| |
THE YOUNG WOMAN OPENED the motel room door as the taxi driver carried her luggage in for her. She reached into her purse to pay him just as she caught sight of him closing the door. The room was suddenly bathed in darkness. She fumbled for the light switch. Illusive shadows danced across the room as panic set in. Before she had a chance to ask him why he closed the door, she felt the cold steel of the knife blade as it touched her neck. She never had the opportunity to scream as he slit her throat from ear to ear. Blood splattered on the wall and floor as she slumped to the floor.
He calmly picked her up and placed her on the bed so he could remove her eyes and tongue. He stared down at the body and admired his handiwork. A thin smile parted his lips as he turned and walked out of the room.
***
HUTCH BOLTED UPRIGHT in bed, drenched in perspiration. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch Mike, needing to feel him next to her for comfort. Hutch looked around the room to make sure no ghosts waited for her to wake up. Thankfully, all she saw was the familiar outline of the furniture. Moonlight made its way through the shades hanging in the window. It was too early to be awake. She had a busy day ahead of her and needed to go back to bed. If her dream was correct, she would be getting another call soon about another body having been found.
She looked down at Mike as he slept peacefully beside her, emitting an occasional snore that broke the eerie silence in the room.
Her heart stopped for a moment. She thought she heard a noise from somewhere in the room. Her auditory senses were on full alert now, listening for strange noises. She let out a sigh of relief when silence greeted her.
Her gaze darted around the room looking for anything different lurking about in the shadows. She made out Mike’s clothes as they dangled from the arm of the chair. He had been too tired last night to do anything more than toss them onto the chair before curling up into bed. They both were worn out. Everything in the room seemed to be in order.
She slipped out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. Turning on the single cup coffee pot, she waited for the water to warm up. She slumped against the bar for a long moment before sliding herself onto one of the bar stools.
Still unable to relax, her body quivered with uncontrollable jitters crawling up her spine. She poured herself a cup of coffee and waited for its warmth to calm her. Her racing heart slowed down as she sipped her coffee.
A movement caught her attention as Mike stumbled into the kitchen, “What’s wrong?”
“I had another dream.”
He came over and pulled her into his warm embrace. She felt herself relaxing even more as his strong arms wrapped around her. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”
Hutch let him lead her into the bedroom. Once she was in bed, she continued to replay the dream in her head. All she could do was wait for her phone to ring.
Hutch was surprised to find that it was the sound of her alarm and not her phone that woke her. Could it be that last night was simply a nightmare? She turned on the morning news as she dressed.
The clamor of breaking news stopped her dead in her tracks. A reporter stood outside a hotel in Baton Rouge trying to get the attention of every official at the scene, hoping that one of them would talk to her. “I am standing in front of a local hotel here in Baton Rouge where a grisly murder took place sometime during the night. This morning, a young housekeeper found a body; however, the local police have not released any details of the incident.”
Panic squeezed the air from her lungs as she looked over the scene in front of her. She felt her knees buckle as she realized that the killer did strike again last night, but this time it was in Baton Rouge and not New Orleans. This case would be multi-jurisdictional now. There was a chance that the FBI would be brought in. She hoped they could convince the detectives in Baton Rouge to hold off before bringing in the FBI. She hated to have them get involved in the case and learn about her abilities. Up until now, she was able to keep her “abilities” hidden, but the FBI had ways of finding out information that didn’t concern them.
She was so engrossed in the news that she didn’t hear Mike come in the room, “Now we know why your phone didn’t ring last night.”
Hutch nodded her head in agreement, “It looks as if our killer moved on.”
“No, if the killer is indeed a taxi driver then he more than likely picked up his fare and killed her once he got her to where she was going. We are looking for a cab driver that works the airport.”
“You may be right. It will be like looking for a needle in a haystack though. Nothing says the killer is a legit taxi driver. Drivers are constantly being busted for operating without the necessary licenses.”
Hutch thought about what Mike said, “I wish I could get a clearer picture of his car or at least him. In my visions, he appears to be driving a black taxi cab, but I have been unable to locate very many registered black taxi cabs.”
“Each vision gives you a little more. Hopefully it won’t be long before you see enough to find out who the killer is.”
On the ride to work, Hutch thought about the killer and last night’s vision. She needed to call Baton Rouge first thing to inform them that their killer struck before in New Orleans.
Her mind kept flashing back to the murder. The victim was caught off guard. The killer did what he intended to do and then left. He showed no sign of remorse. He had been cool, calm and collected. He removed the eyes and tongue with the precision of a surgeon.