“How are you going to catch him then? If all these other women couldn’t be saved, all these other police departments couldn’t catch him?” Derrick asked the detectives.
“Well, that’s the good news. We have spooked him, guys. He knows we are closing in and he basically admitted to us that we are closing in on him. Remember the DNA that we linked to a close male relative?” Snow asked them and pulled out a picture of Tracy Glen. Kate and Derrick both nodded as they looked at the photograph.
“Well this is him and went to go talk to the guy in prison where he was serving time, but he was killed by an unknown visitor minutes before we arrived. This means that he is monitoring the investigation and trying to stay one step ahead of us, but it also means that he is telling us we are heading in the right direction.” Snow explained to them.
“Wait, are you saying he went to the jail right before you and killed his own family? The man who attacked me? He is monitoring us? And he killed his own brother or cousin or something like that?” Kate asked them, shocked again. She obviously knew her attacker was a monster, but to kill his own family? Kate shivered as a bolt of fear shot through her.
Who were they dealing with?
~~~~
Kate and Derrick sat quietly next to one another in the car as Derrick drove them away from the precinct. So much information had just been thrust upon them that they were both reeling with trying to process it all. Derrick even more so than Kate because he had never heard about the photograph until he was staring at it a few minutes earlier. The image was burned into his mind. Even when he blinked, he could still see her laying there in ripped clothes covered in blood. The blood, there was so much blood. A knot had been forming in his stomach since he saw that and he mentally was beating himself up even more for having left her at the hospital.
He had thought seeing her bruised in a hospital bed was the worst thing he had ever seen until today. He had just abandoned her. He had no idea how he could have been such a coward and he hated himself for it right then. He suddenly felt a surge of anger at himself, at The Photographer, at everything. He smacked the steering wheel with the palm of his hand with a firm bang. Kate jolted, startled at the sudden sound and movement, and looked over at Derrick.
“Derrick?” She placed her hand on his bicep, gently squeezing him to let her know that she was there. Her voice was soft and her face was concerned.
“I don’t even know how you can even stand to be in the same room as me, Kate.” He said through clenched teeth, seething with anger at himself.
“Derrick, you made a mistake. You know that and I know that but even in this short time, you’ve grown and changed. I can see it in you, a warmth and selflessness that wasn’t there before.” Kate softly told him as she reached her hand to rub the back of his neck while he continued driving. He was quiet for a few minutes, thinking about what she said. He knew that she was right, but he still felt like his mistake was insurmountable.
“How can you ever trust me again?” Derrick said, much quieter this time, glancing sideways to look at her and then back at the road.
“I forgave you, Derrick. I don’t know how else to say it other than that. I just don’t feel angry anymore, I don’t feel broken like a part of me is missing. You’re here, back in my life and in my heart, I am whole again. I love you, Derrick. I’ve let go of what happened. If I can forgive you, why can’t you forgive yourself?” Kate spoke to him softly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Because maybe you can forgive me, but how can you ever trust me again? Forgiveness and trust are two different things and I don’t deserve either from you, Kate. You deserve better than me.” Derrick said, hitting the steering wheel again. Kate was quiet for a moment, contemplating what he said.
“Pull over, Derrick.” She said to him firmly.
“What? Kate, what are you talking about?” He looked at her quizzically.
“Derrick, pull over the car. Now.” She said with more authority in a tone that warned him that she was not joking. He switched on his turn signal and snuck over a few lanes until he reached the shoulder of the road where he slowed to a stop. He put the car in park and then turned his body to face her, as much was possible in the car.
“What, Kate?” He asked flatly, attempting to push her away with a noncommittal tone and avoiding her direct gaze. He had pushed women away all his life after his college girlfriend, Rachel, had cheated on him and run off with a married man. Since then he had been so afraid to let another women close for fear that they would hurt him, but this was different. He was doing the same thing but for the opposite reason. This time, Derrick was afraid that he was going to hurt her and hurting Kate was the last mistake he ever wanted to repeat.