Web of Deception: The Webbed Avenger

Chapter Twenty-two: Consequences

The gun clicked as Stiles held his hands up slowly, watching the balding man stare him dead in the eye.  This was a look that told Stiles if he didn't do everything just right he was going to get shot at, or killed, and he didn't want either of those things.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" the man ordered as Stiles smiled sheepishly.

"Okay, my name is Stiles, well it's a nickname really... my name is actually Mieczyslaw, yeah don't bother trying to say that because most people can't.  Just take it easy, is this Sara Roberts' apartment?"

"Yes, or rather it was, what does it matter to you anyway?  How do you know who my daughter is?"

"You're Gerald Roberts?  Sir, listen to me, I'm not trying to cause any problems, I'm..." he contemplated how he could spin this easy enough to where he wouldn't get shot, or have the cops called on him for trespassing.  "I'm a private investigator.  Someone your daughter knew wanted me to look into her disappearance and murder.  The cops are getting nowhere with this, but they're not me."

"You're a private investigator?  You don't even look like you're eighteen." Gerald hissed at him, lowering the gun slightly.

"Oh, I get that a lot, trust me.  I'm twenty-four, and before you ask, no I do not have identification on me, it's better for me when I do these kinds of things.  If I get caught, they can't trace me back to my clients.  Look, I know what you must be going through.  The little girl you have cared about so much that you promised if anybody hurt her you would go to the ends of the earth and back to make them pay is gone... I know what it's like to lose the person you love most suddenly, and there being not a damn thing you can do.  I can help you get justice for Sara, but you gotta put the gun down and talk to me.  Okay?"

"How do I know you're not the monster that killed my baby girl?"

"If I was, would I have just told you my name?  If I was a serial killer, what makes you think I would come back to a place where I abducted one of my victims?  It's not really that smart, don't you think?  There might have been witnesses that saw my face.  The Identity Thief isn't stupid like that, he knows to not come back to the scene of a crime.  I want to catch this guy as much as you do, trust me."

"Why does it matter to you so much?"

"Besides the fact I can help get a serial killer off of the streets, I need to do something that'll leave an impact on this world.  I'm dying, Mr. Roberts.  I want to go out of this world knowing that I stopped a monster from killing more people.  I just want to do some good..." Stiles had tears in his eyes to push the story through, and at a degree he wasn't lying because he had been constantly thinking about what Madame Web had told him about how he was going to die.  "I don't want to die without doing something worthwhile."

Gerald took in a deep breath and put the gun in his pocket and put his hand on the teen's shoulder.  "Alright, I'm sorry... you can't be too sure anymore.  How can I help you, detective?" he made an air quote around the word detective, that made Stiles wince a little.

"Can you tell me if Sara mentioned being afraid, like she was being followed, maybe she saw some guy that was creeping her out, anything that might help." Stiles crossed his arms lightly as Gerald sighed sitting down on a slightly damaged wooden chair.

"No, everything was going great for her.  She was going to get into Harvard on a scholarship... she had a boyfriend, he was going to propose to her at their anniversary dinner... she deserved better than what he did to her." Gerald's voice was shaking as he looked down at the ground.

Stiles knelt down and nodded lightly.  "I know, and you know what, I will find him.  I give you my word.  I will make sure he goes to jail for what he's done to your daughter and everyone else he has killed.  So, if there is anything, and I mean anything that you can tell me that might help me find this guy, then you need to tell me, even if it doesn't seem all that important.  Like what her schedule was, was there any parts of that throughout the week that had the same thing happen regularly?"