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YARA
He’s spiraling. The news gave me a sense of urgency.
“The FBI is hot on his trail. They’re beefing up resources, and the BAU just rolled out a fresh profile on The Strangler with a detailed behavioral analysis. They sent that profile out to every local PD in the cities where this pinche pendejo had previously left bodies. We’re busting our tails, but damn, we’re still miles away from bagging him.” The detective’s jaw tightened, eyes burning with frustration.
Spiraling.
I had been wondering when my moment would come—when I would spin out of control until every mask I wore came undone. Every sickness came with an expiration date.
I just wanted to kill The Strangler before my time came. I had to feed Katelyn’s spirit with his blood to let her rest in peace. After I killed him, I’d tear off my masks and surrender to the ultimate fate.
“Did he make a mistake? Stray away from his patterns?” I asked.
Detective Rosario wasn’t always so forthcoming—he was stingy about sharing details of his cases. But in his current state of weariness and frustration, there was a chance he might reveal more.
“He did. That hijo de puta is going down.” The detective emphatically thumped the table, a vengeful glint in his eyes. Even at this moment, the animal in him was almost softer, kinder. He was not one of us.
“What did he…” I trailed off as Detective Rosario took in a deep breath. “What did he do?”
Erratic behavior and a small step away from the usual pattern were the first signs, which would then become more and more pronounced. I knew the psychology of it.
My fingers drummed against my thigh as I waited for the detective. He took his sweet time finishing his cup of coffee. I wanted to grab it away from him and hurl it against the wall.
“As I said, this isn’t for public knowledge, but you’re not the public. Agent Hayes believes he’ll kill again this month. The love letter he left—it was not a love letter. He made a mistake. The paper tied around the woman’s neck was a list. He must have misplaced the letter.”
My eyes narrowed in suspicion. It didn’t sound like The Strangler. Even though I didn’t know what he looked like, I knew who he was, exactly what he was. I knew the inside of his mind like it was my own.
He was intelligent and cunning. He had been playing for a long time.
“A list? A list of what?” I asked, anticipation coating my nerves.
“A list of what looks like titles. Titles of books? Songs? Something else? They didn’t know what it was when Agent Hayes called me. It could be any number of things.” The detective let out a weary sigh.
“That’s unlike him. What if it’s on purpose? What if he’s playing another one of his games because he’s bored with his old routine?”
“Baltimore PD and the FBI don’t think so. They’re sure he’s deteriorating.” Detective Rosario sounded convinced, but I couldn’t believe it.
A part of me knew that this could very well be a sleight of hand, a trick. The cops didn’t always see what was hidden.
“There was nothing else? No hard evidence?”
The detective shook his head as he studied the empty mug for a second. “No. He killed her and only that. He cleaned her using bleach like his other victims, and then he displayed her in front of the bus terminal. She looked like she went to sleep waiting for the bus.” He rubbed his hands together.
“Do you have the content of the list, Detective?”
“Not really. I do remember something. Ah, yes, the Sins of Holiness. Twelve, no, wait, it’s thirteen.”
My body went cold.
Thirteen was my father’s story.
Katelyn was the one who started the Hunters and Preys podcast. She created our second persona. K for Katelyn. Y for Yara. And she had some strange addiction to wolves, hence the name Wolff.
Not every story in the podcast was mine, but some of them were. The ones the detective listed were definitely mine.
I enjoyed doing it with her, talking about things, and recording it. When she died, I wanted to stop, to give up. It reminded me too much of her, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t kill what she had started. It was a part of her, and so it stayed.
If the cops find out… Kat whispered. I wasn’t worried about that. I had covered my tracks very well, but even if they came, what proof would they have?
