Sentencing Sapphire (Sapphire Dubois: Book 3)

Chapter 20

The True Serial Catcher stared down at the basement filled with dark water and took her red wig off. She relished at the image of his dead body at the bottom, tied to the chair.

It was the ultimate reversal of power. He had died in the same basement where the one at home had suffered.

She peeled out of her pantsuit and jumped into her black clothes quickly, knowing her other prisoner was waiting for her. She'd have to burn the clothes later, some of Sapphire's blood was likely to splatter. She might need the suit she'd worn while shadowing Sapphire in the courthouse sometime in the future.

At one point, she'd accidently stepped too close and Sapphire had smacked right into her. Thanks to the red wig, the briefcase, and gray suit, she'd blended right in with the dozens of female lawyers and Sapphire hadn't even given her a second glance.

She moved through the abandoned church and dragged the gun over the tattered walls. While the one at home, or Shelly McCormick, hated this place, the True Serial Catcher felt at home. The old church's structure was as unstable as the monsters she killed, and it had everything she'd been looking for. From now on, she'd sedate the men with a tranquilizer gun, the one Sapphire inspired her to get, then bring them here. After she killed them, she'd bury the monsters in the overgrown garden in the back. It was perfect.

Shelly was a fearful, depressed wreck after she got rescued from this church's basement. This went on for months, until the day her family forced her downstairs to watch TV. The news of the Serial Catcher and Sapphire Dubois came on. Though Shelly blocked it out—the way she did all news involving serial killers or deaths—the True Serial Catcher was motivated and began to grow inside her.

When Shelly McCormick closed her eyes that night, the True Serial Catcher awoke. She got up and started her work. She picked up MMA training where Shelly left off. She roamed the night searching for murderous monsters.

When Shelly awoke the first morning after, she had no idea why she felt better and so full of life again, but it was all thanks to the True Serial Catcher.

From that point on, the True Serial Catcher was always there, watching, plotting, but Shelly was never aware of her. When Shelly was at her weakest, and when the overwhelming fear and memories of the basement came back, that's when the True Serial Catcher could come out and take control. At least, that's how it started. She'd grown stronger over the last few weeks. Now she was able to fight her way out even when Shelly wasn't feeling frightened.

Soon, she'd be strong enough to control the body completely. Soon, there would be no Shelly McCormick left.

She headed up toward the church's bell tower where she'd duct taped Sapphire to a chair. The L.A. heat felt suffocating in the stairwell; she was covered in sweat when she reached the top.

The only thing still cool on her body was the bionic hand. Shelly didn't care for it, but the True Serial Catcher saw it for what it truly was when the DARPA scientist Shelly's father knew handed it over. It was a weapon. It held three times the strength of a human hand, and it had assisted her in bringing down big, bad men by their throats. She'd even ripped out the hunter's esophagus with it.

She moved the gun to her beloved bionic hand, allowing one weapon to hold another, as she unlocked the door to the bell tower.

"Hello, Sapphire," she said, her voice full of pride. She'd trapped the original Serial Catcher. What an accomplishment.

Her flashlight hit the giant bell that hung in the center as she carefully stepped around the square hole below it. The eight–by-eight, thirty foot drop that led down between the circling staircase was meant to amplify the bell's clang, but it was also an excellent way to kill someone. One shove and it was over.