Killing Fear

find Anna.”

She shook her head. “No. Anna never had sex with him.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I am.”

“How?”

“Anna is a lesbian, okay?” she said, angry. “She was raped by her own father when she turned thirteen. That was her birthday present. He sexually abused her for two years before she ran away. Then the police brought her home and because she was too scared to talk about what her father did to her, she went through the same thing for six more months.”

“I’m sorry.” Will’s voice showed he did care about the girl Anna had been, the trauma she had suffered. It was one of the many reasons Robin had fallen in love with Will. His compassion was boundless, but didn’t border on pity.

“Anna ran away again, smarter this time, lied about her age, got a fake ID, and started working at RJ’s. I knew she was underage when he hired her, but RJ wouldn’t listen to me. He didn’t care about that, as long as he could justify his ignorance if he was ever caught.” She closed her eyes. “Anna was so scared. But she put herself out there. She told me once that stripping gave her power over men that she’d never had before with her father. One of the other girls was a lesbian; she befriended Anna, and Anna told me when she moved into my apartment that she was gay and asked if that bothered me. I said it didn’t.”

“Maybe she was bisexual. She was young, maybe-”

“She wasn’t.”

Will stared at her. “Are you sure?”

“I am. She had the same reaction to Theodore Glenn as I did when I first met him. She wouldn’t have slept with any man, and she certainly wouldn’t have slept with him.”

Robin watched the expression on Will’s face harden. What was he thinking? “What? Does this mean something important?”

“Robin, I want the truth. Did you ever sleep with Theodore Glenn?”

She felt sucker-punched. “I told you I didn’t. You know how I feel about him.”

“Maybe it was a long time ago. Maybe you were in denial that he was targeting his former lovers. Maybe he expected you to be home, not Anna. Everyone knew she was going to Big Bear. And when she opened the door, he panicked, killed her instead.”

“I never had sex with him.”

Will stared at her and his eyes told her he didn’t believe her.

She rose from the bed, her nudity embarrassing her for the first time in her life. She’d given her heart to Will Hooper and he’d shredded it.

“You can see why I’m finding it hard to believe you,” he said quietly.

She pulled on the jeans that were too big and the top that was too small. Tears burned behind her eyes, but she would not cry in front of this man. Never again.

“Because I’m a stripper?”

“No, because of the M.O. He wouldn’t-”

“Fuck you, Will Hooper.”

She ran out of his town house.

“Ms. McKenna?” A deep, male voice came over her intercom. The security guard.

“Yes?” she said.

“There’s a Trinity Lange here to see you. She doesn’t have an appointment.”

Robin frowned. She didn’t like talking to reporters, but Trinity Lange had been fair during the trial. Unlike the print media, she hadn’t harped on the fact that the victims were strippers, and seemed to honestly believe they deserved justice just as much as any other victim.

But why did the reporter want to see her? She was wary, especially now. “What does she want?”

A moment later, the voice said, “She says it’s completely off-the-record.”

Off-the-record. She didn’t know if she could trust Trinity, but Robin was curious. “All right, bring her back. Thank you.”

Robin shut her emotions in her office and met Trinity at the Back Room bar. Trinity smiled and thanked the bodyguard. “You have the most gorgeous staff,” she said.

“We want our customers to enjoy all five senses.”

“Thanks for agreeing to talk to me.”

“I haven’t yet.”

Trinity opened then closed her mouth and nodded. “I guess I deserved that.”

“You don’t deserve anything, good or bad. You were the only major reporter who didn’t talk about my friends like they were hookers. That kindness bought you this time. But I do not talk to the press, and I will not be quoted.”

Trinity took a deep breath. “Theodore Glenn paid me a visit the other night.”

Robin sat down before she fell over. Will hadn’t told her. “What happened?”

“He broke into my apartment and tied me to my bed. I was scared out of my mind.”

“Rightfully. He’s a killer. You sat through the trial. You know what he did to my friends.”

Trinity nodded. “He admitted to me that he killed Bethany, Brandi, and Jessica.”

Robin blinked. Her world tilted and everything seemed brighter. “And Anna?”

Trinity shook her head. “He said he didn’t kill Anna Clark. He was emphatic about it.”

“Don’t believe him.” Her voice was low, quivering. She swallowed bile.

“Normally I wouldn’t, but…”

Robin stared at the reporter. “I don’t believe you’re not doing a story on this.”

“Not on you. Not on the victims. But put yourself in my shoes. A convicted murderer admits to you that he’s killed three women, but not the fourth? How does it benefit him?”

“It gets him press. Gives him a platform. Buys him time to do whatever it is he’s planning on doing!”

“But-”

“And you’re buying it?” Robin fumed. “I never pegged you for a stupid woman, Trinity.”

The reporter bristled. “I’m not being stupid, Robin. I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?”

“I think he’s after Will Hooper.”

“I’ll alert the media,” Robin said sarcastically, a pang of fear in her chest. She didn’t want Will dead. “That’s no big revelation. He killed Detective Sturgeon, the other cop who arrested him. It makes sense that he’ll go after Will, too.”

“It’s personal with him.”

“Isn’t murder always personal?”

“Why are you asking me the questions?”

“Why are you buying Theodore Glenn’s act? I knew the man. He’s the biggest manipulator on the planet. He thrives on these twisted games.”

“He knew about you and Will,” Trinity said quietly.

He saw us. Watched us, that night in the bar.

Will’s words from last night came back to her.

He’d told her Glenn had watched them, but she hadn’t asked how he’d come by that information. Now it made sense; a sick, twisted, obscene sense.

Robin said, “You told Will about this?”

Trinity nodded.

“Who else?”

“No one.”

“Really?” She stood to pour herself a shot of her favorite Reposado tequila and slammed it back; the smooth, flavorful liquor coating her senses.

“I told Will in private,” Trinity said. “I didn’t put it into the official record. I probably made a big mistake, but I like Will. I don’t want him to be hurt by this.”