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The Taco Bell people had seemed plenty friendly when we’d picked up our order of a hundred supreme tacos in both crunchy and soft. Plus three tacos without lettuce because one of the guys on Eli’s team refused to eat anything related to a salad. When we arrived at the FGA, Fiona took five boxes and I took five boxes. Caleb pulled in about a minute after us, parked next to our SUV and got out. He dug out his phone.
“I have twenty Sonic No 1 burgers, half with ketchup, half with mayonnaise, ten orders of fries, ten orders of onion rings, fifteen orders of cheddar bites, and twenty chili cheese coneys” Caleb said into the phone. “Yeah, we need help. Ace and Fiona are back, but their hands are full of Taco Bell boxes, so could you send two or three people out to help?” Caleb sounded annoyed. Caleb and Nick were trying to figure out how to juggle all the bags when Xavier and Lucas both came out the front doors, along with one of the front desk security guys. The security guy looked at the four of us and then went back inside. I didn’t blame him. Lucas took a bag and put it on top of my stack of boxes. Then he, Xavier, Caleb, and Nick divvied up the rest of the Sonic bags.
“I’m kinda glad we got Taco Bell,” Fiona said. “The only thing I like from Sonic are the cheddar bites.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “Everyone ready?”
“Yes,” Lucas said, and we started trudging toward the door. The security guy was nice enough to open it for us. Then he called the elevator for us and pressed the button for sub-basement two. The elevator smelled of grease and beef and was mildly nauseating.
“I had the Sonic app on my phone, my kids love their coneys,” Nick said. “It seemed nicer to order using the app and then picking it up when it was ready rather than go to the call box and order enough food to feed an army.”
“Yeah, I downloaded the Taco Bell app. Did you guys hear about the cows?” Fiona asked.
“Yeah, did you see them?” Caleb asked.
“No, we used the surface streets to avoid them,” I said.
“We saw them. There were two bulls and they weren’t happy to be in the road. The call about the car hitting the cow was actually a bull hitting a car. The car lost,” Nick told me.
“You specifically went that way to see the cows, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s not every day there are cows on I-70. I can’t believe you detoured around them and missed your chance to see cows on the highway.”
“This will shock you, but I’ve seen it before,” I told him.
“Me too,” Fiona said. “So, did you find any? We’ve got two to add to the board.”
“Yes, three for us,” Nick said glumly as the door opened.
“Three? Shit.” I held the door open with my foot and let the larger men out first. We set the tacos down and Fiona went to the board. She picked up a marker, and Mitch took it from her.
“I like things tidy. I’ve seen your writing, it’s not as bad as Marshal Cain’s, but it’s not tidy,” he told her.
“You want me to tell you the names so you can add them like I’m five and can’t spell?” Fiona snipped.
“Yes.”
“Fine, add the Oregon Stripper and the Slasher. The stripper has changed his tactics slightly, but we think it’s for convenience, as he’s not at home and can’t spend the time he normally spends. But he still excised a three by eight-inch strip from the victim’s back, just the one,” Fiona said. “The Slasher’s victim had lupus.”
“He didn’t take any strips from her front or legs?” Gabriel asked.
“No, but he took her nose and eyelids,” I said, getting two crunchy taco supremes out of a box. Then I rummaged around until I found the bag with cheddar bites and took a package of those to eat with my tacos. I grabbed a second one for Fiona and set it next to me. “The nose and eyelids would be easier than the other two strips he normally takes.”
“Mitch, add the Chemist, the Slaughterer, and the Shotgunner,” Nick said.
“Add one more,” Vlad Daniels said as he and Rachael came into the room. “Oh good, lunch.”
“The Ghoul is here,” Rachael said, ending our suspense.
“How many is that now, including our locals?” Gabriel asked, and Mitch began to write numbers next to each name.
“Put Mictlan on there,” Malachi said to Mitch, and he dutifully put the moniker on the board with the number eleven in front of it.
“We should color code them,” Vlad said, sitting down with a cheeseburger, an order of fries, and a soft taco. “Put the visitors in red and the locals in green or something.”
“I don’t know the difference,” Mitch told him.
“We do,” Eli said. He rattled off the five local names, then the six out-of-towners.
“Eleven, and it’s just the second day for applications,” Mitch said.
“Unfortunately, this is what I expected.” I sighed and finished my first taco. “Now, come get some food. We have some very long days ahead of us. Plenty of time for the ‘too busy to eat, just gonna starve diet’ to get rid of these empty indulgent calories.”
“Six of you just got back from viewing dead bodies and you can eat?” Mitch asked, grabbing his office chair and pulling it toward the line of tables.
“It’s either that or go on the ‘too grossed out to eat, just gonna starve diet,’” I replied, opening the second taco.
“Don’t worry, we aren’t inhuman, we don’t discuss cases while eating,” Lucas told him. “We are all going to abide by that rule from here on out. Tell us about yourself, Mitch.”
Mitch was married and had a daughter, she was two years old and her name was Nancy. His wife was a nurse. We made small talk until close to one, when Malachi, Eli, and Gabriel got up and left to go to the press conference. A few minutes later, we all received text messages telling us to take all the phones in our office offline and reroute all calls to the main US Marshals switchboard for this region. We went around forwarding all the phones to go to the main switchboard. I dug out my cell phone.
“We should probably turn our cellphones off as well. Because everyone we know is going to call us.” I sent texts to my mom, Nyleena, sister-in-law Elle, Ivan Daniels and Nadine. It was a short, simple text—You Need To Watch The News & Prepare. Turning my phone off for a few hours under director’s order. Then I typed a new message. This is not a drill. I sent it to Nyleena, Nadine, and Ivan. I didn’t send it to my mom because she already knew it was real, she would be handling serial killer assets for the CIA. I wondered if there was anyone else I should text while I was at it, and decided there wasn’t, so I switched off the phone. At 1:30 p.m., Mitch turned on a large tv we had in the main room for presentations and brainstorming sessions. He brought up the news on the laptop that stayed connected to it, and the Emergency Alert System was beeping on the tv.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast for an important national news conference from the US Marshals Service in Kansas City. As our viewers know, this region is responsible for housing the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit. Hopefully, this press conference is about the sudden explosive increase in the murder rate for the Kansas City metro area. On the screen, Directors Johnson of the US Marshals central division, Harry Burns, and Peter West stood with Gabriel, Malachi, and Eli behind them. However, Malachi, at six feet ten inches, towered over all the other men on the stage.
Good afternoon, my name is US Marshal Brendan Johnson. I am the director of the central division office located in Kansas City, Missouri. I have important, but bad, news.
As of this morning, the US Marshals Serial Crimes Tracking Unit was able to confirm the rumors are true. The serial killer club dismantled three years ago has restarted under a new leader, known right now only as Mictlan the Collector. He has started a tournament for his own amusement. In an unprecedented move, he has offered a cash prize to the winner. The official start date for the tournament is October 1 of this year. It is scheduled to last four weeks. This means starting October 1, no citizen of the metro area is safe.
All three SCT Units have been recalled to the metro area and will remain in residence for the duration of the tournament. In two days, an expanded 911 system will go online, ensuring all 911 calls go straight to an operator. There will be extra patrols in the area. There will also be a tip line available to call should you suspect you know the identity of any serial killers in the area.
This is a crisis for our beloved city. We will get through it. If you have the ability to take an extended vacation in another city, you may want to leave. The governors of Missouri and Kansas have declared a state emergency, and several cities in both states are making plans to accept people who wish to be gone from the metro area during the tournament. When this information becomes available, it will be broadcast on all news stations—TV and radio—as well as published in the newspapers and posted on all the metro PD websites, as well as on the US Marshals and FBI websites. We do ask that everyone not panic. Panic will only make the situation worse, and we have the best serial killer hunters in the country in the city.
Furthermore, Mictlan demanded all killers who wanted to participate had to take a victim before the competition began, which is why we’ve had a sudden increase in murders around the city. These will be trying times, as police presence will be increased exponentially across the metro area. We ask that if you do not have to go out, don’t. A curfew will take effect tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. All businesses in the metro area must close no later than 7:30 p.m. The only exceptions will be emergency and medical services. Because of the curfew, we expect all residents to be inside their homes by 8 p.m. If you are out after 8 p.m, police officers will stop you and question you about what you are doing out past curfew. Finally, if you live alone, we recommend having a friend or relative come stay with you. We also recommend keeping in touch with friends and family during this time, and if you go more than 24 hours without hearing from a family member or friend that you immediately call to request a welfare check on their home or file a missing persons report with 911.
We have two final safety tips. If a police officer comes to your home, even if you are expecting them, get their badge number and call 911 to verify their identity, same with being pulled over. Finally, keep your doors and windows locked. We know that it is unseasonably warm right now, but your home is safest when the doors and windows are securely locked. If you have a security system, make sure you are using it. We would rather respond to a dozen false alarms from a sensitive alarm system than a single home invasion murder. In closing, I will say we live in one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and we have some wonderful people in it. We will get through this together.
Nick Chou’s cell phone started to buzz loudly. He looked at the number and sighed.
“It must be national news, that’s my mom,” he said and answered the phone, walking out of the room.
“Let the panic begin,” I said. “We really need to arrest Mictlan soon.” It was my turn to sigh. It was nearly impossible to catch serial killers in general, and catching serial killers you didn’t know existed, well, we were more likely to find 16th century pirate treasure in our supply closet.
“When he said KC had the best serial killer hunters in the world, do you think he meant us or the CIA assets?” Caleb asked.
“I’m pretending he meant us,” Vlad Daniels said. “I keep expecting my sister to call.”
“I texted her before I shut my phone off,” I told Vlad. “Her and Ivan both. I think you and I should go see her.” I stood.
“What?” Lucas asked.
“I’m going to go see Nadine. She has security systems in a quarter of the metro area. She could be useful,” I told him. “I’m taking Vlad because she doesn’t see him enough.”