"Unsub"
by Linda Mooney
Words Used:
hallucinating
miracle
vigilante
revenge
phantom
acrobat
acrobat
cobra
ocean
abomination
Lt. Deea Walsh rubbed the grittiness from her tired eyes and
tried to focus on the front door of the dark building where they believed their
suspect was hiding out. The nearest light in the area was a distant streetlamp,
which puddled its yellow glow directly beneath it. Otherwise, a one-quarter
moon was the only other source.
“Yo, Deea.
Say something. I’m so tired, I’m hallucinating. I’m thinking every shadow I
spot in the windows or hovering around this back door is our unsub.”
She smiled
and keyed her mic. “Do any of them wear a skirt?”
“Skirts,
bikinis, jock straps, you name it. I wouldn’t put it past this guy to put on
any kind of disguise in order to slip past us. Hell, he could be anyone. It’ll
be a miracle if we manage to catch him. How much longer are we gonna hafta remain
here?”
She checked
her watch. “Two more hours, Dunlevy. I promise. Just hold tight.”
“Copy that.
I’m out.”
She
replaced the mic on its hook and stretched her legs to relieve the charley horse
developing in her right calf. Dunlevy was right. It would be a miracle if they
managed to snag this chameleon. The self-proclaimed vigilante was a master of
disguise, able to move in and out of situations like a phantom. Enacting revenge
on those he felt deserved punishment because he felt the law hadn’t dealt
harshly enough.
Personally,
Deea couldn’t fault him. His last two victims were, what she privately
considered to be, the sickest of the sick. But because they had the money and
the pull, their high-paid lawyers managed to get them off with little more than
a slap on the wrist, a fine, and probation because someone at the department
mishandled evidence.
But in
every case where the vigilante was involved, two days later, those criminals were
found dead. And, eerily enough, their deaths mirrored those of their own crimes.
So far there had been six such cases in all, with no clues and no way to figure
out who was responsible, until a single word was left at the third crime scene.
Cobra.
Then, at
the fourth murder scene, another clue.
Ocean.
At the
fifth, there had been nothing. At least, they hadn’t found anything if there
had been one left behind. But at the sixth, a number and street name.
414
Acrobat Avenue.
It was
almost too easy. SWAT stormed what turned out to be an abandoned textile mill
to find no evidence whatsoever that anyone had ever been there. Captain
Gammercy chose to pull back and focus their investigation on the warehouses by
the docks, but Deea couldn’t shake the feeling that this was where they’d find
the mysterious man. Which was why
she was using her off time to stake out the location with the reluctant help of
her partner, Lt. Mike Dunlevy.
“Tell me
again why you think he’s here?” Her partner’s voice broke the silence again.
“The clues
he left us,” she replied in a whisper. Was her imagination starting to play
tricks on her, too? After a moment, the shadow she thought she saw at one of
the doors turned out to be nothing, and she breathed easier.
“I know
that.” Dunlevy sighed wearily. “What I want to know is why you think you’ve
figured it out, when every other law enforcement officer disagrees with you.”
“The clues
he left us,” she repeated. Actually, the clues were about twenty percent of her
reasoning. The other eighty was pure gut instinct. “There used to be a Cobra
Fabrics in this building back in the sixties. It was bought out by Oceana
Industries in ’72 before it folded in ’98. Then, of course, there’s this
address.” She gave a half-hearted laugh. “Maybe our perp got tired of us being
unable to put two and two together, and finally decided to send us an
invitation.”
Something
definitely moved, and this time she knew it wasn’t a shadow. “I think I’ve spotted
him!” she tersely said and dropped the mic. She heard her partner’s reply that
he was on his way to back her as she cautiously eased out the open window of
her car and began advancing toward the building, her Sig Sauer held out in
front of her.
She moved
slowly and as silently as possible as she tried to keep the dark form in view.
Although she knew how dangerous this guy was, she felt somewhat confident he
wouldn’t kill her. Harm her, most likely, but not kill her, because she wasn’t
on his revenge radar.
She got as
far as the walkway leading up to the set of double doors when the figure
suddenly appeared in front of her. He was so close, she felt as if he’d thrown
an invisible blanket around her and was holding her in his grasp. Deea tried to
breathe, when his scent filled her head. His woodsy, unusual, and peculiar
scent.
“I know
you’ve been searching for me,” he whispered. His voice was unusually gentle,
with its strange lilt. “I came to tell you I am done here.”
“Of course
you’re done. You’re under arrest,” she finally managed to say.
The man
smiled. He was tall, and had a rugged, almost sculpted face. Moonlight glinted
off his jet black hair. He wore a dark shirt and jeans, but something about him
didn’t add up. Something she couldn’t put her finger on, but would swear to on
a Bible.
“No,” he
rebuked her. “I am done here…and I am taking you with me.”
“What? No!
Wait!” Where the hell was Dunlevy? Fear
made her tremble as the man drew closer.
Then, as
the stranger advanced, his face changed. His eyes began to glow as his body
shifted form and shape. The shirt and jeans were absorbed into his skin, and
she realized they hadn’t been real.
“What...”
She gasped as he stopped less than a yard away. Naked and glorious, with an
aura that made him shine from within. With a start, she knew he wasn’t human.
“What kind
of abomination are you?” Deea asked.
“My name is
Tavlos. My mother is Nemesis, goddess of retribution.”
“Nemesis?
As in Greek goddess?”
He smiled,
and his eyes lit up like the stars. “It is a long story. But, in short, there
are those of us minor gods and goddesses, and our offspring, who did not choose
to live their lives in the heavens. But their decision did not lessen their
ancestry or their worth. When they are killed by such ruthless and shallow
humans, it is my duty to bring those responsible to justice if your own courts
fail to render due punishment.”
Deea shook
her head, unable to comprehend what he was telling her. “Why are you telling me
this? You do realize that everything you say can and will be used in a court of
law.” Her mind fluttered as she grasped at the Miranda. She couldn’t let this
monster slip from between her fingers because of a technicality!
Tavlos
reached out and took her hand. Calmness washed through her. His touch soothed
and comforted, and she lowered her weapon as he laced his fingers through hers.
“Come. My
work here is done. We must go.”
“We? Go
where? Why are you taking me with you?”
“Because
you are strong, and therefore worthy to join us. Come. Let me show you.”
“No. No!”
She shook her head and tried to pull away, but his gaze was mesmerizing. She
was vaguely aware of her partner running around the side of the building,
searching for her, but for some reason he couldn’t see them standing mere feet
away.
She turned
to look at Dunlevy, but it no longer mattered. “What will happen to me where
you’re taking me? Are you going to kill me?”
Tavlos
laughed softly and lifted her empty hand to kiss it. “No, I will not kill you.
I plan to love you, Deea.”
“Will we
ever return?” she managed to ask as a sweet lassitude filled her.
“Only if
another one of us is victimized,” he replied.
She nodded,
and peered down once more. The last thing she saw as they ascended toward the
heavens was her partner frantically searching for her as he called out her
name.
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