“I think you’ve been spending too much time in therapy.”
“I know this makes no sense to you. You’ve always known who you are. It doesn’t even make sense to me, really. But if I ever face a tough situation again, I need something to draw on. I need to know I can pull myself through.”
He let his hand slip from her arm.
Her throat ached. She was doing a horrible job of explaining, but she didn’t know a way to make her feelings clearer. He was the only man she’d ever wanted, the only man she’d ever loved. But for her, he was the wrong man.
“You’ll always take care of me, Bobby. It’s who you are. And as long as I’m with you, I’ll never really know who I am.”
She turned away, toward the window. The drapes’ multiple colors blurred through burgeoning tears. Tilting her head back, she opened her eyes wide and tried to force them back. She wouldn’t let herself cry. She couldn’t. She’d already poured out too much.
“Okay,” he said.
She must not have heard him right. “Okay?”
“What can I do to help?”
Swallowing into an aching throat, she turned back, trying to read his face through shadows.
“I meant what I said about not losing you to Dryden,” he continued. “I’m not going to stay away from you. But if I can do anything short of that…”
Diana wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say or do. But she hadn’t expected this. “Thank you.”
“I… I don’t know how to do this.” Bobby looked around the room, as if he didn’t recognize where he was. “You’re going to have to tell me what you need.”
She willed her voice to function. “Well, for one, you can let me do more than make bad police station coffee.”
“You think the coffee is bad?”
She gave him a warning frown.
He held up his hands, palms out. “You’re right. You’re right. It’s not great.”
“I’m not kidding, Bobby.”
“I know you’re not. It’s… it’s just a lot. I’m trying.”
“Let me help with the investigation. At least as much as I’m able.”
He let out a defeated sigh and nodded.
“You can stop shielding me from unpleasant things. I need to know what we’re up against.”
“Okay.”
“And you can stop worrying about me.”
“I can’t promise you that.”
She gave him a half smile. “Then at least have some faith in me, okay?”
He stepped toward her. The light from the lamp illuminated his face. “That’s something I can promise.”
Diana’s vision blurred once again. Those words shouldn’t mean so much to her. They couldn’t.
But somehow, despite everything, they meant the world.
The Copycat Killer
The moonlight glowed blue on her naked white skin as she ran across the clearing. It was a good light for her. Hid the cellulite and the stretch marks. Smoothed over her hips. It even made her tits look, if not perky, at least not so saggy.
He raised the rifle to his shoulder and lined her up in the sights. He’d played with the first two. Toyed with them. Stalked them. He didn’t feel like playing this time.
Maybe it was because he’d waited so long. The fantasies had burned inside him like a hunger until all that mattered was filling his belly.
Maybe it was because she was older and the dreams of killing his mother, exciting at first, left him limp in the end.
Maybe it was because she’d laughed at him.
Bitch.
But whatever the reason, this one had been a disappointment.
She raced for the brush. Her breathing was audible, even at this distance, her panting punctuated by tiny gasps and sobs.
He had to admit, her fear gave him a charge. And standing here, resting his finger on the trigger, he was as hard as a tree branch.
Look who was laughing now.
He squeezed the trigger. The air cracked. The rifle kicked sweetly against his shoulder. He watched her lurch and fall as the perfume of gunpowder spiced the air.
He strode across the clearing toward her. He’d gotten a clean shot. He’d taken out one of her legs, just as he’d been instructed. As he approached, he could hear her thrashing and crying, trying to crawl the rest of the way to the forest’s edge, to safety.
There was no safety for her.
He pulled his knife from the sheath on his belt. He wrapped his fingers around the handle, the charge of excitement pulsing through him.
He’d follow instructions for the kill, too. Field dressing her with the knife. Letting her screams wash over him like a refreshing rain. Watching the life drain from her eyes as he cut. Next, he would clean her out, warm and sticky on his hands.
Then he’d wait to find out what he was supposed to do with the body.
He caught up to her and looked down at the fear shining in her eyes. Listened to the whimper dying on her lips.
As thrilling as he knew killing her would be, he couldn’t help wishing for more, wanting more. With each one he’d killed, he’d learned so much. About death and life. About the strength and power in himself. About hunger. But it wasn’t enough.
Not nearly enough.
He’d been acting a part, following Ed Dryden’s instructions, playing out Ed Dryden’s fantasies. But now he could feel his own desires building. They pressed against the inside of his skull, until he felt he’d explode.
There was something he wanted. Something blond and beautiful with light blue eyes and nice, full tits. And soon, very soon, he would reach out and pluck her like ripe fruit off a tree. He would bite into her, devour her, and let the juice run sticky down his chin.
She would be his forever then, and no one could stop him. Not Bobby Vaughan.
Not even Ed Dryden.
Bobby
After seeing off Sylvie and Bryce, Bobby had taken Diana to a new hotel and booked the adjoining room for himself. Then he’d spent the next several hours on the phone, getting updates and making arrangements.
Perreth had been good to his word. He’d secured office space in Madison for the taskforce, as well as the help of more officers to canvas the area around the laundromat. Val had been busy delving into other aspects of the case.
Bobby had gotten little sleep, but with Val’s help, by the time he and Diana were on their way to Chicagoland the next morning, he had worked out a plan he hoped would convince Diana he was on her side.
The first step was getting her behind the wheel.
Talking her into driving his car had been easy enough, and with each mile that hummed under the tires, Diana seemed to relax. The frightened woman he’d seen last night seemed to fade before his eyes and a calm, more confident Diana took her place.
“Head south on the interstate,” he directed.
“Toward Chicago? Where are we going?”
“You’ll like it.”
“I’m not really in the mood for surprises, Bobby.”
“Last night you said you wanted to take care of yourself… or at least something along those lines, right?”
She rolled her eyes a little. “More or less.”
“I’m trying here.”
“Sorry. Thanks.”
“Have you taken self-defense classes or anything?”
“Twice a week since last November.”
“Good. Good.”
“Is that why we’re heading to Chicago? Self-defense training?”
“Not exactly. How about defensive driving? Remember EVOC?”
A few years ago, Bobby had been in charge of the sheriff’s department’s annual Emergency Vehicle Operation and Control training at the Dells Raceway. Diana had been his guinea pig, helping him figure out the best way to present the material and test the course. Although he’d fallen in love with her long before those hours spent maneuvering around orange traffic cones, after she’d broken every unofficial speed record in the backing challenge, he’d known he had to make her his wife.