The 5th Cycle

5th times the charm?

The jet was prepped and ready to go when I got there. I grabbed a seat across from Bryan and made myself comfortable. A Stewardess brought a large case over to me and set it on the table. I opened it to find my Browning High Power, 3 mags, and a concealed carry holster. I checked over the familiar weapon and made sure it was in working order. Once satisfied, I closed the case and looked at Bryan.

"Why Kansas?" He asked.

"It's the last place she died, which means it's the first place she killed. Her first victim was a local. The 2nd lived about 20 miles outside of town. If we are going to find her, that's the best place to start."

I spent the rest of the flight briefing him on Speegle and my many attempts at capturing her. By the time we landed, he knew as much as was needed for him to be effective in this manhunt.

It was a little after midnight when we landed at Lawrence Municipal. We rented a car and headed out. On the way, I called Merida.

"You're on speaker. What can you tell us?"

"She had all of her funds transferred to her new identity, about a month ago". Merida told me.

"Are you able to track the new account?"

"Yes. She used her credit card as recently as 3 days ago, out in Topeka."

"Anything else of note in her finances?"

"She purchased a house. A few weeks ago she bought a house in Lawrence. Sending you the address."

"I don't need it."

I stepped on the gas.

"Where are we going?"

"The only place in this city she would bother buying is someplace with sentimental value."

"Where exactly is that and why are you so sure?"

"It's the last place she died. The place we both died. Owning it would be like getting a trophy."

The house was dark when we arrived. The was no car in the driveway. There were windows on the garage door and I was able to see in. No vehicle there either. As a matter of fact, it was empty. I walked up onto the porch. The curtains on the front window were open. I looked in and saw that the house was empty as well. Figuring she wasn't here, I began to pick the lock.

"Murderer or not, you can't just break into someone's home. You need a warrant."

"No Deputy Marshal, you need a warrant. I just need to catch her. I thought you knew how this worked."

He said nothing else as I continued. I finally got both locks picked and we entered. It was strange standing in a place you know you had died. Kinda like standing on your own grave. There was no grave for me though. Agent's bodies are retrieved and destroyed. Their belongings were sent back to HQ.

We began a search of the house. As we were searching, I noticed cameras spread throughout the house.

"She's watching us". I said to Bryan

Before he could respond, a male voice spoke from one of the cameras.

"Jordan. Is that you?"

I kept silent. I signaled Bryan to keep searching. If she was here, we needed to find her before she had time to run.

"On yes, that's you. I would know that stoic look on your face anywhere. Not to mention the body language. So many lifetimes and you still move the same. You've really got to change that up."

Bryan had finished searching and gave me the all-clear.

"Of course I'm not there. I knew you would come. I didn't know you would bring a friend. The company doesn't think you can do this on your own? Can't say that I blame them. It's only been 4 lifetimes. Maybe the 5th times the charm."

"Why don't you make this easy for all of us and give yourself up?" Bryan asked.

"Hush child. The adults are talking." Katie retorted.

"Where are you, Katie? Let's just skip to the part where I track you down and we fight it out. I promise not to shoot you this time."

Bryan leaned closer to me and whispered.

"I've seen your past qualification runs. 4 lifetimes and you still can't shoot for shit. How is that?"

A chill ran down my spine and my heart started pounding in my ears. I took in a slow deep breath to calm myself. What I was thinking was impossible. I went back to concentrating on our invisible audience of 1.

"I'm going to find you, Katie. I always do."

"Not until I want you to." She replied.

I said nothing else, but turned around and walked out of the house. She wasn't here and probably wasn't even in the same state, let alone this city. We would have to wait for another clue to pop up. For now, we would return to the island.