Nick grabbed her arms and turned her toward him. “No, it’s not. It is Dizag’s fault, and only his fault. Besides, even if you were here and he had killed you, he would have continued to kill and kidnap other women. He enjoys it. He has a thirst for murder and bloodshed. You wouldn’t have been able to stop him.”
Lana nodded at his words, but Nick wasn’t sure that she believed him.
The medical examiner and his team came. When they picked up the body, a white note in a clear plastic baggie was found underneath.
In red ink (or so Nick hoped it was ink), were the words:
Lana, sorry I missed you. I was hoping we could party. I left you a little gift. I’ll be seeing you soon. Dizag.
7
Lana
Lana was numb. Never in her life had she even imagined anything so heinous. How could anyone be so evil inside that he could justify doing this to another living creature?
If Dizag ever had a soul, it must have died and withered up a long time ago for him to be able to do this.
Then, she became angry. How dare he? Who or what did he think gave him permission to do this to someone else? Someone he likely didn’t know, who had never done anything bad to him.
Her heart hurt for the woman. She must have suffered through hell. She knew from much smaller injuries that when a person is in pain, one minute can feel like an eternity.
“If I could only get my paws on his throat,” Lana muttered to herself.
The room was so quiet, that although the words were said in a whisper, they echoed around the crimson-stained walls.
One of the detectives patted her on the shoulder. “We’re all with you, Little Sister,” he said. The pain and anger were evident on his face.
As Lana surveyed the room, she saw that everyone felt the same way.
“How are we going to catch him?” Lana asked. “If he can destroy my room yesterday and torture, then kill, this woman last night, without anyone hearing a sound or seeing anything, then he must be invisible. I’ve never heard of an invisibility shield existing outside of books, so what is the deal. How does he do it?”
She looked around the room, looking for answers, hoping that someone had an idea.
“Until we figure out how he did it, we might never find him. He could be anywhere, hiding right in front of us, and then popping out like the boogie man from little kids’ nightmares,” Lana said, passionately.
Everyone nodded, trying hard to think. Like Nick, most of the detectives and officers had been up for several days in a row, without so much as a nap, trying to catch him. Yet, Dizag always seemed to be miles ahead of them.
“He’s got my sister. He’s got Lucy. We have to get her back,” Lana said. The catch in her voice was heart-wrenching, revealing the anguish she felt at not knowing whether her sister was dead or alive. Or was she, at this very moment, being tortured by this hideous evil creature that seemed to have slithered out of the depths of hell?
Lana had always taken pride in controlling her emotions, especially in front of others. Her mother had always told her that it would never do to let others see her pain. Yet, now, she could no longer hold it in.
She began to tremble so hard that the men swore they could feel the room shake. Feeling as though she couldn’t take any air into her lungs, she began to breathe heavily, sucking in as much air as she could. She was hyperventilating, the people surrounding her becoming blurry and the room beginning to spin.
Nick gently put both hands on her face. “Breathe. Steady. You need to slow your breathing. Take in slow breaths. Breathe in to the count of four, hold it for the count of four, and then breathe out through the count of four,” he gently instructed.
Finally, Lana’s breathing returned to normal. Her trembling slowed and then stopped.
“We have to find her,” Lana said, her words coming out almost as a whimper. She immediately hated how weak she sounded.
“We will,” Nick said. “I promise. For now, let’s get out of here.”
Lana nodded, smiled weakly at everyone else in the room, as they bid goodbye. Then, taking one last sweep of the room, she stepped into the hallway.
She was amazed that walking five steps down the hallway made it seem like the carnage and destruction didn’t exist. There was no sign that anything bad had happened just feet away from where they were standing, waiting for the elevator.
Needing the fresh air, they decided to walk to the Paradigm. Nick texted one of the detectives who agreed to take his car back to his apartment.
The walk was not a relaxing one. As they strode toward the club, they made certain to stay extremely vigilant, not wanting to be caught unaware by any nasty characters who might be waiting to ambush them.
By the time they reached the club, Lana was so tense that she was sure that her entire body was about to shatter into little tiny pieces.
Brady looked up as they walked in. The color in his face drained. Soon, everyone stared at the pair who made their way through the now silent crowd. They knew that whatever happened was not good.
Nick and Lana sat down at the bar and Colleen hastily set two shots of whiskey in front of them. Lana slammed hers down without even thinking about it. The burning liquid sliding down her throat brought her out of the daze that had shrouded her.
Looking around the room, Nick knew what everyone was waiting for. After slamming down his shot, he said, “Yes, there was another one. It was by the same individual who had done all the others. This one was pretty nasty. I can’t tell you anymore, since it is an ongoing investigation. However, be
