Of course, he couldn’t completely replicate The Professional’s crime. Most of the original victims who had escaped had now left town and were no longer available to meet the fate they should have before.
But one thing was certain. It all had to begin with Brittany.
She had been the first taken in the original crime and she would be the first in his crimes. It was just a matter of time, but she was marked to attend the “party” that had never happened. He was The Real Professional, better and smarter than the original, and the town of Black Rock would talk about him long after he’d moved on.
Chapter 9
The rapid knock on her front door tore Brittany from her sofa with a startled gasp. She was clad only in a pair of soft black cotton shorty pajamas with tiny pink hearts all over them. She cursed the fact that her robe was in the bedroom and wondered who was at her door at this time of the night.
The knock came again. “Brittany, it’s me.”
She hurried to the door at the sound of Alex’s voice. When she unlocked it and opened it, he flew in, his eyes wild and his breathing rapid.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, immediately feeling the urgency wafting from him.
He flashed her a tight smile. “I need your phone and I found your sanity.”
She pointed to the phone on her end table. “What do you mean you found my sanity?”
He walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver and quickly dialed. “Rose, this is going to take longer than I expected. She’s asleep? Good. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“Where did you find my sanity?” Brittany asked again when he’d hung up. She felt as if she were going to scream if he didn’t explain himself immediately.
“At your back window where I saw a man in a ski mask trying to remove your screen. Call your brother.”
“You saw him?” Brittany remained frozen in place, her heart beginning a rumbling rhythm.
“I not only saw him, I chased him for almost five blocks before I lost him in the darkness. Now, call Tom. He was real and he was trying to get into your house.”
She wasn’t going crazy! There had been a man in a ski mask at her window, a note left behind. Somehow, someway The Professional was back and she wasn’t losing her mind.
She dialed Tom’s number. “You need to come here right away,” she said when he answered. “Somebody tried to break into my house and I’m not going crazy. Alex caught him midact and tried to catch him but he got away.”
She hung up and looked at Alex. “He’s on his way.” She had no idea if he reached for her or she reached for him, but suddenly she was in his arms, his heart beating as fast as her own.
“I’m not crazy,” she said into the front of his T-shirt.
“No, you aren’t,” he replied softly.
“Somebody is really after me.”
He tightened his arms around her and hesitated a moment. “Yes, apparently somebody is after you.”
She raised her head and looked up at him. “Why?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
She remained in Alex’s arms until Tom arrived. He wasn’t alone. Brittany’s brothers Benjamin and Caleb were with him.
“What were you doing here?” Tom asked Alex, who had sat on the sofa next to Brittany as her brother began to ask him questions. Caleb and Benjamin had gone outside to look at the window.
Brittany looked at Alex. She hadn’t thought to ask him what had brought him to her house. “Lady Bear,” he said to her and then looked at Tom. “My daughter’s favorite stuffed animal is in Brittany’s car. We didn’t realize it until I tried to put Emily to bed so I came down here to retrieve it and that’s when I heard a noise and followed it around to the back of the house and saw the man at Brittany’s back window.”
“What did he look like?” Tom had out a small notepad and pen and was poised to take notes.
“Black T-shirt, black jeans and a ski mask.” Alex fought the impulse to reach over and take one of Brittany’s hands in his.
“He left me a note,” Brittany said.
Tom frowned. “A note?”
“The last time I called you about seeing him. After you left I found it. It said, ‘It’s party time.’” She explained about deciding to wait until morning to call Tom and then that the note had disappeared.
“Why didn’t you call me back that night?” Tom asked with exasperation.
Brittany lifted her chin and glared at her brother. “Because that night you thought the man was a figment of my imagination. You thought I’d be fine with a little therapy.”
Tom looked chagrined. “Okay, let’s concentrate on the here and now.” He looked at Alex once again. “Anything else you can tell me about the man you saw?”
“Shorter than me, slender and fast as hell,” Alex replied. “I chased him for four or five blocks and then lost sight of him at the corner of Elm and Apple Lane.”
“The red balloon tied to my mailbox, the ski mask and the note, it’s just like before,” Brittany said, fighting against the shiver that tried to creep up her spine. “I know Larry Norwood is dead. But I think this is some sort of a copycat.”
“Maybe it’s just a kid trying to freak you out,” Tom replied.
“It’s more than that,” Benjamin said as he and Caleb came into the living room. “He was definitely trying to get inside. The screen was cut and half-off and the window is cracked just above the lock. I’d guess another couple of minutes and he would have been inside.”
“And why would he want to get inside?” Brittany asked, but nobody replied.
“Benjamin and I are going to head out,” Caleb said. “We’ll check out the neighborhood, see if we find anything or see anyone.”
Tom nodded and looked at Brittany. “And you’re coming home with me tonight. I don’t want you here alone until we can get a full security system installed.”
She started to protest, not wanting to leave her home, but she also didn’t want to be stupid. There was nothing to say that the man wouldn’t return later that night. “All right,” she agreed. “I’ll go pack a suitcase and first thing tomorrow morning I’ll make arrangements for a security system to be installed.”
She looked at Alex. Her instinct was to run into his arms once again, to feel his warmth, the security of his strong embrace. “My car keys are on the kitchen counter if you want to get Lady Bear.” The best thing she could do for Alex and Emily was distance herself from them.
Somebody was after her and she had no idea how dangerous he might be. There was no way she wanted Alex or Emily tangled up in this mess.
As Alex left to go into the kitchen to get her keys and retrieve the bear, Brittany turned back to her brother. “I want my gun back,” she said.
He frowned. “That gun was yours because you were my deputy. Are you ready to come back to duty?”
She wanted to. She desperately wanted that part of her life back, but she couldn’t forget that dark moment in the shed with The Professional. She truly believed she wasn’t fit for duty and it broke her heart.
“No,” she finally said, her voice a mere whisper.
Tom studied her for a long moment. “Go pack your bag. We’ll sort things out later.”
She was in her bedroom throwing things into a small suitcase when Alex came into the room. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed at her somberly. “Are you okay?”
“I hate leaving my house, I hate what is happening, but yeah, I guess I’m okay,” she replied.
He stroked a light caress down her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “At least I’ll know you’re okay with your brother.”
She forced a smile. “I’ll be fine. Go home, Alex. Take Lady Bear and I’ll talk to you later.”
Within minutes Alex was gone and Brittany was putting her suitcase in the back of Tom’s patrol car. Caleb and Benjamin were still canvassing the area but Brittany had little hope that they would find anything useful.
“Just what we nee
d, a copycat,” Tom said in disgust as he pointed the car toward the house where he, his wife, Peyton, and little Lilly lived.
“Are there any other missing women in town?” Brittany asked.
“None that have been reported.” His jawline was tense, as was his grip on the steering wheel. “As if Larry Norwood weren’t enough now we have to have some wannabe running around town.”
“Running around me,” Brittany replied darkly.
Tom shot her a quick glance. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you the first time. The balloon…the man at the window—I dismissed your concerns and for that I’m really sorry.”
She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “Apology accepted.” She dropped her hand and leaned back in her seat. “To be honest I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.”
“You should have told me about the note.”
She shrugged. “When it disappeared I didn’t figure there was any point in telling you. I thought you’d just write it off as some delusion I was suffering.”
“But that means somebody was in your house.”
She nodded. “I know. I changed my locks the next day and Friday night Alex and I went to Harley’s to talk to Luke to ask him if maybe he’d been inside my house playing one of his stupid jokes. Of course he denied it.”
“Maybe it’s time I have a talk with Luke,” Tom replied as he pulled into his driveway.
Brittany released a sigh. “I can’t imagine Luke having anything to do with this. It’s not a joke, Tom. If this truly is a copycat, then he’d be trying to replicate the original crime.” A wave of horror swept over her as the full realization struck her.
“I was the first one taken in the original crime. If he’s repeating everything, then I’ll be the first woman kidnapped again this time around.”
The sense of dread that had been with her for so long now roared inside her because she knew if she had to go through it all again, this time she wouldn’t survive.
“I won’t be chased out of my house,” Brittany told Tom the next morning. She’d slept surprisingly well in Tom and Peyton’s spare bedroom considering the events of the night before.
She’d gone to bed afraid and had awakened angry. She’d lost almost eight months of living her life and enjoying her home to The Professional. Four of those months she’d been locked in a cell in a shed. She wasn’t going to lose another day of her life because of him. “Besides, we can’t know for sure that this is a copycat at work. It still could be just some kid having fun at my expense.”
“Brittany, you have to be reasonable,” Tom began.
“I am being reasonable,” she exclaimed. “I’ve already called Bob Lockheart. He’s going to meet me at the house in an hour to install a state-of-the-art security system and you’re going to give me back my service revolver until this is all over.”
“Of course he is,” Peyton said firmly as she grabbed her husband’s arm. “And if he doesn’t then I have my own handgun that I’ll be more than happy to loan to you.”
Tom looked at his wife and then back at Brittany. “What, is this some sort of a female conspiracy? Brittany, this isn’t a game.”
“You’re right,” she replied sharply. “It’s my life and I’m tired of hiding from it.” She drew a deep breath and released it slowly. “Tom, I’m not being stupid or irresponsible. With a security system and a weapon, nobody is going to be able to get me. I want to be in my house. I need to be in my house, living my life. If I can’t do that then I might as well have died at the hands of Larry Norwood,” she ended in frustration.
Tom ran a hand down his face, the gesture doing nothing to erase the lines of worry. “We almost lost you once, Brittany. I just don’t want to make any mistakes here.” His voice was filled with an emotion she rarely heard. She stepped toward him and he embraced her in a tight hug.
“You’re a good sheriff, Tom,” she said when he released her. “And Benjamin, Caleb and Jacob are good deputies. You’ll figure this out and in the meantime I’ll make sure I stay as safe as possible.”
Half an hour later she was headed back to her house with her gun stuffed in her waistband and, if she were to admit it to herself, a little bit of fear riding in her heart.
The easy way out would have been to stay with Tom and Peyton or any of her other brothers and their wives, but that would have simply made her a prisoner all over again.
She had absolutely no idea who she couldn’t trust, but she knew with certainty who she could—her brothers and Alex. Those were the only men she’d allow close to her until this whole ordeal was over.
There was no way to know if it was somebody trying to replicate the original crimes. There simply wasn’t enough evidence to support the theory, but she had to function with the possibility that it might be.
As she pulled into her driveway she was surprised to see Jacob sitting on her front porch. He was another victim of The Professional, but in a different way.
As an FBI agent working in Kansas City, Jacob had hunted Larry Norwood when he’d kidnapped five women in that city. Larry had even had phone contact with him, taunting calls that had made Jacob an intimate participant of the crime. Unfortunately, Larry had managed to complete his “party” in Kansas City and Jacob had been left to pick up the pieces, to see the victims in death.
The result had been that he’d quit the FBI and moved into a cabin on the Graysons’ family property where he lived like a hermit until Norwood began his games in Black Rock.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than hang around here?” she asked as she carried her suitcase up the walk to the porch.
“Figured I’d hang out until Lockheart arrives to install that security system.” He took the suitcase from her. “I see you’re armed.” He nodded toward the gun at her waist.
“And dangerous,” she added as she unlocked her front door. He followed her in and set the suitcase in the foyer. “How about some coffee? I can have a pot made in a jiffy.”
“Sounds good,” he agreed. He locked the door behind him and then followed her through the living room and into the kitchen.
“Sure you want to be here, Brittany?”
“No place else I’d rather be.” She pulled the coffee can from the cabinet and set about getting it brewing as he sank down into a chair at the table and watched her.
“Got any ideas?” he asked once the scent of the fresh brew began to fill the air.
“Not really.” She sank into the chair opposite him. “I told Tom he might want to check out Luke Mathis down at Harley’s. Luke and I were hanging out before I got kidnapped and he had a key to the house before I changed the locks, but I really don’t think he’s behind all this.” She frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know, you might want to talk to Buck Harmon.”
“Why Buck?”
“He’s been helping Alex on the deck and he’s just said some things that make me think he’s pretty fascinated with The Professional.”
“Half the people in town are fairly fascinated with The Professional,” Jacob replied as she got up to get their coffee. “Face it, aberrant behavior is intriguing to most people.”
“But most people don’t set out to emulate somebody like Norwood,” she replied.
Jacob took a cup from her and smiled. “It would be nice if everyone in the world knew how to play nice with others, but if that were the case the Grayson family wouldn’t have jobs. And speaking of jobs, when are you coming back to yours?”
Brittany stared down into her coffee cup. As always when she thought of her job she was taken back to that desperate moment in time when she’d realized she’d never be a deputy again.
“Talk to me, Brittany,” Jacob said softly. “There has to be a reason why you’ve avoided coming back to work. We’ve both experienced the darkness of The Professional. There’s nothing you can say to me that will surprise or horrify me.”
Brittany knew that if she were going to talk about it with anyone, it would be Jacob, who had seen the faces of th
e dead women Larry had left in his wake.
Suddenly she wanted to talk, she wanted to tell him about that moment when she’d lost all sense of herself. “You know what he was capable of, Jacob,” she said, her gaze once again on the coffee in her cup. “Every day he’d sit and tell me how many ways he was going to hurt me, how long it would take him before he’d finally kill me.”
She felt a swell of emotion fill her chest. “I tried not to listen, tried not to think, not to imagine what he was saying to me, but day after day his words started to seep into my head, into my very soul.”
Jacob said nothing, as if knowing that no words he offered could make this any easier for her. He simply sat completely still, his gaze intent on her.
“For the first week I spent every waking moment trying to find a way out, looking for any weakness I could exploit to escape, but there was none. By the time a month had passed he’d gotten into my head, Jacob.” The words clogged in her throat as she tried to continue despite the clump of guilt and shame that rose up in the back of her mouth.
She raised her coffee cup and took a sip, trying to swallow around the lump. Jacob remained patient, not blinking an eyelid as he waited for her. Carefully she set the cup back on the table. “There was one night when he left me alone that my fear spiraled completely out of control.”
She stared at her brother, remembering that moment of despair that she’d never, ever felt before in her life and hoped to never feel again. “I wanted to die, Jacob.” The words were a mere whisper. “I wanted to die on my own terms, not on his. I wanted to commit suicide.”
Her words hung in the air, stark and ugly, and yet with them came the release of a pressure she hadn’t realized she possessed.
Jacob took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in the chair. “The only difference between you and me is that you looked for a way to end your pain immediately and I holed up in the cabin and tried to end my pain by drinking myself to death and cutting myself off from any human contact. That doesn’t make us bad lawmen, Brittany. It makes us human.”
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