“I agree,” he said. “Problem is they could always change their minds and decide to get a bit more out of it. Or someone else could come along, now that it’s such easy pickings. I can’t sit out there around the clock and guard it. I have other responsibilities.”
When she said nothing, his voice softened. “Did you hear me?”
“Yes. Thank you for calling.”
He didn’t hang up right away. “Are you...okay?”
That he could tell she wasn’t feeling her best surprised her. That he’d asked rather grudgingly didn’t. “Of course.” She put more effort into speaking stridently, confidently. “I’ll be fine. I’ve come this far, haven’t I?”
“When will you be back here?”
She thought of her trip to Pennsylvania next week. If she flew to Alaska as soon as possible, maybe she could offset any future troubles before they cropped up and return in time to keep her appointment with the prison that caged the next psychopath on her list. “I’ll be there as soon as I can catch a flight.”
“You’re not going to let anything stand in your way, are you,” he said.
It was a statement, not a question.
She let her breath go in a long, silent sigh. “No, I’m not.”
Chapter 4
She was dead.
“Andy Smith” frowned as he gazed into the sightless eyes of his latest victim. He’d been planning to kill her eventually. But he’d expected to have a few more days to play with her.
Damn! She’d spoiled his fun. How could he have thought this woman to be anything like Evelyn? This bitch didn’t have half the strength. It’d taken less to kill her than any of his other victims—except the girl he’d kidnapped from the bus stop in Georgia. That one had had diabetes. He’d been curious to see what would happen to her without insulin, so he’d removed her pump—and found out within twenty-four hours. Once she’d gone into a coma, it didn’t matter how much insulin he injected. He couldn’t get her out of it.
He paced back and forth across the dirt floor of his hideaway. What should he do now? He’d been so excited to arrive this morning, so relieved when Hillary had agreed to put the kids into an “after camp” program so he could attend the “technical training” he claimed to have registered for. She didn’t expect to see him until dinner, which gave him all day.
So maybe he’d have some fun with the corpse.
He sat next to it on the old iron bed. He supposed he could see if there was any satisfaction to be gained. As far as he was concerned, she deserved whatever he could devise. Normally after a kill, he experienced such a tremendous release that he could go months before the tension began to build again.
But she’d denied him that, left him hanging—and after he’d gone to the trouble of building this damn shack so that it would be almost identical to the one where he’d kept Evelyn. He wished he could’ve built in the same spot, but even if it wouldn’t have been risking too much, there were houses there now. The most he could do was drive through the area every once in a while and allow himself to enjoy the memory.
He’d never experienced anything more fulfilling or gratifying than those three days with Evelyn. The look of shock on her face when she found her friends dead had been priceless. And that first rush of freedom, when he’d decided he’d do whatever he wanted regardless of what anyone had to say about it... Wow!
After cutting the woman’s hands and feet loose, he took off the blood-encrusted gag. Then he removed the banana he’d shoved into her rectum. He had something else he planned to put there, wanted one final hurrah...
But his body wouldn’t cooperate. This dead woman no longer appealed to him, no longer reminded him the least bit of Evelyn, so he didn’t care to touch her. He figured he might as well vacuum her body with his battery-powered vacuum, sprinkle it with lime, wrap it in plastic and bury it like he had all the others.
Or maybe he could put off the disposal until later this afternoon. He was sort of curious to see what rigor mortis might do. He hadn’t had the time or the space to experiment with that sort of thing in the past. His wife before Hillary had made good money, but she’d been on him like white on rice...
If he put off the digging, he could spend the morning watching Evelyn’s parents’ house. That also encouraged him to wait. According to what he’d read in the paper, Hanover House was scheduled to open in November. That meant he had only a few months to find Evelyn—and to show her that she wouldn’t have to worry about moving so far away after all.
***