Blind Alley (19 page)

"Tonight. Is that soon enough?"

"It will have to be." She turned away. "And I'm going to be busy this afternoon anyway."

He stiffened. "Doing what?"

"I'm going to the mall and then to have a pizza at CiCi's."

"What the hell? And you think Quinn will allow that?"

"Not without a fight. But he'll let me go in the end. He won't want to miss the opportunity of drawing Aldo. I'll ask Eve to go with me and Joe will have Singer assign someone to follow us."

"I suppose I don't have to guess why you've decided that you have to go shopping and are ignoring the fact that Domino's delivers?"

"He'll consider a crowded mall safe and a restaurant will give me a chance to display his little gift." She lifted her hand so that the sunlight caused the stone to blaze with color. "He has to see me. I have to push him. I have to make him angry and uncertain. He's killed twelve women that we know about, and never been caught. That must make him feel confident, even godlike. He probably thinks all he has to do is wait for an opportunity and he'll chalk up number thirteen." She smiled without mirth. "But we have to make sure thirteen is his unlucky number. Catch him off balance and keep pulling the rug from beneath him until he topples."

"And you think flashing that ring is going to help?" "It's a start. If it doesn't shake him, I'll make sure it irritates him."

"I'm sure you will." He was silent a moment. "I'd enjoy seeing you in action. I may have to go along and watch."

She shook her head. "You have work to do. And I don't want him to see me under any obvious surveillance. It's much more effective to seem to have only Eve with me to show him how little he matters."

"He wouldn't see me."

"I thought you were going to let me take my own risks."

He shrugged. "It's not as easy as I thought. I'm working on it."

"Work harder." She started toward the cottage. "You stay here."

She was flushed, radiant, beautiful.

And triumphant.

Aldo tried to suppress the anger that burned through him while he watched her laughing with Eve Duncan as they crossed the parking lot toward the restaurant. Now the bitch was gesturing, every motion causing the ring on her hand to glitter.

It had been the same in the mall. She had been glowing, every feature of her face animated and so alive it had been like a slap in the face to him.

She was taunting him not only with his gift but with her living presence.

She wasn't afraid. The ring had meant nothing to her; the implied threat had brought only laughter.

He could feel the rage break free and tear through him. How dare she? Couldn't she see that her time had come and he was the sword that was going to stab her to her black heart?

Keep calm. She would learn. Every slight would be revenged in time. He'd carve that smile from her face.

Bitch!

But he couldn't tolerate the knowledge that she had been so scornful of him, that she'd dared to treat him as if he were of no importance. He couldn't sit here and let her do that. He had to show her. He had to make her realize with whom she was dealing.

Satisfied?" Eve asked Jane quietly as she drove up the road toward the lake cottage. "You look like a truck ran over you."

"I feel like it." Jane leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. "I never imagined being this cheerful would be such a strain. I'm exhausted."

"So am I," Eve said dryly. "But I'm tired from glancing discreetly over my shoulder."

"Very discreetly." Jane opened her eyes and smiled. "Thank you for that. It wouldn't have done me any good to show how uncaring of Aldo I was if you were looking worried."

"I know that." She parked the car in front of the cottage. "And I wasn't about to go through all this stress for nothing." She turned and looked at Jane. "Was it for nothing? Do you think he was watching?"

Lord, I hope he'd been there, Jane thought wearily. "I don't know. A few times I felt as if... Maybe. It was worth a try."

"Once," Eve said. "Joe and I went along with you but you'll have a battle if you decide to make this a daily outing."

Jane nodded as she got out of the car. "Definitely not daily."

"That's a little noncommittal," Eve said. "I meant a permanent end to " She stopped. "Okay, let's be reasonable about this. If you continue, you'll form a pattern of behavior and the last thing you want is to be predictable. That can be fatal."

Jane smiled. "I agree. We won't be predictable."

Eve relaxed. "I'm glad you said 'we.' You're getting a little too independent for Joe and me. It scares us."

Jane shook her head. "I came to you and asked you to come with me, didn't I? I don't want to be independent if it means closing you out. I was too much alone when I was a kid. It sucks."

Eve chuckled. "Yes, it does." She took Jane's arm and climbed the porch steps. "As you put it so delicately. It sucks big-time." She looked out over the lake. "Pretty sunset. I never get tired of them. They soothe the soul."

Jane shook her head. "Not for me. I take a lot more soothing than a sunset. But you do the job just fine."

"Do I?" Eve looked at her uncertainly. "You never showed me you needed soothing."

"Because you were always there. You didn't have to do anything." She opened the screen door. "Do you want me to help with dinner?"

Eve shook her head. "I'll make a salad and sandwiches later when Joe comes in."

"Then I'll get my computer and sit out on the porch and do some homework." She went down the hall toward her bedroom. "Don't bother to fix me anything. I'm not hungry after that pizza. I didn't taste much of it, but it filled me...."

She'd barely opened the computer when her cell phone rang.

"Whore. Bitch. Prancing and wriggling like the prostitute you are. Are you proud of yourself? Do you really think you proved anything by wearing that ring? It meant nothing to me."

She froze.

Aldo. His words spewing rage, ugliness, and malice.

Don't fall apart. She should have realized he'd be able to find her cell number. Don't let him see the shock and fear. "It meant nothing to me either. Just a little trinket. Why shouldn't I wear it? I'm sorry you're so disappointed."

"It's from your mountain, the one that killed you. Doesn't it bring back memories? I hope you choke on them."

"I've no idea what you mean. And do you believe I'd actually let you keep me penned up in this cottage? I'll go where I please. Do you know I got a compliment on this ring from the waitress at CiCi's? I told her it was given to me by a man who followed me around like a lost puppy. We both laughed about it."

"Lost puppy?" She could hear the rage vibrating in his voice. "Do you realize how powerful I am? How many women with your foul face I've slaughtered?"

"I don't want to know." She paused. "Why are you calling me now, Aldo? You've never done it before. I think you lied. I did manage to get under your skin."

"It meant nothing," he repeated. "I just decided there was no reason to withhold myself from you. It may be a long time before I take your life. Months. Years. I don't care how long it takes now that I've found you. As long as I watch you, guard you, you'll never get away from me. But I deserve the pleasure of getting closer to you, hearing your voice, listening as you become more and more afraid. It's my right."

"And it's my right to hang up on you."

"But you won't do it. You'll keep on talking because you're hoping I'll tell you something that will lead Trevor and Quinn to me. And every word you say gives me a burst of pleasure."

She felt sick with revulsion. He meant it. She could hear the feverish excitement mixed with the anger in his tone. But he was right, she had to take advantage of the opportunity. "Just who do you think I am?"

"I don't think, I know. You're Cira. I thought I'd buried you in that tunnel but I realized after I killed that woman in Rome that you were too strong not to be able to be born again. I knew I had to search until I found you."

"You're certifiably nuts. I'm not Cira, I'm Jane MacGuire."

"With Cira's soul. And you know it. Why else did you attach yourself to a forensic sculptor like Eve Duncan? You knew I'd come to destroy that hideous face and you wanted to make sure that it survived. It won't survive. Do you know how many times I woke up at night and watched my father staring at you? I can't remember him ever touching me with affection but he'd stroke that damn bust like it was a woman he loved. I tried to destroy it when I was ten and he beat me until I couldn't walk for a week."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? He should have drowned you at birth."

"He probably thought the same thing. I was just an encumbrance to him after you came into his life. But now I'll get my own back. So enjoy your feeling of triumph. Sit in that cottage surrounded by all those people you've duped to do your will. You'll rot there, bitch." He hung up.

She couldn't move to turn off her phone. She felt as if she'd been scourged, beaten. Dear God, he was brimming, frothing with hatred. The poison was all-consuming and paralyzing.

Get over it. Aldo wanted her to feel this weak and helpless. Think about what he said and try to find something positive in all that ugliness. She forced herself to turn off the phone and lean back in the swing.

Positive?

My God.

Mail," Trevor said as he came up the steps an hour later. "Nothing for you but a letter from What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm okay." She wasn't okay, but she was better. She wasn't surprised that Trevor had noticed how disturbed she was. She felt as if it were written in every line of her expression. That was the reason she hadn't wanted to go inside and face Eve. She added haltingly, "It's not been an easy day."

"It was your choice to flaunt that blasted ring in Aldo's face." His gaze was searching her expression. "But I didn't expect this reaction."

"Neither did I." She tried to smile. "And I guess I shouldn't complain. Actually, I suppose my little jaunt was a complete success. I was trying to goad him to make a move and I certainly accomplished that aim."

"What?"

"Aldo called me." She looked down at the phone still in her hand. "About an hour ago."

"Holy shit. What did he say?"

"He was angry. He didn't like the fact that his gift didn't seem to bother me. It was... ugly." She moistened her lips. "He was muttering about me having Cira's soul and how he hated My God, he hates my face. He's on some kind of mission to rid the world of it. You were right, he was killing her in effigy with all those other murders."

"But he didn't call any of the others to chat," he said grimly. "And he didn't squander pretty trinkets on them."

"None of them made him as angry as I did. I've been sitting here trying to think of something constructive that could come out of this but it's hard. One thing, he's going to phone me again. He believes it's his just reward. On the negative side, he said he could wait a long time to kill me, that he was in no hurry. He wants to break me, make me afraid." Her hands clenched into fists. "Well, I'm in a hurry. I can't take much more of this."

"We made progress today. He called you."

"It's not enough. He meant what he said. He'll wait until he's wrung every bit of pleasure from the situation." Her lips tightened. "He was ... foul. I've never touched anything that ugly. He ... made me afraid. I can't let that happen again."

"We can have Quinn check phone records to try to trace him."

She nodded. "I thought of that. But I doubt if he'd have called if he hadn't thought it was safe."

"We'll try anyway."

"Of course." She straightened on the swing. "We'll do everything we can. I'll talk to Joe and Eve later tonight."

"Not now?"

"I don't want them to see me like this not now." Talking to Trevor had eased the sick fear that Aldo had engendered, but she had to move away from it, drown the memory of that call for a while. Her glance went to the envelope still in his hand. "You said I had a letter?"

He didn't speak for a moment and then smiled faintly. "Yes, from Harvard. Did you apply there?"

He was letting her slide away from the subject, she realized with relief.

"Yes, I applied for early acceptance." She took the letter without opening it. "Maybe I've been accepted." She tossed it down on the porch swing. "That would be nice."

"Your enthusiasm is astonishing."

"I'm not sure I want to go to an Ivy League school. But Joe went there and he liked it. Where's my list?"

He reached in his pocket and handed her a slip of paper. "This is all I can remember and he may not go to these sites anymore."

"And he may." She glanced over the list. "Two of these are Italian Web sites. One English newspaper..."

"He went to Oxford for two years. He liked to keep in touch."

"And this one in Florence, La Nazione. Is that a newspaper too?"

He nodded. "He grew up there. Most people keep an eye on their hometowns. He also went to another newspaper site in Rome, Corriere della Sera."