“You told me you didn’t own a dog.” Anderson waved the gun at her but his index finger was above the trigger.
Jenna buttoned the front of her bathrobe to the neck and tightened the cord around her waist. “He belongs to Kane.” She frowned. “How did you get past my security?”
“It was a little more complicated than I’d imagined but no security system is safe.” He shrugged. “Didn’t I tell you to upgrade?”
How did he breach a military-installed system? “I didn’t have time to arrange an upgrade this afternoon and now it’s too late.” Jenna sighed. “Why do you want to kill me so bad, Mr. Anderson – or should I call you Charlie?”
“Man, you’re the dumbest women I’ve ever met.” Anderson shook his head, his face holding an incredulous expression. “You spend your days ordering men around and can’t figure out a simple game. Hell, woman, I gave you enough clues.”
As Kane’s insistence to trust him filtered through the shock of knowing she’d been right about Anderson, she didn’t break eye contact and shifted her position to place the kitchen table between them. Not that a table could prevent instant death if he decided to fire at close range, but after seeing images of the other women he’d killed, a bullet would be way too fast to satisfy his needs. She shrugged nonchalantly. “What game are you talking about?”
“The game where I gave you a certain time to find a girl before I killed her.” Anderson narrowed his gaze at her. “Come on now, I k
now you figured out it was me but you couldn’t prove it, could you? Now here you are, alone with me, and all your men are out searching for Julie. When you go missing they’ll say, ‘How did he abduct the sheriff, he left no evidence.’ He chuckled. “I had it all planned. They’ll never find your body.”
Trying to recall everything Kane had mentioned in his profile of the Shadow Man, Jenna pushed down her rising terror. Allowing Anderson to see her fear would give him a high and he’d escalate. Agree with him and praise him. She nodded and tried to keep her bottom lip from trembling. “Yeah, you sure outsmarted me. I guess you’re behind the nightmares the girls are having in Glacial Heights. Is that how you lured Lindy and Amanda out of their homes?”
“I didn’t lure Lindy out of her home. I projected a holographic image of the Grim Reaper into her bedroom, same as the others. Over time, the parents grew weary of their kids’ complaints and stopped checking their rooms. You should have been there. I hid in the shadows and when Lindy ran out to call her dad, I slipped behind the drapes. He was so pissed he didn’t as much as look my way. I heard his door shut then sedated Lindy and carried her outside.” He grinned. “You know the rest, I sent you the pictures.”
Jenna feigned interest. “You’re good. How did you slip away from work without anyone noticing? The manager checked the footage and confirmed you were there all night both times.”
“I created a film of me in the office and fed it through the machine in a loop.” Anderson snapped his fingers. “Just like that, I had everyone fooled.”
Hoping Kane would come crashing through the door anytime soon, Jenna steeled herself and tried to portray an image of a woman resigned to her fate. “I’d have never figured that out but Amanda was different to the others – she didn’t have nightmares, she welcomed the ghost of her grandma.”
“She was easy, I snapped a copy of her grandma’s photo in the family room and Amanda followed the projected image out the bedroom. I swiveled the projector and placed the hologram at the edge of the woods on the path. She walked straight to me, it was pure genius.”
“So was the IED. You almost killed me.” Jenna moved so her back was against the counter, the bubbling coffee pot within reach. “That takes skill setting up and you did it in a few hours.”
“I had that baby set up for days.” Anderson chuckled. “All I had to do was dump the body, and then attach the tripwire.” He dropped the hand holding the weapon to his side as if his bragging had overtaken his common sense. “The tree and spear took longer. I took one hell of a chance there using a pulley but I did take it from a packet I’d purchased at Walmart. I bet Sara sailed right up there. Did you hear her neck break?”
A wave of nausea rushed over Jenna at the memory and she swallowed hard. “Yeah, it was quite… er, spectacular.” She glanced at her ring, hoping Kane was getting all the proof they needed to arrest this animal, and then looked back at him. “Why did you leave the shawl and other items belonging to Christine Pullman and Joy Coran? Did you kill them as well?”
“Oh, boy – really? They’re nothing. I’ve another twenty-five bodies out there.” Anderson moved closer and placed his gun on the table, leaned on both hands and stared at her. “I wanted to show you who you’re dealing with and make the game of catching me more exciting – but you failed miserably. You’re a failure, a useless piece of shit.” He snorted. “Those girls were a distraction, is all, but I still couldn’t get to you. I mean, what normal woman has a deputy living in their yard?” He gave her a long look. “Frightened yet? No? Well, you soon will be.” He pulled zip-ties out of his pocket and dangled them in front of her. “Turn around.”
“I don’t think so.” Heart thumping, Jenna tried to keep her eyes on Anderson as Kane, and Wolfe slid silently into the room behind him.
She glanced down at Anderson’s gun. Did her deputies know he had a weapon? On a rush of adrenaline, she grabbed the coffee pot and swung it at Anderson’s face, spilling the coffee in a steaming stream. When he screamed and turned away, Wolfe hit him with a right cross that dropped him to the floor. Jenna snatched up the weapon, dropped out the clip and tossed it into the sink.
“Get up, you sack of shit.” Kane grabbed Anderson by the shirtfront and lifted him to his feet as if he weighed nothing and shoved him against the wall. “You have the right to remain silent.” He continued to read him his rights. “Do you understand your rights, Mr. Anderson?”
“Yeah. Oh God, it hurts so bad. I’m burned, call 911.” Tears from a swelling black eye spilled down Anderson’s red cheeks. “You have a duty of care.”
Jenna shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to get to that, later.”
“Dammit.” Wolfe walked to Jenna’s refrigerator, pulled an ice bag from the freezer and shoved it at him. “Duty of care satisfied and that’s more kindness than you offered your victims.” He turned to Jenna. “Maybe we should forget taking him in and bury him alive. No one would know.”
Jenna smiled at Anderson’s terrified expression. “I’d love to but I figure he’s going to be buried in prison.” She bent to look into Anderson’s eyes. “Game over.”
Epilogue
Saturday
“Hey, sleepyhead.” Kane’s voice penetrated Jenna’s dreams. She dragged herself away from the sun-drenched beach and sparkling ocean to open her eyes. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee curled around her nose and she looked up at Kane’s smiling face. He was dressed casual in blue jeans and a black jumper. “I figured you wouldn’t want to sleep through the visit to the art show.”
Jenna pushed her hair from her eyes. It had taken hours to process Anderson, have him formally charged, do the paperwork then have him shipped off to the county jail. She’d fallen into bed around 4 a.m. “What time is it?”
“Almost noon.” Kane placed two cups of coffee on the bedside table and sat on the edge of her bed. “I’ve removed all the recording devices from the house. We’d set them up in just about every room.”