“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours? You’re a million miles away.”
“Nothing,” he muttered. “What have you got?”
Diana shook her head. “No way. You’re not evading the question. What’s going on with you? I’ve been standing here talking to myself for at least ten minutes. We have some murders to solve, you know? Where’s your head?”
He blew out a long breath and ran his hands through his shaggy hair. “Okay, you’re totally right. I’ve been preoccupied because Will called me late last night.”
She raised an eyebrow. Why hadn’t Paul said something earlier? Ordinarily he was quick to bitch about her uncle, though his bitching was usually good-natured. He blew a lot of steam though he actually liked and admired Will, and everyone knew it, including Will. “What’d he say?”
Paul shook his head. “That’s the weird part. He told me Brenda’s living with some guy.”
Had she heard him right? “That doesn’t make sense. She’s been stalking you like a lovesick adolescent. Someone that entrenched in what they believe is true love wouldn’t jump to be with another person. No way. I don’t believe it.”
“I know.” He linked his fingers together and rested them beneath his chin. “It doesn’t make any sense to me either, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. She’s driving me crazy. I wish she’d just disappear.”
As if their very conversation had summoned her, Brenda walked up smiling. As usual, she looked as though she’d just stepped out of wardrobe and makeup. Diana wouldn’t look that good even if she spent all day in the hands of a professional. This woman seemed to do it with little effort at all. For that alone she could hate her.
It wasn’t hard to understand how Paul had been sucked in. Brenda had an alluring aura of intrigue and beauty. But after you got past the mask, the real woman appeared, and you didn’t see much except the kind of oddness that left everyone around her feeling uneasy.
“Hi, Diana,” she said as she gave her a smile that didn’t look even remotely warm. It did the moment she turned her gaze on Paul. Her smile was dazzling and her eyes lit up like neon lights. It wasn’t right on a whole host of levels. “Hi, Paul,” she drawled in what Diana had to think was her attempt at sexy. Sounded just plain creepy to her.
He jumped up as if someone had just hit him with a cattle prod. “What the hell are you doing here?” he snapped. “Jesus, Brenda, I told you not to come back.”
Her smile didn’t waver as she held out a paper cup from a local espresso stand. “I thought you could use a latte after the night you had.” She put her other hand on his shoulder.
Diana and Paul shared an uncomfortable glance. The same thought had to be flowing through his mind: how would Brenda know anything happened last night?
Paul spun away from her. “What exactly are you referring to?”
Brenda’s face clouded and she appeared genuinely confused. “Why, darling, it was on the Channel 2 news this morning. There you were on video standing in a driveway by a burning car. You, Diana, and your friends.”
Was it just her, or did Diana hear an ominous note in her voice when she said the word friends?
“Video?”
Brenda nodded as she tried again to hand him the latte. “Someone’s cell-phone video, or so the newscaster explained.”
Diana dropped into her chair and quickly pulled up the Channel 2 news on her computer. Sure as shit, there it was. A shaky but relatively clear video of the car in full blaze, and right behind it stood the four of them: Circe with the hose still in her hand, Diana barefoot, and Paul and Lisa, side by side. She looked at Paul and nodded.
He stood his ground, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Diana had the sense he was holding on to his temper by a mere thread, and she didn’t blame him. She was also proud of him for keeping calm. “You need to leave,” he said simply.
“But I brought you a latte.” Brenda’s mouth turned down in a pouty frown, again with the obvious attempt at sexy. Diana wasn’t going to be the one to break it to her, but it wasn’t working. That look would send anyone sane running in the opposite direction.
Brenda stared at Paul for what felt like five minutes, but he didn’t say a word. As the minutes ticked by, every trace of beauty in Brenda’s face disappeared, replaced by stark ugliness. She slammed the latte down on Paul’s desk so hard the lid popped off and the milky drink splashed all over it, soaking papers and running down the desk leg. “You piece of shit,” she hissed. “It’s her. I know it is.”
His gaze never wavered and his voice remained cool. “Leave now.”
At first Diana thought she was going to argue. Surprisingly she didn’t say another word. Instead, she stiffly left, not turning around as she disappeared out the door. A woman with a beautiful face had walked in carrying a latte. A woman whose face was marked by ugliness walked out empty-handed.
“Okay…” Diana sank to a chair next to Paul’s desk. “As much as I hate to say it, you’re screwed. That woman should not be allowed to walk the streets unsupervised.”
“Ya think?” Sarcasm replaced the calm he’d embraced earlier with Brenda.
“Indeed I do, and I also think we need to call Will.”
Paul rubbed his hands across his scalp, making his hair stand up in all directions. “At this point, I’m not sure what else he or Maddie can do. They’ve pretty much confirmed she’s got serious mental-health issues. If she really is living with some guy, and I believe Will when he says she is, maybe we should touch base with the unlucky sap and tell him to keep his girl on a leash.”
“Do you have any idea how sexist that entire thing sounded?”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s what you’re worried about right now? My not being PC? I’m worried about that woman putting a bullet in my ass.”
Truth be told, so was she.
*
Circe had some time to kill before she needed to head over to Gonzaga University and pick up Lisa. She’d promised Paul she’d be there as soon as Lisa’s last class was over to give her a ride home. They’d all decided that for a little while anyway, they would make sure they stuck together. Nothing spooked her easily, but right now, she was twitchy and together was a good thing.
Of course, at the moment she was also alone. Well, sort of. She had Zelda to keep her company and keep her safe. Nobody in their right mind would dare harm Circe when Zelda was around. Then again, whoever was harassing them probably wasn’t in their right mind, so who knew what this monster might try? Still, Zelda was imposing and tough. Circe always felt safe with her dog at her side.
With an hour left until Lisa’s last class let out, Circe had just enough time for some exercise. It would do her and Zelda good to run a short trail, get some fresh air, and not think about anything unpleasant. While she had plenty of great places to run close to home, she decided they might as well start back toward town. The city didn’t lack for trails perfect for biking, running, or hiking. They could do their run closer to downtown and then buzz over to GU to pick up Lisa.
From Highway 291, she pulled off the highway onto Rifle Club Road. Where Rifle Club Road met Aubrey White Parkway, she turned into the small parking area and put her parks’ parking pass in the window. Technically they were now in Riverside State Park, and without the pass hanging from her rearview mirror, she ran the risk of a ticket if one of the park rangers checked the parking lot.
Zelda was already jumping around in the back of the car. She knew what they were here for and was delighted. Zelda hadn’t met a run yet she didn’t love. Road or trail, she adored them all. Circe wasn’t far behind her. She enjoyed the fresh air, great trails, and the joy of watching Zelda race through nature.
“Just wait,” Circe told her with a laugh. “Give me a sec to get ready.”
Getting ready consisted of strapping on her hydration belt and tucking her keys and phone into the small pocket on the belt. Once she snapped in two bottles of water, one for her and one for Zelda, she was ready. Though Zelda hated
it, Circe hooked her leash to her collar. She was pretty sure Zelda rolled her eyes.
“You know the drill, girlfriend. You’re on the lead until we’re out of sight of the parking lot and the road.” Dogs off leash weren’t allowed in the park, and she didn’t want to get a ticket for that either, although once they were a fair distance away from the car, she routinely broke that rule. Only, she justified in her head, because of Zelda’s dependability off lead. After all, she wasn’t a regular dog. She was special, and that entitled her to break the rules. Sounded good in her head, though she suspected it would be a big fail if she tried to use that rationalization with a park ranger.
Zelda was all but dragging her toward the trails. On the east side of Aubrey White Parkway stretched gentle slopes and open fields full of well-used paths. It was a nice area for a workout but a little too traveled and wide open. Zelda off lead would catch unwanted attention. If they opted for the west side of the road, where the steep banks bordered the river, they wouldn’t be visible from the road and would have less chance of running into other people. The trails were far more technical and thus not heavily used. It was a perfect place to run with Zelda off lead.
Once they dropped down far enough to be out of sight, she unclipped Zelda and let her go. She took off like a rocket and Circe had to race to keep up, or at least keep Zelda in sight. Because of the terrain, she had to concentrate, and she liked it a lot. Kept her mind off other things. It didn’t take long before she was into the rhythm of the run and felt great.
Until she saw her.
Sitting on a rock, staring out over the gently flowing river, the young woman had her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around her knees. When she turned to face her, Circe’s heart ached. Blood matted her hair and trailed down her pale cheek. Her shirt was torn, bloody, and dirty. One shoe was missing.
Out of the corner of her eye, Circe caught the snap of Zelda’s head right before her body stiffened, and her joyful run morphed into that of a dog working. Her legs dug into the ground and she spun back in Circe’s direction. She moved slowly along the trail she’d just come across, and her nose went down as she searched the ground along the river. A moment later, she alerted near the river’s edge.
“Good girl,” Circe said. “Good girl.” This time her voice broke.
The girl on the rock met her gaze, and tears fell from her dark-brown eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered before she faded away.
For a few minutes, Circe just knelt next to Zelda, stroking Zelda’s head. She’d just wanted to go for a run so she’d feel better. Like so much lately, it hadn’t worked out even close to the way she’d hoped. While she didn’t have Zelda’s reward toy with her, she did have some treats in the pocket of her hydration belt. “Good girl,” she said as she gave them to Zelda.
The treats gone, she sighed and pulled her cell phone out of the pocket. First she called Brian, then Diana. Finally she sent Lisa a message to wait for her in the Foley Center Library on the GU campus. As it turned out, she and Zelda were going to be a little late picking her up.
Chapter Twenty-one
Eve never steered him wrong, so he was willing to take her advice now. Ignore the bad behavior and give her a little space. In other words, lull her into a false sense of security. When the time was right, he would make certain she was gone once and for all. Of course he didn’t say that to Eve. He was pretty sure that wasn’t exactly what she meant.
Sometimes, even as smart as she was, Eve was oblivious. She thought of them as the holy trinity and believed they would be together forever. Oh, they were close and had been there for each other for years. That didn’t mean the status quo was the right way or the only way. He definitely saw things differently. The trinity, in his mind, had outlived its usefulness. It might have been important at one point, but not any longer. It was time for her to go, permanently.
Better to keep that to himself. Eve was calm and reasonable ninety percent of the time. Like all of them, she had her moments of temper. They weren’t a pretty sight, and he didn’t intend to bring one of them on. He still had much work to do but was close to bringing it all together. He didn’t want to let a marathon session of calming down Eve sidetrack him.
If he kept to the plan, things would turn glorious. She would be gone permanently and he would be free for the first time ever. Even better, he would have everything he could ever want. It was the promise he’d discovered in the De Nigromancia, and he believed in the promise even if no one else did. It had already delivered so much to him. The sheer joy he found in following the instructions gave him as much pleasure as the end result ensured.
As he walked toward the kitchen he stumbled when he stepped on another of her damn high heels. He leaned down, picked it up, and hurled it across the room. One day soon he was going to take every last one of her fucking shoes and burn them all in a giant bonfire out in the backyard. He might even roast hot dogs over the damn things. Not even the healthy chicken ones either. Oh no, he would buy the good-old fashioned mystery-meat variety, put them on the end of a dirty stick, and roast them over her burning shoes. She’d hate that.
In the kitchen he switched on the television. Most of the time he considered it nothing more than background noise, but today it caught his attention. Turning up the volume, he stood motionless and stared until the piece ended.
“God damn it.” He threw the remote at the flat-panel mounted on the wall. It bounced off the screen and crashed to the floor, where it broke into several pieces. He kicked the broken plastic across the room. It was fucking unbelievable. He had put her where no one should have found her, yet there they were—police, EMTs, news vans—all of them focusing on his work.
Then he saw her, standing off behind the crime-scene techs and uniformed officers. Her and that pain-in-the-ass dog. How in the hell did she even know to search there? She was like a bad rash that refused to go away. Every time he turned around, there she was with that dog searching out and uncovering his handiwork. Today was the last straw. No more toying with her. She was going away, one way or the other, and as he stood and stared at the news report an idea began to form in his mind.
The initial news report had turned his mood black, but now that he had a solid plan, his mood did a complete turnaround. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who had her up and down days. Or moods that could turn on a dime. Maybe she was rubbing off on him after all this time. Didn’t matter, because all of a sudden he felt good, and he was smiling as he made himself some lemonade. Despite the setback, the day was turning out to be a fine one after all. In fact, this wasn’t a setback at all. No, this was an opportunity tailor-made for his special skill set.
*
Diana had a bad feeling about this. It was almost as though the killer was watching them fumble around as they tried to find him and enjoying their failures and setbacks. They didn’t seem to be getting any closer to the bastard, and he knew it. He was laughing at them, toying with them.
If that wasn’t bad enough, all the murders were taking a toll on Circe and Zelda too. It wasn’t as obvious in the dog. She was tough and always ready to work, but Diana also sensed a sadness in Zelda that hadn’t been there on the first day. Violent death exacted a price from everyone, human and canine alike. She hoped Zelda would soon get a break.
In Circe the toll was much clearer to Diana. Of course, part of that had to be the closeness developing between them. They were in tune, and she’d never experienced that total sense of being dialed in to another person. It excited and frightened her all at the same time.
Nonetheless, the feeling of danger was also growing. This bastard didn’t appear to be inclined to stop killing, and each time they discovered another body, the danger seemed to step ever nearer to Circe and Zelda. She had to keep them close and make sure they were safe.
Circe touched Diana on the shoulder. “I need to go pick up Lisa. I’m already almost two hours behind schedule. I let her know we’d be really late, but I don’t want her to have to wait any lon
ger.”
She started to say okay and changed her mind. She needed eyes on Circe until they tracked this killer down. She wanted to know where she was all the time, if not actually be able to see her. Her reaction wasn’t reasonable, since it had taken years to find the last active serial killer in the area. But logic wasn’t playing a very strong hand at this particular point in time. She didn’t want Circe out of sight. She’d left her earlier today and look what had happened. It was going to be eyes-on from now on, at least until she had a sense of safety once more. Sadly that was missing at the moment.
“I have a better idea,” she said as she took Circe’s hand. “Paul, can you pick up Lisa from GU?”
“What? Leave the scene?”
He had a right to look surprised. This was an active crime scene, they were the lead detectives, and he should be here—under normal circumstances anyway, which of course these weren’t.
She nodded while tipping her head in Circe’s direction. “She’s been waiting for Circe for two hours.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it, understanding clear on his face. He nodded and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. “You run lead here and I’m on my way. Where’s she waiting?”
“Foley Center Library,” Circe told him. She took his hand and held it at her heart for a long moment. “Thank you.”
“I got her.” He patted Circe’s shoulder.
Diana appreciated his willingness to adapt. She would never ask to him to leave a crime scene if it wasn’t important. Accepting her request without lengthy explanation was one thing that made him the best partner possible. “Thanks.”
He nodded and jogged to his car. He was driving away when suddenly Circe went pale and started to shake. “What’s wrong?”
Her voice was shaking as she said, “They’re here.”
Diana looked around. All she saw were the same people who’d been working the scene for the last several hours. In fact, the first responders had left, so now the only ones remaining were the crime-scene folks finishing their work and investigators like herself and Paul, before he took off to get Lisa.
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