Kiss Me, Kill Me

While Kirsten recognized the voice, she didn’t know from where. She tried to sit up but couldn’t. She lay back and closed her eyes, focusing on listening, though now the words were coming from even farther away. Like a tunnel. She needed to sleep. But all she’d done was sleep.

Dennis said something she couldn’t quite make out, then his brother said, “It’s complicated. I think I have it under control, but I could have used your help. Okay, listen to me. This is important, Dennis.”

“I’m listening! I’m slow, not stupid.”

“Dennis, I know you’re not stupid. Just please pay attention; this is important.”

“Okay.” Dennis sounded like he was sulking.

“If the police come by and ask you any questions about me-anything, no matter what-play dumb. You don’t know anything about my social life and nothing about my girlfriends.”

Kirsten whimpered. She knew who Dennis’s brother was.

Wade.

She’d had cybersex with him, then met him in person at a New Year’s Eve party. Kirsten had walked in on him and Jessie having sex. Jessie had really liked him.

Oh, God, had Wade killed Jessica? Had it been his whispered voice she’d heard?

“But why?” Dennis said.

“Trust me on this, okay, Dennis? I’ve always looked out for you; this is your opportunity to look out for me. Okay?”

“But I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to. All you need to know is nothing. If Charlie finds out about this, he’s going to cut me off. I’ll just have the pathetic settlement money. Dammit, this is so fucked!”

Dennis said slowly, “This has something to do with that girl who got killed at the party.”

Kirsten bit her lip to keep from crying out, and tried to swallow a cough. It came out weakly.

Please, don’t let him hear me.

“Don’t be such a dumb shit, of course it does!”

“Don’t call me names. I don’t like it when you say I’m stupid.”

“I didn’t! Geez, Dennis, I’m coming to you for help. I never said you were stupid. You’re my little brother, right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s going to be okay. Really. It doesn’t mean anything. So what if I knew the victims? I know a lot of people. It’s just a coincidence. But you know how the police are. They’d love to take down a Barnett.”

“You didn’t hurt anyone?”

“No!”

“But you were there. You made me sit in the car for hours.”

“And you left me! The cab was taking fucking forever so I got a ride home from some skank. I was lucky she didn’t get us killed. That’s why I have you come along, to be my driver. But I wasn’t there, right?”

“Of course you were. I took you.”

“No! You didn’t. You didn’t take me to that party. Okay? Got that? I don’t know what’s going on, but someone has it in for me. It’s going to be fine, it is, as long as you don’t know anything.”

“You want me to lie?”

“I want you to act stupid. Just act more retarded or something.”

Kirsten wanted to run away, but she couldn’t run or walk or even stand. What was Dennis going to do? Lie for his brother? Her head spun, even though she was lying down.

Wade said, “Denny, I’m sorry-I didn’t mean it like that.” His voice was soft and sounded sincere. But he wanted Dennis to lie.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. I’m just under a lot of stress right now.”

Dennis said, “I don’t like any of this.”

“I didn’t hurt anyone. I swear to you, I didn’t.”

Kirsten didn’t believe Wade. He’d been at the party! Was it his voice she’d heard? It had been so far away, she didn’t know or couldn’t remember. As far away as the voices sounded now. Down a long, dark tunnel.

Dennis said, “I believe you.”

No, Dennis! Kirsten wanted to scream.

But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She was spiraling down, into blackness.

Her chest ached. Was she coughing?

“Oh, my God, Dennis, what have you done?”

The voice was so far away.

“Kirsten? What’s wrong?”

Someone touched her head. She couldn’t talk.

“What happened?” Wade demanded. “What did you do to her?”

He saved my life!

“I found her,” Dennis said.

“Oh no. No. I know her. We have to get her out of here! Damn, she’s blazing hot.”

If Kristen had the energy, she’d laugh. She was anything but hot. Her body was icy cold. So cold.

“She’s sick. I’m taking care of her.”

“Sick? She’s more than sick, Dennis. We have to get her to the hospital. Call 911-no. No. I can’t. You can’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you see? They’ll take our names. If they know about my website, they might know about her. I can’t risk that.”

“We can’t just leave her somewhere.”

“We have to. What if she brings the police here?”

“No!”

“Shit. Okay, I have an idea. Get her stuff. Everything. Now.”

Kirsten faded away. She didn’t hear what Wade’s plan was. For all she knew, he was going to kill her.

Somehow, dying didn’t scare her as much as she had thought it would.

SIXTEEN

Watching Sean pace the FBI interview room was exhausting. “If that woman doesn’t come back in five minutes,” he said, “I’m leaving. We’ve been in here for over an hour.” He looked at his watch and frowned. “One hour and twenty minutes.”

“You don’t like waiting much, do you?” Lucy asked.

“Without my phone, without my laptop, without even a piece of paper?”

She put her hand on her chest in mock insult. “What about me? I’m here.”

He stopped walking and sat across from her. He held her hands and kissed them both. “And you are amazing. You totally blew Agent Madeaux away with your time line.”

“So you’ve told me. Twice.” But Lucy was very pleased that she’d found something valuable to the Cinderella Strangler investigation. She only hoped it led them to Kirsten. “I hope it helps.”

“They hadn’t made the Party Girl connection, and didn’t know that Barnett knew the first victim.”

“I suspect Wade Barnett knew all of the victims before he killed them.”

“And you’re concluding all of this because he dated the first victim?”

“It’s logical. And suffocation is intimate. He’d have to hold his victims close, restrain them in some way. I wish I could see the crime scene reports. The information in the newspaper was vague.”

Lucy backtracked a bit. “I should say that Barnett’s the most likely to have killed these women. We know he knew the first and fourth victim, as well as Kirsten.”