Chapter 25
M
Why isn’t she writing me back?
Where I longed to hear pleas from Lucy as some sort of distraction or fuel, all she gave me was silence. Silence to ponder Anna’s withdrawal. Silence to question my own greed for wanting to kill her as my victim, and not Daniel’s. Question after question. For the first time during one of my copycats, I was drowning in them. The doctor was temporarily gone. All that was left was an insecure man I wasn’t familiar with. It was turning me erratic, and I was losing control over everything.
Me: Anna, I know you like me. We can make this work.
Give me one more chance.
At least let me explain in person.
Nothing.
“It’s doubt,” I breathed out, letting my hand and the phone lower to my side as I squeezed against it. “That’s what this is. I’m doubting myself. I want something, and for the first time, I’m not sure how to achieve it. That’s not natural for me. I get everything I want. Everything. So how do I get Anna? Where do I begin?”
The answer was evident. I glanced toward Lucy. She was sitting on the bed, unrestrained and facing forward in a loose cross-legged position. There was an emptiness in her eyes as she stared ahead into nothingness. Disgust drew in my lips. Not a few feet away rested my duffle. Inside was a handheld drill, some scalpels—everything I needed to make my wildest dreams come true. But they were my dreams, not Daniel’s. I needed him to take the fall for her.
“I’m going to kill you tonight, Lucy. Don’t you want to try to run?”
A muscle ticked in her cheek, but she remained staring ahead. She was so far gone, even her expression remained stoic. The pleasure in taking her life faded along with my need to goad her. It left me returning to the one person who was fighting me at every turn.
“Anna.”
The name pushed from my gut, hissing out of my mouth. Was she out killing right this second…without me? Would I ever hear her tale of how she drew out each ragged breath from Davis Knight? I should be there. It’s what angered me the most. Lucy, who was supposed to be my prize, was nothing but an inconvenience. How had this happened? How had I let Anna take the front seat on my path to get Boston back in my clutches? I knew how. Anna was the better killer with her interesting past and creativity. It was obvious. But to have them both…that was what my brain kept reminding me of. I suddenly needed more than just Boston. I needed Boston and Anna. I could bring him back to Massachusetts, and when he was done with his kill, I could come to Chicago to switch gears. It was perfect. A dream. It was…greed. Greed got you caught. It drove you mad.
I brought my phone up, trying to focus as I punched in the number to my clients who owned the farmhouse.
“Doctor,” Bill said smoothly. “How the house treating you?”
The deep tone matched my mood as I stared at Lucy.
“It’s great, but it seems I’ve run into a problem. The client I’m here to see, he fucked up. I’m going to need you, Bill. His name is Daniel Stracht. He’s currently being held in Rockford. He was arrested for prowling, but is under suspicion for multiple murders.”
“I heard about them finding those girls. Did he do it?”
“Of course he did. Problem is, the moron called me late last night from jail. Me!”
“He didn’t.”
“Oh, he did. So, of course, I went in and relayed my suspicion about how I thought it was him. They have nothing, but that’s beside the point. I need you to get him out. I need him dead.”
“Today must be my lucky day.”
“It’s about to get luckier,” I said, glancing to Lucy. “If, for some reason, you’re asked anything about me, you’re not a client. We’re old friends from way back. We met at a conference in Chicago. A medical convention. Linda used to be a pediatrician. It’ll make sense.”
Silence.
“Dr. Patron…is here something else we should know? We’re here to help.”
“Actually, yes.” Pride almost wouldn’t allow me to speak. Yet, I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had to cover all my bases. “I have a friend who’s staying with me. One of Daniel’s victims, if you catch my drift.”
“You sneaky devil. The basement. Do her in the basement. We have everything you could imagine.”
“I might take you up on that. To get that far, I need Daniel out. The time of her death has to match up.”
“I got the judge on speed dial. Give me an hour. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do. Thank you, Bill. Give Linda my love.”
“That’ll make her happy. You’ve got it.”
I hung up, sliding the phone into my pocket as I grabbed the cane and headed to the bed. My nearness brought up Lucy’s gaze and some form of dawning seem to flicker. Fingers pushed into the sheet while she scooted against the headboard, staring at my hand. With every breath, her knees drew to her chest in the fetal position.
“Stand.”
Whimpering.
“I’m not going tell you again. Stand.”
“M-Mast—” Crying cut her off. Shaking rocked her body, and harder she pressed into the headboard. When she didn’t obey, I brought the cane down hard against her thigh. Skin split, exposing red muscle for a good second before blood began to pool and run toward her ass. The sobbing increased as her hands shot up, covering her face. I reared back, swinging upward as I caught the underside of her leg.
“I said stand!”
A wail howled through the room the moment she caught her breath. Lucy scrambled, collapsing to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Shakiness had her swaying as she tried to rise.
“Please. Please. I…Mas-ster. Don’t, p-please. I’m g-good. I’m…standing.”
“Yes, but not fast enough.” I circled around, striking the side of her stomach with brutal force. Once. Twice. Three times. Lucy’s fingers shoved through her hair as her feet danced and she screamed. For the first time since I had left the police station, my heart sung a ballot of murderous freedom. Adrenaline skyrocketed, and a laugh left me from the deepest cracks of my soul. Crimson streamed from Lucy’s broken skin. It drove my hand back to hit her again, and again. There was nothing stopping me this time. I could go as far as I wanted, maiming her already battered body. Tonight, she would be no more. Tonight, I’d be free to put all my attention and focus on Boston and Anna.
“Ahhh! Ah! No! S-Stop!”
Her voice rose, stuttering and stammering as life somehow edged back into her eyes. Lucy was coming to, breaking free of the numb oblivion she’d been in now for days. Muscles flexed in her entire body as she jerked to the left, then right. Escape. She wanted to. She knew to stand some chance of surviving, she would have to break free of the intense pain I was inflicting.
“Where you going? Where are you going to go!”
With my last word, I slashed the cane across her cheek, slicing it open. Lucy stumbled further to the side, holding her face as she crashed to the ground. Wrapping my fingers in her hair, I didn’t give her time to react. I jerked the frail blonde up, only to use the momentum to launch her toward the bed. Glass shattered, and darkness took over as the end table fell over at the collision.
Silence.
No more sobs.
No cries.
No deep breaths.
My lids closed as I listened for any sort of movement. The need to rush and finish her wasn’t there. In truth, the pitch black only added to my need of a challenge—of excitement. Was she unconscious? Instinct told me she probably was. After all, the girl hadn’t had anything to eat besides bread. Not to mention the abuse she’d already undergone at my hand.
“Lucy?”
I took a step at the grunt that sounded.
“Are you going to get on the bed like a good little girl, or am I going to have to put you there myself? You know what will happen if I get to you first.”
Another step.
Time.
“I don’t hear you moving. You’re only making this harder on yourself.”
Another step.
A light sob.
My head cocked to the side, analyzing where it had come from. It still sounded in front of me, which meant she hadn’t made it to the bed.
Another step.
Anger.
Lust mingled with the violence I knew was coming from her lack of obedience.
“I’m getting closer. The bed is waiting. I’m waiting.”
Another step.
Debris scraped the floor, and shuffling filled the dark. My small laugh joined, only for my lips to tighten through the burst of bloodlust that drove me to lunge forward. Heartbeats slammed into my chest as a crazed need for savagery took over. Hair pushed through my fingers, and I dug them deeper until I could feel Lucy’s scalp connect with my knuckles. I swung, spinning and dragging her flailing frame to the bathroom to flip on the light.
Pain sliced across my wrist and my eyes went wide as blood cascaded into her blonde hair and injured faced. Sensation faded in my fingers, leaving them loosening as she pushed to her feet. Wildly, she sliced toward my face with a large chunk of broken ceramic.
The lamp.
I could see the pieces in my peripheral. My head jerked back, barely missing the direct impact of the jagged weapon. Lucy’s long nails followed instantaneously, trying to tear into my skin while her other swung back toward me. I could have killed her with one hit. My god, I wanted to. But my killer wanted more. He wanted her to suffer like no one I had ever taken before.
Warm wetness followed, stinging and rage led me forward. I wrestled her fighting frame to the floor. The ceramic she held slid free at our impact. To think came naturally, but I was already two steps ahead of my thoughts. The monster within knew this game as he grabbed one of the condoms laying loosely on the floor.
With a jerk, I unbuttoned my slacks and pushed them and my briefs down enough to free my cock. Lucy was still fighting. Still screaming at the top of her lungs as I pinned her with my forearm across her throat and slid it on. At my weight, she focused on trying to push my arm free. It was a mistake. I was too strong from her. Within seconds, I forced my way into her pussy.
“Tired of the bed? I guess it would be fitting that trash would want to be fucked on the floor during its last moments.”
“Ahhh! I’ll…I’m g-going—”
“You’re not going to do anything but bleed on my cock, bitch. Then, I’m going to beat and strangled you to death.”
“No! N-n-n-n—”
I reared back, striking across the new cut on her face. The impact sent her head to the side, but she still came back, trying to claw into mine. I barely managed to catch her weak grip as excitement took me away.
“I can’t wait for the morning. When they find your body, how do you think Boston is going to react? Who do you think is going to be by his side?”
Harder, I thrust, almost seeing it. Seeing him. Lucy was getting wetter by the second, and I could feel myself become lost in my long-awaited fantasy. With every inch we slid across the floor, I was a mile farther away. Farther from the aggravation. Farther from all these dilemmas. Anna could wait. Boston and I would leave here. We’d go home to bury this bitch, and then the counseling could begin. I’d warp his mind by using not only his grief, but his wrath. It would be poetic. Fate.
“Fuck,” I moaned, pushing hard against my knees as we slid even more. Blood from my wrist was making it hard to keep steady. I was getting lightheaded, but I didn’t care. I was so close. So—
“Fuck you. Fuck y-you!”
I heard her before I felt it. A thick agony I couldn’t process right away shot through my cheek and gums like lightening exploding throughout my head. My entire body went rigid, and I was falling to the side before I could understand why. Lucy was screaming as she tore at my clothes. My pockets. She was digging. Searching. And me…
With a shaky hand, I reached up, feeling the ceramic protruding out inches between my mouth and ear. Darkness…it was taking me. It couldn’t take me. But Lucy already had the phone and she was running. Running. I should be running.