“It’s uncomfortable, I know.” Zachary smiled. “But the gag is coming off in a minute or so. We’re going to do a little experiment. Are you up to it?”
The young man squinted up at him.
Zachary leaned closer and whispered. “We’re going to see how much you care for that pretty girlfriend of yours. Sweet Anissa. She’ll be here any moment now, correct?”
Strapping Todd’s eyes bulged and he tried to scream.
Zachary shushed him, a finger to his lips. “Here’s how it’s going to happen. When your girlfriend enters the apartment, I’ll take your gag off. You’ll be free to scream and shout as loud as you want. How’s that for a deal?”
Strapping Todd’s nose was running.
“But if you do that, just know I will have to kill her. And then I’ll kill you, which I fully intend to do no matter what happens. But if I don’t catch her, you could both survive. It’s a slim chance, but a chance, nevertheless. The only chance you have. The question is, are you really willing to risk Anissa’s life to save your own hide?”
Strapping Todd’s nostrils flared.
“If you keep quiet, I’ll wait until she leaves to kill you. You have a decision to make. What kind of a man do you want to be, Strapping Todd?”
There was a sound from the front of the apartment. The door was being unlocked.
Zachary smiled as he loosened the gag and pulled the cloth from Strapping Todd’s mouth. “Right on schedule. The choice is now yours.”
The front door squeaked as it opened. “Todd?”
Anissa waited for an answer. “Honey?”
She waited again, then moved through the apartment.
They listened as her footsteps pounded on the hardwood floors. “Where the hell are you?”
She stepped into the bedroom, just a few feet from where her boyfriend was trying to decide whether or not to call for help.
For the moment he was being good and noble, not even daring to breathe.
“Honey?” she called out again.
With one hand still on the knife, Zachary raised Todd’s phone with the other hand. He silently snapped a photo of young Anissa through the crack in the door.
She disappeared from view.
Rustling fabric. More footsteps.
She was walking toward the closet.
Zachary raised his long blade. If she opened that door, this little test would come to a quick and violent end.
She stopped. “Todd?”
Strapping Todd was still holding his breath.
Another long moment of silence.
She finally turned and walked out of the room.
But she didn’t leave the apartment. After a few seconds, her voice wafted in from the living room. She was on her phone, leaving a message for her beloved boyfriend.
“What the hell, Todd? I’m here at your place. You knew we were supposed to meet Trish and David. Why aren’t you picking up your phone?”
Because I took it from him and turned off the ringer, Zachary wanted to reply.
Anissa let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, I’m leaving. If you get this, meet me at the Black Cat. Bye.”
Her footsteps moved away toward the front door …
Zachary smiled. Poor Strapping Todd. His last chance of survival was slipping away. But at least he’d shown a tiny shred of nobility by not endangering the life of this innocent young— “Hel—!” He suddenly shouted, but Zachary silenced him with a deep slash in the throat. The blood gurgled from his open wound.
Zachary looked up. Had she heard?
The footsteps in the front room proceeded with their same unrushed pace. There was no urgency as she opened the door, closed it behind her, and locked it.
Zachary crouched beside the dying man. “You almost cost her everything, Strapping Todd. But there’s no reason for her to suffer just because her boyfriend was a selfish pig.”
Strapping Todd gasped for air through the gash in his throat.
Zachary whispered. “Should I make her acquaintance and tell her what a coward you are? Should I? Hmm, I think I may.”
Todd stared at him with a look of total panic, an expression that remained even after life left his body.
CHAPTER
3
THE CHARRED FACE WAS still staring at her.
Kendra turned over in her bed. That horrible sight was there every time she closed her eyes. She’d been a fool to think she could just leave it behind.
She sat up and yanked the covers away. Her mother always urged her to leave town whenever a case preyed on her psyche, but it was no use. She knew wherever she would go, that vision would still be with her. The awful sights, smells, and excruciating details always followed her.
And the Feds knew it, she thought bitterly. Griffin had called in his favor knowing this would happen. Even if she could turn her back on that poor woman and the two other victims, it was harder to ignore the possibility of the victims to come. This murderous sicko was clearly enjoying himself and there would be more. Soon.
How in the hell could she turn her back on them?
She picked up her phone and punched Griffin’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“Kendra Michaels,” he said with more than a hint of annoyance. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“It’s two-thirty in the morning. Ask me if I care. I’ll be extremely disappointed if I didn’t wake you from the sleep of angels.”
“Oh, you did. I’ve just gotten very good at eliminating that groggy, half-asleep tone in my voice when pain-in-the-ass colleagues call me in the middle of the night.”
She made a choking sound. “Ugh.”
“Are you okay?”
“No, I almost threw up at the thought of us being colleagues.”
“I believe I detect a tad of annoyance in your tone.”
“More than a tad. You knew what seeing that victim would do to me.”
“I didn’t think you were just calling me to hash over the Padres game. What’s on your mind, Kendra?”
She paused for a long moment. Was she really going to do this?
Shit.
“Griffin, I want to see the files for the other two murders.”
He was ready for her. “Written reports? Crime scene photos?”
“Videos, lab results, whatever you have.”
“Okay. Swing by the office tomorrow morning and we’ll—”
“Now. Have somebody meet me there in half an hour.”
“Nobody’s there, Kendra. Just a skeleton crew.”
“Get somebody there.”
“At three in the morning? Be reasonable. Come by at nine A.M. We’ll give you every—”
“Do you want my help or not?”
“Come on, Kendra…”
“You want me to repay your damn favor. Well, I’m working tomorrow. At my real job. I have therapy sessions booked at my studio, and it’s too late to reschedule.”
“Then shouldn’t you be getting a good night’s sleep?”
“You pretty much destroyed all hope of that when you dragged me into this case.”
He sighed. “And now you’re going to make me pay for it.”
“That’s not what this is about. Call it … a pleasant side benefit.”
“You’re not hurting me. This is Metcalf and Carson’s case. They’re not going to be thrilled at the thought of dragging their asses to work at this time of night.”
“Guess they shouldn’t have signed up to work for the FBI, huh?”
“You tell them that when you see them. That’ll put ’em in a really good mood. Meet them in the building lobby in thirty minutes.”