teenagers, maybe a few alcohol and drug situations. His revolver had probably never been fired at anything but a paper target; what did this man know of blood and terror? 'So you saw someone following you in Fox Valley Mall,' he repeated. 'And you say he walked behind you and your children nearly all the way to your car.'
'Yes.'
'Then disappeared when you turned to confront him in the presence of another couple.'
Sondra finally saw his nameplate, slightly askew on his shirt pocket. 'Exactly, Officer Walters.' She sat back.
McShaw grimaced. 'Fox Valley is a big place, Ms Underwood.' He peered at her over the rim of his glasses, brown eyes full of scepticism. 'Isn't it conceivable that this man's car could have been parked close to yours? That it was nothing but a coincidence?'
'I'm telling you he was following us,' Sondra said, too loudly.
The twins made a noise from the other room and she glanced anxiously towards the doorway, then lowered her voice. 'He'
Her voice trailed away and she rubbed at her neck absently. These two placid cops how could she explain the panic she'd felt when the man with the familiar razored teeth fastened his gaze on hers in front of the Toys 'R' Us store? She was only window-shopping with the babies, of course — she had no money for anything other than the essentials — but Sondra had forgotten all about the silly mechanical dog that yapped happily from behind the plate glass. The wide, brightly lit corridors and garish lights of the mall had done an odd sort of spin-and-fade, until nothing remained in the world but her, and him and the twins, of course. Their little arms waving in the air as they began to cry for him, as mesmerized as her by his dark presence amid the shine and hustle.
'He what?' prompted McShaw. Pen poised above his clipboard, another three dozen boxes to be filled and checked off before he could leave for his next coffee shop appointment.
Sondra swallowed. Careful now, she warned herself. Be very, very careful. 'I-I've seen him following us before.'
The younger policeman's attention picked up. 'How many times?'
'Twice,' she said. 'Once when I took the children to the clinic, and once when we were out for a walk.'
'So he knows where you live?'
Walters's voice had sharpened, but instead of feeling vindicated, Sondra had the urge to slap him. Why should she have to lie to get them to protect her? Because being stalked once or twice was okay, but the magical number three was not. 'I'm afraid to go out any more.'
'Tell us about the other two times,' McShaw said.
Abruptly Sondra stood. 'Would you like some coffee?' she asked shakily. 'I'm going to pour myself a cup.'
'If it's no trouble.' The older policeman looked at her speculatively.
'None at all.' She walked to the door of the nursery and checked inside before pulling it shut. Mallory and Meleena were settling down for a nap within the netted confines of the playpen, their soft, chubby bodies curled around each other like well-fed kittens. The door firmly closed, she turned back to the men waiting on the couch. 'Sugar? Cream?'
'Black is fine,' Walters said. 'For both of us.'
Sondra nodded and hurried to the kitchen, fumbling out mismatched mugs from one of the cabinets and making sure none of the nasty cockroach egg casings were stuck to the bottom. The insects in this place were a terrible problem and she didn't want to be embarrassed, but what could she expect from a place of hiding, a place of exile? The coffee was too strong from sitting on the burner since this morning and she didn't really want any, but she needed time to gather her thoughts so she didn't screw up the story. Her claim of seeing the man who hunted her and her babies by the clinic had been a lie, but Sondra could gloss that over by saying she'd only had a glimpse of him then; they might write that sighting off, but they might not. Saying he knew where they lived was the truth, as was telling that he trailed after them every time she stepped out of the house, a spectre of living hunger that was impossible to deny.
Her knees went suddenly weak and she leaned against the counter for support. Would any of this do any good? Perhaps she would have to run again, flee in an endless, exhausting effort to give her babies a normal life. Dear God, would he never let them be?
Without warning his mocking, cruel chuckle filled her mind and the memory of his frigid hands sliding over her skin made her flush:
'Open your legs.'
'No!'
His eyes were black, his gaze oddly sprinkled with yellow glitter, like a reflection of a midnight sky swollen with stars. His fingers, tipped with nails sharp enough to split her skin, scraped along the insides of her thighs. His touch made her veins throb with need.
'Bear my children.'
'Let me go!' she cried. She cursed him, then damned her own body as her thin knees began to spread. Lying against the black sheets, her limbs were like the petals of a pale lily unfolding to float upon an onyx ocean.
' I will fill you with blood and fire,' he whispered in her ear as his body weighed her down and pierced her with exquisite ice. Her insides pulsed around him in involuntary response and he moaned against her neck as he rocked, a wolf's growl of pleasure as the sharp edges of his teeth rubbed along her throat, so very close to the one thing he had yet to steal from her. Everything else was gone: her pride, her self-esteem, her virginity. She was his harlot and his slave, and soon she would carry the ultimate proof that he had used her. Surely he would allow her to keep the final, fragile bit of her humanity that pumped within her arteries. Surely
The sugar jar jittered dangerously in her grasp and she slammed it on the counter and decided to do without rather than risk spilling it. He had sent the cockroaches to this place to torment her, to try and make her leave, and she'd be damned if she'd do anything to feed them. Turning to the sink, Sondra rinsed her hands and face in cool water, then used a paper towel to pat her skin dry. Easy does it, she told herself. Ten more seconds and her hands were steady enough to fish a battered rectangular cake pan from the drawer by the oven and use it as a makeshift
