Tracking down the drug dealer Allen Stevens was a lot harder than he’d thought.  Partially because of his name being a fairly common one, but also because he didn’t have a publicly listed address.  After a lot of searching, he changed tactics and looked up the woman listed as his girlfriend in the court report. Katie Wolffe was a far less common name.

Jack was shaking with barely suppressed fear as he walked down the hallway.  His search led him to a rundown apartment building in a part of town he’d never been to before and probably never would have visited if he hadn’t been on a mission.  The sound of loud rock music came from the door, a steel-reinforced number with a sliding viewport. Raising his hand, Jack took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The viewport opened and a man looked out through a fog of cigarette smoke.  His pale face made his bloodshot eyes look wild and dangerous.

“Whachu want, kid?”  He yelled over the music.

“I want you to shoot everyone in the room, and then kill yourself,”  Jack said, turning to walk back down the hall. He didn’t start running until the gunshots started.

Several other people were running from the apartment building at the same time and Jack blended in with the crowd, keeping his head down.  A couple of people were talking into cell phones and sirens sounded in the distance as they pushed through the doors. Gunfire continued for another minute and while the others were staring at the building he slipped off into the alley.

“That was amazing!” He said, feeling the adrenaline singing through his veins.

“You were amazing.” Lorethla purred, “So decisive and dangerous.”

“They don’t know what’s in store for them.”  Jack clenched his fist, “A storm is coming and I am its harbinger.”

–

A week later, Jack was eating breakfast with his parents and watching the morning news.  He poured himself another bowl of cereal and watched intently as the anchor began the local news segment.

“The Chief of police is going to issue a statement this morning about a rash of violence that has been sweeping the city.”  The anchor said, “We now go live to the press conference.”

The camera showed the front steps of city hall as Colin Peters, the Chief of Police stepped forward to a podium.  Once the camera flashes had died down, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Over the last six days, we have been investigating an outbreak of violence.  Despite coverage that suggests this is some kind of vigilante justice, we wish to bring to light that although these killings appear to be drug or gang-related, women and children have been among the victims.  These murders are not the actions of a hero.

“Yesterday one of the victims recovered enough to give us a statement.  Based on that information, have several leads and are bringing some suspects in for questioning.  If anyone has any additional information that can assist this investigation we urge you to come forward.  Are there any questions?”

A reporter stood and was recognized, “Chief Peters, can you release the identity of the victim?”

“Not at this time, they are under police protection as we fear their life may still be in danger.” He said, motioning to another reporter.

“Why has it taken so long for your department to make any progress?” The next reporter asked, “Your department has a history of catching violent criminals quickly.”

“These are unusual crimes.”  He responded, “Without revealing details of the ongoing investigation I cannot say more than that the doors and windows have always been locked and the murder weapons have always been found onsite.  I have put our best inspector on the case, Inspector Purdue has a solid track record.”

Jack stifled a giggle and his mother turned off the TV, giving him a concerned look. “I’m sorry sweetie, we shouldn’t have had that on.”

He stifled the urge to tell her to turn it back on.  The last thing he wanted was to make his parents suspicious.  Especially when he needed to find out who the pesky survivor was and deal with them before they revealed anything they shouldn’t.

‘That Purdue is dangerous too.’ Lorethla said, ‘We may need to eliminate her as well.’

Jack put another bite of cereal into his mouth to hide the smile.  Nobody was going to interfere with his plans.