Invisible Killer

Chapter 8

Lyndsay and Ryan were walking down the sidewalk to Bruce's house when Ryan had a proposition. "So how do you want to do this? Bad cop, bad cop? Good cop, good cap? Or bad cop, good cop?" he asked.
"Right now...," began Lyndsay as she began to approach the nearest bench. "I just want to find a bench so that I can transfer all of this information from my laptop to my tablet." She sat the laptop down on her lap and plugged her cord in.
"I told you...," said Ryan as he stood next to her.
"Told me what?"
"I told you that Rachelle would make it through." Ryan flashed her a sly smile. Lyndsay blushed with a soft smile. She grabbed the collar of Ryan's shirt and stole a smooch on his cheek. They grinned at each other and waited for the downloading to be completed. Ryan placed his arm around Lyndsay's shoulder as they waited. She looked up at him and softly smiled.
After a couple of minutes, the downloading was completed. "And...we're done," announced Lyndsay. She closed her laptop and sat her tablet down on the bench. She then pulled her backpack under her left arm, slid the laptop down inside, and swung it back around. She picked up her tablet and was ready to go.
"Are we good to go?" asked Ryan as he gave a thumbs up.
"Oh you bet we are!" cheered Lyndsay. They stood up onto the sidewalk while Lyndsay did a little more work on her tablet. Ryan pulled her up to his personal space and kissed her on the right cheek.
"What was that for?" asked Lyndsay.
"I just admire your intelligence," answered Ryan in a gentle tone. Lyndsay blushed with sweetness. "Are you ready?" he asked as he held up his arm. They linked arms and headed for Bruce's house.
Afte walking past a few blocks, the teens finally arrived at their destination. "Allow me to handle this," insisted Ryan as he gently pushed Lyndsay off to the side.
Lyndsay's eyes popped out with frozen emotions. "Uh, excuse me?" she began as she put her arm in front of Ryan's six pack. "I might be a girl, but I'm just as tough and independent like you boys."
Ryan became speechless and cleared his throat. "Okay...," he began as he threw an arm out towards the front door. "After you, my dear."
Lyndsay half smiled and made her way to the front door. "Let's bust this crook once and for all," she insisted as she winked at Ryan with confidence. She high-fives him and began to knock on the door.
"Be right there!" Bruce called from the inside. The door opened before them. When Bruce saw Lyndsay and Ryan for the second time, he immediately began to sweat with shakiness. "What do you two want?" he asked with surprise..
"Hello Bruce, remember us? Lyndsay Schafer and Ryan Jones? We'd like to ask you a few more questions regarding the murder attempts of Rachelle Lynn Truman," said Lyndsay.
"Who?"
"Oh don't act like you don't know."
"I've never heard of her. Goodbye now!" Bruce anxiously slammed the door in Lyndsay's face.
Lyndsay and Ryan looked at each other with blank thoughts. "Well that was clearly unexpected," said Lyndsay.
"Now what?" asked Ryan.
"I guess that we'll have to do this the hard way." Lyndsay reached into her backpack and pulled out a taser.
"Isn't that Rachelle's tazer?"
"Yep!" Lyndsay turned on the device.
"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Ryan becoming anxious.
"I'm not leaving until I get some answers. I'm going to make him talk one way or another." Lyndsay suddenly kicked the front door open with a huge kick.
"What's wrong with you?" cried Bruce as he approached her from the hallway. "That was my favorite door! How dare you! I ought to call the police for breaking and entering without permission."
"You will do no such thing," grunted Lyndsay. She gazed him in the stomach, and he fell to his knees.
"Lyndsay?" mumbled Ryan as he stepped through the doorway.
Lyndsay cocked her head towards him and huffed. "Don't say anything..." She placed the taser back into her backpack. "Come on! Grab a leg!" Her and Ryan each grabbed a leg and dragged Bruce out the door and all the way downtown.
The teens arrived at the prison and had Bruce all sat up in an available room. They propped him up in a metal chair, handcuffed his hands behind his back, and waited for him to wake up. A few minutes later, Bruce began to gain consciousness. "What the-?" he moaned as he slowly began to wake up.
"Wakey, wakey," grinned Lyndsay as she smiled enviously.
"You again!...Where am I? What do you want from me? Can't you kids just leave me alone?"
Lyndsay flashed a sly smile, placed her palms onto the metal table, and moved up to his personal space. "Bruce, you're in the interrogation room at the Lincoln County Jail. We've brought you down here, because we needed to ask you some more questions. If you cooperate with us, then we won't have any problems. In other words, that means that you better answer my questions. Okay?"
"Okay then...," began Bruce. "Tell me sweetheart, what if I don't feel like talking anymore?"
Lyndsay slouched her eyebrows down, and her right eye began to twitch. She reached behind her and pulled out Rachelle's taser from her left back pocket. She then turned it on. "I bet that you remember this little device?" Bruce raised up his right eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that you don't want to 'fall asleep' again, do you?"
"Listen here, sweet cheeks. I don't care what you do to me. I am not talking," grunted Bruce.
"Alrighty then, I guess that I'll go make sure that your cell is ready."
"Woah! Cell?"
"Yes...a cell...as in a prison cell. It's where you'll be staying for a very long time."
Bruce broke the handcuffs apart, grabbed Lyndsay's cleavage, and pulled her up to his nose. Lyndsay squealed with embarrrassment through the blushies in her cheeks. "What do you mean 'prison cell'?" he grunted.
"You told me that you weren't going to talk so...it looks like it's jail time for you. The thin is that I did not bring you down here just for you to waste my time. Since you made the decision not to cooperate with me, I might as well lock you up in one of these cells right down here at the county jail," Lyndsay sarcastically explained.
Bruce displayed a sly smile. "Did you know that you're cute when you're menacing?"
"What?" Lyndsay's eyes popped out, and she blushed with slight humiliation. Bruce suddenly snapped a kiss on her rosy red lips. Lyndsay's eyes bulged out of their sockets with even more embarrassment.
Ryan was walking down the hallway to the interrogation room. He had a cup of coffee in each of his hand-one for him and the other was for Lyndsay. He took a sip out of his cup until he witnessed Bruce kissing Lyndsay. He immediately spit the coffee out at the window on the door. He dropped both of the cups of coffee and rushed into the room with fury. He slammed the door open and punched Bruce to make him hit the opposite wall to his left.
"You better stay away from my girlfriend!" he threatened as he kicked Bruce in the gut.
Lyndsay's eyes filled with sudden surprise. "Girlfriend...," she mumbled. She didn't say anything else after that.
Ryan turned around, saw the look on Lyndsay's face, and flashed a wink at her. "Get up, punk! You've got some explaining to do!" he hissed at Bruce. He picked him up from the floor, pulled off his belt, and plopped him back down in the chair. Ryan used Bruce's belt to wrap it around him in order to keep his hands to himself. He then sat down in the chair across from Bruce. "Now...you can either answer our questions, or you will be facing some serious consequences with the law. So what's it going to be?" he reported. Bruce became silent. "How do you want to play this game?" huffed Ryan.
"Look...just because your 'girlfriend' wasn't able to make me talk, doesn't mean that you'll be able to," smirked Bruce.
"Here's the thing..." Ryan moved up to Bruce's face. "I'm not a girl. There's a lot of things that I can do to you in which she can't."
"Oh yeah...because she's not as strong as us guys, am I right?"
"I'm just as strong as him!" Lyndsay butted in.
"Well you didn't seem to fight back when I gave you that sweet surprise," Bruce smirked again, enviously.
"You had me in your possession."
"All that you had to do was pull away. Some girlfriend you are-making out with other guys when you're clearly in a relationship."
Lyndsay quickly lost control of her anger. She threw herself onto the metal table and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Listen here you dirtbag! Why are you trying to kill Rachelle Truman," she grinned her teeth.
"Wouldn't you like to know, sweetheart?"
Lyndsay became discouraged. "Like I said...you can either talk, or we'll go ahead and put you in your cell."
"Oh, I'm so scared," Bruce sarcastically remarked.
"I give up!" Lyndsay released her grip and stormed off.
Bruce kept on with his sarcasm. "Congratulations!" he said.
"That's it!" Lyndsay turned back around to take a charge at him until Ryan threw his arm in front of her.
"Let me handle this, man-to-man," he insisted. Lyndsay nodded her head and slowly backed away. Ryan thanked her and walked up to Bruce. Out of the blue, he striked a feisty punch to Bruce's face which caused him to fall to the floor. Lyndsay's mouth dropped as her eyes popped out of their sockets.
"Ryan!" she shrieked.
"What? I told you that I would handle it," he responded.
"But that doesn't mean that you need to kill him. We still need to get some more answers out of him. What are you trying to be? A murderer?"
Ryan gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Lyndsay, calm down. I know what I'm doing. Beating a guy up is the only way to make him talk. Besides...you nearly got hurt and I am not going to lose you to him." Lyndsay bowed her head down.
Ryan pulled her head back up. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing," he mumbled with a soft smile.
Lyndsay sighed. "Okay...," she mumbled back. Ryan kissed Lyndsay on her head and walked back over to Bruce.
He pulled Bruce's chair back up onto its legs. "Okay Bruce...for the last time, talk!" he demanded.
Bruce slowly began to wake up. "Oh look, it's the two nosy twerps again," he smirked. He looked over at Lyndsay. "And your cheating girlfriend is still here. Hey, sweetheart! Have you made out with any other guys while I was out?"
Lyndsay immediately lost her temper again. "How's this for 'cheating'?" She jumped onto the table and began to ferociously slap Bruce across the face.
"Lyndsay! Lyndsay! Lyndsay!" cried Ryan as he rushed over to the fight. He grabbed her wrists, pulled them behind her back, and laid his chin down on her shoulder. "You need to control your temper. Okay?" Lyndsay nodded her head and slowly calmed herself down as Ryan slowly released his grip.
"Aw, does somebody have anger management issues?" Bruce smarted off.
"How's this for 'anger management'?" Lyndsay striked a fiesta punch to his face, causing him to fall backwards.
"Is that all you got, sweetheart?"
"That's it!" Lyndsay quickly pulled out a gun from her back pocket. "I just about have had enough of this."
"Woah!" cried Ryan. "Lyndsay, what are you doing?"
"You said that the only way to make a guy talk is by beating him up. If he doesn't want to talk, then he might as well die for all I care."
"That's not what I meant; that's going too far!" Lyndsay flashed an annoyed look at him. Ryan slowly stepped back into a corner. "Go ahead...," he muttered.
Lyndsay looked back at Bruce with the gun pointing at him. "Now...talk! Why do you want Rachelle dead?" she demanded in a grunt.
"I don't!"
"Of course you do."
"Look, I don't even know who that is!"
"Somebody is trying to kill Rachelle Truman. We found a receipt for hydrogen peroxide in her hospital room. We traced the purchase to your house, which clearly means that you bought it just to murder her with it."
"Sweetheart...," began Bruce. "Why would I want her dead? I don't even know the girl."
"If you didn't even know her, we wouldn't be here right now. Anyway...you better answer the main question, or I might as well shoot you."
"Look crazy lady. I didn't even know that the hydrogen peroxide was going to be used to murder somebody. If I have known that, I wouldn't have took the money from them."
Lyndsay's eyes popped open as her eyebrows scrouched down. "Wait a minute...'them'?"
"Who's 'them'?" demanded Ryan as he crossed up his arms.
"Are you working for somebody?"
Bruce began to laugh. "Oh silly me...forget that I said anything."
Lyndsay's eyes started to fill up with tears as she released the trigger up to the ceiling. "Listen up you idiot. I am not playing anymore of your stupid games. The trigger is pulled. All I have to do is release it, and you'll be dead. Now...who are you working for?"
"Nobody!" yelled Bruce.
Lyndsay fired a bullet into the wall next to Bruce. "Look you creep! Who are you working for? I'm not going to ask you again!"
"Like I'm going to tell you."
"Ryan?...," mumbled Lyndsay as she carefully placed the gun on the table. Ryan walked up to Bruce fully prepared.
"Aw, are you going to go crying to your boyfriend now?"
Ryan approached the table and clenched Bruce's throat. "Listen up wise guy. You are going to deal with me now. Here's the deal...either tell me who wants Rachelle Truman dead, or you'll be dead yourself." He clenched Bruce's throat even harder.
"Look...," Bruce began to gag. "She told me not to tell."
"She? Who's 'she'?" demanded Lyndsay.
"I don't know. She didn't give me a name, I swear. She asked me if I wanted to make some easy cash. I agreed, so she gave me the money to buy her some hydrogen peroxide. Like I said before, I didn't know that she was going to use it to kill somebody. If I knew that, I wouldn't have gotten myself into this mess, honest!"
Lyndsay sighed with depression. Ryan looked over at her. "Is that good enough for you?" he asked.
Lyndsay shrugged her shoulders. "It's not good enough for me, but it's something?"
Ryan released his grip from Bruce's throat and walked over to Lyndsay. "Well, what's next?"
"I don't know."
Ryan became speechless. "What?...What do you mean, 'I don't know'."
"I don't know what else to do," replied Lyndsay. Ryan didn't say a word. Lyndsay began to use her fingers to make some points. "We don't have much evidence. We don't have any 'real' suspects, no witnesses, and our first person to question..." She faced Bruce. "Doesn't know squat!" She faced back to Ryan. "So where is all of this leading us? I'll tell you where...nowhere!"
"Hey chica! Don't get all up in your best friend's face. That's a turn off for boys towards girls," Bruce butted in.
Lyndsay pointed a finger at him. "Shut up!"
Ryan regained Lyndsay's attention. "There has to be something that we can do," he pleaded.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"I'll tell you what...pipe down! I'm trying to take a nap," smirked Bruce.
"You need to stay out of our conversation. This has nothing to do with you."
"What are you going to do about it? You're not that tough enough, sweetheart."
"I'm warning you!" grunted Lyndsay. She had the gun in her hand down by her side and secretly started to pull the trigger.
"You apparently have to get your boyfriend to do all of your dirty work." Bruce looked at Ryan. "Although, I'm extremely surprised that he's still with you, even though you cheated on him with me."
"Shut up!" screamed Lyndsay as she shot Bruce in the arm with the gun. The bullet in his arm caused him to fall backwards with blood falling out. Lyndsay's mouth dropped, and she began to tear up with shock.
"Lyndsay!" yelled Ryan. He snatched the gun out of her hand. "What's gotten into you?"
"I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me!"
"That doesn't mean that you can just shoot people out of the blue!"
"I couldn't help it! He kept talking, and I just wanted him to shut up. I'm sorry! I didn't think that I'd actually shoot him."
"You could've killed me. Then you'd be charged with murder."
Lyndsay began to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She backed up into the nearest corner and placed her head into her palms.
Ryan stepped out the door. "Can I get some assistance in here, please?"
A few policemen entered the room and became surprised to see a man on the floor, bleeding. "What happened?" asked one of the cops.
"He's been shot," answered Ryan.
The cop walked in and heard some sniffling. He turned his head and noticed Lyndsay on the floor. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.
Ryan looked over into her direction. "Oh...she's just going through a difficult time right now."
The cop stared at Lyndsay and took a few minutes to think. "Take her home," he insisted.
"What?"
"Take her home and let her rest. She needs to let her brain refresh. Besides, if she doesn't calm down here pretty quick, she's going to lose it. You need to take her home."
Ryan looked over at Lyndsay and noticed how upset she was. She was crying her eyes out and panicking as her body began to shake. "I guess you're right, sir. You know, she's been all up on this case because someone is trying to kill her best friend. With all of this stress on her tail, I think that she's just falling apart."
"Does this happen most of the time with a case?" asked the cop.
"No sir...but I think you're right. She needs to rest before she pops like a bubble." He stared at Lyndsay for a little bit.
The cop placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "I think it's for the best." Ryan nodded his head in agreement and walked over to Lyndsay, who was still weeping.
"Lyndsay?" he mumbled for her attention. There wasn't an answer. "Lyndsay?" She perked her head up. "Come on, I'm taking you home."
"Why?" asked Lyndsay.
"Because you need to rest before you go completely out of control."
"Ryan, I'm perfectly fine."
"No, you're not. You just shot somebody because you lost control of your temper. That clearly means that you need to let your body relax before something worse happens."
"In my defense, that was the only way to get him to shut up," denied Lyndsay.
"It doesn't matter what you were trying to do. The point here is that you shot a man because you couldn't control yourself. Now enough fooling around. I'm taking you home whether you want to or not." Ryan lifted Lyndsay up from the floor and threw her over his shoulder.
"What are you doing? Put me down!" weeped Lyndsay.
"I'm doing this for your own good."
Lyndsay used her fists to jab him in the back. "Ryan! Let me go! I hate it when you carry me like this!" she cried.
"Oh well, not my problem."
"Ryan!"
With Lyndsay still over his shoulder, Ryan walked out of the interrogation room and exited the building. Once they were outside, Ryan released Lyndsay from his grip. He sat her down on the edge of the curb and sat down beside her. "Lyndsay, are you alright?" he asked since she was still weeping.
"Why do you care? Then again, why are you so worried about me?" she weeped through her sniffles.
"Lyndsay, you're my best friend, and it's my job to make sure that you're okay. Now, why are you so worked up on this case? What is causing you to go out of control?"
"Ryan...Rachelle has been my very best friend ever since we were in Kindergarten. She's like my unbiological sister, and we're so close that I can't even bare the risk of losing her, especially this young. I don't want to lose her. If I lose her, then it will be all my fault," explained Lyndsay.
"It's not your fault, Lyndsay. Besides, you need to realize that we're going to find out who wants Rachelle dead. We're going to save her before it's too late."
Lyndsay expressed a disgusted look like Ryan was acting weird. "You do realize that every time you say that, nothing good ever happens. You keep saying that we're going to save her, but as you can see, we're not getting anywhere. Before we know it, Rachelle's going to die and it's going to be all my fault. I'm losing control of myself because I don't know what to do." She threw her head down and cried even more.
Ryan looked down on her and began to feel exactly how she felt. "Lyndsay?...," he mumbled.
Lyndsay wrapped her arms around Ryan with tears running down her cheeks. "Ryan?...I'm scared...I don't want to lose her..."
Ryan hugged her tight. He placed a hand on the top of her head. "I know, I'm scared too...it's going to be okay, I promise!" Lyndsay was still crying into his shirt. "Come on...," Ryan began again. He lifted Lyndsay up from the ground and into his arms. "Let me take you home." With her carried in his arms, Ryan walked Lyndsay home to her house.
When they arrived at the Schafer household, Ryan entered the front door and took Lyndsay upstairs to her bedroom. She was asleep in his arms, and he carefully laid her down on her bed in order for her to rest.
"After your body refreshes, feel free to come find me," he whispered. He exited Lyndsay's bedroom as he carefully closed the door behind him. He left the Schafer household and headed on his way back to the hospital in order to speak to Rachelle.
He arrived at the hospital and quietly entered Rachelle's room. "Knock, knock," he greeted as he walked in.
Rachelle perked up from her nap. "Ryan? What are you doing here? Where's Lyndsay?" she asked.
"I wanted to let you know what Lyndsay and I found out when we asked Bruce some more questions," said Ryan.
"What happened?"
"We've got some new information, but it wasn't enough to get us anywhere."
Rachelle sighed and rolled her eyes in disappointment. "Apparently, somebody had paid Bruce to buy the hydrogen peroxide which caused you to throw up so much blood and have a seizure," Ryan added.
"Did he say who?" asked Rachelle.
"He didn't give us a name, but he did say that it was a girl."
"Okay...their initials are 'V.D.', they bowl, and they're left-handed," said Rachelle. Ryan nodded his head in agreement.
"So what do we do now?"
"I honestly don't know what to tell you," replied Ryan. They looked at each other in silence for a few minutes.
"Where's Lyndsay?"
"I took her home...She had another nervous breakdown."
Rachelle became concerned. "What?"
"Yeah...she lost control of herself to where she actually shot Bruce." Rachelle's eyes bulged up. "Don't worry, though. It was only a bullet in the arm."
Rachelle loosened up her body. "Is she okay?" she asked with worriness.
"She's fine. This is just a really tough case for her. It's nothing to worry about."
"She's afraid that I'm going to die, isn't she?"
Ryan became discouraged. "Rachelle, you're not going to die! We're going to find the one responsible. Again, you're not going to die!"
"Ryan, look at me! I'm not as strong as I'm supposed to be. I lost so much blood that they're having to pump some through my IV. I can't focus or see straight due to that concussion," Rachelle whimpered. "Ryan, I'm so weak that I can't feel my body. My muscles are weak, and I can barely move. To be honest, I'd rather die than be miserable...even if I am only 17 years-old." Ryan looked at her with a half smile. "What?"
"You're a trooper...," Ryan encouraged.
"Shut up...," muttered Rachelle as she rolled her eyes. "So Bruce knows who paid him for the hydrogen peroxide, but he won't say anything?"
"He said that it was a 'she', but that's it."
"So it's a girl who's left-handed, likes to go bowling, and her initials are 'V.D.'...I don't know anyone in those categories."
"Did you tick anybody off lately?"
"How could I have done that? I've been stuck here...in pain. I don't know how much more I can take." Rachelle began to tear up. "Ryan, promise me that you'll find the criminal...you know? Before it's too late."
Ryan kissed Rachelle on the head. "You can count on me," he whispered. He gave her a friendly hug, and Ryan headed on his way home. He closed the door behind him, and Rachelle drifted off to sleep for the night. As soon as Ryan left the room, Nurse Vickie was on the other side of the door. She overheard their conversation and immediately became agitated. She pulled out a wallet-size picture of Bruce and took the cigarette out of her mouth. Using the cigarette, she lit the picture on fire and threw it in the trash. She then walked out of the hospital and headed into town to the county jail.