Prince of Darkness ~ Gotham

~ Chapter Nineteen: Impulsive Decisions ~

While Jim returned to the GCPD, Harvey was called out to another lead. As Jim sat at his desk investigating further, his phone rang, and Harvey was on the other end. The Goat had snatched his next victim. "Ember Copley was supposed to meet her parents tonight at 9:00 at the marina. When she didn't show, they came back, found the maid out cold, Ember gone," Harvey explained. "You think it's our guy?" Jim asked. "It's our guy," Harvey confirmed. "He slips in, chloroforms the maid, grabs Ember, no sign of B and E, nothing. Like a ghost,"

Jim's gaze shifted to the list he had been consulting for the past hour that contained all the people who worked for the maintenance. "He had to have keys, like he did with Amanda Hastings!" He noted. "Randall Milkie had a ritual. He'd dress the victims, kill them, and do his little coin trick. The whole thing took about eight hours. If our copy-Goat's doing the same thing, we're running out of time," Harvey warned. "I pulled the employee list from the agencies that do maintenance on Ember Copley's building. Looking for an employee that had access to both victims' apartments," Jim said, scanning past the employees he cleared.

"That's a hell of a lot of people!" Harvey inhaled sharply. "Yeah, but our guy's been real busy. He had to have called in sick the last couple of days," Jim mentioned. "Get Nygma in there. He's freaking good with puzzles," Harvey suggested. With not a lot of time left, Jim rushed over to where Nygma was working and asked for his help.

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With school ending two hours earlier than usual, everyone at Anders Prep had quickly gotten into their parent's car or in some other cases, limos before going back to their homes. Holly's little speech in the auditorium may have helped ease some of their nerves, but everyone still had a right to be scared. As Holly got into the car where her mother was waiting for her, Holly asked to borrow her phone so she could call Cara and make sure she was alright. She lived by her words. They had to look out for one another.

The phone conversation lasted until Cara had reached her home about an hour away from the campus, and once Cara confirmed she arrived home safely, the girls hung up, and Holly got started on her homework. Sitting at the kitchen counter where Barbara had started making dinner, Holly tapped her pencil against the polished marble, her brain searching for the right answer to her science sheet. "How do you feel about homemade pizzas tonight? That sound alright with you?" Barbara looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, that's fine! You know I can't say no to pizza," Holly answered. "I know you can't. You and your dad," Barbara playfully rolled her eyes. "Speaking of Dad, did you and him work it out?" Holly questioned. Barbara paused in rolling the dough, setting down the pin. "We're still working on it, Hols. But we're not fighting anymore," She answered. Holly nodded her head in approval before looking back at her homework. If there were two things in this life Holly wanted more than anything, it was to have her family be as close together as possible and bring positivity and change to the world around her. But especially to Gotham.

What felt like hours went by as Holly completed piece after piece of homework. I knew Anders Prep didn't play around when it came to education, but I didn't think they'd give out this much work! Holly thought as she focused on her last assignment, the first three chapters summarizing The Giver for her English class. By the time she had finished writing the last sentence in her summary, the oven started beeping. As she and her mother sat on the couch, flipping through the movies and programs, Barbara got an alert from her phone and checked it while Holly kept searching.