“About what?” Her eyes darted, searching his.
“Last night was more than I’d ever dreamed.”
She let out a breath of relief.
“What I have to tell you happened long before last night.”
She frowned, a crease digging between her eyebrows. “What is it?”
“I never really told you…” He trailed off, searching for the words. How could he describe how single minded he’d been? How ambitious? “Why don’t I show you?”
Throwing back the sheets, he thrust himself out of bed. Naked, he crossed the floor to the desk and picked up the folder.
The shrill ring of Sylvie’s phone cut through the room.
Sylvie grabbed the phone and brought it to her ear. “Hello?”
Bryce sat on the bed next to her, the folder in his hands.
Tears pooled in the corners of Sylvie’s eyes. “Bobby. I’m so glad to hear your voice. We’ll be right there.”
Diana
Diana didn’t have to see him to sense he was back.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
No answer.
Why should she expect anything else?
She was no one.
Nothing.
“I didn’t do this. He did.”
The voice was so quiet that at first she wondered if she heard it at all. “He? Who?”
“You should have told me you found your sister.”
“My sister?” A fresh wave of terror pumped into her bloodstream. “Sylvie?”
“Yes, Sylvie.”
That voice… It was so familiar. Diana recognized that voice. “Do I know you?”
Sylvie
When Sylvie had heard Bobby’s voice over the phone, she was so relieved she could hardly speak. Now that Bobby was awake, they’d find Diana for sure. Now that Bobby was awake, Perreth would have to keep them in the loop. Now that Bobby was awake, everything would be okay.
But seeing Bobby lying in the hospital bed—skin as white as the pillow his shaved head rested on, struggling for each molecule of oxygen from the tube threaded under his nose—she wasn’t so sure.
Bryce hung back, leaning against the jamb, as if to give her space to talk to Bobby before she had to explain his presence. A consideration she appreciated.
Crossing to the bed, Sylvie realized they weren’t alone. Giving the blond woman standing in the corner of the room a passing glance and nod, Sylvie stopped at Bobby’s bedside and focused on him. “How are you feeling?”
The corner of his lips twitched in a smile. “Great.”
At least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor. She took his hand in hers, carefully skirting the IV needle, and gave him a teasing smile that she didn’t feel. “I thought you were dead.”
“If you hadn’t found me so quickly, I might be.”
“I wish I would have found you a lot quicker than I did.”
“Why? So the bastard could have kidnapped you too?”
“So you know about Diana.”
He glanced at the woman in the corner. “Yes.”
Sylvie followed his gaze.
With thick blond hair and a face that could grace magazine covers, the woman should be beautiful. But there was something hard about her—a sharp glint in her eyes, a tension to her lips—something that made Sylvie a little uncomfortable.
“Sylvie, this is Valerie Ryker,” Bobby said. “She’s a consultant with the sheriff’s department.”
The woman stepped across the room and offered Sylvie her hand. “I’m sorry about your sister. I can assure you Detective Perreth and the local police are doing everything they can to find her.”
Sylvie wasn’t so sure about that, but she shook the woman’s hand anyway. “Thank you… detective?”
“I’m a civilian consultant, not an officer. Not anymore. Call me Val.”
“This is Bryce Walker. He’s been helping me.” It seemed like such a lame explanation, one that didn’t even begin to describe their relationship. But then, Sylvie wasn’t sure of their relationship herself, so how could she describe it to others?
Val narrowed her eyes on Bryce. “It’s nice to meet you, counselor.”
Bryce nodded but said nothing.
Bobby broke the silence. “Stan Perreth says you’ve been searching for Diana.”
Sylvie focused on Bobby. If she was in his place, no matter how weak she was, she’d want to know what was going on. All of it. “Did Perreth tell you about the burned body they found?”
“That’s part of what we need to talk to you about,” Bobby said. “Perreth was just here. He got a call from the lab.”
A cold sweat slicked Sylvie’s back.
Bryce crossed the waxed tile and stopped beside her.
She knew why he’d moved closer. To be there for her if…
“It’s not a match, Sylvie. It’s not Diana.”
Sylvie’s knees sagged like rubber.
Bryce placed a hand on her elbow, steadying her.
She gave him a grateful glance. She could handle this. If Diana was still alive, Sylvie could handle anything.
“There’s more,” Val said.
Sylvie’s mood plummeted back into worry, as if riding a roller coaster.
Bobby leaned his head back on his pillow. If possible, he looked worse than he had when they’d arrived.
“Ten days ago, the body of a woman was found up near Lake Loyal,” Val said.
Sylvie nodded. “I remember hearing something about that.”
“What you didn’t hear was that the body found Saturday in Madison that Perreth thought might be Diana had certain characteristics in common with that first victim near Lake Loyal.”
“What characteristics?” Bryce asked.
“Both victims were women, obviously. Both were killed with a knife. And there were other similarities, things I am not going to get into.”
Sylvie thought of the reasons Perreth had given for not letting her see the body. “Something was done to them that made them unrecognizable?”
“That’s where the second body differed. But virtually everything else matches. And the other elements of this killer’s signature are very distinctive.”
“Signature?” Sylvie had skimmed enough articles about Ed Dryden to know what that word signified. “Are you talking about a serial killer here?”
“It’s possible.”
For a civilian, Val sure gave answers that were as vague as any cop’s. The familiar hum grew louder in Sylvie’s ears. “Why are you telling us any of this?”
“Whoever killed these two women has a signature that is very close to a killer who struck Wisconsin a number of years ago.”
His name stuck in Sylvie’s throat.
“Ed Dryden,” Bryce supplied.
Val stared at Bryce a good long while, then nodded.
“But he’s in prison.” Sylvie’s voice barely rose above a whisper. The image of Diana running through the forest lodged in her mind. Diana being hunted like an animal, the way Ed Dryden had done with most of his victims. “How could he do this if he’s in prison? Is he in prison?”
“This isn’t Ed Dryden himself. He’s still at Bainsbridge. But whoever this is seems to be copying his signature nearly exactly.”
Sylvie’s mind jumped ahead—to why the lieutenant was telling her this, to what it had to do with her. With Diana. “They’re blond, aren’t they? The two women?”
“Yes.”
“And they look like Dryden’s original victims?”
“As far as we can tell. Yes.”
She thought of the scenario she and Bryce had discussed. “Do you think Dryden is controlling this copycat? Controlling him from his prison cell?”
“I suppose it could be possible. If he was communicating with someone on the outside.” Again Val’s gaze drilled into Bryce. “The copycat is reproducing details about Dryden’s murders that only someone privy to the case files would know.”