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Pondering possibilities for his third victim, fate stepped in and dropped one in his lap. Late yesterday, after Shannon’s body was found, he had stopped at Harry’s for coffee. And nearly smiled when he overheard a conversation from the booth behind him. Gabriella Marquez, twenty-six and shy, confessed to her friend that she was worried about what was happening.
“I wish they’d catch this maniac,” she’d said, and he silently chuckled. “They won’t release any details about the killings. Can you imagine how horrifying they must be to keep them under wraps?” She shuddered.
He swallowed a smile. He knew how old Gabriella was, but she still had the fresh-faced look of a teenager. Even Carrie/Dana, in her thirties, looked much younger than she was. At least to him.
“I’m scared living all by myself,” Gaby went on to her friend. “This whole thing creeps me out. I’m thinking of leaving town until he’s caught.”
She looked around as if she could sense someone watching her, and his smile grew brighter as he sipped his coffee.
“But, Gaby,” her friend said. “What if he’s never caught? Are you going to leave your home forever?”
“If it means saving my life,” she retorted.
“Why don’t you come stay with Jered and me? We have an extra room.”
“For how long? You don’t want a permanent house guest.”
“I don’t want to frighten you any more than you already are,” her friend went on, “but living alone is only part of the problem. What scares me most is he could take his next victim right off the street. Just like he did with Leanne and Shannon. It’s obviously someone we all know, otherwise he’d never have been able to get close to them.”
Gaby looked around, her face pinched with fear. “My God. Doesn’t it make you just want to lock yourself inside your house and never leave?”
“No.” Her friend shook her head. “Anyway, I think you’re overreacting. Those girls were a lot younger than you.”
“So that makes me an unappealing target?” Gaby’s voice rose on a note of irritation. “Is that what you’re saying?”
Her friend frowned. “Make up your mind. Either you want to be appealing to him or you don’t.”
“How can you even ask that?” Gaby hissed. “Aren’t you afraid?”
“Of course. We all are. But all I can do is be as careful as possible.” The woman’s voice softened. “Drink your tea, Gaby, and come home with me for a while. At least spend the night. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
His cell phone vibrated at that moment, and he left the restaurant to take the call, irritated that he’d miss the rest of the conversation. But when he saw Tony’s number, he had to answer it alone. This was not a conversation he wanted anyone to overhear.
“Can you meet me tonight, old man?” Tony asked, foregoing any greeting. “I happened to pick up a shipment unexpectedly. Choice meat. We could score some big dollars on this. My boss wants to move it.”
“Nothing like last minute,” he complained.
“Do you want it or not? Otherwise, I’ll call my next customer.”
“Hold on, hold on. Let me call my buyer and see if we can hook up. Oh, and Tony?”
“Yeah, old man?”
“Any that are really, really choice? I need some entertainment tonight. Something to take the edge off.”
Tony’s laugh was anything but humorous. “I got just the one for you. But you gotta be careful.”
“Aren’t I always?”
“I hear the sheriff’s got outside help coming.”
Shit. How the hell had Tony found that out?
“That won’t interfere with our business at all. You can tell your boss he has my word on that. I’m smarter than these idiots. Anyway, they aren’t aware of our business at all, so we’re clear.”
“If you say so. Okay, call me back in five, man, or I’m on to the next name.”
He climbed into his truck and called his buyer who was delighted at the unexpected bounty. He had his own demands to meet. Yes, he’d be happy to meet at their usual place and bring cash with him, as always.
