She climbed inside the SUV and locked the doors. Her heart beat was deafening in the confines of the cab. She glared at herself in the rearview mirror and muttered, “Get a hold of yourself. You’re acting like a frightened school girl.”
Pushing aside the anxiety that still swirled around her like a palpable cloud, she fired up the Jeep’s engine and guided the vehicle out of the parking lot, determined not to squander the opportunity she’d been given.
And determined to stop jumping at shadows.
Basements weren’t possible in southern Mississippi for two reasons: a high water table and a layer of shifting clay within the ground. That was why so many old houses had immense attic space to compensate.
Above or below ground didn’t matter to him though. All he needed was privacy and the attic offered it.
The doorway was well-hidden. He’d made certain it wouldn’t be noticed by the casual observer. Not that he had many visitors.
A door in the second-floor hall opened to stairs that led to a portion of the attic. A very small portion used for actual storage. The rest of the attic could be accessed by a false panel concealed behind an oversized print of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2. The Cubist painting depicted both a woman and a staircase that were all blocks and overlapping angles with little separating the moving nude figure from the irregular background.
The irony was too much. He laughed every time he opened the panel and climbed the hidden stairs, as he did now. Reaching the top step, he entered the wide expanse that was his private heaven.
Shelves containing his most precious collection lined the walls. Bins filled with all the bits needed to create his masterpieces were arranged in a neat row on his workstation. Lamps hung overhead and bathed the table in soft light.
He pulled a rolling stool from under the table and sat down with a sigh. It felt good to be returning to work. He pushed a button on a remote control and the opening overture for Carmen filtered through concealed speakers. His eyes dipped shut. The music surrounded him, caressed him, and lulled his senses into a calm.
Tonight had been a very good night. He’d seen her. It had been a brief glimpse only, but it had been enough to rekindle his desire, to assure him that his work was not in vain.
He’d even heard her voice. Her sweet, angelic voice calling to him, seeking him out.
Opening his eyes, he removed the protective drape from his current work. It was crude but the subtle features were taking shape in the face. Each doll he created was perfect, an exact copy of the Living Doll he’d seen long ago. Each imbued with the vital essence he hoped would bring her to him.
His gaze flickered across the attic to his latest acquisition.
She stared at him, eyes wide and wild. She hadn’t struggled in the same manner as her predecessor so the bindings were minimal. Bands across her forehead and throat kept her head immobile. Her arms lay naturally along her sides with black straps holding them securely in place at the elbows and wrists. A special harness crossed over her shoulders and then over her stomach. More straps held her thighs and shins in place. She said nothing even though her mouth remained uncovered.
He smiled and picked up the new doll’s head from the table.
This one was special.
This was the one that would finally bring the Living Doll to him.
This was the one that would make her his.
Forever.
Blood Law is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
A Dell Mass Market Original
Copyright © 2010 by Jeannie Holmes
Excerpt of Blood Secrets copyright © 2010 by Jeannie Holmes
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Dell, an imprint of
The Random House Publishing Group, a division
of Random House, Inc., New York.
DELL is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.,
and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
This book contains an exerpt from the forthcoming book Blood Secrets by Jeannie Holmes. This excerpt has been set for this edition only andmay not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.
eISBN: 978-0-440-33962-5
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