“I don’t feel safe, Walsh.”
He lost his temper. “Then it’s your fault. You’ve been tying my hands for too long. Do you know what lengths I’ve had to go to, *footing around to keep you safe? The minute that I got that tip from the bank officer that Elena was still in California for at least the first year after I killed Jenny, I never stopped searching for her and that brat. I went the extra mile in making sure you couldn’t be hurt no matter where it led me.”
Silence that was laden with menace. “Extra mile? And so you should have. And I don’t care if I’ve made it difficult for you.”
No, of course he didn’t. “Well, now it’s the end of the road, and I’m in control. Send me my money and be prepared to get me help for the disposal.”
Silence. “Excuses, again. We’ll see who is in control, Walsh.” Salazar hung up.
Bastard.
But Salazar was smart, and he wouldn’t take the chance of having Walsh exposed and himself with him. He’d get him help. He’d send the money.
Because he’d seen what Walsh had seen in that photo.
Cara Delaney’s bus was leaving the school parking lot now. Soon, she’d be safe within the doors of her apartment house.
And he was feeling frustrated and hungry. He’d scoped out her setup and knew that it would be hard to get to her. There were alarms, the little girl was very careful. It might take days of stalking before he could safely pounce.
But the pretty blonde with the ponytail who was so sure nothing could happen to her? She wasn’t careful at all.
He thought about it.
No, he decided reluctantly, he didn’t want any red flags that would alert Cara Delaney or her dear aunt Elena. He enjoyed the child kills, but he could control it.
He’d have to be patient and wait for Cara …
And he’d get her. Just like he’d put that bitch, Jenny, into the ground. Only this time, with Cara, there would be nothing to reconstruct. There wouldn’t be a skull with glittering green eyes that made him writhe with fury.
No, he would not think of that skull. He had thrown that reconstruction into his trunk so he wouldn’t have to look at it again. It had to be his imagination that had caused him to think he’d seen Jenny. Out of all the lives he’d taken over the years, why would Jenny be the only one who had come back to torment him? He didn’t believe in ghosts, so it had to be stress or some kind of weird primitive instinct because he was getting near to Cara.
So prove it to himself. Prove that Jenny had no power to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do.
Get rid of the skull.
Yes, that would do it. Lately, he’d been thinking of keeping it or sending it to Salazar as a trophy. That would show her.
Do you hear me, Jenny? You’re nothing. You can’t stop me from killing Cara. You can’t stop me from destroying the last part of you that would prove you ever lived.
And destroying that interfering slut, Eve Duncan, along with her. He would show her that she couldn’t make him look like an amateur to Salazar. She’d be sorry that she’d decided to track him down. He couldn’t move on Cara Delaney yet, but he could go after Duncan.
How? It had to be a completely satisfying kill that would make him forget the frustration of the past days. Something … spectacular …
He didn’t even look back at the yellow school bus as he started his car and headed down the street.
*
“Hi.” Elena Delaney looked up with a smile as Cara walked into the apartment. She had on her black work pants, but she was wearing a pink T-shirt with a cocktail on the front that was the same color as the pink streak running through her brown hair. She was somewhere in her midthirties, but all of Cara’s friends thought she was younger. “Just in time. I just finished the spaghetti and meatballs. Put in the garlic bread for me, will you?”