Chapter 1 - The Killer

“Don’t you dare move, girlie,” the deep, muffled voice came from behind the door. “Or I’ll cut off more of those pretty little fingers.” A loud clanking rang out of the shadows where a young woman was struggling to free herself from the rusty chains that bound her. The source of the voice moved out from beyond the black metal door.

            “What did I just tell you?” The shout boomed around the deserted theatre. The woman cowered into the corner of the stage where she was held captive by the long chains that connected to the metal door. The young woman’s whimpers could barely be heard from behind the bandana that was being used to gag her. Tears poured down her cheeks, smearing the eyeliner that she had worked so hard to perfect. Her once-shimmering golden-brown dress was in shreds, torn by the knife that her captor now had strapped to his left biker-boot. The man walked out from behind the door, and approached the young woman, his boots pounding against the stage’s eroded wood. The woman looked up at the man, trying desperately to view and remember his features in case she escaped, but was deterred when she saw that he was wearing a ski mask.

As he reached where she was sitting, the young woman attempted to move away as he approached her, but could only move farther into the corner, trapping herself. She cried out from behind the gag as she tried to kick him with her stiletto heels. He grabbed her leg gently, and she screamed. He shushed her fervently, and released her leg.

“This will only take a second, I promise,” the man said quietly. He pulled out his knife, and the woman’s eyes widened as he twirled it between his fingers.

“I never meant for this to happen,” he whispered. “She was the one who made me like this.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “I’m not sorry.” The man closed his eyes, and plunged the knife into the young woman’s neck.

           

“What do you mean there’s been a murder in St. Pete?” Benjamin shouted into his phone. “What?! Two murders? And no one bothered to tell me this... Goddammit, Jay, I know I’m on vacation, but you should’ve called me before! I’m the head of this section of the FBI, and I need to know these things!” Huffing, Benjamin slammed the phone onto the receiver and slid out of bed. A quiet giggle rang out from underneath the white sheet that covered the king-sized bed.

“What are you laughing at, Alana?” Benjamin asked incredulously. A small head popped out of the blanket at the bottom of the bed.

“I think it’s funny when you yell, Uncle Ben,” Alana said, rolling out of the bed onto the floor. Ben sighed and reached down to pull the little girl back up. Alana smiled, showing off the gap where her front teeth should have been.

“I’m sorry I yelled, Baby Doll. Did I wake you?” Alana shook her head, making her wild black curls bounce into her face. Benjamin grinned at his niece, and pulled her into his arms.

“I do believe it’s breakfast time, my dearest,” Ben crooned to the small girl. Alana giggled happily, pointing towards the kitchen.

“Let’s go, Uncle Benny! Mommy is making pancakes!” Alana squealed, clapping her hands in excitement. Ben started to walk down the hall into the large kitchen, carrying Alana. As he walked, he studied the series of pictures that documented the first six years of Alana’s life. Professional photographers took them, so each one was beautiful. Alana had grown exponentially since the last picture, and instead of the long straight hair she had in the photo, she had short curls. She barely resembled the little girl in the photo.

“Ben! Is Alana with you?” The female voice came pouring out of the kitchen. Benjamin smiled at Alana as she screeched happily.

“Mommy! I slept in Uncle Ben’s big boy bed,” she yelled. Benjamin cringed at the high-pitched cry that came from the little girl as she squirmed in his arms. He set her down, and she went tearing down the hall into the kitchen. Steven followed her, stretching out his arms.

“Baby Doll, I think you’re getting pretty heavy,” he said with a smile as he walked into the room. “I may not be able to carry you anymore.” Alana let out a whine as she jumped into her chair.

“But, Uncle Ben, you’re even stronger than Daddy!” She pouted, folding her arms over her small chest. Benjamin chuckled as his older brother, Chris, walked into the kitchen, pulling on his blue button-down. Chris strolled over to Kat, Alana’s mother, and kissed her head, wrapping his arms around her waist. She blushed brightly, and shook her blonde hair into her face.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Chris said with a large grin. Benjamin rolled his eyes at how cute his brother was being with his wife of seven years, while Alana clapped her hands excitedly.

“Daddy! We were talking about how Uncle Ben has bigger muscles than you,” she said. Benjamin laughed loudly as he sat in the white chair next to Alana. Chris rolled his eyes.

“Alana, I think your Daddy is a little upset that you think I’m stronger than him,” Benjamin stage-whispered to his niece. Alana shook her head vehemently.

“It’s true, though, Uncle Benny!” Alana protested. “Daddy can’t pick me up all the time like you do. And, his muscles are smaller!” At that, Alana reached over and tried to wrap her hands around Ben’s bicep. “See! They’re bigger!” Kat giggled quietly, and went back to the stove to flip the pancakes. Chris walked to the table and sat on the other side of Alana.

“I don’t know Alana, I think I’m as strong as Uncle Ben,” Chris said to his daughter. Alana shook her head challengingly, and glared at her father. Chris burst out laughing, leaning back into his chair.

“Kat, she scrunches her nose like you when she’s angry,” he said to his wife. Kat smiled to herself as she set the pancakes onto four different plates.

“I knew she would, Chris,” she said as she walked to the table carrying two of the plates. Benjamin  stood and traipsed into the kitchen, grabbing the other two plates. He then wandered to the pantry and reached up to grip the syrup, which was on the top shelf. Once he got a hold of it, he walked back into the dining room and set a plate in front of Kat and Alana, then opened the syrup.

“Alana, what shape do you want your syrup to make?” he asked with a grin. Alana tapped her chin in thought before making a circle with her fingers. Ben nodded, and proceeded to make a circle around her pancakes with the syrup.

“Uncle Benny, you have to make a shape for Mommy!” Alana demanded, pointing at Kat’s syrup-less plate with her fork. Benjamin chuckled, and looked to Kat.

“My lady, what shape would you like?” he asked in his most regal voice. Kat smiled widely, and tapped her chin, copying what her daughter had done.

“Well, Sir Benjamin, I think I would like a star,” she giggled. Ben bowed towards her, much to Alana’s enjoyment, and formed a star with the syrup on her plate. Alana clapped, thrilled by Benjamin’s performance. Chris gave Ben a knowing look, before Alana pointed towards her father’s plate with a fierce glare. Benjamin roared with laughter.

“Daddy wants a triangle, Uncle Benny,” Alana ordered, making a triangle with her fingers. Benjamin bowed towards his niece, and proceeded to form a triangle over his brother’s pancakes. He then sat down and made an elaborate combination of a star, triangle, and circle over his pile of pancakes, before turning to Alana.

“Is this shape satisfying, my dearest?” Benjamin inquired, smiling down at his niece. Alana stood up in her chair, and nodded.

“It is, Uncle Ben,” she proclaimed. “But next time, I want that shape.” Benjamin chuckled, and winked at Alana. She giggled with delight, and stabbed her fork into her pancakes. The three adults all smiled at Alana before they started to eat as well. Chris finished first, and stood to take his plate into the kitchen.

“Bro, what did I hear you yelling about before?” Chris queried as he started to clean up the kitchen. Benjamin groaned quietly, setting his fork down.

“Apparently, there have been two murders in Hillsborough County, and no one at the office felt the need to tell me,” Ben fumed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Kat gasped quietly.

“No, Kat, don’t worry,” Benjamin said, reaching over to take her hand. “The murders are nowhere near here. If they were, I would already have you all moved farther away.” Kat nodded, relaxing at her brother-in-law’s comforting words.

“Uncle Benny, why are you angry?” Alana questioned her uncle, looking up at him curiously. Benjamin leaned towards her, and smiled.

“Because I am the boss at work, Sweety,” he replied. “No one told me about what happened, so I’m upset with my co-workers. It’s no big deal. I’ll just have to go back to work early.” Alana nodded slowly, and went back to eating her pancakes. She sniffled quietly, as her cheeks started to become red.

“Baby Doll, what’s wrong?” Benjamin moved his chair closer to where Alana sat. She shook her head, and looked away.

“I don’t want you to leave, Uncle Ben,” she muttered. Benjamin reached over and picked her up, then set her on his lap. Alana curled into his chest, crying quietly.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Ben murmured to his niece. “I’m going to go catch the bad guy.” Alana looked up at this, and tilted her head to the side.

“Like Batman?” Alana implored. Ben snickered, and nodded with a big grin on his face.

“Just like Batman,” he said, before kissing Alana’s cheek. “But no one knows, so you have to keep it a secret.” Benjamin acted as if he was zipping his lips. Alana gasped, and copied her uncle. She then jumped off his lap, and ran to her mother.

“Can I tell Mommy?” Ben grinned at the little girl, and nodded.

“As long as she can keep a secret,” he said. Alana laughed, and promised Benjamin that her mother could definitely keep his secret. Kat giggled as her daughter exclaimed that her uncle was Batman. Ben could hear Chris laughing at Alana, and he smiled. Then, the sound of an old phone ring broke through the laughter. Ben grumbled to himself as he got up to answer his cell phone, which was lying on the kitchen counter.

“Jay, I’m trying to enjoy one last morning with my family,” he growled. “What do you want?” Benjamin became quiet as he listened to his second-in-command. Suddenly, he slammed his hand down onto the counter, and yelled, “A third murder?” Kat and Alana jumped slightly at his elevated tone. Benjamin looked at them apologetically.

“Keep the witness in the holding cell,” Ben ordered gruffly. “I’ll be there soon.” He hung up, and set his phone down onto the counter gently. Chris walked over to his younger brother, and patted his back. Ben waved him off, saying that he was fine.

“Bro, go take a shower,” Chris said. “You stink.” Alana and Kat giggled softly as Benjamin rolled his eyes at his brother.

“Bro,” he mocked. “I’m twenty-five years old. I know when I need to shower.” With that, he pushed off the kitchen counter, and walked towards his bedroom to take the shower that he knew he was in dire need of, despite what he said to his brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Burdened down by the four cups of coffee he was carrying, Benjamin slowly made his way into the Tampa Bay FBI headquarters. He had made the coffee run for his three new interns, all of whom were already stressed by the heavy load of paperwork they had to fill out. He knew they would need the coffee, just as much as he did. Murders were always hard on the interns, as he himself had learned two years ago, when he first started. Since they had to deal with three loads of paperwork, instead of the one, like a normal one murder streak, Ben empathised with them, and decided to make the run.

As he walked through the revolving door that lead into the lobby, he was met by the steady bustling of people that murders always caused. He walked towards the front desk, and greeted his newest intern. She was wearing a tight black dress that fit her body perfectly, and had a white ribbon in her hair. Though she looked just as organized as she normally did, her normally perfect blonde hair was messy, as if she had been running her fingers through it numerous times. She looked up at him, her tawny eyes tired.

“Morning, Deb,” he acknowledged her with a smile. Deborah smiled back at him, and said hello. Benjamin set one of the cups of coffee in front of her, and her face lit up.

“Oh, Mr. Calen!” Deborah exclaimed before she took a long sip. “Thank you so much. I needed this.” Ben saluted her with his free hand as he winked, and she blushed deeply.

“I’ll see you later, Deb,” he drawled as he started to walk towards the elevator. Deborah waved at her boss before drinking more of her coffee. Ben smiled; he was glad that he could lift her spirits.

Benjamin stood next to the small group of people who were waiting to board the elevator. In the group, Ben recognized two assistants, and an intern that had just started a few days earlier. He looked frazzled, and could barely hold the huge pile of paperwork that he had in his arms. The poor intern’s eyes were closed as he leaned on the wall next to the elevator door. As the elevator reached the lobby, the intern slowly opened his eyes, and sighed. Benjamin eyed his large load, and walked over to the tall intern. As Ben approached him, the intern looked up at his boss with his green eyes.

“Hey Loren,” Ben greeted. “Do you need me to take any of that?” Loren slowly shook his head.

“No, but thanks for asking, Mr. Calen,” he said with a grateful smile. “How was your vacation?” Benjamin rolled his eyes.

“Well, the two days that I actually went through without a call from Jay were quite nice,” he answered. “I got to spend time with my brother and his family.”

“Oh, yeah, how’s your niece?” Loren asked. Ben smiled and said she was doing well. The intern smiled, and said, “Maybe I’ll get to meet her one day.” Ben laughed heartily.

“I hope you’re ready for the hyperactivity that my niece always brings with her,” he said, grinning. Loren chuckled, and empathised with his boss.

“I’m sure I can handle her. I’ve got a three year old boy at home who literally does not stop.”

“Loren, I didn’t even know you had a wife, let alone a child,” Benjamin beseeched towards the intern. Loren shrugged a little, and said that no one had ever asked, so he didn’t feel the need to say anything. Frowning, Ben turned towards the elevator doors that had just opened.

“I would definitely like to meet them sometime,” he said. “Maybe my niece and your son can have a little play-date.” Benjamin winked at Loren, who laughed loudly and nodded. Ben smiled and waved Loren forward, indicating that he could get onto the elevator first. Loren eyed the nearly full elevator, and shook his head.

“No, sir, you can get on,” he said, leaning back against the wall next to the doors. “I’ll wait for the next one.” Ben glared at the young intern, and gave him a gentle push towards the elevator.

“I’ll take the stairs,” he proclaimed. “It’s better for me. Gotta be fit if I’m going to run this department.” Loren smiled at his boss and thanked him before stepping onto the elevator. Benjamin turned towards the wooden door that led to the staircase and began his journey up the six flights of stairs that led to his office.

As he walked through the lead door, he was met by the heavy activity that he knew would be occurring. He entered the open space, and walked towards the circular group of cubicles that sat in the centre of the room, where he knew both his other interns would be working. A few frazzled desk jockeys were walking around carrying heavy loads, just like he had seen downstairs with Loren. He approached his other female intern, who had been working with him for a little over three months. Her mahogany hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head, and her deep brown eyes expressed how exhausted she was. As she stood to grab a paper from the printer that sat between her and his other intern, he could see that she was wearing a slightly wrinkled pantsuit; quite unlike the neat dresses she usually wore. Benjamin set one of the coffees onto her desk, and sat on the corner. His intern turned to sit back down, and gasped.

“Mr. Calen!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re finally here. Oh, and you brought coffee! You’re a lifesaver, thank you so much.” Her hand shot out to grab the coffee, and she took a long sip.

“I knew you would need it, Miss Lacey,” Ben said, grinning down at her. She nodded and relaxed into her chair.

“How long have you been here, Lacey?” She grimaced, and took another sip of her coffee.

“Seven hours, give or take,” she divulged. Benjamin frowned.

“And no one felt the need to call me until an hour ago,” he said. “You know murders are hard on interns. I would have come to help you.” Lacey bit her bottom lip before answering.

“No one wanted to bother you. We know you wanted to see Alana.”

Sighing, Ben agreed with his intern, and told her that he would be giving her instructions about how to handle some of the paperwork later on. He stood and walked around to his third intern, who had been there since Benjamin first started as the head of the FBI office. As Benjamin moved toward the desk, he could hear his intern trying to write as he shuffled papers around. Ben smiled a little as he looked at his intern, who was writing on a document as he attempted to find another sheet of paper. There was no room on the desk, so Ben held out the third coffee and cleared his throat. The intern jumped a little and swung his head towards his superior.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Calen, I was wondering when you would get in,” he said, running his fingers through his brown hair before taking the coffee cup with a nod of thanks. The intern’s clear blue eyes were focused on his laptop, where there were three coroner’s reports open, with photos of each of the three girls who were murdered. Ben followed his gaze and grimaced.

“Those are the three murders that occurred,” the intern said. He stood and straightened his tie with one hand before setting his coffee down on a small table behind him and stretching his arms out. His light blue dress shirt strained over his powerfully built chest and well-muscled arms. He was a several inches taller than Benjamin, who was a little over six feet tall. Ben looked up at his intern, who had finished stretching and was pinching the bridge of his nose. His dark brown hair was tousled slightly, and almost hung into his blue eyes.

“You look exhausted, Dutch,” Ben observed. “Lacey said she’s been here for seven hours, but I know you started your shift last night. So, you’ve been here for what, sixteen hours?” Dutch made a face and nodded as he rubbed a hand over the stubble that adorned his jaw.

“Yes, sir. I’ve been here for a while.” Benjamin frowned at his intern, but decided not to comment on the ethics of the issue at hand. Dutch sat down with his coffee in hand, and turned the computer screen towards his boss. He pointed to the first woman, who had red hair and a slash going down her left cheek, along with a slit across her throat.

“Darla Jacobs, thirty-seven, killed last week and left in an empty motel room, near that old abandoned theatre. St. Petersburg police found her three days ago. No evidence found on the scene, it was wiped clean, most likely using bleach, but the room is now quartered off,” he said, then pointed to the next victim, a younger woman with dark black hair, and similar wounds to the first woman. “Jayla Kole, thirty-three, killed two days ago, found in the Vinoy hotel. The manager found her yesterday in the hotel bathtub. Again, no evidence found on the scene.” Dutch then scrolled down to the last victim’s photo, another young woman, who had chestnut hair, and a heart shaped face. Benjamin grimaced when he saw the multitude of wounds that were on the victim’s body, especially concentrated on her face and left side. There was also a picture of her left hand, which was missing four fingers.

“Katherine Amos, twenty-nine, killed yesterday, found this morning in the same motel as the first victim. As you can see, a lot more wounds than the first two victims. She was also raped multiple times. No DNA evidence found on her, or in the room. Mr. Calen, this killer is an expert,” Dutch commented with a frown, looking up at his boss. Ben’s face was contemplative, and Dutch’s eyes went wide, for he knew that Ben was having an epiphany. He had witnessed many before, and knew to wait for his boss to think through his idea. Benjamin’s mind was running a mile a minute, and it wasn’t long before he voiced his thoughts.

“Dutch, look at the dates of the deaths, and the dates of when the next victim was found,” Benjamin insisted, pointing to the computer screen. As Dutch followed Ben’s finger, his eyes got even wider.

“Crap, boss, the dates of the deaths are the same as when the next victim was found,” Dutch exclaimed. “Does this mean that the killer waits until someone finds his last victim before killing another?”

“Well, we won’t know until he kills another to see if he follows a pattern,” Ben replied. “As much as we don’t want another victim, that’s the only way we’ll be able to know.” Dutch sighed heavily and rubbed his temples.

“God knows we don’t need another victim, but you’re right, boss,” Dutch said. “We’re going to need confirmation of another victim killed by our killer.” Benjamin leaned against the side of Dutch’s desk.

“We don’t have a name for him, yet?” Ben inquired. “I’m sure we do. You interns always have such creative names for our killers.” Dutch’s face went red as he looked down.

“One of the younger interns called him the Hash Slinging Slasher,” he said quietly. “Because of how he kills his victims.” Ben’s eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out why the name sounded so familiar.

“Wait, you mean the guy from that one kid’s show with the talking sponge?” Dutch nodded with a grimace.

“Makes sense, actually, besides, you know, the hash part.” Ben had a small smile on his face as Dutch chuckled.

“Yeah, maybe we need to change that a little, but other than that, I think it’s good,” Dutch said with a grin. Benjamin laughed heartily, and then turned back to the computer. Suddenly, his eyes went wide.

“Dutch, take a look at the ages of the victims,” he proclaimed. Dutch took a quick look at the ages, but could see no correlation. He looked up at his boss with his brows pulled together, confused by Ben’s logic.

“Thirty-seven, thirty-three, twenty-nine. It’s going down by four each time,” Benjamin announced. He then looked over into Lacey’s cubicle.

“Lacey, I need you to call the coroner and tell him that I’ll be in his office in ten minutes, and that I want those bodies ready for my examination,” Ben ordered quickly. He turned to Dutch.

“Dutch, I need you to update these files,” he said. “I want the correlation between the dates and ages noted, and highlighted so everyone in the department can see it.” Benjamin started to walk towards the elevator, before stopping at an assistant’s cubicle, and picking up the phone. He dialled the number to the front desk, and waited for Deborah to answer the phone. She answered almost immediately with a, “FBI front desk, this is Deborah. How may I help you?”

“Deb, get another intern to cover the front desk, I need you downstairs in the coroner’s office, now.” Deborah answered with a, “Yes, sir” and hung up. Benjamin set the phone down, and took the few steps toward the open elevator doors. As they closed, Ben sighed, knowing this would be a very long day.