Bitten by Cupid (30 page)

Had he heard Dale’s frantic voice? “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, he promised not to print it.”

She smelled liquor on his breath. “I have to get going now. I’ve got an appointment…down-town.”

“What about your dinner? I can smell it cooking.”

No, he could smell her fear. And he was keeping his thoughts silent, now. She took a step back, and he stepped forward.

“I watched my stepfather beat the hell out of my mother almost every night. She cowered like a beaten dog, begging him to stop. But he wouldn’t stop.” His voice was low and menacing. “And when he was finished with her, he turned his rage on me. I didn’t understand he was a coward who only felt powerful when he could beat up those smaller and weaker than himself. I only knew I couldn’t do a thing to stop him from hurting me and my mother. And that no one would protect us. And that he would keep beating us until he killed us one day. Do you know what it’s like to live in that kind of fear every damned day of your life?”

She shook her head, though she had lived in fear the last few days, and it was excruciating.

“And when I took that gun from his hiding place in their closet, for the first time I felt like I could finally stop the terror. Nothing prepared me for what it felt like to pull that trigger, to see his blood splatter on my mother and the walls and furniture.” He gripped her shoulders so hard it hurt. “Do you know what I felt? Satisfied? Triumphant?”

“I…don’t know.” Her body trembled, and her voice had come out a whisper.

His chin quivered. “I felt shame. Guilt. Horror. Because I had become just like him. I had used violence for my own purposes. I was no better than that monster I had killed. I’ve lived with that demon on my shoulder ever since. And I will for the rest of my life. It whispers in my ear.”

“W-what does it say?”
Kill women?

“It tells me what a horrible person I am. And then to have you come along and accuse me of being a serial killer, of taking lives for the sheer pleasure of it…” His voice broke, though he still kept his hands clamped on her shoulders. “To have you look at me like I’m a killer, coming in and ripping away the only friendship I have, exposing my secret to the world…” He dropped down to his knees in front of her, his shoulders heaving with his sobs.

Her knees felt wobbly, but she knelt next to him and tentatively touched his shaking back. “Look, I got a little…crazy with my suspicions.”
Crazy
was her dark word from her past, the demon that whispered in her ear sometimes. “But I can see I was wrong about you.” Her legs gave out, and she sat down. “Owen, we are not what we’ve done. We are only defined but what we are now. And if Dale Soza does print that story, it will give you the chance to exorcize your demon once and for all. Instead of hiding from the truth, face it. Face the world with it, forgive that little boy, and set him free. Forgive your stepfather, too. Not for him, but for you. Release all the anger and shame that’s clogging up your soul and find yourself.”

He looked up at her, removing his glasses and wiping his eyes. “I…I don’t know if I can do that.”

“I’ve lived with my dirty little secret, too, trying to be normal when I’m anything but. My parents thought I was crazy, probably still do. I thought I was crazy. Then, when I realized it was some gift or curse or whatever, I hated it. I fought it. But finally I had to accept and work around it. Adrian was the first person I told about it, and he accepted me. He was the only one I was able to open myself up to. He taught me I could love fully and be open with another person. He accepts you, too, just as you are, and that is the most wonderful gift you will ever receive. He’s a good friend. I’ve lost him”—her voice cracked—“but you haven’t. Don’t push him away and think you’re better off alone. You’re not.” She wiped her eyes.

“She’s right.”

They both jerked their gazes toward the door where Adrian stood. She hadn’t closed it fully.

“How much of that did you hear?” she said, coming to her feet.

“Enough.” He looked at her, then at Owen, who also stood. “No matter what, I’m here for you. We’ve been friends since we were kids, through all of that garbage you went through. That’s not going to change now. If the story breaks, we’ll face it together.”

Owen hugged Adrian, not in the guy pat-your-back way but a full-out hug. Her heart filled for them. She’d never had a true friend, someone who would stand by her no matter what. She and Adrian didn’t have the history these two had. It would be easy for him to walk away from her.

The two men stepped apart. Owen wiped at his nose, and she handed him a tissue. “She’s great,” he said to Adrian.

She shrugged. “It was only a tissue.”

“No, I mean…everything you said.” He blew his nose and stuffed the tissue into his pocket. “I’m going to buy myself a box of chocolates and rent a sappy movie.”

Adrian put his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “Want some company?”

“I’m good. No matter what happens, I’ll be okay. See you tomorrow at the office.” Once Owen left, Adrian looked at her. “What you said to him…that was nice.”

“I meant every word.”

“I know you did.”

He stepped closer, and her heart started beating a little faster. He gave away nothing in his expression. “He was all kinds of mad at you when I found him at a bar. When he stalked off, I had a bad feeling. I knew he had access to your address.”

“I have to admit, I was scared for a few minutes.” She scrubbed her hands down her arms at the memory. “I think he’ll be all right.”
But what about us?

Is there an us?
She looked at him questioningly.

“I could almost forgive you,” he said.

Her heart fell. Almost. But not completely. “But you can’t.”

He shook his head. “I can’t forgive you for being so smart and noble and determined and so intrinsically
you
that I can’t get you out of my mind even when I want to. That I can’t control myself when I’m around you. That I can’t stop being in love with you, and what I really can’t understand or believe is that you’ve done that in only five days.”

In love?
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, her smile growing. “Maybe I can make it up to you.” She stepped closer, sliding her hands around his neck. “If I work really, really hard at it.”

He tilted his head, and only then did he give away the smile he’d been hiding. “I suppose it’s possible. We can discuss the terms.”

She leaned up and gave him a kiss. “We can start with a kiss. Maybe a nibble on the neck.” She scraped her teeth across his skin, breathing in the scent of him. “Then I could move down…”

He caught her face in his hands and kissed her. She felt that jolt through her body. Now they could kiss without his worrying about seeing the awful vision. She leaned into him, rubbing her hands over his chest, soaking in the feel of him.

With a gasp, he stepped back. “No, can’t be.” His face was white with fear and confusion.

“You saw…the vision again?”

“Yes.” He rubbed his temples. “Maybe it’s stuck in my head.”

“But you don’t really think so.”

“No. The murder this morning could be a copycat. I’m not taking any chances. I’m going out to the car to get the rope and hammer. I told the driver to wait for me. I’ll be right back.” He took the stairs as though he were flying down them. “Close the door!”

A few minutes later she heard a knock on the door. She opened it but stopped short. Dale stood there, breathing heavily.

“Oh, I forgot you were coming. Look, it’s okay. Owen isn’t Kiss and Kill Cupid.”

“I know.” He shoved his way in and locked the door, dropping his backpack on the floor. He pulled his BlackBerry out of his pocket and punched in some numbers. “I want to report an attempted murder. It’s Kiss and Kill Cupid…” He gave her address. “Yes, I’ll stand by until the police arrive.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s out in the hall. I saw him coming up the stairs with a hammer and rope.”

She let out a hysterical laugh. “That was Adrian. He’s not the killer.”

Dale leaned into her face. “Yes, he is.”

“He was bringing up those items to keep me safe from the killer.”

“No, he was coming to kill you. I’ve been watching him, too, though I didn’t want to alarm you until I had something concrete. You were so convinced he couldn’t be the killer. All day I’ve worked on matching up his locations with the crimes in the last few years. I talked to his driver. Adrian was in the vicinity of the crime this morning. He had the driver drop him off two blocks away, and the driver saw him go not into the building he was supposed to be going into but around the corner.”

“That’s…no, that’s just wrong.” She knew absolutely it was wrong. “Where’s Adrian? You said you saw him on the stairs. Why isn’t he here?”

“I took care of him.”

“Took…care?”

She started to run to the door, but he grabbed her by the shoulder and swung her around. She nearly careened into him, and the BlackBerry dropped to the floor. His hair was stiff with the hairspray he smelled strongly of.

“You can’t go out there. It’s dangerous. Wait until the police get here.”

“He’s not a killer. He’s…” She looked down at the phone. The line wasn’t open as he’d told the operator he was going to do.

Oh
,
my God. It’s Dale. He’s Kiss and Kill Cupid.
She’d never given him her address. She had to keep her cool, even though her heart was about to shoot out of her chest.

He put his arm around her shoulder. “I know it’s a shock. These guys can be cunning, seductive. But the important thing is, you’re safe.”

“Th-thank you. I can’t believe it. What did you do to him?”

“I tripped him on the stairs, then grabbed the hammer he was about to use on you and hit him with it. Then I tied him up with the rope he was going to tie you up with. There’s a storage room off the lobby. I pulled him in there so no one would freak out if they came in and saw him. He won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.”

Her throat tightened in fear. What had Dale done to him? And what would he do to her?

“That was very brave of you,” she said, hoping she sounded convincing. “Where did you hit him?”

“In the head. It’s going to be a hell of a story.” He gave her a wide grin, which disappeared when his nose twitched. “Hey, smells like something’s burning.”

The aroma of burnt cheese filled the room.

“Maybe we should go down there, make sure he doesn’t get away.” She started to head to the door again, but he pulled her back. Her voice sounded tight when she said, “He’s tied up, right? So he can’t do anything to us. We really should—”

“It’s messy. You don’t want to go down there.”

Messy. Oh, God.
“But I do.” Then she could run outside and scream for help. She walked calmly to the door. Reached for the knob.

An arm came around her neck from behind. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

His voice was so calm. She took a breath to scream, but he slapped his hand over her mouth. “Can’t have that, either.” He pulled her backward, leaning down to his backpack. It wasn’t zipped closed, and he dug around and pulled out a wad of cloth.

He was going to gag her! She tried to wriggle free, and he threw her on the couch, coming down on top of her and sending her breath right out of her. He got to his knees, straddling her and pinning down her arms with his legs. He shoved the cloth into her mouth and tied the gag around her head. She struggled, but she could hardly move.

Using all of her strength, she thrust her hips up, sending him off-balance. She shoved him the rest of the way, and he fell toward the coffee table. A basket of dried flowers scattered across the throw rug. She scrambled to the door, but he grabbed her ankle and sent her to her knees.

She tried screaming, but only muffled yelps escaped. She swiped at the gag, but he grabbed her arms and pushed her facedown to the floor. He leaned close beside her.

“You didn’t see me in the coffee shop that day. But I saw you. And when I picked you for my next victim, I couldn’t believe it when you turned around like I’d said it aloud. Then you touched your hair when I thought about your hair. And your scarf. You looked spooked the rest of the time you were there. I left but watched you through the front window. I couldn’t figure it out.

“Then I followed you to the police station. I’ve got contacts there, so I used the Kiss and Kill Cupid case as an excuse to go in and listen to what you were telling the detective. He didn’t believe you, but I did. Yeah, it sounded crazy, but it made sense, too. Then I gave you a final test. I thought about you having lipstick on your teeth, and you rubbed your teeth. You can freaking read thoughts.”

What am I thinking now
,
Kristy? That I’m going to strip you naked and touch that gorgeous body of yours anywhere I please? And that afterward I’m going to kill you?

Her body tensed. Through the gag she asked, “Why did you kill that other woman this morning?”

“To throw you off. You weren’t expecting me to come calling, were you?”

He’d killed a woman because of her. And he’d probably killed Adrian because of her. The thought turned her stomach and tightened her throat.

He grabbed something else out of his backpack. Rope.
No
,
don’t do this!

“And you were so focused on those serial-killer characteristics.” He pulled her arms behind her and tied them at the wrists. “Guess what? I had a nice, normal childhood. I didn’t kill animals or set fires or wet my bed.” He rolled her over, leaning down into her face. “I do it for the story. I
make
the news. Do you know how powerful that is? To make people talk about you, fear you?”

She was trying not to show her fear. Not easy, considering her pulse was throbbing in her throat and her eyes were as big as eggs.

He pulled her to her feet. “Why don’t we go into your bedroom? I like it. The blue comforter and those frilly pillows.”

He’d been in her room! Those times the comforter was wrinkled, that was him. The thought sickened her, one more violation on top of everything else.