I Know, You Know -CHAP.1--DN-

  I’ve always found the concept of love really interesting. The way one person can captivate your entire attention for a period of time – the length of this period generally being influenced by how fickle you are and/or how much of an asshole the other person turns out to be.

  And then it’s always intriguing who you fall in love with. You may fall for a very handsome stereotype. Or maybe someone with a great personality that you normally wouldn’t look at twice. It could be someone who fits your own personal type. Or somebody that doesn’t have the same hairstyle, clothes or body type you'd usually go for.

  This is something that’s always interested me. Mainly because it’s one thing I really don’t understand. I was thinking it again, watching my best friend and his new partner in action on the dance floor.

  Though to be fair, that wasn’t love. That was just pure uncontrollable lust.

  Johnny Wells. My best friend and the biggest bitch you’ll ever meet. Sixty eight partners at last count. He’s only twenty five.

  Actually, did current partner Zed – yes, that’s his real name – make the big six nine? Highly ironic, considering their orientation.

  Johnny is as gay as they come (no pun intended). And he is very good at being a queen. He wants everyone to know him for who he is. Back in school, he was bullied for his life choices and chose to hide from it instead. So I guess it’s nice he doesn’t feel that need anymore.

  Maybe not so nice for the guys he gays up though. He’s already converted a scary amount of seemingly straight guys over to his way of thinking.

  But gay, bitchy, in your face... he’ll always be my best friend. Ever since high school, we’ve been the in-between dysfunctional duo – not quite uncool but with enough flaws to gain our share of bullying. And that’s the kind of connection that runs deep.

  Sat across from me were twins Laura and Kay Lucias. Neither of these were their real first names. Both had told me the real thing once and only once. They preferred to go by these shortened nicknames. Who was I to judge when I do the same thing? Like the twins, I hate my first name.

  Though life works in my favour. I’m a freelance detective, which means I have a decent excuse for using as many aliases as I want. I usually take names from various media that I have a soft spot for. My personal favourite is Rin Asogi. If you don’t find that familiar, like the majority of the population, then consider that my name. If by some chance you do recognise it because you actually know of Daughters of Mnemosyne, then I award you double brownie points. For anything business related, I go by Gee Pendragon. Gee is my name after all. Pendragon is an old Miyazaki favourite.

  To be fair to the twins, they're nowhere near as dysfunctional as me and Johnny. They’re actually borderline normal. They are how my mom always referred to me – quirky. I always thought that was meant to be some kind of back-handed insult, but apparently it’s a good thing.

  Laura is the most normal of our little group. Pretty, pale and petite with long dark hair, bright blue eyes and full lips – her only hang-up is severe timidness. It makes her an easy target.

  Kay is identical in appearance, except he usually wears his hair in a more crazy backcombed style. He gets constantly mistaken for being Laura’s twin sister. He doesn’t mind – he likes being pretty. He can be quiet also, but I know he has a mind filthy to almost Johnny’s standards. Laura will happily confirm him as a pest too. He’s always stealing her eyeliner, her skinny jeans, her favourite pink unicorn top... A boy in a pink unicorn top. I know, right? Bless his little socks.

  “Hey, Gee, are you even listening?”

  I looked up, a little confused, to see said boy and his twin both watching me. Oops. How long had I been gone for this time? I had a habit of going into what Laura liked to call my ‘zombie trances’. I glanced at my glass. All of the ice had melted whilst I’d been daydreaming. That was unlike me. I now had a cocktail that was half water, half vodka-Red Bull.

  “Sorry, guys,” I apologised, picking up my now very diluted excuse for a drink. “I was spacing out a bit.”

  “Let me guess... Over a case?” Laura smiled.

  She was wrong actually. Amazingly, my thoughts had been work-free for a good few hours. Bully for me. “Surprisingly not,” I replied. “Just my everyday wonderings.”

  “Does that mean it was over a guy then?” grinned Kay.

  I made a face. “Don’t be silly. You know that you and Johnny are the only guys in my life and I can assure you I wasn’t daydreaming about either of you.” How creepy would that be?

  “That’s not entirely true,” Kay pointed out. “You’ve still got Gibson, Chad and Kenichi.”

  “Oh god, don’t say that,” I laughed. All three of them were police officers that I’d worked with in the past and still kept strong ties with. None of them were my idea of boyfriend material. “Gibs is a total stick in the mud, Chad’s an uncontrollable womaniser and Ken wouldn’t touch me with a ten-foot barge pole.”

  I couldn’t help grinning at that last thought. Kenichi Takano was my favourite of the three to harass. He was a decent guy, but he was married to his job and had no time for harmless flirting. Of course, I’d try and push every boundary purely to annoy him. He was like my very own Carlton Lassiter. Which made me Shawn Spencer. Apart from the obvious gender swap, I wasn’t complaining. Hell, that made me the greatest character on TV.

  “So how is your case going?” Ever the nice one, Laura sweetly changed the subject for me.

  “Fine,” I replied, then sighed. “Too fine. It’s too easy. It was simple right from the start. I guess I’ve been dragging it out a bit, because I haven’t got anything else lined up afterwards.”

  “Tut tut,” said Johnny, rejoining our table. I wasn’t sure where Zed had gone. Probably to cool off.

  “It’s not holding my clients back at all,” I defended quickly. “They’re holidaying in France at the moment, so it’s not gonna make any difference to them.”

  “Charming. So they went on vacation while they left you to do the dirty work?” said Johnny.

  I smiled. “That’s what I’m here for.”

  “So what are you doing about the case now?” asked Laura.

  “I’m just chasing up a few extra leads. Leads that I don’t really need, but it gives me something to do,” I replied.

  I’d been way too spoilt with this case. I hated that. It just wasn’t a challenge. It could have had the potential to be quite an interesting case – rich old-fashioned family, highly expensive jewellery stolen, plenty of viable suspects – but it had been so straightforward I was surprised the butler hadn’t done it. One day, I would be able to say that to someone.

  “What are you gonna do after they come back from France?” questioned Kay.

  “Guess I’ll have to go and harass Gibs again and see if he’ll throw me a bone.” Tod Gibson was the superintendent. He took his job very seriously. “I know for a fact he’s working on something big right now, even if he won’t tell me what it is.”

  Thanks to Chad leaking a bit of information the last time I saw him, that is. I was pretty sure they’d be trying to catch the almost secret serial killer that was on the loose. Amazingly, the media hadn’t caught wind of any of this. The police were the only ones who knew about it – and me, of course, after twisting Chad’s arm a bit more. It didn’t take a very educated guess to figure out that this was what Gibson’s team were currently working on.

  “When do they come back?” At least Laura looked sympathetic to my boredom.

  “In a few days, unfortunately,” I sighed again. “Then I’ll have to start begging the cops for cases.”

  “I’ll beg Kenichi for you if you like,” Johnny volunteered enthusiastically.

  I couldn’t help laughing. I’d bumped into Kenichi when I was in town with Johnny once. Johnny had been very impressed and refused to believe that he’d be near impossible to turn.

  “Come on, Johnny; I’ve never been able to work any magic on him. I know I’m far from stunning, but at least I’m a girl and I have tried my best flirting techniques on him in the past,” I joked. Flirting, who me? Please.

  “Did he know you were doing it on purpose just to annoy him?” Kay pointed out.

  “Probably,” I grinned.

  “Honey, you’d have a much better chance of succeeding if you actually put a bit of effort into your appearance,” Johnny advised. Oh, great, unintentional bitch mode was on.

  “Hey, I dressed up a bit for tonight,” I protested. It was partially true. I was wearing a dressier top at least. You could see the wolf tattoo on my shoulder blade, which was rare.

  Johnny scoffed. “I could visit you while you were working and you’d be dressed virtually the same.”

  “What’s wrong with that? It’s not like I have a dress code for work,” I pointed out.

  The funny thing is that I’m actually more fashion conscious than I used to be. I like short skirts and big leather boots. I also like wearing unusual tops – though I have about three or four favourites that I always wear on rotation. I don’t quite fit a cartoon character stereotype for just one outfit, but I’m not far off.

  “Of course you don’t.” Johnny rolled his eyes and proceeded to taking my glasses off my face. “And you need to actually take these off once in a while. I know you only need them for reading and using computers, so you don’t need to wear them all the time.”

  I shrugged. “I get used to wearing them. I forget to take them off.” In truth, I quite liked my glasses. And they improved my aim if I ever needed to use the 9mm Browning Hi-Power I almost always carried with me. Not tonight though. Funnily enough, bouncers weren’t inclined to let you into clubs if you were armed.

  “Well, you shouldn’t forget,” said Johnny, clearly exasperated by my ability to not care. “Make the most of what you’ve got. You have gorgeous eyes, Gee.” He leant forward on the table, staring into my eyes and grinning. “If you had a penis, I’d be falling in love right now.”

  “Very funny,” I muttered, snatching my glasses back and ignoring the twins’ laughter.

  He was right in one sense, I guess. My eyes are my best feature. For the most part, I look like my mother – plain and petite. When it comes down to my detective work, being nondescript is a plus. When I was on the police force, I was described by one of the junior officers as ‘pretty but unremarkable’. Another back-handed insult, but at least that one worked to my benefit.

  I even hem it up a bit more by keeping my hair short and scruffy. My hair’s like my dad’s – a dark chestnut with occasional golden highlights in the sun – so all the more reason not to bother with it. I get my big brown eyes from my Auntie Maggie. I’m glad I picked up some of her genes. She’s my favourite person from my dad’s side of the family. Though there really isn’t much contest in it.

  “Guys are never gonna look twice at you if you don’t make any effort,” Johnny chastised. With his neat, almost black hair, floppy bangs and smart-casual fashion sense, it was obvious to anyone that he made a lot of effort.

  “Well, I’m not really trying to get guys to look at me,” I said with a shrug. Guys were much more trouble than they were worth. And heaven forbid I’d actually have the time for relationships.

  “It’s been two years since your last relationship,” Johnny pointed out, looking appalled. “Don’t you want to fulfil your needs?”

  I burst out laughing at that. I couldn’t help it. “What needs? I have you guys if I want company. There’s nothing else that I need from a person.”

  Johnny shook his head like I was crazy. Kay’s face was full of amusement and Laura just looked sympathetic that Johnny was picking on me again. She needn’t have worried – we all knew how often these types of conversations occurred.

  Johnny was always trying to improve my image, my love life, my outlook on things... I could never tell if he wanted to turn me into a princess or a whore. Neither was going to happen while I was still breathing. If I die first, I’m sure he’ll have a whale of a time picking the outfit I’ll spend the rest of eternity in.

  If he puts me in anything pink or frilly, then I’m coming back to haunt him.

  Fortunately, I was saved from anymore grilling by Zed reappearing to claim back Johnny’s attention. Johnny obliged willingly, jumping up out of his chair. “You guys coming up on the dance floor?”

  Both twins shook their heads – neither of them were big on dancing. I glanced once at the upside down time on Zed’s wristwatch and followed suit. “I think I’m gonna head off actually. It’s been a while since I haven’t really had any work to do. I may actually get a decent night’s sleep for once.”

  “Shocking,” teased Johnny. “Well, sweet dreams then, missy.” He leant over, clapped both hands on my cheeks and planted a kiss on my mouth.

  I grimaced. I wished he wouldn’t do that after he’d been drinking. “Save it for your boyfriend. You smell like a brewery.”

  Johnny just laughed and started tugging Zed back over to the dance floor. Zed gave me a shy wave before allowing himself to be dragged away. I raised an eyebrow. Zed was anything but shy – his earlier performance with Johnny proved that. Then again, I have been told before that I’m quite intimidating. I’m not really sure how, considering I’m a good few inches below average height and have a librarian type look about me. Hell, I wasn’t even armed tonight.

  I gave each of the twins a big hug before I left. The club wasn’t far from my place and it wasn’t cold outside, so I was happy enough to walk home. It only took about fifteen minutes.

  What I call home is one of those tiny modern flats you sometimes get above shops. The accommodations underneath used to be a small estate agency, so I didn’t have to do much to make it into a suitable office for my detective business. Though I did install some blinds on both the window and the glass in the door. Save me having to feel like a goldfish while working.

  As soon as I’d found out my keys and let myself in, I was attacked by a ball of crazy ginger fur. I nearly dropped my keys.

  “Dammit, Kyo, if I’d had my gun I could have shot you,” I chastised the stupid cat, peeling him off my shoulder and setting him down on the floor where he belonged. He wound himself around my legs, purring like a chainsaw, whilst I locked up behind me.

  He’s not actually my cat. I guess you could say he lodges here. Last summer, he’d wandered into my office several times when I’d been leaving the front door open to let the breeze through. I’d then gotten wise to it and kept the door closed. I bought a small desk fan instead to keep the room cool.

  Though my efforts had been wasted, because it then meant that he’d sit outside, meowing for hours on end until I’d finally cave and let him in. He comes here all the time now – almost every day.

  He used to drive me crazy. He meowed too much, he scratched all the skirting boards and he just loved to harass me while I was working. He still does all those things, but now he’s grown on me – after all, I’ve named him (very unoriginally, I might add) – and I even had a cat flap installed so he could come and go as he pleased.

  As annoying as he is, I do love the little fuzzball. He’s highly persistent – a quality I can respect in a person, so why not an animal too? He’s quite a bit smaller than average, which is something I can relate to. He’s not much larger than a kitten, even though he’s fully grown. Plus he’s extremely affectionate. I’m a sucker; I can never resist it.

  And in truth, I enjoy the company. I’ve always had a habit of talking to myself. I don’t feel quite as crazy when I talk at the cat.

  I would never have considered having a pet. Because of my job, I’m in and out of the office a lot and I can go for days without coming back here. Animals need a lot of attention – it wouldn’t be fair. Luckily for me, cats are independent creatures and can fend for themselves. Plus I have the added consolation that Kyo actually belongs to someone else – therefore, always having somewhere else to go if I’m being busy and neglectful.

  I picked Kyo up a second time and dumped him in his makeshift bed in the corner. The twins had given me their old cat basket, but Kyo had refused it. He was much happier with the bed he’d made himself out of my old jeans. He was lucky I preferred wearing skirts.

  “Night, cat. Be good,” I told him sternly, flicking off the lights and making my way upstairs to my flat.

  My flat is pretty small – consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, half a kitchen and half a lounge – but it’s everything I need. And it’s definitely a lot more homely than my office.

  Johnny hates my office. He doesn’t think it’s very ‘personal’. I don’t think he understand that my clients don’t care whether my office is plain and basic or bright and lavishly decorated. Besides the general office furniture – desk, chair, filing cabinets – the only extra thing I have there is my mini fridge. That’s just for convenience really. It was a pain having to go upstairs every time I needed a snack or another energy drink. Which is often, since I usually live on them. The cheap ones, of course. I’m hardly poor, but I definitely can’t afford to live on Red Bull.

  I know Johnny appreciates my flat a lot more. My walls are just plain whitewash and my furniture schemes aren’t very interesting – just basic black, browns and greys – but the whole place just screams that it’s mine. For starters, I have collages of photos covering the walls in every room except the bathroom (that’d be a little creepy).

  One of the walls in my half a lounge is covered with shelves of DVDs. Another wall is taken up by a similar arrangement of shelves; only this is my toy corner. I have varying degrees of cult action figures and figurines, ranging from a fully pose-able Beetlejuice doll to a highly detailed Freddy Krueger figure to Shawn and Gus Psych bobble-heads. Yes, I’m obsessed. I even bought an iPhone in a very unpractical move just so I could get the nice green Psych cover for it.

  My bedroom’s even more cluttered. Two whole walls are completely obscured by shelf after shelf of books. My crazy circular double bed is taken over by a mass of cuddly wolf toys. In case you couldn’t guess; I like wolves. I also like to collect things.

  My dressing table is cloaked by an army of perfume bottles. I like the sweet scented type of perfumes, not the spicy ones. I keep my newer ones on the upper shelf of my dressing table. The rest of it is covered with all the empty ones, arranged in order of when they were finished. I can’t throw perfume bottles away. It must be my most feminine quirk. Most of them just look too pretty and intricate to get rid of. So that’s yet another thing I collect.

  Once in my room, I kicked my boots off into a corner. I couldn’t really be bothered to get changed into my pyjamas, so I just took my skirt off (tight skirts are really uncomfortable to sleep in). I got into bed and snuggled up amongst my wolf family, grabbing onto my favourite grey wolf, Jerry, that my grandpa had given me when I was little. He’d been the start of my wolf collection.

  I closed my eyes and started to plan out the next few days and the unnecessary leads I’d follow up just to give me something to do until the Charlan family came back. I sighed. Things were going to get boring.

                                                           *

  As I predicted, the next few days went by too fast. The Charlans came home, I cleared everything with them, the culprit was checked out and arrested, I got paid... Everything was nice and simple.

  Unfortunately, I hate it when things are nice and simple. I like a case that I can sink my teeth into and really work on. Simple things just aren’t challenging. So later that afternoon, I found myself making my way down to the police station and asking to be admitted to superintendent Tod Gibson’s office.

  “Hey there, Gee,” Gibson greeted, offering me the chair opposite him. “What can I do for you?”

  “I needed some help actually,” I admitted, sliding into the chair more comfortably than I’d used to. I’d been in this office a lot. Though when I was working as a police officer here under the old superintendent, it had been more because I was in trouble again.

  Gibson looked surprised. “I thought you’d finished the Charlan case a few days ago?” You had to hand it to him – he was good at his job. He knew everything that happened in this city, both inside and outside of the police force.

  “Well, I diiiid...” I dragged the word out, trying to think of the least desperate sounding way of phrasing my request.

  I needn’t have worried. Gibson could tell from my tone exactly what I wanted. “Sorry, Gee, I can’t help right now. We don’t have any cases to give you.”

  “Well, can’t I help out on the case you’re working on now?” I asked, trying to sound reasonable.

  “We’re not working on anything at the moment,” said Gibson, stony-faced. “I honestly can’t help you, Gee. There’s nothing going on. Nada.”

  Gibson had a great poker face, but I knew he was lying, thanks to my inside source. Cough, Chad, cough. If I hadn’t known that already, then I might have believed him. Maybe.

  “Oh, give it up, Gibs. I know you’re working the Kasagi killer case right now.” It was the name they’d given him (or her, I guess, though all the evidence suggested it was a male suspect) because it was the only pattern they’d found. The first few murders had been in the Kasagi area. None of the others matched up, but it still all pointed to it being the same killer.

  “How did you even know about that?” asked Gibson. He looked torn between being annoyed and being impressed.

  I fought the urge to smile. “I’m just good at my job.” No need to mention Chad. We didn’t want to get him into trouble after all.

  “No one outside the police force was meant to know about that,” Gibson grumbled. Oh, okay, he was going to take the annoyed route. That’d make this argument just a little more difficult. Oh well, I enjoyed a good banter if I thought I could win. I was sure I could win this.

  “Well, technically, I’m not that much outside the police force. I did used to be an officer myself, remember?” I reasoned. He didn’t say anything. Yeah, I hadn’t thought that would work. Time to try another tact. “Look, I already know about the whole thing so you may as well let me help.”

  “Sorry, Gee, not this time,” said Gibson firmly “This is too dangerous.”

  Well, hell. He was looking after me again. It was nice but I didn’t need it. “Oh, come on, Gibs! I can take care of myself. I need this case!” So trying to sound desperate was out the window. Who cared? I was desperate.

  “I know you can, but this is different. We’ve never dealt with a killer like this before. He’s ruthless, he’s sick and he doesn’t want anyone to know he exists. We have next to no evidence on this. If he catches you, then you won’t be found for a long time at the rate we’re going,” said Gibson sombrely. “I don’t want any more civilians on this case.”

  “I know how to shoot a gun, Gibs,” I reminded him in a clipped tone. I was irritated. I didn’t need to be mollycoddled. “Last I remember, I was definitely more trigger happy than you.”

  Gibson flinched and I automatically regretted the jibe. “That’s hitting below the belt, Gee.”

  “I know. I’m really sorry,” I apologised sincerely. “I didn’t mean that.”

  Before Gibson had become superintendent, he’d been working with his partner, Teddy Harper. I know, Ted and Tod... Cute, huh? They’d got caught up in a hostage situation at a convenience store. Harper had managed to get a lot of the shoppers out of the way, but no one had been completely in the clear. Gibson had had a clear shot at the crook and he’d hesitated. The guy had taken his chance and shot Harper straight through the back of the head.

  I never went to Harper’s funeral. I couldn’t. The guy had been a total role model to me. He’d saved my life once upon a time and he was the reason I’d wanted to become a police officer. He’d taken me under his wing once I was on the force. Both him and Gibson had.

  It was a lot harder on Gibson. I knew he’d never stopped blaming himself. It wasn’t his fault though. Who wouldn’t have hesitated? Nobody liked to shoot to kill. And shooting to incapacitate was always risky when the suspect was armed.

  That was about the time I’d given up on the job. I got a stupid amount of disciplinaries for reckless behaviour. I just didn’t care. My heart wasn’t in it any longer, even with Gibson taking on Harper’s role of watching over me. So I quit.

  It was a shame I hadn’t held out longer. A few months after I’d left, Gibson was promoted to superintendent. I’d never liked the old one much (maybe it was all the disciplinaries). He’d moved on to another branch and Gibson had gotten the job. But then I guessed it was a good thing. If I’d stayed on the force, I wouldn’t be where I was now – doing what I’d always wanted to do.

  “I know you didn’t. But I’m sorry, Gee,” Gibson repeated. I realised I’d been stuck in a zombie trance again. “I just really don’t want you in on this case.”

  I sighed. Maybe I wasn’t going to win this one after all. He’d sounded pretty final. No more civilians. Hang on a second...

  “Wait...” I held my hand up and looked at him suspiciously. “You said you didn’t want any more civilians involved. What did you mean by that?”

  Gibson shifted uneasily in his seat. He obviously hadn’t meant for me to catch that. Unlucky for him. “Actually, we... we already have another detective working this case.”

  I just stared at him. That stung. That stung like hell. They clearly didn’t need me anymore if they'd hired another detective without giving me a second thought. I slowly got up, still not saying anything, and started towards the door.

  “Gee, please don’t take this personally,” Gibson said quickly. “He was very highly recommended – Kenichi’s worked underneath him before in Karuizawa. I really don’t want to put you in danger on this one.”

  “So you’re not letting me join because you don’t want me in danger? You feel guilty about Harper, so you took over looking after me because that’s what he did,” I said quietly.

  “Of course that’s not it! I do care about you. I don’t want you to get hurt,” said Gibson truthfully.

  “I know,” I said softly. “But that still doesn’t help me.” I walked out before he could say anything else.

  My little blue Toyota was parked outside the station where I’d left it. I got in quickly, started up and drove furiously round to the other side of the block. I didn’t want Gibson to follow me. Once I was sure there was no tail, I pulled over and shut off the engine. I didn’t think I should drive home just yet. I was too upset and too pissed off.

  Another detective? Wasn’t I good enough anymore? Was Gibson’s protective side really the only thing that was keeping me off this case? Maybe it was because my case total hadn’t changed much lately. I couldn’t help that I’d hit a dry spell. I could still solve the cases – I just wasn’t getting any. That was hardly my fault.

  I grumbled and punched the steering wheel in frustration, accidentally knocking the horn and terrifying a couple of old ladies that were walking past. Maybe now I should move. I didn’t want people to start talking about a crazy girl in a blue Echo.

  The only question was did I go home or did I call one of my friends for company and moral support? I wasn’t the best person to be around when I was in this kind of mood... I guess that answered my question easily enough – home it was. If Kyo was around, I could always complain at him. He was a good listener. After all, he never answered back.

  Unfortunately, Kyo wasn’t there when I got back. Typical. Damn freeloading cat couldn’t be around when I wanted him. I went straight upstairs, grabbed an energy drink from the fridge and stuck on a Psych DVD.

  I could barely concentrate on it. That was a first.

  I shouldn’t get this worked up about it. Gibson was only trying to protect me. But I was an adult. I’d been in dangerous situations plenty of times before, both during and after being a police officer. I didn’t need to be babied.  And I was pissed as hell that he’d got another detective on the job. I didn’t care how good he was. The Kyoto prefecture had me. Why did they wanna use a different detective? Was I actually that bad?

  Urgh, Psych wasn’t really helping me right now. I wasn’t even watching it. I ejected the disc and shoved in one of my many horror movies instead. I found it easier to concentrate on. Gore and crazy people fit my mood better right now. Yeah, I can be totally doom and gloom when I’m in a bad mood. You should see me when I’m PMSing.

  After the bloodbath finished, I put in another horror movie. Then another. Then another...

  I woke up abruptly, feeling stiff and disorientated. The room was dark, except for the blue glow from the now blank television screen. Oops. I’d obviously fallen asleep during the last movie. I fumbled my iPhone out of my pocket (it’s a good thing they’re pretty durable – I tend to sit on mine quite a lot) and checked the time, wincing slightly at the bright screen. It was nearly three in the morning. Damn, I’d been asleep for ages.

  I managed to drag myself off the sofa and into my bed where I belonged. How could I be so tired? I’d barely done anything the last few days. I fell asleep before I could think about it anymore, dreaming of outwitting and catching all the serial killers I’d just been watching in my horror movies.

  When I woke again, this time at a more reasonable hour, I had a plan. I was sure that I could find the Kasagi killer. Yeah, I’d had a bit of a dream epiphany. So what? I had experience in this area. I was a lot more familiar with the mind of a murderer than most people were.

  I had a university degree in psychology and I’d chosen my modules in the subjects of criminal minds and personality disorders. Not to mention I was a total horror movie freak and that I even had a whole literary collection of serial killer case studies. I could do this! I didn’t need Gibson’s permission to do my own investigating.

  It wasn’t difficult to figure out where to start. Kasagi, obviously. The root of the whole case. I didn’t know the exact addresses of the first murders, but if I could get hold of Chad, I was sure I could try and coax some more information out of him. That was the good thing about Chad being my old partner on the police force – he’d developed a huge soft spot for me. Actually, that was totally beside the point. He had a soft spot for any woman.

  I was showered and dressed within minutes. When you didn’t care much about your appearance, getting ready was a cinch. I made sure I had both sets of keys and that my iPhone was on silent (and in my front pocket so that I didn’t sit on it for the millionth time). I pulled on my shoulder holster, fitted the Browning Hi-Power into the pouch, then disguised it with my black trench coat.

  I was ready. More than ready. This was the first time I’d been excited in months. The Kasagi killer case was a challenge. I loved challenges. And I was going to get on this case, whether the police liked it or not. I had my starting point. I was good to go.