“I don’t suppose that was the end of it.” Dylan was laughing now too.
“What do you think? Shelby’s new nickname is ‘George’. A lot of people took pictures of the serenade with their phones, so every now and then an inter-office e-mail will circulate with poor Brian’s picture. A few of us had the good sense to capture the moment on video.” Jerry was scrolling through her phone as she spoke, then the sounds of ‘I cross my heart, Shelby, and promise to..’ filled the porch. She handed the phone to Kris first.
“Nice, umm, vocal cords” Kris laughed and passed the phone to Nick. He barely looked at it before passing it to Dylan. There was something about seeing another man’s pathetic attempt to hold on to love that he just couldn’t stomach. Apparently, neither could Dylan.
“So what happened to Brian? I can see that he’s breaking at least three laws.” Dylan asked as he quickly handed the phone back to Jerry.
“Nothing, Shelby didn’t press charges and no one else had the heart to arrest him. He came up from the garage, where he had evidently spent about an hour, drinking up the courage to sing to her. Why the clothes came off is anybody’s guess. Must have seemed right to him at the time.” Jerry grinned. “There was no real harm done, except to Shelby who will never live it down.”
“On that note, pun intended, I’d like to take a walk on the beach.” Kris turned to Dylan. “Is that allowed?”
The sun was just starting to set and Dylan didn’t have the heart to tell Kris ‘No’. “Sure, but Nick has to go with you.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Nick drawled. He stood and held out his hand to Kris. “Shall we?” She took his hand and followed him across the deck to the stairs leading down to the beach.
Neither one said a word as they strolled along, holding hands while watching the birds dive and the waves crash. A few other couples had the same idea, but by and large the beach was empty as far as they could see in either direction. It was good to be together, alone.
Kris imagined the days when they could do this without worry or caution. As much as she loved her solitude, sharing this time with Nick was the ultimate. He obviously felt the same.
“Look at them,” he said as they passed an elderly couple, walking hand in hand in the opposite direction. “That will be us one day,” he said confidently.
“You think so?” Kris teased. “I don’t know if you’ll have that much hair when you’re that old.”
“What do you mean? I have as much hair now as I’ve always had. No evidence of a receding hairline and not one bald spot in sight.”
“Maybe, but you’re still young yet.” Talking about his hair made her flash to the man tied to the chair. To Nick tied to the chair. She took a deep breath and tried to force the image out of her mind. Nick could feel the change in the atmosphere.
“I updated my security system today. State of the art, three back-ups, one battery. Even if someone cuts the line, the alarm company receives notice immediately.” Nick looked down at Kris’s solemn face. “Does that make you feel any better?”
“Yes. Thank you,” she replied.
Nick continued, “I’d like to have your system updated as well, but I wanted to talk to both you and Dylan first. What do you think?”
“Great minds, I was thinking the same. There’s no reason to take any unnecessary chances. I would have called them today, but I wasn’t sure if that would screw up the chances of catching him. If Dylan is right, then he’s not watching the house during the daytime, so an upgrade would be safe.” She shivered as she once again felt like someone was watching her. She sloughed it off as a natural result of their conversation. “Let’s talk to Dylan.”
~~~~~
As Kris and Nick strolled back towards home, hand in hand, Damien watched through a telephoto lens from his nest in the sea grass. Every now and again, he would snap a picture, mostly of Kris, but a few of Nick as well. He was prey now, too. Damien had seen the woman follow Kris home. He had spent the day setting up the website on a secure server, so he could watch the activity inside Kris’s house on his phone whenever he wished. And he wished often. The camera in the living room caught enough of the porch that he could see the four eating dinner and laughing. Laughing. What kind of police officers let their guard down that way? Fools, all of them. Maybe they would learn a thing or two before this was over.
The lessons will be my pleasure, Damien thought as he took another shot of his Beauty walking away.
~~~~~
While Kris and Nick enjoyed the beach, Dylan and Jerry discussed the intricacies of the case.
“Damien is nobody’s fool. Twenty women kidnapped, nineteen of them dead, without leaving fingerprints, DNA or leads of any kind. His stalking Kris is the first break we’ve had.” Jerry was filling Dylan in on details of the cases that Nate hadn’t yet shared. “What he did to those women made a shark attack look tame. All except the last one, Caroline. He left her relatively intact, compared to the others. Still, she would have bled out but for the low temperatures in the cave and the hikers stumbling over her when they did.”
“What did the women have in common? Similar facial features, hair, race, build, jobs? Did the profilers turn up anything yet?”
“Unfortunately not. You would be hard pressed to find twenty more different women if you tried. Some were tall, some short, some were professionals, others were students and a few were unemployed. He shows no preference for ethnic background, facial features or hair color. So far, the only thing that each of these women have in common is that they were all between the ages of 19 and 35 and they were all killed with a variety of sharp instruments and tools, after being brutally and repeatedly raped. Or, in Caroline’s case attempted to be killed. Success is the only underlying factor. Even the women who were unemployed had been successful in past careers and the students were at the top of their class.”
“He sure isn’t making this easy,” Dylan sighed. “If his stalking, kidnapping and murder techniques were not as similar as they are, we would never even realize we had a serial killer. The murders would be chalked up as random events, totally unrelated.”
“The difference in victimology is the primary reason he got away with it for so long. That and the fact that the individual state databases have only been linked for this type of crime for a few years now.” Jerry stood and began to pace. “None of that helps us protect Kris. Just because he always strikes at night, doesn’t mean he won’t change his M.O.”
“That’s why you’re here.” Dylan recognized Jerry’s frustration since he felt the same. Knowing this guy had been operating under all of their collective noses for so many years left every cop and agent worth his salt feeling infuriated and frustrated. “We’ll catch him, Jerry. And we’ll damn well keep Kris safe in the process.”
“I know we will. But I have to tell you, I’d feel better if we had more backup.” She raised her hand to Dylan before he could explain. “I know, I know. Too many of us would be too visible in such an isolated area and we’d probably scare him off. I still don’t have to like it.”
“I don’t like it either, but we play the cards we’re dealt. If we lose the element of surprise, we may as well hand Kris over to him on a silver platter. Her or some other unsuspecting woman.”
They heard Kris and Nick coming up the walkway from the beach. Both of them were speaking loudly, probably in an effort not to get shot.
“These two don’t deserve this.” Jerry said, then hastened to add, “Not that anyone does, but these guys just found each other again.” Kris had opened up about her past relationship with Nick while they waited on the pizza. Jerry, being a romantic at heart, also believed it w
as fate that brought them back together.
Kris and Nick were getting louder as they came closer. Dylan and Jerry both laughed as they came around the corner with their hands held high.
“Very funny. But neither of you would be laughing if you had snuck up on us again.” Dylan said. “How was your walk, see anything out of the ordinary?”
“Only if you count jellyfish washed ashore out of the ordinary. Otherwise, everything was normal.” Kris deliberately did not mention that she felt as if she were being watched. It was probably just her imagination anyway. “Who’s up for a game of poker?”
A chorus of “Sounds like fun” and “I’m in” met her suggestion. As they prepared the table, Kris asked Dylan about updating the security system.
“If they come during the day, it should be fine.” Turning to Nick, he asked “And you’ll be here to supervise? You probably understand the system better than Kris.”
“I promised the lady that I would. I’ll call them in the morning, try to set up something as soon as possible.”
“Thanks, Nick. And thank you too,” Kris looked at both Dylan and Jerry. “I don’t know what I’d do without all of you right now.”
“Don’t even think about it. Aside from doing our job, we have the pleasure of your company. This way, I don’t have to join a gym or go to bars to meet friends in the area.” Dylan grinned. “Saves me a lot of money and aggravation.”
“Oh, well, in that case, glad to oblige.” Kris grinned back at him. “Speaking of which, I have another friend I want you to meet with all of this is over. She’s lovely and sweet and…”
Before she could finish, Dylan started shaking his head and interrupted her. “No fix-ups, thanks anyway. The last thing I want right now, or anytime soon, is a relationship.” He set his mouth in a thin, I’m-not-saying-anything-else-about-it line and began dealing the cards.
“Nobody says you have to start a relationship, but you might change your mind once you meet her.” Kris could read his resistance loud and clear. She sighed. “Okay, okay. When you meet Cassie, it will be only as a new friend. No expectations of any kind.”
Nick tried to hide his smile behind his cards, but Jerry caught it. So did Kris. She kicked him under the table.
~~~~~
Damien watched as they played hand after hand of poker, laughing like they hadn’t a care in the world. Good, he thought, I’ll let them feel nice and secure for a few days. It’s going to take that long to set up everything anyway.
Placing his laptop on the table, he began making a supply list. The first item on the agenda was to capture the interloping neighbor and get him away from Beauty. Technology being the wonderful thing that it is, he could use the man’s phone to text her about a sudden out-of-town trip. With patience and careful planning, the cop inside the house could be easily dispatched.
He always preferred to take his Beauties while they slept. There was something about the innocence on their faces morphing instantly into terror as they awoke that really turned him on. He saw no reason to alter one of his favorite aspects of the game, just because this Beauty had protection.
Chapter Fourteen
The next several days passed in relative peace, neither phone calls nor dreams shattered her sleep and there was no sign of Damien whatsoever. Kris was almost feeling rested again and she began to wonder if the whole thing was truly what they thought it was. Perhaps her stalker was a different Damien and he had already moved on.
Kris, Nick, Dylan and Jerry had fallen into a routine of sorts. They had dinner together, often played cards and generally made the best of a difficult situation. Maybe Dylan and Jerry’s continuous presence somehow scared him away. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for the respite. The feeling of being watched constantly still nagged her at home, no matter who was around, but she did her best to ignore it.
The herbal project, or Roni’s show, as Kris began to think of it, was progressing beautifully. It was time she let Roni in on the plans she had for both of them. Kris had been scheming to get Roni to Charleston with her and Cassie for years; she knew she finally had the vehicle to make it happen. The interest in Roni’s herbal products had increased dramatically in the last year, making this the prime time to branch out into a different media. Roni’s weekly column in a local Atlanta paper had morphed into a book deal, but readers were missing the benefit of Roni’s drop-dead gorgeous face and bubbly personality. It’s time for that to change, Kris thought as she dialed Roni’s number. As soon as she answered, Kris jumped in.
“How would you feel about doing a live weekly show?” As a conversation starter, this was pretty compelling. Kris waited for Roni to process her question.
“Define ‘live’. Do you mean in front of an audience? And cameras?” Roni was glad she was sitting down when she picked up the phone.
“Yes, in front of a small audience, at least at first. I refuse to answer the camera question. Initially, we’ll distribute regionally and to several online venues. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be nationwide in the late fall.” Kris could barely contain her excitement. This was happening much faster than she thought. Roni’s demo was a hit, two networks had already responded to the marketing campaign; Kris was still a bit in shock. It had been less than a week since she’d sent Roni’s infomercial, along with the pitch for the weekly show, to her contacts.
“How did this…..what are you….but…LIVE?” Roni was trying not to hyperventilate. Surely Kris had lost her mind, or this was some kind of sick joke. There’s no way she could do a live show, her nerves couldn’t handle it.
“I know what you’re thinking, so just stop. You can do this, I know you can. The camera adores you and so did the test groups. Apparently, so did the networks. We have a request for two meetings as soon as possible.” Kris took a breath. “So, are you in?”
“What happened to the infomercial? You never said a word about a live show, much less one every week.”
“I knew you would shoot it down the minute I told you, so I didn’t. Come on, Roni, this is exactly what you’ve been trying to do for years, get your products to the masses. With the live show, you can demonstrate some of your methods and promote a healthier lifestyle. One thing though, we need to add hair and skin care products to the lineup. The twenty-something focus group wasn’t as interested in alternative healing options as the older groups. I was thinking…”
“STOP, STOP, STOP.” Roni shouted into the phone. “Let’s start at the beginning. Assuming that I agree to this madness, how would it work?” I can’t be driving back and forth to Charleston every week, I have commitments here.” Roni’s head was spinning. “LIVE? Are You Crazy? There’s no way I’ll agree to a live show. You know how nervous I was to just talk into the cameras, how could you possibly think that I could do anything on live television? No. Absolutely not.”
Kris grinned; she almost had her. “Okay, maybe not live, not at first. But definitely in front of a live audience; you killed in front of the camera, just imagine how much more fun it will be, interacting with people. You wouldn’t have to schlep over here every week; we could set it up to film four episodes at a time, once a month. Surely you could plan a long weekend once every few weeks.” Moving Roni to Charleston was the ultimate goal, but Kris knew that she had to work it in stages to get Roni to agree. She crossed her fingers.
“Well, that might work. If I screw up, we can just film over it, right? Having people there would make it better, I suppose. Or worse. I have to think about that one. How did this happen?”
“As soon as I saw how good you were, I sent a few friends the infomercial as a demo, along with the weekly show idea. Roni, I only sent out ten copies, three days ago and tw
o have already responded. That’s phenomenal. They both want a meeting, preferably yesterday, with both of us. Can you make some time?”
“This is happening way too fast. I need to think. How soon do you need an answer?”
“Take the weekend, mull it over. I’ll email the details in a few.” Kris knew her friend well enough to back off, even though she was practically jumping out of her skin. This was potentially huge, for both of them. “Call if you have any questions; let’s talk again for sure Sunday night.”
“Okay, I’ll call you then. Before you go, any Nick news?”
“You know I don’t kiss and tell.” Kris smiled as she remembered Nick’s smoldering good night kisses over the past few nights. It was all they could manage, under the circumstances. Their passion had not lost momentum over the years, if anything, it had grown exponentially.
“So there’s kissing. Is that all? You guys used to hibernate in your room for days at a time at school. Cass and I used to wonder how you kept up your strength.”
“Lots of late night pizza.” Kris laughed. “We agreed to take things very slowly, and we are.” She paused, not wanting to jinx anything by talking too much, and not wanting to get into the whole stalker scenario with Roni at the moment. She preferred to relish the hiatus from anything menacing. “I really like him, Roni. He’s as wonderful now as he was back then, but even more so. It’s hard to explain.” She took a deep breath, “Anyway, I won’t keep you any longer right now. Remember to think about the proposal and let me know. Love ya, see ya, call me.” Kris clicked off before Roni could ask any more questions.
Jerry couldn’t help but hear Kris’s side of the conversation, she raised her eyebrows in a silent question as Kris disconnected the call. “Isn’t Roni one of your best friends?”
Kris knew what she was really asking. “Yes, but I prefer not to worry her. Besides, he may have backed off or been run down on the street. Who knows, but I’m loving the break.” She looked at Jerry thoughtfully. “How sure are you guys that my stalker is the same man who killed all those other women? Couldn’t the name, the calls and the roses be a coincidence? I mean, as stalking goes, wouldn’t flowers and phone calls be pretty common behavior?” Kris knew she was grasping at windmills, but it felt good to believe it for a minute. She hadn’t forgotten the visions or the creepy vibe surrounding her most of the time. Except at work, she thought. I don’t feel like I’m being watched at work. Strange.