Dark Pursuit Part 11

He had bought the flowers during his lunch hour. He'd never given Kaitlan flowers before. Figured it was time.

Following this afternoon's nightmare he'd nearly wrenched them apart in fury.

But no. They were right. They were good. Women liked roses.

This evening he had to keep Kaitlan unsettled. Frightened enough to keep her mouth shut.

Reaching an intersection, Craig turned right on red. Gayner was a small town. He'd reach Kaitlan's place in minutes.

She'd lied to him on the phone. He'd never, ever expected she would do that. Never expected she would so quickly finger him as the killer.

Funny how your life could be turned upside down in one wretched moment. Who he was he could be no longer. The things he used to worry about, hope for-all gone.

He'd thought he loved Kaitlan. Maybe he still did. Right now he just couldn't feel it.

But it was better this way. If the emotion came flooding back, he might waver, and that he couldn't afford.

Craig already knew what had to be done. He'd considered it and, aghast, quickly discarded the thought. When he found no alternative, it boomeranged.

But not yet. First they had a birthday party to attend. For Hallie. For her friends. So all would seem well.

After the party he'd have to do it. He'd have to take care of Kaitlan.

CHAPTER twenty-two

Craig arrived bearing a half dozen red roses. Looking like he sat on a razor's edge but was trying not to show it.

Kaitlan had opened the front door, skin on fire, her senses hyper-aware. Her feet were unsteady, like maneuvering the deck of a rocking s.h.i.+p, and her heart fluttered.

She wasn't really doing this-facing a man she could no longer deny was a killer, pretending everything was all right. She stood outside herself, looking on. Watching the movie unfold.

Craig wore khaki pants and a tucked-in blue s.h.i.+rt. His hair was slightly windblown, as if he'd stepped out of a modeling shot. His lips spread in that smile that used to turn her insides to mush. No more. "I brought you a present." His blue eyes held hers as he stepped over the threshold.

The same one he crossed hours ago, luring his latest victim.

Who was that woman?

"Oh. Thank you." Kaitlan took the flowers and lifted them to her nose. "They're so pretty."

The smell of perfume and urine.

Kaitlan's eyes bounced to Craig's. He surveyed her like a sculptor studying a flawed creation. The look laid her bare.

These flowers were no present. They were a bribe.

The thought was so insane. Roses-for keeping quiet about a dead woman dead woman?

Something flicked across Craig's face. His eyes narrowed, but his ever-dazzling smile remained. "You look good."

"Thank you."

Kaitlan couldn't even remember getting ready. Somehow she'd found herself in beige pants and a short-sleeved coral blouse.

Maybe this was all a dream.

"I'll just ... put these in some water." Kaitlan scurried into the kitchen, feeling his eyes on her back and his shadow at her heels. She didn't like him behind her but couldn't let him see her fear. She fought not to turn around.

Kaitlan fetched a tall gla.s.s from a cabinet. At the sink, the running water sounded so loud. Her fingers shook as she slid the rose stems into their holder.

Craig moved in behind her and put both hands on her shoulders.

Kaitlan turned to ice.

She caught herself, then forced her body into motion. You play your part, he' ll play his. You play your part, he' ll play his.

Kaitlan turned off the tap and set the flowers on the cabinet. She turned around. Craig's fingers slid toward her neck with intimacy, one thumb coming to rest at the base of her throat.

Her heart nearly stopped.

His head tilted, his eyes filling with suspicion. "You love me, don't you?"

"I ... of course." Kaitlan's pulse surged back to life, startling her veins with heat.

His hands pressed against her skin. Dizziness swirled in Kaitlan's head.

"Then why did you lie to me?" Craig's voice lowered.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play with me, Kaitlan. You told me you were at work when I called. You weren't."

At any other time, with any other guy she would have stood up for herself, given it right back to him. And just what were you doing checking up on me And just what were you doing checking up on me? Now she trembled like a trapped bird.

"Oh?" She forced a little smile. "How'd you know that?"

He slapped her.

Kaitlan's head ricocheted back. Her left cheek blazed with the sting of a hundred fire ants. She stared at Craig, mouth open, shock glazing her brain. He'd never hit her before. Had never come anywhere close. Her hand floated up to her face, tears biting her eyes.

"Don't"-his forefinger jabbed at her, stiff and full of fury-"ever lie to me. Understand?" lie to me. Understand?"

Her head bobbed up and down. One tear slipped out of her eye.

He saw it, and the anger on his face unraveled. "Come on now." His voice gentled. "Stop crying."

Kaitlan gulped. Her hand pressed harder against her cheek.

Craig rested his weight on one leg, a hand on his hip. His breathing came unevenly. "Tell me why you lied."

He hit me, he hit me! was all Kaitlan could think. Where had this come from? was all Kaitlan could think. Where had this come from?

Yeah, like she should be surprised. He'd killed a woman, hadn't he? What was. .h.i.tting his girlfriend compared to that?

But it wasn't supposed to be like this. Her grandfather said they were supposed to play their parts ...

Craig pulled her hand away from her burning cheek. "I asked you a question."

"I ..." She swallowed. "Two of my clients canceled at the last minute. And I was feeling sick. I didn't want you to worry about me, so I just ..."

"You just decided to lie."

"Yes." Her voice squeaked. "I'm sorry."

"Because you thought I wouldn't find out?"

"I don't know. I guess I really didn't think."

They surveyed each other.

"No. Apparently you didn't."

Kaitlan's breathing shallowed. Was he going to hit her again?

Craig stepped back. "Time to go. We're going to be late, thanks to you. Do you think you can pull it together? My father will expect us to be in a party mood."

She nodded.

He studied her with half-closed eyes. "The redness will be gone by the time we get there."

The words sounded so casual, as if he'd commented on the weather. But their meaning hit Kaitlan in the gut. The dead woman's body was gone, the mark on her cheek would be gone. All was right in Craig Barlow's world. As long as he kept her under control.

If she said a word against him ...

"Get your purse." Craig turned away. "And don't forget your present for Hallie."

Present. Kaitlan's mind flashed white. Oh, no. Had she forgotten to buy Craig's sister a birthday gift?

Hallie wouldn't care if Kaitlan didn't show up with a gift. She'd wave her hand in the air and say, "Hey, no worries. Bring me chocolate tomorrow, I'm happy." But Chief Barlow was hardly Kaitlan's greatest ally. He wouldn't like it.

"You told me you bought her a bracelet." Craig's tone sharpened. "Is it even wrapped?"

"Oh. I ... yeah. It's in my bedroom. On the dresser."

Had it been there the whole time? While that dead woman lay on her bed?

"Well, go get it. Hurry up!"

She hustled into the bedroom, telling herself to think nothing, nothing at all. Not about the sight she'd seen here just hours earlier. Or the sounds that would have filled these walls. m.u.f.fled screams, Craig's grunts as he cinched a striped cloth around the woman's neck ...

What that must feel like-to have the life choked out of you. To struggle for that last breath.

A whimper escaped Kaitlan's throat.

She spied the small wrapped box, complete with white ribbon. She grabbed it and returned to the kitchen.

Craig tilted his head. "Kaitlan, don't look so frightened."

She dropped the gift into her purse. Pushed the terror down her throat, down, down to her toes. "I'm ready."

As she slid into Craig's car, Kaitlan wondered if she'd live to see morning.

CHAPTER twenty-three

Seven-thirty.

Outside his office window night drew a sullen, gray blanket over the shoulders of the hills.

Darell faced his computer, belly full of ca.s.serole and salad, and his mind fairly alert. Normally he'd be fading by this time of day. But he couldn't afford to do that tonight. He had to stay awake until Kaitlan called.

As he ate dinner Margaret's words had fully taken hold of him, giving him confidence. She was right-he had no time to fret about his inabilities. Besides, he had had been right in predicting Craig Barlow's actions. Now he needed to proceed with his instinct. Hadn't he done that many times when faced with a novel that refused to be finished? Margaret had searched online for news articles on the two previous Gayner homicides, looking particularly for information about the victims. She'd flagged stories for him to read. Darell now opened the first, an article in the been right in predicting Craig Barlow's actions. Now he needed to proceed with his instinct. Hadn't he done that many times when faced with a novel that refused to be finished? Margaret had searched online for news articles on the two previous Gayner homicides, looking particularly for information about the victims. She'd flagged stories for him to read. Darell now opened the first, an article in the San Jose Mercury News. San Jose Mercury News.

July 19, 2008 BODY OF SECOND STRANGLED WOMAN FOUND The body of an alleged homicide victim, the second in ten months, was discovered yesterday in Gayner near Edgewood and Canada roads, at the town's northern border. The victim has been identified as Linda Davila, Hispanic, age thirty-one, a Redwood City resident who worked as a receptionist in the dental office of Dr. Harvin Coutz in Palo Alto.

Davila's body was found by Gayner residents Marty and Tricia Darton as they jogged a trail off Canada Road. Gayner police and the San Mateo County coroner's office responded to the scene.

Gayner law enforcement have been tight-lipped about details of the two murders due to their ongoing investigation. In a press conference late yesterday Chief of Police Russ Barlow refused to identify specific similarities between the two murders, saying only, "We do have reason to believe they are linked."

Some Gayner residents are now demanding that Gayner police step up their efforts in solving these murders. Tina Arbuckle, president of Gayner Women's League, spoke with reporters after the press conference. "This is a small town, and we know for a fact the police department has little experience with homicides," she said. "Before these recent murders, Gayner hadn't seen a homicide in thirteen years. So why aren't Gayner police calling in other, more experienced departments for help?"

Chief Barlow responded, "That kind of talk is what happens when a citizen, who has no inside knowledge of the crimes, thinks she knows more than local law enforcement, whose members are working night and day to solve these murders. I suggest she keep quiet and let us do our work."

Contacted for his opinion, Samuel Buckman, a San Mateo County veteran homicide detective of seventeen years, noted the "telling circ.u.mstances" of both victims being killed in Gayner, population 18,000. "The Bay Area Peninsulais a huge ma.s.s of people," he said, "one town running into the next. When you get two similar homicides in a town as small as Gayner, chances are high that the perpetrator lives in the area. If I were on the Gayner force I'd be looking for a suspect in my own backyard."