Finishing her supper and her show, Kristin walked back to the kitchen and threw away her trash. She pulled the cookie dough and the milk from the refrigerator. She poured a glass of milk and went back to the living room with the raw cookie dough and the glass of milk in hand. Comfort food, she thought as she looked through her list of shows again.
Halfway through the next show, the phone rang. Kristin answered on the second ring and was glad to hear her mother's voice on the other end.
"How's my baby," her mother asked.
"Not a baby anymore, Mother," Kristin laughed.
"You know you will always be my baby," her mother replied.
"I know, Mom." They always started their conversations this way. Her mother never let her forget she was the baby of the family and the last to leave the nest. She also never failed to remind Kristin it was her turn to marry and give her grandchildren.
"Now," her mother said, "How is my baby girl really."
"I'm fine, Mom, really. How are you and daddy?"
"Well, your dad has this wild hair up his butt about remodeling my kitchen. Can you believe it? He doesn't even use the kitchen and he wants to come in here and mess it all up," her mother complained. Kristin rolled her eyes. Her mother had wanted to remodel that kitchen since the day she moved into the house ten years earlier.
She heard the phone click and her dad's voice came on the phone, "Don't you be telling any fibs now, Margaret," her dad said. "You've been griping about that kitchen for years. I'm simply agreeing to let you do something about it."
"Now, Paul, I have not done any such thing. I can't believe you want to mess with my beautiful kitchen," her mother interjected. Kristin just listened to her parents argue over whose idea it was to remodel the kitchen. She knew from experience not to get involved. She also knew it would be awhile before they would remember she was on the line. She sighed and walked to her bathroom. She might as well get some cleaning done while her parents "discussed" their kitchen problem.
She gathered up her laundry and began a load of towels as her parents continued the conversation. Finally done with their argument, her dad asked how she was doing and she once again replied she was fine.
"Well, I hope you're taking care of yourself, Kitten," her dad said calling her by the pet name he had given her as a little girl.
Kristin looked at the cookie dough lying on the coffee table. "Of course I am, Dad," she replied.
"Are you doing okay in that big city you live in?"
"Everything's good. My practice is thriving and I'm taking care of myself. You don't have to worry." Her dad and she always had this same conversation when he got on the phone. Talking to her parents was like going through a recording. Nevertheless she loved both of them too much not to let them baby her when they called.
Her parents lived about five hours away from her in Alabama and she visited as often as she dared. They met and married later in life and she was the baby of three girls. Her sisters had already hit their forties and her parents were in their seventies, although they acted as if they were still in their thirties. Nothing slowed them down.
Both of her older sisters had already given her parents a total of five grandchildren. Her mother wanted more and never failed to mention it to her. Her father often told her mother to leave her alone. She would find a husband at the right time for her just like they did. Her mother would smile and agree to let the matter drop.
Her parents were the perfect example of a loving relationship. She hoped to one day find exactly what they had. Her father still adored her mother even after forty-three years of marriage. Her mother still looked at her father as if he was the only man in the world. Yes, they bickered about silly things, but they loved each other unconditionally. And she loved the both of them.
After talking with her parents for another thirty minutes they ended their conversation with a promise from her to visit in a couple of weeks. Kristin sighed again as she hung up the phone. She missed being close to her parents, but was careful about how often she visited. She always tried to make herself available for her patients. When she visited, she asked another physician to cover in case of emergencies. It was not easy for her to turn her patients over to the care of another doctor.
Sighing again, Kristin picked up the cookie dough, took a big bite and turned the television back on. She forgot about her lonely thoughts as she once again lost herself in her show.
A couple of hours later, Kristin turned off the television and walked back to the kitchen. She was a neat freak by nature so she had to clean the kitchen thoroughly before going to bed. Setting the alarm on her way back through the house, Kristin crawled into bed and turned her thoughts to the next day.
♥ Chapter 2 ♥
He was having so much fun with this latest one. She screamed and screamed. And the more she screamed the more excited he became. It was remarkable how her voice was just the right pitch to make him giddy with laughter. He would draw this out as long as he could and then he would move on to his next target.
~
Matthew Stevenson was having one hell of a day at his office. The state police were all over him for not getting back to them sooner. They had a serial killer on their hands and they needed a profile fast. He tried explaining it didn't work that way. He needed their files, everything they had. He needed time to study what they had. And then, after days of studying and hours of concentration, he would give them a profile.
The state didn't want to wait. He understood that. The Governor wanted answers and so far no one had any. "The Georgia Terror", as the media had dubbed him, first came on the scene about two years ago from what they could tell. It wasn't until about six months earlier that the different counties the killer had visited began to connect it back to one man.
TGT, as the state now called him, liked to carve up his victims slowly and carefully, letting them bleed for days. From what they could tell so far, he started at the victim's feet. Matt assumed this was so she could not run. While slicing up their feet, he would carve a heart into his victim's right ankle.
The bloody heart had led the police to identify eight victims so far, all female, and each from a different county in Georgia, and each dumped in another county in Georgia. They speculated he was at about one body per three months.
Matt decided he would have to visit each county to get the information he needed from each case as the locals were not very forthcoming with all of the evidence. Each precinct was too concerned with solving their own cases to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to interfere. Once the media had gotten wind of the connection between the bodies, the individual police departments had no other alternative but to hand over the evidence. He believed in cooperation and giving credit where it is was due, so going to each local county and talking with the cops involved in the different investigations was best all around.
Thanks to the media, Georgia residents were in a panic. This could be good and bad. Good, because girls of the type of TGT's victims were being careful not to go out alone. Bad, because vigilantes, seeing something they think is suspicious, tend to hurt innocent people. Matt sighed and ran his hand across his face.
Matt reached for the phone and called his brother. He hated to bother him, but he wanted his input. Derek was with his wife looking for a baby doctor, but Matt knew this couldn't wait. He also knew his new sister-in-law would understand the urgency.
"Derek Stevenson," Derek answered the phone.
"Hey, Derek," Matt said.
"Hey, Matt. What's up? Miss me already," Derek teased his brother.
"Yeah, you know I just can't do my job properly without little brother looking over my shoulder," Matt quipped back. He had been thrilled when Derek had requested a transfer from his job in Washington, D.C., to his office in Atlanta. The brothers had often conferred on cases during their career but none so much as when Derek was tracking the stalker of the woman who was now his w
ife.
They worked well together and everyone in the Bureau liked the matchup. The brothers solved cases.
Matt filled Derek in on the cases coming across his desk and informed him he would need to go out of town to look into them.
"Want me to come with," asked Derek.
"I could definitely use your insight, but I don't want to take you away from Amber so close to her delivery."
"Amber will understand. Besides, the baby isn't due for three months. Surely we will have caught up with this maniac by then."
Matt breathed a sigh of relief. With the Governor breathing down his neck it would be nice to have Derek along for the ride. Two sets of eyes are always better than one. "Thanks, Derek."
"No problem, Brother." Derek hung up the phone and turned to Amber who was looking at him with a question in her eyes. He explained what Matt had told him and she agreed he needed to go. She assured him she would be fine. They had just returned from the doctor's office so Amber went upstairs to pack a bag for her husband.
After finishing that task, Amber went into her kitchen and packed some homemade goodies for the men. Both enjoyed her cooking so she packed as much as she could so they would not have to eat fast food everyday they were gone. She kissed her husband and sent him on his way.
She thought about what Derek had told her. She hated to think about what those poor girls were going through. She could relate to being stalked, but thanks to Derek, her stalker had been unable to harm her physically. Emotionally, yes. But not physically, although she had no doubt he would have tried.
Amber went on to bed. She had a long shift at the hospital the next day, and the baby was getting quite active, which put further strain on her when she had to stand for hours a day. Derek and Matt had not gotten far before Amber was sound asleep.
Matt was thankful for the food Amber had packed. His sister-in-law was one hell of a cook and he joined them for dinner as often as he was able. As they drove, he and Derek snacked on some of Amber's home baked cookies. They discussed the case so they could get a feel for what they were dealing with.
Matt decided to start with the very first body. They would visit the county she was dumped, talk with the coroner and the police department, and then visit the county she disappeared from. They would talk with friends and family and get an idea of who the victim was. This would tell the brothers what type of victim TGT looked for.
Looking at the counties of each victim and where they were dumped may help them locate where the killer would go next. And if triangulated properly, may tell them where the killer most likely lived.
Although it was late when they left Atlanta, Matt and Derek still made it to their destination before having to find a hotel for the evening. Derek grabbed their bags as Matt booked them a room. It was too late to talk to anyone so the men would get a good rest and start fresh in the morning.
~
Kristin started the next day with a toddler who had stuffed a bean up his nose, a teething six month old, and a new born with colic. She walked into chaos as each child was trying to outdo the other in the screaming department. Her day seemed to get worse from there.
By lunchtime she had a headache the size of Texas behind her right eye and knew if she didn't do something soon it would turn into a migraine. She didn't often get migraines, but when she did, they were usually bad. She took some Excedrin and told Mary she would be in her office. She turned off the light and lay her head down on her desk. Some days were just like this.
By the end of the day Kristin's head was throbbing. Driving herself home carefully, Kristin walked into her apartment, changed, and went straight to bed. If she could just get some sleep, she would be fine in the morning.
Kristin's eyes popped open at five the next morning. She groaned, knowing she would not be able to get back to sleep. Deciding to get started on her day, Kristin climbed out of bed and into her shower. Luckily, she felt so much better this morning with no sign of the headache from the day before.
Applying her makeup and fixing her hair never really took a long time for her in the mornings so she was showered dressed and ready for work by six. She had some research she could catch up on so she hit a drive thru and went on in to the office. It would be almost two hours before patients would start to show for their appointments, but Kristin liked the quiet and solitude of her office in the mornings when no one was there.
Mary arrived at seven thirty and was straightening the office and getting ready for patients when Kristin walked into the lobby.
"How's your head?"
"Much better," Kristin replied.
"I hope we had all the screamers yesterday."
"Me too." Kristin helped Mary straighten some of the chairs and pick up magazines, books, and toys off the floor. It seemed every evening the waiting room looked as if a tornado had come through but they were all too tired at the end of the day to deal with it, so this was Mary's routine in the morning. If Kristin came in early, she would help as they talked about their evenings and what was expected for the day.
Kristin was the doctor but she never treated her staff as if she were better than them in anyway. She often pitched in and helped where needed and they all respected her more for that. It made for an easier day if she and Mary could discuss the schedule while both were straightening the lobby.
Kristin waved as Kimber came in. She also joined them and they continued to discuss the day's schedule. Kimber Hall was the oldest of the group of ladies Kristin employed. Close to forty, the office manager was a welcome addition to Kristin's staff. It helped to have someone who was willing to deal with irate parents, sales people, and office issues so Kristin could focus on her patients.
Kimber kept her blond hair cropped short in a cute pixie cut that showed off her pretty face. The mother of three, she was well versed in handling petty squabbles that could arise in an office full of women. Although they all got along well for the most part, problems could arise from time to time. The staff knew not to bring those problems to Kristin.
Mary and Kimber were always the first to arrive at the office in the mornings followed by her nurse, Jennifer Langston and then her insurance guru, Teresa Joy. Jennifer, a graduate of the nursing program at the University of Georgia, was well liked by Kristin's patients. She could give ouch less shots, great hugs, and also treated the patients as if they were super special. As a mother, Jennifer knew how to handle all types of children. She was well suited for Kristin's office.
Jennifer wore her long blond hair in a ponytail almost every day to keep it out of the reach of grasping, sometimes sticky fingers. She was quick and efficient in everything she did. She complemented Kristin so well that the parents trusted her almost as much as they trusted Kristin. It made it easier for her to talk with moms over the phone to determine if a child needed to be seen or if a little Motrin was a better option.
Teresa was Kristin's resident genius. She handled all of the office insurance claims, rejections, and payments. She stayed on top of the latest changes in medical coding to ensure a faster payment from the many insurance companies they dealt with.
Teresa was the tallest of the ladies in the office at five foot six. Constantly complaining about her weight while stuffing a snack cake in her mouth, Teresa was a little plumper than the rest of the girls in the office. She was self conscious about her weight and missed that her personality showed her true beauty. Funny and witty, she could have the other girls in stitches over a story she told.
She wore her light brown hair just past her shoulders, framing her face and light brown eyes. She was also single and had no children. At thirty five, she was beginning to wonder if she would ever find Mr. Right.
Once everyone was in, they would usually meet in Kimber's office for a quick staff meeting before starting the morning. Kristin always enjoyed this time. She felt it kept everyone on the same page throughout the day and brought the staff closer. As soon as the meeting
was over, each of the ladies went their separate ways and began preparing their individual stations for patients. Within the hour, the office was alive with active children.
~
Matt and Derek met with the coroner of Laurens County first thing the next morning and looked at photographs of the autopsy of twenty year old Amanda Johnson. Amanda had been left in a ditch on the side of the road on the out skirts of Dublin. The Laurens County police department got the call when a trucker discovered the body while driving by.
Amanda Johnson was a student at Georgia State University and was taken right off campus in Athens, Georgia, which was located in Clark County. She had black hair and brown eyes and was a member of the cheerleading squad. She had been missing for three months before she was found.
Amanda's body told a sordid tale of a maniac who enjoyed torturing his victims. The coroner, a short balding man, pointed out that the cuts and markings on the feet and legs of the body were the oldest and had begun to heal before Amanda had finally been killed. The carved heart on the ankle stood out among all the other markings.
The men left the coroner's office with heavy hearts. They already had a grim picture of what they were dealing with. Matt could tell by the condition of the body, it was not The Georgia Terror's first kill. There were no hesitation marks, no signs of a novice. She had been beaten and cut for days. All of the cuts were in the right place to make her bleed just enough to continue to stay alive. The bastard had tortured her for at least a month before finally putting her out of her misery.
Obviously this guy had done this before. They needed to find out where. Matt began making phone calls as they drove to the police station. The Laurens County Police Department was very cooperative with the men when asked to see their files. A few of the deputies helped make copies of everything they had so Matt and Derek could get back on the road faster.
They interviewed each of the policemen involved in the case and learned their first thoughts and impressions when the investigation began. This gave them insight to how the investigation had been handled. As a profiler, Matt had to look at every piece of the puzzle and that included the investigating officers.