Elysium Dreams

Prey

                  

It was five minutes past ten p.m. when he looked at the desk clock.  His wife and daughter were asleep, had been asleep for almost an hour now.  The antihistamine he had slipped into his wife's glass of wine and his daughter's glass of tea had been very effective tonight.  Sometimes it took longer to work than this, but by nine they had been hauling their asses up the stairs, too tired to watch the movie he had picked out for family night.

He had kissed Grace good night and told her to stop apologizing for missing the movie.  The interaction with his wife had been more stilted.  She had pulled her hair out of her bun and kicked off her shoes by the door.  This had irritated him.  Why couldn't she undress in her own space like other women?  He had given her a quick peck on the forehead before shooing her upstairs.  He despised the woman.  He only stayed because of Grace, but Grace was getting older now.  She'd be moving out of the house before long, going off to college to follow in the footsteps of her parents.

Within minutes of both ladies disappearing from view, he had heard gentle snoring coming down the stairs.  It floated to him and made his heart beat faster.  That deed was done; it was time to go hunting.

His first stop was the restaurant where he had enjoyed a slice of pizza with his daughter and her friends the night before.  Henry watched for almost twenty minutes and never saw the waitress.  It was obvious that she wasn't working tonight.  This gave her a temporary reprieve.  He would find her another night.

He wound down the road, blindly wandering the streets.  He saw several police cars.  Few took notice of him, they were used to his midnight wanderings.  He'd been doing it long before the murders began,  usually when he had a tough case on his slab.

Henry was lost in his own thoughts when he saw US Marshal Aislinn Cain.  She was standing outside her hotel room.  The door was propped open with a chair and she was arguing with Dr. Xavier Reece.  Smoke swirled around her head from the lit cigarette she held.  He watched with fascination as Dr. Reece took the cigarette and crushed it out.  She lit another one in clear defiance of him.  He threw his hands in the air and shook his head.

She was dressed in pajamas.  Oddly male in style, they were pin-striped red, black, and grey, including a matching robe and slippers.  The robe was tightly cinched around her waist.  The pants and sleeves showed creases from being ironed or pressed.  Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, not a single hair out of place.  Henry wondered how much hairspray it required to get her hair like that.

He drove past without them noticing him.  Watching her interact with Dr. Reece had infuriated him.  How dare she talk down to someone as accomplished as him?  However, Aislinn Cain couldn't be on his menu tonight.  Maybe later, but not now.  Now her death would be suspicious and he'd be at risk of getting caught.  Someone might hear her.

There was someone else though.  He had discovered her some time ago and had put her on the list for a later date.  Her name was Ginny.  She lived alone and taught fifth grade.  But she was one of those teachers that students didn't like.  He knew because she had taught Grace in fifth grade and Grace had hated her.

Carefully, he drove past her house.  The street was dark.  Everyone tucked safely into houses against the night and him.  That last made him smile.  If only they realized they could never be safe from him.

He parked in the driveway.  Miss Ginny Jacobs didn't have many visitors, his car might be noticed, but it was unlikely.  She was thirty-six, never married, no children.  Henry crept around to the back of the house. He knew she hid a key back here in a potted plant.  Reconnaissance was everything.  He found the key and slipped in through the backdoor.  As carefully as he could, he relocked the door.