Arlington

Fifth Chapter

Location: The residence of Valery Strazio

Address: 220 20th Street South, Arlington, VA, 22240

Date: 8/30/2013

Time: 7:43 p.m.

For the past two hours, they had been reading text messages, Facebook messages, emails, and recorded phone messages from Officer Joseph McKinney. Not only did he admit to killing Shelby, but referenced his involvement in the attacks of other women. They went through the names of these girls, twelve of them in total. Jasmine personally saw the bodies of four.

Mark felt sick, feeling as though he was going to purge. He knew where the conversation was heading. He thought that he should possibly try to discourage his friends from making a poor decision. "It seems like this guy is going to be taken care of anyway. Why should we put ourselves on the line?"

Valery knew that Mark was trying to look out for her. So, she held her emotions in when responding. "I want him dead by my hands. He took my sister. I take his life. He made her feel the worst fear imaginable. I want him to feel the same fear."

Malachi interjected. "I have a few questions. How are we going to figure out where he is? How we are going to do this, and when are we going to do it?"

Jasmine answered her husband. "Tonight seems to be our best bet."

"Because of his iPhone, we know where he is at all times. We are basically tracking him." Jessica informed them.

"I say we catch him by using his weakness for women," said Valery.

"So, who is going to be the bait?" asked Mark.

"I will be the bait," offered Jessica. Everyone in the room just stared at her. "What's wrong with me? I'll just push my tits up, wear red lipstick, flaunt a little thigh."

"You do realize," Jasmine started slowly, "that you could get hurt doing that, right?"

"I am well aware."

"What makes you so brave?" asked Mark.

"I was molested when I was a kid. The man who did it is already dead. Died comfortably in his own bed, next to his wife. The neighborhood didn't even realize that there was a problem, until other kids came out about it years later. If I could go back, I would have made sure that my attacker got his just dues." The room went quiet for a second. "Sorry if that kills the mood."

"It didn't," said Valery. "Thank you for sharing that."

"So, what are we going to do to him?" asked Malachi.

"I already have my props, including a list of things that I want to do to him. Right after we catch him."

"How are we going to catch him?" asked Mark.

"With this," said Valery, holding a jar of white powder. "This is a substance called scopolamine, also known as the Devil's Breath. This turns its victims into docile zombies that are highly susceptible to people's suggestions. He can either ingest this or breath it in. The effects are almost instant. Basically, after it hits his system, we tell him to come with us, and we take him to a remote location where we can finish him off."

"Remote location?" said Mark.

"Val and I already have a place where we want to take him," answered Malachi.

Mark had another question; it weighed heavy on his chest to ask. "So, when do we want to snatch this guy up?"

"From what we have seen," started Valery. "This person is a heavy bar crawler. He lives at the bar. Actually, he made plans to go to Whitlow's tonight. When he gets there, Jessica will interact with him, slip him the scopolamine, and she will lead him into Malachi's Ford."