Bailey Crosse's Story

Bailey laid on her bed staring up at the ceiling waiting for her alarm clock to go off. She had been up for the past hour with nothing better to do, plus it felt nice to finally not have to worry about for a change. She hadn’t taken any pills since midday yesterday. Lately she has been trying to cut back, which isn’t a good idea because all it did was make her body ache.
A low beep started up and she slapped the alarm clock with a heavy hand accidentally knocking several pill bottles to the floor. She shot up and looked around the floor. No pills. They were empty bottles. What am I doing?
She got up and headed to the bathroom. She filled a cup of water and counted out the pills she was supposed to take and added enough pills to get herself through the morning and hopefully threw the afternoon. She put them down and left the room.
She changed her clothes and headed for the kitchen to get a quick bite to eat before heading to work. Grabbing a bowl from the cabinet she heard a low buzz coming from her room, she patted her pockets realizing her phone was still plugged in. Putting the bowl down and headed to the room.
Two missed messages.
5 minutes ago : Hurry and get to the station.
1 minute ago: We have an emergency briefing in 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes, Shit. She grabbed her jacket and headed for the station grabbing her meds off of the counter.

The station was in a riot when she walked in the door, something major was going down. Bailey headed to the briefing room and took a seat in the back. Chief Matthews was at the podium.
“Alright, everyone we have a serious problem. Around 7 hours ago a transport unit from Triumph City Correctional lost control on the highway on its way to a high security prison. Almost all the guards were either killed or wounded in the crash and by the time back up arrived and a head count done they found that a one Marcus Brown was not among them.” The room grew all too quiet.
“That’s right, the Handprint Killer.” She looked around the room “I’m putting Detective McCoy as the lead on this because he worked on the original case and has had experience dealing with this psycho.”
She watched as all the other officers looked back to him. He nodded the recognition off and headed to the podium. He looked out to everyone thinking over what he was going to say.
“We all know who this guy is. We need to start putting patrols out immediately in his last known location. For now, a three block radius. We need to get this guy and we need to get him before he kills again. He’s psychaotic, unpredictable. I’ll be hand picking a team to help with tracking him down,” He paused looking at everyone “That’s all, let’s get out there and bring him in.”
The briefing room cleared out fast and the patrols had started. Wanted posters were being prepared. She sat at her desk and watched the clock waiting for it to click when a shadow covered her desk, looking up she seen McCoy standing there a stern look in his eyes.
“I hear you’re good at what you do. I could use someone like you on my task force.”
“Someone like me?”
“Someone determined. I read your file. Perfect records in every category plus you were a part of the undercover job a year or two back. With excellent results. And with a high recommendation from the Chief you seem to be a great candidate.”
“Well, with such an important job, who give that up?” A burning sting came up her throat. “Excuse me.”
Bailey quickly walked to the bathroom and stormed into a stall. The burning came up and she was lucky she always wore her hair up. She flushed the toilet and sat on the floor shaking.

Bailey quickly got a hold of herself and left the stall, a horrid taste in her mouth. She turned on the faucet and sighed heavily, cupping some water and washing away the taste. She watched her hand as it proceeded to shake. Balling her hand into a fist she lightly slammed down on the counter “Breathe. Just breathe.” She took a few minutes to compose herself before leaving the bathroom and making her way to her office.

Opening the door she was greeted to a man leaning back on her chair reading a file with his feet crossed and resting on her desk. She leaned on the doorknob in curiosity “Excuse me.”
The file dropped to his lap revealing Dexter Morrison, greeting her with a cheeky smile, who had seemed to gladly make himself right at home at her desk.

“Of course it’s you,” she walked over to the desk and grabbed the file “and you've already got the Handprint Killer file. Only problem is this,” she closed the file “is my copy. The copy your boots are getting messed up, is yours.”

"Right. Of course it is," Dexter Morrison replied as he swiveled into a more appropriate sitting position. He had spent the past 5 minutes scanning the file. Odd how she was absent for that long, considering it's all hands on deck. Crosse avoided extensive eye contact and seemed a little groggy. But hey, even if the rumours are true, that could be explained by being forced to get up in the morning. Even Dex was struggling for a bit of a second wind. He went back to eyeballing some of the new information there was on the case, what little there was.
"He got out in a car crash?" Dex asked Crosse. She nodded. "Judging by how fucked up the guards are, I'd get some uniforms searching places where he could gets supplies. Chances are he's hurt and wants to dress his wounds. That means houses, general stores, clinics. Avoid searching other places that are unlikely to have those for now."
Bailey looked at Dex, contemplating what he had to say to her. She opened her mouth to say something, but Dex quickly followed up with a smile, "I'm gonna go do some detective work at the crash site. I'll see you at ground zero. Thanks for the file, babe." Morrison then slunk out the door, hoping to avoid McCoy on the way to the scene.

What a prick. Bailey thought fixing her desk, she could feel a headache slowly accruing. She grabbed her case file and left the department.

The fog seemed to have gotten worse she figured, of course she wasn’t really paying attention to the weather when she left her place, but still she figured it was going to be a hard day. Bailey got into the car, started the engine, put the file on the passenger seat and headed for the crime scene.

On arrival she noticed Detective McCoy on the other side of the scene talking with who she believed to be Adeline Helder. Bailey had met her a couple times before due to her undercover investigation, Bailey always thought she knew about her drug problem but nothing ever came from it. Adeline was one reporter that always did with others didn’t, told the truth without any blurred lines or double talk, however she goes where she doesn’t belong, like now, inside the yellow tape.

Making her way to the bus she noticed Morrison heading towards Detective McCoy and Helder.Bailey walked around the crime scene taking in all she could. The bus was upside down and dead prisoners hung to it like decorations on a Christmas tree. “What a mess.” she whispered under her breath walking over to the dead guards. She kneeled over them observing their wounds and it was clear they never would have made it. Aside from simple blunt force trauma, they had several puncture wounds from broken metal. Spotting the coroner examining a body she quickly stood up and walked over to him

“How’d they go?” she said quite unprofessionally, startling the man.

With a slight jump he turned and looked up at her “‘How’d they go?” he echoed.

“Was it all from the trauma sustained in the accident or did Brown kill a guard in his escape?”

“Well,” he stood up “they were most definitely killed in the crash. No seat belts for the guards so in a situation like this, the chance of survival is little to none. Same goes with some of the prisoners that died.”

“Alright, thanks.” Bailey nodded and let him get back to work.

She started walking around looking for the easiest ways to escape. The only one that seemed like the best route was an alleyway between an apartment building and a convenience store.
Before she checked that out she wanted to check the apartment building, she figured the crash had to be loud enough to draw attention and hopefully someone seen something. Making her way through the apartment complex she asked the residence if they had seen anything or heard anything at the time of the crash with no luck, most of them said they hadn’t or that they were asleep. She left the building pressing her thumb between her eyes, she could feel the pain slowly creeping up and it wasn’t even noon.

She made a heavy sigh and made her way to the alleyway where she met Detective McCoy already looking around.
“Did you find anything yet?”

Detective McCoy confirmed that it was the impact that killed the officers and Addy was relieved. Though trauma from a car wreck was not a good way to die she felt it would be better than at the hands of a killer. Means it is only a matter of time before he kills someone.

Her next question was cut off by a voice she did not know. Addy turned and looked at the new arrival. Her eyebrows raised a little. She wasn’t entirely sure he was serious or just had an odd sense of humour.

Her called her beautiful and knew her name and Addy was surprised. She made to hold out her hand for an introduction when Detective McCoy interjected.

Addy lowered her hand and watched the scene play out. She couldn’t help the slight smile of amusement that appeared as the men bantered.

When Dexter stormed off, Addy waved towards his back. “It was nice to meet you, I think...”

She looked back to Detective McCoy. Her eyes moved to the ground, focusing on the trail of blood that he pointed out. She had been too busy looking up that she had not inspected the ground yet.

“Seems likely.”

Addy pulled out her notepad and jotted down a few things. “If he makes it to a main road, no telling where he might go. Do we have any idea who he might contact, if anyone? Anyone write to him in prison? What about visits?”

She gestured over her shoulder towards where Dexter had disappeared. “Quite the character.”

A new voice, this one female added itself to their discussion. Addy looked up to see the woman approaching where they stood.

She said nothing knowing the woman was there for Detective McCoy, not her and not wishing to ruffle feathers. Not all officers were cordial when it came to reporters. Addy could only hope that this woman would work with her as McCoy was. She preferred the police as allies not that she had ever let that stop her from getting her story before.

Addy held out her hand to the Detective, “Nice to meet you Detective Crosse.”

Like with Dexter she lowered her hand as Detective McCoy moved onto other things. She gave him a slightly amused look as he suggested she not follow for her own safety.

“Understood Detective McCoy. I am responsible for myself.” She watched as he pulled his gun and indicated that Detective Crosse do the same. Addy wasn’t sure they were going to come across the Handprint killer just hiding in the alley but if there was even a small chance or at the very least more information about where he went then she was not going to miss this chance.

She did understand following the trail but she also knew Marcus Brown was not a stupid man and if he had the ability he was long gone or very well hidden.

Addy let the detectives go first. She pulled out her phone and began taking pictures of the blood trail and anything else in the alley that seemed to indicate that Marcus had been there.

Blood means he didn’t escape the wreck unscathed. Not a lot of blood so likely not a mortal wound. Deep cuts maybe. If something is broken it would hinder his movement, making it easier for the police to catch up. If not than he is a slightly injured man with the dogs on his heels and nothing but fear causing him to run. If he ends up someplace reasonably safe he will go back to his old ways.

The very thought of him being loose in the city again left Addy with a bad feeling. It was one thing for a convict to get free but it was entirely different when that man was a cold blooded killer who knew the city and would easily slip back into routine now that he was back in his old hunting ground.

The difference now was they knew his habits, his signature and if they could figure out motive, pinpoint his victim type than perhaps they could get ahead of him.

Addy kept taking pictures as she followed the detectives down the alley. She occasionally looked behind her wondering if any of the other officers had picked up on the trail as well and would be following as back up or worse if Marcus Brown might be lurking somewhere behind them.

He'd be insane to stay close to the scene but really...how predictable will he be if he is hurt and feels desperate?

Adeline and Bailey had a brief introduction when Detective McCoy cut out of the conversation and headed for the alleyway, gun in hand. He had gestured for Bailey to do the same but she thought it was highly unlikely that they would find the Handprint Killer right next to the crash sight. So rather than pull out her gun she simply placed her hand on top and undoing the button that keeps it in place and followed at his heel.

As they moved further into the alley Bailey noticed Adeline back off and started taking photos of the area.

Around halfway in with no sign of any activity Bailey stopped to look at the blood trail. With the amount of blood he's definitely suffering from a deep wounds.

McCoy was almost at the other end of the alleyway when she looked up.

"There's nothing here McCoy. 'Cept for his blood trail." She stood up and headed his way "I'll get some of the guys to block off the alley and get the forensic unit."

Steve agreed with Bailey on this, the trail was beginning to go cold. He turned around and headed back towards Adeline and Bailey. Suddenly a voice chirped in on his radio. "There was a fire at a convenience store on 25th and 3rd the fire department thinks it was arson." The voice could be heard from his radio and Detective Crosses. Steve remembered he told all units to report anything out of the ordinary and by his book this qualified. "We should go check that out, it isn't more than a about a mile and a half from here. " He said know jogging back to the others and out of the alley way. "Detective we should get going." He said as he opened his car door. He then looked at Adeline, "Miss Helder is was a pleasure making your acquaintance. "He said to her with a smile.

After a short while he arrived at the scene of the burned down convienance store there were several fire trucks surrounding the smouldering ruins. He got out and approached the Fire Chief. "What do we have here?" He said looking at the black remains. "Not much we know it's arson and we thought you'd be interested mostly because we found this"He said holding up what was left of a burned piece of clothing and Steve Knew exactly what it was. Marcus Browns Prison Jump suit or at least what was left of it.

Charred remains of an orange jumpsuit was the only thing left that could be tied to Marcus Brown. The convenience store was a small shop on the corner, it looked like it had been around for years. It was in a prime location for the dock and factory workers too, a short walk or shorter drive and you could get something to eat or drink. The fact that it was located in the Factory District, a highly populated area and almost everyone in the area wore a uniform, made it a perfect spot to disappear from the cops.

“How long ago was the fire set?” Bailey asked approaching the Fire Chief.
“Around an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Took us about thirty to get her due to the shit weather we’re having.”

“How’d it start?”she said stepping into the shop.

He pointed to the floor, pieces of glass varying in size was scattered everywhere but it was evident they belonged to various alcohol bottles.“The alcohol. He dropped it through the middle aisle and lit it up. It was a bitch to put out too, but when we stopped it and checked the store we seen the jumpsuit and got someone to call you guys.” he said scratching his head.

Bailey looked at the cash register that had obviously been robbed. “So, he gets a new set of clothes, grabs the cash and what?” she looked over to Detective McCoy “What’s around here?”

Steve moved closer to the burned rubble, a lot of things were running through his mind at the moment. "Im not sure," Steve said to her as he looked at the google map on his phone of the surrounding area. There window of capturing him was getting smaller fast, Marcus brown was slowly slipping out of their grasp. He moved the screen along looking at surrounding areas." I don't see anything that would-- Wait the factory, where I apprehended him....." His finger hovered slightly over the small pinpoint on the device. He looked up at detective Crosse "Do you think maybe he went back there?" He said, with a little bit of hope in his voice.

"He's not a firebug, you're right," Dex replied as he caught up with Addy. The two then started walking on to the scene. Addy was waved right in, being with Morrison and all. "He's a smart guy, he knows this is gonna keep us occupied. So the name of the game is speed and precision. We can't slow down, but we can't overlook anything."

Morrison quickly walked up to the point of origin for for the fire. McCoy was combing over the scene, while Crosse was observing the surroundings and taking notes. Dex went up to Bailey and leaned gently on her shoulders, "Have you and the Boy Wonder found anything yet?"

Bailey looked over to the entrance to see Morrison and Adeline walking into the convenience store. Morrison walked over and leaned on his arm “Have you and the Boy Wonder found anything yet?”

Ignoring his smug look she put down her notes and looked up “He broke down the door, got a spare set of clothes from the back and lit the place on fire. He also looted the cash register.” she pointed to an evidence bag on the counter “His jumpsuit. Found after they cleared out the fire.”

Dexter adjusted his position and grabbed the bag looking at the markings and plopped it down. “Anything else?” he asked, going back to his leaned position.

“McCoy’s looking in-”

“Wait the factory where I apprehended him.” Detective McCoy cut in “Do you think maybe he went back there?” he said still looking down.

“The factory,” she paused thinking back to his case file “that’s a few blocks away, and it would explain why he would come down this way. I thought that placed had been completely tossed, could they have missed something?”

She had to say she didn’t mind not getting the third degree upon getting to a scene. The officers waved her in and Addy nodded. Okay not all bad being a partner. The concept still made her very core feel like ice. It terrified her.

“I agree he is smart and that doesn’t play in our favour. If he was your garden variety nut job, he’d be easier to find.”

Addy entered the room, struck immediately by the smell. Smoke and wet. Dexter went to speak to Crosse and McCoy. She took the time to look around. Nothing seemed out of place, nothing that appeared to be any kind of message. Slow them down, give them something to focus on and look for meaning where it isn’t.

She listened as Detective Crosse explained that he found clothes and looted the money from the register. Street clothes are obviously a better choice than bright orange jumper. Money because he will need it.

Addy approached as they discussed the factory. “Well you might not have left something necessarily or left something that seemed mundane and unimportant but you have to remember that methodical killers put attachment on places and things that others wouldn’t. He might go back there for an item, a trophy or he might go back simply to relive the moment of his capture, maybe he is reliving some of his kills. There are plenty of reasons he might return there. More importantly we go there and look for a clue as to where he might go next. What if he is reliving his life but in reverse? The place he was captured, his last kill...going back to the beginning. Or maybe he just remembered the place and used it to get his bearings. He has been in long enough that the city has changed some.”

She looked at them all. “Sorry, I spent a lot of time with FBI profilers and they spitball all sorts of ideas when the suspect does something. All that to say going there might help us get into his head.”

Addy’s body went cold as she heard the radio. ”...possible homicide...multiple victims....Handprint Killer...”

She felt a sense of disappointment come over her. He was far ahead of them and they had no idea where he might go next. The city was his playground and they had no real leads, just a lot of speculation. Is he too far ahead? Will be able to figure out why or is he simply a pyschopath? Is there a pattern? a rationale to his victims? Something...anything that would give us a leg up before he kills again. She had the sinking feeling that there would be more bodies before they caught up to him.

Detective McCoy told them to forget the factory and headed to his car. Addy pulled out her phone. “Get a photographer over to Cottonwood Towers now. I want pictures of the outside of the building and as far in as the police will let them go. Yeah, first victims. I don’t have anything yet. Look time is of the essence. Pictures will preserve the area as much as it can. Just go okay and no you can’t print them. Send them to my place once they are developed and put a rush on it.”

She looked at Dexter. “Those crime scene photos, even if it is just outside won’t do any good to the public but freak them out. To us though, might help us see something we miss the first time around and if they can get there before us even better.”

Addy snapped a few pictures on her phone of the charred orange jumpsuit and other areas of the store in hopes that it too might give up some secret later. She turned and looked at Dexter, brushing a piece of hair from her face. She pocketed her phone once more.

“We going to the Towers?" She waited for him to lead the way back to the car.