heaving and there was nothing more in her belly. Still she crouched
there, holding her arms around herself, shuddering, wanting to die
because she’d brought death to Linda Cartwright, just as she had to
that poor old woman standing outside the Metropolitan Museum,
just as she’d nearly brought death to the governor of New York.
She felt him coming up behind her, knew it was Adam.
“Her face–he obliterated her face, Adam, for a sick joke that
only he thought was funny. He murdered her and smashed her face
so–”
“I know.” Adam fell to his knees behind her, pulling her back
against his chest. “I know.”
She felt him begin to rock her, back and forth. “I know, Becca.”
“I’m responsible for her, Adam. If I hadn’t shot him, if I hadn’t–”
Adam pulled her around to face him. He handed her a handkerchief,
waited for her to wipe her mouth, then said, “Now, you
will listen up. If you feel any guilt about that poor woman, I’m going
to deck you. None of this is your fault. He’s the evil one. This
guy will do anything to terrorize you, to hear you whimper, beg,
plead with him to stop. Anything.”
“He’s succeeded.”
“Yeah, you’ve got to stop that as well. You can’t let him crawl
under your skin. That means he wins. That means he’s got the control,
he’s got the power. Do you understand me?”
She pulled away from him and began kneading his arms with
her hands, not even realizing what she was doing. “It’s hard, Adam.
I know he’s evil. I know there must be a reason he’s doing all this,
a reason that makes perfect sense to him, but in my gut, it feels like
I smashed in that poor woman’s face. Oh, God, if I hadn’t fired at
him, hit him–”
“Stop it,” he said and shook her good. “Now, here’s the bottom
line. We’re going to leave her just as she is in the kitchen and make
an anonymous call. No, don’t argue.” He lightly tapped his fingers
against her mouth. “Listen, I know this is very hard to do, given the
fact that we’re breaking the law and she’s not going to get the attention
she deserves right away. Even Savich and Sherlock are having
a real problem with it.
“Even though they’re part of the highest police force in the land,
they realize that nothing good would be served if the world suddenly
found out that you’re here and you’re up to your ears in another
murder. The cops and the Feds would fight to see who could
hold you and question you. On the other hand, you’d be protected,
and that’s something, but not enough. All of us agree that you
would be charged with murder and accessory to murder. It would
be a nightmare and it would continue even if they ever let you go.
Why? Because he would still be there, just waiting, and it would
start all over.
“So, Savich and Sherlock have agreed to keep our connection under
wraps for a while. He’s getting the woman’s phone records right
now. We’ll find out how long he’s been here, holding her prisoner.
We’ll find out who he called besides you. All the guys are going over
the house, top to bottom, right now. They’re pros. If there’s anything
to find, they’ll find it. If there are fingerprints, and I’m willing to bet
there are, they’ll pull those up, too. But it’s going to take time because
we’ll have to clean up after ourselves. The last thing we want is to
have the police notice some stray fingerprint powder. So we can’t
call in her murder for another couple of hours.”
“He knew the phone was tapped.”
“Oh, yes, he knew, and that’s why he had the surprise all ready for
you. He can’t be far away now. He’s close. Real close. It’s possible
he’s watching all of us right this instant, hiding in the pine trees, but
I don’t think even he is that reckless. We’ll get him, Becca. You have
to believe that. He’ll pay for what he did to Linda Cartwright.”
“Oh, God,” she said suddenly. “You’re right, Adam, he is watching.