Tracking Evil, a Podcast Pt. 08

Authors note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Tracking Evil, A Podcast: Part 8

Prologue:

Six months had passed and as far as Erica was aware, the serial killer she had tracked and had been tracked by in turn, Butterman 'The Graffiti Killer', had gone dormant.

Tiny, Arlene and she had been watching for signs of him. Accidental deaths, murders, disappearance's anything that might have fit his modus operandi but there had been nothing.

During this downtime, Erica had finally published her story of the hunt for this evil murderer. No print organisations would touch the story, unsubstantiated as it was and lacking any formal collaborative statements from a law enforcement organisation. So, she had gone forward with her plan to release the story in podcast form.

She'd hoped that that it would attract the attention of fellow crime enthusiasts, people who might be persuaded to pool their knowledge, skills and resources to aid Erica and her friends in capturing Butterman, identifying the person or persons who were operating in league with him as well. Erica had been disappointed though. Despite marketing the story as true crime, the majority of people seemed to shelve it into fiction or conspiracy theory and so the needed help didn't materialise.

Erica found her own ability to stay on top of chasing down leads was being stretched all the time. Travelling to meet Arlene and Sondra on a regular basis, keeping in touch with people like Tiny and his contacts, it took up a lot of time and money as well. So she'd taken on more and more writing assignments to keep on top of her bills and to keep her parents from worrying too much. The generated income from the podcast might have helped but it was a trickle compared to what she needed.

It was Terrance, Sondra's younger brother, who had finally suggested an idea to Erica that might help out.

Sondra had frowned on Terrance spending time with Erica, fearful of her sibling becoming a target of Butterman and she felt that the killer's interest in her friend was far from over. Despite this, Terrance had constantly shown up whenever Erica happened to visit. He was subtle enough in his pursuit of the attractive white journalist, Erica remaining clueless to his interest in her, but he didn't have the same luck in fooling Sondra, she was all too aware of his real intentions.

Terrance suggested one evening, walking Erica back to Sondra's after they'd gone out to a local bakery to pick up a supply of doughnuts, that she needed to push her podcast into the public eye more. He suggested Erica visiting where he was studying, Rutwell College, and to do an interview on college radio. The station had over a hundred thousand regular listeners and it had an internet audience that eclipsed that number as well.

Erica had been reluctant at first but Terrance wouldn't let the idea go, his enthusiasm even winning over Sondra who had become worried about the strain Erica was putting herself under. If an interview might generate more revenue for her, maybe even attract help then Sondra was all for that. Outnumbered Erica had relented, giving Terrance the green light to organise it if he could.

He had been successful, counting a number of the student producers among his friends. The interview date was set up and all it required was Erica showing up at the campus studio.

Episode 1: "It seemed like a nice neighbourhood to have bad habits in" - The Big Sleep

The group of young men gathered at the edge of quad shuffled apart to allow two students, laden with books, pass through them on the way to the library building. The six men were loitering on a gravel path that enclosed a small park on the northern end of the college campus. Behind them loomed the library and administrations building, a towering edifice of granite and glass that dated back to 1820. The park itself was empty right now, the only figure in sight was made of stone, a statue of the college's first Dean and founder, Jonathan Rutwell. Beyond the park lay one of the roads leading into the campus, in the distance, traffic could be seen passing the entrance.

They made a disparate group, an unlikely grouping of friends. Yet friends they were, forming this loose group within their first few months of attending Rutwell College. In the centre, hands buried into the pockets of his pants stood Terrance, laughing at one of his friend's jokes before sending a surreptitious glance across the park towards the campus entrance.

To his right stood Hector Jennings, All State running back and the darling of Rutwell College's football coach. Tall, lean and handsome, the young man's family had emigrated to the US when he was ten years old, leaving Jamaica for the cold of Washington State. His accent had mellowed over the last nine years, but when he was in a state of excitement it tended to flow back. Hector's friends and teammates always seemed to guess his state of mind on the football field, a loud "gwan cover mi man, dat two time now they come get mi" searing out of the huddle as he let rip over his lack of protection. He shared a dorm room with Terrance and another student called Izzak. Though all three were studying different subjects they had bonded quickly, forming the nucleus of the group

On Terrance's right, in the middle of yet another filthy joke was Haru Sasaki. The young Japanese man was now in his second year of studying in the US and he had energetically embraced the culture, his heavily accented voice spewing out the slang and patois of his friends. Far smaller than Terrance or Hector, Haru's narrow chest was lost inside the Metallica T-shirt he wore that evening. A year older than the others, he tended to be the butt of their jokes and good-natured teasing, happy to accept his role. Despite his coarse language and occasional social gaffes, he remained the more sensible one in the ensemble, dedicated to his studies, aiming to graduate top of his class.

Across from Terrance on his far left to right, crushing out a cigarette beneath his shoe before lighting up another, was Amir Hafeez. His unruly jet-black hair was stuffed inside a plain black baseball cap, the scruffy t-shirt and grubby jeans all carefully selected to mislead the casual observer of his family's actual wealth. His family lived in Qatar, sending their eldest son to the US for an education before he was set to return to take his place in the family business. Like Haru he was a keen exponent of the American lifestyle, parking his religious beliefs to one side as he fully embraced experiences his family would not have approved of. Somewhat of a glutton, he had put on a lot of weight in his first year here at Rutwell college. Amir knew that he would need to shift at least some of it before his return home at the end of the current term, but it always seemed to be a problem to be tackled tomorrow or next week.

Waving a hand futilely at the fumes emanating from Amir's distracted chain smoking stood Elvin Kendell. Diminutive, slender and allergic to any form of athleticism, the young black man was a firm proponent of the concept that brains trumped brawn. After Amir he came from the next most affluent background, his parents were self-made successful entrepreneurs. Elvin took an excessive amount of pride in the fact that he came from wealth, affecting a clipped manner of speaking and aloof manner that put a lot of people off of him. However, Terrance and Amir had prevented Elvin from receiving a beating one night by some other freshmen, the three young men had shared some drinks afterwards courtesy of Elvin. Over the course of the drinking, Terrance had come to realise that despite Elvin's mannerisms and arrogance, beneath it all there was a lonely young man away from home for the first time. They had adopted him into the group after that.

Lastly came Dre Brown, he was everything Elvin wasn't. Tall, heavily built and muscular with it, he was tasked with providing cover for Hector on the football field and had taken to providing Elvin cover off of it. What the large plain featured black youth possessed in strength he lacked in academia. The tutoring sessions that Elvin provided him often ended with the diminutive youth storming out of the dorm room, frustrated almost speechless by his friend's inability to absorb facts. Dre's good nature though normally meant that there was always someone around willing to help him along when Elvin was in to much of a huff to help.

Terrance glanced again, this time Amir spotting him.

"Running late huh?" Amir said smiling at his friend's discomfort at his own transparency.

"Yeah, she is but she'll be here." Terrance said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Finally, gonna meet Erica, big fuckin' day!" Dre said in his deep basso.

"She's so smart." Hector said mimicking Terrance's voice.

"Erica, she's so pretty." Amir teased.

"Not pretty, she's beautiful, a vision." Elvin joined in.

"Fuck her ass, ass fucker!" Haru blurted out, loud enough that some passers-by's heads turned in their direction.

Terrance rounded on his friend, his finger poking into the slender Asian man's chest. "None of that shit when she arrives, right? Hear me?"

Haru nodded crestfallen. He shuffled his feet in embarrassment.

"Still...she has a great ass, don't she?" Hector said into the awkward silence. Dre's booming laughing drew the eyes of the same passer-by's once more, the others joining in as the infectiousness of the mirth swept them all up, Terrance included.

"Yeah, she does, and tonight I plan on finally getting me some of it." Terrance said wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

Before his friends could probe him any further about his plan's, the group was interrupted by the arrival of some female students. Brianna and Jada were known to the group, particularly as Jada was an on again off again girlfriend of Izaak, who shared a room with Terrance.

"Hey guys, hey Dre." Brianna said cheerfully. The tall redhead held a clutch of books in her arms, pressed against her chest. She smiled widely at everyone but her eyes came to rest on Dre. "Dre, did you finish that paper for Professor Williams yet? You having trouble with it?"

"Uh yeah, some." he answered awkwardly. Tall and powerful he might have been but Dre lacked the easy nature his friends had with women. An only child, he had played sports his entire life, his social hours spent helping his parents more than mingling with the local girls. Even Haru, with his crudeness, had an easier time than he did dealing with the fairer sex.

"Maybe Brianna can give you a hand with your paper later then." Jada said, coming to the rescue of the two tongue tied teenagers. Tall like her friend, Jade mocha coloured skin was a stunning contrast to her friend's paleness. The black girl's face and personality had an openness that drew others to her. Not beautiful by conventional standards, her charisma and grace had won the hearts of a few of the male students at the college.

"Sure, yeah, yeah that would be good." Dre muttered, feet shifting in embarrassment under the gaze of everyone there. To draw the attention away, Jada turned to Terrance.

"Where's Izzak? Not like you guys to be out without him. He said something about a party tonight."

"He fu-urk..." Haru began to answer Jada when Dre's hand snaked around and squeezed the back of his neck cutting him off.

"He forgot something, think he headed back to the dorm." Terrance supplied. "There's a party tonight, 'Midnite Madness' at one of the fraternity houses." He reached into his back pocket, pulling a crumpled sheet of paper from it which he passed over to Jada. She smoothed it out, reading the few printed lines describing the party details.

"All you guys going?" Jada asked as she read.

"Yeah, all of us." Terrance answered, "I might be bringing a friend as well." As he said it, he felt seven pairs of eyes fix on him. "What?" he added belligerently.

"Ericaaaa." Brianna said in a teasing tone.

"Ericaaaaaaa!" Jada said agreeing which set Dre off laughing once more.

"Fuck all, yawl" Terrance huffed. Brianna and Jada departed with a wave and a smile, heading toward the library building. As they moved out of earshot Amir delivered a punch to Haru's arm.

"What the fuck are you doing? You trying to drop Izzak in it?" Amir hissed.

"What? Who cares who he fuck?" Haru said defensively.

Amir flicked his cigarette end at Haru's chest and shook his head in frustration. Elvin waved Amir off and looked Haru in the eye.

"Haru, you know who Izzak is with, right?"

"Oh yeah, big tits, blonde hair, big ass..." Haru began excitedly.

"Yes, yes, very good. All that, and married as well. Plus, that's Izzak's girl!" Elvin jerked a thumb towards the now distant figure of Jada. "You want to be the one who breaks them up? You want to tell Izzak you got him in that kind of trouble?"

Haru shook his head vehemently and Elvin nodded sagely, turning to Amir who nodded his acceptance of how Haru had been handled. Terrance normally would have been the one imposing his authority on the group, keeping Haru in line. He was too distracted though by Erica's imminent arrival to get caught up in the fracas. The others, keeping their voices low, began talking about Izzak, Terrance only kept half an ear on the conversation, his eyes scanning constantly for Erica now. Besides he knew the whole thing, more than the others even as Izzak hadn't been backward about spilling the story to him as it had developed.

Professor Hasting's was head of the English department at the college. Nearly sixty-five years' old now he was noted for two things on campus. The thirty-year-old Porsche he drove and the fifty-year-old 'trophy wife' he had married. Both were the product of a need to be envied by others, both unfailingly let him down. The Porsche seemed to spend as much time being towed for service as the Professor's wife spent under one handsome student or another being serviced in a more biblical sense. The rumour was that Professor Hasting's was well aware of his wife's 'adventures' and while not openly condoning them, he had chosen to suffer in silence.

Izzak was her latest 'boy toy'. He'd been meeting with her in secret for almost a month now. This evening the two of them had slipped off to a local motel, Izzak promising to be back in time for the party and to meet Erica.

As he thought of her once more, Terrance finally glimpsed her approaching through the gate. He resisted the urge to wave, knowing he'd pay for it later with his friends mocking him.

Erica walked steadily across the quad. She spotted the tall figure of Terrance at the edge of a group of young men and she made a beeline toward him.

It somehow felt comfortable for her to be back on a college campus. All the upheaval in her life had come after she'd finished her own stint in university and had sought to make a name and career for herself investigating the strange graffiti she'd noted at the sites of a number of unrelated deaths. Back in a place of learning, albeit an unfamiliar one, felt like a reset or at least a break.

That said, the idea of a live radio interview had her nervous. She wasn't naturally a public speaker. Sure, with her friends she was the life and soul of any gathering, swapping jokes and stories with the best of them. But trying to win over strangers, unseen ones, on the basis of her strength of convictions and some dubious evidence... Erica had a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she thought of it.

Closer now, she hailed Terrance. The young man's face splitting into an ear-to-ear smile as she called his name. Erica wasn't sure that Sondra totally approved of her spending time with Terrance. Her friend had never actually come out an said it but whenever Terrance invited Erica out for coffee or a walk, his older sister seemed to tense up. Due to this, Erica hadn't encouraged Terrance, she could tell he was interested in her but she didn't return the favour. If it hadn't been for Sondra giving this trip to Rutwell College her approval, Erica wouldn't have done it to avoid being out with Terrance.

"Hey, you made it okay?" Terrance said leaning in to engulf her in a hug.

"All good." Erica relied, turning her head so that Terrance's embrace didn't involve them coming face to face. She planted a chaste kiss on his cheek to soften the rebuke. Stepping free she turned to regard the other young men in the group, suddenly finding herself the object of their intent gazes. So much so that Erica looked down at herself to ensure she hadn't suffered some sort of wardrobe malfunction.

Erica had opted for a charcoal coloured brami skinny strap tank top, high rise straight cut jeans, an unbuttoned red flannel shirt and black converse sneakers. What she'd felt would be smart enough for a college radio interview without making her stand out among a crowd of students. With the thought that she might remain a target for Butterman or one of his cronies, Erica had a strong desire to not make herself too obvious in her attire, harder to track that way.

"Something wrong?" Erica said looking back up to find the five other young men still ogling her.

"No, not at all, just struck dumb by your beauty." Haru said to the surprise of the others. His eager expression and atrocious accent made the words all the more surreal, so that all Erica could do was laugh. This broke the spell and the young men all rushed to introduce themselves first to her. The babble set her back on her heels and Erica found herself casting around for a lifeline. Terrance jumped to her aid, his voice crushing the others into silence. Order re-established he ran through the introductions before the group finally settled into some small talk.

"How far is the station from here?" Erica asked Terrance.

"Two minutes' walk". he checked his watch, "We've got time, another ten minutes before we have to head over."

Erica nodded, she was carrying a bag slung over her shoulder and her fingers were nervously playing with the strap for the last few minutes.

"Nervous?" Amir asked.

"Yeah, a bit. This is my first interview. Well first time I'm the one being interviewed." Erica said adding the clarification.

"Here." he said and passed her a small leather encased flask, "Take some liquid courage."

Erica took the flask from him and glanced around to see if anyone was around. Then she swiftly raised the flask to her lips, tilting it back and swallowing almost a quarter of the contents in one go. She wiped the neck of the flask with her hand, passing it back to Amir who was slack jawed in amazement.

"Th-that's neat whiskey." he finally spluttered.

"Oooh neat-oh." Erica said laughing at his expression. "Don't fret, I've swallowed a lot stronger than that. Appreciate it though."

Haru's dirty chortle at her swallowed comment was cut short by Hector standing on his foot and the flask was passed around the group, Amir ruefully tipping it over to show how it had been drained when it finally returned to him.

The alcohol had helped return the group to its normal state, the young men breaking off into a couple of small groups as conversation once more flowed. Terrance took Erica's arm and he moved her a little away for some privacy.

"Listen after... I mean after the interview. Well, there's this party at one of the frat houses, thought you might like to come along with me. With us that is. Might help you unwind."

"I don't know Terrance. I probably need to be heading back straight after."

"Come on Erica, look if you won't do it for you, do it for me K? I set up the interview an' all, least you can do is come drinking with me and the guys. How bout this, three drinks, just come for three drinks. Deal?"