woman alone. Steven had access to a dozen different dogs...dogs to walk in a park...dogs to lure a woman closer.
Seth remembered how the dogs had silenced at Steven’s command, how the little terrier had instantly rolled over on his belly when Steven had approached. Had the little pup been looking for a belly scratch or had he been showing complete submission?
The killer liked power and who better to have power than an animal control officer who wielded authority over cage after cage of helpless animals?
“Steven Bradley,” Seth said to Tom as the sheriff approached. “I think it’s Steven Bradley. Get somebody to the pound and to his house. See if he can be found at either place.” Seth spoke at warp speed, his brain still processing.
“What should I do about Sam?” Tom asked.
“Cut him loose...no, wait.” The killer had a pattern. Like an ostrich. Bury their heads in the sand. Seth shot a glance out into the darkness of the dunes beyond where they stood.
“Hold him in custody,” Seth said as he hurried toward Sam’s quad runner. He heard Sam shout a protest through the closed car window as Seth started it up with a roar.
How cunning, to have all the law in town gathered right here while the Sandman completed his work in another area of the dunes. It was the kind of in-your-face thing that Steven would enjoy...just like leaving the little pile of sand behind when he’d tried to break into Tamara’s bedroom.
Seth gunned the engine, grateful that the machine had twin headlights. He powered them on and then began the search, certain in his heart, certain in his very soul that Steven was here someplace with Tamara. The only thing he didn’t know for certain was if it was already too late.
Chapter Fifteen
Tamara wished the stars were out. As she lay unmoving on her back, listening to the sounds of her grave being dug she wished there were stars twinkling down on her, a full moon to witness the very last moments of her life.
Steven had been silent as he dug, the scuff of the shovel against the sand a rhythmic white noise as she focused on the last thoughts she wanted in her mind when he buried her.
Seth. She wanted to be thinking about being wrapped in his arms as her feet were covered with sand. She wanted to fantasize that it was his weight covering her as the sand weighed down her middle. She wanted to remember the glow of his eyes, the taste of his lips as the sand finally fell over her face and she drew in her final breath.
She’d been afraid to embrace her love for him fully because of her feeling of something hanging over her head back home. But now she remembered what that something was and realized there was nothing holding her back from loving him completely and forever.
She would die loving him.
Her heart squeezed tight in her chest as the sound of the digging stopped and Steven’s face loomed over hers. “Time for bad mommies to face their punishment.”
He crouched down beside her and even though the only light source came from a flashlight he held in his hand, she could see the madness that radiated from his eyes. “You shouldn’t have pretended that you didn’t see when he beat me with that belt, when he broke my nose. You shouldn’t have buried your head in the sand when he twisted my arm until I screamed, when he kicked me so hard I couldn’t walk for two days.”
Tears oozed from her eyes and she realized they weren’t only tears for herself, but also for the little boy Steven Bradley had been, for the torment he’d apparently suffered when he’d been young and helpless.
He’d obviously been a victim of an abusive father and a mother who wouldn’t protect him, but that didn’t excuse the choices he was making now. That didn’t excuse the fact that he was trying to heal his past by killing innocent women.
He’d become a monster and now the monster was about to strike and she couldn’t move a muscle to stop him. As he grabbed her arms and began to drag her across the sand to the pit he’d prepared, terror blasted through her head. Seth, her brain cried out. She brought into focus in her mind a picture of him smiling, that crazy, sexy grin that filled her with warmth.
She hung on to the vision as she felt herself fall into the pit