"It's cold..." Larry looked at himself in the mirror. Two days had passed since the shooting, and the news had trended everywhere.
The real reason Larry felt calm was because Sergeant Doakes still hadn't regained consciousness—he was in a coma, and the doctors weren't optimistic about when, or even if, he would wake up.
Larry didn't feel proud or at ease about that outcome. It had been unpredictable, messy, and poorly executed, especially considering everything he'd studied to remain undetectable.
If he had been smarter and more precise, things could have gone much better. But now, things would only get worse with time.
That's why Larry needed to move quickly. He couldn't keep dragging around the same plans on his back—he had to be ready to disappear off the radar the moment Sergeant Doakes woke up.
"If you wake up and claim not to remember anything, or just pretend, I'll know, Sergeant Doakes," Larry muttered as he looked at James lying in his hospital bed.
The man who had become obsessed with Dexter had, at best, found a partial resolution. For now, both Larry and Dexter could rest easy.
However, once he woke up, whatever consequences awaited Larry for that rookie mistake would come crashing down.
"Larry, are you ready?" Jack, head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit—and now Larry's new boss—asked. Larry was about to leave Miami, at least temporarily.
Just for a while, if he was lucky.
Wearing a soft black pajama set and leaning on a cane, Larry looked at Jack and said, "Already planning to put me to work?"
"The Chesapeake Ripper serial killer hasn't been caught…"
"You think so? I heard you did catch him. So, what makes you think he's still out there?"
"He vanished—without leaving a trace…" Larry, without looking at Jack, immediately thought about that serial killer and then asked out of sheer curiosity, "Did your protégé die, or just disappear?"
"You figured it out too fast. That's why I want you on my team." Jack, visibly uncomfortable at the mention of Miriam, quickly changed the subject.
Larry walked toward Jack, and together they left the hospital. "If she disappeared and you haven't found a body, then she's alive—being tortured."
"What makes you think she's alive?" Jack had assumed Miriam was dead after her disappearance, but Larry's words made him question that.
Larry turned to look at Jack and said quietly so as not to sound like a lunatic, "That killer is technical, perfectionist, and intelligent. If Miriam vanished, it means no other detective has come as close to catching him. Based on his profile, the most likely scenario is that he's torturing her passively."
"What do you mean?" Jack stared at Larry without blinking.
"I mean he's letting time kill her—or letting her kill herself. To him, Miriam is too valuable a trophy to discard. That killer doesn't just enjoy killing; he transforms and destroys minds."
After saying that, Larry looked at the black van waiting to take him to the airport and said, "He's also keeping Miriam alive to manipulate you, Jack. If you know she's alive, won't you become obsessed with finding answers?"
"You're right…" Now more than ever, Jack wanted Larry in the FBI. He was as monstrous as the killers they hunted.
"Besides, he's sending you a message. It's his way of showing he can take everything from you without getting his hands dirty." Larry smiled, fascinated. "Let's go hunt that son of a bitch."
"Let's go. I'll drive you to the airport."
…
On the way, Larry looked at his cell phone and called Angel, who quickly picked up. "Sergeant Batista, congratulations on your promotion."
"What are you talking about, Larry?" Though Angel sounded excited, it didn't feel right to celebrate knowing James was in the hospital.
"Well, it's a fact…"
"Is that the only reason you're calling?"
"No, I'm calling to say goodbye. In Baltimore, Maryland, an FBI agent was kidnapped by an unprecedented killer they still haven't caught. So, I have to go—for a while, at least, until we catch him." Larry didn't really want to say goodbye like this, but Jack seemed desperate.
Besides, it was the perfect excuse to leave Miami for a while.
"All right, friend. Unexpected…" Angel didn't really know what to say.
Larry smiled and said, "I left my car keys on your desk. Take good care of it until I get back."
"If you don't come back, I'll come looking for you." Angel talked with Larry a little longer until he reached the airport, where Larry ended the call.
As he boarded the plane, Larry glanced at the time and said, "Thanks for the help, Dexter. We're both predators…"