Stealing Shadows

he has on… a blue jacket. Like a… team jacket. There's a white letter, I think. Maybe an R.'

Ben glanced at Matt, reading the sheriff's dismay even as he felt his own. The largest and oldest of the three county high schools boasted blue team jackets with white lettering, and they were so commonly seen in the area, it was something of a joke. Hundreds of male students, past and present, wore the damned things.

Ben had one himself, packed away in a trunk out at the old house.

'Cassie, can you see anything else? What color is his hair?'

'He's wearing a hat. I think. A… baseball cap.'

Yet another common sight in the area. Ben wanted to swear violently but forced himself to stay steady. He didn't like the growing pallor of Cassie's face or her utter stillness, sensing more than seeing that she was losing strength with every minute that passed.

'We need to know what he looks like, Cassie. Can you help us know that?'

She was silent for a moment. 'I don't think – He isn't looking at the stores any longer. Just straight ahead, because… Oh. He's getting more excited. It's filling his mind, all his plans for her. He… has a safe place he can take her, so nobody will… will hear her, and it's all ready for them. He wants to make her strip for him first, so he can watch. And then – '

'Cassie. Who is he thinking about? Who is she?'

'The bitch.'

'What's her name, Cassie?'

'Bitches don't have names.' That assertion was particularly chilling delivered in her soft, toneless voice. But not nearly as chilling as her next words. 'Bitches are only good for fucking. And for killing.'

'Cassie – '

'Especially for killing. I like to see them bleed.'

'It's nearly four,' Sue hissed to her best friend. 'If you're going to do something, do it now.'

'You just hold Larry's attention for a few minutes,' Deanna murmured in response, and wandered one row over to gaze at a fine display of modems.

Obedient, Sue carried the computer program she was considering over to where Larry stood near the door. Within five minutes he was returning to the software display with her, shaking his head at her ignorance.

Giggling, Deanna slipped out of the store.

'Cassie, listen to me. Are you listening? Pull back. Pull back, Cassie.' It was not something she had warned him about, but Ben knew instinctively that if her voice had merged with the killer's until they spoke as one, then she was definitely in too deep.

'You could never become a monster.'

'I could lose myself in one. What would be the difference?'

Jesus Christ.

'I like to see them – '

'Cassie. Pull back. Do it. Now!'

There was an instant of silence, and then she said, 'All right. He's… still walking. But faster now. I think… he knows where she is.'

Ben was only vaguely aware of Matt on his walkie-talkie, sending his officers to every exit of the mall. All his concentration was focused on Cassie. He had the terrifying notion that if he so much as looked away from her, he would lose her forever.

'Cassie? Where is he now? Can you tell us?'

'He… just passed the food court.'

'Going which way?'

'I don't know.'

'Cassie?'

'I don't know. I've never been there before.' Exhaustion was beginning to drag at every word.

Ben kept his voice calm. 'Try to see the name of one of the stores, Cassie. Can you see?'

'There's a… shoe store beside… a music store. And across is a… bookstore.'

'Matt, he's heading toward the north end,' Ben said to the sheriff without taking his eyes from her. 'Cassie?'

'I'm still here,' she said distantly. 'His feet are hurting. His boots are too tight. Isn't that funny?'

'Cassie, is he watching anyone?'

'No. She's… he knows where she'll be.' 'Is he thinking about it? Where she'll be?' 'No, he's just – ' Cassie's voice broke off abruptly. She didn't even seem to be breathing. Then her eyes closed, her head jerked as though she'd been slapped, and a cry of pain escaped her.

FOURTEEN

Hannah Payne glanced at her watch and swore beneath her breath when she saw it was almost four o'clock. She'd tried to hurry, but Connie would insist on talking to her in detail about every piece of material as she cut it.

And now just look at the time! If she didn't get a move on, there was no way she'd have time to get Joe's supper fixed and on the table by the time he woke up.

Her arms full of material and mind filled with the pros and cons of various excuses, Hannah took her usual shortcut past several boarded-up stores currently being remodeled and headed for one of the lesser-used exits that only a former employee of one of the stores in the mall would know about.

Her summer job had been at the food court.

All too conscious of time passing, Hannah was hurrying when she rounded a corner, which was why she didn't see him until she literally ran into him.

'Hello,' he drawled.

'Cassie? Cassie!

Ben was on the point of grabbing her and shaking her when she finally lifted her head and opened her eyes. The pupils were normal once more, but he thought he had never seen such weariness.

'What happened?' he asked, quieter now, hardly aware that he was on one knee by her chair.

'He pushed me out,' Cassie whispered.

'What?'

'He knows who I am.'

Ben reached for her hand and found it icy. He rubbed it between his. 'Are you sure?'

She leaned her head back against the chair, gazing at him without expression. 'I don't know how, but… he realized I was with him. He was so quick, and I… I couldn't hide myself. I heard him… He thought my name just as he pushed me out of his mind.'

'Christ,' Ben muttered.

Matt was on his feet. 'Cassie, is there anything else you can tell me about him? My people will be covering all the mall exits within ten minutes, but telling them to stop any male wearing a Central High jacket is just too vague even if we narrow it to males accompanied by females. Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything at all?'

Cassie looked at him with those exhausted eyes and said, 'I think they're already too late.'

Deanna Ramsay turned with a welcoming smile that rapidly died. 'Oh. It's you. Do you want something?' 'Funny you should ask,' he replied.

'You didn't have to stay,' Cassie said. She sipped the hot coffee Ben had given her and eyed him over the rim of the cup. 'I'll be all right.'

'You're welcome,' he said.

She didn't smile. With an afghan wrapped around her and the hot coffee inside her, she was warmer than she had been, but she was so drained, she just wanted to curl up and sleep.

And, please God, not dream.

'Matt could probably use your help,' she told Ben.