Malevolent (34 page)
Authors: Jana DeLeon
“It’s definitely possible. Detective Reynolds has been trying to trace her movements since she left Port Sulphur, working backward using employment records and the name she gave Emma. So far, he’s found three cities that she lived in. All three have unsolved murders where the victim had their eyes removed.”
Shaye shook her head. “Is it wrong that I’m glad you killed her?”
“Hell no! There’s no way she would have stopped with Emma. No telling how many bodies she could have racked up if she’d gotten away with it.”
Shaye stared down at her latte for a bit, stirring the froth around. “On some level I get it…what makes a person turn. I think the absence of hope removes all empathy. Then all you want is for the rest of the world to suffer like you do.”
She looked back up at Jackson, expecting to see judgment, even frustration, but instead, he was frowning and appeared deep in thought. For a minute, she thought he wasn’t going to comment, but finally he cleared his throat.
“I can’t begin to imagine the kind of life Helen and Patty had, or Jonathon for that matter,” he said. “Even knowing what I do, even with the medical facts that speak for them, I can’t force my mind to make a leap that far into darkness. I can process it on a surface level—I wouldn’t make a very good cop if I couldn’t—but as far as deep understanding goes, I may as well be looking at a van Gogh.”
“Sometimes beautiful. Sometimes horrifying.”
He nodded. “Sometimes the picture is clear and makes sense. Other times, it’s confusing and makes my brain hurt to even attempt to contemplate it.” He locked his gaze on hers. “There’s no one answer for people like Helen, Patty, and Jonathon. Every person has a different breaking point. Every person experiences a different set of inputs. Every person has a different support system.”
“Or no support system,” Shaye said quietly. She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to her if Corrine hadn’t taken her in. Jackson seemed to think she was tough and would have managed, but he didn’t really know her. After nine years in Eleonore’s office, Shaye still wasn’t sure she knew herself. Not completely. And she knew why.
Because the pieces of her past were missing.
She couldn’t address the unknown, but it was always there. Lurking beneath the surface, compelling her to act and think in ways that she had no logical reason to support. Forcing her to attempt to deal with the symptoms rather than addressing the problem.
“You said you would help me,” she said. “If I ever wanted to know…”
“And I will. Every step of the way.”
Learn more about Shaye’s past in SINISTER, coming Fall 2015.
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The Author:
Jana DeLeon grew up among the bayous and ‘gators of southwest Louisiana. She’s never stumbled across a mystery like one of her heroines but is still hopeful. She lives in Dallas, Texas with a menagerie of animals and not a single ghost.
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