9:30 am
Frederick, MD
Nikki was walking the site where they found the Semi truck of the predator that Simon told them about. Nikki was informed by the lead agent who was processing the truck that several of the victims of this man were from a case Nikki had been working for over 18 months. 4 of the victims had been found during this time and were all linked to the same unsub due to the MO and how the bodies were killed and displayed. What she didn’t know was that this killer was so much more prolific than they ever thought, the other 7 victims they found trophies from were never linked to this killer. It was readily apparent to Nikki that this monster would never have stopped until he was caught or killed and she was thankful that Simon came across his path. He was a long distance hauler and never stayed in the same place twice so it was just luck, his bad luck Nikki mused, that Simon spotted him. Once Nikki made sure all of the trophies were collected and processed, she steeled herself before walking through the trailer of the truck to the workshop at the front. She was halfway into the trailer when the smell hit her and then she caught sight of all the blood. Taking ragged breaths through her sleeve, Nikki stood in the doorway and took in the scene in front of her. Strapped to a table that this man did so many unspeakable things to these small children was what could loosely be considered the remains of a human being. Human might be stretching it. Simon had been accurate in his blog depiction of what he did to this man. There wasn’t any skin left on the body and hanging in a jar over the head was a pair of testicles. 8 fingers were lined up neatly on a surgical tray for easy printing she assumed. Nikki took one last look and turned and quickly exited the trailer in search of some fresh air. Once outside and with her lungs filled she waited for the revulsion to what she had just seen, the disgust at the man who could have done that to another, but she couldn’t feel anything other than relieved that this person was done killing, that 11 families would have some closure after all these months and years not knowing who killed their loved ones. Nikki walked back to her car not realizing she was clutching the butterfly pendant hanging underneath her blouse.
Nikki wanted to email Simon, to tell him everything she was feeling right now, but she wasn’t fully sure what it was that she was feeling. She would have to give this more thought before emailing Simon again. Nikki looked into her own eyes in the rear view mirror and saw a different set of eyes looking back at her than she had ever seen before. These eyes saw shades of gray, not just the black and white that had made up Nikki’s life thus far. So many rigid beliefs that had been the cornerstone of Nikki’s life were crumbling before her and she wasn’t sure that was not a good thing. Nikki swung her car around the parking lot and headed back to Quantico.