The Only One

Chapter 1

It was a cool, early New York morning. The city was bustling with people and cars. An old man standing behind a newspaper stand was talking about the latest Yankees game while another man was commenting on the snow that was predicted later that night. Lindsay Monroe walked through the crowded sidewalks. She made her way to the lab door and entered silently.

As Lindsay was putting her coat into her locker, she noticed Danny Messer walk in to the locker room. He said nothing as he passed her. “Morning Danny,” Lindsay greeted hoping he still wasn’t hurt…upset…

Danny looked at her for a minute before he replied. “Morning,” Danny said shortly before slamming his locker and leaving swiftly.

Great Monroe! Screw up as usually! Lindsay thought to herself. Walking down the hall into the audio lab, Lindsay sat beside the woman working there. “Hey, what do you have?” Lindsay questioned quickly.

The woman didn’t appear interested in what she was doing, let alone being annoyed so early in the morning. “Come back later,” The woman said yawning.

Lindsay attempted to smile. “I really need this evidence now. This tape is the only evidence we have against a guy who could flee the country any minute.” Lindsay explained calmly.

There was a small laugh from the woman. “Must be tough being you then,” The woman said before putting her head down as if to fall asleep.

Standing up, Lindsay now looked very angry. “Look, all I’m asking is that you do your job! Can’t you just process the evidence and give it to me?” Lindsay exploded.

Hearing a loud racket come from the audio room, Stella Bonasera made her way to the small room. When she entered, she noticed Lindsay was standing up and the lab technician was yawning. “Is something the matter?” Stella questioned making her presence known.

Lindsay nodded. “This woman is unwilling to do her job! I gave her this evidence three days ago and I’ve only got a few hours before my suspect gets on a plane to Cuba!” Lindsay said frustrated.

The woman put up her hands. “I’m workin’ on it.” The woman said. “Just as soon as I take a nap…”

Stella looked at the woman in disgust. “Come on Lindsay. I’ll talk to Mac about this.” Stella said gently grabbing Lindsay’s shoulder and walking with her into the hall.

Once in the hall, Stella shook her head. “I hate some of the people working here.” Stella admitted.

Lindsay smiled. “I do too, but how am I going to get that evidence processed?” Lindsay asked with a sigh.

“We’ll figure something out.” Stella promised as they walked further down the hall.

((-))

Detective Mac Taylor sat in his office tiredly. He had worked a double shift the night before and only had six hours of sleep before going back to work. There was a knock on his door. “Come in,” Mac called.

Dr. Sheldon Hawkes and Danny Messer entered the room. “You said you wanted to see us?” Hawkes asked slightly worried.

Mac nodded. “You two have a DB in a building off of Fifth Street.” Mac said with a small smile.

There appeared to be some confusion between the two of them. “Why didn’t you just call us?” Danny questioned.

It was quiet for a moment as Danny and Hawkes awaited Mac’s answer. “Well, let’s just say this person didn’t die yesterday…” Mac said with a large smile. “The decomposition is pretty bad and a hazmat team is worried about a gas line. So, I called you two in here to go over proper hazards material handling procedure.”

A silent groan swept over Danny and Hawkes…and Mac could tell. “I know this is probably the worst job you will ever have, but Lindsay and I already have a case. Stella’s due in court, so…” Mac said shrugging. “Remember to always wear your mask…”

Mac would have finished his safety lecture, but Stella and Lindsay walked in. “Oh sorry! Are we barging in on anything?” Stella asked slightly embarrassed.

Danny shook his head. “Oh no! Please…save us!” Danny said jokingly.

Mac looked up at them expectantly. “Yes?” Mac prompted.

As Stella was going to tell the tale of the rude woman, another interruption occurred. A well-dressed man in his fifties appeared at the doorway. “Detective Mac Taylor?” The man questioned.

Everyone was wondering who the mysterious man was. “Yes, that’s me.” Mac said bluntly standing up.

Mac moved around his desk to stand face to face with the man. “Hello, my name is Detective Shaun Cane of the Bozeman, Montana.” The man said in a kind tone. “I’m looking for Lindsay Monroe.”

All of their eyes stared at Lindsay as soon as the word ‘Montana’ was spoken. Lindsay moved towards the detective brushing her hair out of her face. “I’m here Shaun.” Lindsay said quietly.

There was a smile that played on Shaun’s lips. “Oh Linds, you look well!” Shaun greeted. “How’s the city treating you?”

Lindsay did not appear to be as jolly as Shaun. “Cut to the chase Shaun. I know you wouldn’t travel nearly 3,000 miles just to say hello.” Lindsay said coldly barely looking at him.

Sighing, Shaun nodded. “You are indeed correct Lindsay. I’m here to talk about that night.” Shaun said calmly.

Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Lindsay struggled to look at Shaun, but ended up simply staring at him. “It…it…it was fifteen years ago. I don’t remember anything.” Lindsay said quickly brushing past him and out of the room.

With Lindsay gone, everyone looked at Shaun for some sort of explanation. “Lindsay Monroe was the normal fifteen year old girl. She lived in a small city where everyone knew everyone. She had three great friends. Andy Buck was her boyfriend and they were going pretty serious. Nikita Washburn and Lindsay grew up across the street from each other. Samantha Herrington moved to Bozeman when Lindsay was in seventh grade and they immediately became friends. It seemed perfect. In fact, Bozeman barely had any crime until October 10, 1991. Lindsay offered for Samantha, Nikita and Andy to spend the night at her house for a horror movie marathon. Andy would have to sleep in the barn because Lindsay’s parents were old fashioned although Lindsay would never do anything…she was an all A student. Her parents were out of town that day due to a conference. However, they trusted Lindsay to have her friends over. At about eleven o’clock at night, Andy went to the barn to go to bed. Lindsay, Nikita and Samantha chatted until about one in the morning. At that time, they heard a noise…” Shaun began.

Flashback

Samantha jumped at a growling sound. “What was that?” Samantha asked worriedly.

Lindsay and Nikita laughed. “You’ve been watching too many horror movies! It’s probably just the milk bucket by the barn. If the wind picks up, it flies around.” Lindsay said unconcerned.

With a smile, Nikita nodded. “Yeah, so anyway, I was talking to Mary’s daughter…the one who runs the ice cream shop…” Nikita began but was cut off by a scream.

Everyone froze in place. “Maybe…maybe Andy’s trying to scare us.” Samantha said unconvinced and scared.

Lindsay grabbed a flashlight. “Um…maybe we left the VCR on downstairs…” Lindsay suggested. “Could you guys follow me?”

Nikita and Samantha stood behind Lindsay as she led them downstairs. When they looked into the living room, the VCR was off as was the television. “Oh my word!” Nikita gasped.

“Call 911.” Lindsay said firmly.

“It could have been nothing…” Samantha began before another scream drowned her out.

Lindsay realized where the sound was coming from. It was coming from the barn. “Oh God! Andy!” Lindsay screamed sprinting down to the barn.

Nikita and Samantha followed her. When Lindsay opened the barn door, she saw something she would never forget. The walls were stained with blood and Andy was so…red. A person clad in black wearing a mask held a chainsaw above him. The man quickly backed the three girls into a corner. He started up the chainsaw and soon Lindsay was covered in Samantha’s blood. “Oh help me!” Nikita shouted before the chainsaw cut into her skin.

It was obvious Lindsay would be the next…she was the only one left. The man looked at her. Although he wore a ski mask, she could see his brown eyes. They simply stared into each others eyes for a moment before he disappeared into the black night.

Lindsay fell to the floor sobbing.

End Flashback

There was a moment of silence. Shaun shook his head. “Lindsay managed to call 911, but by the time we got there…The poor girl was soaked in blood. Lindsay was traumatized for a long time after that. She graduated with highest honors and I was so surprised when she walked into my office asking for a job. After three years, she transferred over here.” Shaun said finishing his tale.

Stella nodded. “I see, but why do you need to talk to her about this now?” Stella asked curiously.

Shaun sighed. “In all of Bozeman’s history, we have only had one unsolved case. The Monroe Barn case. The people of Bozeman want to know exactly what happened in that barn. We have a feeling Lindsay isn’t telling us something.” Shaun admitted. “You know, it wasn’t easy for that girl. Everyone in the town suspected that she killed her friends herself…after all, why was she the only one?”