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. John honey, what s wrong? Where are you?The sounds of the snapping twigs as he jumped into the shadows drew her attention from theopen door.She turned and stared into the darkened night searching for the cause, her mouthgaping open in perceived horror.He dropped and waited sensing the others.Two men at least were heading in his direction.Opening his mouth, he hissed in her direction more from rage than to draw any further attention,yet the look on her face said enough.There was no way to know for sure whether she d seenenough of him for a description but there was no time to dispose of her.Cringing, he heard thefirst sounds of her horrified shrieks that cut through the air followed by the sounds of the others.Finally, the commotion drowned out his footsteps as he faded away into the blackness.The last he heard was the sounds of retching skating across the hallowed nightscapes of thecity.***Their cell phones buzzed at the same time. Fuck! This can t be good. Mike snarled and sethis beer down with a thud.Jax sighed as he stared at the text message.When it ended with a 911, it always meant ahorrendous event. The precinct. You want to do the honors buddy boy or shall I? I ll do it. The single beer had squelched the nausea but damp perspiration floated above hislip and refused to go away.Punching in the numbers he studied the television as the game nearedits final seconds.He usually loved the playoffs but today for some reason his mind had wanderedover the events of the case the entire game, that and the memories of the dream that remainedvivid and fresh in his mind. Sergeant, what s up? There s been another murder but this time we might ve gotten lucky. Shit, lucky? How so? For a killer to strike again after a couple of days meant either he wasbeing pushed or his need was growing.Either way this was bad news. There s a witness, Sergeant Sikes breathed. Holy shit, you are kidding? Nope.Thinks she saw him coming out of the place. Hissing, the Sergeant inhaled deeply.Jax turned toward Mike and shook his head. Another boy? Yep and before you even ask, I already checked and this kid, John Simons worked withAleksandr Vasiliev six months ago.It was all up and up with checks being exchanged.I got ahold of Mr.Vasiliev s accountant and granted I think he had been prepped for a call, he wasquite accommodating and while he was a little cagey about details, I see nothing odd about theevent.Although he did scream at being interrupted the way he was. I don t think I want to know. If he knew the Sergeant, he d sent a black and white over torouse him. Look, I already got grief from the mayor based on the fact that he received a call from aperky little reporter from Channel Twelve earlier today wondering what we were hiding so yougotta take this one down quickly, Sergeant Sikes said quietly. Damn this shit! Great, I thought you were handling the press. Jax rubbed his eyes. The press has this now? Fucking shit man! Mike stood and turned off the television. What?Jax held up his finger. I have a press conference scheduled but that s not going to do us any good.I have no doubtthe press will clamor to the scene.You also realize there s a direct connection with this artist.There are too many coincidences here.If there s any indication that he has any knowledge, bringhis ass in, the Sergeant huffed.The Sergeant was right and there were no coincidences only dead bodies lining up.Three forthree.What wasn t the artist telling him? What s the address, we re on the way. Jax snappedthe phone shut and grumbled. Let me guess, another one, Mike snorted. This is getting out of hand.***Martha Plimpton was the next-door neighbor and owned the house in which John Simons hadrented.She sat at the dining room table of her home staring into nothing yet her hands and eyestwitched.What little Jax had learned on the way fit the pattern.John Simons was a struggling artist andmodel.The kid was barely twenty-four, had one recent arrest at a rave party involving drugs andhad nine dollars and eighty-seven cents to his name.He had relatives in town and from what Jaxcould tell, John s work history was sketchy.Martha nodded as Jax walked in.From what he d seen next door, the poor woman would havenightmares for weeks. Mrs.Plimpton?She swallowed hard and attempted to look into his eyes as the horrors saturated her chestnutbrown eyes into a dim look of someone beaten.Her soft voice was laced with a hoarse cough. Just Martha.My husband died three years ago.Jax pulled a kitchen chair out slowly. Do you mind if I sit and just talk with you for a fewmoments? Um& no.She was shaken but remarkably calm and Jax was surprised given what she d seen. Iunderstand you heard John screaming earlier? I& yeah.I was watching the news and the poor kid just wailed.At first I thought he wasplaying around but by the second set, I knew he was being hurt. How so? You know that sound that s so desperate? Martha shivered. You ve heard sounds like that before? You live in the city you hear gunshots, robberies and drug deals.You never get immune butyou just know it s going to happen.I used to live closer in, down in Church Hill but by the forthtime I was broken into, neither Sam or I could take it any longer.We thought it was safer here,you know? And now this.He was a good kid, a bit mixed up but aren t we all.You know he hada big modeling job lined up in New York.Sensing she was cracking around the edges, Jax kept his voice as soft as possible over the dinof the blaring television. Mrs
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