Sixteen to One and Counting

Three

Matthew’s funeral had been brief, the newspapers and tabloids were going crazy for the past few days coming up with every possible reason why the killer was back and even more for why he went after a Macintosh. Olivia had immersed herself back into the homicides and was comparing every detail that could somehow connect all of the victims.

Jasper checked in on her regularly, she had given him a key seeing as she never left the door unlocked anymore and the two grieved together in their own way, reminiscing sometimes. He begged for her to move into the Macintosh estate until the murderer was caught but Olivia declined every time it was brought up. So some nights Jasper opted to sleep on her living room couch because he didn’t like her being alone and was feeling a bit lonely himself since his brother was no longer creating a ruckus throughout the manor.

Jasper was out to get some coffee and bring breakfast over for Olivia, he had worked through the night and decided to go to Olivia’s instead of home. He hadn’t known that this morning Olivia had invited over Seymour Klinnger to review the case files once again, she hoped that Nightingale may have a lead but he was just as perplexed. Jasper had only met the man once before so when he heard more than just Olivia’s voice as he approached the door he shifted the tray of coffee and bag of breakfast to one arm and gripped the gun at his side. Relief flooded through his veins when he saw her in the living room files surrounding the two of them.

Seymour was a fit man in his early forties, he had been working in Nightingale practically since it first existed. His eyes were a little sunken in but his hair was nearly no different than a twenty year old and the strawberry blonde hair locks hardly had a sliver of grey in them. He was a nice man, kept to himself mostly and was rather quiet but he was dedicated. He dressed nicely and even Olivia could hardly recall a time that she had seen him out of a dress shirt.

Jasper cleared his throat and Olivia smiled when she saw he had brought her breakfast. He gestured to the table hoping she would take a break from the files. She held up five fingers, signaling she would only need five minutes more. He didn’t believe her so he made a show about setting a timer on his watch, she glared at him but began wrapping things up.

“Thank you so much for coming over. Would you be able to meet up again?”

“I’m just a call away,” Seymour finished collecting his things, “Don’t hesitate to ring me anytime.”

“Okay, I’ll call within the week.” Olivia lead him to the front door and Jasper’s alarm went off in the kitchen.

Seymour glanced in that direction but smiled, “Enjoy your breakfast dear.”

“Thank you Seymour, have a nice day.”Olivia shut the door and locked it before turning around and nearly jumping out of her skin.

“Jasper! What is wrong with you! You know not to sneak up on me!”

“You said five minutes,” he explained, “that was five minutes and forty seconds.”

“Forty seconds!”

“I’m glad you see why I’m upset.” Jasper teased.

“That had better be some amazing coffee.” She grumbled, to her delight an orange to-go cup sat steaming on the breakfast bar of her kitchen. “You went to the Morning Cafe!”

“Caramel latte, it’s still your favorite isn’t it?”

“You’re amazing!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Jasper smiled.

“Wait please tell me you stopped getting those white-girl drinks.” Olivia rolled her eyes, she had never approved of his taste.

“What’s wrong with my almond milk latte with only a little foam and that pretty branch design on top?” He pulled out the vanilla waffles and strawberries, “Do you have any redi-whip?” Olivia hopped off the stool and began searching around in her fridge.

These waffles were an all time favorite of the Macintosh brothers and Olivia when they were kids. They’d beg their parents to let them go there every Thursday when the owner of the store, Miss Casey, got her order of fresh strawberries for the week and would make the kids whatever drink they wanted. Coffee was out of the question until they got into they’re early teenage years and soon developed their own unique tastes.

“Found it!” Olivia held the cream up triumphantly and then proceeded to add a small swirl of it to the top of her waffles and the strawberries to finish it off. Jasper preferred only strawberries most times but he gladly took the canister today and put a bit on.

“So did Miss Casey lecture you about not coming in more often?”

“She about had my head, said you still come in every week and I should at least try to every other.” Miss Casey was the nicest lady in on the east side of Cleveland and even as she was nearing her sixties she still doted over Olivia, she had always been her favorite.

“What time did you start in on the files today? It’s only nine.”

“Oh ya know, a normal time.. Just uhh,” she coughed, “Four-thirty.”

Jasper groaned, “Olivia that’s the middle of the night.”

“Okay, hotshot how late did you work last night, huh?”

“That’s different, I had a deadline!”

Silence fell between the two, they both knew they didn’t have good excuses and that’s all they were, excuses. Sleep had been out of the question lately. With the killer at large, the death of Matthew, and an obvious connection to Olivia neither were very comfortable with being alone.

“Did you find anything else about the killer?” Jasper was asking tentatively hoping not to upset Olivia but he was curious and wanted answers too.

Olivia sighed deeply, “Nothing that we didn’t already know. Whoever he is he knows how to cover his tracks, he’s been killing for so long and no one’s even caught a glimpse of him.”

“Why do you think Fowler is a part of this mess?” Olivia didn’t seem too surprised about being warned of injuries that may come to Fowler and Jasper couldn’t understand why.

“My dad used to be a janitor at the local orphanage, where Fowler grew up. He was always getting picked on by the other kids because he was pretty small so dad wanted to teach him to defend himself if he needed to. Since this guy killed my mother maybe he's going after anyone my father was close to. I don’t really know.”

“Wait so you’ve known Fowler for years? Why didn’t you ever mention him or invite him over to our place?”

“I had known of him. At the time he was just little Elias, a kid my dad was helping out. We met maybe one time and I can hardly remember it.” Olivia sighed and crinkles formed on her forehead, “Now I wish my father hadn’t taught him anything, maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess too.”

Jasper sat quietly and looked over Olivia, she had thinned out, which is saying a lot because she was already fit and there wasn’t much of her to lose. Her clothes used to fit nicely against her frame now made her look like a freshman who had stolen a seniors letterman jacket. She looked tired. Her eyes hadn’t really darkened and there were no bags present but there was a fatigue evident in them anyway. He just wished he could help her more.

“You can’t help what your dad did or didn’t do Ollie, it’s not your fault.” Jasper couldn’t grasp how often Olivi took the blame for things or would pray things would work out different for other people but never herself. It was one of the reasons he admired her so much. She was practically selfless. She wasn’t even searching for the killer for herself, she just wanted to make sure no one else was hurt.

Olivia sighed and finished up the last crumbs of her waffles, “I know, I just wish it would all stop. The police are looking for him again but still no luck.” Jasper could feel his heart breaking for his friend and seeing her eyes well up only had it aching more.

“What if,” she was choking on her words, “What if I’m the only one who can stop him? Like he’s waiting for me to find him since he killed my mom?” She gasped out little breaths, letting herself be vulnerable for another moment before trying to compose herself.

Jasper wasn’t letting her shut down again though, he stood up and washed their plates and Olivia did her best to make it seem like she had not been crying, smoothing her hair and dabbing at her eyes. When he turned back around to her she forced up a smile, but all Jasper could see was hurt. He held out his hands to her and she raised an eyebrow at him but let him pull her up. SHe hadn’t expected him to pick her up and start walking.

“Jasper Evan Parker!” She didn’t really fight against him which only proved just how exhausted she was, any other time she’d be kicking and yelling at him for being an “ego-inflated-marshmallow” which happened to be her favorite insult for him.

He plopped her down on the large couch that occupied her movie room, closed the light-blocking curtains, and pulled a music playlist with some of her favorite songs onto the screen. He grabbed a few comforters from the closet before pushing Olivia back down onto the couch she was attempting to escape and wrapping her in one of them, voicing a firm, “Stay.”

He returned in a few minutes with some Chamomile tea and handed her the mug before taking the other blanket he pulled down and sitting next to Olivia on the couch.

“Olivia I need you to let me help you. I will do everything I can to help find this man but I can’t do that if you won’t let me help you. This is not your fault, that madman is the only one to blame. You need to let yourself get some rest now. I’ll be right here the whole time.”

She nodded, knowing he was right and was relieved that he wasn’t going to leave her alone. There was no way she could face this all by herself. She quietly sipped at the tea and listened to the playlist and let her eyes droop. Jasper gently coaxed the mug from her fingers after a few minutes and got her to lie down, she was finally sleeping in a matter of minutes.

Jasper sighed in relief, he had started doing his own research on the killer and if he could just get a couple leads like Olivia has had on him, he just may be able to catch him. And little Olivia could have nights of peace instead of tired, fidgety naps in the day.

He was a step closer.

But the killer was had his own plans that day.