“It’s not uncommon for serial killers to have delusions of grandeur.Delusions being the key word.Yes, he might believe he has some sort of paranormal connection, perhaps even a power or ability.”
“The wolf masks.”
Tean hadn’t even thought about it until Jem said it, and it was like someone turned a key.He studied his fiancé.“Yes.Yes, Jem.My goodness, that’s brilliant.”
“It’s not brilliant.Every time we see him, he’s wearing a mask.”
“But I didn’t even think about it.I mean, I assumed— I don’t know what I assumed.That he was wearing it to terrorize.And to hide his identity.”
“Werewolves.”Jem ticked the list off in the air.“Space wolves.Skinwalkers.”
Tean ran the idea back and forth.There wassomethingthere, but he couldn’t catch it.
“Is it normal for a serial killer to have a bunch of friends?”Jem asked.
“No.But it’s also not as uncommon as the media would like it to be; as Amy said, the brilliant killer who works alone is what Hollywood uses.”
“Hannibal Lecter.Norman Bates.Oh shit!Vampires!”
“Exactly.Well, not the vampires part.”
“They kill a lot of people, babe.”And then, as though proving his point, Jem added, “Remember Angelus?FromBuffy?”
Tean chose not to respond to that.“There’s a long history of people killing in pairs and groups.Sometimes, they truly are partners.But often, there’s another dynamic.A leader with a strong personality recruits people who are either less intelligent or more passive or, frequently, both.Those people then assist with the killings out of a shared fantasy, a belief in a larger purpose, or a fear of the leader.”
“Or all three,” Jem said as he dumped the peppers into the pan.Steam wafted up, and the smell in the air changed.“Zeb never would have killed Rydel on his own, not even for revenge, but Kai got inside his head.”
“And what Scott told us about Kai confirms that.Kai knows how to manipulate people.He’s demanding and insistent.He withdraws affection if the other person doesn’t do what he wants.He uses their fears and insecurities—like Zeb’s history of abuse—as leverage.”
“You know what I keep thinking about?”Jem gave the vegetables a poke.“We met him.We looked right at him.And he was such a drip.I mean, no personality, nothing.Just those freaky eyes.”
Pale eyes.Pale eyes that had watched Tean, unblinking.And yes, for lack of a better word, they had freaked him the fuck out, even if he hadn’t been able to identify the feeling at the time.
“So,” Jem said, “what now?”
“We could call the police.”
“Okay.”
“And tell them what Scott told us.”
“About Direwolf Ranch.”
“Yes, about the ranch.”
“And these are the same police who just arrested some back slope country bumpkin for River’s murder?The same guys who are convinced they’re looking for a single person who killed Rydel, not a group, even though we told them what we saw.”
“Yes.”
Jem wrinkled his nose.
“How about this?”Tean said.“I’ll call the detective in charge of Rydel’s case.If it doesn’t seem like he’s going to take this seriously, we can drive out there and—”
“And see for ourselves?”Jem asked dryly.
“It doesn’t sound like a great plan when you say it out loud.”
Jem gave the vegetables a half-hearted stir.But then he said, “Fuck, Tean, they’re going to kill Amy, and we still don’t know why.”
