Heartbreaker

'No, what?'

'I think it’s going to happen fast. I don’t think we’re going to have to wait long.'

Nick nodded. 'I feel the same. The way he sounded on the phone… yeah, he’s gonna be coming after you fast. Pete thinks so too.'

'Good. I want this to be over as soon as possible.'

'Yeah, well, God willing, it will be. You know, you’re going to be sick of me by the time I leave.'

'On the contrary, I’m sure you’ll be sick of me.'

'I doubt it. I’ll warn you now. I’m going to be taking a lot of liberties. Fact is, I’m going to be all over you.' He glanced at her before continuing. 'The goal is to make the unsub crazed with jealousy. Right? And so angry, he’ll make that one little mistake…'

'And then you can get him.'

'That’s the plan. But I probably won’t be the one nailing him. Neither will Noah for that matter.'

'Why do you think that?'

'Noah’s going to be busy baby-sitting Tommy, and I’ll be busy… mauling you. I’m kind of looking forward to that. So tell me something. What kind of kisser are you?'

She attempted a southern accent when she answered in a slow drawl, 'I’m very… very… good.'

He laughed. 'How do you know you’re good?'

'Andre Percelli,' she said. 'He kissed me, and he told me I was good. That’s how I know.'

'You never mentioned this Andre guy before. Who the hell is he?'

'We met in fourth grade. But alas, our love affair ended as quickly as it had begun. We were in the cafeteria line when he kissed me, and I ended it then and there.'

Nick smiled. 'How come?'

'He wasn’t a good kisser.'

'But you were.'

'That’s what Andre told me before I punched him.'

He laughed. 'You were a tough little kid, weren’t you?'

'I could hold my own. I still can,' she boasted.

'So, whatever happened to Andre?'

'Nothing happened to him. Last I heard, he was married with two babies.'

Nick changed the subject back to her routine. 'We never talked about the evenings. What do you do at night?'

Laurant was digging through her purse, looking for her hair clip. 'Yes we did talk about the evenings,' she reminded him. 'And I told you that there’s something scheduled every night for the next two weeks.'

'Because of the wedding you’re going to be in?'

'Partly,' she answered. 'But also because I promised the abbot I’d help clean out the attic. He’s spring cleaning before the anniversary celebration.'

'Which is also happening on the Fourth of July. Bad timing,' he added.

'The wedding’s the Saturday before,' she told him. She found the clip at the bottom of her purse.

'This anniversary thing… it’s going to be a mess. I hope to God we get this tied up before then. Tommy told me the town’s going to be loaded with strangers coming in from all over the United States.'

She pulled her hair back and clipped it in place. 'Actually, they’ll be coming in from Europe too,' she said. 'Assumption Abbey opened its doors one hundred years ago. There might even be a cardinal attending.'

'Great,' he muttered. 'It’s going to be a security nightmare. I’m telling you, Laurant, if we don’t catch this creep quick, I’m getting you out of there until the celebration is over.'

'Agreed,' she replied. 'Pete said to take it a day at a time, remember?'

'Until the first of July. Then we leave.'

She put her hand up. 'I’m not arguing with you, but it doesn’t give us much time.'

'Unless he makes his move fast. Listen, it’s real important you don’t… relax. You understand? Relaxing your guard can be dangerous.'

'I know and I won’t relax. Could I ask you something?'

'What?'

'If I weren’t me… what I mean to say is… if I weren’t your best friend’s sister and we were complete strangers to each other before this happened, then would you have been as resistant to setting a trap?'

'You mean using you as bait?'

'Yes.'

'The problem is, you are my friend’s sister. I can’t separate that.'

'But what if…?'

Nick’s immediate reaction was to tell her yes, he would have been just as resistant because he knew firsthand how plans could blow up in your face, but after mulling the theoretical question over in his mind for another minute, he admitted it was a golden opportunity and he probably wouldn’t pass it up.

'It’s fifty-fifty.'

'Meaning?'

'I’d weigh the dangers against the possibility of catching this creep before he kills again. And then…'

'Then what?'

He sighed. 'I’d go for the trap.'

'Have you ever been scared?'

'Hell, yes. I’ve seen what can happen. We don’t always get the bad guys, Laurant, no matter what you’ve seen on television. Sometimes, they stay on the loose for years. The son of a bitch on the top of the ‘most wanted’ list, Emmett Haskell, broke out of a high-security mental ward in Michigan over a year ago, and we still haven’t caught up with him.'

'What did he do?'

'He killed a lot of people. That’s what he did. Seven dead so far, but those are only the ones we know about. There could be more. Haskell told the shrinks that killing brought him good luck. He liked to bet the horses and always went to the track the first Saturday of every month, so the first Friday of every month, he had to kill someone. Didn’t matter who,' he added. 'Anyone would do. Man, woman, child. He was real partial to women though. The prettier, the better… for luck, you see.'

'Tommy told me…'

'What?'

'You hadn’t told him in confidence or he never would have said anything, but I asked him why he was so worried about you and he mentioned…'

He knew where she was leading-the Stark case. He had told Tommy about that one, hoping that talking about it would help him forget. It hadn’t helped him though, not one little bit.

'He mentioned I killed a woman, right?'

'Yes.'

'I did what I had to do.'

'You don’t have to defend your actions to me, Nick.'

'There really wasn’t any other choice. Maybe if I’d been a little smarter about it, I could have gotten her cuffed… but I left the house, and that gave her time to get the kid and prepare.'

A shiver ran down her arms. 'Prepare for what?'

'Me. She knew I was coming back, and she wanted me to watch her kill the little boy.'

Laurant saw the troubled look that crossed Nick’s eyes. 'How do you get rid of it?' she asked. 'Do you block out the memories?'

'No, I don’t block anything out. I deal with it.'

'But how?'

He shrugged. 'I keep busy.'

'Keeping busy isn’t dealing with it.'

'Don’t you tell Noah I said this, but sometimes I wish I were more like him. He can shrug it all off when he has to.'

She disagreed. 'He’s paying a price, just like you. He’s just got tougher shields.'