All of Her Men (17 page)

I lowered myself onto the sofa
directly across from TV. Suddenly overcome with nausea, I bowed my head between my knees in a feeble attempt to breathe. The marijuana topped off by the news cast really threw me into a tailspin.

“What the fuuuuuck!” I
yelled at the walls encircling me. They seemed to be closing in on me. Was this a panic attack? 

I
began taking short half- breaths. All of those bodies that popped on the screen...What was I supposed to make of it all? The short video snippets hinted at a gruesomeness but they would never show what I needed to see. They even showed the photos of the men as they existed before their bodies were indiscriminately sliced and mutilated. Just like in the last broadcast I had seen before, the men were so attractive. I couldn’t have picked them any better myself. They were young, vivacious and full of life. Their bodies were strong and exactly the type of guys I would have chosen for myself. I would have killed them with a bit more finesse but the end result would have been the same. They would have died a more enjoyable death but still death is death and I guess there really was no way to sugar coat it. But why was I freaking out? Why did this all matter to me? I had to admit, at least to myself, that I felt a twinge of jealousy entwined in the horror of it all.

Yet it hadn’t bothered me before. How strange that the murders near Bethlehem didn’t seem to concern me at all. In fact, I couldn’t have cared less for them. But now the killer appeared to have encroached and landed in Atlantic County
. This was New Jersey and I didn’t appreciate another guy coming into my territory and killing
my
prey. This guy wasn’t killing random people; he was killing off
my
men specifically.

I’m sure there were more than enough men to go around for the both of us
. But he wasn’t even trying to hide his garbage. He could at least have the decency to brush them under the bed or hide them in the closet. He was scattering them around for the whole world to see. The police, no doubt believed they were looking for the work of just one serial killer. Though I was a woman and the immediate attention would not fall to me, I feared the worst. The rightful authorities would lump most, if not all, of these kills into one killer profile and sooner or later they could hone in on either him or me. The bodies alongside the missing persons were piling up quickly.

I sank back into the c
ushioned couch and my breathing slowed. I was clueless what to do here. I couldn’t very well stop killing and lay low. It was unrealistic to even consider it. I was a killer and that wasn’t about to change overnight simply because someone was honing in on my turf.  But it also wasn’t my style to hunt other serial killers the way I might hunt a typical victim. A fellow serial killer would be a horse of another color. It would not be business as usual. Was I up for the challenge?

I decided to call the only person I could think of that could help with the matter. Derek, though he was a new friend, seemed knowledgeable and I got the overall impression that he was a good guy. I hit his name on my phone and it rang three times before he picked it up.

“Jole-eene…What is up?” Derek answered the phone rather chipper.

“Hey Derek, what are you up to?” I asked.

“Nuthin’ really. Shootin’ the shit, ya’ know how it is,” he replied.

“Kill anyone good lately?” I
snickered.

“Ah, here and there. Nothing to
o good,” he laughed. “What’s up?”

“So uh, I’ve got a weird question for you and I’m hoping you might be able to
help me figure somethin’ out. I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to give me names or anything but maybe you could just clear something up for me?”

“Shoot,” he said. “What is it?”

Hmm. Where to begin?  “Have you watched the news at all lately?”

“Not
really. Why?”

“Well, maybe you should cuz there’s a bunch of bodies piling up in and around Atlantic City and its becoming a little bit of a nuisance,” I said. “Any idea who it could be?”

“What makes you think I would know who’s killing down in Atlantic City?” he asked. If he was acting dumb and trying to cover for someone I would find out eventually. It would only be a matter of time.

“Are you sure?” I paused unsure where to go from there. “Cuz I mean, isn’t this kind of what you do? Don’t you track serial killers, find out what they do and see if they fit into your little club? Cuz that’s kind of what I got out of our meeting the other day.” I wasn’t really in the mood for subtlety and I still had a shit load of number crunching I had to get through before I called it a night. The shorter this conversation turned out to be the better.

“Uh, that’s a lot of fuckin’ questions let me see if I was able to keep up. Do you always talk that fast?”

“Yes
.”

“Well yeah, we track serial killers and we try to keep up with some of the stunts they pull off but we are
n’t a database for every fuckin’ psycho out there. Me and the guys, we track the cool stuff, you know? A random serial killer who doesn’t do anything differently and who doesn’t have anything special to add to the table gets lost amongst the pros. Catch my drift?”

“Yeah.
Guess so,” I said. But I really didn’t. “I just don’t get it, this guy, whoever he is, it’s like he’s like a copycat to me but not completely. I mean, I probably shouldn’t even be saying this over the phone but, I never leave remains. I always do something with the body. The less evidence the better,” I had lowered my voice considerably. I no longer spoke a mile a minute. I dialed it down to just above a whisper, for no reason at all. People tended to lower their voices when conversational topics turned awry.

“Whoa! Slow your horses there
Sea biscuit. Hold up a sec.”

I couldn’t appreciate his horse humor given the nature of the conversation.

“Are you asking me if it’s a possibility that you have a copycat? Cuz that’s just ludicrous. You aren’t even on anyone’s radar that I know of. No offense.”

“
None taken. How could you possibly even know about something like that?”

“Listen, you might be content living in your own little self- absorbed world but other killers, the kind of guys that do a lot of the shi
t that you do and sometimes worse, like to get together from time to time. Most psychos like us live secluded lifestyles and finding a way to meet other people like ourselves is the only option to have a semblance of friends and family.”

“K I get it. You guys like to get together on Thanksgiving
to watch football while you roast a turkey. But how many of you guys really know each other and how do you find each other?” Derek had sparked my interest and I felt compelled to ask for more.

“I can’t really give you
all that,” he said. “Bu-ut, I’ll tell you this. The internet is an interesting place that links different people if you knew where to look. But you already knew that.”

“So what, you guys hook
up on forums and sites that only you guys know the access codes to?”

“Bingo!” he exclaimed. “I knew you were a smart cookie.”

“OK I think I get it. So you’re telling me you’re not aware of anybody in my vicinity who’s killing off my prime meat?”

“Nope. Most of the guys I know are on the opposite side of the country. I’m just in Jersey on some business for the next
few weeks.”

“Got it.
Guess I wasn’t expecting you to know much anyway. Call me this week and we’ll get together.

“Will do Jo.”

Chapter 23

BANG –BANG BANG—BANG BANG BANG

BUZZZ
– BUZZZ - BUZZZ

The pounding at the front door and the cell phone bla
zing obnoxious sounds in my ear worked in unison to ferociously tear me out of my deep sleep. Silence, the one reason I absolutely had to live alone. Currently, I was being robbed of it and my much needed beauty sleep. I shot up angrily from the couch and ran at the door with every intention of bulldozing whoever stood behind it.

I finally interrupted the raucous banging when I opened the door
but Olivia was standing there with her cell phone in her ear and a mutilated wrangled face of impatience.

She shut off her phone and the inc
essant ringing finally stopped.

“What fucking time
did I tell you to be ready?” yelled Olivia impetuously.

She
bum-rushed right through me into the apartment and took a look around. The couch was in a state of disarray. My comfy gray blanket laid half strewn across the couch and floor. A small pizza box and a few crushed cans of Red Bull created a mess atop my large glass coffee table. The laptop I had been working on all night stood with an open screen and a Microsoft Excel spread sheet displayed its complex numbers brightly on the open screen.

“Well?” asked Olivia
with her hand out over the mess like a school teacher yelling at a child waiting for an answer.

Still in
a drowsy haze, I struggled to come up with an adequate excuse that would suit her and so I mumbled the only thing I could say. “Sorry, Liv. I overslept.” I pulled my hands up to my mouth to cover the shame written all over my face and cradled my right leg against my left like a child.

“Yeah, like always,” she went on. I stood there staring at her waiting for instructions on what to do next because Olivia was in one of her moods and you never knew what miniscule misstep might set her off.

“Jo move your ass. Go fix your face and I’ll pack your shit we’re leaving in 15 minutes. Let’s try to get there today not tomorrow.”

“Yes’ ma’am,” I said and rushed into the bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and hair.

By the time I was done with the quickie version of my morning routine, Olivia had taken the liberty of grabbing everything I needed for the spa including my favorite bikini. “Let’s go,” she said as she grabbed by bags and headed out the door. Olivia never bothered to wait for anyone to accompany her. You followed at her pace or you got left behind. It was just another one of her lovable quirks.

The ride over was
over fairly quick considering we almost didn’t make it there alive. Olivia drove like a madwoman on roids. The other cars on the highway were mere obstacles she had to avoid as she veered in and out of multiple lanes. Once or twice I actually believed I might lose an arm or a leg in a multiple car collision. I could only bring myself to exhale once she pulled the gear into park and all vehicular movement stopped. If I had believed in a higher power I would have shouted an enthusiastic ‘Hallelujah.’

We shuffled in with
our totes filled with soaps and shampoos in hand and headed towards the front counter. The man sitting behind the counter wore a Hawaiian T- shirt and long khaki shorts. His face was sunken in and as I smiled at him in a salutation gesture, all he could muster was a minor grimace. It was like a smile, only slightly more painful.

The man handed us our locker keys and we lugged our
totes into the changing room. The locker room was full of rows of glossy wooden gym-style lockers. There was another row of showers alongside the furthest wall from the door.

“Thanks a lot for getting up on time today,” Olivia said.
“I really appreciate it.” Obviously she was still sour about my sleeping in this morning.

“I said I was sorry Liv,” I said. I was still tired and in no mood to spend the entire afternoon watching her sulk
at me with her big green eyes. After all, I had just spent the night getting through a massive work load and I did manage to get it all done. It took 2 large red bulls on top of an entire pot of coffee but the work was done. I planned on fully immersing myself in the relaxation experience.

It was 11
a.m. and I wanted some tea. Olivia and I walked over to the bar and she couldn’t help but order the tallest beer they served.

The spa
had tables and little enclosed nooks for eating scattered around the area. They often housed large parties of old men and women who came to dine and bathe on the weekends. I hated those days. I’d been coming here long enough that I knew exactly when to come and when to stay the hell away. Early evenings and weekends were a no-no. The sauna would be filled with business men wrapped in robes lounging around while their wives and children ran about splashing water in every which direction. Olivia and I knew this would be the perfect time of day to do what people who came here enjoyed. This was the perfect time to enjoy with a friend to relax and rejuvenate our bodies.

We
grabbed some towels and brought them over to a tiny table in a nook over by the Jacuzzi. This was my favorite part of the spa. I couldn’t speak for Olivia. I didn’t have the mildest clue as to what she enjoyed the most. It was probably the obvious male gazes as she walked to and fro from shower to bath. She was every bit as vain as I was. Albeit, in my opinion, Liv’s was a bit misguided.

Adjacent to the
Jacuzzi was a big room filled with a decent sized swimming pool but we rarely ever went in there. They did have comfortable cloth chairs to rest after a swim. But it was often filled with children and mother’s gossiping with other women as they watched their kids. Olivia and I tended to stay away from the child-friendly areas. We were here to relax.