Chapter 9

Jenny stalked her target from behind the undressed tree. Her muscles tightened as she crouched to leap on him. She held her breath and dove.

Figment moved at the last moment and scurried back up the dogwood.

“Argh. Figment get down here. You are an inside cat, get out of that tree right now.” She pleaded.

The feline responded by licking the place where his balls had once been. Jenny wiped her hands on her pants and climbed the thin tree after her pet.

“Sometimes I hate you. Do you know that?”

Twenty exhausting minutes later, the cat was inside the apartment and Jenny had a bottle of hydrogen peroxide on the table. She winced as she cleaned the various scratch marks; she wasn’t sure which had come from the climb and which came from her cat. Figment sat by the window preening.

“Now I’m late. I hope you’re happy, Figment. I was really looking forward to scouting out some new prey today. Now I have to revise my timeline or pick someone else.”

She tossed a plastic ball near the offending feline. It jingled as it rolled, and Figment pounced on it immediately. Jenny admired the way his instincts kicked in. Her pet was lithe and quick as he attacked the toy. The murderer smiled and watched him hunt the red orb for a quarter hour before seeking out a new conquest of her own.

***

McGill sat in his patrol car sipping his coffee. He craned his neck hoping for a pop to release the tension. The last call had worn him down.

“Who breaks a kid’s arm for wetting the bed?” He thought aloud.

Eric shook away the six-year-old’s expression and the rants of his mother’s boyfriend. He consoled himself that the man was in jail, the little boy was at the hospital getting a cast, and child protective services had already been called.

“Nothing I can do now. C’mon Eric, shake it off. You’ll take a lot of calls tonight; you’ve got to be prepared.” He scolded himself.

Across the lot of the gas station someone was yelling. Officer McGill sighed and got out of his vehicle. He set his coffee on top of the cruiser and scanned the area for the source of the disruption. Two men were shouting and shoving each other near the front door.

Eric radioed his location just as the first man threw a punch. He called for backup while he sprinted to break up the fight. Both men were fit, but Officer McGill was stronger; he separated them easily and both men stopped as soon as they recognized the uniform.

“Sorry officer. Me and my friend were just foolin around. No harm, right?” The shorter one said.

Eric stood between the brawlers and assessed both men. The taller was just lean and a bit shorter than himself; his face was marred with a split lip that dribbled blood down his chin. The shorter one was stocky and appeared to be unharmed despite the blows to his midsection Eric had witnessed.

“No harm, huh?” The policeman gestured to the tall one’s face. “So, his lip busted itself by magic? Look guys, I know you two were fighting because I was here. How about you tell me what you think happened,” He turned to the second man. “...and then when he’s finished, you will tell me what you say happened.”

Both men watched the ground wordlessly until the second cruiser pulled up a minute later. McGill waved at Jenkins and Lee. The trio of officers spent fifteen minutes getting conflicting views of the story from both men and some lookers-on. After all the statements verified the shorter one had instigated the fight and thrown the first punch, Officer Lee and the rookie arrested him.

McGill threw away his cold coffee and called the event into the station. As he drove from the lot to another call, he saw Jenny entering the convenience store. He caught her eye and waved. He was pleased when she smiled back.

***

Jenny watched the police officer leave with his lights flashing. She smiled and waved, pleased as much to see him again as that he wouldn’t be in the area while she was hunting. The killer grabbed a few things from the store and made small talk as usual. Her best trait was being too normal and average to be a suspect. Not that people tended to suspect women anyhow.

Jenny walked around the corner to drop her snacks at the apartment. No one she passed seemed like adequate prey. This one was too strong for her to take down, that one too weak to be satisfying, this one surrounded by companions.

She wanted to take more time this time, to properly savor the kill. She needed someone she could physically handle who was still a challenge. Her scouting had found her a location close by. The construction site had been stopped weeks ago due to lack of funds.

The predator stalked down the street, discretely checking each person for the attributes she needed. She fondled the knife in her pocket, eager for the moment to come. Jenny chose to go to the end of the corner and back. She would keep control and wait for the proper time—even if it meant waiting to kill until tomorrow.

A car pulled to a stop at the end of the block. Jenny maintained her pace to avoid drawing attention to herself. A woman dressed in too little clothing for the temperature climbed out of the passenger side and shoved some bills into her cleavage. The blue sedan rolled away before Jenny was within twenty feet.

“Are you okay?” She asked the woman on the curb.

“Mind your own business and keep walking. I don’t want you scaring away any customers.”

Jenny smirked. ‘Target acquired’ she thought. The killer shrugged and walked past the call girl. She checked the vicinity for any witnesses. None. The killer stopped playing with the knife in her right pocket and gripped the small metal flashlight in her left.

Turning around, she returned from the corner. The hooker’s breath was visible as she sneered at Jenny.

“What are you doing back here?” She demanded.

Jenny answered by smashing the metal cylinder against the woman’s jaw and cheekbone with the entire weight of her body. The prostitute slumped to the ground unconscious. Jenny pulled her under the chain link fence and dragged her inside the concrete building.

The killer cinched zip-ties around her victim’s wrists and ankles before duct-taping her mouth. Her prey secured, Jenny rushed to cover the trail from dragging the woman and tossed some dirt over the sprinkling of blood on the sidewalk.

Then she returned to check on her acquisition. The girl had woken and was writhing against her bonds. Jenny wiped blood off her flashlight, tucked her hair into her hat, and slipped on a pair of black leather gloves. The woman tried to scream but the tape held it trapped in her throat.

Jenny felt her adrenaline skyrocket as she clicked open her blade. She knew she’d only given herself an hour to work, but the killer wanted to savor every moment. She leaned down to look the prostitute in the eye.

“Sorry about this, but you were in the wrong place tonight.” She told the girl as she sliced the inside of the woman’s elbow.

Blood ebbed out. The anticipation grew as each drop left the victim with less life. Jenny worked slowly, controlling the girl’s death with small well-placed incisions. Inside of each arm, inch long cuts inside each thigh, and the same parallel cuts on her wrists.

Then it was time. The girl was nearly immobile and paler than the moon. Jenny sat enjoying each shade of her skin as the life streamed out of her. She knelt and made one last cut: a deep slice across the call girl’s throat.

Jenny watched the light go out of her third victim’s eyes. Her task complete, she waited only a minute before dumping the jug of bleach she’d planted on the site over the corpse. The murderer wiped her gloves clean and removed the zip ties and duct tape.

She pocketed the evidence; no one would notice the restraints after they’d been cut to pieces and dropped in half a dozen trash cans in public washrooms. No one ever went through the trash in a ladies’ room.

The killer picked up a small chunk of sawed wood from the construction site for her collection. As she walked home, Jenny gazed up at the moon. It really was a lovely night.