she was alive. Emilia needed to do everything she could to keep her that way.
John peeled off his raincoat and dropped it on a plastic chair. He winced. “First things first, I have to change my dressing.” He glared at Emilia. “Your stupid boyfriend got in a lucky shot last night.”
A folding table held an assortment of items. Antibacterial ointment, gauze, and medical tape sat next to a few takeaway boxes from a popular fast-food restaurant. Emilia’s gaze darted around. They were in a house under construction. Large windows on the far side of the room provided views of the surrounding property. A lake, water rippling from the rain, sat in the distance.
“You own Ignite Development.” Emilia tugged against the zip ties on her wrist. They held fast. “You bought Derrick’s property to hide the bodies buried on it. Is that where we are?”
“We’re nearby.” John lifted his shirt, revealing a bandage along his rib cage. “This will be the model home for the residential neighborhood. Do you like it?”
She ignored his question. John peeled off the dressing. A nasty wound marred his side. It appeared infected to Emilia’s untrained eye and in need of stitches.
John opened a new package of gauze. “Derrick was supposed to take the fall for all the murders, but your escape messed up my plans.”
“You should’ve stopped when he died.”
“I couldn’t. The work wasn’t finished. Trouble was, once the police knew Derrick had a partner, they would look back at the cases and discover Alice was the first.”
On the other side of the room, close to Gretchen, was another table. It was covered in knives.
Emilia’s heart pounded in time with her head. John wanted to talk and she would use that to her advantage. It bought her time to come up with a plan.
She licked her lips. “You loved Alice, but she wasn’t interested in you. She wanted Malcolm, didn’t she?”
John slammed a hand down on the table. His cheeks were red above the line of his beard. “She was short-sighted. I could have given her everything, but she threw it all away.”
“You convinced Derrick to give her a ride home from the party.”
“She wouldn’t take one from me. I scared her.” John ripped off a piece of tape with more force than necessary. He used it to secure a new bandage to his side. “Derrick and I became friends after he started working for me. He hated Malcolm almost as much as I did.”
“Because they’re brothers. You were telling the truth about that.”
“Malcolm didn’t want to have anything to do with Derrick. Originally, we were going to frame Malcolm for Alice’s murder, but…” A slow smile stretched across his face. “It was amazing killing her. I didn’t want to stop. Neither did Derrick. He liked watching. It was the perfect partnership. We devised a plan to keep going, but we had to be smart about it, so the police wouldn’t catch on.”
They had been smart. Killing at Christmastime, taking women from different areas. It was only when the bodies started showing up in public parks law enforcement caught on to what was happening. And even then, Sheriff King had prevented the task force from getting the full picture. His incompetence had cost lives.
The zip ties binding Emilia’s wrists wouldn’t give. She had nothing to cut them with. The table of knives was too far away for her to reach. “Whose idea was it to use the murder of Henry’s aunt as inspiration?”
“Mine. I was there when she was killed, playing with the other kids in the yard. Everyone thought it was Henry who found her, but it was me. My fascination with death started that day and grew from there.” John lowered his shirt. His eyes sparkled. “As much trouble as you’ve caused me, my pet, it’s been worth it. I’m almost glad you escaped.”
He’d sent her the poinsettias. John was on the trail when they found his victim in the park. He wanted to be interviewed afterward so he could point Emilia toward Malcolm. It’d all been a game to him. Terrorizing Emilia fueled his sick desire.
Anger heated her cheeks. “You won’t get away with it, John. Law enforcement was on the way to Henry’s house. They’ll find your sister on the road.”
“She’ll be dead by then. Her husband is at my house, tied up. My stupid sister finally realized I was the killer. Can you believe Henry showed up and asked me to confess? Turn myself in? What a joke. I’ll frame