Passing Doves - Chapter 5 - Ready, Set

Simon goes to Thailand to avoid the heat as DPD warns the public of a suspected serial killer.

Audy looks at Simon’s number wondering if she should try to contact him and quite surprised he didn’t already call. “You know Moore, he is actually the first guy to not try to sleep with me twice,” Audy sighs in slight disappointment, “must have been thinking about work and gave an awful lay,” she says shaking her head, “this job is destroying my personal life.”
�"�"�"�"

Audy and Kahn Lee sit in silence as they look over their notes from the interview with Mr. Keen,
"He is completely shaken up." says Kahn-Lee as she leans back in her chair.
"Well," Audy sips her water, “I think anybody would be given the circumstances."

"All I know is there are far too many murders. Yeah, I know one is too much, but you get my drift. It is just too damn hard right now to link these to anything. This could be a standalone.”
says Kahn-Lee as she stretches her arms.

"That crime scene was an absolute mess. Clearly who ever the f**k is doing this is a stone cold psychopath. Could probably spot the insane f**k from a mile away." says Audy.

Kahn-Lee flips through her notebook,
"Fly away. What does that even mean? I don't think carving that into Mrs. Keen was planned. Judging by it, it was done in haste." says Kahn-Lee.

"I know we've already discussed this, but I think it was personal. Mr. Keen says he doesn't have any enemies, but goddamn, I am certain it was someone they know," says Audy as she studies her notebook, “Doves. There has to be major importance to that."

Cruz walks into the office and pours himself a cup of coffee,
"Hey, Cruz. You're a bird guy, right?" asks Kahn-Lee.

"A bird guy? I'm not a bird guy. I just have a couple of parrots."

"We just got done interviewing Mr. Keen and he made several mentions how the killer called them doves." says Audy.

"Doves?" Cruz takes a long drink of coffee, "I used to go dove hunting with my father years ago. We would always try to kill them in pairs since they mate for life."

Kahn-Lee nods her head, "The Dove Killer. “Oh!” She flips through her notebook, “The Rustin's didn't have wedding rings on."

Audy taps her desk, "TDK. Same killer?"

"Don't jump the gun. They could have sold their rings, never bought them in the first place, or God knows what. And not to mention, that is quite the leap from those killings to that of Mrs. Keen."

"Or," says Audy, "We are dealing with a serial killer that hunts couples and takes their rings as a trophy.

"And fly away was done in haste because Mr. Keen got away." says Kahn-Lee.

"Theories," Cruz says as he sits down at his desk, "and it seems like a real strain to connect those dots."

Audy groans as she strokes her chin feeling slightly deflated,

"Or these aren't connected and it was just a home invasion. The Rustin's place was ransacked and some things were definitely taken."

"Kahn-Lee shakes her head, "I like your hunch about there being a serial killer that goes after couples. It’s a good framework to start with."

"Evidence, evidence, evidence," says Audy as she continues to tap the desk. “Well, I’m not playing this fucked up waiting game with TDK. Theory or not I’m leaking to the media.”

Cruz shakes his head, "That is gonna cause a goddamn firestorm. I don't think it is a good idea to scare the public like that."

Audy nods her head, "I wouldn't call it that. We are just making a public service announcement, warning them while also getting their help. A million pairs of eyes is better than 8."


“We have a rather disturbing development,” says the anchor as he shakes his head in disgust, “Yes, very disturbing." says the opposite anchor, "The DPD reached out to our network to let the public know about a possible serial killer that targets couples. The police ask that everyone stay vigilant and to please call Dallas Homicide or the non emergency number if you have information of any kind.”

Simon closes YouTube and looks out his 30th floor hotel window. He was a little surprised that the police reached out to the public so quickly. He thought he had a few more killings before that happened.

“Oh well.” Simon says aloud as he thinks about Jonathan running down the street squawking like an idiot.

Simon runs his hand over the pair of bar girl asses that were sleeping off the bender from the night before. He smiles as he thinks about how much better Audy had been than these two.

He picks up his phone and finds Audy's number. He starts to send her an iMessage but switches back to YouTube to watch the video again. Simon shakes his head in disappointment knowing that the video had actually gotten to him and trying to contact Audy was just a response.

It had been 5 days since the botched killing and Thailand was treating him well. He had almost forgotten about his stupid err right until that video.

What kind of conversations about him were the police having? Was there any information that he needed to know? Do they have any leads? The questions filled Simon's head like a favorite song.

Simon violently shakes the 2 bar girls awake, "Time to go ladies. I got some things to do." One of the bar girls rolls over and puts her head in Simon's lap, "You give me 2000 baht and I stay with you all day. OK?"
"I said get the f**k out!" Simon shouts as an image of Jonathan flashes in his mind, "now pack your s**t and leave. If I wanna see you again I know where to find you."

A few minutes later Simon is eating a breakfast of steak and lobster with an expensive bottle of wine. "Breakfast of champions," he says aloud as he looks over the bustling Pattaya Beach, “F*****g dove."

He couldn't get the video out of his head. This new trouble had been all of his fault and he was painfully aware of it. Simon nods his head in satisfaction as he settles on the task of hunting down that lost dove and absolutely destroying it.

The heat was on and it was far too hot to return back to Dallas and get active again. 1 month of laying on the beach, having sex with bar girls, drinking the very best spirits, wine, and imported beer, and a couple nights of getting high on newly legalized weed would be a good stress reliever.

Or maybe honing the dark art in Thailand.

"Alright," simon says as he finishes his last bite of breakfast, "just 2 doves here." Simon smiles as he thinks about how easy it will be to rip the wings off of a couple of left for dead doves in this environment. The bar scene in Pattaya was always running at full speed with all the girls, horny men, alcohol, drugs, and apathetic attitudes.

By the end of the night Simon had found his next targets.

The land of smiling, soon to be dead doves.