Forcing one eye open, Alvarez found herself in a cave of sorts, lying in a trough, unable to move because of the icy water sluicing around her.
Oh, sweet Jesus!
Had she been out for hours? Or minutes? Or days?
She didn’t know, but enough time had pass
ed for him to drag her here, strip her and lay her in this water bath.
Her leg and arm spasmed.
The stun gun.
He’d subdued her with it and, as she was still reacting, it couldn’t have been that long ago ... right?
But she was groggy ... She heard the sounds of soft sobbing from somewhere nearby and then the notes of a Christmas carol drifting through her brain as she tried to pass out again.
I heard the bells on Christmas day ...
She blinked and suddenly everything changed, a shadow loomed over her and, as her eyes came into focus, she saw him, the Ice Mummy Killer.
“Hello, Selena,” he said, his eyes glowing with a triumphant fire.
Jon Oestergard? Her handyman? The farmer? A married man who ... ?
“And you thought you could outsmart me,” he said, again in that monotone she found so irritating. “Tsk-tsk.” He smiled that self-abashing smile she’d noticed before. What the hell had she ever done to him?
What did it matter?
She was drifting again, floating back to the darkness, the comfort and safety of unconsciousness, where she wouldn’t feel the cold, wouldn’t think about ...
Gabe! Where was he?
Forcing her eyes open, she tried to look around, past the dark-coved, rock ceilings of this cave to the room ... this huge room with a workbench and hanging lights and ... If she could only look around!
“So you are awake! Good.” He wasn’t smiling now; instead, he was looking down at her through his darkened glasses.
“Where’s Gabe?” she forced out, trying to yell, though her voice was a whisper.
“The boy? Oh, don’t worry about him.” He was actually humming to the music now, almost in a dream world.
“Where is he?” she spat.
“I left him there, of course. With your stupid dog ... Give them lots to think about.” His smile turned nasty. “So we won’t be disturbed.”
“Why are you doing this? Why, Jon?”
“Oh, now I’m Jon. Do you know that you never called me by my name?”
“What?”
“And when I helped you in the grocery store, you acted as if I didn’t exist.”
“What grocery store ... What are you talking about?” she said, though her words were breathy, in a rush, almost garbled.
He sluiced more water over her and her body twitched. So much for thinking he’d calmed his victims with a drug to keep them from feeling pain. This guy got off on pain, on being superior, on being in control.
Don’t give him the power. Don’t ask the questions he’s anticipating. Don’t show him any fear.