SEEKER

MODUS OPERANDI

ZOEY POV

The report backs finished pretty quickly. Captain handed over to Kellan and we watched as the whole room cleared out, leaving my team and Kellan's team behind.

“Good morning everyone. No one needs introduction," Kellan started.

"Can we congratulate you please?" Lucy asked.

"You did already." Kellan answered.

"So did the whole Precinct," I added. I had a solid bone to pick with the Captain for blind sighting me in there. All he had to was tell me PRIOR to announcing to the Precinct.

"This isn't exactly the first time we are working together so let's just go to the part where we have a serial killer active,” Kellan sighed. “Wilkes can you?” he indicated that Wilkes should hand over files to us. I scanned it quickly. It was the 5 cases we hadn’t caught wind of. There were men here. I did not see men in my vision, other than the killer. Even then, I did not actually see him.

“When the call was put in for murders that matched this MO, we had already picked up a few of the many murders we are dealing with. We had Patricia Wilken, Kayla Anderson and Agatha Wilson. They were each 47, 48 and 49 years old respectively. Kayla was killed 15 years ago. Patricia was killed 10 years ago. Agnes Fields was killed 5 years ago. You recently found Pamela who was killed this year and 45 years old. They all had rap sheets. Clean body drops. No trace evidence left behind. All we had were footprints, size 11. Patricia and Kayla were found near a warehouse, on a field regardless." He sighed. "We have Thomas Anderson from 15 years ago. He was 51 years old. Next is Jamie Bonham. So far, he is the oldest at 54 years old and killed 10 years ago.. He was a recovering drug addict and on parole for Grand theft. He had a similar MO except the men's eyes were gouged out." Kellan clicked his neck before he continued. "Then have Anna Romero. She was 28. MO matched. Except she showed signs of s****l activity. Not necessarily assault. Forensics pegged a Samuel Richards. He admitted to having solicited her services but swears by his innocence. Johnson, you got his interview tapes from-”

“Yes sir." He barked like he was in the military. "They were not exactly compliant.”

“No shit.” Valezques chuckled. “You were gonna blow open a case they thought they had resolved and pegged someone else for it. I am surprised they are even talking.”

Johnson nodded. “I had to oversee the process after reminding them what federal obstruction of justice is,” he chuckled.

“Point being, you have the tapes?” Wilkes said.

“Yes,” Johnson answered unequivocally and curtly.

“10 years before that, we have Martha Kent, 28 years old.” Kellan continued. “She had just got released after serving her 5 year sentence. She was found on a playground as well. Found by two teenagers who probably are not adventurous in s*x anymore,”

“Brazen,” Lucy said.

We all turned to look at her. She quickly added, “The killer, I mean,” Lucy laughed, catching the attention of Wilkes who smirked, gave her a once over. She looked down, blushing a little and turned her attention to me. “How has he not slipped up?”

To be fair, she liked him, I knew that. His past was not something she was willing to deal with. Kellan told me that he had stopped entertaining women in general a few weeks ago. Wilkes had never done that so I knew whatever he was feeling was strong enough for him to want to be better but Lucy was not convinced. He should do this for himself not because he wanted to rail her. Her strength really overwhelms me sometimes.

Wilkes spoke up. "15 years ago, we had Abigail Bennet. In her 20's, killed the same way,"

“Before we get there, we have cycles of 5 years. We are missing a body… if we have 2 males who are in their 50’s found in warehouses, 3 women in their 40’s… 5 years apart found in fields and 3 bodies of women in their late 20’s found by the parks … we are missing a male body in that collection, aren’t we?” I asked, looking at Kellan. I was in professional mode to so his blue eyes scanning me over before he answered did set my heart a flutter but I was able to keep my gaze even. Despite the fact that I wanted his face buried in my thighs. Flashes of this morning decided to make a come back and I dropped my gaze.

Kellan bit back his smile. “Yes, we are,” Pride creeping in his tone. He put his hand out to Johnson who handed him a hundred dollars. I looked at him, eyebrows up. “I’ll explain later,” he murmurred.

“And we are not done,” I said. “There is more?”

Johnson spoke up then. “You and him think the same… but yes,” he smiled. “We have 3 bodies of young men, all in their early 20’s… gutted much like the women and their eyes were gouged. Michael Olsen, 10 years ago, found in his room. Duke Samuels, found 5 years ago in his dorm room and River Turner, found on Wednesday last week in his dorm."

Last week Wednesday was my birthday, this was the call Wilkes had alerted Kellan too and interrupted my morning. I'd be more annoyed if we had just gotten engaged.

“It means that he had been studying these areas for a long time. He uses them over and over again.” Devin added. “He must have known where the cameras are too. All shots we have are inconclusive,”

“There is something very deliberate about where he drops these bodies off. It is not random. It means something to him.” Valezques spoke up. He had been sparknoting the cases on the murder boards behind Kellan.

"We are missing another male body from 15 years ago," I noted again. Johnson handed Kellan another bill. They obviously had a bet running and it was about what I would pick up. I was happy Kellan bet on me winning but... I was irritated by the bet itself. Why are they betting?

Garcia spoke up, bringing me back to the matter at hand, the grotesque murders. “Our body drops are the same. Bailey Andrews was found at a park with the same MO. Pamela Milton was found near the river in a shrine of some sort.”

Lucy folded her arms. “No trace evidence at all. No deviation form the MO and traffic cam footage hasn’t been helpful at all. First drop off, car was stolen in Brooklyn. The next one… well… detective O’Dhoule was on that.”

“M.E suggested that the wounds suffered were probably used as a mode of torture. They were interrogative in nature.” I said. Flashing on my death scene with Gianna. “We also noted that their parole officers were the same. Angela Stanfield. Her husband owns a bar, Fred’s bar. It is a commonality in their financials. We assuming they worked there. We were thinking that is his hunting ground. A bar filled with parolees, it is easy pickings,”

“It’s a stretch but it necessary,” Garcia added when Kellan’s face (plus his team) went dubious.

“Not to mention that those 2 of your vics were also handled by Angela,” I said. “In Greenwich,”

Kellan spoke up. “Detective O’Dhoule, would you mind pairing up with Agent Johnson and collect the subpoenaed foster records of the victims as well as those meant to be sent up by your records room? Captain mentioned that those came through this morning?” He paused a little. “Detective Charles and Agent Wilkes, identify suspect in the traffic cam footage O’Dhoule found of the second drop off. Garcia, you and I are picking up the records sent over by the other counties and conducting witness interviews for River Turner. Detective Washington and Agent Valezques, you have Fred’s bar. Queries?”

He was met with silence.

“Alright then. Get to it,” Kellan said and double tapped the table with his file. I should not find that sexy but my goodness... How can I not? Yes, I was going to corner this guy very soon. I wore these leggings for a reason. If I was not lamenting or regret spiralling about Stephen Moss, I was and always would be preoccupied by the feel of his tongue between my legs or just how it feels when he was inside me. The fireworks that go off in my body everytime he made me come, had me salivating. This morning… hmmm… I had to get my head back in the game because this was a bit annoying. I would feel bad for being a fiend but he was just as bad so it made me comfortable to be this way. My boyfriend...fiancé. Oh wow... I was engaged to him. I thought I had a good lock on the overwhelming horniness I was feeling but the very short eye contact we had told me what I needed to know. It was going to be very easy to talk this man into a quickie. It was all about when. He smiled, mouthed ‘behave’ and dropped his gaze to speak with Garcia.

Valezques walked towards me. “Who’s driving?”

“You are,” I said, hooking my badge on my waist. A text came through. It was my mom reconfirming lunch today. I had forgotten. Quickly, I forwarded it to Kellan. He was still talking to Garcia. I waited for Valezques to get his blazer back on. Johnson and Devin had left.

“Washington?” Kellan called. “Confirm it please,” he said. “Oh, Valezques, go with Garcia. I will canvass with Washington,”

“If you want some private time…” Valezques joked.

“Eat s**t and die Valezques.” Kellan said and walked passed him, heading for the door with me in tow.

“She was the one checking you out in a whole debriefing mate,” he snickered.

I raised my middle finger at him. We all shuffled out. When we got to the car, Kellan opened the door like he always did. That was standard. He was a gentleman like that. But Lucy did not have it. She yelled ‘whooo’ from the other side of the parking base. I rolled my eyes.

“Ms McKinney" Kellan greeted whoever was on the phone. "Likewise… been good… I am following up on my favour… “ His voice changed and it went full on persuasive. “ Please. It is a need and I have a hunch… you are amazing, Taylor… please look up any murders matching my MO in the past 30 years. I am having a hard time finding the initial trigger. Men in their 50’s and women in their 40's specifically.. Please and thank you. I’ll bring you cupcakes,” he said and concluded the call.

“Shamlessly flirting for leads,” I said sarcastically. I had to admit, I was still aloof.

“That was not flirting,” he said. “It was convincing at best. She is married love. Happily last I checked, she is just overly affectionate,” he said.

“Why the switch with the partners?” I asked. I could not get the dispassionate tone out of my voice. If I kept going, Kellan would insist on talking about it or whatever and I did not f*****g want to. One would think that I would be fired up and erupt in anger but I managed that train of thought without even batting an eyelash.

“Canvassing takes forever. We will probably hit lunch while we are there. Better we are together than slump the progress of two teams."

“Got it.” I said. I looked out the window morosely. It was cloudy. Not too hot. The weather was nice. Cold but not freezing. Crispy even. Was I really thinking about the weather?

“You got cleared?” he asked.

“I got cleared,” I said.

“You are back on active,”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Not all at once Zoey,” He muttered sarcastically. “Can’t catch all of it,”

I managed a smile. “I do not really wanna talk about it right now,” I said softly. “Is that okay? I really would rather not,” I asked, trying my hardest not to burst out in anger.

He sighed. “Babe-”

“Goddammit, I don't want to talk,” I said sternly, cutting him off completely. It was harsh, I realised, but I couldn’t afford to wander into thoughts that would just… I shook it off.

We spent the rest of the ride in silence. For once, the silence was awkward. It did not take long for the guilt to set in. When I had finally mustered enough courage to apologise, he was already out the door, coming over to open for me. He hadn’t reached my side of the car yet. I glanced down at my gun, my hand shaking as I held it. I knew that I couldn’t take it with me. Smoothly, I shoved it in the side pocket of the car very quickly. It felt like ice was pumping in my veins.

“I am sorry,” I murmurred to him, taking a deep calming breath and stepping out the car. “I snapped. It was unnecessary and harsh.” I cleared my throat. “I am sorry,” I said again, contrite. “I hate it when you’re seething,”

“I am not seething,” he said quietly.

“Okay, I hate the misconstrued-as-seething silence then,” I pleaded.

He chewed on his lip, contemplating what to say to me. "Okay," He turned and walked towards the bar.

My heart sank. “Baby,” I called to him, running till I was in front of him. He stopped with a sigh.

“Kellan, I am sorry." I apologised.

"It's alright. I know you did not mean to," he murmured.

"Why aren't you mad?"

"I know you're dealing with a lot."

I think I would have felt better if he was mad at me. This was worse. Chewing on my lip, I spoke up. "I was unfair." Still avoiding his eyes. "I hate thinking about it,” I admitted. “I am supposed to be happy and my God, I am. This-” I lifted my hand, showing my ring. “-Us... This is the best thing." I shrugged. "You are the best thing about my life and I hate that this shooting won’t let me enjoy it. I want to.” I grumbled. “I don’t my bubble to be burst,” I admitted in a small voice. “And it is bursting and I am so upset because I am so happy to be yours. I am sorry I was snapping. I was wrong baby, I am sorry,”

"I probably should have waited though,"

For the love of all that is holy! BE MAD! "No," Frustrated now. By his patience, by my senselessness and the f*****g shooting. "No. I want this. I don't regret being engaged to you." Now my doubts started creeping in. "Do you?"

"No," Unequivocal. He looked at me intently. “Okay. Let's just step back … I have no doubt in my mind about how much I love you and how much I want to be engaged to you. Okay?"

I nodded. "I love you. I really do. Please don't feel that this is the wrong time. Makes me feel like you regret it,"

"I don't. I just feel it is added to everything." He sighed.

"Being engaged to you is the best part of all of this. Don't feel like that. f***s with my buzz, fiance," I eyed him.

Chuckling and running a hand through his hair. "Back to the shooting... Last words on this topic, I swear,” He murmurred. “Not of my alleged seething but of Stephen… We are team. Partners even. Soon-to-be-married-as-soon-as-you-pick-a-date partners,” he said. “You do not go through anything alone. Not anymore anyway. We do not work when we don’t talk.” he reminded me. "Talking prevents outbursts like that,"

I nodded. “I am sorry,” I murmured. "I-"

"As much as I would like to ventilate this and I would, we have a murder to investigate. We should probably get to that," he ran his thumb on my cheek.

My eyes stung and I looked down, nodding. "Okay,"

He cupped my face, making me look at him. “Lean on me, remember?”

My heart warmed immediately. Our little promise. “You’ll catch me? Even if I am grumpy and snippy?” I asked in a tiny voice. He nodded with a small smile playing on his lips. “Always,”

"Even when you are secretly mad and being infuriatingly patient because you know that drives me crazier?"

He laughed. "In a hypothetical scenario where that would be true, then yes."

“Hold onto me,” I murmurred. "Especially in that hypothetical scenario?"

“I’ll never let go love. Never,” he whispered, holding my face up to his. I needed to remember to breathe as those stormy beautiful eyes of his held me in place. Not needing anymore encouragement, I went on my toes and kissed him with everything I was feeling… very ardently. He didn’t expect that strong a reaction. He kissed me back like I hadn’t just come at him sideways. I truly enjoyed his consistency, even when he was mad… he would always be madly in love with me. Hungrily nipping at his lips. Honestly, our tongues were still playing tonsil hockey but my heated skin and growing arousal would make a problematic appearance.

“We should go,” he stepped back.

I nodded, breathing heavily. “Hmm mm.”