Die for Me: A Novel of the Valentine Killer

by Cynthia Eden

  The blonde’s gaze was worried as it lingered on Katherine. Not worried in the jealous way. Just worried.

  Joe pushed the to-go order toward Ben, and the couple headed toward the door. Katherine exhaled slowly. Her gaze swept over the diner. Joe had put out a few dozen red tablecloths for Valentine’s Day. The red was dark—and it reminded her far too much of blood. Joe had also put bouquets of white balloons in each corner of the restaurant. His patrons were smiling, relaxing, obviously enjoying the decorations.

  But those decorations just made Katherine tense.

  Valentine’s Day is so close.

  The bell jingled again. She figured it was Ben and his blonde leaving, so she didn’t glance back. But then she heard, “Katherine.”

  Dane’s voice.

  She turned toward the door.

  Ben and the blonde weren’t outside yet. Dane and Mac had come into the café. They looked grim, determined.

  Another kill? She stood on trembling legs. Oh no, please…

  “Dane?” The blonde said his name in surprise. She glanced between Dane and Katherine. “Is everything okay?”

  “Nothing for you to worry about, Maggie,” Dane said as he gave her a quick nod. His gaze scanned over Ben. Then he hurried toward Katherine. His voice dropped, and he said, “You need to come with me.”

  “Katherine, is this a friend of yours?” Joe asked as his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  Ben had tensed.

  Maggie also appeared nervous. “He’s a cop,” Katherine heard the blonde tell Ben. “He works with my dad.”

  Katherine slid off the stool. “It’s okay, Joe. This is Detective Dane Black.”

  Dane tossed some money down on the counter. “Come on, Katherine.”

  She hurried to grab her bag. The plainclothes shadow was also rising to leave.

  “But she didn’t eat!” Joe called out.

  It didn’t matter. Suddenly she wasn’t hungry.

  Then they were outside. The rising heat hit her in the face, and before she could head toward Dane’s parked car, he was pulling her away from the street and into the shadows on the side of the building.

  “Do you trust me?” Dane demanded as his hands closed around her shoulders.

  She tensed. Katherine didn’t want to give him the harsh answer, but the truth was, she didn’t trust anyone.

  “I need you to trust me, Katherine.”

  She could only shake her head. “I’m sorry.”

  A muscle flexed in his jaw. “I think the killer has been very close to you, Katherine. Close all along, and you didn’t even realize it.”

  Her skin started to feel icy.

  “Amy Evans used to be Amy Lancaster.”

  The ice started to burn.

  “As in Trent’s ex-wife.”

  Dane led Katherine to the interrogation room, making sure to keep his hand light on her shoulder. They’d come in the back entrance to make sure no press saw them. Or rather, her.

  Trent was just coming out of the captain’s office, with Evelyn at his side.

  Dane didn’t glance their way as he led Katherine by them.

  “Katherine!” Trent tried to hurry to her.

  Mac pushed the guy back. “Sir, you need to back away.”

  Dr. Knight jumped in. “I told you, Trent, she’s a disturbed woman.”

  Dane’s teeth locked, and his finger skimmed over Katherine’s shoulder. Her whole body had tensed, and he knew fury when he felt it, but Katherine didn’t say a word to her ex-shrink. Though her eyes sure looked pissed.

  Since she wasn’t talking, he was more than happy to say, “Dr. Knight, why don’t you keep those opinions to yourself for now?”

  He walked right past the FBI profiler. He’d called Wayne in for this scene, and the agent’s head inclined just slightly. Dane might not like the profiler, but he would use him.

  He would use almost anyone to get his job done.

  Ross was around too, but staying out of sight for the time being. Like the marshal would have let them bring Katherine into the station again without his okay.

  When Dane had called him, Ross had been hesitant about the plan, but he’d finally agreed. Once he’d realized this gave them their best shot at stopping a killer, Ross had been ready to come on board.

  Dane opened the door to interrogation room one and escorted Katherine inside. She eased into a chair and stared up at him.

  He could see the fear in her eyes. Was she afraid he was setting her up? Evelyn had sure come across strong in her belief that Katherine was a killer, but he knew one thing that the shrink didn’t know.

  “You had an alibi when Amy Evans vanished,” he said. “You were under surveillance. The cops were watching you.”

  Trent had been pissed when he left Katherine’s place after their date. So angry that he’d gone out and gotten a little revenge on his ex?

  Maybe.

  Or maybe the plan had been to murder Amy all along, and to use Katherine just to raise suspicion about Valentine once more.

  Dane had to see if he could connect the dots between their first victim and the not-so-good doctor.

  His fingers brushed her arm. “Just stay here. I’ll be back soon.”

  He might even be returning with an audience.

  When he was at the door, he glanced back at her. Just that fast, it looked like her fear was gone. There was no trace of any emotion in her eyes.

  Her hand lifted, and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Then she rolled her right shoulder, as if pushing away a burden.

  Dane left the interrogation room and kept his face set in hard, tense lines. He carried his own darkness. One that he worked so hard to hide from others.

  “What’s going on?” Trent demanded as Dane approached him. “Why is Kat here?”

  Dane ground his teeth at the use of “Kat.”

  “According to your partner,” Dane said, inclining his head toward Evelyn, whose eyes were worried, “Katherine may have important evidence to contribute to this case.”

  “What are you talking about?” Trent yanked a hand through his disheveled hair. “How could she have evidence?”

  “You really don’t know who she is?” Mac asked, cocking his head.

  Marcus the profiler was watching from just a few feet away.

  Trent shook his head.

  “You ever hear of the Valentine Killer?” Dane said.

  Trent’s brows lowered. “Vaguely. I don’t really follow the news.” The guy actually sounded impatient. What a prick.

  “Three years ago, a man named Michael O’Rourke killed four women in Boston.” Four they knew of. “He kidnapped them, bound their hands and feet with rope, used his knife to slice their arms, then drove his knife into each woman’s heart.”

  Trent stumbled back and bumped into the captain. “Like what happened with Amy.”

  Dane kept his stare on the man.

  Trent’s gaze darted to the closed interrogation room door. “Was Katherine a victim who got away?”

  Mac pressed closer. “Katherine was the killer’s fiancée.”

  Trent blanched. “What?”

  Dr. Knight bit her lip. “Trent—”

  “She found him right after he killed Stephanie Gilbert,” Dane said. “Katherine is the one who called the cops, but they didn’t arrive in time to catch Valentine. He vanished, and the FBI has been looking for him ever since.”

  Trent’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His gaze turned to Evelyn. There was fury in his eyes. “You said she was damaged.”

  “She is, and—”

  He lifted his hand. His fingers were rock steady as his eyes came back to Dane’s. “Was she in on the killings? Is that what this is about? Dammit, do you think she killed Amy?”

  This was what they’d wanted. To see the doctor’s reaction. To push him for a response. “What do you think?” Dane asked.

  “I think I didn’t know her at all. I thought she was vulnerable, hurt. She seemed to need me.” His eyes squeezed shu
t. “Did I mention Amy to her? Did I show her a picture? I can’t remember.”

  “It would have been easy enough for her to find out about your ex,” Dr. Knight said. “Actually”—she looked stricken as she paused and confessed—“I might have even told her. I just can’t be sure.”

  They had the doctor off-balance. Now it was time to move this into interrogation. Dane glanced at the captain, who gave a faint nod. “Let’s go someplace private, where we can talk more.”

  Mac led Trent and Evelyn toward the second interrogation room, which was just a few feet from the one where Katherine waited. Trent’s gaze darted to that room, again and again.

  Neither the profiler nor the captain followed them into the room. They were going to watch from the observation area.

  Once inside, Mac stood at his usual position near the wall.

  Dane took a seat across from the two shrinks. If anyone in the room was skilled at playing head games…

  He’d have to tread carefully.

  “Do either of you know a Savannah Slater?” Dane asked.

  Dane saw Trent’s eyelashes flicker.

  “The name is familiar,” Dr. Knight murmured. Her brow furrowed, and then she inhaled sharply. “Wait, is she that poor reporter who was killed?”

  “Yes, Dr. Knight—”

  “Evelyn,” she murmured, cutting through his words. “At this point…” Her smile was tired. “Just call me Evelyn.”

  “Savannah Slater was killed last week.”

  “In a manner very similar to your ex-wife’s murder,” Mac added, his gaze ever watchful.

  Trent’s shoulders sagged. “I knew her. And I knew Amy.”

  It was exactly what Dane had been hoping to hear. His gaze cut to Mac.

  Mac’s right eyebrow lifted.

  Dane’s gaze slid back to his suspect.

  Trent licked his lips. “Savannah and I went out a few times. Nothing serious.”

  “When was this?” Dane kept his voice expressionless.

  “About six months ago.” Trent’s hands pushed against the tabletop. “Maybe seven. We met in a club. She was smart and pretty.” He paused, then added softly, “A long-legged brunette.”

  “Just your type,” Evelyn whispered. “Just like Katherine.”

  “What is it that you’re saying here?” Trent asked as he leaned forward. There was a harder intensity entering his voice.

  Evelyn put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  “Are you telling me,” Trent continued, eyes glinting, breath coming faster, “that you suspect Katherine was involved in these crimes? That she killed these women?” His eyes widened. “Why? Because she was jealous?” He looked around the room. “Okay, I did hook up with Savannah while Katherine and I were dating, but Katherine never really seemed to care that much what I did or who I did it with.”

  The guy was such a charmer. And he was sure doing a whole lot of talking.

  Evelyn bit her lip. Oh, yeah, that lady had things she was dying to say. But probably couldn’t, thanks to good old doctor-patient confidentiality.

  Evelyn’s fingers tightened around Trent’s shoulder. “Are you going to question Katherine?” she asked.

  Dane nodded.

  “I should have stopped her.” Now Evelyn’s eyes were haunted. “When she told me about the nightmares and the blood she kept seeing, I should have stopped her.” Her breath rasped out. “But I was too worried about my career, about losing everything that I’d built if I didn’t keep my mouth shut.”

  Trent turned his head toward her and frowned.

  Evelyn’s shoulders straightened. “But I don’t care what I lose at this point. I can’t let anyone else get hurt.”

  Dane waited. Even Mac had taken a step closer to the table.

  “I’ve spent hours with Katherine. Many hours…” Evelyn’s words were soft. “She can seem so normal, but there were times I’d catch her watching me. She’d give me responses she thought she was supposed to give. All she was doing was pretending.” Her voice was now a stark whisper. “When I told her what I suspected, Katherine stopped therapy.”

  “And you suspected—what, exactly?” Mac asked.

  “That Katherine Cole has sociopathic tendencies. Her emotional responses are stunted, if they are there at all. She mimics the behavior of others, but…” Evelyn shook her head. “I’m not sure if she feels anything at all.”

  Dane maintained his expressionless mask. “So you think Katherine is as crazy as Valentine?”

  Evelyn licked her lips. “I think she is just as dangerous as he is.”

  “But you didn’t think she was an immediate threat to anyone, right? Because if you had, then you would have been obligated to report that to the police.” Dane knew how doctor-patient confidentiality situations worked. He’d handled cases before in which a breach had been necessary. If there was no specific threat…

  “Katherine never said she was planning to hurt or kill anyone.” Evelyn’s voice was still soft, but her shoulders straightened and she met Dane’s stare head-on. “But I’ve been working with troubled patients my entire professional career. I know what I’m talking about here. I know that Katherine is a threat.”

  A threat who had an alibi for Amy’s murder.

  Trent swore.

  “I warned you,” Evelyn snapped at Trent, sounding both defensive and scared. “You didn’t listen to me. The woman is dangerous, but you looked at her and saw some kind of broken damn princess. You always do that. You always go for the weak ones.”

  “Why was she even in therapy?” Mac asked quietly. “Why go to see you in the first place if she was just going to pretend with you?”

  Her smile was sad. “Because Katherine knows that something is wrong with her. She knows that the impulses she has are bad. I honestly believe that she wants to stop herself, but she can’t.”

  Not what Dane had been hoping to hear during this little talk. “Don’t we all have the capacity for violence, though, Doc? Deep inside, just waiting to come out?”

  “Well, yes,” she admitted, “under the right circumstances, I suppose, but—”

  “It’s all about motivation, huh?” Dane asked, struggling to keep his voice mild. “I mean, it’s about the trigger. And I’ve sure seen lots of triggers during my years in homicide.”

  Evelyn’s frown had deepened.

  “People can kill because of jealousy, lust, greed…” His gaze returned to Trent. “They can also kill because they’re damn pissed off at an ex who cleaned them out. And maybe—just maybe—one night during a chat with a coworker, the perfect opportunity presented itself.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Trent demanded as he surged to his feet. His chair flew back and slammed into the floor with a crack.

  “Easy.” Mac was there instantly, locking a hard hand around the guy’s arm. Mac could always move so much faster than people realized. The quiet, deadly type. One of the reasons he made such a great partner.

  Dane also rose to his feet. “I’m saying to drop the act, Doc,” he snapped as he dropped his own mild veneer. “You’ve known about Katherine’s past for quite some time, so stop acting like you’re shocked to discover her real identity.”

  Trent’s gaze flew from him to Mac and then to Evelyn. Dane could almost see the wheels turning in Trent’s head as the guy tried to figure out his next move.

  Figure faster, jerk.

  “Trent?” Evelyn whispered.

  Trent gave a grim nod. His shoulders thrust back even as his chin jutted up in the air. And damn it all, he even gave that arrogant-ass sniff again as he said, “Hell yes, I knew. So what?”

  And that was what Dane had needed to hear. “Well, that leads me to my next question. What is your alibi for both Saturday and Sunday? I want places, I want names. Everything.”

  “You think he’s a suspect.” Evelyn rocked back in her chair. “But I just told you about Katherine.”

  “Yes, you did, but Katherine has an airtight alibi. She’s covered for Am
y’s murder.” His stare drifted between Trent and Evelyn. “Are you, Dr. Lancaster?”

  “They sure lawyered up damn fast,” the police captain said to Dane as the two men watched the shrinks huddling with their high-priced lawyers in the interrogation room. Lawyers who had busted ass getting down to the station.

  “Figured they would,” Dane said.

  The more he learned, the more it looked like these murders weren’t about a serial killer at all. They were about a jerk who wanted out of alimony payments. Had the reporter just been his setup kill? To make the cops to think Valentine was involved? Or Katherine? Hell, the guy could have learned all about Valentine if he’d gone through the notes that Evelyn had doubtlessly taken during her sessions with Katherine.

  Just then, Trent glanced up and stared at the mirror. There was no missing the fury in his eyes.

  The lawyers rose, followed by Trent and Evelyn. They said some final words and headed for the door together.

  Dane and Harley moved to cut them off. As they met in the bull pen, another door opened. Katherine appeared in the doorway of interrogation room one as Mac escorted her out.

  Perfect timing. Timing they’d planned.

  Trent’s gaze flew to Katherine. Then back to Dane.

  “What’s her alibi?” Trent demanded as he pushed his lawyer away.

  Katherine flinched.

  The captain locked a hand on Dane’s shoulder. “This is what we wanted, remember?” Harley said under his breath.

  Trent was just a few feet from Katherine now. “Where were you when Amy was being sliced open?”

  Katherine’s nostrils flared. “I was with the cops. They had me under surveillance.”

  Trent’s head whipped toward Dane. “You’re screwing the cop. That’s why he’s trying to pin these kills on me.” His face was mottled with fury. “I knew what you were. I saw Evelyn’s files. She thought your case was so damn special.”

  Evelyn gasped behind him.

  Trent’s gaze raked Katherine once more. “What made a killer spare you when he killed every other woman who looked just like you?” He paused and glanced between Katherine and Dane. “But you got to the cop, didn’t you?”

  Beside Dane, Harley had stiffened.

  “I saw the way you looked at her this morning,” Trent continued. “I saw. And I’ll be damned if I let you two set me up.”