Killer Instinct Read online

  That wasn’t exactly fair. Killing Decker had been more than a challenge to Joanna. Vanessa was afraid there could be a confrontation with the slasher, and it could go either way. If this man turned out to be Grace Lester’s partner—or vice versa—they could all consider themselves lucky.

  Theo sat down across from the man, Allison remained standing.

  Marshall Stevens looked nervous, doing a bad job trying to hide it. Under the table, he was tapping his foot on the linoleum floor, stopping whenever he realized it only to start over again. It drove Vanessa crazy, and she wasn’t the one in the room with him. Or maybe it was an act trying to convince the police he hadn’t murdered women across the country for years. Without a doubt, the killers would have skills that helped them to distract and blend in.

  “You’ve had some time to think, Mr. Stevens,” Theo said. “What’s it going to be?”

  “I didn’t do nothing!” Stevens claimed. “It’s freezing in here. This can’t be legal.”

  Theo shrugged. “The heating is broken. Believe me, we’re not happy about it either. Maintenance is on its way. So?”

  “I don’t even know the chick. Why would I want to kill her? Maybe she was drunk, wanted to blame it on someone.”

  Theo’s gaze went to the mirror. Even though Vanessa knew he couldn’t see her, the gesture uncomfortably reminded her of that night, the way people had initially doubted the story. Joanna had been on a downward spiral for a while, and maybe Vanessa didn’t feel so guilty any longer, because she’d been there alongside with her, having drinks at The Copper Door often twice, three times a week.

  Sure, an accident could have happened, but that wasn’t the case here.

  “There’s just one problem. We have a witness who could identify you. She saw you push the woman. If no one had been there to help, we’d be investigating a homicide. How well do you know Grace Lester?”

  “Who?”

  The man’s face turned a deeper shade of red.

  “We know that you two met, and we know that she is friendly with a guy who likes to kill women, has done so for over a decade. You see where this is going?”

  “This is crazy!” Stevens complained. “I didn’t kill…I don’t know anyone by the name of Grace Lester. You got the wrong guy.”

  “I don’t think so.” Theo tossed a photograph on the table. They’d pulled the image from the security camera of the apartment building. It was grainy, but both Stevens and Lester were identifiable.

  Stevens looked like he was going to be sick.

  “It was supposed to be a prank! And her name was Alice, not Grace. She said this other woman fucked her boyfriend, and she wanted me to scare her a little. She gave me a picture, and told me where to find her, and that’s it.”

  “That’s it? How much did she offer you?”

  “One grand upfront and another after the deed. It looked to me like she had money.”

  “I’d say so.” Theo and Allison exchanged a meaningful look.

  Vanessa held her breath. She hadn’t known they were this far into the investigation. Did that mean the nightmare was finally over, and Joanna could get rid of the stacks of papers in her apartment?

  “You need some money if you want to order a hit.”

  “A hit?” Stevens laughed, though it didn’t sound convincing. “A hit. You guys are funny. That’s not what this was about, okay? She just wanted to get back at her.”

  “A thousand dollars for a prank? Are you sure you two didn’t plan the whole thing together from the beginning—like the other murders?”

  “Are you deaf or something? I keep telling you, I didn’t kill anyone. She approached me in a bar, asked me if I wanted to make some quick money. Then she told me the story.” When his words met with silence, he insisted, “I swear! You have to believe me, damn it, yes, I pushed her. There were lots of people who pulled her back before the bus was even close.”

  Liar, Vanessa thought, disgusted. The fact that Joanna had gotten away with some bruises was a matter of inches and seconds. It could have gone either way.

  What troubled her even more was that other than this detail, she believed his story, and she sensed that Theo and Allison did too.

  That meant Grace’s real partner was still out there. She refused to give him up, and as for now, she planned on pleading not guilty. With only circumstantial evidence, and Christina’s memory too sketchy for a damning testimony, a conviction didn’t seem likely.

  * * * *

  “That was Vanessa,” Joanna said, surprised she was feeling slightly shaky. Yes, it had been a close call, but it wasn’t the first time. “They found the guy. He confessed…But they don’t think he’s the killer. Well, at least one more unpleasant person off the street for now.”

  “That’s good news though.”

  “Yes, it is.” She sat back down next to Rue. “I think that’s really my cue to take a step back.”

  “There are other things…in the future, and for now. For starters, I could cook you a nice Christmas dinner.”

  “It’s still amazing to me that I’m the one who needs to apologize, yet you came to make me dinner.”

  “You apologized. It’s all good.” Rue hesitated. “Vanessa said you were going to be okay, but…This really gave me a scare.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.”

  “Life is too short to keep wondering what other people think of you. It’s too short to work for misogynist, homophobic people when you don’t have to. And…I realized that I almost lost you before I had the chance to get to know you. I know this sounds corny, but—”

  “No, not at all. I know exactly what you mean. Why don’t we…start over? Again?”

  Rue looked intrigued, so Joanna carried through with the thought. “Hi, I’m Joanna. I killed a murderer once, and given the chance, I’d probably do it again, no matter the crap that happened afterwards. I work in a warehouse now.”

  “I’m Rue, and I used to work for your father. I have lots of remorse about that, but I quit, and now I’m between jobs…and hopefully, in a new relationship.”

  It was a moment on the edge of an emotion that could go anywhere, laughter, or something else. They leaned forward at the same time, eager for the warmth of the other’s embrace. Eager for so much more, but there was a lot of time until Rue had to leave for her parents.

  They cooked together, ate a meal by candlelight and took a hot shower together. They ended Christmas day making love carefully and slowly, given Joanna’s condition. She could almost make herself believe that this was the start of a new life, without the monsters that had occupied the old one, the violence, the pain.

  She was falling in love.

  There was still a killer out there, but he was none of her business.

  Right?

  * * * *

  Grace paced the length of her cell angrily, a small piece of paper crumbled in her right hand. She had read the words a million times, it felt like. They were burned into her mind now. What they meant, what they could mean. Everything depended on making the right decision now.

  She had thought Edward had a plan, one that included getting her out. Now the cops had dangled Joanna in front of her like a prize far out of reach, and for all Grace new, she might hook up with the girl from the bar again. Or another girl. She’d had friends once who would help her without hesitation. Where were they now?

  She couldn’t believe it.

  This wasn’t a dream though. Her reality had shifted, in the form of these words hastily written on lined paper.

  “Thank you for everything. We shall meet again someday.”

  He was dumping her.

  It was too bad she didn’t have a real lawyer at hand who could tell her if at this point, denial, or serving them Edward on a silver platter, would serve her better. She had to make a decision soon.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Joanna missed Rue the moment she walked out of the door, even though they had made plans for the night when she’d be back from her parent
s. Joanna hoped one of the job interviews would work out. Even though Rue had told her not to worry, she felt responsible for Rue’s decision, partly at least.

  She went back to work, trailing through her shift nearly on auto-pilot, thinking she should invite Vanessa and Kira over soon as well. For the first time, in a long time, she was moving forward. It was real. There was no point in always waiting for the other shoe to drop, was there? Old habits died hard, but there was nothing left to fear, for her, anyway. Christina had returned to her apartment and made arrangements to leave the city.

  Grace would have her trial, those disastrous dates with a serial murderer nothing more than a faint memory.

  Why couldn’t she calm down?

  During her break, she talked briefly to a colleague. He’d heard from Nate who was finally on vacation with his family. She wondered if the experience was still haunting him, even under palm trees. Joanna was fairly certain. The confrontation with what people were willing and ready to do to others, out of greed, for gratification, changed a person. You could never go back to the bliss of ignorance.

  After her shift, she didn’t feel like going out—there was nothing out there for her. There was no message from Rue. She probably didn’t have the time yet.

  The small rooms seemed to echo with memories. She was too melodramatic about this, Joanna was aware. They still didn’t know each other well.

  After coming out of the shower, she sat down on the side of the bed, remembering Rue’s hands and lips, tender on her naked body.

  The ghosts were gone.

  It was a bit scary to think of a life without them—they were all Joanna had known for the past years. Her purpose had changed.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  One day, she would tell Rue the whole truth, the complete picture that not even Kira or Vanessa had seen. How she’d doubted her decision every day, how she had felt unbearably selfish for moments of wishing she’d let Decker go and kept her job and old life. The embarrassing reality of the first encounters with Grace.

  The day she’d almost killed herself in prison, and that she owed Kira for still being alive.

  She wouldn’t burden Rue with those stories all at once. They had a lot of time, and Rue hadn’t run yet, on the contrary. The future looked full of hope.

  * * * *

  10 hours ago

  Rue was deep in thought as she climbed into the cab getting her to the airport. The past days had gone by like a dream, some of it a tad unsettling, some of it so delightful she was almost afraid to jinx it. She didn’t think Lawrence Mitchell could do her much harm—she knew from her every day work that the two firms she had applied for had a different business philosophy, so she hoped for the best.

  Then there was Joanna—it might have been too quick, too easy, and they hadn’t done much talking while enjoying each other’s company.

  Breathe, Rue told herself. There will be time.

  She leaned back in her seat, glad that this was the one rare driver who didn’t try to engage her in small talk. She’d spend a couple of days with her parents, catch up, then come back to pick up where she and Joanna had left off. She almost changed her mind, but she wanted to tell them the news before they, for some reason, might hear them from someone else. Joanna was right to be cautious—one could never tell how people would react to a story like hers. While Rue believed her parents would support her no matter what, she wanted some quiet time with them to explain all the changes she had made in her life lately.

  She felt giddy. It wasn’t like her life had been so bad as long as she had kept her mouth shut at her former job. She hadn’t been unhappy as a single woman, and had only signed up on the website to get her co-workers off her back. Some dates had been fun, some not so much…and eventually she’d walked into The Copper Door, readied herself for a disaster and found Joanna.

  Rue was a firm believer in actions over words. While everything Joanna had told her rang true, she based her verdict on her instincts, the way Joanna acted around her, and the way she made her feel. Safe. Respected.

  It made all the difference in the world.

  She yawned, hoping the flight would be quiet so she could catch an hour or two of sleep. The rain outside would soon turn to ice. It better not impact the flight. Rue straightened in her seat, startled to see the unfamiliar surroundings. Was the cab driver daydreaming too?

  “Excuse me? Sir? Where are you going?”

  In the mirror, he gave her a smile.

  “Don’t worry, Ma’am. You’re not going to miss your flight. I just have to make a stop on the way.”

  Rue wasn’t at all assured. “Can’t you do that later? I’m really in a hurry.”

  “Yeah, I bet.”

  His tone was level, but it still sounded like a sneer to her. Was she paranoid? Who was this man? Meeting Joanna, while a wondrous turn of events in the first place, had also opened her mind to all the horrible possibilities of what could happen. She had to take the damn cab to the airport, no way around it. Why did she have to end up with a weirdo?

  “You know what, why don’t you let me out at the next light, and I’ll go from there?”

  They were just barely out of the city limits. She could always take a chance and call another cab, hopefully finding a more responsible driver. To her surprise, he seemed unfazed by her suggestion.

  “If that’s what you want, lady, no problem. Why don’t we stop right here?”

  There were some industrial buildings spread alongside the road, and a parking lot. At this point, Rue didn’t even know exactly where they were, but she was sure she wanted to get rid of this man. A cab driver could certainly identify the place by the name of the companies. She’d be fine.

  She stepped outside in the freezing rain, cursing the man and her own bad luck. Hopefully she could get another car soon. She might miss that flight and get a cold on top of it…Joanna’s chance to take care of her in return might come sooner than expected.

  The driver came around to take her luggage out of the car, and predictably, he didn’t care if they landed into a puddle.

  “Hey, why don’t you pay attention?” Rue shouted, frustrated beyond measures with her situation as she looked for a number on her phone.

  She didn’t quite know how it happened, but seconds later, she found herself face down on the ground, fear flooding her body and mind as he held her down.

  “Don’t talk to me like that, bitch!”

  What was happening? She tried to remember the moves from a self defense class taken years ago, to no avail. She was shaking too hard, from the cold, from the panic consuming her. Rue had read stories about cab drivers assaulting women—it was one of those things you knew happened, but you never thought it could happen to you. He pressed a damp, foul-smelling cloth against her face, and the world became a grey smudge turning to black.

  * * * *

  While he couldn’t help Grace, pity, he could at least fulfill her fantasy. No pleasure, no deceit for Rue—he didn’t have that much time anyway. Just this one, and it would be time to return to warmer pastures. He had always known it was dangerous to come back here, with Joanna still around, and cops who remembered him. He had no interest in her any longer now that she’d become this pitiful story, no longer a hunter on equal footing with another. He felt obliged to Grace who had stood faithfully by him all those years, and truth be told, this one would be fun.

  Above all he’d wanted to say hi to his elderly mother who thought he was a successful businessman in L.A.

  From lawyer to cab driver, Edward was back to plain, mean serial killer.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Present

  At ten to eleven, Joanna walked into the police station, seeking out Vanessa after she found Theo’s desk empty.

  “What gives? I called Theo and left him a message, but he didn’t call me back. I’m worried about Rue. She didn’t call me back and…hell, I know she’s an adult and something probably came up, but I’d still feel better if he checked
up on that.”

  While she was talking, the expression on Vanessa’s face told her already that there was news, and it wasn’t good. “What? I know this isn’t priority, but—”

  “Joanna.”

  She forced herself to stop.

  “It’s priority now.”

  Just like that, the ground opened up under her. The possibilities were endless, right? Traffic, a minor accident, the plane canceled because of weather conditions…they could handle all of that. But it wasn’t what Vanessa was talking about.

  “Tell me,” she said.

  “Theo checked with the airport like you asked him. Her plane departed on time, but she wasn’t on it. The cab company says they sent someone, but she never showed up.”

  “That’s not true. I saw her get in the car.”

  “I don’t doubt that. I haven’t seen the driver that was supposed to pick her up, but he seems to be believable.”

  “So we don’t know anything for sure yet, right? It could be completely harmless.”

  Come on, humor me already. Rue was supposed to be on that plane, back home with her in a few days. It was still possible, wasn’t it?

  “Her cell phone is off. There’s something else. Lester’s lawyer disappeared all of a sudden, and we have reason to believe that he wasn’t who he pretended to be.”

  Joanna couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.

  “You want to tell me the bastard walked in here and no one knew—”

  “Actually, she’s told you a lot more than you were supposed to know.”

  Neither of them had heard Theo come in. He looked tired.

  “Joanna, you know we appreciate your contribution, but you need to step aside and let us do our job. We’re going to find her.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” Joanna said, irritated with the implications of his words. “You know what to do, right? He kidnapped another woman without Grace. You need to lean harder on her. He has abandoned her. She might be willing to give him up.”