Seer: Finding a Killer

The Second Hand Unwinds

Receiving an urgent message from Sachi, Wolf barreled into the school parking lot, screeching to a stop, and jumped out of his Mustang.

Standing near the entrance, Sachi waved. "Over here," she yelled.

He rushed over to her. "I got your message." He pulled out his notepad from his shirt pocket. "Okay. Start from the beginning."

Sachi took a breath. "I think the person who the Time Clock Killer targeted was Callie Parker, a classmate of mine."

"Callie Parker," Wolf mumbled jotting down the name. "Is this the same Callie who was bullying you?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Sachi said impatiently. "Last night, she asked me to drop her off at the mall. She called her friends, Emma and Emily, to meet her there but when they arrived, she wasn't there."

"And last night you saw the vision of a girl trapped inside of a car trunk?" he said.

"Yes," Sachi said.

He checked his wristwatch. "It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet. Also, no one has filed a missing person report for anyone named Callie Parker as far as I know."

"What can we do?" Sachi said. "If it's her, the Time Clock Killer will kill her."

"Unless we know the make of the vehicle she's in, we're out of leads," Wolf said. "That's part of the reason we didn't release to the public the description you gave. A tall man dressed in black with a black ski mask and black gloves. That could be anyone."

Sachi stared downcast at the pavement, her hopes dashed.

Empathetic to her feelings of helplessness, Wolf placed his hand firmly on her shoulder. "Look, I know this is frustrating. I'm frustrated. He always seems to be one step ahead of us."

Sachi snapped her finger. "The gold-plated alarm clock. Maybe we can check that out? Maybe he bought that alarm clock from an antique shop."

"We're already on it," Wolf said. "We have found nothing substantial yet like a receipt trail."

Sachi sighed. "I don't know what else to do.'

"Whether you believe it or not, you are a big help, Seer," Wolf said. "Look at the progress that we've made."

She scoffed. "Progress. He's probably already killed his seventh victim by now."

"Have faith," Wolf said wanting to believe his own words. "We will catch him."

Sachi nodded though she feared it would be too late for Callie when they apprehend him.

McCoy trekked over to his vehicle. "I'll look into the Callie Parker situation."

It drizzled. He got in his car, waved goodbye and drove off.

Her somber mood matching the dreary weather, Sachi didn't move as the water droplets fell on her.

The rest of the school day went by in a blur. Too wound up with worry, Sachi couldn't concentrate on her studies. Not only was she worried about Callie, Kael still hadn't shown up for class.

The bell ringing, she headed to her locker, put her books away, and took out her phone to call him. It went straight to voicemail. "Kael, when you get this message, please call me. I want to know how you are. Please." She hung up.

The steady drizzle hadn't let up as she exited the building. Running to her car, she tossed her book bag onto the passenger seat, turned the key in the engine, and turned on the windshield wipers. Watching them streak across the window, she felt a sense of déjà vu.

Rain on a windshield.

Feeling knots in her stomach, Sachi exhaled a shaky breath. "I saw this before."

Putting the gear in drive, she drove out of the parking lot immediately encountering the red street lights at the corner.

Flashes of street lights.

She felt a heaviness in her chest. Everything seemed off-kilter.

When she arrived home, she noticed that the family car was not in the driveway. "Mom must have taken dad to work," she mumbled, thinking out loud.

She grabbed her book bag from off the passenger seat. The bag felt weighed down. She lugged it across her shoulders like a backpack.

As she took out her house key to open the door, it swung open.

"Sachi," her father said his brown eyes anxious. "I need you to take me to work. Your mom went to AsiaTown and is late getting back. I'll be late for work."

He stepped aside as Sachi, perplexed, entered the house. "When did mom leave?"

"About forty minutes ago," he said. "Sometimes, she would stop by the house on her way back to pick me up and drop me off at work. She was probably caught in rush hour traffic."

Sachi stared at her father dressed in his work uniform. He fidgeted with his cap covering his light brown hair.

"Did mom call?"

"No," he said buttoning and unbuttoning the top button of his uniform, a nervous habit.

"Sachi-"

His words slurred as everything moved in slow motion; the surroundings faded.

The rain hasn't stopped. I throw the hood of my raincoat over my head and dart across the parking lot, avoiding the puddles, to make my way to my car. I unlock the door and set the shopping bags on the floor.

An uneasiness comes over me. Is someone watching me? I turn and look around the parking lot. There are a few cars parked. I hear loud music. It's coming from a beige Oldsmobile Cutlass. I hear a door creak open. Fearful, I hurry inside the car. I'm grabbed from behind.

"Sachi, sweetheart what's wrong?"

I twist myself around to get out of his grasp. He's dressed in black and holding a gold alarm clock in his gloved hand. He's wearing a ski mask. His eyes are the only part not covered. We lock eyes. I can't see the white of his eyes. They're dark as midnight. He steps towards me. I kick him in the groin and jump inside the car. He grabs the door as I tried to shut it. He overpowers me, dragging me out of the car. I scream. He yanks me by the hair and muffles my mouth.

"Sachi!"

He drags me away as I struggle to break free. The last thing I see is my terror-stricken face reflected on the rain-streaked car window.

"Hello, I need an ambulance. My daughter passed out. Please hurry!"

Setting the phone on the table, Lars knelt beside Sachi, collapsed on the floor. "It's going to be okay, honey," he said stroking her damp hair.

Sachi opened her eyes. She reached for her father desperately trying to speak. Her words coming out choked.

"Mom. He's got mom...,"