Secret Deception (Jonathan Black's Love Story)

Chapter 43: Addicted

I had attended my fair share of funerals during my time as an FBI agent and unfortunately this wasn't much different than any of those. I didn't know these people anymore than I knew the other agents that had passed over the years. I should have but I didn't.
I'd learned through my investigation over the last week that Skyler was a bailiff in the city's court house and Amanda was the secretary of a small law firm. Jackson was a typical second grader and Jasmin was the joy of the daycare.
A typical family ravaged in the night by a monster with no face.
They were supposed to take a trip to Miami for Jackson's birthday. He hadn't been seven a week when he was killed. No one thought to check on the house while they were supposed to be away which was why no one found the bodies until Sunday night.
The whole thing seemed so senseless. Why kill a seven and a three year old?
I felt more than a little emotionally exhausted as we pulled up to our home in Virginia late Saturday afternoon. I had to sit down with Jasmine to make a list of people who could want to really hurt her but I didn't have it in me that night.
Our little family gathered in the basement theater with freshly delivered pizza for Best Friends Forever; a horror movie about a clingy, homicidal woman who disillusions herself into believing that a woman she met at a club is her best friend. It was surprisingly better than some of the others Jonathan had chosen in the past.
It was beyond important that we take that time together before we find this murderous threat to our lives.
I ran through a basic profile in my head lying in bed that night. Probably a man due to the level of torture but possibly a weaker man or a woman due to the restraints used. Undoubtedly someone from Jasmine's past, the hard part is that psychopaths don't always need a good reason to hurt people. UNSUB had to be right handed because of the directionality of the wounds.
"Get out of your head, Lexa." Jonny said turning to me and wrapping me in his arms.
"We need to find out who this is. I don't want anyone else to die." I sighed, relaxing against him.
"I agree, but you still need to sleep. If you wear yourself out you'll think yourself in circles and we'll never get anywhere."
I sighed again.
"Okay. Okay. Sleep first then find the asshole. Got it." I buried my face in his skin.
I woke the next morning still curled against Jonathan's side. I sighed and snuggled closer to him before rolling onto my back. His hand curled up under me trying to pull me back to him. I looked over at my love who was barely awake.
My phone rang again ripping me away from him.
"Carter." I answered.
"Alex. I think I have something." Penelope said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I remembered that you told me the only way your father could have pulled off what he did in Seattle was to have at minimum two accomplices. At the time we thought the two were Jasmine and Lucas but there were four major events in Seattle. The bombing which Eric likely did himself. The poisoning which given his drug history Lucas likely carried out. The beheading and the firemen's murders are the ones I've chosen to focus my efforts on this last week." She continued.
"What did you find my computer genius?" I teased.
"There are five names that I managed to link credit card transactions and cell phone records to Seattle around the time of those murders Pennsylvania around when the Dorian family was murdered and in Virginia in the last two weeks."
"Go ahead and give them to me."
"Wesley Booker. Ben Church. Matthew Ballard. Joshua Perkins. Christian Lynch." She listed.
"Okay. I've got it. Thank you, Penelope. You're truly the best."
"Keep telling me things I already know." She joked.
We hung up as Jonathan sat up next to me.
"What's that?" He asked looking at my list.
"It's the list of the five people who's credit cards and/or cellphones were used in Seattle after the bombing, Pennsylvania around the time of the Dorian family murders, and Virginia in the last two weeks." I answered.
"You think the killer is on this list?" He asked.
"I think it's a place to start." I shrugged, laying the paper pad on the side table by the bed.
He laid his head on my chest.
"Are you okay, baby?" I asked running my fingers through his hair.
"Yeah. I'm just still having nightmares."
I kissed his head.
"That's completely normal after what you've been through. I'd be more concerned if you weren't having them."
"I know. It's just gotten to the point where I can't even call out anymore. I completely freeze up and I wake up so tense."
"You know you can always wake me?"
"I hate bothering you."
"Jonathan Black. You are the love of my life. I'm always here for you. Nothing you do bothers me."
He snuggled closer to me.
"Promise me the next time you wake up with a nightmare you'll wake me."
"I promise."
An hour or so later, Jonathan and I made our way down to the kitchen and found Jasmine standing at the sliding door staring out into the backyard.
"Are you alright, Jaz?" I asked.
"You've never called me that before." She muttered.
"Do you not like it?"
"No, it's fine. No one's ever given me a nickname before." She shrugged.
"Are you alright?" I asked again.
"I'm fine. Just thinking."
She walked over to the island and sat down on one of the stools.
"Jaz. I got a list of names from my technical analyst this morning that could possibly be behind this. Will you look at it and tell me if you recognize any of the names?" I asked.
"Of course." She answered taking the pad of paper from me.
"I know all of these people." She said after a moment.
"Wesley Booker was one of dad's best friends. He worked closely with him before he went to prison but I don't think he ever went to visit him or anything.
"Ben Church was one of dad's cellmates before he was sentenced. He contacted me a few times over the years but I haven't spoken to him since mom died.
"Matthew Ballard was someone I contracted with while I was planning my attack on Jonathan in New York. Haven't spoken to him since.
"Joshua Perkins was someone who helped me keep tabs on you and Jonathan over the years. After dad escaped I cut him off. He called a lot between that time and when you caught me in the UK.
"Christian Lynch was my boyfriend before mom died. We haven't spoken in six years." She ran through my list.
"Who do you think could be behind this?" I asked.
"Maybe Matt or Josh. I don't know." She sighed.
"Penelope is running through background checks on each of them. We'll probably hear late tonight or early tomorrow."
A deafening crash caused Jonathan and I to jump out of bed around one a.m that night. I pulled the gun out of my side table drawer and walked quickly down the stairs with Jonathan close behind me. Dina, Jordan, and Gunther were in the hallway before we made it to the second floor. I heard Jasmine scream and ran down the stairs not knowing who if anyone followed me.
A man dressed in dark clothing stood behind my sister holding a large knife to her throat.
"Let her go." I said firmly raising my gun to train it on him.
He wore a dark beanie hat and his eyes were dark with hatred as he looked at me. I watched the door to Cameron and Kay's room open slowly behind them.
"She left me alone with no one! So I took everyone she loved! I killed Lucas and Skyler and his entire family! Now she has nothing! No one! The only thing left now is to kill her! What makes you think you can stop me?" He screamed at me.
"Because she's our family now." Kay said pressing her gun to the back of his head.
"Put the knife down. Now." I reiterated.
He sighed and looked at me clearly struggling to decide what to do.
"I will shoot you." Kay said.
After another moment he released my sister and she ran towards me. Kay removed the knife from the man's hand and handcuffed his hands behind his back.