Decisions (4th Book in the Boss's Niece Series)

Keeping Sean Safe

The minute we landed, I took an SUV and drove to dad's house. I jumped out as quick as I could and pounded on the door, in hopes our UnSub hadn't struck early.

The door quickly opened and there stood my father, only half awake. I felt relieved.

"Melanie?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

I quickly raced into the house and closed the door behind me. Dad rubbed his eyes and looked at me, confused.

"Do you realize how late it is?"

"It's 3:00 in the morning." I replied, realizing afterwards it was a rhetorical question. "Dad, you have to stay here for the next few days, okay?"

"Why? What's going on, Melanie Ann?"

I told him the whole story about Lila and the celebrities that were being killed and that he was next.

"Lila was killed yesterday, which means we have six days to find him before you're next. I'll stay here with you if you want, but you cannot leave the house because we don't know how he's poisoning them." I said.

"Okay. I'll stay here." he said. "Is your uncle here?"

"Not here here, but he's in New York. He's at the police station. Should be by later, though. Spencer's here, too, but he's more concerned about catching the UnSub right now."

"Has he become obsessed with his job, too?"

"No. This is just a...personal case. For both of us." I said. "Dad, I woke you up. Go back to bed, I'll sleep in my room."

"No, it's okay. I'm up now. I had to get up to go to work anyways, but since I'm on house arrest-"

"Sorry." I laughed. "Where's Mary? She asleep, or did I wake her up, too?"

"She-uh-she's gone."

My eyes widened as I looked at dad. He was looking at his feet.

"Oh dad. I'm so sorry. I-I didn't know. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. She had cancer. We discovered it too late and the doctor said it wouldn't be long. We-we were gonna get married. I proposed not too long before we found out." he said. "Everything happens for a reason and I guess I'm just not supposed to have love."

I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a big hug.

I couldn't imagine how he felt. I've never lost two loves. I left Justin and I've been with Spencer for years now. But dad. Dad's lost two. My (stupid) mother and Mary.

"Why don't you go to bed, dad? You can sleep as long as you want. I'll sleep on the couch and wake you up when someone else comes around." I said.

Dad nodded. He went back to bed and I lied on the couch. I took my phone out of my pocket and began to play games, trying to pass the time. I hadn't slept in over 12 hours, but I wasn't tired. I'll sleep when dad is safe.

•

There was a knock at the door at about 8:00. I was on the couch with my eyes closed, but not asleep. My eyes popped open and I seen dad going to answer it.

"Wait!" I said. He jumped and stopped just before opening the door. "Dad, you're in danger. Check and see who it is first."

Dad chuckled and said, "I thought it was supposed to be the dad who's protective over the daughter."

He looked through the peephole.

"It's your uncle. Can I open the door now?" he asked.

"Yes." I said.

Dad opened the door and Uncle Aaron stood there.

"Aaron." dad said. "How've you been? It's been a while. How's Beth and Jack?"

"They're fine." Uncle Aaron replied, his voice monotone as usual. "I assume Mel has explained what's going on."

"She has." dad nodded.

"Okay. Mel, you can go to the station. Blake and Reid just got back with the autopsies. I'll stay here with Sean until you get back."

I nodded.

"Remember dad-" I said.

"Don't leave the house and make sure to check when someone knocks, I know, I know." he said, waving a hand.

"I just don't want you getting hurt."

"I know sweetheart. You go to the station. I'll see you later."

"'Kay. Bye." I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and left for the police station. I was suddenly feeling a bit tired, but I could wait.

I pulled up to the station and entered. JJ was the first to notice me.

"You look tired." she commented.

"I'm fine." I said. "Where's Reiders and Blake? Uncle Aaron said they had the autopsies."

"Morgan, Night and Blake are trying to make up a profile on what we know so far. Spence is marking where the celebrities were found. With the exception of June, they were all found in an ally way." she explained.

"And the autopsies?"

"Died from poisoning, but Kyle, Terry and Lila were all stabbed repeatedly in different places."

"Don't tell me the genitalia." I said.

"No, no. Not there. Terry was stabbed in the throat, but Kyle and Lila were stabbed in the face. The morgue believes it was post mortem because of the lack of blood."

I thought about this for a moment.

"Where's the rest of the team?" I asked.

JJ pointed me to a small office that was nearly empty except for a desk, a board that Spencer was mapping everything out on. Sara, Derek and Alex all sat near the desk, planning out the profile.

"How's it going?" I asked them.

"Well, we know he kills celebrities and dumps them in allys." Sara said.

"Except June." Spencer said. "You know, there was a lot of rage in Lila's stabbing. Perhaps he was enraged because June's death didn't go as expected."

"I was thinking about that." I said. "Just think, Kyle and Lila were actors and Terry was a singer. Maybe the UnSub is stabbing them for what their famous for. If they sing, he stabs their throat. If they act, he stabs their face, making them unrecognizable."

Everyone looked at each other.

"That makes sense." Sara said.

"How's Sean?" Spencer asked.

"He's fine." I lied, not wanting to talk about Mary. "Uncle Aaron's with him now. I wanna catch this guy before he hurts dad. Let's finish the profile."