Dot Com Boom

Anna Martinez

It's been a month since my partner killed a child on camera. You'd think I would be finished. You'd think everything would have turned to shit. It hasn't. It's gotten better, much better.
A killer that has been known to kill as many as twenty people in a month, has only released one video since Jake's video. One is still one too many, but it's an improvement. That is a sign that he is having trouble. It's a sign that he'll be getting desperate. And with desperation, comes mistakes. The case itself is still a dead end. But you have to take wins where you can get them. I'm confident we'll catch this fucker. If all we can do is slow him down for now, then it's got to be enough.
Merv retired, or maybe got scared that there was a case he couldn't solve and wanted to leave on a high note. Gregory got reassigned and is now my partner. Maybe the beginning of a new ying and yang. One that will take down the dot com killer together. I certainly hope so.
We were at the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.
"What are you working on now?" I asked Gregory.
"An algorithm to try to detect the upload points quicker," he responded. "I've sped them up considerably, but it's still not enough."
"Good work," I said. "We'll have this fucker in no time. Ying and yang motherfucker!"
Gregory laughed. "True that!" He beamed me a smile. Yeah, I could definitely go for the new Gregory. Without the cockiness, without the bullshit, he was a nice guy, and a good detective.
Gregory wasn't bad, if he was on your side, but he was extremely protective of his reputation. We used to be rivals, that's why he was always so harsh and competitive. To actually have a partner again has been great. And to have one that I know will always have my back and be around is even better.

Gregory and I had a late dinner, Chinese from a place called China Night, we had been working on the case the entire day. He showed me how to use chop-sticks, now that shits crazy. I went back to my fork after dropping my rice clump for the fifth time.
“How many times have you watched those videos?” He asked.
“Too much.”
“Why do you do it?”
“I’ve got to believe that the fucking killer has overlooked something. He can’t be perfect. There has to be something here. And I don’t have the technological know-how like you and and some of the others to work on algorithms and such. It’s all I can really do with what we have. Someone has to do it.”
“You’re a strong woman to be able to do that. I can’t even glimpse at those videos without almost hurling. And you definitely don’t want me hurling up this chow mein.” He made a gagging sound and pushed his hand in my direction like it was coming out of his mouth, pretending to throw up. I laughed. Then he got a serious look on his face. “Anna. I’m really sorry about what happened with Jake. I know you two were close at one time.”
“Fuck him.”
“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“No. Fuck him. He wasn’t around for months. When I needed him, he wasn’t there. He did squat for the case. And then to go out like that. Fuck him. That’s all I have to say.”
“Okay. Yeah. Fuck him.”
“How’s the algorithm coming?” I asked.
“I think it’ll work great, but unfortunately we have to wait for another upload to test it out.”
“I hate these fucking trial and error cases. These dead ends. Can’t anything be simple?”
“You don’t exactly join the FBI for simple.”
“Shit. I know. It’s just this fucker hasn’t made a mistake this entire time—”
“Well, he did make one. Getting Jake to kill that girl has put the entire country on alert like never before.”
“True. But that isn’t a mistake that’ll get him caught. We could never see anything from him again. He could get away with everything he’s done.”
Gregory stood up and came over to sit next to me. “Ying and yang will make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said. Then he leaned over to me to try to kiss me.
I pushed him back. “Fuck. I’m sorry,” I said. “I want to keep this professional.”
He nodded and smiled. “Of course.”

Night after night passed and there were no more videos. No more killings. Gregory couldn’t get a chance to test his new algorithm, and I had just about exhausted all my leads. I continued to watch the videos and would calm myself after with a joint or two. Gregory never judged, and actually joined me one night, but couldn’t stop coughing and never tried again. He said it was probably for the best that he didn’t because when he used to do that in high school, which I thought was a blatant lie, he’d never smoked in his life, he said he used to get really paranoid.
We were spending a lot of time together, but he was always respectful and kept the boundaries I had set, that I just wanted a professional relationship.
The country stayed on alert, Tony McCreedy held regular press conferences to remind everyone to continue to be safe. He reminded everyone the killer was still out there. Walk together. Watch children. Be aware of areas that electronics shut down. The killer hadn’t done anything for a long time, whether that was because of the press conferences, or some other reason was unknown, but McCreedy was always one to point out how inactive he had been and to not let it lull anyone to inaction. He assured everyone we were still on the case, day and night.
And we were. The task force was split into different teams working on different angles. I worked on finding any evidence within the videos and interviewing of possible witnesses in reported static zones. Gregory helped with interviews and worked on the technical side, laptop forensics and hack analysis of the hacks that the killer had used.
Gregory and I were at my apartment. We ordered a pizza. I was hungry as fuck. It was crazy how different I felt these last few weeks. It probably had something to do with there being no more victims. And that I had a partner I could trust. I was far from happy, that wouldn’t happen until we caught the fucker, but I was coping alright.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” I said. I walked to the door, looked through the peep hole and saw it was the pizza man dressed in red. I opened the door.
“Ordered a pizza?” The teenage delivery boy asked.
I nodded. I opened my wallet and had no cash. Shit. “Hold on a sec,” I said. I shut the door and asked Gregory if he had any money, that I was out.
“Yeah, in my wallet. It’s in the inside pocket of my jacket in the closet by the door.”
“Okay, thanks,” I shouted back.
I reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet. $5, $10, then… I flipped up the flap and what I saw made me freeze. He had solid black condoms in his wallet, they looked like the same ones used in the videos. They sell these everywhere, it doesn’t mean anything. Right? I flipped the flap back down and reached into the top, pulling out another ten and put the wallet back. Opened the door and handed the kid twenty, took the pizza, and shut the door.
“Find it okay?” Gregory asked as I walked into the living room.
“Yeah. I found it.”
“You okay?”
“Shit. Yeah. Sorry, just starving over here.”
“Me too. What did you get? Pineapple? Really? You’re one of those people?”
“Hell yeah.” Fuck. I was trying to play it cool. I think he could sense something was off.
We ate and I wasn’t my usual talkative self. It wasn’t that I was nervous, I just kept thinking that if this really is the killer in front of me, why am I not beating his face in? I had to find out. I had to be sure.
I scooched over to where he was sitting on the floor. “That hit the spot,” I said.
“Yeah, it did,” he responded.
“Not hungry anymore.”
He nodded. “Yeah. That’s how it works.”
Fuck. I’m stupid, but whatever.  I put my hand on his crotch and looked him in the eyes. “I’m horny as fuck though.”
“Whoa. The marijuana does that too?”
“Sometimes,” I said. My grip tightened, he got hard. I kissed his lips, a part of me hoping this wasn’t The Fucking Devil. If it was, just the thought, almost made me throw up right in his mouth. I held it down. I had become a pro at that by now. I undid his button on his pants and unzipped. I grabbed the sides of his pants and yanked them down, his pencil dick erection jumped out at me. A fucking birthmark right across the tip was a dead giveaway. Gregory is the fucking dotcomkiller.
“You motherfucker!” I shouted.
I punched him right in the balls. He collapsed and screamed like a little bitch. I punched him again. And again. And I didn’t stop until he made me.
“You fucking bitch!” He shouted, as he pushed me off of him and pulled up his pants.
As he tried to stand, I punched him in the face. I tried to punch him again, but he blocked it with his forearm and punched me. I flew back into the wall, making a giant hole. He ran. I got up and ran after him. He opened the closet door and pulled out a gun, as he extended his arm I swatted at it, and it fired over my shoulder, before it slid across the floor. He took a swing at me and missed. I took one at him and hit him in the stomach, then the face. Boxing lessons were paying off. He pushed me. I didn’t fall. But he got enough space to open the door and run outside. He ran to his car, but realized he had no keys. He ran into the street and I chased him, screaming the entire way. I don’t even know what I was saying, but I know I was fucking pissed and I was going to kill this fucker if I caught him.
As I ran down the street, I noticed the glow of cells phones, people stepping out of their homes, cell phones raised, recording everything.
I ran after The Fucking Devil, and I was gaining on him. I was right behind him and kicked at his foot, he went flying face first into the asphalt, teeth went flying from his head, blood spewed from his mouth as I turned him over and jumped on top of him. I beat his fucking head into the ground. I punched and punched as images of all the videos I had watched flashed through my mind. All the pain he had brought to others burst through me and empowered each vicious punch. I screamed in his face. I screamed that he was the dot com killer, so that no one would stop me. No one did. They only continued to film it all.
This is that point in the movies when the good guy stops beating the bad guy and lets him get arrested to show that they haven’t stooped to the level of the bad guy. But this isn’t a fucking movie. I’m going to fucking kill this bastard! I beat his face to a bloody pulp, and I fucking loved every moment of it. I made sure not to stop until I knew he wasn’t breathing.
I stood, fists pulsing with pain, blood dripping off of them to the ground, as police cars surrounded me. I shouted that I’m FBI. They all knew who I was already. I shouted that the dot com killer is dead. They still told me to get down on the ground. I did. They approached me, handcuffed me, and put me in the back of a police car.
I was elated. I smiled, what I’m sure was a sinister ass smile as I gazed at the corpse of The Fucking Devil. I didn’t care what happened to me. The Fucking Devil couldn’t hurt anyone else.

I got life in prison. Can you fucking believe it? Even after the investigation into Gregory revealed he was in fact the killer. Life. That was until the nation rose up to fight for me. For me! I couldn’t believe it. I’m a fucking hero to them. I don’t know how to be a hero. I couldn’t be a hero for my sister.
There were protests throughout the country after I was sentenced. They reached astronomical levels. They went on for weeks until the President pardoned me.
I was a free woman.

When I was released, I quit the FBI. I rejoined the CIA as a paper-pusher. I worked normal days. Boring days. And that was perfectly fine with me. I had plenty of time to spend with Vivi. I took custody of her, and I’m going to teach her how to become a strong woman, hopefully with less of a potty-mouth than me. That’s how I chose to honor Vanessa’s memory.
Vivi and I sat on the floor of her room and played with dolls.
“This is how I play now!” Vivi exclaimed. She picked up the bride doll and smashed it into the dragon stuffed animal, then made groaning sounds as the dragon spasmed on the floor. The groom doll was nowhere in sight. “Did you see, Anna? I killed the dragon!”
I smiled, brushed my fingers through her soft hair, and kissed her on the forehead. “Yes, you did."