Elysium Dreams

Twelve

I awoke with the knowledge that I was not alone. My hand searched under the pillow and found my boot knife. My guns were on the nightstand, but it was too far away. In one smooth fluid motion, I pulled the boot knife from under the pillow. The light flipped on.

"Seven seconds," Gabriel said to me.

"What the hell?" I groaned at him.

"It took seven seconds for you to wake up after I got into the room. Are you on something?" He asked.

"Xavier gave me something to help me sleep. Obviously, if I woke up in seven seconds, it isn't working," I told him. He flashed a smile.

"Come on, Sleepy, we have somewhere to be," Gabriel handed me a Mountain Dew. I had come to the conclusion that Gabriel's job was less about leading the team and more about keeping the team from killing FBI agents. I knew when he woke Xavier and Lucas he did so with cups of coffee in hand. He was not only our liaison but our handler. I didn't envy his job. I would have hated waking up this lot.

"Where?" The clock on the nightstand read 4:17 a.m.

"Patrol car pulled over someone suspicious. They were carrying a knife, a winch, and a bag full of bloody clothing."

I took the Mountain Dew as I climbed from bed. I drew my hair up into a bun without a brush. It was permanently misshapen into that style so it went easily. I pulled on the rest of my clothes, redid my bun, and followed Gabriel into the parking lot.

The SUV was already running. Lucas and Xavier's shadows could be seen inside it. I pulled open the door.

"Sleeping pills must be slowing your reflexes. It took almost four minutes for you to get up and moving," Xavier said to me.

"I don't think Ace should be taking sleeping pills," Lucas said adding emphasis to my name.

"Would you rather her have a sleep-deprivation induced psychotic break?" Xavier countered.

"This is the first time I have taken one while working," I told everyone.

"Why did you take one tonight?" Gabriel asked.

"Something about the photographs being broken. It bothered me. He did not just obliterate her happiness by smashing the pictures, he got rid of her memories," I told him.

"And that bothers you?" Lucas asked.

"Wouldn't it you?" I countered.

"You think it was about the memories or the happiness?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't know, that sounds like a question for Lucas. I just got to thinking, I do not have many photos, but the ones I do have are important to me. They are about more than just smiles and faces frozen in time, they are about specific memories. Especially that photo of her with her class. That was a special photo because it was not a class photo, it was set outdoors. They were doing something, a field trip or an Easter egg hunt. It was a memory that she wanted to look at every day."

"I will think on that," Lucas said.

"So we think our killer pulled a Bundy?" I asked.

"Anything is possible," Gabriel shrugged. Even in the darkened interior I could see it. The tone of his voice told me that he wasn't buying it.

"Not our boy," I whispered.

"Probably not, but we may have caught a different serial killer or just some schmuck who can't figure out that driving around with a bag full of bloody clothing and a knife is a really bad idea," Gabriel replied.