wasted four hour drive.”
He snorted derisively. “Your time isn’t my concern.”
Obviously. I wistfully thought about Danny combing through Joseph’s work records. And Kevin and Nick, who’d gone to talk to Joseph’s old circle of friends. Or Tabitha, lost in researching the three copycat victims by now, her desk littered with food wrappers and empty coffee cups. Nirvana.
I guess Danny was right, though, and I was stuck with the psycho I chose.
I held in a sigh and nudged the folder closer to him. “Would you like to talk more about the Roses?” It killed me to call them that, but he wouldn’t respond otherwise. I pointed at the one on top, a young woman with a thick fall of blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Melissa Todd had been a preschool teacher with two kids. She’d disappeared on her way home from work. “What about her?”
He leaned forward, elbows on the table. His curly hair was looser today, a little frizzy from the heat, and fell into his eyes. “Light me up, Doc, or this meeting is already over.”
He was lucky I hadn’t stuffed the cigarettes with TNT. I stifled a sigh as I reached in my pocket and pulled out a lighter. I spun the thumbwheel, watching as flint met wick and sparked into fanatical flame. In the flickering light, it seemed like his eyes were on fire. I saw the wrinkles. The lines around his eyes. The puffed pockets of flesh pillowing the muscles of his jaw. It bothered me that this was the last face all his victims saw, this merciless hulk of a man intent on taking the ultimate sacrifice.
I pulled back quickly, flipping the cap on the lighter. I stuck it back in my pocket. “So, Melissa Todd. What’s her story?”
“I told you before. They don’t have names. She was my American Beauty, for obvious reasons.” He blew out a cloud of smoke on a soft exhale. “She had a flat tire, and I offered to change it. I used a screwdriver to punch a hole in the spare and told her that was flat too.”
“How did you get her in your van?”
“I offered her a ride to the nearest filling station. I could see in her eyes that she didn’t trust me, but she got in anyway. Probably because of the rain. I only hunted when it rained. A storm is even better.”
His eyes took on a glazed look, lost in his awful memories. I hated to admit it, but his inclement weather policy was a smart move, yet another reason he’d operated under the radar so long. Not only did the rain provide excellent cover, but people did all kinds of things they usually wouldn’t do to get out the elements. A mile walk to the nearest gas station didn’t seem quite so appealing in the pouring rain.
“What happened then?” I asked.
“What do you think?” He flicked an annoyed gaze my way for interrupting his reverie. “We had four days of fun before it was time to say goodbye. I was willing to give her a fifth, but she begged me to end it. So I did.”
I swallowed bile. “Where did you kill her?”
“Home. Always home.”
“And how did you hide them from Delilah Rose?”
“I didn’t.”
He smoked quietly as I digested that information. We’d always played with the theory that Delilah Rose had been aware of the abductions and killings, but we’d never had confirmation. The picture of Delilah Rose morphed in my mind from a victim to a willing participant. It wasn’t a pleasant shift.
Kane smiled as he finally got the reaction he was looking for. “She patched ’em up when I was done. Got ’em ready for round two.” He let out a smoky chuckle. “God, they’re so fucking beautiful when they beg.”
I’m sure you’ll be just as vocal when it’s your turn.
Fire ignited in his eyes as he stubbed out his cigarette on the table, and I realized a few important things rather quickly. A.) I’d spoken aloud, and B.) the guards hadn’t seen fit to reshackle those big bruiser hands after they’d brought Kane back from lunch.
I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he left his seat. Or when he lunged across the table. It was as though someone had paused time, rearranged the scene—with Kane up in my face, my shirt balled in his fist—and then pressed Play. We grappled for a minute as I tried to ward off his attack.
I guess some part of me had always known this was