to the safe house. She located a socket and plugged in her charger, then connected the phone. She called Allison.

"I've been calling you all morning! Where have you been?" shouted Allison.

"Sorry, I'm okay, no need to yell. The police placed me in a safe house," said Katrina.

"My parents are freaked out, they don't want me to come back today," said Allison.

"Why not?" asked Katrina.

"Because of Kim's murder. The news is reporting that some crazed serial killer murdered her," said Allison.

"I haven't heard anything like that," said Katrina. "Of course I haven't watched TV in about 36 hours."

"They said she'd been tortured before she died," said Allison in a disheartened tone of voice.

"The officers guarding me never told me exactly what happened to Kim," said Katrina.

"Do they think he's coming after you?' asked Allison.

"I think so. Or at least the police do. I wondered why they brought me to a safe house so quickly. Maybe your parents are right, you shouldn't come back today," said Katrina.

"Yeah, like Professor Samson is going to let me get away with not teaching his class this week. The only reason he gave me this internship was because he needed someone to cover his classes while he did his Hawaii Lectures and I was the only one who could actually do it," said Allison.

"Yes, but still, said Katrina before Allison interrupted her again.

"No buts about it, I've got to cover him," said Allison.

"If you're coming back, where are you going to stay? With your cousins?" asked Katrina.

"Yeah, my parents talked to Ron and Gary already. They're the only reason my parents are actually letting me come back. My dad threatened to hire me a body guard. If they knew you were placed in a safe house, they'd never let me return," said Allison.

"Are you going to tell them?" asked Katrina.

"Of course not, I'll be fine with Ron and Gary," said Allison.

"I hate to cut this conversation short, but I just wanted to check in with you. I've got to go. Call me when you get in okay," said Katrina.

"Okay," said Allison.

Katrina ended the call. Talking to Allison about school reminded her of her own priorities. She wanted to get her mind off this nightmare and working on her research was just the thing to do it. She knew she needed to contact her professors and work on her papers. She hadn't seen any computers on the premises, so she doubted the house had internet service. So she couldn't get her papers from her e-mail. She went in search of Vasquez to see if she could get her laptop back.

Vasquez was in the kitchen on her cell phone talking to Det. Johns. She looked up when Katrina entered. Katrina got her attention.

"Hold on," said Vasquez. "Ms. Castillo did you need something?"

"Yes, do you think it would be possible for me to get my laptop back?" she asked.

Vasquez put the question to Det. Johns.

"He said, he'd see what he could do," she said.

Katrina thanked Vasquez and went back to the room. She looked around, realizing she didn't have anything to do, she turned the TV on. She decided now was as good a time as any to get lost in a made for Lifetime movie. 
Chapter 11

The Precinct

Detectives Christian and Johns sat in the captain's office. They were discussing Katrina's case, trying to put all the pieces together.

"Let's start from the beginning," said Captain Weatherspoon. "What exactly do we know?"

Det. Christian broke down the events from the night of the fire, the discovery of the body, and everything that transpired before they arrived, before being interrupted by the captain.

"Did anyone check the back of the building?" asked Captain Weatherspoon.

"I doubt it, the officers were more concerned with getting the residents out of the building," said det. Johns.

"So someone could have slipped pass the police by leaving out the back way?" asked the Captain.

"Yeah, it's possible," said Johns.

"Okay, what else do we have?" asked the Captain.

Det. Johns picked up the tale and told the captain what happened once they were on the scene.

"Roberts and Thompson interviewed the graduate students that Ms. Castillo saw on Friday night. It appears Aisha and Saadat are a couple. They went to the movies after they left the coffee shop. Adan and Maxi, Maxim, I can't pronounce his name, anyway those two said they didn't hear from Kim or Katrina so by 9:30 they were on their way to go clubbing." said Det. Christian.

"Did anyone see them?" asked the Captain.

"Roberts and Thompson are trying to follow up now. All four of them are foreign exchange students. Aisha and Saadat are from the Sudan. Adan and Maxi are from Spain. I'll let you know when we get more information on them," said Christian.

"This perp is sick and smart," said the captain. "He hasn't left any clues, so far. The text message came from a burner phone. There's no way of tracing it. The e-mail address, where Katrina's papers were sent, was stolen from a ten year old boy in Canada. Which shows he's tech savvy. He'd found the first place that Katrina was staying before we knew about it. He was even bold enough to send her flowers and drop off her laptop. But bringing her the flowers is what's been bugging me. Do either of you think the color of the roses is strange?" asked the captain.

"I don't get it," said Det. Christian.

"He means that yellow roses stand for friendship. You send red roses for love," said Det. Johns.

"So you don't think he's in love with her because he sent yellow roses not red?" asked Christian quizzically.

"I'm just wondering out loud about the choice in color. Typically stalkers are in love or obsessed with their prey. They stay at a distance until their urges override their common sense. They would send red roses as a sign of affection. This guy's sending out mixed messages. His roses stand for friendship not love. I think we might be dealing with someone who is having a psychotic break from reality. He isn't doing anything the normal way a stalker would do things. He probably had the chance to snatch her from her apartment but why bring the body with him? He had another opportunity to snatch her at the hotel, but didn't take it. Yet he went to the parents' house and ruined all of her clothing, but left everything else in the house untouched. His actions are too disjointed to make any sense of them," said the captain.

"Could it be more than one person involved in the fantasy and maybe that's why we have such a chaotic view of the situation. If two people are involved one could be unstable and the other more coherent and knows what he's doing?" asked Christian.

"It's a possibility I hadn't considered," said the Captain.

"If we are thinking she's gotten herself a stalker or two, we need to comb through her life. She's probably seen the guy before and isn't even aware of it. She probably wouldn't have noticed someone watching her right off, but once you get her to talk about her daily activities, she'll probably notice a face that always seems to pop up in the least place she would expect it to be," said Johns.

"We'll have to re-interview her and we're going to have to do a thorough background check," said Christian.

"I suggest you get to it," said the Captain.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Ms. Castillo wants to know if it's possible for her to get her laptop back? Are the tech guys finished with it?" asked Johns.

"Yeah, they didn't find a single print on it. It was wiped clean." said the captain. You can pick it up from the lab. Keep me posted on what's going on."

Detectives Johns and Christian left the captain's office and headed down to the lab to retrieve Katrina's laptop. Once they had the laptop in their possession they headed for their cruiser.

"Something is nagging me about this case. We're missing something," said Det. Johns as he got into the cruiser. "Let's look at what the perp has done so far. He snatches Kim off the street leaving no witnesses. He tortures her before he kills her and then brings her back to Katrina's apartment." Det. Johns stopped walking, a light bulb suddenly went off in his head and he's trying to piece together where he's going with his thoughts. "What if we're looking at this the wrong way? What if the perp is searching for something that he thinks she has? Kim was supposed to have it, but he can't get it out of her, he tortures her in order to get it. She finally tells him who has it (Katrina). He can't leave her alive because she's a potential witness. So he kills her and brings her body to Katrina's apartment. He searches the apartment looking for whatever Katrina is supposed to have. He can't find it. He goes searching for her and she's gone. So he torches the place to hide or get rid of what he was searching for."

"I think you're stretching. Why didn't he just grab her and make her tell him where whatever he was looking for was located? He was in the apartment. He had access to her," said Det. Christian.

"What about the neighbors? He could have been concerned that she would get away from him, or call for help. She did live in an apartment building with a bunch of elderly people," said Det. Johns.

"But what could these two ladies have that would make someone kill for it? They're students. By all accounts they go to school, hang out with friends and stay out of trouble. Neither one was hurting for money considering what we've learned about their backgrounds. So what could it be?" said Det. Christian.

"I'm just throwing some possibilities out there because right now nothings adding up," said Det. Johns. "Right now we have too many questions and not enough answers."
Chapter 12

Detectives Johns and Christian arrived at the safe house around 4:30 in the afternoon. They checked the area before pulling into the driveway. It was relatively quiet. No one was out and about. The CPD and other law enforcement agencies made use of the property when needed. The neighborhood mainly consisted of older retirees. No teenagers or small children running up and down the streets. That's why they had chosen this house. Vasquez opened the door for them. She had a cheeseburger in her hand. Det. Johns looked at her.

"Is that department issued?" he asked with a chuckle in his voice.

"Yeah, the department issues them once or twice a month for a job well done," said Vasquez, "besides this cheeseburger is more lethal than a gun. It's been fried so hard it could knock a perp out just looking at it. The next time we're put on protective duty tell the captain to partner me up with someone who can cook," she replied.

"You shouldn't have thrown out that challenge earlier," said Timms with annoyance in his voice.

"Well, you did prove me right," said Vasquez.

Johns and Christian entered the house chuckling at the exchange between Vasquez and Timms. If you didn't know they worked together on a lot of cases you'd think they couldn't stand one another. Vasquez closed and locked the deadbolt behind them. Timms was sitting at the monitors with a Guns for Fun magazine in his hands.

"What's been going on?" asked Johns.

"It's been quiet," said Timms.

"Where's Ms. Castillo?" asked Johns.

"She's been in the room watching TV since about 2:00 this afternoon," said Vasquez. "She talked to her roommate earlier. She's still coming home today, but she's staying with some male cousins in Hyde Park."

Christian walked over to the sofa and stretched out. "I need to catch a couple of z's. Wake me up in an hour and a half," he said.

"Why don't you sleep in one of the twin beds?" asked Vasquez.

"Because this sofa is way more comfortable than either one of those beds could ever be," he replied. Christians closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep. Detective Johns went to check on Katrina. He opened the door to the room she was using. He watched silently as tears raced down her face. He wondered what was wrong, and then he caught the end of the news broadcast. The female broadcaster said,

"The police have no clues in the torture murder of Ms. Kim Dubois. All requests for interviews with the lead detectives on the case have been declined." Katrina looked at Det. Johns, pure agony written all over her face.

"How could someone do that to her? Kim was so kind, so full of life. She was the perfect daughter. She was the perfect friend, never judging, always standing by your side," she said before she dissolved into tears once again.

"Who the hell let out that M.E.'s report," he thought. He looked around for assistance. He'd never been comfortable dealing with the bereaved. Officer Vasquez was nowhere to be found. Det. Christians was sound asleep on the sofa. Officer Timms had even less skill dealing with the bereaved than he did. He sat next to Katrina and slowly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned into him retching sobs escaping her lips. Slowly the tide of sorrow ebbed. Her sobs lessened until she finally ran out of tears.

"I'm sorry for crying all over your shirt. I was watching the news and had no idea what had happened to Kim. Allison told me that the news was reporting that Kim was tortured. But to actually hear some of the details was too much," said Katrina.

"As policemen we're trained to deal with atrocities such as this, but it still bothers us. We wouldn't be human if things such as this had no effect on us. But as a civilian we don't expect you to be able to understand the kind of evil that exists in this world. That's why we don't give out details. Sometimes it can be too much to bear," said Det. Johns. "That report should never have been broadcast. I'm sorry you had to hear the details in a room all by yourself without any support. Come into the living room and talk with the other officers. It'll get your mind off of the situation."

Det. Johns decided to wait awhile before discussing the theories they had concerning her case. Katrina went to join the other officers. Vasquez returned to the room after Katrina had sat down. She glanced at Katrina and saw the signs of grief written all over her face. Johns looked at Vasquez. She took the hint and started regaling everyone with one of her famous stories about her sons' antics when they were growing up. Everyone sat around exchanging stories, while Det. Christian slept like the dead.

An hour later det. Johns decided it was time to tell Katrina their theory.

"There are something's we need to discuss," said det. Johns. He explained to her their theory that she might know her stalker. Katrina didn't like the idea that someone might have been watching her and she was unaware of it. They talked about her daily routines. Who she had came in contact with, who might have made her feel uncomfortable. By the time they had finished discussing Katrina's life she was hungry and tired.

Det. Christian finally aroused himself from his nap and volunteered to cook that evening. The aroma of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread permeated the house. Katrina's mouth started watering well before Det. Christians finished cooking.

Officer Vasquez took over monitor patrol as they ate dinner. Halfway through the meal, Vasquez let out a warning call. There was a lone male walking towards the front door. The suspect was carrying something in his hands. Detective Johns ushered Katrina into the bedroom and told her to get down by the bed. Detective Johns told dispatch to send a car. He remained on the line with dispatch. Timms went towards the back of the house and Det. Christian and Vasquez went to the front door. The suspect looked around for a moment then knocked. When no one answered the door, the male placed the object on the porch and left. Det. Johns had patrol pick up the suspect. Det. Christian opened the door in a crouch. He looked for an unforeseen threat, but didn't see any. He picked up the package and closed the door.

Det. Christian called for the all clear. Everyone gathered back in the living room.

"Its' flowers again, except this time we have what looks like twelve yellow roses and two red roses. He had them create a pattern. It actually looks like a set of eyes. Six yellow roses encase each red rose." said Det. Christian.

"What does the card read?" asked Det. Johns.

"Beware the wolves come out at night, but the Guardian never sleeps." said Det. Christian.

Det. Johns looked at the others and said, "This guy knows where she is already. We've barely been here over twenty four hours. He must know someone on the inside and he's getting his information fed to him. It's too late to move her tonight. I'm going to get a patrol car to make some extra rounds tonight. We're in teams of three with two hour rotations one on the back door, one on the front, and one on the monitors. Stay focused and sound the alarm for anything you think might be suspicious."

Det. Christian took the first watch on the monitor. Det. Johns went to the back of the house and Vasquez to the front. Timms went into the second bedroom, but it wasn't to sleep. He kept watch out the side window. Det. Johns made the call to dispatch. Katrina sat on the sofa across from Det. Christian. She was shaking all over. Det. Christian grabbed the blanket from her bed and wrapped her in it.

Det. Johns got off the phone and told them what dispatch had reported to him. "The guy who just dropped the flowers off is so hyped up he wouldn't know his own mother, even if they detox him, they doubt he'll be of any use," said Det. Johns

The house grew steadily quieter. No one had said a word for about an hour. Everyone was on edge. Katrina looked at Det. Christian, fear written all over her face.

"If he comes, will you be able to stop him?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll be able to stop him. He's just one guy and we've got back up. If he comes tonight, it'll be over tonight," said Det. Christian.

Det. Christian looked at the monitor. He saw a sedan passing by. It appeared to slow down as it neared the house. He held his hand up to silence Katrina. He told Johns about the sedan and asked him to put patrol on the car. "Have them run the plates when it passes them," he said. They decided not to take any chances tonight.

Patrol contacted them a couple of minutes later. They said the car was a rental and they'd need to contact the corporate office to see who it was leased to. Det. Johns thought it might have been someone looking for a particular address. Everyone settled down again. Another hour passed with no disturbances.

Det. Christian was talking to Vasquez when the tapping began. He looked at the monitors. At first he didn't see anything. But after a couple of seconds four men came into view. They were approaching the house, semiautomatic machine guns drawn. He could see the muzzle flashes. They were shooting at the house. He yelled for Johns to call for backup and told everyone else to get down. Timms came flying out of the second bedroom, gun drawn in a crouch. Katrina was lying in front of the sofa huddled in a ball. A patrol car pulled up in front of the house. The four gun men changed direction and started firing at the patrol car.

"We've got four perps with automatic weapons out front. They were headed towards the house but they're firing at the patrol car now," said Det. Christian to everyone in the room. Suddenly the tapping on the house resumed, but it had decreased from its' original onslaught. Detective Christian looked at the monitors again to see what the situation was outside. One of the perps was on the ground. He watched as another one fell. As the third one was falling the fourth perp ran towards the side of the house. He continued to follow the perps trail on the monitors, until he lost him when he ran behind a dumpster. He appeared to be injured. The tapping on the house had stopped by this point.

"Can you see where the shots are coming from?" Christian yelled to Vasquez.

"No, I'm not sure. I didn't see them go down," said Vasquez.

"Back up should be here any minute now." said Det. Johns.

"Three more patrol cars just pulled up," said Vasquez.

"One of the perps got away."

Detective Christian looked back at the monitor. He watched as the patrolmen exited their cars, guns drawn. Several more patrol cars pulled up in the alley. Within five minutes the neighborhood was saturated with police. The officers approached the bodies with caution. One officer checked for signs of life. It took ten minutes before the two police officers approached the safe house. Officer Vasquez cautiously opened the front door.

The first officer to enter was 6'4, ebony complexioned with a bald head and baby face. His partner was about 5'8, slender, and gray haired with kind looking blue eyes. They examined the room with practiced eyes. Katrina sat on the sofa, mild shock written all over her face. Det. Johns was sitting next to her trying to calm her down. Officer Timms had moved to the back door, waiting for the unexpected. Det. Christian was on the phone talking to Capt. Weatherspoon. Having looked over the situation in the safe house, the older officer spoke.

"I'm Sergeant Jones and this is my partner Officer King. We didn't expect so much excitement when we were told you'd be housing a witness here," he said.

"Neither did we," replied Det. Christian. "What's the situation outside?"

"We have three dead bodies, no I.D. on any of them. They're dressed in army fatigues. We have one officer injured, a flesh wound to the upper thigh, so he'll be okay. His partner was glad when you'll started taking the perps down, it saved their lives" said Sergeant Jones.

"We didn't take them out. We're not sure where the shots came from, but they weren't from us," said Det. Christian

"Sergeant Jones scratched his head in consternation. You could see the wheels churning in his head. "My guys didn't take out the perps. They didn't get a shot off. The minute they pulled up they were under heavy fire. They thought you'd taken the perps down from the windows," said Sergeant Jones.

"No we didn't get a shot off. So who took out the perps?" asked Det. Christian. All parties looked at one another. "Your officers need to be careful. Can you have them do a perimeter search? The shooter is still on the loose along with one of the perps," said Det. Christian.

Sergeant Jones spoke into the radio giving instructions for a perimeter search. Once he finished giving instructions over the radio he told them what else they had found.

"One of my officers called in a description of the perp that got away. He jumped into the rental you called in earlier. We have an all points bulletin out on him and the rental car. But if he's smart he's dumped the car already," said Sergeant Jones.

"We need to take a look at the perps. Maybe we'll recognize one of them," said Det. Johns getting up from the sofa. Vasquez and Timms stayed with Katrina while they went outside to examine the scene. Neither one recognized the first perp they unmasked, but the second one had a build that had been described to them by Katrina.

"He might be the guy who left Kim at the apartment. She never got a look at this face, but she was right, he has a very distinctive build," said Det. Johns. The last perp they knew, it was Adan Medina.

"We need to put out an all points bulletin on Maximiliano Medina, Adan's cousin. From what we've learned from Katrina they do everything together." said Det. Johns to Sergeant Jones.

"So you know this perp," said Sergeant Jones.

"Yeah, we were checking him out, but not fast enough evidently. This one here is Adan Medina. But it still doesn't explain anything about this situation. We don't have a clue why they targeted Katrina or why they killed Kim," said Det. Johns.

"Are you starting to think that there's something she isn't telling us?" asked Det. Christian.

"Maybe, with them in the mix, it blows the stalker theory out of the water," said Det. Johns.

Sergeant Jones bent down to examine the perps more closely. He didn't see any obvious wounds. He examined the bodies more closely. He shined his light on the first body. He started at the head and traveled down the body. He finally found the entrance wound. The perp had been shot directly in the heart. He examined the other bodies and found the exact same thing. He looked at the two detectives. "They were all shot in the heart, a kill shot. Whoever killed them knew what he was doing. My guys didn't see a sign of another perp anywhere. Of course they were pinned down by automatic gun fire, praying back up would get here in time," said Sergeant Jones. The sergeant's radio cackled. He clicked to receive the message. Everyone listened.

"This is dispatch, they've spotted the rental car. It was involved in a two car accident. The suspect rear ended a pick-up truck. Paramedics are on the scene. They are in the process of transporting all the injured to Holy Crest Hospital."

"We're headed to the hospital now, said the Sergeant to dispatch. "I'll leave a couple of officers posted with your team. You want to let your guys know what's going on?"

Det. Johns looked at Det. Christian, "let them know where we're headed, but don't volunteer any details of what we've found out here," said Det. Johns.

Detective Christian shook his head in acknowledgment. He left to inform Timms and Vasquez of where they were headed. Det. Johns got on the phone to Captain Weatherspoon to let him know the latest development.

The Hospital

Detective Johns and Christian arrived at the hospital with Sergeant Jones and Officer King not far behind. They learned from an emergency room nurse that the man and child involved in the accident were fine. They only sustained minor cuts and abrasions. But Maxi was in emergency surgery. He'd lost a lot of blood from the gunshot wound and lost consciousness in transport to the hospital. The doctors weren't sure if he'd make it.

Det. Johns asked who the ambulance drivers were and if they'd remained at the hospital. The nurse pointed them out. They were sitting in the emergency room drinking coffee. They both stood up when the officers walked into the waiting room.

Detective Johns made the introductions. The ambulance driver was Adam Harris and the paramedic was Jill Anderson. Detective Johns conducted the interview.

"We need to know anything you can tell us about the gunshot wound victim. What kind of shape was he in when you arrived on the scene?" asked Det. Jones.

"He was lucid, but bleeding profusely," said Jill. "He was able to give us his name, Maximiliano Cruz, and his age twenty-seven."

"What did you say his name was?" asked Detective Johns excitedly.

"He said his name was Maximiliano Cruz, it's a mouth full, but that's what he said," replied Jill.

Detectives Johns and Christian exchanged looks. Det. Christian excused himself from the interview.

"Did he say anything else while you were attending him?" asked Det. Johns.

Jill thought for a moment, "Well, I'm not quite sure what he said, but he did say the word "Bitch" in Spanish."

"He said because of that bitch," said Adam. I know a little Spanish. "He said because of that bitch."

"Did he say anything else?" asked Det. Johns.

"No he lost consciousness right after that," said Jill. "Is there anything else you detectives need? We need to get back to our station."

"No, that'll be all for now. If we need anything else we know where to find you. Thanks for your assistance," said Det. Johns. The EMT's left to get back to the station.

Det. Johns, Sergeant Jones and Officer King sat down in the waiting room. They had been sitting for about five minutes before Sergeant Jones said, "It might be awhile before Maxi's out of surgery. I can put two uniforms on him. They'll contact us when he's out of surgery and is able to talk." They agreed and decided to go back to the safe house. Det. Christian rejoined them as they were leaving the emergency room.

As they were walking to the car det. Christians said, "I spoke with the Captain, they're running Maxi Cruz's name through the system. He's also getting homeland security to run the name as well. We need to get all the information we can on Maxi and Adan. Katrina can tell us what she knows about those two. The captain is getting search warrants for their residences as well. Maybe we can have some answers by morning."

When they arrived at the safe house the coroner's van was just leaving. There were still several crime scene techs gathering evidence around the house. Detectives Johns and Christian had decided to take Katrina back to the precinct. Looking at all those bullet holes in the safe house reminded them of how close they had come to death.

"My guys will get you all the lab results as soon as they process everything," said Sergeant Jones.

Detectives Johns and Christian gave Sergeant Jones their cell phone numbers in case something pressing turned up. Timms and Vasquez escorted Katrina out of the safe house and into Det. Johns' and Christian's cruiser, soon after they headed back to the precinct.

The Guardian

The Guardian watched them leave the safe house. He replayed the events of the night over in his head. He hadn't expected them to be so heavily armed. He was able to take three of the perps down with relative ease. His last shot hadn't been as true as the others. He was shooting to incapacitate but Maxi's reflexes were better than he had anticipated. Maxi had sensed the danger before the others. He had managed to jump behind a dumpster. He was only able to get one shot off before Maxi disappeared. He took a deep breath. Even though Maxi was able to get away, he didn't get very far. He was in Holy Crest Hospital now. They weren't sure if he'd live. The Guardian knew his ending, but he needed information first. It was time to head to the hospital.
Chapter 13

Katrina was tired of looking at police officers. This entire weekend had been nothing but a nightmare. She still didn't know what was going on. She did know that she was happy to be out of the safe house which was riddled with bullets now. They were headed back to the precinct where she'd get to see even more police. It's not that she wasn't grateful for all they had done for her. She just wanted the nightmare to end. They escorted her to an interrogation room when they arrived at the precinct. Katrina sat around not thinking much of her accommodations.

Det. Johns entered the room twenty minutes later. By this point Katrina was a kettle set to boil. She had been sitting in the interrogation room steaming, with no one to tell her what was going on or why she was placed in an interrogation room. She went on the attack.

"Why did you all throw me into an interrogation room?" she yelled the question at Det. Johns.

"Why haven't you been truthful?" he recited in a like manner. "How long have you known Maximiliano and Adan Medina?"

"They just started at State this semester. We met at a Graduate meet and greet," she said. "No one ever asked me how long I've known them. What do they have to do with this?" asked Katrina.

"Do you hang around with them a lot?" asked Det. Johns.

"No, I don't hang out with them a lot. I thought they were a couple of playboys, but harmless enough. They were more interested in partying than going to class. Why?" asked Katrina.

"Did they hang around any of your other friends?" he asked.

"They tried hanging out with Sophie, but once Kim found out she put a stop to it. Why are you asking me so many questions about Adan and Maxi? What do they have to do with this?" She inquired.

"Why do you think they have something to do with this?" he asked.

"Because all your questions are related to them," she replied crossing her arms in a protective stance.

"Did Kim ever go out with Adan or Maxi?" He asked.

He was met with stony silence. She refused to respond.

"Well, did she?" asked Det. Johns again leering at her. Still no reply was forthcoming from her.

A light bulb went off in Katrina's head, she looked at him and finally asked, "What happened to Adan and Maxi?"

Detective Johns looked at Katrina. He watched her reaction as he said, "Adan is dead. Maxi is fighting for his life at Holy Crest Hospital. We're waiting to see if he'll make it through the night. We believe they killed Kim and have been trying to kill you." Detective Johns watched a shocked look come on her face. It took her several moments to register what had been said.

"Do you mean to say, they were the ones attacking the house tonight?"

"Yes, along with two other guys."

"But why would they want to kill Kim. They liked Kim," said Katrina.

"We haven't figured out a motive as of yet. Do you know a Maximiliano Cruz?" he asked.

"No, Maxi's first name is Maximiliano, but his last name is Medina," she replied.

"That's your friend Maxi's real name. We're running Adan's prints now to determine his true identity. Homeland security is now involved in this case. If you know what's going on you'd better speak up now," said Det. Johns with menace in his voice.

"I don't know anything," said Katrina a little shaken by Det. Johns' demeanor. "I don't know why they killed Kim or why they came after me. None of this makes sense."

Detective Johns waited for Katrina to say something else. She remained silent and confused.

"You still haven't said whether or not Kim ever dated either one of them," said Det. Johns.

"No! Kim didn't date either one of them. They weren't her taste. She liked more serious, intellectual type guys," said Katrina in annoyance.

"Okay, We're done for now. Just wait here until either I or Det. Christian comes to get you." Det. Johns left the interrogation room. Det. Christian walked out of the observation room. They met in the hallway.

"I don't think she knows what's going on," said Det. Christian.

"No, she has no clue," said Det. Johns. "Let's check in with the captain and see what they've come up with on Maxi and Adan." The detectives walked back to the captain's office.

Det. Johns knocked on the captain's door. The captain beckoned for them to come in. He was in heavy conversation with someone on the phone. They grabbed a seat while the captain keyed information into his computer. He turned the monitor towards them and directed them to read. They finished reading the information on Maximiliano at the same time that the captain got off of the phone.

"As you can see Maxi has an extensive rap sheet for one so young. He grew up quick on the streets of Madrid. He was an excellent pick pocket by the age of sixteen. He graduated to breaking and entering at about seventeen, soon after he hooked up with a crew and never looked back. He worked with that crew until he turned twenty-two. That's when he and the gentleman we know as Adan Medina aka Adam Gonzalez decided to head for bigger and better. They began fleecing high society women of their most prized possession "Diamonds". Their normal M.O. is to get close to young ladies in society. They'd attend parties with these young ladies and hit the houses several weeks after they cased the house," said the captain.

"But what do two thieves have to do with this whole situation?" said Det. Christian.

"A Chocolate Diamond Ensemble. It was recently auctioned off at Tiffany's. The new owners of the set live here in Chicago. They have been out of the country for the past two weeks. They returned home last night to find their home had been burglarized. Their entire safe was cleaned out. Apparently Ms. Lawson was known for her diamond collection. The thieves escaped with an unspecified amount in diamonds." said Captain Weatherspoon.

"And you think our perps did the burglary," said Det. Johns.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," said the captain. "Kim was their way into the upper crust of society. She was a French-American heiress. Hooking up with her gave them the in they needed."

"But Katrina said Kim never went out with either of them," said Det. Johns.

"Yeah, but they tried the younger sister, remember Katrina said that Kim got wind of it, and stopped it. But who's to say the little sister actually listened to her big sister," said Det. Christian. "What's the younger sister's name?"

"Sophie," said Det. Johns.

"Remember what Katrina told us in that initial interview. She said that Sophie had been in some trouble in high school. This is her freshman year at State. She's much younger than Kim and more susceptible to playboys. Maybe they used the younger sister as their in," said Det. Christian.

"Okay, but it still doesn't tell us how Kim ended up tortured and dead. These guys have never been involved in an actual murder, so why would they start now?" asked Det. Johns.

"There's another question that needs to be asked. Where are they getting there information from? These guys aren't from the U.S. yet they had Katrina's parents' address and were able to get the address to the safe house," said Det. Christian. "I've been thinking they have an inside source."

"Yeah, I agree with the inside source theory. That's the only way they could be finding her so fast. We also have to factor in the flowers and laptop incidents, it's almost like they have split personalities. One minute they're trying to kill her, the next they're giving her things as if to say I'm sorry," said Det. Johns.

"Perhaps when we get the sheets back on their accomplices it will shed some light on this situation," said the Captain. "We're going to need to speak with the younger sister Sophie. Maybe we'll be able to put some of the pieces together after talking to her. For now, keep a lid on everything we've discussed. I'll contact the burglary division and get the specifics on the robbery. I've already sent Vasquez and Timms home for a couple of hours. They'll report back at noon. It's 4:30 now. You two go home, catch a couple of hours of sleep. Be back at noon as well. Perhaps by the time we've returned we'll also have the rap sheets on our other perps."

"What about Katrina?" asked Det. Johns.

"I'll take her home with me. My son is on vacation, he can watch her while I get a couple of hours of sleep. Now get out of here," said the captain.

Detectives Johns and Christian left for a couple of hours of rest. They knew they needed rest to be able to deal with the onslaught of information that was going to come in on their suspects. They also knew when not to argue with the captain.

The Captain picked Katrina up from the interrogation room. He could tell she was upset by the set of her shoulders. He told her he had sent Detectives Johns and Christian home. She wasn't happy when he informed her that she was going home with him. The Captain explained that he had a wife and a son, who was also a Chicago Police Officer. His son would watch her while he got some sleep. She still didn't look happy, but what could she do.

They arrived at the Captain's house twenty minutes later. He parked in the garage and they entered the house. Katrina could hear humming coming from the room ahead. When she entered the kitchen she saw a petite African American female with short cropped bangs. She was cooking breakfast. Katrina saw a mound of scrambled eggs and toast on the kitchen table, bacon was frying on the stove.

"Where's Jason?" asked the Captain.

"He's taking a shower. He should be down any second," replied the woman.

"Diane this Katrina Castillo, Katrina, my wife Diane," said the Captain.

"Nice to meet you," said Diane as she shook Katrina's hand. "Come on in here and have a sit. Breakfast will be ready in a moment. You can lay your bag at the door. I'll clean your clothes while you get some rest. Excuse me for a moment," said Diane as she walked to the stairs and called for their son Jason to come down, breakfast was ready.

Katrina sat her bag at the kitchen door and asked where the bathroom was, she needed to wash her hands. Diane gave her directions and she left the room. When she returned, Jason was sitting at the table. Introductions were made and Katrina sat down.

Diane placed the largest plate of food Katrina had ever seen in front of her. She just stared at the plate. It consisted of mounds of bacon, eggs, and four pieces of toast. Katrina knew she'd never be able to eat all that food. Jason looked up from his plate at her. He noticed she wasn't eating, so he followed her line of sight to her plate and then he started laughing.

"Mom, you must have thought you were feeding Tim, she can't eat all that food," said Jason.

Diane looked at Katrina's plate and laughed. Katrina's face was beet red.

"I'm sorry Katrina. I'm used to fixing plates for giant sized men. You don't have to eat all that food," said Diane.

The Captain saw a smile cross Katrina's face for the first time. Katrina ate breakfast and listened to a normal family conversation. Once breakfast was over, Diane showed Katrina to one of their guest bedrooms. The room was gorgeous. It was decorated in rich tones of gold and blue. There was a queen sized bed with an oak headboard. There was an oak armoire with a 29 inch flat screen TV sitting on top. The room had a private bath.

Diane told her to get what she needed from her bag and took the remaining things to be washed. Katrina took a shower. When she exited the bathroom she found a two piece snoopy pajama set lying on the bed. She put it on and climbed into bed. She was sleep in under three minutes.
Chapter 14

Monday Morning

The Guardian entered Holy Crest Hospital through the employee maintenance entrance. He borrowed a maintenance uniform off a rack in the employee locker room. He was at the hospital to gather information. He left the locker room pushing a mop and bucket. He headed towards the emergency room. He saw two officers talking to a nurse on duty. He stopped a few feet away and put out the wet floor sign before he started mopping. He could over hear their entire conversation. The nurse told one of the officers that Maxi was out of surgery, but they weren't sure if he would make it through the day. He hadn't regained consciousness as of yet. The shorter cop called the information in to the precinct. The officers told the nurse to call Sergeant Jones if the patient regained consciousness or died during the day. The officers left the hospital.

The Guardian gathered his mop and bucket then he walked back down the hall. He returned his supplies to the employee locker room and left the hospital. He had gathered the information he needed. He thought about how Maxi and Adan had come after Katrina. He didn't like the way everything turned out. They had changed their plan since the last time he had listened in on their conversation. He wasn't sure now if there were more of them or not. He had to determine if there were more of them in the crew. He headed back towards the precinct. Perhaps he could get some information from there.

*****

Katrina awoke nine hours later. She looked around the room and found her bag near the armoire. Her clothes had been ironed and laid on top. She got out of bed and got dressed. Then she went downstairs to find the captain or Diane. She found Jason instead. He was sitting in the living room watching "Law and Order". He looked up when she entered.

"Back among the living," he said.

"Yeah, I didn't realize how tired I was. Where'd your dad go?" she asked.

"He went back to the precinct, he'll probably call later to check on you," he replied.

"He left me at the house?" she asked in puzzlement.

"Yep, he figured it would be the safest place for now. Don't worry I carry a gun," said Jason.

"Where's your mom?" she asked.

"She went to the grocery store. She'll be back any minute," he replied.

"Is it okay if I call my roommate?" asked Katrina.

"Yes, but don't tell her where you are," he replied.

Katrina excused herself and returned to the guest bedroom. She located her cell phone. When she turned it on, she heard the message indicator. She had several messages. She checked her messages before calling Allison. Two of her professors called and offered condolences, they were nice enough to give her the week off. Allison and her parents had also called. Katrina dialed Allison's number.

"Hey Katrina, how are you doing?" asked Allison.

"I'm okay, are you back in Chicago?" she asked.

"Yeah I took over my cousins Ron and Gary's condo and they're not happy about it. Ron told me their parents have a condo that they use when they come to town on business. They offered it to us if we want to stay there. My parents are all for it because it has twenty four hour security and a doorman," said Allison.

"I could use a doorman and twenty four hour security in my life," said Katrina.

"So when do you want to take a look?" asked Allison.

"I don't know when I'll be able to. You can go ahead and check it out. If you like it, I'm fine with it," said Katrina.

"Okay. There will be a Memorial Service for Kim on Wednesday at the school. Sophie's flying in to represent the family. I know she'd love your support at the service."

"I'd like to be there, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it. I'll call her if I'm not able to come. Have you talked with Mr. and Mrs. Dubois or Sophie?" asked Katrina.

"Yes, I've talked to Sophie almost every day. She's really worried about you," said Allison. "You should give her a call. It might make her feel better."

"I'll try," said Katrina. "I have to go okay."

"Okay, see you soon, take care," said Allison as she hung up the phone.

Katrina hung up the phone. She was trying to get up the courage to call Sophie but didn't have the strength. It would be too hard. It would make everything come back she realized. She needed a diversion something to stop her from wallowing in pity. She put her phone back on the charger and went downstairs to watch TV with Jason.
Chapter 15

The Captain was sitting at his desk when Johns and Christian arrived at the precinct. They walked into his office and took a seat. He began the briefing. "I left Katrina at the house. Jason and Diane are there with her. I have a patrol car sitting in my driveway to be on the safe side," said the Captain. "A lot of information has come in since we've been gone. We've identified the assailants from the safe house.

The assailant we thought was African American is actually Jamaican. His name is Bastian Clarke. He headed a burglary crew in England. His crew would torture the wife to get the husband to open the safe. In some cases the wife didn't survive. Now we understand the gruesomeness of Kim's murder. Bastian is one sick psycho. Maxi and Adan probably had no idea what they were getting into when they hooked up with him. The police in England captured his crew about a year ago, but he was already out if the country when they moved in. It seems he has a sixth sense for when the police are moving in, before he evaded capture in England, he had evaded capture in Jamaica when they picked up his crew. He's been off the radar until last night.

The other perp is Farley Edwards. He used to be one of Chicago's Finest. He was fired from the force about five years ago after he beat a confession out of a teenager accused of rape. He got the kid to wave his rights and admit the deed. The kid was simply tired of the beating that Edwards had put on him. The parents happen to be out of town when their kid was arrested. When they were notified they flew back in town. It turns out the kid was the Mayor's nephew. The kid wasn't even in town the night the alleged rape took place. The girl had lied because they had broken up and she wanted to get back at him. Edwards barely escaped charges but he was fired from the force. The Mayor was able to keep everything pretty quiet, but it cost the city a pretty penny to settle out of court. Since Edward's was a cop he knew about the safe houses. He also probably talked to some friends who didn't think anything of mentioning private information to an ex-cop."

"So you're thinking Clarke and Edwards snatched Kim and tortured her. But what could they get from her? Have we found any connection with Kim and these two perps?" asked det. Johns.

"No, we haven't, but I got some more information. Kim's younger sister Sophie was on the list for the party the Lawson's gave a couple of weeks ago. Adan was her guest," said the Captain. "I've learned Mrs. Lawson loves her diamonds, besides the Chocolate Diamond Ensemble which is worth 9.2 million, she has two other sets, which combined with the Chocolate Ensemble set is worth 35 million. I believe it went down like this: When Maxi and Adan couldn't get Kim interested in either one of them, they tried the younger sister Sophie. She's young and rebellious or she just likes disobeying he sister. Sophie becomes "their" in to high society homes. Adan cases the place while he's at the party and they come back a couple of weeks later to do the job. Now our guys have the diamonds but something must have gone wrong because Kim ends up tortured by our friend Bastian. The search warrants on Bastian's house and Farley's apartment were performed while we were out. Forensics found blood and hair in the basement of Bastian's home. It turned out to be Kim's."

"You've gotten test results back already?" asked Det. Christian.

"Yes, we've been rushing everything that has to do with this case. Kim's parents are putting pressure in the right places to get it moving along faster than normal channels would allow," said the Captain.

"Have you heard anything from Holy Crest Hospital concerning Maxi?" asked Det. Johns.

"He survived the surgery, but he's unconscious. Doctors don't know if or when he might come out of it," said the Captain.

"Do you think Kim might have seen something she wasn't supposed to see and they killed her? Maybe they thought she passed this information on to Katrina so they came after her as well?" asked Det. Johns.

"It's possible, but why go through all the trouble. You have 35 million in diamonds. Why not cut and run? If they had equal shares in the spoils it would have set them up nice and pretty for a long time," said the Captain.

"Have we checked their phones? With a heist this big, they had to have a way to move those diamonds," said Det. Christian.

"None of them had cell phones on them, I'll have to check with forensics to see if they found any at their residences," said the captain.

"We might have figured out what this whole thing is about, but we still haven't figured out who killed our perps," said Det. Johns. "Have they found any evidence of where the kill shots came from?"

"I'm still waiting on the report from Bellwood. Their department isn't as big as ours so they asked for assistance. They gave us the bodies to process, Katz is working on them now. You can get some information from him," said the Captain.

"I'll give Katz a call. There's no need for me to go over there. We know how they died," said Det. Christian.

Christian and Johns left the Captain's office. Christian called Katz while Johns went to the restroom. Katz answered on the first ring. They talked for about five minutes. He took notes while Katz gave him the preliminaries. When he finished talking to Katz, he made a phone call to Sergeant Jones. When Johns returned to his desk, he was putting on his jacket.

"What's up?" asked Det. Johns.

"Let's go, I'll tell you on the way," said Det. Christian.

Det. Johns drove to the safe house as Det. Christian explained what he'd learned from Katz. It turns out the perps were killed with a M-16 Sniper's Rifle. The impact and trajectory of the wound suggest the shooter was 150 to 200 feet away in an elevated position. Katz figures the shooter had to be in an attic near the safe house. Sergeant Jones was checking to see if there were any vacant houses that fit that description in the area. He was meeting them at the safe house.

When Det. Johns and Christian made it to the safe house Sergeant Jones and Officer King were waiting on them. Sergeant Jones pointed out the only house that fit the description he had been given. The house was behind the safe house on the next block. It was two stories high and had a perfect line of sight to the front of the safe house. They cut through the yard and came upon the house. They looked around the outside. There didn't appear to be any sign of disturbance around the house. They split up when they entered the house. Det. Johns and Christian entered in the back, Sergeant Jones and Officer King entered through the front. The first floor was completely deserted. The house appeared to have sat vacant for a long period of time. A layer of dust was on the floor. They climbed the stairs to the second floor. Det. Johns noticed there was no dust on the stairs or any part of the upstairs entrance. The floors appeared to have been swept recently. They moved in teams searching the second floor. They didn't find a dust mite on the second floor. They moved up to the attic. The attic was spotless as well. They swept the room looking for any clue of the shooter. Officer King spotted an envelope sitting on the window sill. The envelope had Christians and Johns names on it.

Det. Johns put on a pair of rubber gloves and picked up the envelope. He opened it. It contained a single slip of paper. Typed in big bold letters were the words:

"You're Welcome Detectives Johns and Christian"

Hint: Follow the Diamonds

The Guardian

"Great!" said Det. Christian.

"Yeah, like we needed him added to our plate," said Det. Johns.

"Who is the Guardian?" asked Sergeant Jones.

"That's what we'd like to know," said Det. Johns.
Chapter 16

Det. Johns and Christian headed back to the precinct. More of the puzzle pieces were falling into place now. The Guardian sent the flowers and brought Katrina her laptop. He sent the second set of flowers which put them on alert for a possible attack. He killed Maxi and Adan's crew. He saved their lives that night. They wondered who he was and why he was doing this? Detective Johns dropped the pen he was tapping on his leg, it fell between the seat and the car's cup holder console. He couldn't see it from where he was sitting so he reached down to feel his way to the pen. He touched something hard. He pulled the item from under his seat. Katrina's laptop. He forgot to give it to her the previous night with everything going on. He'd give it to the captain. The captain would take it to her. They went straight to the Captain's office when they made it to the precinct. Vasquez and Timms were leaving the Captain's office as they entered.

"Where are they headed?" asked Det. Johns.

"Back to my house, they're relieving the patrolmen sitting on my house," said the Captain.

Det. Johns stepped back out of the office and called Vasquez. He gave her the laptop and asked her to give it to Katrina. He returned to the office and sat down.

"So what else have you learned?" asked the Captain. "I saw you fly out of here like bats out of hell."

"We went back to the safe house. Katz gave us an idea where to look for the shooter from the safe house. Sergeant Jones did some leg work for us, so we were able to go right into the house. We learned that the shooter was a pro. He didn't leave a trace, besides a very clean house, for us to find. The shooter was kind enough to leave us a note." said Det. Johns.

"A note," said the captain in puzzlement.

"Yeah," said Christian. "it read, "You're Welcome Detectives Johns and Christian! Hint: Follow the Diamonds."

"This guy knows your names," replied the Captain.

"Yep, and he's also the one that sent the flowers to Katrina," said Det. Christian.

"How do you know that?" asked the Captain

"He signed it "The Guardian," said Det. Christian.

"So we have another player in this case," said the Captain.

"Yeah, but we don't know what his end game is. He's returned Katrina's laptop to her. He's warned us in his own way that trouble was coming, and he killed the crew coming after us at the safe house," said Det. Christian. "So I don't know if we should call him friend or foe."

"Foe," said the Captain. "He's disturbed a crime scene and killed three suspects. He probably knows more about what's going on than we do and who's to say he isn't orchestrating it."

"Well we know Katrina's safe from Maxi's crew," said Det. Johns. "You haven't found any evidence that there are more of them out there have you?"

"No, we haven't found anything to suggest that anyone is left from their crew. But I'll keep her under wraps for a couple more days just to be on the safe side. We still haven't located the diamonds," said the Captain.

They discussed possible places the diamonds might be and what to do if someone else came after Katrina. They knew the case was wrapping up, but hoped to have the diamonds in their possession soon. Detectives Johns and Christian went to see the forensics team to find out what else they had learned.

*****

Jason, Diane and Katrina were playing a game of scrabble when Vasquez and Timms arrived at the house. Jason answered the door.

"Hey Jason, how have you been?" asked Vasquez.

"Pretty good and you?" replied Jason.

"Can't complain for the most part, Johns asked me to give Katrina her laptop. The techs finished with it the other day but he forgot to give it to her," said Vasquez.

"Okay, did you want to come in?" asked Jason.

"No, we just got here, so I don't need to right now," she replied.

"Okay, mom's cooking lasagna tonight. I'll bring you a plate when it's done," said Jason.

"Is she making her famous garlic cheese toast to go with that lasagna?" asked Vasquez.

"Yes, I guess this means you want double?" asked Jason.

"You are such a wise young man. Don't bother to bring Timms any, he isn't a connoisseur of fine cuisine like I am," said Vasquez.

"If I tried that, I'd never live it down. When I bring it out, I'll just short him a little, between you and me," said Jason.

"I thought you had brains like your father," said Vasquez as she started walking back to the car. Jason chuckled as he closed the door. As he re-entered the room Diane and Katrina looked up.

Katrina had spotted the laptop as soon as he walked in the room. A sad look crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" asked Diane looking at Katrina with concern on her face.

"Seeing my laptop reminded me of Kim." replied Katrina. "The last time I saw her she was returning my laptop to me from Sophie." She thought about Sophie. "I need to call Sophie but I just don't have the courage right now."

Diane looked at Jason. Jason excused himself from the room. He knew that look on his mother's face. She was about to go into Super Mommie mode.

"Katrina, you've had a rough couple of days. You haven't had time to truly grieve for your friend with all that has happened. Perhaps when everything has cleared up you'll be able to deal with Kim's death and talking with Sophie. Right now, don't be so hard on yourself. You are only human," said Diane.

Katrina shook her head in acceptance. Do you mind if I go upstairs for a little while? I need to check my e-mail and contact some professors," Katrina said in a hurry. She appeared to have tears in her eyes.

"No, go ahead. I need to check on the lasagna anyway. I'll call you when dinner is ready," Diane said.

Katrina took the laptop upstairs to the guest bedroom. She sat down on the bed. There was so much she needed to do, but she just didn't have the strength to do it. She had never felt like this before. Not even when her mother had gotten cancer and was facing an uphill battle. She laid the laptop on the bed and lie down. Thoughts of Kim and all the fun they had at boarding school the first and only year they attended flowing through her mind. She could picture Kim in pigtails hurling a snowball at James Walters for calling her skinny. The ensuing snowball fight between Our Sacred Lady and Thomas Aquinas School was still on record as being the best snowball fight ever. Her cell phone brought her out of her rivalry. She went to answer it thinking it might be her parents calling her back. When she bent down to pick up the phone, Sophie's name was on the display. She was reaching for the phone when Diane knocked at the door to let her know dinner was ready. Perhaps it wasn't time for her to face Sophie just yet, thought Katrina as she laid the phone down and walked downstairs.

********

The Guardian was anticipating the call. They were the only ones who had access to him. He'd hoped to have the current situation resolved before receiving this phone call. He answered the phone.

"Yes," he said. He listened as the questions flew at him. There was strain in the voice. He let him vent his fear and frustration before responding to the questions.

"She is fine sir. She has been placed at Captain Weatherspoon's house with a twenty-four hour protection detail. There was another incident last night that the press just got wind of. They don't know the individuals involved. No pictures of her have been in the newspapers as of yet. The focus is still on Kim's murder. I have been monitoring all channels to decrease her exposure to the media. The police have been very good at keeping her picture out of the press. I don' feel that there is a need for you to come home at this time," said the Guardian.

The Guardian listened to further instructions from his employer before ending the call. He had been on this detail for six years. He was the second Guardian to protect Katrina. The first having gotten too old to protect her and gone into retirement. He had been with her since she had graduated from high school and had decided to go to State for her bachelors and masters degrees. He had watched her grow from a shy and reserved young girl to a classy and confident young woman, a young woman he had fallen in love with. Recent events had taken their toll on her and he wondered if they would weaken her or make her stronger. His bet was that she would overcome these obstacles, he had seen too much of her drive. She would make it through.

Katrina's parents had done everything to ensure she had a normal childhood. But even they were realizing that time was running out. They knew a day would come when that image of normalcy would be shattered. The threat to Katrina was more deadly and dangerous than the one she was facing now. The Guardian guessed this would be the warm-up to the big dance if Katrina was ever exposed to the press. And he'd bet his paycheck that exposure was coming soon.
Chapter 17

Katrina woke up resolving to get some work done at last. She hadn't checked her e-mail or looked to see if her files were intact on her laptop. Her plan to do some work the previous day was busted up by Diane and Jason, who kept her busy playing games and watching movies. She turned the laptop on but nothing happened. She knew she had been charging the laptop on Friday night when she got home. She hoped it wasn't damaged. She flipped it over and removed the battery. It seemed lighter to her. She examined the battery more closely. She noticed what appeared to be a button on the battery. She pressed the button and a compartment slid open. She peered inside, but it was dark so she flipped the battery over. A pouch fell out of the battery case. She opened the pouch and several gems fell into her lap. It took several moments before Katrina's discovery registered in her mind. She looked at them in wonder and realized she was holding Chocolate Diamonds. She couldn't figure out why they were hidden in her laptop and who had placed them there. Katrina placed the diamonds back inside the battery compartment; she picked up her laptop and went in search of Captain Weatherspoon.

She raced down the stairs hoping the captain was still home. She heard voices coming from the kitchen and headed in that direction. When she entered the kitchen Diane was cooking breakfast and Captain Weatherspoon was sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper.

"Good morning," said Diane. "You're up early.

"Good morning," said Katrina almost forgetting her manners. "Captain there's something I need you to see."

The captain looked at Katrina standing in the doorway holding her laptop. "We already checked out your laptop, we didn't find anything. It's okay to use it," said the captain.

"Yeah, I was trying to use it a couple of minutes ago when I found these in the battery compartment," said Katrina as she poured the Chocolate Diamonds on the kitchen table.

"Well I'll be damned. You found these in your computer?" asked the captain.

"In the battery to be more exact. But I noticed my computer feels lighter, so I'm wondering if there might be more inside," said Katrina.

"Who's had access to your laptop?" asked the captain.

"I had just gotten it back on Friday, Sophie had it. She was updating my software and operating system for me," said Katrina.

"Sophie is Kim's younger sister right?" asked the captain.

"Yes," said Katrina.

"Place the laptop on the table. Try not to touch any other part of the battery. I know the forensics team checked for prints. But I'm not sure how thorough they were in their checking. They might be able to get a print or two after eliminating your prints." He went to the kitchen and got a brown paper bag. He placed the laptop and the battery in the bag.

Diane insisted he eat breakfast before he left for the precinct. During breakfast he questioned Katrina about Sophie and her relationship with Kim. When breakfast was over he admonished Katrina not to mention the diamonds or anything they had learned today. The captain headed for the door, cell in hand. He called Det. Christian.

"Christian, this is the captain. You and Johns need to meet me at the precinct asap," said the Captain.

"What's going on?" asked Det. Christian.

"I'd rather not say over the phone, just make sure you and Johns are at the precinct in twenty," said the Captain.

"Yes, sir, see you in twenty," said Det. Christian before he hung up the phone.

The captain arrived at the precinct in under ten minutes. He dropped the bag off with the forensics team with express instructions to not mention where the bag came from or the contents. He went to his office and placed a call to the brass to let them know the most recent events involving the Dubois case. He also had someone checking for a cell phone in Sophie Dubois name and any calls placed by said cell phone in the last week checked. The captain was pacing in his office by the time Johns and Christian arrived.

"We've got the diamonds," said the captain when they had been seated.

"The Chocolate Diamonds?" asked Det. Christian in bewilderment.

"Yes, but those are the only ones we have. I'm not sure yet where the other diamonds might be.

"Where'd you find them?" asked Det. Johns.

"Katrina actually found them this morning. They were hidden in the battery compartment of her laptop. She woke up this morning deciding to get some work done and her laptop wasn't charged. She started checking out the laptop and found that the battery seemed light. She found a button which opened the compartment and the diamonds fell out. She brought everything to me. I currently have forensics taking the laptop apart to see if there are more diamonds hidden inside. I've already alerted the brass to the situation. We're not announcing that we have the jewels yet. We're keeping a tight lid on the situation." said the captain.

"How did the stolen diamonds end up in Katrina's laptop?" asked Det. Johns. "Do you think our friend "The Guardian" could have placed them there?"

"No, he would most likely have told us to check out the laptop. His interest was solely in helping Katrina complete her papers. He sent her the papers when we didn't give her the laptop remember. Besides, he seems to be trying to protect Katrina. He's the one who took out them team coming after her. No, I'm thinking a little more close to home, the little sister Sophie. Katrina gave her the laptop on Wednesday and Kim returned it to her on Friday when they met at the coffee shop," said the Captain.

The office phone rang, "excuse me," he stepped to the desk and picked up the receiver. The captain didn't say anything, he just listened to the caller. He finally said, "Okay, are you sure?" More silence followed that statement, then "okay, thanks for getting back with me so soon." The captain hung up the phone.

"That was forensics, they didn't find any more diamonds inside the laptops casing. So we still have two-thirds of the diamonds missing," said the captain.

"You believe the younger sister, Sophie, is involved in this mess?" asked Det. Christian incredulously.

"Well it fits about as well as any of the other theories we've been bouncing around. The younger sister gave the crew access to the Lawson's house. They do the job, then something goes wrong. They can't get to Sophie so they go after the sister," said Det. Johns. Just then a patrolman stuck his head in the door.

"Excuse me, sir, you said to get you that information when we traced the calls from the suspect's phones. Here's a print out of all the calls that were placed within the last week," said the patrolman. The captain waved the patrolman into the office and accepted the sheaf of papers.

The captain searched through the sheaves of paper. He stopped when he got to the third page. "The perps might not have had cell phones on their bodies but several were found at their residence. I had a team looking for a cell phone in Sophie's name. He searched the number he had been given and compared it to the calls between their suspects. I have a call made from Bastian's cell to a cell registered to Sophie Dubois. The call was made on Thursday night at 10:15. The call lasted thirty minutes. The captain checked some of the other sheets of paper. There were also several calls made from Adan to this same cell number on Thursday and Friday. These calls didn't last as long, one or two minutes at the most. There was one more call made from Sophie's cell to Bastian's at 1:15 a.m. the same night her sister was killed and around the same time.

"How do we want to handle this Captain?" asked Det. Johns.

"She'll be here tomorrow for the memorial service the university is having for her sister. She'll contact Katrina and we'll be there when she does," said the Captain. "We need to get some wire taps in place. You two contact the D.A. and let her know the situation. " The phone rang, "Hold on," said the Captain. When the call had ended he said, "Send Vasquez and Timms in here, they'll contact the D.A.'s office, you two get to the hospital, Maxi just came out of his coma. All parties scattered to complete the task assigned to them.
Chapter 18

The Guardian entered Holy Crest Hospital via the visitors' entrance. He got his visitors pass and set out to visit his dear old Uncle Tony in I.C.U. The hall was quiet when he entered, hardly anyone was around. He proceeded down the hall unchallenged. One of the officers guarding Maxi had gone to the restroom. The other was busy chatting with a pretty brunette nurse. The Guardian walked pass Maxi's room and proceeded around the corner. He entered the custodian's closet unnoticed. He slipped out of his overcoat and added the cushion to his middle. He placed the black wig on his head and adjusted the make-up on his face. He pushed the cart out of the room and walked around the corner towards Maxi's room. The police officer glanced his way, "hey Jim," he said before returning his attention to the nurse. A muffled "hey," was the response he received from the Guardian. The Guardian slipped into Maxi's room.

Once inside Maxi's room he heard moaning. "Are you okay, Mr. Cruz? Is there anything I can get you?" he asked.

"I need some pain pills," was the whispered reply from Maxi.

"Sure, let me adjust your drip. It will only allow so much morphine to be dispensed because you've just come out of a coma," he said to Maxi. He had made it close enough to Maxi to stifle any cries he might make. He covered Maxi's mouth with his hand. "I will make all the pain go away and you won't feel anything ever again, if you don't tell me what I want to know. Flick you fingers if you understand me," said the Guardian in a low menacing voice. Maxi flicked his fingers several times.

"All your friends from the ambush are dead. Is there anyone else coming after Katrina?" asked the Guardian.

Maxi shook his head no.

"I've seen Sophie hanging out with you and Adan. Was she your partner?" asked the Guardian. He moved his hand slightly to allow Maxi to answer his questions.

"No, she stole diamonds," he whispered. "Got some back, but she hid others."

"That's why you killed Kim for the other diamonds?" asked the Guardian.

"She wouldn't tell us, let sister die," said Maxi in pain.

"Where are the diamonds now?" asked the Guardian.

"Buried in the back yard of neighbor's apartment building, don't want to die have evidence, didn't want Kim to die," said Maxi in a stilting manner.

"You have evidence of what?" asked the Guardian.

"Bastian kill Kim cause Sophie told him to or she wouldn't give diamonds," said Maxi laboring to breathe.

The Guardian asked Maxi several more questions. Once he was finished, he told Maxi not to mention him to the police. "I'm going to give you a little more morphine," said the Guardian. Maxi's eyes bulged open. "Don't worry it won't kill you, it'll just lessen the pain. The police are on their way. Tell them exactly what you told me. Give them the evidence against Sophie and tell them the location of the diamonds. If you don't give them what they need, you'll leave this hospital in a wooden box instead of your own volition. And don't forget, I don't exist, you never saw me. Do you understand me?" asked the Guardian.

Maxi shook his head in acquiescence. The Guardian gathered his cart and left the room. He stopped at two other rooms before finally returning his cart to its rightful place and leaving the building.

45 minutes later

Det. Johns and Christian arrived at the hospital forty five minutes later. They had discussed their strategy for getting Maxi to cooperate, but found they didn't need one when they arrived in his room. Maxi was forthcoming during the interview. He told them everything they needed to know. He told them where to find the diamonds and what happened to Kim. They found out everything including the fact that Sophie Dubois was complicit in her sister's murder. They left the hospital and headed to Maxi's and Adan's apartment, they had a treasure to dig up.

The diamonds were easy to locate in the neighbor's yard. They retrieved the diamonds and a mini-cassette recorder and headed for the captain's house. Det. John's and Christian couldn't believe what they heard on the mini-cassette recorder. They now had irrefutable evidence that Sophie was complicit in her sister's murder. They decided to continue with the sting. They had learned long ago when you are dealing with people with unlimited funds, it is best to have evidence that is insurmountable no matter how deep the pockets are. They decided to wait to tell the captain about the tape. They didn't want to have to play it in front of Katrina. That would be too much for her to bear. They wanted to formalize the plans for the sting tomorrow. It wasn't easy for them to tell Katrina that Kim's sister was complicit in her murder. Katrina was saddened and shocked by the information, but it also galvanized her into assisting the police in the sting operation. She didn't want Sophie to get away with Kim's murder.
Chapter 19

The police had everything in place. Katrina's car had been picked up from the Morae Hotel and brought to the captain's house. They had outfitted her car with video surveillance monitoring and wire taps. Diane loaned Katrina something to wear to the memorial service. Katrina wore a simple black dress that stopped just above the knees. She wore black pumps and carried a black clutch handbag. She decided not to wear diamonds or any form of jewelry in difference to Kim who had died over diamonds she hadn't known existed. She wore her hair flowing down her back in luscious waves to detract from the fact she wasn't wearing jewelry.

Katrina had spoken to Allison the other night and told her she would be attending the memorial service. She had also told her she wanted to come stay with her and the cousins until their apartment was ready. She hoped that the cousins didn't mind having an extra female there for a couple weeks. Allison told her she'd already checked out the apartment and if she was coming on Wednesday, they might be able to move their things in Friday. The apartment was already furnished. The only thing they needed to do was go grocery and clothes shopping.

Katrina was set to leave the captain's house at 9:30. The service began at 10:00. They did one more sound check for the wiretap before she left. She would have just enough time to get to the auditorium of the Lennox Building. She parked her car and walked towards the building. She saw several students she knew walking in the same direction. She looked up and saw Allison and one of her cousins standing in front of the building. Allison waved at her to get her attention. Katrina walked a little faster. They embraced when she arrived at their location. They entered the building.

"We're sitting on stage with Sophie. She wanted us to be up there with her. She didn't want to do this alone," said Allison.

Sure she didn't thought Katrina. She wouldn't have to do this at all if she'd given the diamonds back to Adan and Maxi. Instead Katrina said, "No we can't let her go through this alone. Why didn't her parents come?"

"They couldn't do two services. Kim's funeral is tomorrow and they're leaving for France after the funeral. They want to get away from the press and everything for a few weeks," said Allison.

"Is Sophie going with them?" asked Katrina.

"Yes, they don't want her to be alone. They've already withdrawn her from State," said Allison. At that point the trio had arrived at the stage. They glanced out at the audience. The auditorium seated twenty five hundred people and it was packed. It appeared that the majority of the graduate college had come to pay their respects. Katrina took a deep breath. She and Allison walked on the stage towards Sophie. Sophie was wearing a black sheath dress. Every curve of her body was defined by the dress. She wore diamonds studs in her ears and a diamond choker with teardrops dangled down to her cleavage. Her hair was pulled back in a bun. Katrina looked at the diamonds draped around Sophie's neck and her blood began to rage. She looked into her eyes and saw anguish there. She faltered for a second. Could Sophie have allowed her sister to be tortured and killed over diamonds? She tried searching Sophie's face again, but Sophie encased her in a bear hug. "No one blames you, it's not your fault," said Sophie.

Katrina's entire body tensed up. It was all she could do not to attack Sophie right there on the stage. Sophie released her and looked her in the eyes. "It's okay," she said. But the look in her eyes was one of triumph instead of despair now.

Katrina sat down on the stage. She was livid. This heifer was trying to deflect the blame for Kim's murder on to her. Katrina started wringing her hands. Allison noticed the movement and touched her on the shoulder. It helped to soothe Katrina's frayed nerves and prevented her from attacking Sophie on the stage. Katrina gave her attention to the memorial service.

The memorial service lasted forty-five minutes. Several of Kim's professors spoke of her talented mind and selfless spirit. Some of the kids from the tutoring program Kim volunteered at spoke as well. All around the auditorium, Katrina could see the impact that Kim had on peoples' lives. She would truly be missed.

Sophie asked them to wait for her after the memorial service had ended. She didn't want to go back to their apartment. A half hour after the service had ended Sophie was finished talking to the attendees and they left. Sophie asked if she could ride with Katrina. Sophie had used a car service to get to the memorial service from the airport, but had dismissed them when she had arrived. She knew she would be able to get a ride from one of them. Katrina and Sophie didn't speak very much on the ride to the apartment. Katrina decided now would be a good time to breach the subject of the laptop.

"Sophie, I know this might not be the best time, but I was wondering if you'd take a look at my laptop, it isn't working," said Katrina.

"Sophie looked at Katrina for a moment before she spoke, "She told you didn't she? I swear that girl can't hold water," said Sophie in exasperation.

Katrina froze for a moment, she wasn't sure how to respond to that statement. Katrina feigned ignorance to be on the safe side. "Told me what?" she asked.

"Allison told you I wasn't coming back to state," she replied.

"Yes, she did mention that fact," said Katrina.

"You're acting just like my sister, always trying to steer me in the right direction. I guess you think that if I play with your laptop, I'll change my mind. But I won't. I never wanted to go to State. But my parents wouldn't let me go to any other school. They wanted someone to keep an eye on me. That's how I ended up at State. MIT is a much better technology school. I would have been happy to go there, but nooo. Sophie took a deep breath and seemed to collect herself. "I'm sorry Katrina, I didn't mean to explode on you like that. I just miss her so much. It's easier to be mad at her than mourn her." No trace of her earlier outburst was evident in her words now.

"It's okay," said Katrina.

"I'll take a look at it. I'll have to see what I did wrong," said Sophie.

They arrived at the apartment building and Katrina busied herself looking for a parking space. She was lucky enough to find one a half block away. Sophie helped her gather her few remaining possessions out of the trunk and they walked to the apartment building. Allison and John were waiting for them in the lobby of the building.

"Change of plans," said Allison.

"What kind of change?" asked Katrina.

"Apparently when I told my cousins you needed to stay for a couple of weeks they went into overdrive. The apartment is ready, security has been informed that we are moving in and they have already moved my things into the apartment. I guess two females were a bit much for them to handle right now," said Allison.

Their apartment was on the seventeenth floor. Gary rode up with them and got them settled in. He showed Allison where they had placed her things and promptly left. Katrina and Sophie wondered into the second bedroom. They placed Katrina's things on the floor. Katrina continued to explore the room. Sophie walked around the apartment, checking it out as well. "This is nice," she said from Katrina's bedroom door. Sophie turned and went back to the living room. She sat on the couch.

Katrina followed behind her with her laptop in tow. She handed it to Sophie. "I need to shower and find something to wear," said Katrina. Allison yelled from her room that she was going to take a shower. Katrina excused herself. She went to borrow something to wear from Allison.

When Katrina left the room, Sophie grabbed the laptop and flipped it over. She was so engrossed in what she was doing she never noticed the changes to the laptop. She looked over her shoulder to see if Katrina or Allison were coming back into the room. She heard a shower come on and she heard a door close. She reached inside her bag and grabbed a laptop battery. She took the battery off of Katrina's laptop and replaced it with the one from her bag. She clicked the button on the battery and the compartment slid open. She poured a couple of diamonds into her hands to insure they were still in the battery. She poured them back into the battery compartment and placed the battery in her bag. She called a car service to pick her up and take her to the airport. She was sitting on the couch humming when Katrina re-entered the room.

"Were you able to figure anything out?" asked Katrina.

"Yes, it was just dust in your battery holder. It was disrupting the charge, that's why it wouldn't work. It's working now," said Sophie.

"Thanks, I'd hate to buy a new laptop right now. I have way too much valuable stuff on this computer," said Katrina. Allison came into the room.

"Sophie, how long do you have before your flight?" asked Allison.

Sophie looked at her watch, it was 12:00. "My flight leaves at 3:00 this afternoon. I'm leaving in about fifteen minutes. I decided to call a car service. I didn't want to put you guys out. It's been a long morning," said Sophie.

"It wouldn't have been a problem, I would have dropped you off," said Katrina.

"Don't worry about it, the car service is already on its way," said Sophie.

"What about your apartment? What are you going to do about it?" asked Katrina.

"We're donating everything to the Salvation Army," said Sophie. They talked for a few more minutes. Katrina pretending to try to talk Sophie out of leaving State and Sophie pretending to listen. Sophie's cell phone rang. She answered it and said she'd be right down. All the ladies hugged one another and said goodbye.

Katrina walked over to the window and looked down on the scene unfolding. She watched Sophie exit the building and immediately become surrounded by officers from the Chicago Police Department. Det. John's placed handcuffs on Sophie and Det. Christian escorted her to the car. Katrina watched until they drove off.

"What had you so engrossed down there?" asked Allison.

"I was just watching the police arrest Sophie," said Katrina.

"What?" said Allison in shock. "Why did the police arrest Sophie?"

Katrina didn't know where to start. She told Allison to take a seat and she related the whole sorted event to her over a cup of herbal tea. Allison never imagined that Sophie could be involved in her sister's death. She hadn't known Sophie as long as Katrina had, but she couldn't imagine someone taking part in their own sister's death. Katrina couldn't explain it to her either. She had no idea why Sophie had done what she had. They discussed the situation, trying to make sense of it. They finally let it go for the day. They knew they'd eventually learn what had motivated Sophie. They decided to take their mind off the situation for now and started working towards making their new apartment into a second home.
Chapter 20

"Did you see the look on her face?" asked Det. Johns. "That'll be one for the record books."

"Yeah, she couldn't believe she was under arrest. But the minute she realized that we weren't joking, I could see the wheels churning in her head. How much do you want to bet, she has already created her defense when we interview her?" asked Det. Christian. The captain walked into the observation room.

"Which one of you is doing the initial interview?" asked the Captain.

"I'm doing it," said Johns. "I want to see what she has to say for herself before we choke her with her own words." Det. Johns entered the interrogation room. He read Sophie her rights. The first thing Sophie said was that she wanted to make a deal. She declined her right to counsel. Sophie told him everything that had happened. She claimed to not have known they were going to kill Kim. She said she'd only stolen the diamonds after they had robbed the Lawson's. She had hidden most of the diamonds in the apartment. But she knew they'd figure she had gotten them, so she hid some in Katrina's laptop as well. She had hoped they would be gone by the time they realized some of them were missing. She knew they were headed out of the country Saturday night. She claimed it was too late when she realized they were actually going to kill her sister. She said she was too scared to contact the police and she didn't want her parents to blame her for her sister's death. Det. Johns let her spin her tail until she ran out of steam. When she finished he looked at her with disgust. Sophie's eyes bucked when she saw how he was looking at her.

She appeared to be a very credible witness, but Det. Johns new differently. He thought about what Det. Christian had said. She had her defense already in order. If they didn't have the taped conversation he knew they would never get a conviction. "I don't believe a word you just said," replied Det. Johns.

"They killed my sister, they would have killed me if I hadn't gone home this past weekend. They're crazy," said Sophie. She turned on the charm. She leaned back in her seat and slowly thrust her chest out. She watched the reaction from Det. Johns.

Det. Johns knew what she was doing. He opted for indifference. He never looked at her, instead he pulled out the taped conversation and said, "I have something I want you to listen to," he clicked play on the tape player. There was heavy breathing in the background. A girl pleading, "please stop, Sophie, please tell them what they want to know!"

Then a male's voice was heard. "I can make you sisters pain go away, if you just tell me where the rest of the diamonds are."

Sophie's voice rang out, "I'll tell you where the diamonds are if you permanently make the pain go away. Make it so permanent that she'll never feel anything ever again."

"Sophieeee! Please Sophieeee!" Kim screamed.

The male spoke louder trying to drown out Kim's pleas, "You want me to smoke your sister, and if I do it you'll tell me where the Chocolate Diamonds are?

Sophie's voice again, "The only way I'll tell you is if you kill her. If she's gone, I won't need the diamonds. I'll be the only child my parents have and they'll give me anything to keep me happy."

"You'd let your own sister die, you're one cold lady" said the male voice.

Det. Johns turned the tape player off. He looked at Sophie. There was pure rage in her eyes.

"I hated her. She thought she was so perfect. My parents thought she was perfect too. They wanted me to be just like her. That's why they sent me to State, so I could be just like her. They took me away from all my friends, my boyfriend. I couldn't do anything right. Just because I smoked a little pot and got into a little trouble, they had to go all religious on me. My own mother would choose her side over mine. I'm her flesh and blood. She was just a motherless bitch. Well, they don't have anyone to compare me to now. No, their precious darling is gone, thanks to me!" shouted Sophie.

Two patrolmen entered the room and handcuffed Sophie. She yelled and screamed her hate all the way to central booking.

*****

The press got wind of Katrina's location and bombarded their apartment building. Katrina felt just like she did in the safe house, scared to exit her own apartment. Allison told her if she just gave a statement the majority of them would go away. They could easily avoid the more incessant ones by using the parking garage connected to their building. But Katrina wasn't ready to face the press just yet.

Katrina talked to Det. Johns and Christian on Thursday. They provided her with the reason why Sophie had been complicit in her own sister's murder. It still didn't lessen the hurt and pain Katrina felt at the loss of her best friend and friend. She had counted Sophie among her friends before she had gone off the deep end. She knew it would be a long while before the pain of betrayal would end.

Friday rolled around and the press were even more incessant. The building management company had to hire additional security to keep the press out of the building. Allison was finally able to talk Katrina into giving a statement to the press when a reporter had managed to gain entry to the building and came knocking at their door.

The press conference was held in front of the police precinct where detectives Johns and Christian worked. They did a joint press conference where the police informed the public that they had broken the case and the citizens of Chicago were not being plagued by a serial killer. Katrina prepared a brief statement and answered exactly three questions. They called the press conference to an end. The detectives escorted Allison and Katrina back to their apartment.

Katrina and Allison started getting settled into their new apartment. All Katrina had to do now was shop for new things and try to put this nightmare behind her. She knew it would take a while for the wounds of betrayal to heal. She missed her best friend. She thought about Diane's words of encouragement. You have to face the pain, only then can you move forward. She was beginning to face the pain and eventually she would move forward.

*****

The Guardian sat at his table watching TV. Katrina's face was splashed all over the news. She was no longer in the shadows. The situation with Kim's murder had been resolved. Katrina believed herself safe. The Guardian knew better, Katrina was in even more danger than before. His job just got a hell of a lot tougher. So did Katrina's parents.

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Extraordinary Reflections

Chapter 1

When you look in the mirror, a mirror image of yourself is reflected back at you. But what happens to your psyche when there is no mirror, yet an image of you is standing before your eyes, one that won't fade, one that has no earthly reason to exist. It's been said that everyone has a twin, someone with whom you share a remarkable resemblance. Someone with whom you can't be told apart. This is a story of two paths crossing, two lives changing, love lost, love regained, jealousy, insanity and death.

My part in this story began the summer prior to my senior year in college. I was one year away from the rest of my life. My future looked much brighter than my past. I had come to terms with the events of my past in recent months, despite my mother's crazy machinations, and the absence of my father. I craved a normal life and the only way I could achieve this goal was by cutting all contact with my mother. Nothing would ever be normal if I continued to allow her to disrupt my calm. As for my father, I hadn't spoken to him since the day he put me out of their home. I hadn't had much conversation for him before that point, so I guess it shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did.

As I look back at that time, I should have known it was just the calm before the storm that was my life. I was looking forward to a life worth living in my future. I had no clue that my future endeavors were the result of a faulty foundation.

The summer started off pretty good. I was on the wait staff of a large catering firm in Atlanta. The season was going well for my boss and we were kept busy most nights and weekends.

One calm and breezy night we were catering a party for a law firm with several different names attached to it. The firm was celebrating a five hundred million dollar settlement it had won against a gun manufacturer.

The room was filled with the partners, junior associates and interns of the firm. It was a black tie affair and the attendees wore elegant gowns and beautifully tailored tuxedoes. The chandeliers sparkled brightly overhead and a mellow jazz tune flowed throughout the ballroom.

My best friend Chris was working one side of the huge ballroom and I was working the opposite end. We would meet in the kitchen to discuss the gowns and conversations we'd over heard as we were serving them. On the third round to get salads, Chris bursts into the kitchen, excitement written all over her face and exuded from her pores.

"Pam, Pam!" She screamed searching the kitchen for me. I didn't even get the chance to yell over here, before she spotted me by the salad counter restocking my salad tray. She rushed over to me. "You will not believe what I just saw," she said between breaths.

"You're right, with your active imagination, I never believe anything you see," I replied jokingly.

"You've got to believe this. I just saw your doppelganger," she said excitedly.

"My what?" I asked, confused by her rapid response to my quip.

"Your doppelganger, you know, your twin," she said again.

"Yeah, okay, someone out there looks like me," I laughed before throwing another quip her way, "Am I draped in diamonds?"

"No, but you do look fabulous in the red evening gown you're wearing," she said.

"Red is my signature color," I replied, laughing even more. Chris is always seeing my twin around some empty corner.

"Why don't you switch sides with me, so you can check her out. Several of the people on my side requested the chilled soup in place of the salad. I'm setting up a tray now to take out there," said Chris as she filled her tray.

I just looked at her. Chris has always had one of those active imaginations. I didn't think too much of her twin theory. She once said that Lawrence Fishburne came into the retail store we were working one summer. I got all excited, roaming around the department until I spotted the guy she had described. She had gotten me all excited for no reason. The guy didn't look anything like Lawrence Fishburne, Mike Tyson maybe, but definitely not Lawrence Fishburne.

"You stick to your side of the room and I'll stick to mine. I don't need any Pamela sightings tonight." I left the kitchen to deliver my next batch of salads to table twenty-three. As I walked out of the kitchen, I glanced around the ballroom. There were forty tables lined up around the Oval room. The tables were grouped in a rectangular shaped pattern with the oval center left bare for dancing.

As I made my way through the maze of tables I noticed several people looking at me in a curious manner. Most of the guests were enjoying their soup or salad but several had looked up at me at the urging of one of their table companions. I had suddenly become the center of several people's attention. I continued to walk towards my next table a little self consciously. The salads were shaking a little in my hands by this point. I wasn't used to people openly gawking at me. I arrived at my table and quickly served the salads then I fled the ballroom. When I returned to the kitchen, Chris had enlisted our co-worker Angie into her plot.

"Pam, I need you to switch sides with me, there is something Chris has to show you," said Angie.

"Not you too," I paused for emphasis. "Angie, does this lady really look that much like me?" I asked in exasperation.

"Yes, she does. You've got to see yourself all dressed up, you look fantastic. We just want you to look at her," said Angie excitedly.

"Will you guys get back to work if I agree?" I asked as the hairs on the back of my arm began to stand up. I knew Chris was prone to exaggeration but Angie was pretty reliable. I couldn't imagine someone looking so much like me. I barely held any resemblance to my mother or father.

My dad always said I resembled his grandmother, a woman I had never set eyes on in my life. I shook that thought from my head. I looked at my two friends standing there silently, waiting on me to make up my mind. Maybe there is something to what Chris was saying, it would probably explain some of the strange looks I had just noticed from the patrons tonight, I thought to myself.

"Okay, I'll come check her out," I finally conceded. I gave Angie instructions for the next table I was working on. I helped Chris complete her tray and filled my own so that I could take a look at my twin at table fourteen.

I followed Chris out of the kitchen and we traveled the walkways with ease. No one was walking around the ballroom during the serving of dinner which made our jobs easier. That's one of the things I liked about dealing with business parties, no children to dodge. I was reminiscing on the joys of no children when she caught my eye.

The gentleman sitting next to her had gotten her attention as well and directed her line of sight directly towards me. It was like looking at a two headed coin. She may have been sitting down but she looked like she had been floored by the vision in front of her.

I, on the other hand was completely startled by the vision of the well dressed woman sitting before me. I couldn't help but assess her, from her head down to her waist. She possessed the thick locks of red hair that I had inherited from my grandmother. Hers were flowing down her back in luscious waves. She wore a form fitting strapless red evening gown. She had gold accents of a necklace, earrings, and brooch at the center of her bosom. She had a light complexion with a hint of caramel and light green eyes. I felt shabby looking at my mirror image she was so chic, sitting at the table waiting on me to serve her.

The gentleman sitting next to her waved his hand in front of her face to get her to focus once again. Chris walked over to me and took the tray before I dropped it. She handed me hers and gently nudged me, while telling me to go to the kitchen and get more soup. I turned around and walked back to the kitchen on wobbly legs. I am not sure how I made it back. But by the time I made it there, Angie was standing in the doorway waiting on me. She must have noticed my confused state, because she grabbed my hand and escorted me to the bathroom.

Angie called my name but I had yet to respond. After several moments of noncompliance, she finally shook me out of my stupor.

"Girl, are you okay?" she asked.

"She looks just like me, she could be my twin," I whispered.

"Are you thinking fraternal or paternal, you zoned out for awhile. What's the matter, didn't know you could look so good in red?" she chuckled.

"How can we look so much alike? People always say you have a twin, but I never really believed it. She looked almost as shocked as I did when she saw me," I said.

"Well, you've officially met the one person in the world that looks just like you," said Angie.

"Yeah, but what are the odds she would live in the same city as I do. I thought your twin was supposed to pop up in some city you were visiting when you saw them for the first time. She's right here in Atlanta," I said.

"Well, maybe for her, this is the city she's visiting. Who's to say she's from Atlanta. This is a large law firm. She could be from one of the other branches around the world," said Angie.

Just as Angie was completing her thought Chris walked into the bathroom. She looked at Angie and me, then she handed me a card.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Her name's Vanessa Bell, she asked me to give you her card. She'd like to talk to you," said Chris.

I hesitantly took the card from her hand and read it. It said Vanessa Bell, Intern at Dusable, Hartmann, Rice & Associates. I slid the card in my back pocket.

"Why would she want to talk to me?" I said uneasily.

"She probably just wants to see if you have family in common. Two people can't look that much alike and not be related, can they?" said Chris. "You can call or not call, the choice is yours. You don't have to worry about seeing her again, she left. I guess seeing you shook her up even more than you seeing her did."

The bathroom door opened and Kimmie stuck her head in. "John is on a tear. You guys need to get back out here. Tim and Pierre can't multitask like you'll can and the natives are getting restless," said Kimmie.

"Here we come," said Angie as she looked at us. "Are you okay Pam?"

"Yeah, I'm good. It was just a shock to see how much she looked liked me. Let's get back out there before John throw's a real hissy fit." We walked back into the kitchen to get our dinner plates. The rest of the night went rather smoothly in spite of all the strange stares I received from some of the tables. I was glad when the night finally ended.

Chris and I went straight to bed when we arrived at the apartment we shared. We normally talked about the parties we helped cater but tonight was the exception. We were too worn out, Chris from working and me from trying to understand what I had seen tonight. Our beds greeted us once we were behind closed doors and I for one was happy to see mine. I hoped sleep would help ease my troubled mind.
Chapter 2

"Okay girls, here I come," said mother stalking around the house.

Karen and I had chosen different hiding places this time. Whenever we tried to hide together we would ultimately get to talking and mother would find us. I peeked out from behind the curtains trying to see where mother was located. It looked like it was safe to run out and touch the door where she had counted off from. I had just run across to touch the door when it swung open and our father walked in.

"Daddy!" I screamed before hurling myself at him.

He caught me and held me away from him, examining my lack of attire. "Pupkin, where are your clothes? Does your mother know you're walking around the house with no clothes on?" he asked.

"Yes, daddy. We're playing hide and seek. We always play hide and see like this. Mommie says we shouldn't be ashamed of our body," I said in an adult like manner, even though I was only four years old.

"Pupkin, you need to go upstairs and put some clothes on right now. A lady never allows a man to see her without her clothes on unless he is her husband. Do you understand me?" he asked me before setting me down to go do what he said.

"Yes, a lady wears clothes all the time, unless she's with her husband," I said.

"Yeah, something like that, we'll talk about it again later, now go upstairs and remember you are a lady."

"Yes, I'm a lady," I said before running upstairs to get dressed. A couple of minutes later Karen entered our room.

"Daddy told you to put some clothes on too?" I asked.

"Yes, I knew daddy didn't like for use to play hide and seek like that but mommie wouldn't listen to me," said Karen gathering panties and a t-shirt from her drawer.

We heard our parents' door slam and raised voices. I looked at Karen sadly. Our parents seemed to do a lot of arguing nowadays. It always scared me.

"You stay here, I'll be right back. Don't worry, everything is going to be okay," said Karen before she slipped out of our room. She returned a couple of minutes later.

"Daddy is fussing at mommie about the hide and seek game. He doesn't like for us to be running around the house without clothes on. He thinks mother is trying to turn us into whores," said Karen.

"What's a whore?" I asked.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, daddy doesn't like it one bit. So we're not going to play hide and seek with mommie anymore unless we're allowed to keep our clothes on like we do at school, okay?" asked Karen.

"Okay," I replied.

buzz! buzz! buzz!

The alarm clocked jolted me out of the dream. I reached over to turn it off not paying any attention to the time. I left my room trying to shake off the memory of the dream I had. Four year old me and eight year old Karen playing naked hide and go seek with our mother. I thought that I was over my past but seeing Vanessa Bell last night seemed to trigger that memory. It was probably because seeing her reminded me that I once had a sister.

As I entered the hallway I could see that Chris had already cooked breakfast and gone for her morning run. I went into the kitchen to see what concoction she had dreamed up this morning. Chris was a Culinary Arts major and loved to experiment with different recipes. She always cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturdays and Sundays when we weren't working.

I could smell the blueberries as I walked towards the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen I found that she had cooked blueberry muffins and pancakes. I scavenged around in the refrigerator for bacon. There was bacon in the frig but she hadn't cooked any. She liked her bacon fresh.

Chris always said, "Some foods you could microwave and they would be fine but others should never see the inside of a microwave." Bacon fit that category for her.

I heated up my breakfast and sat down to eat. The apartment was too quiet by far which allowed my mind to flash back to the previous night. Vanessa Bell looked identical to me, all the way down to the dimples in my cheeks. Maybe I was switched at birth, I thought to myself. To me there was no other alternative to what I had seen last night. I just couldn't imagine my dad getting someone else pregnant, in the end he hadn't seemed to want me.

I considered calling Vanessa. I still had her card in the back pocket of the pants I was wearing. I changed my mind about calling her as soon as I thought of it. I couldn't imagine what we'd talk about if I did get up the nerve to call her. It's not like I plan on going into law and I'm looking for a mentor. Becoming a lawyer was the last thing on my mind. It was the career my mother tried to force on me when I was in high school. I'd burn in hell before I'd give her that satisfaction. My mother had this annoying habit of coming up with things she wanted me to try and become interested in. She just couldn't allow me to be me. It was like she had a road map of where she wanted me to go. I was just a daughter who was too stubborn to follow her chosen path.

My cell phone rang, disrupting my memories of my mother and her demands. I picked up the phone and looked at the screen. The call was blocked. I almost didn't answer it but decided I needed to in case it was an emergency. I reluctantly clicked the call button.

"Hello."

"Pam, you just don't accept calls from your mother any longer, do you?"

I took a calming breath before I responded to that quip. I should have never answered the call I thought. "Not when they are meant to annoy me. What do you want mother?"

"Pam, I'm not trying to annoy you. You're the only daughter I have left. I love you. I just wanted to make sure you received the announcement concerning our anniversary."

"No I haven't. We haven't checked the mail yet. It's not like I'm invited," I said coolly.

"Darling, of course you're not invited. I wouldn't want your father to get angry with me. I just like you to know what is going on with your father and me."

"Well, consider me informed, bye mother," I said before clicking the off button. I shook for several moments at the memory of the call. I don't know why she insists on calling me to share her joy. I guess I'll have to stop taking blocked calls as well. I'm so tired of her games, one minute she's all caring and supportive, the next she wants nothing to do with me, and it's all at the whim of her precious husband. I don't know why she won't leave me alone.

I put my dishes in the sink and went to get dressed. As I stood before the mirror in my bathroom, combing my hair, my face reminded me once again of my encounter with Vanessa Bell. To call or not to call was the question floating around in my head. If I called her I might learn that we are some kin. Maybe there will be some normal people in my family. I don't know very much about my father's or mother's side of the family. Neither of my parents had kept in contact with their families. My sister and I had grown up on an island of loneliness. I don't even know if we have any relatives living or dead. She could be a cousin. Maybe she could introduce me to the other side of the family that I've never met. No way. There's a reason why my dad hasn't spoken to his family since I don't know when. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I finally decided to sit on the card until I could make up my mind. Several other thoughts ran through my head and I quickly squashed every last one of them.

Chris made it back to the apartment as I completed my musings. We needed to sit down and pay our bills for the month. It wasn't easy being a student with means but really no means at all. I didn't qualify for financial aid but I didn't have to pay for school either, having gotten a full scholarship to Atlanta's School of the Arts. I just had to worry about my apartment and food. I had long ago given up any hope of assistance from my parents. It was understood during my high school years that once I graduated I was on my own, which is why I had been working since the age of sixteen, shortly before my graduation from high school. I had no plans of staying in their house a moment longer than necessary. It turned out that the choice was taken out of my hands. My father put me out of their house the day after graduation.

My parents' lack of support and caring for their only living child sealed my resolve to become a world renowned writer. I knew that my life story alone would catapult me to the best sellers list or make a psychiatrist very rich. Not that I had any plans on writing it but if I ever got desperate who knows. Chris snapped me out of my self-imposed dialog with a snap of her fingers.

"We're set. The light bill isn't as high as we thought it might be which gives us a little cushion for later in the summer. If work is steady like it has been, we should be able to save enough to last us through winter. Which means we won't have to work so many hours during the week," said Chris.

"That works for me," I replied with a sigh.

Chris hesitated for a moment before she pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "I was going to throw this away but I think you need to see it just in case it's important."

I reluctantly took the envelope knowing who it was from. "It's another card from my mother, she called earlier. It's an announcement concerning their anniversary," I said before opening the envelope. I flashed the printed picture at Chris, then I read the card out loud. "It's a celebration of a love to last a lifetime, Charles and Linda Columbus will be celebrating a renewal of their nuptials on Saturday, August 3, 2013. It's funny, but all of these pictures look almost identical. Do they ever change their pose?" I tried to laugh off the hurt I was currently feeling.

"I should have just opened it myself and not let you see it, your mother's such a "B"," said Chris evenly.

"Don't worry about it. I think I've gotten immune to the little tricks and snide things my mother does. She loves rubbing the fact that my father is all hers in my face. She just doesn't realize that I wouldn't want him in my life, whether he was with her or not," I said wistfully.

Chris looked at me closely. "Stop reminiscing on your wonderful childhood."

"Oh come on Chris, who wouldn't reminisce on a childhood like mine," I replied sarcastically.

"Hey, the life you make for yourself will be the one that counts," she said.

"I know, I know. I just wish sometimes," I said before she cut me off.

"Wishing doesn't make anything happen, doing does. And speaking of doing, have you called your twin yet?"

"She's not my twin, she's older than me, at least I think she's older than me. She's a lawyer, so she's got to be older than me and no I haven't called her nor will I be calling her at 12:00 in the afternoon!" I nearly shouted as I looked at the time. "Chris how could you let me sleep so late? I was supposed to meet Gregory at 11:30, you know he hates to be kept waiting," I said in exasperation.

"He called and canceled, he left a message on the answering machine."

"Did he say why he was canceling?"

"He claims his boss invited him to go to the Braves game, it's a double header, if I recall correctly. You know this is the fourth Saturday he has cancelled on you Pam, when are you going to wake up?" asked Chris looking at me pointedly.

"What do you mean, when am I going to wake up? I'm not sleep."

"Where Gregory is concerned, you're sleepwalking. You both have busy schedules and when you both find time to spend together he inevitably cancels on you at the last minute. He's stringing you along. There's got to be someone else," said Chris.

"Okay, first of all, there is no one else. We're both working internships and second jobs to make ends meet. His boss probably insisted he go to the game. He has to play nice in order to make a good impression. So stop jumping to the wrong conclusion," I replied.

"Okay, but you're not getting any younger. You're going to be twenty-three before you realize what a big jerk he is and then your beauty and youth will have faded," said Chris with a smirk on her face.

"I'll still be young at twenty-three which is three years away, I might add and beauty is in the eye of the beholder," I replied.

"You always do this Pam. Why do you defend guys that aren't worth defending? You already caught him cheating on you once and you took him back. Now he's canceling dates left and right. He uses you for his own convenience. When are you going to learn not to be someone's doormat?" said Chris.

"I am not being a doormat. Gregory is a great guy with a great future. I want to be with someone I know is going to make it in this world. You on the other hand will be alone, always so suspicious of everyone. You need to learn to be more trustful."

"No, you need to be less trustful," said Chris. "You need to start seeing the world...

The doorbell rang interrupting Chris' speech. She looked at me.

"Who is that?" I said with a small amount of relief. The doorbell ringing had just saved me from one of Chris' interminable rants about my boyfriend.

"I don't know, perhaps it's your boyfriend. Maybe his boss let him off the hook and he wants to surprise you," she said sarcastically.

"I hope it is, just so I can shut you up," I said hopefully as I walked over to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw the last person on earth I thought would come knocking at my door.

She was dressed casual chic today. She wore cream colored pants and a burnt orange silk blouse. She had on matching shoes and bracelets. Her hair was pinned up in a bun and orange tear shaped earrings dangled from her ears. I stepped away from the door and slowly backed down the hall.

"Who is it?" asked Chris coming up behind me.

"It's her," I whispered not wanting to be heard. There was no way I was opening that door. Something deep down inside told me that opening that door would open up a world I wasn't prepared for in the least.

"Her who?" asked Chris mimicking my speech.

"My twin from last night," I whispered again.

"Well, let her in," said Chris loudly.

Instead of unlocking the door, I continued to retreat in the opposite direction. A sense of foreboding set solidly between my shoulder blades. Opening that door would lead me down a road, one which I wasn't sure I wanted to go.

Chris took the choice out of my hands. She walked around me and opened the door. Vanessa had turned to leave but stopped when the door opened.

"Hi," said Chris. "Come on in. Sorry it took so long to open the door."

Vanessa nodded her head in understanding and hesitantly walked into our apartment. She stopped midway down the hall and just stared at me for several seconds. She finally dropped her gaze to the floor before speaking, I guess she was a little unsure of her welcome.

"Good afternoon. I'm sorry to intrude on you today but my curiosity got the better of me," she said.

"How did you find out where we live?" I asked.

"My boss is a good friend of your boss, Mr. Thomas. He was able to get your address and phone number for me," she replied softly.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

Chris interrupted the ensuing conversation with a cough. Vanessa and I looked at her, having forgotten she was in the hallway with us. "Perhaps you'll should go into the living room and have a seat. I'll fix some drinks and bring them in to you. What would you like to drink Vanessa?"

"Water will be fine thanks," she said. She looked at me as Chris exited the hallway.

"The living room is this way," I said turning and walking towards our living room. We quietly walked into our sparsely furnished living room by Ikea and Target. I looked on as Vanessa glanced around the room. Her face didn't give any indication of her thoughts. She sat down in the reclining chair. I sat across from her on the loveseat. Neither one of us said a thing. I guess we were both too scared to state the obvious.

Chris finally walked back into the room with a couple of bottles of water. She noticed the awkward silence in the room. I was grateful at that moment, for the kind of friend Chris was because she was kind enough to break the silence for us.

"We weren't actually introduced last night when you handed me the card but I'm Chris. I'm her best friend and roommate. This is Pamela, but she prefers to be called Pam. She isn't normally this tongue tied but we're both shocked at your presence here and we're wondering why you looked her up?"

Vanessa glanced at her hands before she spoke. "I was a little shocked to see you last night. I have never seen anyone look so much like me before. I left the party because I wanted to talk to my mother. I wasn't able to speak to her last night but I realized I had overreacted at seeing you. I don't have a large family you see, I'm an only child. My mother doesn't have any siblings. When I saw you I thought, I don't know what I thought."

"I know what you mean. I don't look like my mother or father, so when I saw you, I couldn't believe it either. I wondered had I been switched at birth or maybe adopted. But I know that's not possible. My dad has told me on several occasions that I look just like my grandmother," I said.

"My uncle used to tell me the same thing when I was younger. Well, he's actually not my uncle, he's my Godfather but I couldn't say Godfather when I was little so he told me to call him uncle. He told me I looked like my grandmother," said Vanessa.

"Do you think we could be some kin to one another?" I asked.

"It's the only logical explanation for us resembling each other to the point of almost looking like twins," said Vanessa. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty, what about you?" I asked.

"I'm twenty-one," replied Vanessa.

"You're twenty-one and already a lawyer," said Chris in astonishment.

"I'm not a full lawyer, I am awaiting the results from the bar, but yes, I have graduated law school. It seems that I was blessed with a high IQ," replied Vanessa.

Chris looked at me and said, "Pam was the valedictorian of our graduating class, she scored a 32 on the ACT and got a full scholarship to Atlanta's School of the Arts at the age of 16."

"Well, that makes two things we have in common, intelligence and looks," said Vanessa.

"Who are you parents?" I asked her.

"My mother's name is Veronica Bell. I never knew my father. He died before I was born. His name was John. What about you, who are your parents?"

"My parents are Linda and Charles Columbus. I have a sister, well I had an older sister."

Vanessa's demeanor had gone from calm and cool to semi-shock upon hearing the name Charles Columbus. She quickly schooled her features knowing not to give away anything to the opposition. The law had taught her to question and check facts, now was no different than in a court of law. She quickly composed herself.

I hadn't noticed the change in Vanessa when I mentioned my parents' name. My mind had slipped to memories of my sister Karen.

"Do you have any pictures of your family?" she asked casually.

"I mainly have pictures of my sister and myself, my Mother and dad didn't like taking pictures, so I only have a very old picture of my father from when we were younger, but no pictures of my Mother. Would you excuse me for a moment while I grab my photo album?"

As I exited the room, Chris watched Vanessa pull out her wallet and look at an old photograph of a man and a woman who Chris assumed were her parents. Chris craned her neck to get a better look at the photo but she could only see a glimpse of the man. He looked a lot like Pam's father. She watched as Vanessa caressed the faces of the two individuals and she wondered what was going through her mind.

Vanessa's mind was in turmoil. She looked upon the faces of her mother and the man she had known all her life as her Uncle Charles. She had never known any other man to be around her or her mother. Yes, his job took him out of town a lot because he owned and operated his own trucking business but he had always been there. The feeling that crossed her soul on last night when she saw Pam came back ten-fold. I shouldn't be here she thought but her mother hadn't raised a coward so she waited for Pam to return with the photo album.

She looked up and spotted Chris. Chris' eyes were riveted on the picture. She had forgotten Chris was in the room. She examined the look on Chris's face. It was one of comprehension. She followed Chris's line of sight back to her hand and the photo of her mother and Uncle Charles together. She closed the wallet and threw it back into her purse. She was getting up to make her exit when I walked back into the room.

I looked at Chris and Vanessa, I could feel the tension in the air. "What's wrong?"

Neither one said a word. Vanessa sat back down and said, "You found the album?"

"Yeah, I have quite a few pictures of myself when I was younger. Do you want to see if we looked alike when we were little?"

"Yeah, I'd love to. I just wish you had some family photos, it would be kind of like imagining I had a family to go home to," said Vanessa.

I searched through the pictures and found the ones of myself and my sister Karen. Vanessa gave them a cursory glance. I searched the photo album again and finally found the one picture of my father. I pulled it out and showed it to her.

Vanessa stared at the picture. It was her Uncle Charles from when she was a little girl. Her stomach began to churn. Her insides slowly began to boil with rage. She felt the need to lash out at anyone or anything. I sat there unaware that I had just turned her world upside down.

She never showed any outward sign of distress. She looked at her watch and said just as calmly, "I just realized how late it is. I was supposed to meet a friend. I need to be going." She quickly gathered her things and headed for the door.

I sat there with a mystified look on my face. Chris saw Vanessa out as Vanessa said she'd catch up with me later. When Chris came back into the room she said, "I know why she flew out of here so fast."

"Why? Was it something I said?" I asked.

"No, she was about to leave before you came out of the room. She saw me looking at a picture she had taken out of her wallet," said Chris.

"A picture of who?" I asked dumbfounded. "That's no reason to rush out of here."

"It is, if the picture was a picture of your father with a woman. I didn't get a good look at the woman because of the way she was holding it, but it was probably her mother," said Chris.

"My father? Why would she have a picture of my father in her wallet?" I asked.

"I think that's the reason she really came over here. She knew there was a strong possibility that you were sisters. She wanted to make sure. When you showed her the picture of you and your sister Karen, she didn't even look at them. She was solely focused on seeing the picture of your father. She paid attention to his picture. You showing her the picture confirmed what she had already been thinking."

"My dad didn't seem to want me or Karen. Why would he go get another child when he didn't want us. Besides she's too young to be my sister. Karen is older than she is," I said.

"So you don't think your dad would cheat on your mother. We both know better, we've seen him out and about with another woman," said Chris.

Cheating and having an outside child are two different things."

"Yeah, but one can lead to the other."

"I need to talk to my mother. Maybe she knows something. I'm going to head over to their house now," I said with no small amount of trepidation.

"Do you need me to come with you?" asked Chris.

"No, I need a little process time. Is it okay if I borrow your car?"

"Sure, no problem, take your time."

"I'll be back later this evening," I said. I grabbed my purse and headed to my mother and father's house. The house I grew up in. The house I loathed and loved.
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Menacing Eyes

Chapter 1

November

Laughter flowed through the parking structure as Katrina and Allison returned to their car from a fun filled day of shopping. They were loaded down with bags from Express, Saks and Marshall Field's. It had been a long but productive day for the ladies.

Katrina was still replacing her clothing from last month's run in with a group of diamond thieves and Allison came along for moral support. Katrina hadn't been out much since Kim's death and she knew her friend still felt a sense of loss. She also came along because she had a great sense of style and loved to shop.

The day was crisp and cool with the sun slowly receding into the background. The wind picked up, blowing their hair into their faces. It was two weekends before the Thanksgiving Holiday and the parking structure was fairly full. Katrina and Allison were engaged in conversation, laughing at the antics of a guy who had tried to pick Allison up when the mugger stepped from between two parked cars. They dropped their bags they were so startled by his sudden appearance in front of them.

He was wearing a ski mask. It was cold in Chicago but it wasn't cold enough to necessitate a ski mask thought Katrina. He stood about five feet ten inches tall, taller than both Katrina and Allison. He had a slender build but his shoulders offset his build, they were very broad.

The girls both bent down to pick up the bags when they noticed the huge knife he held in his hands. They immediately stood up and began backing away from their assailant. Neither said a word, they continued to stare at the knife he was brandishing at them as they tried to retreat.

"Don't move!" he yelled at them.

Time seemed nonexistent as they froze where they stood. Neither was capable of moving, so startled and intimidated were they by the presence of such a huge knife.

Several agonizing seconds passed before he finally said, "Give me your wallets out of your purse!"

Katrina and Allison jumped at the sound of his deep voice and were propelled into action by his commanding tone, they handed him their purses.

"I said give me your wallets, I don't want your purses," said their attacker in a menacing tone. The threat in his voice seeming to loom clearly over them.

They looked at one another, not quite sure of the sanity of their mugger, then they began looking through their purses in search of their wallets.

As they were searching for their wallets the mugger lunged at Katrina. She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. She dropped her purse and stepped to the side, the knife missed her by mere inches. She brought her elbow down on the knife arm. The mugger almost dropped the knife he was so startled by her counterattack but he regained his grip and swung again at Katrina. She was more prepared this time. She dodged the knife and grabbed his hand applying pressure so that he would release it. He had a death grip on the knife. Katrina realized she didn't possess enough upper body strength to force him to release it.

Allison was frozen in her spot. The attack on Katrina startled her but she finally came out of her shocked state and joined Katrina in her fight with the mugger. She started kicking the attacker in the back. The double assault threw the attacker off guard and he finally dropped the knife as he snatched his hand away from Katrina. He blocked the last kick from Allison, pushing her to the ground, then he turned and ran down the parking lot ramp.

They watched him run down the ramp for several seconds before they heard footsteps pounding towards them from the opposite direction. Allison picked herself up off the ground. They turned in unison to meet the next threat. The guy running towards them stopped in his tracks.

"Are you ladies okay?" he asked breathing heavily.

"We're fine," said Katrina trying to catch her breath.

"I saw the guy attacking you, but you were so fast, you handled him before I even got down here to help. I called mall security, they should be here any second," he said.

"Thanks, we appreciate that," said Allison.

Mall security came running towards them. One guard was short and stocky, the other was tall and full bodied. They weren't moving very fast. Allison and Katrina looked at one another with identical looks on their faces which said, "I'm glad we were able to defend ourselves, if we had to depend on these two, we would probably be dead already."

The guy who called security looked at Katrina and Allison then said, "It's a good thing you could defend yourselves, these guys probably wouldn't have been much help."

Katrina and Allison couldn't help themselves, they started laughing.

When the guards finally arrived to their location they were doubled over in laughter. The two guards were breathing hard and looking at one another, trying to determine what was so funny. Their look said, "I don't get paid enough for this."

The shorter guard finally said in between breaths, "Is everything okay? Someone yelled for security."

The mysterious helper said, "A guy just attacked them. He had a knife, but they managed to fight him off. He was wearing a ski mask with a black leather jacket, dark jeans and running shoes. He had a slender build but broad shoulders. He ran down the exit ramp."

The tall security guard wrote the information down as the other relayed the information over the radio. They didn't appear to want to pursue the attacker or they just didn't have the energy, thought the mystery man. He looked at the young ladies. Allison and Katrina had finally pulled themselves under control.

Katrina continued the tale of the attack. "The guy was five ten and African. He had an accent similar to the tribal dialect of the Zuwuwa clan of Africa. I could tell by the way he spoke several words. He asked us to give him our wallets," said Katrina.

"He didn't ask for your purses?" asked the stranger.

"Actually he only wanted our wallets," said Allison.

"I thought it was strange too, he asked for our wallets. We tried to hand him our purses, but he said he didn't want our purses just the wallets out of them. As I was looking in my purse for my wallet he tried to stab me with his knife. I dropped my purse and defended myself," said Katrina.

"When I saw Katrina and him fighting I dropped my purse and started kicking him," said Allison.

"We were doing what he asked us to, why would he attack us?" asked Katrina in consternation.

The security guards looked at the group and shook their heads in confusion. They were trained to deal with thieves, not assailants out to physically hurt anyone. This incident was beyond their realm of expertise. "The police are on their way, they're better equipped to handle this situation than we are, we'll wait with you until they get here," said the short security guard. The crowd could hear sirens sounding in the distance. All heads moved in the direction of the sound, necks craning to see if they could see the police enter the parking structure.

"There go the sirens, they should be rolling up any second now," said the mystery man.

Katrina looked at the young man who had come to their assistance, she hadn't paid much attention to him up until this point. He was rather attractive and had a nicely toned upper body by the look of the muscle shirt he was currently sporting underneath the black leather jacket. "I'm sorry, we've been rude, thank you for calling security for us. I'm Katrina Castillo and this is Allison Kessing," she said holding her hand out to the handsome stranger.

"No problem, I just wished I'd gotten here sooner and maybe helped you catch the guy. My name is Michael White," he said taking her hand in his. When he released her hand he began gathering their packages off of the ground.

Katrina and Allison finished picking up their packages with his help. As Michael was picking up a bag, he noticed a wallet underneath the rear bumper of one of the cars. He bent to pick up one of Katrina's bags and swiped the wallet in the process. He slid the wallet into his pants pocket before he handed Katrina her bags. The police patrol car pulled up as she was rearranging her items.

Two officers stepped out of the cruiser. An older Latina woman whom Katrina recognized as Officer Vasquez and a younger male officer whom she recognized named Timms. She had met them last month when her best friend Kim was murdered in a twisted plot by a couple of their classmates. Both officers were placed on her protection detail during the case. She smiled at them as they approached the group. Katrina spoke to them and introduced them to Allison and Michael.

"We got a call about an attempted assault," Officer Timms addressed this question to mall security.

"They can tell you what happened," said the taller of the security guards.

Officer Vasquez looked at Katrina and said, "Katrina, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Don't worry, it's not too complicated. It was just your run of the mill mugging gone bad." replied Katrina.

Officer Timms examined the group, then said to Katrina, "You just can't seem to stay out of trouble, now can you?"

"Well, you know how I like to have fun. There's nothing like being attacked by a crazy mugger to brighten up your day," said Katrina jokingly.

"This guy tried to mug all three of you?" asked Timms incredulously.

"No, just Allison and I. Michael came up later after calling security when he saw what was happening," said Katrina.

"So what exactly did happen?" asked Vasquez.

Katrina explained the mugging to the officers. Allison and Michael provided extra details to the incident as well. Katrina and Michael provided a description of the guys build and a general description of his clothing. She told the officers that the assailant was from the central part of Africa because of the way he pronounced his words in English.

"I know you speak several languages, but how can you tell where this guy is from?" asked Timms.

"My major is linguistics, second language acquisition, and tribal languages. I study the way people speak and pronounce second language words based on their initial language. For instance, I know you were raised in a household where Italian, English, and German were all spoken," said Katrina.

Officer Timms looked at Katrina with new wonder in his eyes.

"I could have told you the girl knows her stuff," said Vasquez as she looked at the surprised look on Timms' face. "Can you think of anything else concerning your assailant?" asked Vasquez. Allison and Katrina shook their heads no in response to her question.

"Are you all done shopping for the day?" asked Timms.

"Yes, I need to put my feet up. Kicking mugger butt has hurt my toes. We were on our way home when he attacked us," said Allison.

"Alright ladies, we have all the information we need for right now. We know where to reach you if something comes up," said Timms.

"Thanks for your help. It was good seeing you all again, perhaps next time it will be under better circumstances," said Katrina.

"We'll follow you out of the structure," said Vasquez as her and Timms walked back to their cruiser. Michael walked with the ladies the short distance to their car and assisted them in putting their things into the trunk.

"Thanks again for alerting security and trying to help us," said Katrina to Michael.

Michael turned to Katrina, "No problem." He looked around for a second. "I uhh, I was wondering if you'd like to have coffee with me sometime?"

Katrina noticed he appeared to be a little nervous about asking her out, his eyes were cast down as he spoke. "Oh," said she still surprised by his proposition.

"I know this is a strange time and place to be asking, but I might not ever see you again," said Michael.

Katrina caught Allison giving him the thumbs up sign from the other side of the car. "Alright, let me give you my number," said Katrina a little hesitantly.

Michael removed a pen from his inside jacket pocket. He took out his wallet and removed a business card. "Why don't you take my number instead? This is my business card, my cell number's already listed along with my home and office numbers. You seem a little unsure right now, and considering the circumstances, I can understand why. You can call me if you decide you want to have coffee with me," he said.

"She'll call, I'll make sure of it," said Allison.

They said goodbye to Michael and got into Katrina's car. Officers Vasquez and Timms sat in their cruiser. They had been patiently waiting on the ladies to end their conversation so that they could escort them out of the structure.

Michael watched both cars exit the parking structure. He walked to the other side of the building and got into his car. This was a close call, Katrina could have been killed today. He sat there for several minutes letting the anger he felt subside, before pulling out the wallet he had spotted underneath the car. He searched through the wallet and found a driver's license, some cash and a business card. He read the driver's license. He was familiar with the address of Katrina's would be attacker. He's visited the area many times to gather information or to get extra work, America was expensive and his employers didn't realize just how expensive it was. The guy who attacked Katrina was a novice, it was evident by his clumsy attempt on Katrina's life today. You don't carry ID on a job with you and you definitely don't lose ID during the commission of a crime. He read the name on the driver's license before he snapped it in two. This job is mine, he thought.

He decided he needed to send a message. But first, he needed to go home and do a little research. He needed to know who had hired the incompetent fool. He left the parking structure and headed straight to his condo. He needed to formulate a plan. He knew his planning was better when he worked out. He had to protect Katrina and eliminate the threat until all the pieces fell into place. The time was close at hand.

The Guardian

The Guardian has watched and waited for this day to come. He had been protecting Katrina for the last six years and it appeared that the time had finally arrived. He had seen the would be mugger hanging around the parking structure but didn't think much of it. But when he saw the young man approach the girls, he had the M-16 in position in a matter of seconds. He was looking through his scope when he saw him lunge at Katrina. He didn't have a good shot, the possibility of Katrina being hit was too great for him to chance, but he didn't have to worry about that. Katrina's renewed interest in Tae Kwon Do saved her life. She and Allison were able to fight off their assailant with no problem.

A smile had crossed his face watching the scene unfold. His Katrina was coming into her own he thought. He watched as the young man came racing towards them and their response to him. At first he thought the young man was just being helpful, but he had caught the stranger snatching up the wallet the mugger had dropped and placing it in his pocket. That action made him weary of the young man's motives. He snapped a couple of pictures of the young man and decided to check him out further. He watched the stranger hand Katrina a card and speak to her. So he was interested in her was he. He'd soon find out she wasn't for him, thought the Guardian.

The young man's actions peaked the Guardian's interest. Since when do good Samaritan's keep wallets instead of handing them over to the police. He decided he needed to follow the young man to see what he was trying to accomplish. There was no reason for him to keep the wallet unless he had an ulterior motive thought the Guardian. He knew that as a Guardian, he could never be too careful with his charge's life.

The Guardian watched the stranger get into his car and drive away. He jotted down the license plate number. The Guardian followed the mystery man back to his home. He waited patiently in his car outside of the mystery man's home. He knew he needed to use his contacts to get an I.D. on the helpful stranger.

He began to replay the rest of the scene over in his head. He was glad to have seen the two officers Vasquez and Timms. He remembered them from last month's situation with Kim. That particular situation with Kim was the reason for Katrina's exposure to the world and to her enemies as well. After speaking with Katrina, Allison and the mystery man, the police returned to their car and waited. The mystery man made his move on Katrina but he remembered she seemed hesitant. She eventually took his card and the girls climbed into Katrina's car and pulled out of the parking space. His system didn't calm down until Katrina and Allison drove out of the parking structure followed by the two police officers.

The TV came on and the light went out at the mystery man's house drawing the Guardian's attention back to the situation at hand. It appeared that Mr. Mystery Man was in for the night. The Guardian drove to his safe house to make some phone calls. By the time he finished running mystery man's plates, he wasn't happy with what he learned. The helpful stranger was named Michael White and his resume was a mixture of jobs not seen very often by many people. He decided he needed to keep a closer eye on Mr. Michael White. The Guardian headed back over to Michael White's residence. He packed his special bag and left his safe house. On the way to Michael's home he realized it was also time to call his employers. He was pretty sure that the players had landed in Chicago and the game was about to begin.

Chapter 2

Michael arrived at his condo thirty minutes after he left the mall. He decided to do a little research on his target before paying him a visit. He looked at the contents of the wallet again, the driver's license he had already snapped in two, there was about one hundred dollars in cash, and the business card. The business card was from a restaurant called "Food to Die For." That's a peculiar name he thought. He flipped the card over and noticed the word "tangerine pie" on the back of the car. He wondered what that was about for a moment before returning the card to the wallet.

He sat at his computer and began keying in the information he currently had on Aduwele Kimasu. Within twenty minutes he had all the information he needed. It appeared that his target wasn't from the U.S. He was from Central Africa, just as Katrina had reported to the officers. He was a low level thug currently on a student visa to the U.S. He had been in the country for two years, but hadn't been enrolled in school for over six months. Aduwele appeared to have used schooling as a means for entering the country because he would enroll in school long enough to clear immigration and dropout again. Michael figured he was more than likely hired to do the job. He couldn't mistake his intent to kill Katrina this afternoon. He had watched the whole scene unfold and it didn't feel right from the beginning. He looked at his watch, it was 6:30. It's too early to make a move, even on a Sunday evening, people would still be out and about. He decided to wait until 11:00. The majority of the populace would be home, preparing for the work week and the streets would be quieter.

He had several hours to kill before he could make a move and he needed to formulate a plan. He thought about the business card once again. He grabbed the wallet and pulled it out again as he reached for his cell phone. You can never have too much information he thought as he dialed the number.

"Food to Die For," how may I help you?" said the sultry voice.

Michael played a hunch, "Tangerine pie," he said.

"How may I help you this evening Mr. Tangerine?"

"What is your specialty tonight?" asked Michael.

"Momma Said Knock You Out" is our specialty for the month of November," said the voice.

"Is that right, and how soon can that be arranged?" asked Michael understanding dawning in his voice.

"At your earliest convenience," replied the voice.

Michael knew this was a front. In his former line of business you had to know how to find the good guys and where to look for the seedy elements of society. He hung up the phone. He decided he'd have to check up on "Food to Die For" to determine just how much of a threat they might be.

Having taken care of that little business he decided to work-out to get his creative juices flowing. He went to his home gym and began his stretches. As he was working out, the plan formulated clearly in his mind. There was nothing like a good workout to get the juices flowing, he thought. He checked his time again, he had enough time to shower and get a quick nap in before heading out later tonight. Before he showered, he realized he hadn't eaten anything for a couple of hours so he fixed himself a quick snack, showered and hit the sack.

He woke at 10:30 and gathered the materials he would need for tonight's activities.

At 11:15 he left his apartment to go scout the area where the mugger lived. As he drove down the side streets he noticed several people out and about. This street was his element. He knew what to look for and what to be wary of in neighborhoods of this caliber. Nothing that he saw raised any alarms. The block on which the mugger lived was quiet. He decided to drive around the neighborhood a little while longer. The car he was driving didn't stick out in this neighborhood, it looked like it belonged, so he wasn't concerned with being noticed.

At 12:15 he went in search of a parking space a block away from the mugger's apartment. He located a spot on the block behind his target's apartment and casually observed his surroundings as he walked the half block to the alley. He quickly entered the alley and was immediately assailed by the stench of rotten meat and fruit. He had smelled much worse in his profession. He adjusted his breathing and walked down the alley until he reached the mugger's yard. He opened the gate and quietly walked up to the porch. The building's structure was misleading. He hadn't taken notice of just how many floors or apartments there were, when he was scouting the building, a mistake that could cost him. He vowed to be more observant next time. He reviewed the driver's license information in his mind, it was apartment 2b. He walked up the porch stairs to the second floor. He had to determine which apartment was the mugger's. The apartment to his left had a welcome mat displayed outside the door, along with children's toys. There was no sound coming from that apartment.

As he looked around for a clue to which apartment belonged to his victim a shadow passed his line of sight from the other window. He slid back to hide his presence. He peered inside the apartment and saw the would-be mugger/assassin grabbing some things from the refrigerator. He watched as the guy opened one of the packages from the freezer. He was taking money wrapped in aluminum foil out of the freezer and placing them in his pockets. He kept stopping to listen for any sound. Michael froze where he was, not wanting to make a sound and give his presence away. The mugger/assassin turned off the kitchen light and moved back into the interior of the apartment, extinguishing lights as he went from room to room. Michael waited two minutes to see if there was any sound coming from the apartment. He became a little anxious. He didn't want to give him too much time. Too much time would allow him to escape, too little time and he might lose the advantage of surprise.

Michael removed the lock picking set from his pocket. He paused for a moment, rethinking his actions, he needed to be prepared in the event that more than one person was in the apartment, he removed his 9mm and the silencer. He screwed the silencer on and slipped it into the front of his pants. He gathered his lock picking tools once again and picked the back door lock.

He slid the door open quietly and peered inside. A miniscule amount of light shined into the room from the window. He began to notice details that hadn't been evident with his quick peeks into the kitchen from moments ago. The kitchen was sparsely furnished with a small card table and chair in the center of the room. He could see the old antiquated stove and refrigerator. He softly closed the door behind him. The rest of the apartment was encased in complete darkness. He pulled his night vision goggles out of his jacket and placed them on his face.

Michael moved toward the doorway of the kitchen. His vision was much clearer with the night vision goggles affixed to his face. He could make out a table in the next room and a clock along the wall from where he was standing. He moved further into the room and was scanning it when the attack happened.

The mugger landed a stinging blow to his midsection. He doubled over and received an elbow to the back. The mugger was going for another elbow when he dodged the blow. The mugger came down on air and his momentum caused him to crash to the floor. Michael seized the advantage and landed two kicks to the mugger's kidneys. The mugger squirmed in pain. Michael withdrew his gun and pointed it at the mugger. He lowered himself down next to the mugger and placed the gun to his head.

"This is a 9mm glock I have trained on your head," he said while pressing the barrel of the gun into the mugger's skull. "I suggest you stop squirming and listen. We're going to go into the kitchen to have a conversation. If you make a wrong move, your mind won't be able to register the consequences before you're dead," said Michael. He slowly raised himself up, keeping the gun pointed at a safe distance from the mugger. "Now, slowly stand up and walk into the kitchen and take a seat at the table."

The mugger slowly raised himself up and cautiously walked around Michael to enter the kitchen. Michael followed behind him being cautious of his every move. The mugger pulled out the chair at the table and sat down. Michael slipped off his night vision goggles and turned the kitchen light on.

"Who else is in the apartment?" Michael asked.

"No one, it's just me here. What do you want with me?" asked the mugger with insolence in his voice.

"I wanted to have a little conversation with you about Katrina Castillo," said Michael. He watched as the muggers eyes opened in recognition of the name. "So you do know who she is?" asked Michael.

"I don't know who you are talking about," said the mugger.

"Yes, you do. You've already given yourself away. I just came to let you know, she's off limits. She is not to be harmed. Tell your employers they need to consider my words wisely," said Michael.

"I don't have any employers," said the mugger maliciously.

Michael clipped him on the side of the head with his gun. "Tell your employer that Katrina Castillo is off limits or should I use your corpse as a warning to your employer?"

The mugger looked at Michael with fear in his eyes for the first time. "You don't understand, there's not just one but many. They won't allow her to live. They won't even allow me to live once they've found out I've failed," said the mugger.

"Who is your employer?" asked Michael.

"I am not aware of who he is I just know he wants her dead. He hired my boss and my boss hired me to do the job," said the mugger in a shaky voice.

"Why does "he" want her dead?" asked Michael.

"I am unaware of the details. I got the job and was told to make it look like an accident. I was packing my things to escape when I heard you come through the door, I don't have much time," said the mugger looking around the kitchen.

"That door didn't make a sound, so how did you know I was here?" asked Michael.

"There are sensors attached to the doors and windows," said the mugger. "Look I've got to get out of here, they could be here any moment."

"Who could be here any moment?" asked Michael.

"My boss or one of his associates. He doesn't take failure lightly. The job has to be completed within a certain amount of time," said the mugger.

"What's the time frame?" asked Michael.

The mugger looked around the kitchen. "I had one day to do the job. If I failed, someone else would come," said the mugger. There was a clicking sound coming from the front of the apartment. The mugger looked at Michael. "They're here to take care of me because I failed," said the mugger. He lowered his head in defeat, then like lightening he swung out. Michael was ready for the move and shot him in the center of the forehead. He caught the body before it hit the floor. He lowered the body the rest of the way down. He focused on the entrance to the apartment and could see light coming into the front. He crouched down by the door and listened. He didn't hear a sound. A young lady stepped into view. She wore a thigh high mini skirt in blazing red, and a black halter top. Oh, great! The girl friend thought Michael. He decided then that it would be better to leave. He didn't want to confront an innocent woman and then have to kill her. He watched as she walked into one of the rooms. He grabbed the three packages of aluminum foil wrapped money and quickly slid them into his jacket pocket.

He rose and exited out the back door. He quickly made his way to the alley checking behind him to insure he wasn't in view of the kitchen window. He finally made his way out of the yard and into the alley. He hid behind the garage and looked up at the kitchen window. The kitchen light was on. He watched as the woman rose up. She didn't seem upset to have found the dead body of her boyfriend. She seemed too watchful. Her eyes kept darting back and forth.

Damn! Thought Michael, he had just missed the killer the mugger was talking about. He watched as she wiped her prints off of the light switch and turned the light off. Michael thought she was on her way out. He didn't want to risk her looking around and spotting him, so he decided to head back to his car and get straight home. Tonight was productive. The only exception was that he missed the second killer, but at least he knew what she looked like. He wasn't concerned about the police looking for anyone tonight, he was pretty sure she hadn't made a phone call. He had just done her job. Michael figured she'd be the next one up for the job.

I should have followed her, he thought. He reached his car and contemplated returning to see if the woman had left. Realizing he was probably already too late he drove home. He made it there in record time.

When he entered his house he walked over to his desk and sat down. He pulled out the aluminum foil packages and opened them up. There was at least ten thousand dollars in one hundred dollar bills in the first package, if he timed that by three it would equal thirty thousand dollars. This should tie me over until the end of December, by then the job would be done, he thought. He showered and did some stretches before tumbling into bed. He was expecting a call from Katrina tomorrow. He wanted to be rested and ready for her when she finally contacted him.

The Guardian

The Guardian contacted Mr. Castillo en route to Michael's home.

"Hello, sir," said the Guardian.

"Hi, G, what's happened? You generally don't call me, is Katrina okay?" asked Mr. Castillo concern laced in his voice.

"Katrina is fine, but the day we have been preparing for has arrived," said the Guardian.

"Who are our players?" asked Mr. Castillo.

"We have several pawns from both sides it appears," replied the guardian.

"What is your perception of the game?" asked Mr. Castillo.

"The queen isn't in mortal danger as of yet, something is required first," said the Guardian.

"Is it time for a history lesson?" asked Mr. Castillo.

"Yes, I think the time is near, let's hold off for a couple of days to be on the safe side." said the Guardian.

"Thank you for the update, I will be in touch to let you know when dinner is scheduled. Keep your calendar open for the end of this week," said Mr. Castillo.

"Yes, sir, looking forward to it," said the Guardian.

I bet you are thought Mr. Castillo as he hung up the phone.

The Guardian hung the phone up. He was almost to Michael's house. He arrived at the house at 9:30. It was relatively easy to find a parking spot. He spotted Michael's car in the driveway of his home. He must not be in for the night thought the Guardian. He made himself comfortable. He was doing a Sudoku puzzle when he noticed the lights going out in Michael's house.

A couple of hours later Michael exited his home. He pulled the Mercedes into the garage and pulled a Chevy Monte Carlo, midnight blue with shiny twenty inch rims, out of the garage. The Guardian knew this was Michael's work car. It was a working class car that the average person could afford. The rims would make it appear to be a younger person's car. He was sure that Michael was counting on the stereotype to get him through the night. Let people assume he was a drug dealer. If only they knew, Michael White was much more dangerous than your average drug dealer.

He followed Michael and watched him go to an apartment. He appeared to be on a reconnaissance mission. The Guardian climbed on top of the garage behind the apartment to get a better view of the apartment that Michael had entered. He waited and watched his movements. He assumed he was paying a visit to the mugger, but why? When he left the apartment he appeared to be hiding from someone. The guardian saw the woman in the kitchen. She was looking down at something in the kitchen. She hadn't been aware of Michael being in the apartment. Michael had made a clean get away if that's what this was. The guardian watched as the woman bent down. When she came back up she was holding a .38 revolver. Her eyes darted around the room and she went back the way she came. When she had not reappeared, he waited for Michael to leave the area before checking to see what was so interesting on the kitchen floor. He walked to the porch and climbed the stairs. He peered into the kitchen window and spotted the dead body at once. It was the mugger that had attacked Katrina earlier today. The Guardian realized that Michael must have killed him, while he was climbing onto the garage to get a better view.

The Guardian left the apartment wondering what Michael White was up to and why he had killed a man tonight. He tried to catch up with the woman but lost her. The Guardian drove back to his safe house and evaluated the situation. He could not determine Michael White's plans at the present moment but he wasn't happy with what had happened tonight. Michael's history had the Guardian on edge, but so far he wasn't doing anything to harm Katrina. Yet, he knew a man like Michael changed allegiances quickly. He was also upset with himself for allowing the woman to get away. He was unsure of the woman's role, but he had a feeling he would see her again.

