“What’s that?”
“I’ve made her call me Daddy.”
“What? Why?”
“Part of the mind control. She craves her father’s love, so I’m transferring that emotion. She’s a very smart young lady. She knows I’m manipulating her. Which gives her the false sense she’s maintaining control in the relationship. But her weakness is logic. If you can make an extremely logical case for something, you can probably get her to do it.”
“I could make it sound logical to fall in love with me.”
“She’s twenty.”
“So?”
“Girls that age are biologically drawn to strong young men of a similar age. Love is not a logical act.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not saying it’s impossible to make her fall in love with you, but I doubt you can. Your age and your looks are acceptable, but not an advantage for a nice looking twenty-year-old, in my opinion. Killing and copulating are acts. They’re specific, physical acts that take place and are quickly ended. Love is an emotion. It’s a feeling you have, not an act you perform.”
“Example?”
“Do you ever play poker?”
“I’ve played a couple of times.”
“And Kimberly’s fallen in love a couple of times.”
“So?”
“Trying to get you to play poker with me at one o’clock this afternoon is an act. I might have to persist, but I could probably talk you into playing a few games of poker with me today, or some other day. But trying to talk you into become a professional poker player today is too much to shoot for. Do you understand?”
“Getting her to fuck me is easier than getting her to fall in love with me.”
“Crude, but accurate.”
“And she calls you Daddy.”
“She calls me Daddy, yes. And she goes by the name, Maybe Taylor. Thinks I don’t know Taylor’s the name of the young man she killed. Her former boyfriend. In fact, I’m not supposed to know anything about the boyfriend, so put that part out of your mind.”
“Why Maybe?”
“Her choice of names. It means maybe she’ll kill for me, maybe she won’t. It’s her way of not having to think about killing as a profession.”
“The Daddy thing will be hard to navigate around, if I’m going to seduce her.”
“You’ll work it out. She already loves me, or at least, the idea of me. I’m her closest confidante, her only true friend. But I haven’t taken our relationship into any sort of sexual area. It’s a logical extension for her, but impractical for me. You, on the other hand, are young enough. And you’re cunning, and manipulating, given you haven’t tipped your hand to Creed about Area B. And Kimberly’s extremely vulnerable to a sexual relationship.”
“Why’s that?”
“She has female problems that can be exploited. She thinks I’m older, despite the voice disguising equipment. So when you speak to her in your real voice, she’ll be curious enough to open her mind to the possibility of romance. At that point you can confess you’ve fallen for her.”
“You think it’ll work?”
“Yes.”
“Because?”
“She’s dying to feel loved. It’s your ticket to ride.”
“That’s a pretty hip comment.”
“I have my moments.”
Sam took a minute to work it around in his mind. Then said, “I understand the Daddy thing. But it places a huge obstacle in my path.”
“You need to let that go. It’s not as big an issue as you think. It helped convince her the best way to earn her father’s respect and love is to excel at what he does.”
“What, kill people?”
“Yes.”
“She’s seeking his approval.”
“Exactly.”
“And will he approve?”
“I can’t answer that or any question about how Creed might react to a given situation. And I say this after studying him for twenty years.”
“He’s a true psychopath, isn’t he?”
“No. His assistant, Callie Carpenter’s a true psychopath.”
“I know about that from personal experience. She nearly killed me once.”
“If she wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”
“Creed stepped in.”
“He saved your life?”
“Yeah. Twice, in fact. But it doesn’t count.”
“Why not?”
“He only saved my life after kidnapping and mentally torturing me.”
“So you still want revenge.”
“I’d give ten years of my life to make him suffer a day. Until you happened along, my best shot was forcing him to know Rachel and I were underground together, beyond his reach. But I have a sinking feeling he might be pleased when he finds she’s stuck in a bunker for a few months or years.”
“You may be right about that.”
“But she’s supposed to be his girlfriend.”
“Yes, but Creed’s in a category unto himself.”
“And Kimberly?”
“She’s a different breed altogether. A cold-blooded killer, but completely predictable. At least, for now.”
“How would this work?”
“I can arrange murder-for-hire contracts that will come directly to you, and you can farm them out through Kimberly, and another lady who works for me, Hailey Brimstone.”
“Brimstone? Are you for real?”
“You’ve met her.”
“I don’t think so.”
Doc Howard pressed a button on his cell phone. “Lou? I’m with Sam. Can you bring Hailey in here?”
When the guy named Lou showed up with Hailey, Sam did a double-take, because Hailey Brimstone looked exactly like Sam’s wife, Rachel.
“I didn’t dream it,” Sam said. “She was here, in my room when I was half-conscious.”
“That’s right,” Doc Howard said. Then he introduced them and told Hailey he was retiring, but said Sam would continue to provide her with work, if she was interested.
She was.
Sam watched every movement Hailey made while she was in the room. When she left, he said, “Creed recruited her to mess with my head?”
“Yes.”
“I am definitely in. Tell me about the contracts.”
“They’ll pay twice what you need to compensate Hailey and Kimberly for their work. You can use the balance to fund your courtship with Kimberly.”
“Do we plan to tell Creed what we’ve done to his daughter?”
“That’s up to you. But the longer it continues, the sweeter the revenge. You’re manipulating her into the family business, so to speak. Though Creed is unpredictable, it’s likely he’ll be devastated to learn his daughter has turned into a murderer. If you really want to punish him you could possibly get her to commit terrorist acts. And imagine how he’ll feel when he learns Sam Case is coupling his daughter!”
“Coupling?”
“I’m old. Screwing her.”
“We say fuck.”
“Of course you do. Screwing isn’t vulgar enough. Very well, you’ll be fucking Donovan Creed’s daughter, and she’ll be killing for you. Could there possibly be a better revenge?”
“Killing Callie Carpenter would sweeten the pot.”
“You’ve got enough on your plate with this.”
“You haven’t said what you want from me.”
“You’ll earn your keep.”
“What will I have to do?”
“More than two things, less than six.”
“Are they legal?”
“What do you think?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m in.”
“I thought you might be.”
“Can I ask you why you did this to Kimberly? I thought you were Creed’s friend.”
“In the business we share, the concept of right and wrong is blurry, and lines are often crossed. It’s wise to give Donovan Creed a reason not to kill you. I recently had power over him, then I lost it. I always like to have something in reserve. His daughter is one of his weaknesses.”
“He’s got others?”
“Yes.”
“Such as?”
“Your wife, Rachel.”
“What’s Kimberly’s deepest, darkest secret?”
“She suffers from vaginismus.”
“What’s that?”
Doc Howard spent the next thirty minutes explaining vaginismus, and the effect it’s had on Kimberly.
Sam ended the conversation saying, “It’s a slam dunk!”
Doc Howard said, “What is?”
“Using Kimberly to punish Creed.”