Two for Joy - Louise Collins Page 0,35
to believe, hear what they want to hear, see what they want to see.”
“Wait, they want him to be a killer?”
“In their stupid little minds, it would explain his behavior. Like he told me, people fear what they don’t understand. They think they’ve solved the puzzle that is Chad. They don’t get it though. Chad’s supposed to have jagged edges, missing pieces, that’s how we fit together so perfectly, but they’ve took his broken parts, forced them together, and made a picture of a monster.”
“Right…”
“They’re wrong.”
“Sorry, you’ve lost me.”
“And now they’ve made him run, and he needs me,” Romeo stopped by his bars, tightening his hands around them. “But I can’t get out. I’m stuck in here, and I can’t do anything.”
“Tell me about it, I was just thinking—”
“Shut up, Will, your job’s to listen right now.”
“Noted.”
“But if the killer’s not Chad, and he never told anyone, then how does the copycat know about the magpie.”
“What’s with you an magpies, huh?”
Romeo frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You and those dreams you have, shouting Chad’s name and rambling about magpies.”
Romeo’s heart missed a beat. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
“What?”
“Will…”
“Yes?”
“Who have you told?”
“Everyone knows about Chad—”
“No. Who have you told about the magpies?”
“No one.”
Romeo pressed his face into the bars. “Force that one brain cell of yours to work and tell me.”
“Well, I might have mentioned it once to Holly.”
“Holly?” Romeo said, feeling suddenly breathless.
“Yeah, I told you months ago, Ben, the rookie, took her on a tour of the crazies. She stopped at my cell and asked whether I could give her an insight on you, being your neighbor and all. She asked whether you did anything strange, and I said no, but you had nightmares, dreams about Chad, the farmhouse, and magpies.”
“What did you say?”
“Not a lot, just that the dreams tormented you, and have since you arrived.”
Romeo backed away from the bars. “Holly Stevenson…”
“So why do you dream of magpies?”
“Night, Will.”
****
Holly stepped into the room with a big smile on her face. Romeo didn’t match it, he glared until her smile fell and she averted her gaze. He’d spent two days in his cell thinking it over, running the idea of her as the killer through his head. Unlike with Chad, the thought didn’t evolve into a fantasy, it stayed as a nightmare.
Holly couldn’t be the copycat, her manicured nails, her innocent smile, not to mention she was small. Romeo smirked, but looks could be deceiving, he was proof of that.
Holly came closer, put her files on the table then sat down. “I was so relieved when you finally accepted my visit.”
“Killing people feels good, doesn’t it?”
Holly recoiled. “What?”
“Them helpless, there to take your anger out on.”
“I—”
“To hit, to bludgeon, then wrap your hands around their necks and…”
“Stop this.”
He could see the repulsion in her eyes.
“It feels good, like you’re untouchable, a god. The rush of it, it’s so intense, nothing else comes close to feeling someone die in your hands. I always knew it would feel good, it was what I was born to do—”
“You weren’t born to kill.”
“Yes, I was. Do you like what I did?”
“Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“It’s immoral, twisted. You killed innocent people…”
“So if they weren’t innocent you would’ve liked what I did.”
“No!”
Romeo kept searching, but he couldn’t see it in her eyes. Obsessed, lustful, possessive, but not a killer.
Holly wasn’t the Copycat Killer.
She started gathering her things.
“Wait.” Romeo said.
“I don’t want to talk to you when you’re like this.”
“I just needed to be sure.”
“Sure of what?”
Romeo turned away. “That you’re not like me.”
“In what way? A killer?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m a journalist, and a psychologist, not a murderer, nor am I someone who gets aroused at the idea of murder. I’m not a member of your twisted fan club.”
“This whole time you’ve been quizzing me to find a reason rather than accepting I’m a monster and killing is what I was born to do.” He shook his head. “There’s no way it could be you.”
“What isn’t me?”
“Months ago, you spoke to Will in the cell next to me, and he told you I have nightmares.”
“Yes, I remember. He said you call out about Chad, the farmhouse, and magpies.”
“Did you write about magpies in your article?”
“Why are you afraid of them?”
“Answer me.”
Holly licked her lips. “I mentioned your nightmares, and the significance of magpies.”
“What significance? What do you mean?”
“Why you’d dream of magpies, the meaning behind such dreams, and most articles said about them being negative, but there was one I found interesting. The magpie visits you to tell you