He was on a mission.
Today he had something special planned. This would be his first kidnapping.
Disguised with a beard, hat, and sunglasses, he drove on the back streets, making his way toward Watt Avenue, where he planned to find, at the very least, a prostitute or a homeless person. He had a room readied back home. The last owners had gone to a lot of trouble to build a wine cellar. Narrow stairs led deep underground into a dark, windowless room. The perfect setup for what he had planned.
His victim, a female—age didn’t really matter—would be bound and tied. Perhaps he could make videotaped messages to send to the media.
No. Too dicey.
He wasn’t sure how long he would keep her. Maybe just a day or two. He’d figure it all out as he went along.
He knew it was risky, bringing one of his victims to his house, but that was the whole point. He’d forgotten how thrilling it could be to pursue something new and exciting. He would get to know his victim before he took her life. He’d never known any of his victims before killing them. Just thinking about it gave him a thrill, a sensory delight.
He inhaled. Life had become too predictable. Taking a chance, going in pursuit of such an experience, was downright intoxicating. He’d all but forgotten his need for high-level stimulation. Some people needed gambling, sex, or drugs to achieve such a mental rush. He just needed this.
With his gaze focused on the road ahead of him, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Would you look at that? A young girl. A hitchhiker, of all things. “Fate is a fickle fellow,” he said with a laugh as he passed the girl before slowing and pulling off the road.
In his rearview mirror, he watched her run to catch up to him. She reminded him of sunshine and innocence. The girl didn’t bother leaning forward and looking through the passenger window to see who was driving. She just climbed right in and said, “Thanks,” in a breathless voice. “I was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever pick me up.”
“Not a problem,” he said as he made quick work of merging back onto the road. “Where are you off to?”
She flipped her shiny blonde hair to one side, then looked at him with bright-green eyes. “I just need to get away.”
“Anywhere?” he asked.
She flung a hand through the air, as though literally throwing caution to the wind. “I’ll go wherever you’re going.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely.” She looked him over. “You look pretty harmless to me.”
That particular comment elicited a grin.
Her laughter sounded like tiny twinkling bells.
“It’ll be dark out soon,” he told her. “Perhaps you should let me drive you home.” He would do no such thing, of course, but he figured it would put her at ease if she thought he was a straitlaced, worried old man.
“No way!” was her immediate response. “My family is nuts. I can’t take it any longer.”
“I only had a sister, so I wouldn’t know.”
“Did she die?”
He nodded. “She drowned at a very young age.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“My mom remarried,” she told him. “My stepdad is a dick. I have a younger brother and sister who scribble on my walls and make a mess of my things. My older brother can’t seem to mind his own business. He thinks he’s my father. Like I really need another one of those. And that’s not the worst of it,” she said with a sigh. “My boyfriend, Luke, is a two-timing asshole.”
Cry me a river.
“Do you have any weed? I’m dying to get high.” She adjusted herself in the passenger seat, sat up taller. He could feel her looking at him. “How old are you?”
“None of your business,” he said. “Open the middle console. You’ll find a plastic bag inside.”
She did as he said. Picking up a clear baggie filled with yellow pills, she smiled and said, “Well, well, what do we have here?”
“They’re called magic,” he said, his voice lined with an air of grandiosity, although really, the yellow tablets were nothing more than sleeping pills. “They’re new, a party drug. And they’re spectacular.”
“Like ecstasy?”
“Even better. A bit of magic will take you on a trip you won’t want to come back from.”
“You don’t look like the druggie type.”
He shrugged.
She examined one of the pills. “How many should I take?”
“Two or three should do the trick. If you reach around to the back, you’ll find a water bottle.”
She did as he said and then unscrewed the top of the water bottle and took a sip. “After I take these, do you think you could drive me to my boyfriend’s house?”
“The two-timing asshole?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said with that twinkling laugh of hers, “that’s the one.” She popped the pills into her mouth and chased them down with water. Then she put the bag back where she’d found it. “There. I took three. Luke lives at 8815 La Casa, not too far from here.”
“We’re about ten minutes from La Casa,” he said. “That’s a nice area.”
“Yeah. His parents are loaded.”
She was doing it again—staring at him. He didn’t like it.
He spared her a glance, surprised by the way her smile lit up his insides. She wasn’t quite so annoying, after all. Her skin was flawless. If he could capture even a small fraction of her innocence on canvas, he would be a happy man.
“You’re a pretty cool dude,” she said.
“Thanks.”
“I want to be flying like a kite when I talk to Luke. I’m going to march right up to him and tell him exactly what I think of him.”
Keeping his eyes on the road, he made sure to go the speed limit. He didn’t need unwanted attention from other motorists.
There was something so refreshing about the girl. She was fearless. He felt sort of bad she wouldn’t ever get the chance to tell her dickish boyfriend what she thought of him. It would have been an interesting scene to witness.
“After I talk to Luke, do you think you could take me home?”
“Change of heart?”
“No,” she said with an exaggerated shiver. “I really do hate them all, but I don’t want my mom to worry. She freaks out easily—you know what I mean?”
Yes. He knew exactly what she meant. The thought of her mother freaking out sent a shudder through his body—the good kind. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “After you talk to Luke, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
She turned away from him, her eyes back on the road in front of them as she rested her head against the leather seat.
He drove well past the exit to La Casa. Twenty minutes later, when he pulled into his two-car garage and shut off the engine, she’d long been fast asleep.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was after five when Hayley heard Lizzy return from a run around the neighborhood. She found Hayley and Kitally waiting for her in the living room.
“We’re ready to have a quick meeting when you are,” Kitally said.
“OK, let me grab a few things and we’ll do this.” In another minute, Lizzy returned holding a file, and she took a seat in an upholstered wingback chair facing the couch. She looked at the clock. “Jessica won’t be returning for another hour, at least. Let’s talk about what’s on the agenda for the next few weeks.”
“I think we should talk about Wayne Bennett,” Hayley said.
There was noise in the kitchen—the shuffling of drawers and the opening and closing of the microwave door. They all sat quietly and waited for Salma to finish what she was doing. It was at least five minutes before the girl walked into the living room, holding two bowls of popcorn. “Here,” she said, setting the bowl on the coffee table between them. She made eye contact with Hayley and then Lizzy. “OK, I can take a hint. I’m outta here.”