did for a living. She took out her business card, scribbled her home phone number on the back and left it on the table. “I’m leaving you my work and home phone numbers, Hannah. I want to see you again, and I hope you’ll want to see me, too, when you get done being mad at me.”
“You don’t have that long.”
Lilith might have believed her. Might have believed that there was no hope for the hard bitter young woman who was giving her the boot. But at the last minute, when she took one final look around, and Hannah was standing in the doorway, in the light, Lilith finally saw it.
Hannah was still wearing the heart-half.
HE SLAMMED INTO his special place where no one could find him and stood surveying the center of his power. A cabinet snugged against one wall housed well-cared-for tools of destruction. Rifles. Handguns. Knives. Opposite were reminders of his prowess. Several stuffed animal heads with glass eyes reigned near the ceiling. Beneath the remains of deer and moose and bear, he’d hung likenesses of the real prizes.
Pictures of women.
Beautiful, dark-haired women. Three of them. So far. Starting with
And next to the carefully framed photographs stood his souvenir case of teak and glass with red velvet-lined shelves. Only the best for his mementos, tokens of the women he’d slain.
He was ready to add to the meager collection.
Whipping the photograph from beneath his jacket, he stared at the slut’s face. She could be
He hadn’t expected the need to resurface so soon. That worried him. What if it meant he’d lost control? The possibility made him almost as angry as
Thinking about his next quarry, he fetched the case and set it on his leather chair. Oh-so-carefully chose and packed his tools. Handcuffs. Rope. Hunting knife. Rifle. Ammunition. Thin leather gloves.
He made an inventory.
Had he forgotten anything?
Lovingly smoothing a hand over the contents, he closed and locked the case.
Not that he was going to use it just yet. But he needed to be prepared for his newest prey. So fast, so fast, he thought with regret. He’d had far more time to ready himself in the past, had gone nearly four months between the first two. He’d been able to think about his actions. Plan them to the last detail.
Savor them.
This time was different.
His need was growing, spiraling out of control. Rubbing himself, he imagined the play-by-play. Barely two weeks after the last kill, the urge to take up the hunt returned as intense as a wet dream.
Chapter 4
SATURDAY MORNING. Too little sleep. Up all night worrying about Hannah, wondering what she should do —
Just as she had Hannah’s.
Lilith wanted to return to her sister’s place to make amends. Hannah had done what she’d needed to in order to survive. And now she was proud of her life, or at least that’s what she projected. Lilith could accept that but she didn’t have to like it. She wanted something better for her sister, something safer — she hadn’t forgotten about the murders. She had to admit that while her heart went out to them, she’d never understood how women could stay in abusive situations where men used them up. She’d never understood how Mama could let a man beat her and her daughters.
And now Hannah was at risk, if in a very different situation.
She knew what she had to do if she wanted a relationship with her sister — understand her the way she was now. That meant knowing what Hannah had gone through after running. Though she’d imagined it all, she didn’t know the real horror. She had to ease into trying to find out, though, or she feared Hannah would simply continue to reject her.
If she couldn’t fix this relationship, if Hannah refused to be her sister, Lilith knew her heart would be broken all over again.
She was putting out cat food for Valkyrie, who was whirling around her ankles when the phone rang. Thinking it was Carmen, she picked up and said, “I know, I know, I’m late. How about meeting me at the seal pond — I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“What seal pond?”
Heart pounding so hard she heard blood rush through her head, Lilith tried to sound normal. “At Lincoln Park Zoo.”
“Doesn’t exactly sound like a hot date.”
“It’s not a date at all. I mentor a high school girl named Carmen Vargas.”
“Mentor? What’s that? Like a big sister?”
“Sort of.”
Making Lilith realize Hannah didn’t like it. But she had made the first move, and Lilith couldn’t let that go. “Why don’t you meet us at the zoo?”
“Not my thing. Well, I didn’t mean to make you late. Talk to you some other time.”
“No, wait! Please!”
But it was too late. Hannah had already hung up.
“Damn, damn, damn!”
Hannah’s caller ID was there on her phone and Lilith reversed the call, which went directly to voice mail.
“Hannah, I would really like to see you. If the zoo isn’t your thing, then pick something. Anything.”
Hoping Hannah would call her back, Lilith disconnected, then called Carmen, who agreed to meet her in half an hour.
Whipping out of her house, Lilith ran to the corner where she caught the bus that would get her to the zoo. If Hannah didn’t call her back, then what? Should she once more seek her out at the club? The thought of going there, of revisiting what her sister did for a living, depressed her. What if she said or did the wrong thing again?
Within the appointed half hour, she caught up to Carmen at the seal pond, located in the heart of Lincoln Park Zoo. For the moment, she tucked away her thoughts about her sister so she could concentrate on the teenager.
Lilith slid over to the rail next to Carmen and asked, “What animals do you want to see first today?”
Carmen shrugged, making Lilith wonder if she wanted to be there at all.
“Would you rather do something else?”
The girl shook her head. Normally she was talkative, full of enthusiasm. Today she was folded in on herself. Something was wrong.
“Well, let’s watch the seals for a while, then,” Lilith suggested, “and maybe you’ll think of something you’d like to do.”
