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“You haven’t found how fascinating control can be?” She leaned forward. “I could teach you,” she said softly. “You choose someone strong and then you use your mind and what other skills you have to make them do exactly what you want them to do. It can be thrilling.”
Kendra couldn’t believe this woman. “Or sickening.”
“You’d learn to love it. It’s completely exhilarating. I started to experiment with it when I was a teenager. By the time I went to the university, I was very, very good.”
“Good enough to hypnotize Barrett?”
“That nonsense has nothing to do with control. It’s all about mental acuity and determination.”
“Barrett?” she prompted.
“I was almost there,” she said impatiently. “The timing was wrong. They stopped allowing me to visit him.”
“How do you know you were almost there?” Kendra asked. “Did he confide in you?”
“No, but he’d mention things now and then. I could tell he was beginning to trust me.”
“What things? People? Tricia Walton?”
“Tricia,” she repeated. “Yes, that was the name.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing much. Just that he’d taken care of her.”
“Nothing else?”
She shook her head. “I never asked questions. That wasn’t the way it was with us.”
“That’s right, it was all about power. I’m afraid I haven’t seen an example.”
“Are you making fun of me?” Jackie was suddenly no longer amused. “That isn’t wise. Everything I’ve told you is the truth. It wasn’t my fault that I wasn’t able to quite complete what I started. First, it was the timing, then it was Barrett himself. He shouldn’t have listened to anyone but me or he wouldn’t have ended up in the morgue.”
Kendra stiffened. “Whodidhe listen to, Jackie?”
“How do I know?” Jackie asked bitterly. “He’d never talk to me about him, but I knew there was someone in the background. Sometimes I thought he might be using me as a front.” Then she vehemently shook her head. “No, I won’t believe that. I almost had him.”
“Maybe you did,” Kendra said. “But it would help if you could remember a little more about anyone else in Barrett’s life.”
“There’s nothing to remember,” she said curtly. “If I’d asked questions, I would have lost any chance of maintaining my influence over Barrett. It’s a very complex game, and I never lose.”
“I rather think you did this time,” Kendra said. “And I’d be careful about indulging in any other power plays. You might not be as adept as you think.”
“You know nothing,” Jackie said. “I was foolish to think I might be able to teach you anything.”
“I thought the entire point was to dominate, not teach,” Kendra said. “And there’s no way I would have let you get near me no matter what you decided.” She got to her feet and headed for the door. “You’re bad news, and I think Barrett may have deserved you.”
“You’re wrong, he didn’t deserve me. Or he wouldn’t have been on that hill getting himself blown to pieces.” She was trying to smile. “You don’t deserve me, either. But if I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”
Kendra shivered with distaste. “Please don’t.”
She slammed the door.
***
Lynch was leaning against the wall beside Kendra’s front door when the elevator opened forty minutes later.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, what are you doing?” she said in disgust. “Why didn’t you let yourself in?”
