Gabe had a completely different energy than he had during any of the family interviews, like he was excited for something to finally happen. They went up the crumbling walkway to Thorne’s address and Gabe rapped hard on the door. Flecks of chipping paint flaked off as he did so.

Ruby moved closer, hand on her weapon. Gabe signaled for her to stay put and went around the side of the house. It was impossible to hear movement inside over the noise. For all they knew, it could’ve been Thorne’s way of deterring visitors, even when he wasn’t home. Ruby had to be ready for surprises.

After a long minute, Gabe came back around.

“No answer at the back door either,” he said before he hit the doorbell a few times.

Still no response.

It was Ruby’s turn to investigate outside the house. She stepped through the dead remains of the garden, looking in through the dirty barred windows into an unkempt bedroom. The grime made it hard to see clearly, but it looked lived in. There was a messy bed, blankets and sheets twisted over the mattress. Ruby could make out drink glasses on the side tables. At the very least, the place didn’t look abandoned, just slovenly.

A blood curdling scream broke Ruby’s focus, cutting through even the too-loud stereo. A woman burst into the bedroom, drenched in sticky blood.

Ruby's gun was drawn before she could even register what she was seeing, the adrenaline rush almost instantaneous had her whole nervous system geared up for action.

“The door!” she shouted to Gabe. He gladly kicked it in, like he'd merely been waiting for her go-ahead.

Her heart pounding, Ruby ran to the house after him, crunching hurriedly through the dry remains of the flowerbed.

“Ruiz, wait—” she started to say, but then she heard a sickening thump from inside.

Gabe disappeared, jumping to action faster than Ruby could keep up. Her chest tightened in spite of her, a visceral reaction as soon as she lost sight of him.

“Oh, come on,” she muttered, and ran in, gun at the ready. She turned the corner, expecting the worst.

Ruby skidded into the main room just in time to see Gabe check a man to the ground. The suspect definitely matched Thorne's description and he was definitely reaching for a bloody knife as he wheezed, crawling along the ground. He wriggled against Gabe’s grip as Gabe tightly grasped his wrist, yanking the man’s arm hard behind his back to snap handcuffs around his wrists.

Everywhere Ruby looked, there were posters of horror films, newspaper clippings of murder articles.

The man had a shrine to murder.

“Jesus,” she muttered, holstering her gun.

“Hunter?” Gabe said, shouting over the music. She found the stereo and turned the awful screaming vocals off.

“Son of a bitch,” Ruby growled, kicking the knife out of Thorne's reach. “Don't move. I'm going to find the girl.”