9:55 am
Nikki’s Townhouse
Rob McShay was standing in Nikki’s living room trying to figure out just what had happened. The agent watching Nikki failed to check in after his shift so they dispatched another agent and they found the first agent in his car, dead. He was sitting behind the wheel, sunglasses on and he looked normal. The ME had found a small puncture wound on his neck and was sure he was injected with something. Until toxicology came back, they were only guessing. There was no sign of struggle at Nikki’s house and her car was missing. On his way to her house, Rob had the GPS tracker in Nikki’s car activated and it was found a couple of blocks away in a parking garage, no sign of Nikki. Another team was working her car now looking for clues and Rob was beside himself. He always had a fondness for Nikki and standing there imagining what she may be going through at the hands of the Panty Snatcher, he realized that his feelings for Nikki were more than fondness, he really cared about her. He was mad at himself that it took her getting abducted and placed in harm’s way for him to be able to see what had been right in front of him these last few years.
Rob had been reading Simon’s blog all along and he knew Simon was talking about Nikki and knew how he felt about her as well. He was desperate and not knowing what else to do he grabbed a piece of paper and a marker and jotted a note down and held it up in front of one of Nikki’s interior cameras. The note read “Simon, Nikki has been abducted, I need your help.”
Rob had been sitting on the couch trying to figure out what to do next and had been there maybe 20 minutes after displaying the note when he heard a faint noise coming from upstairs. He made his way up the stairs, following the noise which was some kind of ringtone which got louder as he approached the master bedroom. He stepped inside and after following the noise he eventually found a cell phone plugged into an outlet behind the headboard of the bed. He pulled the phone out and answered it: “McShay”. A couple of seconds later a male voice came across the line,
“I will warn you once McShay, if this is some attempt to catch me you will regret it. Your sister Jane and her daughters Melony and April would bear the brunt of my rage and you will be left there to watch. Proceed carefully.” The voice calmly explained.
After swallowing past the sudden lump in his throat at that comment, Rob steadied himself and responded, “Simon, Nikki was abducted some time yesterday. The agent watching her failed to check in and when we dispatched another agent, we found him dead in his car, a small puncture wound to his neck. Nikki’s car was found a few blocks away in a parking garage and we are processing the scene now. I don’t know what else to do which is why I reached out to you. I have seen what the Panty Snatcher does to his victims….” his voice trailed off. After several seconds Simon replied,
“Is there a diamond butterfly pendant anywhere in the house, with the rest of her jewelry or in the bedroom or bathroom?” Rob searched everywhere and did not find it. He returned to the line,
“I can’t find a butterfly pendant anywhere, why does it matter?” he asked breathlessly.
“Keep the phone with you and I will advise you one more time, if you attempt to use it against me it will not help you find me but the promise I made earlier will be kept.” The line went dead and Rob slowly sank down to the edge of Nikki’s bed. What had he just done by involving Simon? He didn’t care at this point, he only wants Nikki back safely.