Killer Instincts An Innocence Lost

Give me a break

After the interview with the chief I walked out of her office and asked Andropov how he found me. He refused to tell me so I asked Henry to do a sweep of my car and belongings for bugs. He noticed that I had stopped calling my ex with affection. When I came back from the lady's room Dimitri was livid. I guess Henry told him I decided to stop calling him by his nickname. He demanded an explanation. When I was married to DD I used to call him officer or detective. It was in my heart that I used to silently call him Dimka. I had decided that I didn't need to explain myself to him. Gus was a better husband than Andropov no matter what time of the day it was. He demanded an explanation but I just walked away from him without a word. Van Pelt asked me what was going on so I told her that I had decided not to pay any attention to his childish tantrums. I got in the car and drove off to the gym. Dan curled up into a ball on my lap and slept like a baby. I will see her when the chief sees fit to call me back.
I spent the next forty five minutes venting my rage on a punching bag. Henry smiled, "You had to expect that he will show up." I stopped for a moment and reminisced, "A few months back he brutally pepper sprayed me while I was scoping a potential target. I mean the other me. He even tried to lock me up so no one can lay hands on me. SHE scared him enough to let me go. We had a rough fight in the elevator. He was determined to get rid of her. All because of SHE said I almost got rid of her for him." Henry inquired, "Did you?" I shook my head, "She said that to make him feel guilty. Nothing more. I am no closer to shutting her out today than I was five years ago." Henry decided to poke the bear, "Why did you marry him?" I shrugged, "I was going to propose to DD but when I found him he tied the knot to someone else. I was upset and I met Andropov. I transferred my feelings to him and tried to live a life. I wanted to prove to myself that there are other decent men out there and Andropov was one of them. Turns out I was wrong and in return I got DD as a husband" He seemed satisfied with my answer. He held the punching bag while I kept hitting it repeatedly. When I was done I walked to the restroom and cleaned myself up. When I came out Henry invited me to the boxing ring where we had a few rounds. Then he took me home. Cheryl was waiting by the foyer. There were a few security guards beside her so I gave a sigh of relief. After the usual routine of homework, dinner and tucking in I sat down to go through newspaper articles for potential people. In the end I walked to the kitchen and found the hidden documents under the floorboards still intact.
The person in question liked to use spider venom to incapacitate his victims. All of them red haired, slightly curvy, accomplished women who lived alone. He would somehow find a way to acquire a spare key. He would make sure that he is alone before he makes his move. The security system doesn't seem to deter him much. Which made me think he was someone that had a history in one of the security companies or someone with basic knowledge in engineering. Or it is possible the internet taught him how to do this. The three possibilities left me with more questions. His hunting ground is limited to Queens only. This means he either lives or used to live there. He knows the place well enough to know the blind spots. I drove to Queens and walked around till I found a few likely suspects. One was a lean built guy with an unusually calm demeanor. I took a few more steps and saw from a car window that Andropov was not far away. I have to get him to stop tailing me. For now I need to give him the slip as I search my pockets for GPS trackers. I found one in my left jacket pocket and held on to it till I managed to slip into a bus without him. He tried follow me on foot but in the end he was forced to walk back to his car to follow me. By the time he caught up to the bus I had already stepped out of it. I slipped the tracker into the purse of an old lady. I managed to walk around and found a few to add to my suspect pool. I took pictures and found out that one of the guys in the pictures was a college professor who has been researching spider venom. The toxin was stolen from his lab a few nights ago. This had happened twice already. I checked his personal life. It turns out his wife left him for a much younger man. She bares a striking resemble to the victims. I realized that this was revenge. Funny enough none of them were raped. They were injected, incapacitated and bound. Their throat was crushed because the killer stepped on it with his boot. He was practicing on these women before he attempts to kill his wife. With each murder he gets more confident.
Dan sat next to me as I sharpened my knives for itch day. I tucked him to sleep before I went to work. I snuck out if the house to go hunting. When I was about to reach the professor's house my phone buzzed. It was a reminder to check if Dimka was following. Sure enough he was not far behind me so I had to devise a way to give him the slip. He turned on the siren and when I gave him the slip he called dispatch to find me. I heard him in the police band. I blurted out "Give me a break". I reached the storage facility before anyone was able to follow me. I switch cars and drove to where the professor was. I got there before he left. I was able to follow him. The best Andropov drove past me and didn't even know it. The windows were tinted.
The professor reached his next victim. He had overridden security and had injected her with the venom. When he backed away for a moment to catch his breath I used a tranquilizer and injected him with a concoction of my own. This was one of the stuff dad kept for a rainy day. I took this out from where I hid it. These days SHE and I are separate entities. I have blackouts when SHE surfaces. SHE has no clue what I do so this was necessary till I get things back in order. SHE had no problems with my request. I watched as he writhed in pain and cut the girl loose. She was watching the entire time. She didn't attack me or call the cops. When I was certain he was incapacitated. I took off the mask and turned him over to ask him why was he interested in getting even with his wife. He could just find someone else. It turns out she left him because he was abusing her. He tried to replace her but finding the right punching bag takes time and commitment. He doesn't have much of both. I wanted to crush his throat but I picked up the phone and called it in. The woman was surprised, "You are a cop?" I nod my head. I walked to hid my mask in the secret compartment and she asked me why I do this and I explained that my father brainwashed me to hunt girls like her but I fought his teachings and now I hunt monsters like him. The kind that the law will protect no matter what. These creeps will get away with it and the laws are written in their favor. She gave me a nod and shivered. It turns out she was a rape victim. I convinced her to take group therapy since it is known to help. Just don't give into the awful ideas that might come into her head. Find hobbies that will bring relief to her life that will help her stay out of jail.
The police arrived with Andropov and he looked very angry. I reminded him that he is not my partner. The girl covered for me and asked me about my situation with the cute officer. I told her that he is my ex-husband and he likes to cheat on me with blondes. He uses me as a shield so others would say he is innocent. This annoyed her. I then told her about Apple and wished her good night. She promised not to tell anyone and waved at me as I drove off to see the chief. I had to explain that one of the victims was a college friend. Yesterday was the anniversary of her death so I had to find him. She excused me after she spend an hour yelling at me. I wasn't suspended but since the investigation for the serial killer was going nowhere I will return to police work starting next Monday.
I drove home and was greeted with an angry ex-husband. It turns out Henry recorded the conversation I had with him and played so he would finally grow up and move on. He yelled at me for a few minutes and tried to smash my belongings. I threatened to have him arrested for breaking and entering. Not to mention damage to personal property. He glared at me and left without saying anything. I thanked the guys and went upstairs to take a shower. I cried till I emptied all my crushed and mangled feelings. My hands shook violently and I was comforted by a skeleton and a wolf. I walked out of the shower and was greeted by Dan. He stayed with me till I fell asleep. The next day when I walked out to the dinner room my eyes weren't that reddish so no one said anything. I reported that I am going back to work next Monday so I will be moving back to my old place. They said we will discuss this at length later. I sat down to enjoy a cheese omelet and French toast before dropping Cheryl off at school. I stopped at the farmer's market for ingredients for dinner.