Obsession

Suspect: Chapter 39

The bitch hadn't desisted. Neither of them had despite his clear warnings.

Nico had continued his onslaught, butchering what remained of Gabriel's reputation around town and Shaw Public High School. Stepping out into the public eye was becoming a dangerous endeavour for Gabriel. He had not been the same since the mobbing at his house on Sunday afternoon. Gabriel had taken a daring chance and attended school the next two days but most of the student body had turned against him, rallying behind those wild lies.

And when he was chased out of the school compound on Tuesday afternoon with Nico Hoffman and his goons hot on his heels with murderous intentions, Gabriel had given up on changing public opinion.

Lynette Isaacs was no different, but she continued to butcher Gabriel's reputation on the internet, on her Facebook page where most anyone could see it. She had posted a picture of the young man's letter to her, and while he did not care much for the fact, it was the attached text to her post that had caused his rage to spark and crackle like an exposed electrical cable hitting a puddle of water. Lynette had crafted a story so well that if one did not know the truth, they would buy her words and so many people had.

She told a story about her daughter's association with Gabriel – one that the young man knew never existed – and that they never got along, painting a picture of disagreement, resentment, and rivalry that was simply untrue. She had condemned Gabriel's name, called him an abomination. Sin. Proclaimed that he would burn in hell for his personal relationship with another man and for his atrocious crimes. She had written out her thoughts that she would pursue justice for her daughter even without the police's help because they could not be trusted.

'...the police are in bed with criminals,' is what she had written in her post, an obvious acknowledgement that Gabriel's father was courting the Sherriff, and because of that, Lynette wholeheartedly believed that the alibi they had come up with placing Gabriel nowhere near Lyssa at the time of her death was a bogus one.

The young man cursed foully under his breath. He had been enraged the first time he had read the woman's post and the long thread of comments that followed, many siding with her, and of course, Nico Hoffman and his parents had jumped onboard that wagon.

But he had bided his time, waiting for the best moment to strike. He had spent a lot of his time since first seeing the post plotting his next course of action. Something had to be done about Lynette and Nico, and he had already made up his mind. But this time, it would be different. He would be careful and thorough his time.

Though the police still struggled to solve Lyssa's murder and apprehend him, the killing had been both accidental and on the fly. Filled with emotion, impulsive, and dare he say, sloppy. He had improvised disposing of her body and he was quite shocked he had not been caught or found out.

This time would be different.

The blue pick-up pulled into the church's lot and the young man shifted his gaze to the hockey stick chucked between the front passenger's seat and the glove compartment. He had already planned what he would do and how he would do it. It was a Saturday and Lynette Isaacs, like clockwork, showed up at the church to pray for her daughter.

The young man knew her routine. Lynette had said she would be at the church on the internet, and he thought it was incredibly irresponsible and naïve for a person to do such a thing especially after receiving his letter.

'Until the monster who killed my little girl is caught, I'll pray every day. I'll go down to the church at noon every day of the week and I'll pray that her soul rests in peace and that that abomination is brought to justice.'

He shook his head remembering those words. The woman couldn't possibly be any dumber, but then, he realized she was.

He had followed her every day since that post and Lynette had stuck to her word. Shown up every day on the dot of the midday hour during her lunch break. She would spend most of that hour in the church.