Chapter 7

RED CAPE

COMICS

MICHAEL:

I can’t believe the son of a bitch has done this; he will pay for this! He thinks he can just send me divorce papers like this and expect me to just let go of him this easy. He was supposed to stay married to me until he died. That man who came to serve me with the papers didn’t seem to be all that helpful either. When he told me I had been served, I told him that nobody had any problems with me that required any legal papers being drawn up, he just shoved past me and went to the door, and before leaving he just told me that if that were true, he wouldn’t be in this store giving me the papers. Why didn’t he just take them back? I don’t want this. Ben will not be getting this fucking divorce, because it’s not part of my plan.

MEL'S

OFFICE

MEL:

I’m in shock, I never thought that this would be happening. When Hunter called to tell me he needed to see me, I thought it would maybe be something to do with his mother causing trouble or maybe some other problem from his past coming up, but not in a million years did I think it would be about Michael.

But here I am with Hunter, Nick and Nick’s parent’s, Jess and Alex, and I’m getting one hell of a lesson in hidden personalities. Specifically, the hidden personality of Michael. Sure he’s got issues with boundaries and jealousy, but this sort of rage was not something I would ever have thought about. There is so much I need to figure out if I’m going to be able to keep Hunter safe.

“Do we know for sure if Michael would actually cause physical harm to Hunter? I mean, so far, he hasn't, has he? I’m only asking because if there is a genuine risk of him injuring Hunter in anyway, a judge is going to be more likely to give us a restraining order.”

“I had my friend Tara follow him for enough time that she was able to get plenty of photo’s of him looking ready to explode. I really don’t think it will take much for him to snap and become more physical. Tara is on her way here, so she can explain what she has seen and what she think’s he’s capable of doing in her own words, but what I can tell you, is that Hunter needs to protected.” Jess tells me, and the look on her face tells me that whoever this Tara person is, she has some kind of insight that the rest of us don’t quite have. I can’t help but wonder how she would have such a clear idea of what Michael might do.

“Who exactly is Tara and how does she know what Michael is or is not capable of doing just from following him around for a while?” I ask her, as my curiosity is at an all time high.

“Tara is a private investigator. She opened up her own company 2 years ago, so she has plenty of experience in doing what she does. Before she became a private investigator, she worked for the FBI. She was a criminal profiler in the BAU. If anyone can spot the dangers that someone might present, it’s her.” Alex says in a tone that lets me know that he is serious and I’m impressed. She sounds just like the sort of person that we need to help us out here. If she can keep an eye on Michael, maybe she can tip us off about what he’s doing, before he can cause too much harm to anyone. Especially Hunter, he’s been through enough in his life already.

HUNTER:

FBI? Ok that’s pretty cool, but what the hell is the BAU?

“What is the BAU exactly? From the look on Mel’s face it’s something good, but I really have no idea.” I ask, hoping I’m not being to stupid asking this.

“The BAU is The Behavioural Analysis Unit, they use behavioural science to help solve crimes.” Jess tells me, and I can’t help but wish I could do that; it sound amazing. I think Nick knows exactly what I’m thinking, because he grabs my hand before leaning over to whisper in my ear. “I know that you can do it if you want, you can do anything you set your mind to. Just because people have told you that you can’t do things all your life, doesn’t mean that’s the truth. I think you would be a good criminal profiler, you’ve seen enough bad to know exactly what to look for.” He then kisses me on the cheek, and I feel so lucky that I have such a supportive boyfriend.

TARA:

When Jess asked me to look into this guy, I was more than happy to do it. But after seeing the way he behaves, I just can’t wait to catch the guy and stop him from being able to do this shit anymore. I have seen a lot of creeps and psychos in my career, and he really bothers me in a way that really reminds me of being back working with the FBI.

I start to walk down the corridor of this building on my way to Melanie Marcus’ office, and I’m really impressed that this firm have managed to make this place look really lovely. So many attorneys that I meet with, seem to work in offices that look so clinical, that I feel like I’m going to suffocate in the room. Whoever it was that did the decorating in here, is a genius. I may have to see if they can decorate my offices to look this good.

When I get to the door of Melanie Marcus’ office, I knock on the door and wait to be told to enter. When I go in, I really wish I wasn't working right now. In front of me is one of the most beautiful women I have seen in a long time, and if I wasn’t working I would be trying everything I could to get her to go on a date with me. But I know that right now, I must be professional.

“Hi Tara, thanks for coming. You already know Alex and Nick, so you can catch up with them a little later if you want, but this is Hunter...” She say as she puts her arm around the shoulders of the young man next to Nick, "and this is Melanie Marcus; she’s Hunter's friend and lawyer.” I nod and step forward to shake their hands and then sit down on the empty seat towards the end of the desk. I begin to tell them all about the photo’s that I’ve got and what they tell me about Michael, and give them a run down of the key points of the profile I have built up of him.

“Here’s me thinking that you left the world of criminal profiling behind you. I thought you were just investigating him, not profiling him, too. But I’m glad you did profile him, it could be really useful.” Jess tells me with an encouraging smile.

"Well, once I saw some of the photos of him and saw the way his body language was, I thought it would be best to make a full profile. He seems to be a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. If we have a full profile of him, we can start to get a sense of the things he is likely to do, and stop him before he can do whatever it is he’s going to do.”

They all look at each other then back at me and I know that they all understand.

“Has there been a stressor in his life recently that may tip him over the edge any time soon? If so, I will need to know. If there has been, we will need to be very careful and so will anyone in his life that tries to stop him from doing what he believes is right, or what he believes he needs to do. He may not care who he hurts in order to do what he wants.”

“Whats a stressor?” Melanie asks me in a very serious tone. I can tell she’s worried about everyones safety.

“A stressor can be events or environments that an individual would consider demanding, challenging, and or threaten the individual's safety. It can be big life changes, like a divorce or the death of a loved one, workplace pressures, social pressures...” the looks of all of their faces stop me from continuing.

“What is it?” I ask them.

“My dad, Ben, he just filed for a divorce from Michael.” Hunter tells me, and we all look at each other, all of us understanding that things just got very serious, very quickly, and we need to make sure everyone who knows Michael is warned to be careful, because the time bomb may be about to explode.