A Killer's Watch by Tallulah Grace

side-by-side photos of the missing girls.
    “They both have long blond hair, but other than that, they
look nothing alike,” Chloe commented.
    “They’re about the same height, but you’re right, their
facial features are not even similar,” Monique speared a piece of lettuce. “Who
knows what makes these guys tick.”
    “When are Jeri and Ethan coming back?”
    “They’re on the way. Now that he’s taken two victims, we
know more about him. We’re meeting in their suite in an hour.”
    “I know you all are confident that one man killed the first
two women, and took the two girls, but I can’t see any correlation, other than
location.”
    “The killer is likely counting on that. Before the second
teen was kidnapped, no law enforcement agency would connect the first missing
girl with two dead prostitutes, either. But the fact that the first two murders
were patterned after Anson’s kills, tells us that we have an active serial, but
only because Ethan had someone looking for cases like this.”
    “Couldn’t there be two people? One killing prostitutes and
one abducting teenagers?”
    “Sure, but the odds are good that we’re dealing with one
man. Jeri said that he would show us his real targets soon, and he has. We
would probably have a hard time convincing anyone that the two missing teens
are related to the dead prostitutes, unless the killer drops another body in
the same place. If he does that, we know he’s begging for attention.”
    “If he’s followed this dude, Anson, who was supposedly a
real bad ass, then why would he leave the teenagers in the same place as his
first victims? Wouldn’t he be able to fly under the radar longer, if he chose a
different dump site?”
    “That makes sense to me, and to you, but serials operate
under a different set of rules. Jeri is the profiler, she could probably
explain it better, but something drives them to do what they do. Including
where, and how, they leave the bodies of their victims.”
    “I’ve got so much to learn about this stuff,” Chloe sighed
and picked up her burger.
    “You’ll get there,” Monique assured her. “You don’t need a
degree in criminal psychology to do your job.”
    “Thank goodness for that.”
     
    ~~~
     
    “Check your email, Anna sent over an itemized list of similarities
between Shelby and Allison,” Jeri spoke to the room, even though she and Ethan
had already seen the list. “We need to know how he targets his victims, how he
knows when to strike.”
    “I don’t suppose either girl reported being stalked?”
Monique asked as she skimmed the list.
    “No, but Allison felt that she was being watched. We checked
her house for cameras, but found nothing,” Jeri answered. “Still, he has to be
tuned into them somehow. He knew that Allison would be at the club, knew that
she would be alone. But how?”
    “Allison tweeted about going to the club, even posted a
picture on her Instagram page. Jeez, don’t these kids worry about privacy at
all?” Chloe asked.
    “No, they want people to know where to find them. That
answers the question of how he knew where to find her, but it doesn’t tell us
how he knew that she would be alone. Her post mentions that she and Sandy were
going to the club. Most people would assume that they would drive up together,
not separately. So, how did he know?”
    “He was at the club, watching. Saw his opportunity, and took
it,” Ethan answered.
    Before Jeri could respond, Anna called.
    “You’re not going to like this,” Anna warned, when she
answered.
    “What?” Jeri demanded, putting the call on speaker.
    “I’ve been tooling around the dark web, you know, checking
out sites that might have Anson’s signature. I decided to run facial
recognition for Shelby and Allison, just in case the perp posted something
about them. You won’t believe what I found.” The revulsion in Anna’s voice was
palpable.
    “Don’t leave us hanging, Anna. What did you find?” Jeri
tried to hide her