“Is this funny?” Darcy asked, and this time, I thought it was a valid question. It could be humorous, in a twisted sort of way. Dragging the police all over town, from one faux grave site to the next. What fun it would be for him to-
I froze up. He wouldn’t want to miss all the action. He must be watching. Just so he could savor the fun a little longer.
I looked all around. We were on the very outskirts of town, surrounded by high, dusty hills. Lots of potential vantage points.
I waved for Granger. I wanted him to send his boys into the hills to see what they could find. But even as I told him, I knew they wouldn’t catch our killer. He was much too careful for that. He was already leaving.
Because he’d been watching me all along. I was certain of it.
A cold shudder coursed down my spine. He was way ahead of us. He had been way ahead of us all along. We were just playthings to him.
I grabbed Darcy and tugged him back toward my car. I didn’t want to be here any longer. I didn’t want to be anywhere near here.
How could I possibly catch this man when he was so much smarter than I was?
I don’t like going to these dead places. I don’t like seeing dead people or touching them or thinking about them. I don’t like killing things. No one should ever kill someone. I would never kill someone.
Susan was still stinky today. She smells like that yucky bottle with the brown stuff that looks like apple juice but isn’t that my dad opens at night when he’s reading or writing or thinking about Mom. It makes him stinky, too, but he never drinks enough of it to last long. I know Susan has brushed her teeth and crunched on mints and she has a pretty smile doesn’t she but she’s still stinky I can smell it even when she thinks it isn’t there anymore. I wish Susan wasn’t stinky because I like Susan but I don’t like stinky. People should not be stinky.
Coffee is also stinky, but not as much stinky. I hope I never find the axe I hope no one does because I don’t want to see it like when Margaret Hayes bumped Alice Tucker at school and she cut her lip on the water fountain and the blood streamed everywhere and I thought it was funny and everyone told me it wasn’t funny but I couldn’t help but laugh because she looked so silly with her lip swollen and that red stuff all over her face. I got in trouble but I don’t know why because I didn’t push her and she wasn’t really hurt but I wish the bad man would not cut up his people I don’t like it when he cuts up people. I don’t like him at all but I like Susan and if Susan wants to take me to these places I guess I’ll go.
Why doesn’t she see it? It is so obvious. I would tell her but I’m afraid then I’d get in trouble like I did with the water fountain because I don’t understand something like they always tell me I just don’t understand and I don’t want to get in trouble anymore ever again. Especially not with Susan.
I wasn’t particularly upset when I returned to headquarters and found Patrick sitting at my desk. I’m not that easy to set off. But I was surprised-and enraged-to find daytime TV’s favorite non-doctorate-possessing doctor sitting on the opposite side.
“May I ask what you’re doing here?”
Dr. Spencer barely even looked up. “I’m trying to catch the man who killed my daughter. Not to mention another-make that two other girls.”
“Don’t you have some important housewives’ crisis you could be working on? The heartbreak of psoriasis or something.”
That got her. “I’ve begun my own investigation. I’m setting up shop at the Transylvania, where this case began. I came here to inform the local authorities. Even though we are conducting separate inquiries, I hope we can still share information.”
“I’ll bet you do. Since we have some and you don’t.”
Patrick evidently thought this would be a good time to intervene, with the hope of possibly avoiding bloodshed. “Under instructions from Washington, I’ve given Dr. Spencer selected portions of our draft profile, Susan.”
“What?”
“Particularly those parts dealing with what we know about the killer’s preferred victims.”
“Are you crazy? That could compromise the whole investigation! What if she reveals everything we’ve got to her television audience? She could force the killer to change his MO.”
“That is a possibility, but-”
“This stinks to high heaven, Patrick. Did she threaten the department?”
Spencer rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Lieutenant. I simply informed your superiors that I will be giving a prominent prime-time interview tonight. They thought it best to arm me with information so that I could protect potential victims. Frankly, I don’t understand why you haven’t already done this yourself. I can only assume that it is another reflection of your… currently unstable condition.”
The problem was, she said it so convincingly I almost believed it myself. “You’re just ticked off because you couldn’t get me fired.”
“That was never my goal.”
“Like hell. You gave it your best shot at that press conference. Turned out you didn’t have as much clout as you thought.”
She rose out of the chair and looked me square in the face. “The only thing that saved you, Lieutenant Pulaski, is that timely care package that you say came from the killer. Since he has chosen to communicate with you directly, your superiors thought it would be unwise to dismiss you at this time. But that won’t last forever.”
She grabbed her coat and purse but couldn’t resist a final addendum. “Not if I have anything to say about it. And believe me, I do.”
They didn’t want to let her see me, damn it. And I had made a point of stopping at a gas station, checking my looks. My breath. Putting on makeup. Hell, I even tweezed! And Ozzie and Harriet still didn’t want to let me see her.
“I called NDHS. They say I’m allowed.”
“At designated times,” Ozzie said. He was standing tall, but his nervousness showed. We both knew I could knock him down like a bowling pin. But that probably wouldn’t be in my long-term best interests. “You’ve missed the last two.”
“I’ve been very busy at work. Big murder case. Maybe you’ve read about it.”
“We saw you on the TV,” Harriet said. She was barely visible under the crook of her husband’s arm. “I thought that Spencer woman was very rude.”
“And honest,” her spouse groused.
“Look, could I just see my niece? I’m not planning to take her away. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.”
I stared at the man. We were practically nose to nose. “You’re trying to sniff my breath.”
He gave me a “Who, me?” look.
“Here, let me make it easier for you.” I leaned forward and breathed on his nose. He winced. “Okay?”
“You come back at your designated visitation time. You’ve got one on Monday after school.”
I wanted to scream. “Why are you being like this?”
“If we are to establish any order in young Rachel’s life, we have to maintain a schedule that she can depend upon and-”
“Susan!” Without warning, Rachel surged past him. He reached for her, but she was too fast for him. She threw her arms around me and hugged tightly. I buried myself in her lovely auburn hair. “Susan! God, I’ve missed you!”
“I’ve missed you, too, honey.” I stared at her, long and hard. “You look great. Is that a new dress?”
“Yeah.” She whispered in my ear. “I think they’re trying to buy my good graces. Of course, it isn’t working.”
That was my Rachel.
“Where have you been?”
“I’ve been chasing this killer, sweetie. Have you read about it?”
“Are you kidding? They don’t talk about anything else on television. Have you seen the guy?”
“No. But I’ve talked to him.”
“Really!”
“Yup. Called me on the phone last night.”
“Get out of here!” She was so pretty, so pure. God, but I loved this girl. “All my friends are jealous that I know the famous Susan Pulaski.”