“Well then, whose is it?” I said.
“Sloane, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…”
All of the sudden I realized who the finger belonged to and my food wasn’t settled in my stomach anymore. My memory flashed to the nail from the finger that floated around in the jar at the restaurant. It had been coated with a shade of hot pink nail polish that sparkled with flecks of silver glitter. I’d seen it before many times. I squeezed both hands over my mouth, but it didn’t matter. I knew I’d never make it to the bathroom in time.
CHAPTER 14
Sam Reids sat at his desk in front of his computer on his newly acquired 17th century George II armchair. It was an expensive piece, and he’d shelled out almost a million dollars for it, but from the moment he’d laid eyes on it when it went up on the auction block, he knew he needed to have it in his collection.
Sam gazed at the picture of Sloane Monroe that was plastered across the entire width of his computer monitor. It wasn’t long before he started to reminisce about the day he first saw her. He’d been on his way to the store to procure a few groceries. When he stopped at the traffic light, he happened to glance over, and there she was. It was like she’d risen from the dead, and he had to do a double take to make sure his eyes hadn’t played some kind of cruel trick on him. It couldn’t have been her, and he knew that. He’d killed her over a year before. But it if wasn’t Gabrielle Monroe, who was she, he’d thought to himself. Sam had an insatiable desire to find out, so when he returned home that night he searched the internet, and it didn’t take long for him to find some answers. Gabrielle Monroe had a sister, and not just any sister—a twin named Sloane. It was all too delicious to take in, and he fantasized over what it would be like to be one of the only serial killers in history to murder twins. Killing Sloane would be like murdering Gabrielle all over again. Just the thought of it caused the hair on his arm to stand on end.
Sam had kept a close eye on Sloane over the past two years, and he’d come to know her habits. He knew she visited her sister’s grave on special occasions, her favorite place to eat, and even which color she wore the most. Keeping tabs on her while she worked intoxicated him. Her ability to snare the bad guy or find a missing person was impressive, and he admitted to himself after a time that she’d become somewhat of an obsession to him. No woman had ever incited the feelings she did. His insides burned like hot oil simmering in a pan every time he thought of her, and that’s why he needed her. He wanted her more than anything he’d ever craved before, but he’d have to wait for now. Sloane was special, which was why he would save her for last, and then everything would be different.
The clock on the right side of Sam’s computer displayed 7:29 PM. It was almost time. He closed his eyes and locked his fingers together behind his head and reclined back in his chair. He imagined the rest of the night’s events and played them over and over in his head with an exact notion of how they were to be. It was like he was the conductor of a fine orchestra, and he couldn’t wait.
Twenty minutes later Sam trolled the area by the supermarket where he’d discarded his last victim. He howled with laughter when he drove past the parking lot and observed a couple police officers dressed in plain clothes trying to blend in with the pedestrians that flowed in and out of the store. They’re all so stupid, he thought to himself. He never killed in the same location twice. He knew it, and so did they. And yet there they were, grasping at straws like puppets on a string.
Sam drove further down the street and through the city until he reached his destination, the local park. It was uncharted territory, and he’d never abducted anyone in a place like that before, but he’d been there several times over the past few months and was confident in his decision.
The park was quiet, just like he knew it would be. For whatever reason, Thursdays were always like this. There were no games going on, few kids, and the entire place was vacant save a few stragglers that dotted the grass-filled landscape.
Sam laced up his tennis shoes and stepped out his car door and closed it behind him. He walked over to the dirt track that surrounded the perimeter of the park and set off into a sprint. He rounded the corners, looked around, and sized up the selection. The woman who jogged ten feet in front of him had potential. He amplified his speed until they were side by side and then struck up a conversation, but it didn’t take long for him to notice something off about the way her long dark hair moved when she ran. It didn’t. It was thick like it had been coated with the firmest brand of hairspray and then ironed down in place, but that wasn’t all; it was fake—a wig, and beneath it he saw patches of dirty blond that looked like it hadn’t seen the inside of a hair salon in years. Upon closer inspection, he clued in on something else: her stiff breasts were fake too, and he wondered how much work she’d done on the rest of her body. This repelled him like he was a mosquito and she was doused in bug spray, and he knew she wouldn’t do. She wouldn’t do at all.
It didn’t take long for Sam to notice someone else who would. A woman, with the looks of a young girl still in college, sat alone on a bench with a book in her hand and headphones in her ears. She read in silence, unaware of the element of danger that existed around her. Sam took refuge under a majestic oak tree and pulled a weathered and worn paperback book out of his pocket and pretended to read it. He waited for the sun, and after a time it lowered itself behind the mountain and produced a glare on the woman like a spotlight which lit her up like the soft glow that protruded from a lighthouse. Sam’s heart skipped a couple beats. She was the one.
Thirty minutes went by, but the park was still occupied by four visitors. With every moment that ticked by, Sam’s appetite to claim his prize grew more insatiable, but he knew if he persisted that in time it would pay off. And ten minutes later it did. There were only two people left in the park now, himself and the gorgeous brunette on the bench. And soon there would be none.
CHAPTER 15
The next day I sat at my desk at my office. My eyes bored into the business card I held in my hand. It didn’t contain a name or an address or the title of a business even. In fact, there was only one thing on it: a phone number. The card had been given to me several months back by a man named Giovanni Luciana. I’d helped his sister out of a bad situation and he’d tracked me down and offered me his card in case I ever needed him for anything—like some sort of you helped me so now I need to return the favor kind of thing, but I knew nothing about the man except how I felt when we first met. There was something about him that was unique; he was different than other men I’d been around in the past, and in the brief moments we spent together he had a big impact on me; there was a certain magnetism between us that pulled us together. My emotions at the time of our quick rendezvous had been a mix of nervousness and some kind of strange attraction. Or maybe I was beguiled by him, but I didn’t know why. Whatever it was, part of me wanted to run that day and get far away from him, but there was another side of me that was curious and hoped I’d find a reason to see him again one day.
I dialed the number listed on the center of the card into my cell phone and waited. It rang once and then a second time, and then my office door opened and Maddie sauntered in. She plopped down on the chair across from mine and gawked at me.
“So why’d you call me down here then?” she said.
I hit the end call button on the phone and met her gaze. Maybe it was a sign, and I didn’t need his help after all.