There had to be a way. She would find it.
Kate stared down at the note on the bedside table.
You must never try to escape or you will be executed within hours.
Alex Cross 2 - Kiss the Girls
CHAPTER 27.
THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON I visited the Sarah Duke Gardens, the place where Naomi had been abducted six days ago. I needed to go there, to visit the scene, to think about my niece, to grieve in private.
There were more than fifty acres of exquisitely landscaped woodland gardens adjacent to the Duke University Medical Center, literally miles of al lees Casanova couldn't have hoped for a better site for his kidnapping. He had been thorough. Perfect, so far. How was that possible?
I talked to staff members and also to a few students who had been there the day Naomi disappeared. The picturesque gardens were officially open from early morning until dusk. Naomi had last been seen at around four o'clock. Casanova had taken her in broad daylight. I couldn't figure out how he'd done it. Not yet. Neither could the Durham police or the FBI.
I walked around the woods and gardens for almost two hours. I was overwhelmed by the thought that Scootchie had been taken right here.
A spot called the Terraces was particularly beautiful. Visitors could enter through a wisteria-covered pergola. Lovely wooden stairways led down to an irregular-shaped fishpond with a rock garden stacked directly behind. Visually, the Terraces were horizontal bands of rock, accented by stripes of the most beautiful color. Tulips, azaleas, camellias, irises, and peonies were in bloom.
I knew instinctively that this was a place that Scootchie would love.
I knelt near a visually striking patch of bright red and yellow tulips.
I was wearing a gray suit with an open-necked white shirt. The ground was soft and stained my trousers, but it didn't matter. I bowed my head low. Finally, I wept for Scootchie.
Alex Cross 2 - Kiss the Girls
CHAPTER 28.
TICK-COCK. Tick-cock.
Kate Mctiernan thought that she'd heard something. She was probably imagining it. You could definitely get a little buggy in here.
There it was again. The slightest creak in the floorboards. The door opened and he walked into the room without saying a word.
There he was! Casanova. He had on another mask. He looked like some kind of dark god slender and athletic. Was that his fantasy image of himself?
Physically, he would be considered a hunk at the university or even as a cadaver in an autopsy room, which was preferable to her.
She noted his clothes: tight, faded blue jeans, black cowboy boots edged with soil, no shirt. He was definitely a hard body proud of his rippling chest. She was trying to remember everything for the time when she escaped.
“I read all your rules,” Kate said, trying to act as calm as possible.
Her body was shivering, though. “They're very thorough, very clear.” “Thank you. No one likes rules, least of all me. But they're necessary sometimes.” The mask hid his face, and it held Kate's attention. She couldn't take her eyes away from it. It reminded her of the elaborate, decorative masks from Venice. It was hand painted ritualistic in its artistic detail, and weirdly beautiful. Was he trying to be seductive? Kate wondered. Was that it?
“Why do you wear the mask?” she said. She kept her voice subservient, curious, but not demanding.
'As I said in my note, one day you'll go free. You'll be released.
It's all in my plan for you. I couldn't bear to see you hurt.'
“If I'm good. If I obey.” “Yes. If you're good. I won't be that hard, Kate. I like you so much.” She wanted to hit him, to go after him. Not yet, she warned herself.
Not until you're sure. You'll only get one try at him.
He seemed to read her mind. He was very quick, very bright.
“No karate,” he said, and she sensed that he was smiling behind the mask. “Please remember that, Kate. I've actually seen you perform at your dojo. I've watched you. You're very quick and you're strong. So am I. I'm no stranger to martial arts.” “That wasn't what I was thinking about.” Kate frowned and looked up at the ceiling. She rolled back her eyes. She thought it was pretty fair acting under the pressure circumstances. No threat to Emma Thompson or Holly Hunter, but decent.
“I'm sorry then. I apologize,” he said. “I shouldn't put words in your mouth. I won't do it again. That's a promise.”
