Contest Entry

Lessons to Love

Prologue

         
      Police officer Cassandra O’Rourke sighed as she listened to the call on the radio.  The Internet Killer had struck again.  She knew before she even arrived at the scene that it would be another woman, and that she’d have been beaten to death It infuriated her when the calls came though.  Parents warned their kids to be careful when they got on the Internet.  Everyone knew that it was dangerous as hell to give out personal information, and to meet people via a chat room.  Why would an intelligent woman meet with a total stranger without taking some kind of precaution?
    Not all of the victims had died, but none had been able to identify the perpetrator.  Cassie was tired of dreaming of the sick bastard, and had sworn that she’d get him off the streets no matter what it took. In almost eight years on the police force, she’d seen things that would make most people have nightmares, but nothing could compare to the abject cruelty of this man.  He’d killed seven women already; and at least a dozen had been beaten very badly.  All the department knew for sure is that he found them in chat rooms.  Obviously he’d used a different user name, and so far they had not been able to trace him.  He’d found a way to jump servers.
    Most of the women had been seduced with words quickly, too.  Some had agreed to meet him almost immediately.  If here was one thing Cassie knew for sure, it was that trusting strangers on the Internet wasn’t a good idea!  She’d find the bastard if it was the last thing she ever did.