Thursday February 8

6:35 pm

It still amazes me the proliferation of social media outlets there are, there seems to always be something new. Twitter, can you imagine if I let the rage tweet…. Scary. There’s Snapchat, as you know I am a bit of a photographer so I do have some interest but I have to say that I think I can do better and create Snatchchat. They might have to create a new content warning because when we left snatch at the spa, his fire ant bites had scabbed up nicely so he moved on to duct tape exfoliation. I am sure his skin would have been baby soft had it ever had a chance to grow back… The rage thought back to seeing the disfigurement this thing had caused his friend and in his grief made a terrible mistake and thought the hydrochloric acid was the Visine. Snatch had some dry eye from having them glued open. Unfortunately, he no longer sees the error in his ways.

Our time with snatch is nearing an end as he has a higher purpose to fulfil, and I wanted to indulge the rage just a little longer. Stop it with the “you’re spoiling him”, he does a lot of the heavy lifting so it is a compromise. We are “Cohesive”. Anyway…he loves Pandora and checking out new music, but he’s still faithful to Britney when it comes time to work. He found an oldie station and came across a song that goes “If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning, I hammer in the evening, and so on and repeat.” It had a catchy beat and I can remember it playing in the garage when dad was out working on the lawn mower, cussing at the lawnmower more likely, so I let him rock. It took some talking to get him to put down the 5 lb. maul and in the end, I got him to take the finishing hammer and play his tune…in the morning, in the evening, all day long, as the song goes. Snatchchat, I know the families of the victims may consider subscribing to that station. Social media, something more to consider.

Tonight’s op is the reason I spoil the rage, we have some work to do. This is the mother of night ops.

Wednesday February 7

11:55 am

FBI Headquarters

Nikki found the report on Richard Whitmore’s single car accident without too much looking. The vehicle was recovered from a canal in the New Orleans outskirts. Damage to the vehicle was consistent with the impact into the canal and no body was recovered. Techs on site noted several gators in the area and the body was presumed eaten.

Nikki turned her attention to the body they found in Montgomery, AL from the email Simon received from Philip Bernard. They found the body of a 34-year-old part time construction worker. He was killed with several spears from a spear gun. They found the anti-Simon logo from the last several murder scenes at the crime scene. Background on the victim showed a drunk & disorderly 2 years ago and spotty work history, but otherwise he had no criminal record. This killer was just randomly picking individuals, there is no method to his victim selection. That’s even worse, Nikki thought, both for them not being able to track or anticipate his moves, but also for the innocent people out there in harm’s way for no reason.

The Jaws theme started playing on Nikki’s phone and her stomach flipped over several times and she began blushing. After kicking her door shut so no one could witness her ridiculousness, she anxiously returned to the email:

“Dearest Butterfly,

I miss you! I hope you are feeling better and not trying to be superwoman, even though you would look awesome in some blue tights and a cape….sorry, the road is tough on a man. I can’t stop thinking about you. I thought about how much you use your computer and laptop and know that typing with the loss of a finger has got to be overwhelming. You can always use speech to text software, but if you would rather keyboard or need the privacy, I created an algorithm that can predict with pretty high certainty the correct spelling of a word missing one of the left pinkie characters. You can type like you normally do and the program will fill in the missing letter for you and highlight the word so you can review to make sure it is correct. I hope this helps, I attached the program.

I am close to Bernard now, you may want to have McShay check out the Savannah area, I hear it’s nice this time of year. Tell him to make sure the cell he found is charged.

Bernard’s latest email, I received it about an hour ago: “I see you have finally accepted my challenge Simon, I welcome the competition. I have been honoring your kill style out of respect but I am my own man and you can now follow me’ There are just so many other avenues I am looking to explore. I hope you enjoy hearing all about them.” I have also attached the coordinates of the computer he used to email me. You shouldn’t have trouble finding the body, I am sure he is making some kind of statement with it.

Take care of yourself and be safe. I love you.

Simon”

Nikki leaned back and closed her eyes and went to that night in her mind for just a second. A shudder went through her body and she opened her eyes back up, leaned forward and got back to work.

Tuesday February 6

2:55 pm

I don’t know why we didn’t think about this sooner. The simplicity, the low cost, the devastating amount of pain it can cause. I bought the rage a vise. First thing he did was put snatch’s penis in that sucker and squeezed it like a tube of toothpaste. The head popped right off, very cool. Snatch wasn’t a fan but hey, no one cares. It’s not like he is going to need it anyway, we fed his balls to a stray dog. I hope that’s alright Kevin, the little guy was starving and after losing Skidmark, the rage has even more of a soft spot for dogs. We bought him a cheeseburger to wash the nasty taste out of his mouth. He looked happy.

Q&A: I am going to have to expand on a prior answer. When I told you earlier that I learned how to kill in the service of the country, I got a lot of feedback from some members of the military and some were offended that I might be giving their service a bad name. First, for all of the men and women who bravely serve our country, Thank You! Now, there are a lot of parts of the government, several with short lettered acronyms, some which are even darker than that. Let’s just say I have a natural affinity for and ability to solve problems. All kinds of problems. A certain part of the government was all too happy to expand my knowledge and abilities and we solved many problems together. Eventually, as I am sure always happens when someone ultimately has that kind of power, they started defining the problems that needed solving a little more loosely is a way to put it. I came to realize that the reasons I got into that work was to serve my country and I found out I was serving some individuals instead. Fate or Karma or mere coincidence interceded and a series of events occurred that allowed me to retire from my service.

Which brings me back to our mission at hand. This is why I spend the time and effort I do to make sure we are pulling out the weeds and not the grass shall we say. I don’t feel pity or remorse, I was trained to solve problems. Pity and remorse were never factors in the equation. Ultimately it leads right back to the rules. Do you really want to bring any of this to your doorstep? You know someone did, someone always does. Let’s meet Oscar.

Oscar’s chosen method of suicide is challenging Simon to a duel. I figured it would happen eventually that someone would read what I was doing and think they can do the same or better. It’s part of evolution, survival of the fittest, or in our case, the most ruthless. I hope you enjoy hanging with the rage, he likes to party!

Lima was Richard Whitmore. I told you he was a Dick…. I couldn’t resist

Monday February 5

7:45 am

Nikki’s Townhouse

Nikki woke with a smile playing on her lips. Everything was different now. She had looked into the eyes of pure evil and had known she was going to die. She had come to terms with it. At the time she had just wanted the pain to end, the physical pain, the emotional pain she was still carrying around with her, the loneliness. She had hoped Simon would find her and she was ready to give up and let the darkness claim her when he finally did show up. This man had risked everything for her. When she asked Simon last night how he had tracked her, he didn’t want to tell her. Finally, he looked down at the butterfly pendant she hadn’t taken off since he gave it to her and picked it up and kissed it gently. Then he looked up into her eyes and gave her a wicked little wink. She just smiled, he had put a tracker in her necklace. Of course he did. He finally explained that when Nikki was first taken, the signal from the necklace was strong and he had a good signal and the general location she was being held at. About a day later, he lost the signal completely. It wasn’t until he was right around the building she was being held in that he got a weak signal. It turns out, snatch had taken the pendant and put it in a box with the rest of his trophies from his previous kills and the metal box was blocking the signal.

Nikki had woken up in the hospital and the pendant was around her neck again and she didn’t think about it until he had explained what happened. When Simon had found Nikki, he put the pendant back around her neck before he called Rob to pick her up. Nikki rubbed the pendant between her fingers and smiled at the thought that the little necklace had saved her life.

Simon had left late last night to continue his search for Philip Bernard. He had received another email from him and they were sure he had killed again. Nikki had sent the coordinates to the local FBI office to search for the body. Simon said he had a plan and asked Nikki to trust him. She had opened her house and her heart to him, what choice did she have but to trust him. Nikki prepared herself to return to work. A little bruising, some cuts, and a missing digit weren’t going to keep her from doing what she does best, catching killers and now that PS was living the short time he has left on earth in immense pain. She was ready to focus her attention on Philip Bernard. Well, most of her attention, some will always belong to Simon.

Sunday February 4

8:55 pm

Nikki’s Townhouse

Nikki was sitting in her favorite spot on the couch, happy to be back in her house again. The doctors wanted her to stay in the hospital another day or two but she wasn’t having any of it and checked herself out and Rob had driven her home several hours ago. Nikki was sitting there thinking about Simon. He had come to save her but she only vaguely remembered him coming to her rescue. She didn’t remember actually seeing him and it had been several days since they had spoken through email and she missed him. She wanted to thank him for coming to save her. She was looking at the camera in her living room and absentmindedly scratching at the bandage on her left hand when Simon’s email notification sounded. Nikki’s heartbeat picked up exponentially and she eagerly grabbed her phone and opened Simon’s email:

“May I come in?”

Nikki’s heart now threatened to leap out of her chest and answer the door itself. She took several breaths and typed, with her right hand, “Yes”.

Nikki heard the door open and close and the lock slide back in place. While she should be terrified that a brutal murderer can access her house like it was his own, she had other thoughts swarming through her mind right at that moment. A couple of seconds later she saw Simon walk around the corner from her kitchen. Nikki slowly stood on shaking legs and released the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. Simon walked slowly toward her, his piercing eyes never once leaving hers. He stopped right in front of Nikki and continued to stare into her eyes. She didn’t realize that she had put her right hand on Simon’s chest as she looked up into his eyes, “Simon, you came for me”. Slowly, Simon lowered his head toward Nikki. He reached a hand up and slid a lock of hair back behind Nikki’s ear and gently cupping his hand around, he pulled her close until their lips met. The kiss was gentle because Nikki looked like she just got out of a bar fight, but the intensity was unmistakable. Nikki’s entire body felt like electricity was flowing through her. Too soon, the kiss ended and Simon pulled back and looked into her eyes again.

“I’m sorry it took me so long Butterfly. I would have been there sooner but I was halfway across the country when I got McShay’s note. I am so sorry he hurt you” he said as he gently lifted her left hand to his lips and placed a kiss on top of the bandage. Nikki wrapped her arms around Simon’s waist and he pulled her into him so her head was resting on his chest, drinking in his scent like it was the first water she found after crossing a desert. They stayed like that for several moments, Nikki wasn’t sure. All she knew was for the first time since she was a small child she felt totally safe, like she was in the one and only place meant for her. She looked up into Simon’s eyes and reached her hand up and pulled him down into another heated kiss. Nikki felt strong arms reach down and lift her up and soon she was being carried up the stairs to her bedroom.

Saturday February 3

3:45 pm

The rage always likes to be able to one-up someone, take their idea and make it even better. I let him watch the movie Seven a couple of years back. The serial killer in the movie was killing people to represent each of the seven deadly sins. If you haven’t seen the movie my analogy will be lost on you and if you have seen it, the current occupant of the guest suite will make Sloth look like a day at the beach. I will make him suffer like it’s my job because, quite simply, it is. This is the fucker that took from Simon and then hurt some he cares for, badly. The rage is in fighting form now and we are two days in so far and the rage is making nice progress. We did leave enough of one finger from each hand that our friends at the FBI can use to identify this thing formerly known as the panty snatcher. Good news is that no more panties will be snatched by this biology experiment. No, those days are long gone as are his fingers and his balls. Balls went first with a rusty, dull knife. They did not go gently into that good night. The best part was that the Snatcher was thoughtful enough to leave all of his nice torture tools for the rage, he really appreciates being able to use the guests own implements against them. I am sure Mike and his golf clubs would agree. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a whip so I still need to order one from Amazon for the rage, he is not one to leave a promise unfulfilled. The good news is that there are things here we couldn’t even imagine how to use so we are conducting numerous experiments and I think snatch, as the rage now likes to refer to it, might be experiencing some buyer’s regret with some of these tools.

We left our guest in the suite, he opted for the rage spa package. He is currently undergoing fire ant therapy. It really gets the blood flowing and gives the skin a nice scarlet hue, breathtaking really. Poor old snatch hasn’t slept much since the rage taped his eyelids open 2 days ago. That and he set up a recorder that lets out blood curdling shrieks at random times to make sure he doesn’t doze off, we don’t want him to miss a moment of fun.

I don’t mean to cut my post short today, but I have some studying to do. I got a nice book on neurology and if you pay attention, it will teach you how to manipulate the nerves properly. Some use this teaching to reduce pain. The rage has other ideas. Besides, I have to find some hydrochloric acid for later, not quite making sundaes….

Friday February 2

1:25pm

FBI Infirmary

Nikki felt like she was swimming up from the bottom of the ocean, trying to break the surface and find air. She heard something beeping and then she saw the light from far away and it started to come closer to her. The beeping sounds became louder and she could now smell and it wasn’t the stench of the torture chamber, it smelled like disinfectant. Slowly she opened her eyes and everything was blurry. She blinked repeatedly and she saw the outline of a man in front of her. She reached out her hand and said,

“Simon, is that you?” She heard a faint sigh and then a large hand took hers and she heard the familiar voice come out as a low rumble,

“It’s Rob Nikki, how are you feeling?” Nikki continued blinking until Rob’s familiar features began to clear. Rob looked horrible. His clothes were wrinkled and Nikki would bet that he didn’t sleep the entire time she was gone.

“Rob, how long have I been here, how did I get here?” Nikki asked in a scratchy voice. Rob held the straw to Nikki’s lips so she could drink some water and when she had her fill he said,

“It’s Friday Nikki, you were abducted sometime on Sunday. The agent watching your house was found dead in his car, he was injected with something.” Rob looked at Nikki, trying to figure out how to explain when he continued,

“I was desperate to find you and didn’t know what to do so I reached out to Simon.” He continued to look at Nikki, letting her take it all in when she asked,

“How exactly did you reach out to him?”

Rob told Nikki about holding the note up to the camera and finding the phone in her room and while it was surprising, she figured Simon left the phone in case he needed to get in touch with her. She was also considering hiring a cleaning company since there was a phone plugged in behind her bed that she didn’t even know was there. What did that say about her house cleaning skills?

Rob went on to explain that once Simon had Nikki back, he had contacted Rob who met him and took Nikki back to the infirmary at Quantico. It turns out Nikki was still in northern Virginia the whole time and hadn’t gone that far from her home.

“You saw him, Simon?” Nikki asked with an incredulous tone. Rob smiled down at her and said,

“If you could call it that, I saw the outline of him is about it. I was worried about getting you taken care of and I know he wouldn’t let me see enough to identify him anyway. He did tell me to keep the cell phone which was unexpected.”

Nikki was just taking it all in and she pulled her left hand out from under the covers because it was itching and she saw the bandages on her hand. She looked up at Rob who gritted his teeth and then explained to Nikki that the stalker had cut off her pinkie finger and mailed it to him.

Nikki leaned back onto her pillows and with closed eyes she mumbled right before she fell asleep again,

 

“I told him Karma was a bitch.” …

Thursday February 1

10:50 am

Undisclosed location

Nikki had been hanging in that place between conscious and unconsciousness when she felt a sharp smack on her cheek and heard the slap reverberating off the walls. Nikki was unsure how much time she had been in this torture chamber but she felt it had been days. PS would come in and beat on her, cut her, torture her until he had his fill and then he would leave and come back in a few hours and start again. She couldn’t see out of her right eye at all and her left was about half swollen shut. Her lips were broken and parched and she couldn’t even lick them without wincing in pain. She hadn’t been out of the chair since she arrived and could no longer feel her arms. She was cold and filthy and she’d had enough and was just wishing he would just finish her off already.

Maybe PS could tell she was done or maybe he was just getting bored because she could see it in his eyes the moment he decided he had enough of Nikki and was going to end her. He calmly walked over to the table he had all his torture tools lined up on and grabbed a large knife.

“I thought your precious FBI was going to come save you agent Sebastian, but I haven’t seen anyone yet. I guess they are not as smart as you thought they were. I wish I could stay and play with you some more, but I am getting bored with you and am going to find someone new to play with.” He said while looking down at Nikki, a smirk on his lips.

Nikki used the last ounce of strength she had and lifted her head so she was looking into those evil black eyes, “Karma is a bitch, remember that when you meet him.” She said, lips cracking and bleeding from the movement.

PS cocked his head to the side and said with “Who exactly is it I’m going to meet?” with an amused look on his face.

Nikki took a breath in to answer but before she could say anything she heard a pssssttt sound and then the Stalker’s eyes flew wide open and Nikki saw a dart sticking out of the side of his neck. She smiled through the cracks and said,

“Simon”

“Hello Butterfly” came the sweetest sound Nikki had ever heard in her life. She then heard the sound of a switchblade knife and seconds later her arms were released from behind her and her legs were soon free as well. Nikki felt something warm wrap around her and then she felt two strong arms come around her and she was being lifted into the air. She clung to Simon’s neck and breathed in his scent and let the blackness come for her knowing she would soon be returning to the light.

Wednesday January 31

11:25 am

I’m sorry I haven’t written in a few days, but I am dealing with a crisis. I told you several days ago that the two things you definitely didn’t want to do was fuck with Simon or someone he cares about. Too late for one walking corpse who took something that didn’t belong to him. It really is unfortunate…for him, not you who get to read about it, that he didn’t realize who he was taking from. Not that he wasn’t already on the permanent blood donor list for abducting any innocent person, but to take from Simon is just plain dumb. Not only did he take from me, I have been informed that he has done bodily harm to someone I care about. The work the rage has been doing, I have come to realize, was only a dress rehearsal for what he will unleash on this particular ass nugget when he is unfortunate enough to have the rage over for tea. Stay tuned, as always, we will share blow by bloody blow with our fellow Ragers.

Before I sign off and get back on the interstate, I want to revisit rule number 1 again. I have spent the last couple of days driving more than I normally do and I noticed that rule number 1 is still being broken with relentless vigor and it is pervasive for all states I have driven through. Stay the fuck out of the left lane! That’s it. If you are passing a slower car, proceed and then get the fuck over. If the road in front of you is empty and your rear-view mirror is full, chances are someone is going to shove a red hot poker up your ass and it might as well be me. I buy pokers by the dozen for just this reason. You have no idea how hard it has been for the rage to keep all this bottled up but it will find a release soon enough, count on it!

Tuesday January 30b

4:55 pm

FBI Headquarters

Rob McShay was at his desk pouring over reports from the members of the Panty Snatcher task force and he was getting more and more agitated as the day went by without any news about Nikki. There was a sudden knock on the door and Rob looked up and saw one of the task force members standing there looking like they had something to tell him that he wouldn’t want to hear. Rob waived him to get on with it and the agent informed him that a package was just delivered to their office addressed to Rob. They also found a small spot of blood on the outside of the package so the evidence techs came and collected the package and they had it in the lab and wanted Rob to come down.

Rob walked into the lab and stopped at the table the package was sitting on. They had already fingerprinted it and found no prints and were in the process of opening the package. Inside the package was a pair of panties. When they found traces of blood, Rob felt all of the blood in his body draining down into his feet. They moved the panties aside and on the bottom of the box was a small, bloody pinkie finger.

“God DAMMIT!” Rob shouted as he turned and stalked back out of the lab. He walked out the closest door to get outside the building and after screaming one more time at the top of his lungs, he pulled the small cell phone from his pocket and dialed the only number in the phone…