Walkmans And Wifi

~ Chapter 5: Miami~

"You-what?" Joy said in almost disbelief. Her body stiffened. "I just-"

Jacket raised his hand up and cut Joy off as he hit the play button on his tape recorder. "Please hold." The female voice spoke as he rose from the couch. He walked over to his television, turning it on while he looked through a few VHS tapes. He combed through the stack on his knees for about a minute, the sound of TV static drowning out the arcade machine, causing Joy to grow more unnerved than before.

Finally, Jacket picked out a black tape with a pink label titled simply, 'Miami' in bold black marker. He froze for a second, as if contemplating, before slipping it into the VHS player. Instantly, a picture could be made out from the static. It was an old news broadcast.

The tall blonde quietly resumed his spot on the couch next to Joy, his shoulders tensing as he stared at the screen.

Joy stared at him for a moment, trying to read him, then glanced towards the TV as the audio became clear.

A young newswoman glanced up from her script to face the camera. She quickly cleared her throat. "This is Miami Station 10 bringing you some breaking news. A missing, young woman had just been found dead in an apartment located in central Miami.

Her last live sighting was at a now-deceased movie producer's house through security cameras. The Miami Murderer can be spotted carrying her to his car in this footage."

The screen shifted to old camera footage showing a bloody Jacket carrying a woman through a blood painted building and into an Acado GT.

Joy glanced back at Jacket. He was still stone faced, staring daggers at the television.

"In the apartment where she was found were various newspaper scraps from each of the masked murderer's past hits. Police have speculated that was the massecrer's lair, where he kidnapped the girl and later killed her.

This makes over 400 human casualties in the wake of the chicken murderer's rampage."

The small brunette caught Jacket balling up his fists as the reporter continued on.

Suddenly, he hopped off the couch and violently hit the eject button on the VHS player, causing Joy to flinch. Without turning back, he then clicked his tape deck after a quick rewind. "Please head to the exit." It chimed.

Joy wasn't going to stay a second longer if she had to and briskly left through the cage door.

She paused on the stairs next to Jacket's room, watching him for a moment. He was breathing heavily, still facing the TV, the white static illuminating him.

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The young hacker wanted to keep her distance as much as possible for the next few days. Anytime Jacket entered a room, she would b-line to the exit. How could Dallas recruit someone like Jacket? He's insane!

Sure, most of the clown crew was insane, but Jacket was a wild card. No one could read him, and no one knew what he was capable of. For all Joy knew, he could turn on the team in a heartbeat, so she was going to stay as far away from him as she could.

At least Dallas gave me a new mission to take my mind off of everything. I've never gone in loud before. Joy thought, grabbing her gear and heading to the getaway van.

When she opened the back door, there she was greeted by the very person she was trying to avoid.

"What a lovely day, right?"