Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (25 page)

Anna
tried the window. It was
locked
.
She
moved
on
to the next
until she found one
unlocked. This would be how Jericho Lewis entered the house.

She
secured
the
weapon in the band of
her
jeans and ho
i
sted
her
self up through the open window.

The house was eerily silent.
She
waited
for her
eyes gr
o
w accustomed to the
filmy darkness still clinging to the inside
of the house
.
She
was in the bedroom
she
’
d once slept in.
She
tried not to think about what waited for
her
beyond the walls of this room.

Anna
drew
her
weapon and made
her
way to the door
.
L
uckily
,
it stood slightly ajar.

She
peered through the crack and froze. A silhouetted figure of a man stood over another
on the floor
.

Anna
slipped through the door and realized it wasn
’
t John but a stranger standing over the
deathly
still body of the man
she
still loved.

Jericho Lewis straightened, picking up
the sound of her
faint footsteps.

And then he turned
to Anna
.

She
’
d never seen the man before, and yet something deep inside
her
stirred at the sight of him as if the heart
in
her r
esponded.

“
Brenda?
”
Jericho Lewis held the bloodied knife in his hand
.

Anna
froze. A new fear crept inside
her
that had nothing to do with the present circumstances. Th
e
part of
her
that
had once belonged to Brenda
was reacting to the man.

She
forced
Brenda's
fear aside.
She
had to be strong. Only the tiniest of movements from John was enough to tell
her
he was still alive
,
if only just barely.

She
needed to think rationally. Needed to reach out to
Lewis
in the only way
she
could. As Brenda. John
’
s life depended on it.

“
Yes, it
’
s me. You
’
ve found me at last.
”

His face crumpled with emotion.
“
I didn
’
t mean to do it.
”
Anna
barely recognized the voice as human. It
appeared
animalistic.

It was as if seeing him again had brought all of Brenda’s memories to life. In the last moments
before
her death, Brenda had
won back some of
her
control. Her death had come at her own hands and had been
by
her own choosing. Jericho Lewis hadn’t murdered his wife.

"
I know
the truth
. It
’
s okay. I
’
m here now. It wasn
’
t your fault. You didn
’
t kill me. I took my own life. It
’
s okay now.
”

He stepped closer
, the knife he still clutched in his hand
nicking
agitatedly
at his
pant’s
leg.
He
wasn’t
aware he’d drawn blood.
“
I never told anyone. I let them believe
it was my fault
.
I never told a soul.
I did it for you, Brenda. Because you deserved better. They tried to tell me you were gone, but I didn
’
t believe it. Through all those years in that terrible place, I didn
’
t believe. I knew I
’
d find you again. I knew we
’
d be together.
”

“
Yes.
”
In the distance
, Anna
could hear
police
vehicles advancing
rapidly
on the cabin.

She
glanced
at
John
and saw that his eyes had open
ed
. He was aware of
her
. What was happening around him, but his injuries were severe.
He
had lost
a tremendous amount of blood.

Lewis
appeared c
aught in a daze
until the
approaching vehicles suddenly
snapped
him
out of it. He glanced outside then back to
Anna
.

“
You. You called them.
You
’
re not my Brenda. My Brenda would never have betrayed me in such a way.
”
He raised the knife and lunged for
her
.
Anna
barely had time to get off two shots before he reached
her
side. The first g
razed
the
left
side of his ear. The second hit its mark dead on. Straight through the heart of a killer.

Jericho Lewis fell to ground like a rock
,
mere inches from
Anna
. The agent in
her
kicked the knife from his reach, checked for a pulse, knowing
she
wouldn
’
t find one. Then
she
rushed to John.

His eyes were open, but he couldn
’
t speak. His throat had been slashed and he
’
d lost
so much
blood.

She
reached for his hand and squeezed it,
her
eyes filling with tears.
“
Hang in there. Help is on the way. They
’
ll be here in a moment. Don
’
t try to speak, just hang in there.
”

And for the life of
her
,
she
believed he
squeeze
d
her
hand in answer.

Chapter
Sixteen

“
The doctor believes he
’
ll make it.
”
Rick found
Anna
sitting in the waiting room of the hospital where
she
’
d lost
her
husband and child.
She
’
d been sitting in this same chair for hours, since
she
’
d arrived at the hospital with John
,
covered in his blood
.

She
closed
her
eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks.
“
Thank you
,
God. Oh thank you.
”

Rick managed a weak smile.
“
He
’
s awake and asking for you. Want to see him?
”

Anna
nodded because
she
couldn
’
t speak over the lump that had formed in
her
throat.

She
followed Rick inside the stark walls of the hospital room. The sight
of
John threatened to crack
her
fragile resolve.

She
went to him, took his hand, and kissed his cheek.
“
I was so worried.
”

He squeezed
her
hand as he had at the cabin. His eyes never left
hers
.
She
realized
they
were alone. John
’
s neck was bandaged, a thin red line of blood oozed through the white gauze.

“
I
’
m okay
,
”
h
e croaked.

“
Don
’
t talk. You need to rest.
”

“
Then don
’
t you leave again.
”

As hard as
she
tried,
she
couldn
’
t make that promise to him.
“
I
’
m not leaving any time soon.
”

But he knew in time
she
would.

Over the next twenty-four hours, John drifted in and out of consciousness while bits and pieces of the case fell into place slowly.
With each new victim, Jericho Lewis
’
frustration
had
gr
own
. He was searching for
his
Brenda
—
Brenda
’
s heart. The women he
’
d killed were all transplant patients around the same time Brenda
’
s vital organs were harvested. With the exception of Cheryl Larsen. Lewis had screwed up the name. A
Shery
l
Larson had received a liver transplant around that time. Cheryl was just
unlucky.
The fact that she worked as a nurse had nothing to do with her death. She was a
n
innocent victim of a madman.

J
ericho Lewis was one sick human being. That he
’
d ever been released from Brookhaven was unbelievable. There would
be
lawsuits to follow from the families of the victims who didn
’
t have to die, but that didn
’
t concern
Anna
. Nor did the fact that
she
’
d taken Lewis
’
life.
She
’
d made peace with it, knowing
she
’
d saved John
’
s
life
,
her own and
countless others. Samson was not so lucky. He
’
d died
before reaching the hospital
due to
t
h
e
injuries
he'd sustained at Lewis' hand
. He never stood a chance.

They
’
d learned a few days after Lewis
’
death that he
’
d killed his former
psychiatrist
. A patient found Doctor Archibald Baldwin
’
s body. He
’
d been stabbed dozens of times. The list of
Jericho
's
victims continued to grow.

AD Warren assured
Anna
that Peterson would never see the light of day. He might not have been responsible for the deaths of all of the victims once laid at his feet, but he
had
been convicted for murdering a federal agent. He
’d
pay with his life for taking Aaron
’
s.

Once
Anna
was certain
John would be okay,
she
knew it was time to leave D.C. for good. But letting go of John and the memories of
their
past wasn
’
t so easy.