on, but I need to hear the rest of the tape. I remember Mrs. Blume calling me at the hotel later that night. I stop fast-forwarding and hit “play.”
Me: I came back to my room and saw a blinking light on the phone. It was a voice mail left by Mrs. Blume. The insistent tone in her voice was anything but calm. She wanted me to call her right away.
Dr. A: That must have been unsettling, Rylee.
Me: I called and she answered on the first ring but now she sounded unsure if she should have called. Or maybe she was afraid to call. She told me the detective I’d asked about had called her. Then he came to their house and asked questions about me. His name was Alex Rader. He told them I was an imposter bent on stirring up trouble.
Dr. A: That must have been a shock. A surprise. Did you think he was following you?
Me: Of course, I pretended to be at a loss why he would say that. But I know I have been an imposter my entire life. But so has he. He’s lived among the shadows, doing evil at night. During the day he masquerades as an upstanding citizen. A cop. I know that he’s killed all those girls. Maybe others. I know he has my mother right now. I just don’t know where.
I asked if they’d told him where I was.
She said, “No. I never trusted or liked him whatsoever. Neither did my husband. He was nothing more than a conceited snot that never gave one whit about Shannon. He said all the right words, but I knew he was just looking for a notch on his detective shield.”
I told her that I knew the type all too well. Such a fraud.
I gave her my thanks and our conversation ended with her saying, “I could tell when we talked that you care about Shannon.”
I hung up and my pulse quickened.
I remember ending that call, my adrenalin pumping. Alex Rader was trailing me. I wondered who would find who first? If it was a competition, I intended to win. Two minutes later I was on the road. Since Alex Rader was a cop, my respect for the cops nosedived that day. My stepfather, Rolland, once said that the police are limited in what they can do, but I know that there was at least one among them—and maybe more—who did what they wanted no matter the price. Going to the police? Mom went there for help and look how it turned out for her. It is one thing of two that I know she and I will agree on. The other is that Hayden must never know what I know to be true. Like Mom, I carry that burden now. I love my little brother too much to have him live a life knowing that his heart circulates poisoned blood.
Like mine.
Thirty-Seven
I drive on autopilot as if my car knows the way to the office. Leanne Delmont, Shannon Blume, Megan Moriarty. They are all victims of Alex Rader. They are on my mind. I wish I could avenge them again. I have killed Alex Rader, the serial killer. I have killed Marie Rader, his assistant and motivation to continue the killing spree. I thought I had cut the head off of the snake, but now it seems to have grown another.
I have to figure out who is finishing what those two sick, psychopathic assholes started.
I pull into the Sheriff’s Office parking area and automatically look up into the trees. Nan is out at the edge of the lot with a cigarette in one hand and a cell phone in the other. She sees me and hurriedly crushes the cigarette under the toe of her shoe and gets off the phone. As I get out of the car she walks past me.
“Good morning, Detective Carpenter.”
“Morning, Nan,” I say. I want to call her Nannette, her real name, but I know it bugs her and I don’t need to piss her off.
She goes inside and lets the door slam behind her. I go over to where she’s crushed out the cigarette. It has the same color of lipstick on the filter as the one I sent to the lab for testing. But it’s a Virginia Slim, not a Camel. I bag the cigarette butt.
Ronnie has beat me to work. She’s typing on her computer keyboard like a concert pianist. I motion for her to come to my