Serial

Chapter Eleven

Trigger warning: This part contains explicit descriptions of murder, rape and/or torture, which may be disturbing or triggering for some readers.

"Tina's on her way here," Agent Walker said, almost to himself. But I was just a foot away from him so I heard him, too.

"Tina?" I asked him curiously.

He looked surprised to see me there, even though he'd given me the chair to sit down in. Ever since we'd gotten back to the sheriff's station, he'd been antsy, like there was more going on than I knew about. Which was probably true, considering I still hadn't been given many details.

"Tina's the girl who got away," he responded quietly. "She was the lone survivor I told you about."

A sort of nervous energy built up in my chest as I thought about what this meant. If I wanted to learn about Kyle, about why he killed, how he chose his victims, talking to Tina would be the best way to do it.

And she was coming here.

"Can I meet her?" I blurted out.

Agent Walker looked over at me unsure. "I don't know if that would be a good idea, Emmy," he said, shaking his head. "She just found out about Kyle, too, which means she's probably already stressed as it is..."

"Which means she could use someone to talk to," I prompted. "Someone who kind of gets what she's going through."

Agent Walker's mouth twitched as he kept his eyes on the front door of the station. I could tell he was getting restless.

"Come on," I said. "It's gotta be better than leaving her to sit alone with her thoughts. Trust me. I'll be a welcome distraction."

Now he studied me as he seemed to weigh this. Finally, he looked away and focused instead on the other cops bustling around the office.

"We'll see," was all he said.

It was enough.

"Okay," I said, taking this as a triumph and changing the subject before he could change his mind. "So, serial killers, huh?"

He snorted and I could swear he almost laughed. Only, it would've been out of place here. "Worst segue way ever," he said, teasingly. "But yeah. Serial killers."

"Have you always been interested in them?" I asked, pretty sure this was the weirdest conversation I'd ever had. "Or did you just get stuck with this case."

"Well, I've always been intrigued with violent crimes and stuff like that, but I wasn't sure where they'd stick me when I joined the bureau earlier this year. I guess people don't typically request this division, and I got lucky."

I wouldn't necessarily consider it lucky getting stuck tracking down murderers and rapists, but to each his own.

"Wait, so you're new to the job?" I asked. "I wouldn't have guessed that. I mean, I knew you were young, but you seem really comfortable in your role."

"Thanks," he said. "I've done a lot of training and experienced a lot of stuff in my life, so I feel like I was more prepared than most when I actually went out into the field. I think I was always supposed to do this job, be this person."

"Which is?" I prompted.

He shrugged. Apparently it was more difficult to put into words. "I don't know. Someone who catches bad guys. Rights wrongs. Plus, I get to carry a gun and that sort of makes me a badass." He said this last part jokingly, but I could tell he liked this part of his job, too.