Picture Perfect

Chapter 25

The day after Christmas is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Millions of people head out to stores to return unwanted gifts or spend gift cards and money they received from family members and friends. They flock to thousands of different stores to purchase the material things they really wanted. The killer decided to do her own version of shopping this winter morning.
As usual, after she had created her latest masterpiece, she had three potential families to research. Although this time around she made it a little easier on herself by keeping the family from Greenfield, the Moore family, in the mix. She had planned to pay them a visit later today but that was before her rash decision to kill the Daniels family yesterday.
"Was that only yesterday?" The killer said aloud as she gazed at the new section of her trophy room dedicated to the Daniels family. "What a thrill! What a rush!" She uttered gleefully.
She forced herself to look away from the images and sat down at her computer. She reminded herself that no matter how thrilling the impulse killing of the Daniels family was, she needed to stick with her method. Though if that loser in Muskego hadn't tried to take credit for her hard work she wouldn't have strayed from her normal plan. Her research and observation method had served her well in the past. Though to be fair the Daniels family was in one of her previous groupings of families she had observed but that time she chose the Garcia family instead.
At the thought of them she let her gaze drift over to another section of her trophy room. She looked at the cheesy posed pictures that had been on display throughout their home chronicling the family's life together. They looked so happy and full of love for one another but the killer knew very well that pictures are deceiving. In their day to day lives the love displayed in these frames was nonexistent. Though in Jamie Jone's last few minutes of life the killer saw that somewhere deep down this woman truly loved her family. She offered up everything in the house including her own life in exchange for the lives of Tony and Theresa. Little did Jamie know at the time material things didn't matter to the killer and the killer wanted to see Jamie's reaction to seeing the other two die before she ended Jamie's life. As she gazed upon the final pictures of the Garcia family seated at their dining room table the killer smiled at her second of four masterpieces.
"Back to the task at hand!" The killer folded herself as she turned back to the computer. She spent the rest of the morning seeking out useful facts about he new families on her list. She looked at family home pages, work sites for the parents, school sites for the kids, Facebook profiles, Twitter and Instagram accounts and anything else she could find.
"If you think about it, it's scary how much personal information one can find after only a few hours on the computer." The killer said with a smirk. She was eager to begin her observations but she had to go to work soon. "What kind of people want family pictures taken the day after Christmas?" The killer said, shaking her head in a combination fo annoyance and disbelief.
Before she walked out of her trophy room she looked at a small, special section of photos. These were not a family she had killed, these were of her ex and her ex's son. As she touched one of them she said, "Soon my dear. Soon you will be at the top of my list. Then you'll get what you deserve and become my greatest masterpiece ever."

A few hours later the killer sat at work bored out of her mind. All she wanted to do was start her observations but she was struck here waiting for her last appointment of the day. She could never understand why people couldn't show up on time. They call and make their appointments so why is it so hard to show up at the time they requested.
She was about to go find her boss and see if she could get out of this when the receptionist came in. "They just got here."
"Wonderful!" The killer said rolling her eyes. "Give me five minutes. They made me wait so now they can wait for a little bit." She finished with a smirk.
As she slowly straightened up the nearly spotless studio and double checked her camera settings she could hear a woman sounding furious in the waiting area. This made the killer smile, she loved putting bitchy women like this in their place. They think their time is so precious and everyone in the world should serve them.
The killer walked out to the lobby and suddenly got very happy about what she saw. There was the bitchy woman fuming, a man looking disinterested and a little boy who looked afraid to breath too loud. The perfect picture of family dysfunction in their Sunday best.
"I'm sorry for the slight delay." The killer said with a convincing fake warm smile, "Please come back." She instructed, pointing towards the studio.
The woman spoke up immediately, "You have done family portraits before young lady, right? You seem awfully young."
"I assure you Mrs. Collins, I have taken several beautiful family portraits. I'm sure you will be pleased with the results."
"I hope so." The woman replied in a snotty, condescending tone.
The killer just smiled as she thought, 'Screw the method, I just found my next masterpiece walking into my studio. Who knew work would be so productive today!"
Throughout the entire photo shoot all the killer could think about was what kind of picture she wanted to create with this family. She figured it should be something that this bitchy woman would consider beneath her just for fun. Maybe another outdoor scene because this woman surely hated the idea of getting even a speck of dirt on her. And this poor boy looked afraid to smile too much. How much time this poor boy must spend doing everything he can to avoid his mother's tirades? Is that any way to raise a child? The boys father seemed oblivious to anything and everything. It was too bad the boy had no one in his corner, except maybe the killer. She thought before the family left, 'I'll save you from your horrible family life, just give me a few days.'

The killer raced home in excitement, though she did stay mindful of the speed limit because she didn't want to be delayed by a stupid cop pulling her over. She couldn't wait to do some research on the Collins family. She nearly ran into her trophy room, almost forgetting to even lock the front door but she quickly remedied that knowing little lapses in memory like that could cost her dearly someday.
    Sitting at her computer she worked diligently into the wee hours of the morning. She found nearly all the information she needed to complete her fifth masterpiece, they would definitely be picture perfect when she was done with them. All that was left to gather needed to be done in person, not over the internet. She needed to see the layout of the house and backyard to finalize her plans.
    "If everything goes as I have planned it, hopefully in less than a week the Collins family will be my next masterpiece. They will be wonderful!" The killer said aloud with a huge smile on her face.
    It was times like these that the killer loved her work, the work she did for a paycheck that is. Not only did she take the photographs in the studio, she also processed and printed the final photos for her clients in her own home. This made the creation of her personal masterpieces that much easier because she always had a logical reason to be welcomed into their homes, the family never suspecting anything was amiss. They never suspect the danger that is coming.
    The killer yawned and stretched, "It's been a long yet extremely productive day." She took one last look around her trophy room before heading to bed. She decided the pictures of the Collins family could wait a few hours. If she were to successfully observe the family, she needed at least a few hours of sleep to clear her head.