The Next Targets

Yolanda pulled into the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant and they ordered burgers, fries, and Cokes. Realizing that all she'd had to eat that day were several bites of Ethan's pancakes and two cups of coffee, Audra decided to skip the normal greasy fast food guilt trip and dug right into her burger.

"Easy girl," Yolanda said as she dug into the bag for a handful of fries and pulled out of the drive-thru. "I don't want to have to pull over in order to do CPR."

Audra smiled as she wiped a trail of burger grease from her chin.

Yolanda drove back to the B&B and led Audra to the three-bedroom suite that she and Joshua were able to set up as the temporary command post. Joshua sat on the suite's sofa with his laptop connected to the phone line, inputting code that Audra knew would program the computer to take any incoming calls on a secure line.

His brown eyes seemed slightly tired and his usually neat blonde hair seemed to have developed a little bit of wild volume and curl in the humid heat of the South. Audra took a seat at the table and unpacked the remainder of her half-eaten burger.

"I was able to find one last high-powered specter shield in my bags." Joshua pointed to the far corner and Audra felt a rush of relief. "Are you alright, Wheeler? I didn't expect you back so soon. The last I heard from Yolanda, the doctor thought you might have had a heart attack."

"No, I just fainted," Audra reassured him.

"Why?" he asked point blank.

Audra swallowed and looked from Yolanda to Joshua. "I think I found the seventh sister," she announced.

"What?" Yolanda looked confused. "Where? When?"

"At the hospital," Audra said.

"Why didn't you say anything in the car?" Yolanda asked.

"I didn't want either of us making a snap decision at the hospital. Plus, in this town there are specters everywhere. I didn't want to chance being overheard. It's safe to talk here." She waved back to the specter shield in the corner.

Yolanda nodded in understanding. "You're right."

"Renee knew we were headed to see her this morning because the specter of the old sheriff told her. She had photo albums and letters waiting for us. While I don't think she is hiding anything, we never know what specters are where and this case is too important and personal for me to be careless with information. Anyway, I believe the seventh sister is Kendra's twin."

Audra turned back to her meal as Yolanda began to unpack her own food and picked up the television remote. She channel-surfed as she nibbled on her burger and fries. Audra could tell that she was putting pieces of the case puzzle together as she stopped on the local news channel and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Isn't that your specter doctor?" she asked.

Audra turned with her mouth full to look at the television screen and, sure enough, the man on the screen looked a lot like her doctor from earlier, with the exception of more gray around the edges of his hair, because it was her doctor's living, breathing, triplet. Under his image read the caption, "Brendon Shelley, Councilman". Yolanda turned up the volume.

"… caution everyone not to panic. We have managed to coexist with specters peacefully in this town for the last ten years. They helped build the junior college and new hospital. My own brother is a specter and has served the hospital well with the abilities that being such an entity affords him as a physician," Brendon told the camera.

"So, you are certain that the remaining citizens of Specter have nothing to fear?" an unseen female reporter asked.

"What happened to Ms. Miller is an extremely unfortunate tragedy. She was one of our brightest young people with so much potential. Our local law enforcement is working with the FBI in order to bring whoever is responsible for her death to justice," Brendon assured the public through the television.

"Can you confirm rumors that this may be the work of a serial killer?" the reporter asked, causing Audra, Joshua, and Yolanda to gasp at the same time.

"Shit," Yolanda said.

"We don't want to make any speculations without the facts. However, I do understand the great citizens of Specter have concerns, which is why we are holding a town hall meeting at the high school. Sheriff Cole will be there to answer any questions about the steps they are taking to keep the public safe."

Yolanda turned off the television. "We better get that secure line ready before the meeting and give out the number tonight."

"Calls from the public." Audra cringed. "Do you really think anyone is going to volunteer vital information twenty-five years after the fact?"

Yolanda shrugged. "It's worth a try."

"You know the majority of the calls will be half-baked rumors and exaggerated gossip," Audra countered.

"That's the job sometimes."

Audra stood up. "Okay, I'm going to shower and change into something more FBI appropriate."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Yolanda asked.

"Positive," Audra said as she headed for the door.

When she made it back to her room, she closed the door and fell across her bed. She let the emotions of the day catch up to her and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Five minutes," she said out loud. "You have five minutes to feel sorry for yourself Audra Wheeler, then you have to get up and be a professional FBI agent."

"If it were easy everyone would do it."

She sat up in surprise at Sheriff Miller's voice. He materialized in the corner of the room and Audra narrowed her gaze at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Ethan asked me to keep an eye on you, Dear." His specter voice was a bit strained. "Which is hard to do with that specter shield on your arm and that mega shield down the hall."

"Tell Ethan that I can take care of myself," she ordered.

"I can see that," he said and tested taking a step forward, but found himself pushed back into the corner. "I just wanted to pop in and warn you about going to the Shelley's for dinner on Saturday."

Audra raised an eyebrow but gave him room to finish his warning.

"I know you won't believe me when I tell you that you need to let this case go. But, trust me, if you open your mouth about your sister, you risk putting her and yourself in danger."

"My sister is in a coma and I am an FBI agent," she reminded him.

"Your sister has a daughter, yes?" Audra stiffened in alarm.

"What do you mean?"

"You have to consider that the killer may not stop, and who the next targets would be."

Audra took a deep breath and let it out.

"Have you seen Abigail as a specter?" Audra asked.

"No. She died before all of this."

"Right," Audra said and weighed the seriousness of Sheriff Miller's warning. "I have to know."

"At any cost?" Sheriff Miller asked.

"I have a feeling it has cost us all more than we can possibly understand not knowing," she reasoned. "Now, I have to get ready for the town hall meeting."

"I'll see you there," Sheriff Miller said before phasing out.

"I'm not entirely certain that you're gone," Audra murmured as she got off of the bed and entered the bathroom.