TITLE: THE CASCADE RIPPER

AUTHOR: CherokeeGirl

SUMMARY: Jim and Blair track down a seriel killer before he can strick again

The Cascade Ripper

It was 7am on a Monday morning in the middle of August and Cascade, Washington was in the grip of a heat wave. The citizens were beginning their third straight week of record-breaking temperatures with no relief in sight. Their frustration at being unable to battle the forces of nature led them to turn their anger toward each other, and in some cases toward themselves, making the crime rate rise right along with the temperatures. There was a significant increase in murders, rapes, armed robberies, domestic violence and even suicides. The phones in the Cascade PD bullpen were already ringing off the hook as detectives scrambled to answer the calls in the rising crime wave.

Detective Lt. James Ellison and Consultant Blair Sandburg were already seated at Jim's desk in the squad room, going over paperwork, and filing reports.

"Ellison, Sandburg" Jim looked up at the sound of Captain Banks' voice. "Would you two come into my office, please?"

"You wanted to see us, Sir?" Jim said as he entered the office.

"Close the door gentlemen, and have a seat," Simon said as he resumed his seat behind his desk.

"Captain, is anything wrong?" Jim asked noticing the look on his friend's face. Simon was visibly upset, his features drawn and pinched. As he picked up a file from his desk and handed to Jim, his hand trembled slightly.

As Jim took the folder, opened it and looked inside, his face lost all color. "Oh, my God!" he whispered as he looked at the photographs inside. Blair, surprised by Jim's uncharacteristic remark, got up from his chair to look over Jim's shoulder.

"Trust me, Chief, you don't want to see this," Jim said as he quickly closed the folder before Blair could see the contents.

But Blair was not about to be deterred. If the usually stoic James Ellison had that kind of a reaction to something, he was determined to know what it was.

"Hey, man, come on. I'm not exactly a kid you know. I have traveled all over the world and seen just about everything. I have been on expeditions where we have found people who have been sacrificed and I've opened mummies' tombs. Man, do you know how the ancient Egyptians mummified people? The vital organs were all put in separate jars so that..."

"All right, Chief, have it your way, but don't say I didn't warn you," Jim said as he handed over the file.

When Blair opened the file he immediately decided that examining thousands of years old mummies and looking at police photographs of a recently murdered girl were two entirely different things. He thought he was going to be sick. The body was that of a young woman. She was naked and had apparently been stabbed numerous times. But it was much worse than that. The body had been cut open and the internal organs were lying beside the body. Blair closed the file and wordlessly lay it back on Captain Banks' desk.

"The body was found by joggers this morning in the woods behind Rainier," Captain Banks said as he poured each of them a cup of coffee. "She has been identified as Mary Hughes, a student at the university. She lives off campus at the Glen Wood apartments on Whitmore Drive. The roommate, Sharon Maxwell, said the Hughes woman hadn't been home for three days. Apparently this was very out of character for her. According to Ms. Maxwell, Ms. Hughes always let her know if she was going to be working late or was staying late at the university to study. When she didn't come home Tuesday night, Ms. Maxwell called the police Wednesday morning, only to be told she had to wait the obligatory twenty-four hours. She called back Thursday morning to file a missing person report. When Officer's Tucker and James went to the apartment to take Ms. Maxell's statement, she repeated what she had told the police when she made the original call. She still insists Ms. Hughes is not the type of person to stay away from home this long without letting anyone know where she was. The victim's clothes and personal belongings were found near the body. Her wallet and I.D. were in her purse along with about fifty dollars in cash. She was also wearing a gold necklace and watch. Needless to say, we have ruled out robbery."

"Did Ms. Maxwell say if the victim had a boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, co-worker, anyone she might have had an argument with?" Jim asked as he picked up the file and began to read Sharon Maxwell's statement.

"No, Jim," Captain Banks replied. According to Ms. Maxwell, Mary Hughes got along with everyone. Everyone she met seemed to like her instantly.

No apparent motive can be found. It's the same way with the others."

"What others?" Blair asked as Jim handed him Sharon Maxwell's statement to read while he went over the coroner's report.

Simon closed his eyes as he leaned back and sighed. "It seems," he replied in a tired voice, "this is the third victim in the last two months. All of them young, attractive co-ed’s. Detectives Parker and Simons out of homicide had been assigned to these cases until the commissioner had them sent up to us.”

“They were all students at Rainier,” Blair asked surprised. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Homicide had been trying to keep a lid on it to avoid panic, but somehow there was a leak to the press. And of course, they jumped all over it. They have already dubbed this guy the 'Cascade Ripper' along with the usual remarks regarding the ineptitude of the police. So now, of course, the commissioner is on my back and he wants results as of yesterday. I'm sorry, I know I'm handing you a real hot potato with this one. It turns out the latest victim is none other than the mayor's niece and if we don't get results soon, believe me, heads will roll over this one. I'm to use whatever man power I need on this to make sure the guy's caught." Simon sighed again, looked over his desk at them and continued. "You know one of the things, hell one of a hundred things, that really gets me about this? The latest body was found at seven this morning. According to the coroner she died sometime between midnight and three. If we could have started the investigation when Ms. Maxwell first reported her missing, she might still be alive. I know there are reasons for the twenty-four hour rule, but sometimes... Well that's all water under the bridge. The girl's dead and we have to concentrate all our efforts on finding out who did it."

"We'll start by going to see Ms Maxwell again,” Jim said getting up and heading for the door. "Maybe she has remembered something else or there might have been something she didn't feel was important at the time."

"Chief, did you happen to know this girl?" Jim asked as they walked to the elevator.

"I'm not really sure without checking the records in my office, but I think I had her in my Anthro 101 class in the fall semester. If she is the girl I'm thinking about she had excellent grades, but dropped the class. She said she liked the course but she had to work to pay tuition and so she was going to have to cut back on a few of her classes in order to be able to work part time. Man, I know how that is. I’ve been in college since I was sixteen and I still haven't gotten my doctorate. It takes forever when you have to cut back or take time off to work to get enough money for tuition."

"You know, Chief, there is something I don't quite understand here," Jim said as they got into the elevator and rode down to the garage.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Well, doesn't it seem a little strange that the mayor's niece would have to work in order to pay her tuition?"

"Yeah, man, now that you mention it. You would think as rich as that family is, money would be the least of her worries. And, The Glen Wood Apartments on Whitmore Avenue are not exactly the kind of place where you would expect someone like her to live. I mean, it's not exactly the blue light district but it does have a reputation. It's mostly college kids and the police have been called out there pretty often. From what I hear they have some pretty wild parties around there. Mostly drunken disorderly and disturbing the peace but there have been a few arrests for possession, mostly pot."

They reached the truck and Jim unlocked the door and reached over to unlock the passenger door for Blair. "I can not believe you lock the truck in the police garage! That is so paranoid, Jim. You are way too cautious here. You know you really should consider counseling."

"Too cautious am I?" Jim asked as he leaned over and gave him a long and deep kiss while his hand grabbed Blair's cock and stroked it until it was hard. Abruptly Jim pulled away and started the car.

"How's that for cautious, Chief?" he asked as he drove out of the garage. When Blair didn't answer, Jim stole a glance at him out of the corner of his eye. Blair was just sitting there with his mouth slightly opened and a stunned expression on his face. Jim had to smile as he thought to himself, 'Wow, I've finally found a way to get him to stop talking.'

As they were driving to the apartment complex where the victim lived, Blair finally regained his composure enough to talk about the case.

"Jim, I've got a question."

"Wow, he speaks!" Jim replied laughing.

"Yeah, very funny. I just wondered why you were going to the victim's apartment? I would have thought that you would want to go to the crime scene to see if you can pick up anything the lab missed."

"After the joggers were there and the then police and forensics team, there wouldn't be much reason to go. What evidence there might have been would have been lost with all that traffic. No, Chief, right now we are just going to stick to some good old-fashioned detective work and hope we get a break."

"Yeah, I see your point."

When Jim and Blair got to the Glen Wood Apartments they found it to be a large complex built in a u-shape around the leasing office, a large swimming pool and tennis court. According to the address in the police report, the victim and her roommate lived in apartment 103 directly across from the office.

They walked up to the door and Jim knocked. As they waited, Blair asked if he thought Sharon Maxwell would be home. Before Jim could answer a slender young woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, opened the door. She had short dark hair and dark eyes that were red and swollen.

"Ms. Sharon Maxwell?" Jim asked. "I'm Detective James Ellison with the Cascade Police Department and this is my associate Blair Sandburg. We would like to ask you a few questions. May we come in?"

The young woman nodded once to both questions and stepped back inside leaving them to follow her in and close the door behind them.

"Ms. Maxwell, I'm sorry to bother you but as I said we have just a few questions we need to ask."

"Look, Detective, I don't know how much more I can tell you," she said as she walked to the sofa and sat. "I've told the other detectives everything I know. Mary didn't come home Tuesday night. I usually go to sleep before she gets home from work. But when I woke up Wednesday morning and realized she hadn't come home at all, I called and reported her missing. All I got was some kind of run around telling me I had to wait twenty-four hours before I could file a missing person report." She put her face in her hands and started crying again. "If you people had only listened to me and gone out and started looking for her, she might still be alive. This never would have happened."

“Ms. Maxwell, I know how you feel and this is a difficult time..."

“Oh, really, Detective, you know how I feel?" she shouted. "Was your best friend just murdered because the police wouldn't get up off their collective asses and get out there and look for her when I first reported her missing?"

“We have a twenty-four hour rule for a reason. A lot of times when adults are missing, it’s because they want to be. They have either met someone and are with him or her or they just want some time to be alone. In which case, if we start to search for them it turns out to be a waste of time and manpower that can be used to investigate other cases. Now I will be the first to admit that, in a way, it is a catch twenty-two. There are times when, if we had only been able to start searching sooner, it would have made the difference between life and death. We're not perfect, Ms. Maxwell, but we are trying. Now if you could just answer a few questions for me then I will get on with this. And I promise you I will do everything in my power to find the person responsible."

"What do you want to know?"

"Can you tell me if she mentioned having a disagreement with any one, a co-worker, an old boyfriend? Did she seem afraid or upset about anything?"

"I don't understand, according to the newspapers, Mary was a victim of a serial killer. The papers said that he had killed two other girls."

"Yes, Ms. Maxwell, there is the possibility that this is the same man. But, we're not going to make any assumptions here. We are going to investigate each of these cases on an individual basis. Now, can you tell me about any disagreements or arguments that might have come up?"

"No, Detective, Mary was fine. As a matter of fact, lately she seemed the happiest I have ever seen her. She worked at this little café near the U, The Frog and Owl; she was a waitress there. She really liked her job and everyone there liked her. She was doing great in school. She got along well with her classmates and instructors. Believe me, Detective, if there had been anything wrong Mary would have told me."

"What about guys she might have dated?" Blair asked. "Is there anyone she had an argument with? I know it sounds a little far fetched to think someone she had been dating could have done something like this. But there are guys out there who can go completely over the edge if his girl tries to break up with him."

"There wasn't anything like that. The only people she was having any problems with were her parents."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Come on, Mr. Sandburg, surely you don't believe anyone in Mary's family could have done this?"

"As hard as it is to believe, there have been incidents of family members attacking each other this violently."

"Oh no, I can assure you the Hughes family are not capable of doing anything that passionately, they're too cold and heartless for that."

"What was the argument about Ms. Maxwell? I'm not trying to pry but we need to follow up on every lead if we're to catch this guy."

"You see Mary and I were lovers. We've been together for a couple of years. Her family was very upset when they found out. They tried to get her to end the relationship, but she refused. They had her legally disowned. At first Mary was heartbroken but she wouldn't back down. After the initial shock wore off, she seemed like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She said that even if she did leave me it wouldn't change who or what she was, and if her parents loved her they would accept her. She told me she felt free to be herself for the first time in her life. We were even planning to have a commitment ceremony in a few months.

When Mary disappeared, I called them to let them know. I thought they would be concerned. Her mother told me that she didn't have a daughter and hung up on me. When I got the call from the police that they had found Mary's body, I didn't even call them back.

When I went to the morgue to identify her they just pulled the sheet back enough to let me see her face. I didn't see what that monster had done to her. I didn't want to see. Just seeing her lying there like that was bad enough. I read part of the story in the paper, but it was so horrible I couldn't read all of it." With that she started crying again.

Jim felt as distraught as Sharon Maxwell. Nothing more could be gained from continuing the questioning. When she had calmed down some Jim handed her his card. "Ms. Maxwell, this is my card. It has the number for my direct line at the department and also my cell phone number. If you can think of anything else will you give me a call? Nothing can bring Mary back," he continued softly. "But I promise you, I will do everything I can to find the person responsible for this."

As they got up to leave Blair asked, "Ms. Maxwell, is there anyone we can call? Is there anyone that can come and stay with you so you won't be alone at a time like this?"

"Actually, a friend of ours heard about what happened and she's on her way over now," Sharon relied.

Blair asked Jim for a piece of paper and as he wrote he said, "Here is my number at the University and my cell phone.” As he handed her the paper he asked, “If you need anything, even if it's just to talk, will you please give me call?"

As they walked back to the truck Jim said, "That's really nice of you, Chief, asking her to call you if she needed someone to talk to."

"I just tried to put myself in her position. If I had lost you, I would want all the friends around me I could have and I still don't think I would survive it."

They got into the truck and left the apartment complex.

"Where to now?" Blair asked as Jim pulled out into the highway.

"I was just thinking, Chief, we could cover more ground if we split up. Why don't I drop you off at the University? You can talk to Mary's friends, her teachers, and her advisor; anyone you can think of who might be able to shed a little light on this. I'm going to go talk to her co-workers at the restaurant, and then I think I'll just have a word with Mary's parents. I'll pick you up and we'll compare notes."

"You know, Jim, I get the idea that you don't think that Mary Hughes' death was related to the other two."

"On the contrary, Chief, I haven't been on this case long enough to form an opinion. When I get to the station tomorrow I’ll start going over the reports on the other two victims and see what I can come up with there. After you get a chance to look at the files we'll revisit their families and friends and see if we can come up with any leads. I've seen cases like this before. If you lump them all together and investigate them en masse, you're bound to over look something. But, by investigating each case individually you will usually come up with a common denominator, a thread that ties them all together." After making arrangements to meet at Blair's office in three hours, Jim dropped him off at the University while he went to the Frog and Owl Café to question Mary Hughes' co-workers, then on to the home of Mary's parents. In the meantime, Blair was to meet with Mary's faculty advisor and some of her instructors.

They met at Hargrove Hall at seven o'clock. Since they were tired, hungry and neither was in the mood to cook, they decided to grab Chinese take-out on the way back to the loft and compare notes while they ate dinner.

As Blair sat the table and got them a couple of beers Jim unpacked the food. "Did you come up with anything Jim?” he asked.

"Not a thing. Her boss and co-workers were shocked and upset by what had happened to her but no one could think of anyone who could possibly want to hurt her."

"What about her family? Would they talk to you?"

"Believe me they didn't want to,” Jim said as he dished up the sweet and sour chicken and rice. “I actually had to threaten them. I told them I was looking into Mary's death and if I had to, I would take them downtown to question them. I told them I would charge them with obstructing a police investigation. I didn't get much out of them. I have pretty much ruled out anyone in that family as a suspect. But, God, Blair, I can't believe how cold they were. They didn't show Mary the concern and respect they would have shown upon hearing of a total stranger dying like that, and this is their own daughter! I thought my father was bad. But I know if anything happened to me he would at least show some measure of grief."

"That's something I just don't understand, Jim," Blair said as he got up to clear the table. "I know I'm not a parent but I still don't see how her family could have just written her off that way. If I did have children I know they could never do anything that would make me stop loving them."

"I know. I'm not a parent either. But if I were, I could never turn my back on my kid."

“What about you, Chief, did you come up with anything at the U?”

“I talked with her faculty advisor, her instructors even a few of the students she had classes with. It's just like Sharon Maxwell told us. Everyone liked Mary; she was an excellent student, friendly to everyone. No one I talked to had anything negative to say about her. I know it could be a case of no one wanting to 'speak ill of the dead'. But, I really got the feeling she was genuinely liked. Everyone was really shocked about what happened to her, no one could think of anyone that would want to hurt Mary, especially by so brutal an assault. Of course, none of us wants to think we know anyone who was capable of doing something that horrible to another human being. I may be making something out of nothing, but when I talked to her advisor and a couple of students she had classes with, they seemed nervous somehow. I got the feeling that there was something they wanted to say and weren’t sure if they should. I don’t know, I maybe reading it all wrong. It could have just been the subject that made them nervous.”

“Do you think I should go in and talk to them?” Jim asked as he began to stack the dishes into the dishwasher.

“No, I think if there is anything there, they will be more likely to talk to me than to the police. It will seem less official if I talk to them.” Blair said as he gathered up the cartons and put them in the trash. “I really think they will be more inclined to open up to me.”

“You have classes scheduled tomorrow. Ask around see if you can get anyone to talk. When I get to the station tomorrow I'll go over the other victims files and see if I can come up with anything there.” When Jim finished loading the dishwasher he walked up behind Blair, put his arms around him and pulled him close.

"There's nothing more we can do tonight. So what do you say to our turning in?"

"Hey man it's only eight thirty," Blair teased. "I'm not even sleepy. Besides there's this great show on the Discovery Channel."

"There are a few things I'd like to discover, Chief. Like how many times I can make you come in one night."

"But, these anthropologists are going to explore the Yucatan."

"I'd much rather explore the anthropologist"

"Jim, you're hopeless!"

"I'm beginning to think getting you upstairs is hopeless."

Blair turned and put his arms around Jim's neck, softly kissed him and whispered, "I really love you, you know?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Come to bed with me and I'll prove it."

"Gee, Chief, I thought you'd never ask."

Jim locked up as Blair turned out the lights. They made their way upstairs arm in arm.

When they reached the loft bedroom, Jim pulled Blair into his arms and kissed him as they slowly lay back on the bed. His tongue explored Blair's mouth as he opened his senses up to the essence that was Blair. Jim pulled back and looked at Blair and asked.

“Have I told you today that you're beautiful?"

“No, I don't believe you mentioned it today at all," Blair replied, smiling.

"How could I have been so thoughtless? Please let me correct that over site immediately. You're absolutely beautiful. And you smell wonderful, like herbs and spice and something that's unique, something that is just you. It's wonderful! I love to touch you, the firm muscles under such soft skin. Your hair is so soft and silky; I love to run my hands through it. I love to hear your voice. It's like a sweet love song that is being sung just to me. And, the way your kisses taste; so sweet so good."

With that, Jim captured Blair's mouth kissing him thoroughly, deeply. When Jim pulled away this time, he started kissing Blair's forehead and then he moved down placing gentle kisses on each eye. He placed a light kiss on the tip of his nose, one on each cheek and then another chaste kiss on the lips. He moved down to Blair's throat, nuzzling and kissing, resisting the urge to bite. He slowly unbuttoned Blair's shirt and slipped it off his shoulders, then began kissing his chest. Blair's hands stroked Jim's chest and back as Jim kissed his way downward. He moved to a nipple and took it into his mouth and sucked until he elicited a moan of pleasure from Blair. He then moved to the other nipple, suckling and lapping until it, too, reached pebble hardness. He moved his way down Blair's stomach kissing, lapping and nipping while Blair gave little whimpers of ecstasy at the delicious sensations.

After unfastening Blair's jeans he slid them and the boxers down. He then took the head of Blair's cock in his mouth as he gently cupped and rolled the balls in his hand.

"I want you, Jim, now."

"Get under the covers, sweetheart, while I get undressed."

Blair untied his shoes and kicked them, his jeans and his boxers off in one movement then got into bed. Jim quickly removed his own clothes and climbed in beside him.

Their lips locked together as Blair stroked Jim's back. Jim slid his hands underneath Blair sliding down his back until he cupped his cheeks, kneading them as his tongue explored Blair's mouth. Blair moaned as he started rubbing his erection against Jim's.

Blair pulled back and breathlessly begged, "Take me now, Jim. Please."

"Let me get you ready, sweetheart."

With that, Blair turned over on his stomach while Jim got the lube out of the drawer. Even though they had been lovers for months, they never tired of the sweet ritual of preparing each other.

Jim slid down in bed and separated Blair's thighs then slid his tongue slowly up the crevice eliciting a moan of pure pleasure. He coated his finger with the gel and gently stroked the little pucker. Slowly, he eased his finger inside and continued his gentle massage while he reached underneath Blair and started stroking his cock. When he felt Blair's muscles completely relax he worked his finger all the way in and brushed against his prostate.

"Oh, God, Jim! More, please!" Blair panted. Jim then added another finger and picked up his pace.

Blair started humping forward into Jim's hand while thrusting backward on the fingers inside him. When Jim slowly added a third finger Blair’s motions sped up; forward then back

"Oh, God. Oh, Jim... want you... need you... Oh, my God!" Blair yelled, writhing with pleasure as Jim rubbed against his prostate over and over, all the while he was pumping the straining erection.

"Please! Jim, I want you inside me. But I want to turn over. I want to... I need to see you."

"Oh yes, my sweetheart. My sweet, beautiful angel. Whatever you want... whatever you need." He slowly withdrew the three fingers and coated himself with the gel then helped Blair to turn over onto his back.

Blair spread his legs wide and pulled his knees up to his chest urging Jim to his center.

Jim positioned himself and slowly began sliding inside his lover's body. He paused several times to give Blair's muscles time to adjust, relax and accept him. Blair locked his legs around Jim's waist. Jim leaned down and kissed Blair then pulled back and watched his face. As he began to slowly thrust he whispered, "I love you Blair. I will always love you. You are so beautiful. My sweet, beautiful Blair. I want you. I need you. I love you."

As he sped up he began a mantra of "I love you, I love you, I love you." with each stroke. In a few more thrusts Blair climaxed crying out Jim's name and forced Jim over the edge to his own climax.

They lay in each other's arms until their breathing and heart rate slowly returned to normal. Jim eased out of Blair and reached to the nightstand for tissues. He gently cleaned Blair's stomach and thighs and pulled him into his arms.

Blair whispered, "I love you, Jim, with all my heart."

"I love you too, my sweet angel."

They drifted to sleep in each other's arms.

The ringing of the phone woke them at 2 A.M.

"Ellison," Jim mumbled. "What? When?" Jim asked suddenly awake. "Okay... Right, Simon, we'll be right there."

"What is it Jim? What's wrong?" Blair asked as Jim got out of bed and started dressing.

"That was Simon. They found another body."

The body was located in the park behind Rainier. The work lights and activity of the crime scene units created an oasis of commotion amid the darkness. Jim and Blair pulled up behind the coroner's wagon and parked the truck. Jim turned to Blair and asked, "I guess there would be no point in asking you to wait in the truck, Chief?

"No, Jim, I'll at least come part of the way with you. You know what might happen if you concentrate your senses on examining the body. You could zone. I'll be all right, don't worry."

"Whatever you say. There's Simon, with the M.E., in front of that storage shed. Jeff Abrahms, the captain of forensics, just walked over to them. Maybe he can give us a preliminary report." As they got out of the truck and started to walk up the low hill toward Simon and the other men, Jim kept a cautious eye on Blair and wished for the thousandth time that he didn't have to involve him in this side of police work.

"What do we have?" Jim asked, as they drew near. The doctor handed Jim a clipboard. As he gave him a quick summary of his findings, Jim leafed through the preliminary reports.

"Young woman, early twenties. From all indications, I'd guess that she's been dead less than six hours."

"From the appearance of the scene the victim apparently wasn't killed here. There is very little blood." Captain Abrahms said.

"Who found the body?" Blair asked.

"Park security," Simon answered. "They patrol the park 24-7. This place used to be a haven for drug deals and prostitution. Security has been beefed up and the grounds patrolled at night with dogs. One of the security guards was making his rounds in this area when the dog started barking and ran up to the building. The guard followed and found the padlock had been broken. When he went into the building he found the body and called it in. According to him, she had to have been placed in the storage shed sometime between 10:00 P.M and midnight. When he made his rounds at 10:00 the padlock was secure. He found her when he made his midnight rounds."

"Was the cause of death multiple stab wounds?" Blair asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"Yes, and she was also disemboweled, just liked the others." The M.E. replied. "I can't tell you anything else at this point."

Blair shuddered. "Any idea who she was?"

"Yes, her personal effects were left beside her. Her driver’s license and her student ID were in her purse. She was also a co-ed at Rainier. Her name was Margaret Simpson,” Simon answered.

"I'm going to pack up now,” said the M.E. “I'll give you a full report ASAP."

"Any chance you could have the preliminary reports today? " Jim asked.

"I'll get on it as soon as I get back to the lab; I should have something later this afternoon."

"I'd like to go over the body before you move it," Jim said.

"I'll be waiting in the van. Just give me the nod when you're done."

Jim finished reading the notes the investigating officers had made about the scene and their report from the security guard. He handed the clipboard back to Simon. "OK, let's have a look," he said, turning toward the building where the body had been found.

The storage building was large. Inside were a riding lawn mower and other gardening and maintenance tools used by the groundskeepers. The doors had apparently been fastened by a large padlock and chain. The murderer had cut the padlock to gain entry.

Jim paused in the doorway and turned to Blair. "You don't have to do this, Chief." Blair looked at Jim and was touched by the look of love and concern he saw on Jim's face.

"No, it will be all right. I can do this. I want to be with you in case you need me. I just won't look at the body."

"OK, but if you feel you can't take it I want you to promise me that you'll go outside. I don't want you to try to stick out on my account."

"I promise," Blair replied.

"OK, Chief," Jim said, putting his arm around Blair's shoulders and giving him a quick hug. "Let's get this over with."

The body lay in the middle of the room covered with a coroner's blanket. Jim went over, lifted the blanket and took a second to let a feeling of sorrow pass through him. He looked at the woman closely, opening up his senses to see if he could detect anything unusual, anything that might give him some clue as to who the perpetrator might be. He was quiet for so long that Blair began to worry. Jim felt Blair place his hand on his arm and heard him quietly whisper, "Jim, you okay?"

Shaking his head, Jim glanced over at Blair. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I don't understand how could anyone do something this horrible?"

"I don't know, Chief, I just don’t know. I see rope fibers on her wrists and ankles, she was tied up with what looks like a hemp rope."

"Hmmmm," he mumbled to himself.

"What, Jim?" Blair asked.

“I see something that looks like a pinprick on the bottom of her foot.”

"What does that mean?" Blair asked.

“It may mean that she was drugged. Or it could mean she was an addict. Sometimes drug addicts inject themselves between their toes or on the soles of their feet so the marks don’t show. When we get the M.E. report we’ll know if she has any drugs in her system. Come on; let's go talk to the officers that arrived first on the scene. And if that security guard is still here, I'd like to ask him a few question."

As he and Jim left the building Blair asked, "Then what?"

"Then," answered Jim, "we go back to the station and begin going through the files on all the victims until you have to go to the U."

"That sounds like fun," Blair said wryly.

"Yeah, but right now it's all we have."

"I know," Blair responded. "I just wish there were something more that we could be doing to catch this monster."

Jim's drew in a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly and deliberately. "Oh, we'll catch him," Jim said, "I can promise you that."

As he and Blair approached the two uniformed officers, Jim repeated to himself, "I can promise you we will catch him."

*******

Jim and Blair got to the station at 5:00 A.M. They read each of the victims’ files carefully looking for any clue as to the identity of the killer. While Jim read the forensics report on each of the victims, and the reports of the officers that arrived first on the scenes of the murders, Blair went over the missing person reports filed by the victims’ families. At 8:00, time for Blair to leave for his first class, the only thing they had found that each of the victims had in common was the fact they were all students at Rainier.

"I just don't know if it means anything," Blair said as he rubbed his eyes.

“With the U. being so close by lots of the women in that age group are going to be students there."

"I know, Chief, but right now it's the only lead we have."

“I’ll ask some more questions today; talk to some of the kids and instructors see if I come up with anything."

“I’m going to talk to the families of the other victims see if they have any further information. Maybe I can come up with something there. I’ll come by your office about one and we’ll have lunch.”

Just then the phone on Jim’s desk rang and he picked it up.

“Ellison”

“Detective Ellison, this is Sharon Maxwell.”

“Yes, Ms. Maxwell, what can I do for you?”

“You said to call if I thought of anything else.”

“Yes, did you remember something?” Jim asked anxiously.

“Well, I don’t know how important this is and now it seems silly to have called.”

“Ms. Maxwell, please feel free to say anything no matter how unimportant it might seem. You might be surprised at how seemingly insignificant things can lead to a major break in a case.”

“The day Mary disappeared…” she broke off. “I’m sorry I have to learn to face it. The day Mary disappeared she got a large bouquet of flowers. There was no note just a playing card, the jack of hearts. We were puzzled by it. We couldn’t think of anyone that would have sent such a thing and decided it must have been a mix up at the florist.”

“Do you still have the card, Ms. Maxwell?” Jim asked

“Yes, I do. That’s why I called. I just found it.”

“I would like to come by and pick it up, if that’s okay? I doubt the lab could get anything off it now but we can try.”

“So you think it’s important?”

“I don’t know, but we definitely want to follow up every lead. If you’re going to be home I’ll come right over and pick it up, I can be there in about half an hour.”

“Yes, I plan on being here all day.”

“What is it, Jim?” Blair asked as they headed for the elevator.

“That was Sharon Maxwell, she remembered something. It seems the day Mary disappeared she got a bouquet of flowers with a playing card attached, the jack of hearts. I’m going to pick it up. I doubt we’ll get any prints off it now but I’m going to check it out. Come on, the U’s on the way, I’ll drop you off.”

Jim dropped Blair off at his office and drove to Glen Wood apartments. Sharon Maxwell answered the door as soon as he knocked.

“Come in, Detective Ellison. I was going through Mary’s papers on the desk looking for her address book. I thought there would be some people who would like to get together for a memorial service. I know the body won’t be released for a while, but I thought her friends would like to get together and say goodbye. I found this,” she said as she handed Jim the card. “Mary was going to call the florist to see if she could find out who sent the flowers. She never got the chance,” she finished sobbing quietly.

Jim took the card and small envelope holding it by its edges to keep from adding his own prints to those already on them. The flowers had been delivered from Westside Florist. There was nothing inside the envelope except the playing card. He looked closely at the card. He could detect several different prints. But he had no way of knowing if any of them belonged to the killer.

“Thank you, I’ll take this to the lab and see if they can come up with anything. We may need to get your prints for elimination”

“Detective Ellison, is there any word? Do you have any idea who could have done this?”

“We’re working on it. We’re following up on every lead we get. We hope to have a suspect in custody before long,” Jim said trying to reassure her. He put the card in a plastic evidence bag and sealed it.

~*~

Jim used his cell phone to call Rafe. He told him about the card, asked that Rafe and H question the families and friends of the other victims to see if they had also received flowers and cards, and if they had, to find out what florists had delivered them. He informed Rafe that he was going by the lab to drop off the card and envelope that he had gotten from Sharon Maxwell, on the off chance that there were useable prints. While he waited for Rafe to call him back with any results, he planned to go to the Westside Florist to see if he could get any information on who had sent the bouquet to Mary Hughes.

~*~

Jim questioned the florist and her assistant but neither of them remembered the name of the man who ordered them, only that he was about average height and weight and had sandy colored hair. He had paid for the order in cash and left.

As Jim was on his way to the University to have lunch with Blair, Rafe called. “Jim, I just left the Cramer’s. Their daughter Julie was the second victim. Mrs. Cramer said she didn’t remember until I mentioned it but Julie had told her that she had received a large bouquet of flowers the day before she died. Julie told her mother that there wasn’t a regular florist card with the flowers but a playing card, the jack of hearts. Mrs. Cramer had picked up her daughter’s things from her dorm room and she let me go through them. I found the card the flowers were from Bentley’s Florist and Nursery. H and I are on our way now to see if we can get a clue as to who sent them.”

“Thanks, Rafe,” Jim responded. “Just keep me posted if you find out anything.”

~*~

When Jim got to the university he found Blair in his office.

“Hi, I brought food,” Jim said as he sat the bag down on Blair’s desk.

“Wonder Burgers are not food, Jim.”

“Those are not Wonder Burgers, Chief, I brought salads and ice tea. I didn’t want to spend the entire lunch having you lecture me about my eating habits.”

“Any leads?” Blair asked as he began eating.

“Well, something has turned up but I don’t know what it means. We have found that another victim received a bouquet of flowers with a jack of hearts playing card attached. Different florist, though. Rafe and H are checking it out now. I hope they come up with more than I did when I questioned the florist that delivered the flowers to Mary Hughes.”

“They don’t have any records of who sent them?”

“None, the guy paid in cash. The only thing the florist or her assistant remembers about him was that he was average height and build with sandy colored hair. There are only a few thousand men that description could fit.”

“So where do you go from here?”

“We’re going to question the other families see if we can find out anything from them. But I think it will turn out that every one of the victims received the flowers and cards.”

“That’s really strange Jim. You know psychologically speaking… now don’t give me that look, I really wasn’t going to give you a lecture.”

“Yeah, right!”

“As I was saying, psychologically speaking it sounds like in this guy’s mind he is courting them before he kills them. I’m starting to wonder if he has tried to date the victims and they have turned him down. Maybe he has a worshipped-them-from-afar thing going and builds up a fantasy around them, and when they didn’t play along he killed them.”

“But according to the friends and families of the other victims, none of the women have been stalked or received threatening phone calls. The only thing they seem to have in common is being students here at Rainier and getting the flowers and cards.”

“It doesn’t have to go down that way, Jim. They don’t have to be stalked or receiving harassing phone calls. He could have been building the fantasy up in his mind and didn’t decide to try and play it out until he actually kidnapped the victims.”

“You’re the psych major Chief, I’ll take your word for it. Did you get any info here?”

“No, nothing except everyone I talked to was very upset by the murders, the co-eds especially. Which is understandable. The usual warnings came out in the student paper and were posted to the bulletin board. Never go anywhere alone, travel in groups, if you notice anything suspicious call campus security, if you have any information regarding the murders contact the police; that sort of thing. But no one I talked to so far had any real idea who might have been the killer or even remembered anything unusual about the victims.

Well I better get back to work. The fall semester starts in a couple of weeks and I need to get my course outlines up to date plus get my syllabuses in for all my classes. Man, those should have been turned in last week. It looks like it is going to be a late night.”

‘Okay, Chief, I’ll leave you to it. I’ve got to get busy myself. No matter how late it is, you call me and I’ll come by to pick you up. I don’t want you out waiting for a cab or bus.”

“Hey, Jim, in case you haven’t noticed I’m not a co-ed.”

“Yeah, I noticed, but humor me on this okay?”

“Okay, man, whatever you say,” Blair replied kissing Jim goodbye. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Call me.”

~*~

Just as Blair was packing up his notes from his last class he was approached by one of his students, Jenny Stone.

“Mr. Sandburg, would you mind walking me to my car? I know how paranoid that sounds but I live off campus and after everything that has happened I’m really nervous about walking through the parking lot after dark. Besides I would like to talk to you about something.”

“Of course I will, Jenny. What do you need to talk about?” he asked as they left the classroom.

“Well, I know that you work with the police and I’ve thought of something. I really didn’t want to come forward with it, but the more I thought about it the more worried I got. You see, I was a friend of Patsy Shields’, she was the first girl that was killed. She told me something in confidence and I sort of hated to say anything. Besides that I would be causing a lot of trouble for a member of the faculty. And, really I can’t see him doing something as horrible as these killings.”

“What is it, Jenny? If you know something that could shed some light on who’s doing this, then the police need to know.”

“Like I said, I really don’t think he did it. But I thought I would tell you and then maybe if you thought it was important you could tell the police.”

“Why don’t you just tell me what’s bothering you and then we’ll take it from there?”

“Patsy was seeing a member of the faculty, you know, romantically. He’s married. She got pregnant and she was real upset. Said she couldn’t afford an abortion and she was really afraid to tell him; afraid that he was going to be really angry.”

“Were those her exact words, Jenny, that she was afraid to tell him?”

“Yeah, I mean she was really worried. Would you talk to the police, Mr. Sandburg? Would you tell them what I said? I’d really rather not get involved.”

“I’ll talk to them but they will probably want to ask you some questions.”

“Okay, if I have to talk to them I guess I can. But I mean my name doesn’t have to be in the papers or anything does it?”

“I’m sure the police will do everything they can to keep your name out of the press but you could be called on to testify in court.”

“I never thought about that. I’m going to have to think about this.”

“Jenny, you need to tell me the guy’s name,” Blair said as they reached her car. “You could be charged with withholding evidence in a murder investigation. Beside that what if he is the killer, and another girl dies because you didn’t come forward?”

“Okay, she was seeing Professor Steinburg in the English Department.”

“Thank you. I’m going to call the police now and let them know what you’ve told me.”

When Jenny drove off Blair started walking back to Hargrove Hall. As he looked around he noticed how poorly lit the student parking lot was. He made a mental note to talk to the dean about getting more lights installed. Before he was half way across the parking lot someone grabbed him from behind and he felt a pinprick in his arm. Before he lost consciousness he looked back and realized he recognized his attacker.

After being up most of the night and spending the day working on the case Jim fell asleep on the couch waiting for Blair’s call. When he jerked awake at seven-thirty the next morning his senses went into an automatic search for Blair. He hoped with a twinge that, in spite of his promise, Blair had caught a cab back to the loft and gone upstairs to bed. He extended his hearing further to pick up the familiar heartbeat but knew already, it wasn’t there. Blair was not home. He called Blair’s office. That number and his cell phone went unanswered.

He got into his truck and siren blaring fled to the campus trying to assure himself that Blair was only sleeping at his desk; that he was okay. But a nagging feeling, whether it was his cops’ intuition or the Sentinel and Guide connection, told Jim something was definitely wrong. When he arrived at Hargrove Hall, students were going to their early morning classes. Jim raced up the steps to Blair’s office. The door was unlocked and he found Blair’s backpack on his desk. Calm down, Jim kept telling himself. It’s possible that Blair had gone home and just returned to the University early. But something in the back of Jim’s mind kept saying, something’s wrong. He would have awakened me when he came in.

Jim started asking the students in the hallway if they had seen Blair that morning. But no one had seen him since the day before. One of the instructors told Jim that he had found Blair’s backpack in a classroom and taken it to Blair’s office. After talking to Blair’s advisor and the dean of the anthropology department, Jim tried the cafeteria and the student union. No one had seen Blair at all that day and there was no sign of him anywhere on campus.

Jim finally called Simon to tell him Blair was missing.

“Now calm down, Jim. Maybe he just went for a drive or to grab some breakfast.”

“Sir, he didn’t come home all night. He rode with me yesterday and his car is still at the loft. His backpack is on his desk in his unlocked office. I think his disappearance may have something to do with the case. Blair was going to ask some questions here at the

University and see if he could get any leads. You know how he is, there’s no way of knowing what he’s gotten himself into this time.”

“Look, I’ll send Rafe and H over there to help you look for him. But I’m sure everything is okay. You know it’s probably something real simple. Maybe he just met a cute young co-ed and spent the night. Think how embarrassed we’re all going to be when he comes waltzing in bragging about his latest conquest.”

“Simon, I can assure you that is not the case. There is something that you and I need to talk about. But right now all I can think of is finding Blair.”

“Alright, I’ll have Rafe and H there in about half-an-hour”

“I’ll meet them at Hargrove Hall. In the meantime, I’m going to talk to campus security and see if I can get any leads there.”

~*~

The office for campus security was in the administration building. The head of security, George Wright, was an ex-police officer who liked Blair and was very concerned when Jim told him of his disappearance.

“We’ve beefed up security here since those co-eds have been murdered. I go out at night and patrol the student’s parking lots myself. I saw Blair last night talking to a young woman in the parking lot near Hargrove Hall. She got into her car and drove away and he started walking back toward his office. I didn’t see where he went.”

“Did you happen to recognize the girl?” Jim asked.

“No, I can’t say I did, but it should be easy to see what classes are held there at that time of night and start asking those students if they’ve seen him. Maybe the young woman was in his class. That parking lot is very poorly lit and all the women who attend classes or work here at night are very nervous about walking to their cars.”

“I’m sure that Blair would have a schedule and a list of the students names. Thanks for your help,” Jim said as he started to leave.

“Wait and I’ll go with you. The students here know me; they may be more comfortable talking to me than they would to the police.”

~*~

When they arrived at Blair’s office Rafe and H were waiting for them. They went through the papers in Blair’s desk and found that the class he had taught the night before was his Anthro 101 class. They then located the class roster and got the names of the female students. Wright called his office to get the addresses of the students. “If the students have a parking permit we have a record of their names, addresses and phone numbers,” he explained. They divided the list with Rafe and H taking half and Jim and Wright taking the other half. By ten o’clock Jim had only one name left on his list, that of Jennifer Stone. She hadn’t been home when he called so he left his name and cell phone number on her answering machine and asked that she call him back immediately. Just as he took out his phone to call Simon it rang.

“Ellison.”

“Detective Ellison, my name is Jennifer Stone. I got home and got the message that you were trying to reach me. You said it was urgent?”

“Yes, Ms. Stone, we are trying to locate anyone who might have seen or spoken to Blair Sandburg last night.”

”I spoke to him; as a matter of fact he walked me to my car. Why do you ask? Has something happened to Mr. Sandburg?”

“Yes. Blair has disappeared and we are trying to get some information as to his whereabouts. You said he walked you to your car last night. Did you happen to see where he went?”

“Oh, God, I can’t believe this. No, I didn’t see where he went. He started walking back toward Hargrove. Oh, God, Detective Ellison, if this is because of what I told him then it’s all my fault.”

“Ms. Stone, what did you tell him?”

“Well, it was about the first girl that was murdered. Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to get involved now. I told Mr. Sandburg and now he’s missing. I’m scared, Detective.”

“Look, if you know anything about these murders or Blair’s disappearance you need to tell me before someone else is killed.”

“I’m scared, Detective,” she shouted. “ I don’t want to get involved. Can’t you understand that?”

“I can put you in protective custody until this person is caught. Or if you refuse to cooperate, I can arrest you and hold you for obstructing a police investigation. Now, what’s it going to be?”

“The first victim, Patsy Shields, I knew her. She was having an affair with a member of the faculty. She was pregnant. He’s married and she was afraid to tell him. She was really upset. I told Mr. Sandburg about it last night. He said that he thought I should tell the police. Now he’s disappeared.”

“Ms. Stone, I need the man’s name.”

“Surely he didn’t… I can’t…”

“Ms. Stone,” he said very slowly and distinctly. “I need the man’s name, now.”

“It was Professor Stan Goldberg from the English Department.”

“Thank you,” Jim said. “Stay put and I’ll get an officer over there to stay with you.” With that he hung up the phone and called Simon.

“Simon, I’ve come up with some information on Blair’s disappearance and a possible suspect in the Ripper murders. A Professor Stan Goldberg of the English department. He was dating the first victim and she got pregnant. A co-ed told Blair about it right before he disappeared. I don’t know if there is a connection but it looks like it. I’m going over to the English Department to see if I can locate him. I’m going to bring him in for questioning on probable cause. I need you get an officer over to Ms. Stone’s residence, I promised her protection until this guy is brought in. It will reassure her until we can get the guy into custody.”

~*~

Blair slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings. He was sitting on the floor with his ankles bound and his hands tied behind his back. It looked like he was in a small cabin. The only furnishings were an old wood burning cook stove, a table and two chairs. There was a bed against the far wall.

There was a man sitting in one of the chairs. Blair still couldn’t see him clearly. His head hurt from the drug he had been given and he was dizzy.

What am I doing here? What happened? He thought vaguely. Then he remembered walking Jenny back to her car and the attack on him in the parking lot.

“Why did you do this?” Blair mumbled as he struggled with the ropes on his wrists. “What do you want? Why did you bring me here?” He looked down at the ropes on his ankles and a thought occurred to him. Rope! A Hemp rope! Oh God no it can’t be. Blair quickly closed his eyes hoping he hadn’t been heard.

“So, you’re awake,” he said as he came over and knelt beside Blair.

“Why are you doing this?” Blair asked again. “Why did you bring me here? You kidnapped me and you’re holding me prisoner. I think I at least deserve to know what I did.”

“I had to stop you.”

“Stop me from doing what? Man, just tell me and you can consider it done.”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anymore out of you. You want to know why I brought you here? What did you think I was going to do, let you steal her from me? She liked me; she wanted to be with me. Then you came along and started sweet-talking her. You’re trying to take her away from me but I won’t let you. Do you hear me?” he shouted, drops of moisture spraying Blair’s face. “It was you, wasn’t it? It was you the whole time. They would have liked me all of them but they couldn’t be faithful. It was all because of you wasn’t it? Answer me wasn’t it?”

“You’re the one that’s been killing those women,” Blair blurted unthinkingly. His own anger rose. “They trusted you. They would never have had any reason to believe that you would hurt them. How could you do it man? How could you do something so horrible to those innocent women?”

“Those innocent women,” he shouted as he became more and more agitated. “That’s a good one. Those women weren’t innocent; they were nothing but whores, tramps. They cheated on me, they were unfaithful. It was you the whole time wasn’t it; flirting with them, coming on to them?”

“Look,” Blair said softly trying to calm the man down. “I’m not trying to take anyone away from you.”

“Oh, you tried it all right. You almost succeeded too. You didn’t plan on me finding out until it was too late. But I did find out and now that you’re out of the way. Jenny will come back to me. The funny thing is, up until I saw you with Jenny last night I would never have suspected. I thought you and that detective were a couple. I never would have guessed that you swing both ways.”

“Jim and I are a couple. I am not trying to take Jenny away from you.”

By this time he was almost incoherent with rage as he paced the floor and shouted at Blair. “Don’t even try to lie to me. I saw you with her last night,” he said as he stopped and knelt in front of Blair again. A calmness came over him. “But the lies are over and I’m not going to let you ever stand in my way again,” with that he closed his fist and hit Blair so hard that he knocked him unconscious.

Her face floated around him, the fear in her eyes reproaching. Her finger pointed at him and accused, “You killed me. Why? I’m a good person; I didn’t deserve to die this way. Why did you do it?”

“I had to,” he answered. “You were going to ruin my life.”

He covered his face with his hands so that he wouldn’t have to see her. But the vision remained and he could still hear “Why? ” over and over.

He woke panic stricken covered in sweat, he was at home and safe; no one knew what he had done. A dream, that’s all it is. A dream. He sat up in bed and took a deep breath to calm himself.

He laughed to himself. Wouldn’t it be funny, he thought, after everything I’ve done to die of a heart attack in my sleep?

Replaying each and every kill in his mind, he made sure he hadn’t made any mistakes that would lead the police to him. No, each one was perfect, he thought. They have no reason to believe it was me. Besides, who could really blame me for what I did? They deserved to die all of them. Patsy, I really loved her and trusted her, but she betrayed that trust just like the others. They were all betrayers and they deserved to die. No one seems to understand. I used to hide the bodies, but not any more. I want everyone to see what happens to betrayers. I want to show them that I will not allow anyone to hurt and get away with it, not again, not ever again!

~*~

When Stan Goldberg got up the next morning his wife was sitting at the kitchen table folding the laundry.

"You slept late, are you okay?” she asked.

He poured himself a glass of juice and sat down opposite her at the table. “Yeah, I’m okay, I guess. I just haven’t been sleeping well lately. I keep getting these headaches. I don’t think I’ll go into the office until later. I don’t have a class until this afternoon and I just don’t feel up to it.”

“You sure you’re okay?” She felt his forehead. “By the way, what does the other guy look like?”

“What… What are you talking about?”

“Your hand,” she said pointing to his knuckles. “You look like you’ve been in a fight.”

“I was working downstairs in my shop last night and I scraped my knuckles.”

“I wondered what happened to your t-shirt there’s blood all over it. You know lately I’ve found blood on a lot of your clothes, I’m starting to get worried about these nosebleeds. I think you should see a doctor.”

“I’ve had them all my life it’s no big deal. I’m going back downstairs. There’s something in the shop I want to finish before going to school.”

~*~

With phone held to his ear, Jim manouvered his way through campus traffic waiting for Simon to get back to him.

“That’s right Simon, a Dr. Stan Goldberg G-o-l-d-b-e-r-g could you check and see if he has any priors, also check the coroner’s report and see if there is any mention of pregnancy. When I looked over the files for the victims I only skimmed over them comparing the knife wounds, angle, number, and force of entry. It’s possible I didn’t notice.”

“Yes, according to the M.E., Ms. Shields was about eight weeks pregnant.”

“I’m working with an Officer Wright here of campus security, we’re going over to the English department to talk to Professor Goldberg.”

“Okay Jim, just keep me posted.”

When Jim went to the English department he found that Professor Goldberg had not come in to his office yet. Even after showing his badge and explaining that he needed to contact Professor Goldberg immediately on an issue of some importance, the dean’s secretary told him that she couldn’t give out the personal addresses and phone numbers of the faculty.

“Come on Joan,” Officer Wright said. “Detective Ellison is just doing his job. He can get a court order for the information but that’s just a waste of time just give him the address okay?”

When Jim fixed her with an icy stare and informed her that he was placing her under arrest for hindering him in an official police investigation, she immediately went to her computer and pulled up the address for Professor Goldberg. She wrote it down and without saying anything handed it to Jim. “Overkill,” he heard Blair’s opinion in his mind.

“Thank you,” Jim responded coldly and left.

“Simon, We’re just leaving the English department Professor Goldberg hasn’t come into work yet. I’ve got his address, I’m going over there to see what I can find out.”

“Okay, but take H and Rafe with you for back up. If this guy is a killer I don’t want you to go in there alone, besides if they’re with you then there’s less chance of you flying off the handle and getting the charges thrown out on a technicality.”

~*~

When the three detectives knocked on the door of the modest split-level, a small, mousy looking woman peering up at them through thick, wire-rimmed glasses answered it.

“May I help you?” she asked.

“Is this the Goldberg residence?” At her nod he flipped open his badge and continued, “My name is Detective James Ellison. Is Professor Goldberg in?

“Yes, he’s in the basement. What’s this all about?”

“We just need to ask Professor Goldberg a few questions.”

“Come right this way,” she said as stepped back. She led them through the house and into the kitchen. Just as she reached the door to the basement Jim stopped and looked at the laundry basket sitting on the table. He focused his sight on the stained garments in the basket, even though they had been washed he could easily see the blood stains. He could still pick up a trace of the coppery scent of blood.

With a lift of his eyebrow and a sliding glance, Jim signaled Rafe to note the laundry.

~*~

“Stan, there are some people here to see you,” she called as they filed past her down the stairs.

“Average,” Jim thought as he looked at the Professor, “Average height, average build, and average appearance; just average. If he’s the killer, no wonder none of the people at the flower shops were able to describe him.

“How can I help you?” Goldberg asked as he came over extending his hand to the detectives.

Knuckles bruised and skinned, Jim noted.

“As I’m sure you know, there have been several co-eds murdered. We’re following up on every lead we get to find the person responsible.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Why don’t we go back upstairs, Detective? We can continue this discussion in my study.”

He led the way back upstairs and into a small office in the back of the house. Rafe stopped Mrs. Goldberg just as she was about to follow the others.

“Mrs. Goldberg, one moment, please. I would like to ask you just a few questions,” he said leading her back into the kitchen.

“I don’t know what I could tell you, detective.”

“I just want you to clear up a few things for me, please. It won’t take long. Mrs. Goldberg, can you tell us where your husband was last night,” Rafe asked.

“He was here. He was working downstairs in his shop all evening. He was still working when I went to bed.”

“What time was that?”

“About 10:30. I watched the ten o’ clock news and went to bed.”

“What time did your husband go to bed?”

“I don’t know, Detective. I was asleep.”

“What about Tuesday night?”

“He was here all evening Tuesday, also. Detective, you surely don’t believe my husband had anything to do with the deaths of those girls?”

“In an investigation like this we have to question everyone. What time did he come to bed Tuesday?”

“I don’t know, Detective. My husband and I have separate rooms.”

“So, you really wouldn’t know if your husband left the house or not?”

“No Detective, I suppose not.”

~*~

When Professor Goldberg closed the door and turned to face Jim and H. he asked, “What questions did you want to ask me Detective? Are you arresting me for something?”

“We would like for you to come with us voluntarily to answer some question. We’re not here to make any type of formal charges,” Jim said. “ But we can place you under arrest for probable cause if necessary.”

“Under arrest for what? What’s this all about?”

“I should inform you, Professor Goldberg, you do have a right to an attorney and to have him present during questioning.”

“I don’t need an attorney, I haven’t done anything. Detective you can’t just come into my home and start interrogating me. I demand to know what this is all about, or you can get out right now.”

Jim listened to the man’s racing heart.

“Professor Goldberg, we would like to ask you a few questions regarding your association with a murder victim by the name of Patricia Shields. And the disappearance of my associate, Blair Sandburg.”

“Patricia Shields was one of my students in my freshman English class.”

“According to our sources, your relationship with Ms. Shields went beyond that of teacher/student.”

“This is all gossip,” Goldberg said. “It isn’t even admissible in a court of law.”

“We haven’t said anything about a trial, Professor Goldberg,” Jim answered.

“And, you’re right. For now it is hearsay evidence but DNA tests will straighten things out. Blair Sandburg teaches Anthropology at Rainier. He also works as a consultant/observer for our department. Our source approached Mr. Sandburg last night and told him that Patsy had confided in her that the two of you were having an affair and that she was pregnant. She also told Mr. Sandburg that Ms. Shields was afraid to tell you; afraid of what your reaction might be. Shortly after our source left, Mr. Sandburg disappeared. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since and that leads us to some unpleasant conclusions.”

“You think I had something to do with his disappearance? I was here all evening you can ask my wife.”

“Professor Goldberg, what type blood do you have?”

“O, just like almost everyone else in this country, why?”

“Would you mind if we take one or two of those pieces of laundry with us to the lab?”

“Detective, I’ve had enough of this. I don’t like what you’re insinuating. Arrest me or get out. You don’t have a warrant, so I suggest you leave.”

“Professor Goldberg, I can arrest you for suspicion without a warrant and hold you in custody for up to forty-eight hours.”

“So, you are arresting me?”

“Very well, Professor, I am. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney…”

“I know my rights and I’m not saying anything else until I talk to my lawyer.”

The three policemen escorted Goldberg past his wife out to the car. “You can have your attorney come to the station, Mrs. Goldberg,” Jim said as they left.

Stan Goldberg was escorted into the interview room by Rafe and H. Jim and Simon watched from the observation room at Simon’s insistence. He was afraid that Jim would lose control and jeopardize the case.

“Look, Simon, just let me in there. I will keep my head, there won’t be a problem but I may be able to tell something from his voice or his heartbeat,” Jim pleaded as he began pacing.

“ Just dial your hearing up toward him. I’ll be here if I see you start to zone. But Jim, for the sake of this case I can’t let you in there.”

About that time the door opened and Megan escorted Officer Wright into the observation booth.

“Captain, Jim, I didn’t think you would mind if Officer Wright came in to hear the questioning.”

“Simon, this is the campus security guard that helped me out at the U, Officer George Wright. Officer Wright, this is my Captain, Simon Banks.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Captain Banks. I know I’m barging in but I feel I have a vested interest in this. I keep thinking if campus security were tighter none of this would have happened; not the deaths of those poor girls or Blair Sandburg’s disappearance.”

“We all want to see this resolved, Officer Wright.”

~*~

Professor Goldberg and Rafe seated themselves at the table in the interrogation room.

A tape recorder was already in place on top of the table, along with a file folder containing information on the Ripper’s victims, a large pitcher of cold water and several glasses.

“ Professor Goldberg, I know you contacted your attorney,” Rafe began, “so, we will not be asking you any questions until he arrives.”

“Look, I didn’t kill anybody and I don’t know anything about that TA that disappeared.”

“Please don’t say anything more, Professor.”

“I didn’t kill anybody,” he repeated shouting. “I haven’t kidnapped anybody. What do I have to do to get you people to listen to me?”

“Professor Goldberg,” Rafe said calmly. “As an officer of the court I can’t allow you to continue. Unless you agree to not say anything more in regards to this case, I’ll have to leave the room.”

“I don’t understand why I can’t state my innocence without having an attorney present.”

“Professor Goldberg, I’ll wait outside.”

“No, never mind, I won’t say anything more about the case. Can we at least talk about the weather?”

“Sir, it would really be better if we didn’t talk at all.”

He sighed and reached for the pitcher of water, poured himself a glass, drank it and then sat the glass back on the tray. Rafe sat and watched silently.

In about fifteen minutes James Early, Professor Goldberg’s attorney, came into the room.

“Have you answered any questions, Stan?”

“They haven’t even let me tell them I’m innocent.”

“In that case I’d like a moment with my client, please,” he said looking at Rafe and H.

They left the room and Simon turned off the microphone in the observation room. But Jim dialed his hearing up to see if the Professor mentioned anything about Blair’s disappearance.

“All right, Stan, suppose you tell me what’s going on.”

“They think I’m the one that killed those girls and there is a TA missing. They think I kidnapped him or…or worse. I didn’t do it "

“All right, first things first. Did you know any of those girls?”

“Yes, I had seen a couple of them on campus and Patsy Shields was in my freshman English class. She was having trouble and I was tutoring her a couple of times a week.

It turns out that she was pregnant and she told someone that I was the father.”

“Were you?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“That means you could have been.”

“Yes, but I didn’t even know that she was pregnant and I didn’t kill anyone.”

“I think your best bet is to admit that you had an affair with the Shields woman. Cooperate with them at this point.”

“That could mean the end of my tenure at Rainier if that ever came out, not to mention my marriage being over.”

“Quite frankly, Stan, you should have thought of that before. I’ll ask the two detectives to come back in.”

When Rafe and H were seated Simon turned the microphone back on. He looked over at Jim and raised his eyebrow, Jim gave a light shake of his head as answer.

“Gentlemen, my client will make a brief statement.”

“I admit that I knew Patsy Shields and that she and I had a very brief affair. But I didn’t kill her nor any of the other girls and I don’t know anything about Blair Sandburg’s disappearance.”

“Would you be willing to be fingerprinted and giving a blood sample to allow us to run tests? We have gotten a search warrant and two officers are at your home now, We have already confiscated some clothing there that has what appears to be bloodstains.”

“Look, Detective, I have nosebleeds. I’m a borderline hemophiliac. Any blood that you saw on those clothes is mine.”

“In that case, you won’t mind us running a comparison.”

~*~

At that moment a uniformed officer knocked on the door and entered. He handed Simon an evidence bag containing a couple of hypodermics and a vial of (a barbiturate) and another bag containing the blood stained clothes from Professor Goldberg’s home.

“Get these down to the lab. I want the results immediately and ask them how they are coming with the fingerprinting on those playing cards.”

The conversation resumed in the interrogation room. “Look, I’ll have my fingerprints taken and I’ll give a blood sample. I don’t have anything to hide and I want this over with.”

“If you’ll come with me, Professor, we’ll do the fingerprinting then we’ll take you down to the lab for the blood test.”

“Then can I go?”

“We’ll need to wait for the preliminary tests on the blood work which shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. Then we’ll take it from there,” Rafe said as he escorted him out the door.”

~*~

“Captain, Lieutenant,” Officer Wright said. “Would you mind letting me know when you get the results? I have some appointments that I have to keep before I go back on duty.”

“Of course,” Simon replied. “We’ll get in touch with you at Rainier as soon as we know anything.”

~*~

Rafe and a uniformed officer escorted the Professor to the rest room to wash his hands before taking him to the lab to get the blood test. H had already taken the fingerprints to the lab before going off duty.

~*~

He waited outside the lab at the vending machines. He wasn’t sure when he was going to be able to do what he came to do. Then he saw the pathologist leave the lab and come to the vending machine. She smiled in greeting then turned to one of the uniformed officers who just passed by asking about the Jags game on Saturday. No one saw him enter the lab.

~*~

An hour later the lab reported that the vial found at the Professor’s home contained the same type of barbiturate that was used to sedate the victims. Rafe and H joined Professor Goldberg and his attorney back to the interrogation room.

“Professor Goldberg,” Rafe began. “We found a vial of barbiturate and a couple of hypodermics when we searched your home. The barbiturate was the same type used to sedate the victims. Also your fingerprints were found on the playing cards that at least two of the victim’s received attached to bouquets of flowers that were sent to them anonymously. Would you like to tell us about that?”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

“Gentlemen, are you charging my client?”

“Yes, we are with first degree murder.” With that Rafe began to officially read the man his rights.

~*~

When Blair regained consciousness in the cabin he was alone. Finally, after hours of struggling with the ropes that left his wrists sore and bleeding, he managed to get loose. He quickly untied his legs. He had been sitting so long it took him a moment before he was finally able to walk. He opened the door into his kidnapper.

“Going somewhere, Mr. Sandburg?”

Jim sat in the interrogation room looking at the lab reports on the fingerprints. He sought out the interrogation room to be alone with his thoughts for a moment. And his thoughts were in turmoil. This mad man who kidnapped his victims, killed them and disemboweled them had kidnapped Blair, probably because he got too close to the truth. Jim reached over and picked up the glass Goldberg drank from and thought, ‘He sat in this very room and denied knowing anything about the killings or Blair’s disappearance. Now I don’t know where Blair is or if he’s alright. Oh, sweetheart, I have to know if you’re all right; I have to have you back with me. I would die if I lost you. A small hitch in his breathing escaped Jim’s lips as he stared at the pattern of swirls and indentations in the fingerprints on the glass. Then he noticed something. He studied the fingerprints more closely then looked again at the file.

“Oh dear God,” Jim exclaimed. “They don’t match.”

~*~

Blair opened the door to his kidnapper.

“Going somewhere, Mr. Sandburg?”

Blair began to slowly back into the cabin as the kidnapper entered smacking his palm with his nightstick.

“Did you really think you could get away and if you did, where did you think you would go? You’re miles from anywhere. Now sit down, Mr. Sandburg,” he said as he pointed to a chair at the table.

Blair sat as the kidnapper reached over to the wood box and pulled out a coil of rope. He tied Blair’s legs together then tied them to the legs of the chair. Then he pulled the rope under the seat and tied his hands, fastening the rope to the chair back.

“Why are you doing this?” Blair asked. “You can’t keep me here forever.”

“Because you have to pay for what you’ve done. Those women liked me. We could have had something special. But each time I thought I found the right one, the one that would really care about me, you turned their heads. After that they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. It’s all your fault and you’re going to pay.” With that he backhanded Blair making his lip bleed again.

~*~

As soon as Jim noticed the difference in the fingerprints he called upstairs to Simon’s office.

“Simon, we have a problem. The fingerprint report has been tampered with. The prints in the report don’t match the prints on the glass Goldberg drank from. I need you to authorize running the lab prints again through R and I and see who they belong to.”

“Jim, hold it. What are you talking about?” Simon said into the phone.

“The prints on the glass Goldberg drank from in the interrogation room are different from the prints in the report from the lab. Whoever these prints belong to is the real killer and the one who has Blair.”

“But what about the other evidence, the syringe and drugs that were found in Goldberg’s home?”

“Look, I don’t have all the answers. I just know that these two sets of prints are different and I have a feeling that when we find out who these prints belong to we’ll find the killer and Blair.”

“All right, Jim. I’ll call R and I and DMV and tell them we need the results stat.”

~*~

“I told you that I hardly knew those girls and I had nothing to do with them. The only relationship you had with them was in your mind.” Blair said. At this point he was so frustrated and furious that he didn’t care what he said to the kidnapper. “They could tell how sick and perverted you were. That’s why they didn’t want anything to do with you. You kidnapped them and pretended they were your lovers. When they wouldn’t play along, you murdered them and mutilated their bodies. You sick bastard. How long do you think you can get away with this? They’ll catch you, you know.”

“What the hell would you know about a relationship with a woman, you damn faggot?” the kidnapper screamed as he closed his fist and punched Blair in the eye.

“As for them catching me, they’ve already arrested Goldberg.”

“How long do you think you can go without killing again? Once you do, they’re going to know they arrested the wrong man and they’re going to intensify the search.”

“Do you really think they’ve found the bodies of all the women? They only found the ones I wanted them to find, the ones that I wanted to make examples. You know that’s what I’m going to do with you, don’t you? I’m going to make an example out of you. I’ve never done a man before, but then again you’re not really a man. Are you, faggot?”

~*~

Jim and Simon waited in Simon’s office for the results from R and I and DMV on the prints. Simon grabbed the phone on the first ring.

“Banks”

“I see… Are you absolutely sure? Put out an APB on him. Tell them to use extreme caution and to assume he is armed and dangerous and has a hostage. Keep me posted.”

“You’re not going to believe this,” Simon said hanging up the phone. “The prints belong to the security guard, George Wright. He didn’t show up for work this afternoon.”

“Wright? Damn it, Simon, that’s a perfect cover. Those co-eds would have trusted him.”

“Also, we’re going to release Goldberg. We were holding him mostly because the prints matched. Now that we know they don’t, we have to assume that the other evidence could have been tampered with or planted as well. I’m afraid that someone has already leaked his release to the media. I just pray that the fact that we have an APB out on Wright wasn’t also leaked. I don’t want to tip off this guy.”

~*~

“We should be able to catch the arrest on the news,” Wright said as he reached to turn on a small portable radio.

“Repeating our top news story, Professor Stanley Goldberg of Rainer University was arrested and charged this morning with the murders of several co-eds in what has been dubbed as the “Cascade Ripper Murders”. But our sources at the Cascade Police Department have informed us that Professor Goldberg has been released. The source states that the fingerprints on evidence found at the scene of the murders did not match those of Professor Goldberg. The police have now issued an APB for a campus security guard named George Wright in connection with the slayings.”

Blair watched all color drain from Wright’s face as he listened to the news report.

“I told you that you would never get away with it. They know, now what are you going to do?” came the softly asked question.

“Just shut up and let me think,” he said as he paced. “All right, I still have you as a hostage,” he said as he bent and untied Blair’s legs. “Come on we’re taking a little trip to Canada,” with that he pulled Blair to his feet. Blair spun and kicked Wright in the crotch. He managed to get the door open and ran out into the night.

P> Blair knew it would only be a matter of minutes before Wright would follow him as he flew through the cabin door. He both blessed and cursed the full moon as he ran. The moonlight gave him enough illumination that he could get a general idea of his surroundings and avoid tripping. But he also knew the light would make him visible unless he kept to the shadows. Running was awkward with his hands still bound behind him. His wrists were still sore and bleeding from his last escape. He was in agony as he struggled with the ropes while he ran through the night.

He had no idea of the exact time when he stopped for a few minutes to rest. The sky was slowly brightening so he knew it would be daylight soon. He was exhausted. He felt as though he had been running for days. Wright had pursued him all night. He had tripped and fallen a couple of times and with his hands still bound behind him he couldn't catch himself or do anything to break the fall. The last time he had fallen he painfully twisted his ankle but he didn't stop. Each time he did or was accidentally caught in a ray of moonlight, Wright was close enough to fire a shot. He knew he had to find water soon. Wright hadn't given him a drop to drink since he kidnapped him and with running all night he knew he was close to dehydration.

~*~

He reminds me of a caged animal, Simon thought as he watched his friend pacing back and forth in front of the office window as they waited for Rafe and H to call. He's like a big cat; a jaguar maybe, Simon mused.

"Jim, you need to sit down. Wearing out my floor isn't going to make the phone ring any sooner."

A co-worker of Wright's had called when he came on duty at seven and heard the news that Wright was wanted in connection with the co-ed murders and Blair's kidnapping. Jim had wanted to interview the co- worker himself but Simon had insisted that Rafe and H do it since Jim was so close to the case.

Jim hung his head and took a deep breath trying to remember all the relaxation techniques Blair had taught him.

"Did you find out who leaked the information to the press?" Jim asked as he looked out the window and prayed Blair wasn't hurt.

"It was a new civilian file clerk in R and I. She overheard a couple of the detectives talking about the case and immediately called her boyfriend who happens to be the news director of a local radio station."

"Please, tell me it isn't that easy."

"I'm afraid in this case it is. We always run security clearances on new civilian employees before we hire them. But, something like this was totally unforeseen."

"Does she have any idea what she's done?" Jim asked angrily. "Does she realize that she tipped off a killer that we were onto him and because of that she endangered the life of a hostage?"

"I don't think she stopped to think about anything except furthering her boyfriends career," Simon replied wearily. "She won't have the chance again."

Just then the phone rang. As Simon picked up the receiver Jim dialed up his hearing.

"Banks."

"Captain, it's Rafe. We met with Jack Simmons, Wright's co-worker. He said that Wright has a cabin up at Crystal Lake. He told us he went up there once on a fishing trip. It's pretty isolated. Took them hours to get there by four-wheel drive but there are some clearings around the lake where he thinks we could land a couple of choppers. He said the cabin is about 3/4 of a mile due west of the lake."

"Rafe, you and H get back here ASAP. I'll arrange for a couple of choppers. You two meet me on the roof fully outfitted; vests, rifles the works."

"Jim, as you probably heard we've got a lead," Simon said as he disconnected from Rafe and called down to arrange for the helicopters and assault gear.

A half-hour later the two helicopters lifted off the roof of the Cascade PD as Jim, Simon, Rafe and H made their way to Crystal Lake.

~*~

When Blair spotted the stream he half ran and half staggered down the slope. He knew he was taking a chance but he was so thirsty that he felt that he would collapse if he didn't get water soon.

He looked cautiously around him as he came out of the trees into the clearing but he neither saw nor heard anything. Since his hands were still tied behind him he had to kneel down and drink like an animal.

When he drank his fill he looked up to see Wright standing at the edge of the trees not more than twenty feet from him.

"Well, Mr. Sandburg, had enough?" he asked with a wry smile on his face as he slowly raised his gun and aimed at Blair's chest. "I have wasted enough time with you and I have completely run out of patience. Stand up and let's go. And I warn you, Mr. Sandburg, if you try anything else I will kill you."

"You won't kill me," Blair responded. "If you kill me you won't have a hostage, and without a hostage you have no bargaining power."

"I guess that's a chance that I'm just going to have to take isn't it?"

Blair slowly rose to his feet, swaying for a moment on his injured ankle. He walked slowly around Wright and started back toward the tree line in the direction of the cabin with Wright following slightly behind.

When he reached the trees, in a last desperate attempt for freedom, Blair quickly turned to his left and started running in a zigzag pattern hoping that Wright couldn't hit a moving target. He hadn't gone more than twenty feet when he felt the impact as the bullet hit him; he heard the shot ring out as he fell.

"That's the lake up ahead," Simon said through the headphones as the helicopters circled the area. "There's Wright's cabin and that's his truck parked in front; it looks like he's still here. We're going to have to land in that clearing on the other side of the lake and hike back to keep from tipping Wright off." The group of heavily armored police ran a quick check of gear and prepared to off-load as swiftly as possible, knowing time could be essential for their colleague.

When they landed Jim headed immediately toward the cover of the nearest trees. He had only gone a few steps when he felt a sinuous rub against his leg. Apprehension gripped his chest when the import of the jaguar's presence hit him.

He signaled to the pilot to cut the engines and tried to dial up his hearing over the pounding of his heart. Suddenly Jim heard a gunshot from the direction of the lake and a wolf howling as though in pain. He knew that Blair had been injured.

"Jim, what is it? What's wrong?" Simon asked when he saw the look on his friend's face.

"A gunshot from the direction of the lake," Jim called over his shoulder as he sped after the cat toward the sounds.

"Rafe, take the men up ahead to the cabin. Encircle the cabin and secure the area. Make sure that truck doesn't leave," Simon ordered as he followed Jim into the woods.

~*~

He hadn't gone more than twenty feet when he felt the impact as the bullet hit him. He heard the sound of the shot as he was falling. Blair lay there stunned. He was in agony; his shoulder felt as though it were on fire. Wright walked up behind him but he couldn't move. When Wright saw that Blair was conscious he reached down and roughly pulled him to his feet. Between the pain in his shoulder and the pain in his ankle Blair nearly collapsed.

"Come on, let's go," Wright said as he pushed him in the direction of the cabin. "We're heading back to the cabin to get my truck then we're heading for the border."

"Man, I'm dying here. I'll never make it back to the cabin."

"You're a long way from dead. That shoulder wound's gonna' hurt like hell but it won't kill you. If I had wanted to kill you I could have at any time. Now move!"

"It has to be at least a day's walk back. I'm telling you I'll never make it."

"You idiot, you've been running in circles all night. We're not more than a mile from there. Now I'm telling you for the last time move it."

"You're crazy if you think you're going to get away with this."

"Shut up and walk."

"They know who you are. They know you killed those girls. Simon won't stop until they have you in custody. And Jim probably won't stop until you're dead." The last has said more to himself than Wright.

"I said shut up," Wright shouted as he grabbed Blair's arm causing Blair to cry out from the pain.

"Man, just give it up," Blair said softly. "It's over. Can't you see that?"

"I said shut up," Wright repeated as he hit Blair with the gun butt knocking him out.

Jim froze when he saw Wright hit Blair.

A calming sense of purpose focused his instinct to protect his Guide and lover and transformed him into the unstoppable force his Ranger teammates would have easily recognized. He advanced through the underbrush placing himself between the enraged killer and Blair. A flurry of swift kicks and punches as deadly as they were graceful rendered the Ripper helpless on the ground.

When Simon reached them Jim was on top of Wright choking him. Nothing Simon could do or say would persuade Jim to release Wright. It was as though Jim were zoned on the single-minded thought of killing him.

Suddenly Jim stiffened and looked at Blair who was slowly regaining consciousness.

When Blair softly called Jim's name he released Wright, who appeared to be unconscious and raced to Blair's side cradling him in his arms.

Wright took the advantage of Jim and Simon's attention being fixed on Blair by grabbing the gun hidden at his back and pointing it at Jim.

Blair shouted, "No," just as Simon caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned and fired.

Wright took the advantage of Jim and Simon's attention being fixed on Blair by grabbing the gun hidden at his back and pointing it at Jim.

Blair shouted, "No" and tried to roll his body over Jim's just as Simon caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, turned and fired.

The bullet hit Wright in the shoulder and he dropped the gun with a startled cry as he bent over in pain.

"Alright, freeze. Right where you are. Don't make any sudden moves. Jim.Jim." Simon called to attract his detective's attention as he slowly advanced toward Wright.

When Simon reached Wright, he kicked the gun away a short distance, bent over, picked it up and put it in his belt. All while keeping Wright in his sight the entire time.

"Alright, stand up slowly," Simon told him.

Wright seemed to be in a great deal of pain as he slowly stood holding his left arm. His breath came in gasps as he leaned to the side.

Simon holstered his own weapon and took out his handcuffs while Jim covered him, his own gun pointed at Wright's chest.

Blair moaned as he turned to ease all the way out of Jim's line of fire. That was just enough to distract Jim for an instant. In a sudden move that took both Simon and Jim by surprised, Wright made a massive effort and grabbed Simon in a chokehold, pulling the gun from Simon's belt and pointing it at his temple.

"Drop it or I shoot," Jim shouted pointing the gun at Wright's head.

"I'm getting out of here and he's going with me," Wright shouted as he started backing away dragging a struggling Simon with him.

"Jim, shoot," Simon managed to whisper. "Don't let him get away."

Jim focused his sight on Wright's forehead and fired. In a reflexive action Wright's finger tightened on the trigger. But, Simon only heard the soft click of an empty chamber. Wright had fired so many shots at Blair that the gun was empty.

Wright released Simon as he fell to the ground.

Jim advanced slowly toward Wright keeping his gun trained on him. He knelt and took Wright's pulse though it was quite obvious he was indeed dead.

"Simon, are you alright?" Jim asked turning to his friend and examining his throat.

"Yea, I'm okay. Just a little weak in the knees. Man, I must be living right for that gun to misfire like that. Maybe I should sit here and think about that for awhile. Oh, how's Sandburg?"

"He took a bullet to the shoulder," Jim said as he walked over and lay his arm gently around Blair's shoulders. "Wright also knocked him out so I think we are dealing with a possible concussion."

"It looks like you took a pretty bad beating there, Chief," Jim said as he examined Blair's face.

"Yeah, well, I kept pissing him off by trying to escape."

Jim just chuckled at the usual from his Guide and ran his fingers through his leaf-decorated hair. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Jim ran his hands lightly over Blair's body using his sense of touch to detect any other injuries.

"When I escaped last night I fell and twisted my ankle."

"Simon, I think we need to get the chopper for Blair. I don't think he can make it far on foot"

"I agree. Sims stayed with the choppers; I'll call him and have him bring the chopper closer. That clearing we saw by the cabin should be big enough. Sims, do you read me, over?" Simon keyed the radio.

"Sims here Captain, over."

"I need you to bring the chopper in closer, land in the clearing near the cabin. Sandburg is injured and we need to get him to the hospital quickly. Sandburg, do you think you can walk that far?"

"Simon, really man that won't be necessary. I'm not hurt that bad; I can go back in the truck."

"Chief, we came in the choppers. It would take hours for backup to get here and we need to get you to the hospital."

"Hey, man, I'm cool with that. I can wait."

A weave to the side and a soft gasp did nothing to advance the sitting man's case.

"Simon, I think you should go in and get checked out along with Sandburg," Jim said as he examined Simon's throat more closely.

"No, I'm alright. I'll stay here and wait for the crime boys and ME to get here. I have a hunch this is where Wright brought all his victims to kill them. I want to make sure the cabin is gone over with a fine- toothed comb."

Come on, Chief. Let's go," Jim said as he heard the helicopter getting closer. He reached down, picked Blair up and began walking toward the landing site.

~*~

"Jim, you know I do not do heights," Blair said as Jim helped him into the helicopter. "Man, this thing doesn't even have any doors!"

"I know. Just take it easy. Breathe. You'll have your seat belt on. Just remember not to look down."

"Jim, really, I can wait until the backup team gets here. Jim, get me out of here," Blair shouted as the helicopter rocked a little as it took off.

"Oh Lord," Jim whispered. "Why couldn't you have let him stay unconscious just a little longer?" He practically wrapped himself around his panicking partner.

~*~

When Blair arrived at the hospital he was immediately taken to the emergency room. The examination and x-ray's revealed that the bullet hadn't lodged too deeply and since no major arteries had been hit they were able to remove it in the emergency room. Blood loss was still making him woozy. The rest of his injuries while painful were merely superficial. The doctor did want him to stay overnight for observation. When Blair was settled in his room Jim was allowed to see him.

Jim sat down on the edge of the bed and let his senses assure him that the doctors hadn't missed anything. Gently put his arms around Blair.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," he whispered raggedly against Blair's neck. "I was so scared. I didn't know what that lunatic had done to you."

"I'm here. I'm okay," Blair whispered as he put his unrestricted arm around Jim.

"I love you so, sweetheart. I couldn't go on if anything happened to you," Jim said as he bent down and kissed Blair tenderly.

They were so caught up in each other that they failed to notice Simon opening the door until he cleared his throat.

"Ellison. Sandburg. I just thought I'd come by and see how Sandburg is doing."

"I'm okay, Simon," Blair answered quietly while casting a worried look in Jim's direction. "I just have to spend the night for observation."

"Chief, I'm going to go outside for a moment. I'll be right back. Try and get some sleep."

"Jim..." Blair began looking from Jim to Simon.

"It's okay." Jim said as he and Simon started out the door. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Simon, there's something I need to tell you," Jim said as soon as the door closed. "I should have told you a long time ago."

"Let's go outside where I can sit down and have a cigar and we can talk."

~*~

"I don't know how much you heard in there..." Jim began.

"I heard enough to tell me that you and Sandburg are more than room mates. I have to tell you that I was more than a little surprised. I have to ask you, have you stopped to think what this could mean for your career? Even in our so-called liberal society a gay cop isn't going to have an easy time of it."

"No, Simon. I haven't. The only thing that I have thought about is the fact that I finally found someone good, kind and loving. Someone that loves me enough to accept me for who and what I am and doesn't try to change me. Someone I can depend on and who also needs me. I have never known anyone like him in my entire life. I have never had anyone to love me so totally and unconditionally. And, I consider myself lucky to have found him."

"If you are telling me that you disapprove then I will respect that. But, Blair and I have always conducted ourselves in a professional manner in the department and, to be honest, I think that what he and I do in our home on our own time is no one's business but ours. But if the department doesn't approve of Blair and me being together then I will turn in my badge."

"Relax, Jim. Whether you want to believe it or not, I am on your side. As long as you and Blair continue to conduct yourselves as you have been I don't see a problem. As long as your relationship stays out of the bullpen then there is no reason for the brass to be involved. On a personal level, I think Blair is the best thing that ever happened to you. I remember what you were like before he came along. He touched something in you. I'm not talking about helping you control your senses or some Sentinel and Guide thing. I'm talking about you, the man. So, if he Can take you from the hard-ass son-of-a-bitch to the 'almost' human being that you are now, then I think we all owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude."

"Gee, Simon, thanks," Jim said smiling.

"Seriously, if you and Blair ever need a friend just call, okay?'

"Thank you and I mean that. Now if you will excuse me I would like to get back up to Blair."

"Fine. I'll walk back up with you."

"I will never understand what makes a man like Wright tick." Jim said as they walked to the elevator.

"Well, from what I have been able to find out, when Wright was injured in the line of duty he was forced to leave the force. He was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown shortly after that. Until recently he had been receiving triazolem, some miracle drug that was given to mental patients as a sedative. Now it's been discovered that it caused side effects ranging from agitation to murderous impulses. When you take a man like Wright and give him a drug like triazolem you're asking for disaster. Its use was discontinued but evidently the damage had been done to his system during treatment. Wright was getting it on the black market and using it to sedate his victims. At least we know there won't be anymore killings. I'm going home. It's been a hell of a day. There'll be mountains of paperwork on this one. Take care of Sandburg."

"I will and thanks Simon, for everything."

Simon waved as the elevator doors closed.

~*~

Blair appeared to be asleep when Jim opened the door. He quietly moved a chair close to the bed and sat. He gently took Blair's hand and breathed a silent prayer of thanks that Blair was safe.

"Jim?"

"I thought you were asleep," Jim said as he held Blair's hand with one hand and softly stroked Blair's hair with the other.

"What happened with Simon?"

"Don't worry everything's fine, Chief. Simon said he was glad that I had finally found you and that if we needed a friend to just give him a call. Now will you try and get some sleep?"

"That's all he said?"

"Well, I can't ravish you on my desk in the bullpen."

"There goes one fantasy," Jim could barely make out through the giant yawn Blair gave. "Will you stay with me just until I fall asleep?"

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere."

~*~

Epilog

"Welcome home, sweetheart," Jim said as he helped Blair inside.

"It feels so good to be home," Blair said putting his arms around Jim's waist. "There were times when I didn't know if I would ever see you or home again. Every time I escaped, Wright just kept dragging me back. I kept thinking if I could just buy some time then you would find me and you did."

Jim stroked Blair's face wiping away the tear that glistened on his lashes as he surveyed his exhausted love. The overnight stay had lasted several days after Jim detected the developing fever.

"I want you to know I love you and I will always be there for you."

"I'm sorry, here I am blubbering like an idiot."

"Don't worry about it. You can blubber on me anytime," Jim said smiling. "Now I'm going to take you upstairs and let you lie down and get some rest."

They walked upstairs slowly with Jim supporting most of Blair's weight. Jim helped Blair out of his clothes and into bed, slid in beside him and covered them with a blanket.

"Make love to me," Blair whispered.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to it, love? I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, I admit that you are going to have to do most of the work. But after everything that has happened I really need you to hold me in your arms and make love to me.

He pulled Blair into his arms, kissed him tenderly and just rejoiced in the feel of his body once again against his own. Jim slowly eased the sling off, being careful not to hurt the injured shoulder, planting little welcome back kisses along the bandage. Then he worked his way down Blair's chest and paused to kiss and suckle a nipple to hardness. He licked, nipped and kissed his way to its mate and worked at it until it too was hard. The tickle of curly chest hair kept him from zoning on the taste of Blair's skin.

"Oh yes," Blair sighed.

He stroked Blair's chest and stomach as he captured his lips again in a lingering kiss. He moved from Blair's lips down his jaw to his throat as he pulled Blair closer to him.

"Blair, I love you, I want you," came the breathless murmur as he alternated between nips and kisses along Blair's chest. He slid his hands inside boxers and cupped the rounded cheeks of Blair's buttocks in his hands. He could feel Blair's arousal and the smell of Blair's pheromones were driving Jim wild with desire. Blair kicked off his boxers and eased into the center of the bed in one movement. Jim laid his lower body on top of Blair's, held his chest up on rigid arms and pressed their cocks together. They stayed still a moment just feeling each touching the other. As Jim's forearms finally touched the bed, he started gently thrusting against Blair. Blair tried to pull Jim tightly against him and counterthrust as he whispered "I love you" but Jim kept the pace slow and easy avoiding Blair's injury. Still, neither lasted long after their separation. Jim came first sighing Blair's name and Blair quickly followed. Jim rolled them over on their sides and gave Blair a slow, deep kiss.

"That was wonderful," Blair said breathlessly.

"I love you, Chief. I'll always love you and we'll always be together I promise."

"I love you, too, Jim, with all my heart."

Jim held Blair in his arms as he slept. As he tenderly stroked Blair's hair he whispered, "I'll always love you sweetheart, always."