Monday December 4

10:45 am

FBI Headquarters

 

Nikki didn’t sleep much the night before. She needed to speak to someone about what she was feeling and wished desperately for her grandmother’s calm voice telling her what she should do, but when it didn’t come it just made the turmoil inside her ratchet up even higher. She knew she was too close to this case now, to Simon, but she couldn’t just back away now when she is the only connection the FBI has to him. She couldn’t just stop talking to him, he wouldn’t allow it and if she was going to be truthful to even herself, she didn’t want to stop. Nikki thought to herself, the only way to get to the other side is to go through it so she steadied her hands and tamed the butterflies slightly and started typing:

 

“Simon, thank you for telling me, for letting me in. I am so sorry for your loss. I understand why you have your mission. What happened to the other driver, although I am pretty sure I know the answer to that?

 

I have been thinking all night how to respond to you and I sure wish my grandmother was still here, she would have had excellent advice for me and it would have been about showing respect and manners. You remind me a lot of her, well, some of her anyway. I have been locked away from the world for the last several years much like I imagine you have and I don’t have much experience with relationships and feelings either, but I would feel a loss if you were not around any longer. I think about you quite often and not just in a “I want to catch the bad guy” way. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.

 

Are you going to give me anything on Echo’s identity?

 

Be well Simon

 

Nikki

 

P.S.- I didn’t move the webcam”

 

Nikki sat there reviewing the email one last time with a smile on her face and hit send. She knew she was totally screwed.

Saturday December 2b

8:35 pm

Nikki’s  Townhouse

 

Nikki’s phone chimed the arrival of a new email and she knew it was Simon because she gave him his own notification sound, she might be letting the case get to her just a bit. She had been waiting for his reply since Monday and she expected to hear from him tonight after reading his post, he was speaking to her, answering her question. Nikki let the butterflies have their dance and then she opened the email:

 

“Good evening Nikki, I am sorry I haven’t written you sooner but I was…fishing. If you haven’t read my post yet today you will understand. If you have then I know you want some more details. If you hadn’t opened yourself up to me I wouldn’t either but here goes everything. I was married to a woman who I fell in love with the minute I first laid eyes on her, she was spectacular in every way. She was gorgeous, long black hair, she was built a lot like you (you really need to turn the webcam away from your bedroom…unless you left it there for me he says with hope) and she was the sweetest kindest person I have ever met. She was the love of my life and for every minute we were together I felt like a God, like there was nothing I couldn’t do. She told me that day that she was pregnant with our first child. I could have literally walked to the moon I was so happy, we had been trying for over 2 years to have a baby and the doctors told her she would not be able to conceive so when we found out we were pregnant, we were ecstatic. I grabbed her up in my arms and then took her out to the most expensive restaurant in town. I didn’t have access to the money I do now so it was a big deal and my way to show her how truly happy I was.

 

I had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner so she was driving us home after dinner. It was a lovely night and we were just so happy, and then it happened. A car pulled out from a side street right in front of us and she had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the other car and she sounded her horn so he would know she was there. The other driver because incensed and started slamming on his brakes in front of her, taunting her. She finally turned off of the street to get away from the other car.  About 2 blocks later, the same car comes around the corner to her left and slammed into the driver’s side door. When I came to, she was laying across my lap and the first thing I saw was all of the blood.

 

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t feel those feelings again and then you came into my life.

 

Good night Nikki.

 

Yours always,

 

Simon

P.S.- Very good on the mobile ops center, I had no doubt you would figure it out.”

 

Nikki sat there with shaking hands and tears streaming freely down her cheeks. When she thought about letting a killer in, this was not the way she had intended he would get inside of her. Nikki realized that she had genuine feelings for Simon and that shook her to her core.

Saturday December 2

4:15 pm

 

As I suspected, Echo wasn’t a one-off, he truly is a dick olympian. After following him for a couple of days, I realized there was no way Echo wasn’t going to be a guest. My first water take down which made for an impromptu guest suite. It was pretty easy actually, I hid out on Echo’s boat and when he came aboard I hit him with the stun gun, threw the lines and headed out. Well out of sight of anything and anyone, I woke Echo up to the last day of his life. Unluckily for Echo, he had a spear gun on the boat. Thank you. I think by the time our session was over, Echo regretted taking up the hobby. The rage sure liked it though and will have to continue the tradition. Since I was in a sea faring mood and body disposal was called for, I went fishing. I told you business and pleasure. Echo made for great bait and you won’t believe it, I caught my first shark!

 

Once I had no more bait, I got into the dingy and sunk Echo’s boat. I hated to see her go down, she was a wonderful floating ops center, but forensic countermeasures call for sacrifice. The rage likes the sea, very peaceful…when the screaming stops.

 

So, judging from the comments and three quarters of them asking about my new lady friend, I see that you are all a bunch of romantics. Here I am giving you a blow by blow of some graphic violence that video games and TV try so hard to market to you and all you want to know is if I am falling in love. That makes me feel a little less worried for the future of humanity. I hope you know by now that I consider myself a gentleman….of sorts…and a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. Unfortunately there has been no kissing to speak about, but I sure have imagined it quite a bit. I think we may have to remain star crossed almost lovers though, the last time I let those feelings enter my soul they were violently torn out leaving nothing but a gaping hole and the rage was all that remained. A man can dream though.

Friday December 1

10:20 am

FBI Headquarters

 

Nikki just came out of her SAC’s office after updating him on the Simon case. He couldn’t believe Simon put the money into her account, their cyber techs could not determine how he was able to do it. The SAC authorized Nikki to return the money to the Bishop family once he saw the evidence of Simon moving the money out of his account as he claimed he had done. Nikki called and informed Mrs. Bishop and she was beside herself with appreciation. That was the nice part of the meeting, on the other hand he was not thrilled about Nikki interacting with Simon but in the end he agreed that she continue to work this thread to see what she could get out of him and if there is any way to lure him out. Nikki knew Simon wouldn’t allow that, but she wanted to continue to interact to see what she could learn about him, at least that’s what she told herself as she was walking back to her office to compose a response to last night’s email.

 

Nikki’s fingers hovered just above the keys on her office computer when there was a knock on her door and then her SAC stuck his head in, “Nikki, we just got notification that a body was found in Montgomery Alabama at the bottom of a gravel pit. There was a car and a suicide note that was basically what Simon wrote in his blog. I think this is Delta. Nikki was up out of her seat and on her way down the hallway to get a full briefing.

 

Nikki was back in her office after spending the day liaising with the Montgomery field agents where they all but confirmed this was Delta, Marcus Steadman, 35, pharmaceutical sales rep. There wasn’t much left of Marcus after the fall and animal activity over the last several days.  The body is awaiting autopsy at the field office, but Nikki didn’t expect they would find any physical evidence.  Nikki went to the board and wrote:

 

Alpha:  unknown

Bravo:  Atlanta, GA

Charlie:  Jacksonville, FL

Delta:  Montgomery, AL

Echo:  ???

 

“How is he driving back and forth to all of these locations, doesn’t he have a job he needs to get to? Of course he doesn’t have a job, this is his job now. He has proven he can obtain money when he needs it. He is moving his location apparently randomly, but how is he getting back and forth to all of these cities, he must be driving constantly.” Then it hit her, “of course, why didn’t I see this before.” She sat back down at her computer and composed the following:

 

“Hi Simon, I’ve had an interesting day today, we just found Delta. The ops center is mobile isn’t it? It took me awhile to figure it out but once I had Delta’s location it was pretty obvious that you are able to move around freely and I already know you don’t have a day job to make your money, you could have all you want I am sure.

 

In response to you stating you are sure we don’t agree that what you are doing is for the greater good and as you said, I would have agreed with you but once we confirmed all that you said Delta was, I am not sure I don’t agree that the greater good has been improved by the removal of Delta who had no identifiable decent qualities whatsoever. What we can’t agree on is that you are the one that can unilaterally make that determination and that is our fundamental disagreement. I wouldn’t be sitting in the chair I am if I didn’t believe in due process and our legal system. I still understand your position though, our interactions are allowing me to see a different side of you than I would have expected you to posses.

 

My grandmother raised me after my parents died. Grandpa had died the previous year from a heart attack and I think my grandmother needed me as much as I needed her and it was just the two of us against the world after that. My grandmother was the best person I have ever met and I lost her a year ago and I am still trying to recover. That is more than I have ever shared about my childhood with anyone.

 

Can you tell me where the anger, the rage comes from?

 

Be well Simon,

 

Nikki”

 

Nikki wiped the tear she hadn’t realized had fallen from her cheek and hit send. She could not figure out why she was opening up so much to this man, this unsub, but there was something about the way he speaks in the blog and her emails that has allowed her to see something she never could have prepared for. Nikki had always been very closed off around others and she threw herself into her work and really hadn’t noticed the loneliness that has become a constant companion until Simon came along and make Nikki look at her life, at who she has become and who she wants to be. Now she just had to figure out what all that means. Nikki grabbed her work out gear and headed to the gym for some strenuous activity to get her mind off of the case, if only for an hour.

Thursday November 30

7:15 pm

Nikki’s Townhouse

 

It was early evening and Nikki was just settling down in her favorite chair, fire crackling in her fireplace, a glass of wine and a book in hand getting ready to enjoy some reading before she headed off to bed and a new week when her phone chimed the arrival of a new email. Instantly Nikki’s heart rate shot up and she got butterflies in her stomach. She would have to analyze that reaction later, but it was indeed a message from Simon. Anxiously, Nikki opened the email to read:

 

“Hi Nikki, I hope that you would blush at the compliment and not run the other way. I am within 10 years of your age, unfortunately, that is specific as I can be at this point and I am sure you already figured that out as good as you are. As to the hacking abilities, I am sure you have identified Charlie by now and as I promised, I am going to return most of Charlie’s money for the benefit of his family. There is $387,000 in your bank account that belonged to Charlie, please see that it is returned to Charlie’s family. Will you do that for me, for them?” Nikki immediately accessed her banking app and sure enough, the money is in her account, just as he said it would be. How does he do that? Nikki continued reading:  “I kept only enough money to cover some of my expenses, this isn’t the cheapest venture to run you know. I only took the money to show Charlie I can get to him anywhere and in any way I wanted. I think he got that message. I hope you now see that I am a man of my word and I am also not a common criminal. I know you can’t see that what I am doing is for the greater good, but we will have to disagree on that point because, as you know, I can’t stop what and who I am and I believe I am contributing to the greater good. I guess with any relationship there are some contentious subjects that any couple has to work through, and no I don’t see us in that kind of relationship, unfortunately for me, but we are in a relationship nonetheless. I hope I have satisfactorily proven that you can trust me.

 

I read in your file that your parents were killed in an auto accident when you were 9. I am very sorry you had to grown up without your parents, but someone raised you properly. Who took care of you and raised you to be such a wonderful woman? To have become the person you are and achieved all that you have so far in your career, they did a great job. Take care of yourself Nikki.

 

Yours,

 

Simon”

Nikki swallowed past the lump in her throat. How could a total stranger have this affect on her, she was not some swooning teenager. In the short time that Nikki has been on this case, this killer she is tracking holds a more intimate place in her life than anyone has in the last 5 years. What does that say about her she thought as she reread the email several times. She would sleep on this and reply to Simon tomorrow.

Wednesday November 29

11:00 am

 

I have never written a blog before so a lot of this is new to me. I have these tracking tools that give me statistics on how many people visit the site, which pages they look at, all kinds of stuff. Well, after my last post, the number of viewers tripled. I know I dropped a bomb out there but I had to see what I wanted to do about it before I can tell you. All I can say is that sometimes when you first meet someone you know instantly that this person will be very important to you and in your life. I met someone like that, kind of. We didn’t actually meet but we spoke through email. I fully expected to be contacted, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this. I can’t say anymore about it right now, but thanks as always for reading and no, I didn’t “hook up with some random ho for the weekend” as one of you so eloquently asked in your comments. Thanks for those by the way, they help me gauge reaction to my mission and if I am reading correctly, it seems like not everyone wants to hang me from the nearest tree. Just wish me luck, I haven’t always enjoyed the best of luck when it comes to the fairer sex. And don’t think I won’t introduce a lady to the guest suite if she chooses to drive like she belongs there. Just keeping everyone honest and I know some ladies are reading because I have received 3 marriage proposals so far. God, I hope they were actually ladies. It wouldn’t be a good idea to try and put one over on ol Simon. I’m flattered but my attention has been drawn elsewhere.

 

On another exciting topic, I met Echo today. Sunday drivers, go figure. Have you ever witnessed someone on the road being the rudest, most aggressive driver possible, increasing the danger to everyone on the road? I did today. Thank you Echo. The human sphincter pulled a Delta on the driver ahead of me, brake check, bird and all. I almost piled into the back of the car when she had to slam her brakes on to avoid hitting Echo. I pulled into the right lane to get out of the line of fire and get eyes on Echo. Echo then goes flying ahead until he runs up on a line of cars, not a single car, a line of cars. Echo gets right on the rear bumper of the last car in the line and starts hitting his horn and flashing his lights. Echo just won a reservation in the guest suite, all expenses he will be paying with his ass. I could go on, he did for about 12 more miles before he pulled off, but what would be the point, I am sure you get the idea. I follow Echo to the…..water….where he parks at a marina. Could be salt water, could be fresh. Could be ocean river or lake. East coast, west coast. I can go all day. I watched him board an older motor yacht and he didn’t come back out until the next day. Interesting, a boat is a nice new challenge or in my case, a rare opportunity to mix business and pleasure. I ran the usual checks and found out that Echo is a salesman who lives in another state and works his current location part of the time. He inherited the boat and lives on it when he is….here. You know I am not going to give you any more than that so stop asking. I have the GPS on his vehicle to see where he goes and I am going to tail him again to see if his driving is a one-off or if he is in the dick olympics full time.

Tuesday November 28

7:45 am

Nikki’s Townhouse Dumfries, VA

 

Nikki’s phone alerted her to an email and when she opened her email app, she saw it was a reply from Simon.  Nikki’s heart rate shot up immediately and her breathing quickened as she opened the email:

 

“Hello Nikki, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. Thank you for being honest with me, I would not have replied had you been anything less and you should remember that moving forward. I have reviewed your file at the FBI and I am impressed. Not only are you incredibly beautiful, you are by the way, but you have an impressive close record on some very interesting cases. I think you might just prove a worthy adversary. I know you have questions so go ahead and ask and I will do the same. Until we speak again.

 

Yours

 

Simon”

 

Nikki read the email again, and then a third time, trying to draw every innuendo and nuance out of the words. She was in and she couldn’t keep the grin off her face as the excitement of the chase took hold of her soul. She also felt something else, he was flirting with her and if she had been on a date in the last year it might not have mattered, but it was nice having someone pay her a compliment. Which reminded her, she needed to check and see which personnel photo was in her file in HR. Hey, a girl wants to look good on any occasion, another lesson her grandmother taught her.

 

What to ask, Nikki had a thousand questions flying around her mind but she had to play the game and play it properly if she wanted to find Simon. The first thing Nikki wanted to know was if Simon was as good at hacking as he claimed and from what she had seen so far, she was sure he probably was but it was worth a test, a show of faith on his part. Nikki typed:

 

“Thank you for the compliment, it was a nice thing to say although you have me at a significant disadvantage as you know pretty much everything about me, including what I look like, and I only know what little you have shared so far about yourself. I don’t even know how old you are and if I should blush at a compliment or run the other way. I understand your need for anonymity though. Can you really do all the things you claim you can with computers? Breaking into the FBI’s system can’t be easy and if you are able to go into people’s accounts and move their money around that would give you unlimited funds, is that part of why you do what you do?  I hope you can share a little of yourself with me. Looking forward to knowing you better.

 

Nikki”

 

“Here goes nothing”, Nikki hit send and grabbed her purse and keys and headed out to do something, not sure what, but her heart was still pounding away as she was lost in thought about Simon and what exposing herself to that kind of threat could mean.

Monday November 27

9:25 am

FBI Headquarters

 

First thing this morning Nikki went to the violent crimes against children section and was speaking with SAC Ferguson, “Did you receive a packet of kiddie porn and various contacts around the world from some random source yesterday?” Ferguson looked at Nikki with brows raised and said “Yes we did, but it wasn’t anonymous, it was sent from a guy calling himself Simon.” He didn’t add anything, clearly waiting for Nikki’s explanation. “I need to get that email address from you, it is linked to a case I am working” and she filled him in on the Simon case.

 

Back in her office, Nikki paced back and forth in front of her desk mentally writing the most important email she is going to write for this case and maybe her career thus far. If she can’t get a dialogue started with Simon it is going to be next to impossible to catch him. That is why she was given this assignment, her special talent is to understand what makes an unsub do what they do. Nikki looked at the white board in the corner of her office where she was starting to compile a profile for Simon. She had written Angry, Intelligent, Hacker, Random, Killer?  She had been trying to lock down an age range and settled on 35-50 based on some of the phraseology he uses, courteous, manners, these are not things spoken of so much anymore. Nikki remembered her grandmother fondly at that thought, always telling Nikki that it is a show of respect to someone to be courteous and use proper manners. For hours she would school Nikki on proper manners at the dinner table and while in public, “A lady needs to know how to act in public sweetheart, it is the sign of a respect to those around her.” Not that those lessons stuck to Nikki like super glue, but she was comfortable in any social setting thanks to those lessons. Nikki brought her attention back to the whiteboard and wrote in her unique style Justice, Practical, Planning.

 

Nikki queued up a new email from her FBI account, no use beating around the bush, he is obviously going to know who she is if he doesn’t already.  Closing her eyes one last time to steel herself against opening her soul up to another monster, she typed the following:

 

Subject:  Thank you

 

“Hello Simon, my name is Special Agent Monique Sebastian of the FBI and I would like to speak with you about your mission. I have researched the “projects” as you call them and I am inclined to believe you are who you say you are. We received the package you sent us and we really appreciate it. As I type this, we are moving against targets across the globe in coordination with Interpol and local law enforcement. Which brings me back to you Simon. I am curious to get to know you better because you don’t fit into the normal profile for someone doing what you do. I look forward to getting to know you.

 

Nikki”

 

Nikki knew she is taking a huge risk putting herself out there like she did, giving Simon her nickname and the personal tone to the message, but it is the only thing she believed Simon would respond to. She was starting to get a feeling for his personality through his blog and his actions. Nikki blew out one last shaky breath and hit send.

Sunday November 26

9:15 pm

 

Delta is now occupying the guest suite. He couldn’t even wait one day before he went out to a strip club. I pulled the transport up next to his car and waited. When Delta finally came out into the unlit parking lot, I approached him and said “hey man, I saw some guy come out and key your car.” I knew this would get him moving in the right direction as I pointed to the rear quarter panel of his car closest to the transport while he is slinging curses. He bent down to take a closer look and I hit him with the stun gun. Once I got him tucked into the guest suite I picked up his car and returned to his house later that night. I found the title to his car and I found the deed to his house. Delta had a moment of conscious and signed the house and car over to his ex-wife as well as paying the outstanding child support and naming her the sole beneficiary of his will and the life insurance policy he had from his employer. He then penned a suicide note explaining that he can’t continue living with the sickness inside him and begging his children’s forgiveness. Noble. Now I get to go let Delta know of his benevolence which I am sure will make him very happy. This will be almost as much fun as showing him how much I appreciated him flying me the bird the other day. Unfortunately, I will have to leave it attached….mostly…because if there is going to be a suicide, there is going to be a body. Fortunately, I figured out a nice creative way for Delta to end it all that will still allow some play time. I purchased a new Louisville Slugger for the occasion. I hope Delta is a baseball fan.

 

I have to say, that look in their eyes when they know they are in a shit storm that they are not going to come out of is intoxicating. I think it is because I have seen the kind of assholes they can be when they are out in the world and now the look reflecting back is one of horror and disbelief that they can be in this position. “If you wouldn’t have been such a dick on the highway the other day, you might still be alive tomorrow to enjoy your kiddie porn and contribute to destroying even more lives. Instead, you just sent an email to the FBI with all of your various contact’s information and all of your porn. At least you took care of your ex-wife by giving her your house, car, and everything else as you named her your sole beneficiary in your will.” I really thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. He just stared wide eyed when I told him I outed him to the FBI, but when I told him I gave everything to his ex he exploded is the only way I can explain it. It was a good four minute laugh fest, for me. Then I remembered him brake checking me and flipping me the bird so I took my hammer and smashed that bird. That got a completely different reaction from him. I thought of all of those poor children living hell on earth and I took my new baseball bat to Delta and it isn’t new anymore. I made sure to get a full work out and I have to say that I think my swing is really improving. Delta lasted a good two hours before he had enough. I loaded up what was left of him and drove to a gravel pit that I had found the other day and dropped his body off from the top of the 200 foot drop onto the rocks below. I left Delta’s car and the suicide note at the top of the gravel pit for someone to find, although I don’t think this pit is used anymore so who knows how long poor Delta will be here. The animals have to eat too. I left the gravel pit in the transport and headed back to the ops center to send the FBI’s violent crimes against children section a nice little package of dirt bags. I wish I had the time to offer my assistance to handle them, I get results. But, I have other obligations that require my special attention. Happy hunting!