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LEDET STOOD IN FRONT of the murder board with Hutch right by his side. He listed everything that they knew about the killings. If only they had a suspect or at least some information on the killer.
Anxiety of the killings had diminished with the knowledge of what lay ahead. Dread moved in knowing that they couldn’t stop this demented killer.
Hutch watched Ledet work. He was just as tired as her, physically and emotionally. She dreaded what would happen in the very near future. This killer had turned him into some kind of driven machine. Hell, it had done that to her as well. It happened to all cops. They threw themselves hard into their work making it difficult to have a lasting relationship. She found it a miracle that she and Mike got along as well as they did.
***
WALKING INTO THE STATION, he felt the urgency in the air. There was a sense of helplessness with their limitations. Ledet was uncomfortable with this particular feeling. He’d worked too hard on building a tough, professional image. If anyone found out he had these feelings, would they look at him the same way? He shook his head; no, it wouldn’t help his reputation. Everyone around here knew just how serious he took this job; he was something of a perfectionist. This weakness he found hiding in his psyche frustrated him.
Something had to break and soon. They requested for patrols of the areas he’d killed in to be increased and the surrounding areas that had easy access, but the area was too large. It was merely a futile attempt to catch the killer. Years of experience told him the killer would not go back to the same place twice. Besides, the media and curious citizens were crawling all over the scenes hoping to see something. Several concerned citizens placed flowers and tiny mementos where the bodies were found as well. No, the killer would find someplace new. If only they knew where he would strike next. At least they had kept a lid on the information getting out, but it was only a matter of time before something important was leaked to the press.
***
HUTCH WATCHED AS BRYANT walked into the room. Bryant was an average, unassuming man who was not prone to conversation, but she needed someone to talk to, to release the tension building inside of her. He seemed surprised to see her and looked up at her with fatigue etched on his face. A half-hearted smile made its appearance on his face. She asked, “Are you okay? You seem awfully quiet.”
His voice was dull as he spoke, “I’m just tired.”
He had been doing this job too long. He looked at the pictures in front of them with almost no empathy, “This case is wearing on all of us.”
Hutch asked, “Does Ledet work his cases with this much raw emotion?”
He nodded his head in agreement, “This case bothers him more than most. He doesn’t care for men who prey on young women. He doesn’t even know these women, what they were like and what their dreams, ambitions or talents were but he takes it all to heart.”
For a moment, Hutch heard the hatred in his voice. It caught her by surprise. However, one couldn’t help but get angry when a young woman’s life ended early, discarded as if she was a piece of trash. What made her even angrier was the likelihood that he’d probably already planned his next kill.
***
WHEN HE REALIZED HUTCH was still standing right next to him, his jaw tightened, and he gritted his teeth. Who did she think she was coming in on their investigation? He forced himself to relax. He asked her, “What about you? Do you always get this involved with your cases?”
She sighed, “This is my first serial killer case. I have worked on other murder cases and plenty of high profile supernatural cases, but you can’t qualify those as serial killers I guess. Although, when you stop and think about it, Joshua and Bianca were both seriously evil serial killers.”
He just looked down at this woman who’d suddenly stepped into this case. Not only did she perceive herself to be some kind of psychic, but she was basically a rookie as well.
Ledet walked over to his partner and asked, “What do you have against this woman?”
Bryant popped a piece of gum in his mouth and chewed noisily for a moment, “I think she’s giving us a load of crap. She is a charlatan who wants to make a name for herself in this department.”
Ledet just shook his head and walked away from his partner. He knew that once Bryant got an idea into his head it was impossible to change it.
***
AS HUTCH HEADED TOWARDS her desk, she saw Mike walking in with what looked to be a large bag of po’boys. He walked up to her and gave her a kiss, “Tell Ledet and Bryant to meet us in the break room. I figured y’all could use a bite to eat.”
“You are the best, honey. What would I do without you?”
She walked over to Ledet and Bryant’s office, “Mike brought us lunch, and if my nose is right on the mark it is po’boys.”
Bryant stretched before moving toward the door, “That sounds like a good idea to me. All I had today was coffee.”
Ledet looked at the murder board once more, “I guess we do need to take a break and eat. Maybe it will help if I stepped away for a while.”
When they reached the break room, Mike had the po’boys laid out for them to enjoy. She was thrilled to find that he’d brought extra Wow Wee Dipping Sauce to go with the fries. “I wasn’t sure what everyone liked, so I had them do a combination of fish, shrimp, and oysters.” He handed Hutch hers, “For you though, I have a shrimp po’boy with extra Wow Wee Sauce, just how you like it.”
Ledet gave them a smile, “If I slept with you, would I get special treatment also?”
Hutch swatted at Ledet before tearing open the wrapper to her po’boy and digging in. Mike smiled over at Ledet, “I am open on Thursdays if you are interested man.”
Ledet let out a loud laugh, forgetting how good it felt to laugh every once in a while. “Nah, I don’t like to share and something tells me neither does that woman of yours.”
With a mouth full of succulent shrimp, Hutch just shook her head before responding, “Nope, I don’t share. My mom always complained that I was very rude as a child. I never once wanted to share anything I had. I guess I never did learn.”
Ledet just laughed, “Yeah, well, I’m not sure if I could take waking up to that ugly mug of yours Mike. I don’t know how Hutch here does it.”
This time it was Mike’s turn to laugh, “You and me both, mon ami. I am a lucky man and will be happy when I can have her back full time. Guy is a great partner, but not near as pretty as Hutch in the looks department.”
***
HUTCH GRIMACED WHEN she noticed that it was almost ten o’clock at night. She leaned back in her chair and tried to stretch the kinks out. She rested her head on her desk and closed her eyes. Today had been a long day. She was ready to go home, take a nice hot bath and curl up in Mike’s arms.
A loud crash of thunder resonated through the building. The storm they’d predicted had made its way here. As she unlocked her purse from her drawer, the strangest feeling of being watched came over her. She listened to see if she heard anything, but only silence greeted her.
She shrugged off the sensation and made her way to the door. As she passed the break room, she was certain she heard someone. She peeked into Ledet’s office to find him busy at work, “I’m going home. Is anyone else around?”
“No, we are the only poor saps left. The night shift may be lurking about somewhere, but I haven’t seen them.”
“Okay. Well then I will see you tomorrow.”
As she left the homicide department, she heard footsteps behind her. This time she knew she wasn’t being paranoid. Once again, there was no one there. She swore, though, that someone watched her from the shadows. Not wanting to linger and find out who it was, she made a dash for her car.