Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (7 page)

“
He has a point,
”
Bev
told
her
quietly.

Ann
dropped the papers back on the desk and sank to the chair.
“
I know, but I can
’
t do it, Bev.
”

Her sister
saw the fear and the pain.
“
Okay. But at least let John have his people stay with us. Please, Anna. Do it for me.
”

Anna
co
uldn
’
t let
her
sister down.
“
All right
.
I
’
ll do as he asks, but you don
’
t have to stay here—
”

“
I
’
m not leaving you alone. I
’
ve spoken to Ed. He agrees. In fact, he
’
s coming here as well.
”

“
Bev, that
’
s not a good idea. It
’
s not safe—
”

“
It doesn
’
t matter. We
’
re your family. We
’
re not leaving you to deal with this alone.
”

Anna
knew it would be pointless to argue with
her sister
.
Bev had
been taking care of
her
since
Anna
was a child.
She
wasn
’
t about to stop now.

“
So what do you need me to help you with here?
”
Bev
glanced around the room at the boxes that had arrived a few days before the nightmare began.

Anna
understood her
sister's
need to keep busy.
“
Okay. You can help me unpack these boxes
so that we can get the orders out
.
”

Anna and
Bev spent the rest of the morning in companionable silence. Opening boxes and sorting through the new fall collection
Anna had
been so excited about.
That had been another lifetime ago. Another person who’d ordered
them.

Bev asked the question
that had been on Anna's
mind
since John arrived
.
“
Do you miss it?
”
Bev had always wondered how Anna
could give up
a
successful career
as a profiler
so easily.

Anna
dropped the sweater
she
’
d been admiring on the pile of
ones just like it
. Their
rich fall colors of gold
s
, greens and brown
s covered the muted beige carpet of
her
office
.

“
Sometimes.
Yes,
I miss it. But I don
’
t know if I have it in me to do it anymore.
”

“
That
’
s bullshit. You
’
re very talented, Anna. You can certainly do whatever you want.
”

She
wasn
’
t that woman anymore. If she ever existed, she
’
d died with Aaron
’s betrayal
.
She
got to
her
feet and tried to stretch out some of the kinks from
her
body.
They’d been sorting clothes for
three hours and
she
hadn
’
t seen
Gemma
once during that time.

She
started for the door when John stepped inside carrying the dog in one hand and a large pizza container in the other.
“
I thought you two might be hungry.
”

He sat
Gemma
on the
floor
at his feet.
Anna
could almost swear the dog
was
pissed that he
’
d dared let her go.

“
Thank you
, John
.
You
’
ve read my mind. I
’
m starving.
”
Bev patted his arm, eliciting a fraction of a smile. Then h
e glanced at Anna
. The smile still in place took
her
breath away.
Thei
r eyes locked and held. It was just the two of
them
. And it was as if time had melted away.

His gaze
sli
pped
over her body, just as if he'd
caress
ed her with his hands
, his lips
.
Anna's
next breath lodged hard
in
her
throat. Some piece of
her
was aware of all the things
she
must be confirming in Bev
’
s mind, but for the life of
her
,
Anna
couldn
’
t look away and it was John who was the strong one again.
Just like so many times in the past.

He untangled his gaze from
Anna
.
“
I wasn
’
t sure what you liked so I got a little bit of everything, minus the anchovies. I draw the line on fish and pizza.
”

“
I-I think I have some paper plates in the kitchen.
There
are
some drinks in the fridge
as well
.
”
Anna
beat a hasty retreat from the awkward moment.

Bev and John followed
her
to the tiny room that passed for a kitchen. It was barely big enough for a dorm-sized fridge
and
a table with four mismatched chairs. A few years before
she
’
d leased the small retail space sandwiched between a bookstore and a pet shop, someone added a sink and a couple of cabinets
,
thinking it would increase the value of the place.

John glanced around the
room
.
“
This is a nice place, Anna. You
’
ve done well.
”

For two people who
’d
shared their bodies, pieces of their lives, death, it almost hurt to think
they
couldn
’
t come up with something more important to say to each other than the sanitized small talk of strangers.

“
Thank you. I
’
ve worked hard to make it mine.
”

He nodded
,
at a loss for words as well. His eyes
lingering on hers
.
A pleading in his
that
shook
her to her core
.

For the first time since his return,
Anna
let go of all the blame and resentment
she
’
d piled on John
’
s shoulders. He wasn
’
t any guiltier of
causing
Aaron
’
s death than
she was
. He hadn
’
t forced
the wedge between
her
and
Aaron. H
adn't sanctioned the divorce,
Aaron had. John
hadn't lured her
into
his
bed.
She
’
d been his willing partner.

Anna stood
and began clearing the clutter.
Soon,
Bev joined
her
. When
Anna
glanced back at the table, John was gone. For the rest of the day, he stayed away from
her
. Choosing to watch the p
e
r
i
meter of the store and question
the
neighbors.

The drive back to
Anna's
house was made in silence.
She and
Bev were just too exhausted from lack of sleep to come up with any stimulating conversation and John drove in brooding silence.
Anna
wondered what he
’
d learned that put him in such a foul mood.

Chapter Five

“
You look beat. Why don
’
t you try
to
get some sleep?
”
Bev
told
her
as
they
finished clea
r
ing
away the dinner dishes
.
They hadn’t seen John in hours
. Anna suspected he was deliberately keeping his distance.

Sleep
would be
heaven, but
she didn’t believe it possible
with
John and the past so close
.

“
Why don
’
t I bunk with you tonight?
It’ll be like old times.
We can talk as long as you like.
”
Bev
spotted
her
reaction.
“
Or we don
’
t have to talk. It doesn
’
t matter.
”

The last time
she and
Bev
h
ad a sleepover like this was the days following Aaron
’
s death.

The house had grown quiet.
Gemma
lay sleeping at
their
feet
a
nd the silence between
Anna and her sister was
filled with questions.

“
You want to know what happened between John and me
,”
Anna
said into the unbearable stillness.

“
I didn
’
t say a word
.
”

That typical Bev response made
Anna
smile.
“
You didn
’
t have to.
”

Bev
turned on her side and
faced
her
.
“
Anna, whatever happened I
’
m sure there was a reason. Maybe it
’
s time
you
cut yourself some slack.
“

Anna
closed
her
eyes. If only it were so simple.
She
hadn
’
t
told
Bev
about
the
last
months of her life with
Aaron.
They'd been divorced only a little while and Anna still didn't have any answers as to why.
The
y'd exchanged angry words, accusations.
An accumulation of
months
of silent standoff.
L
iving separate lives.
The
times
before Aaron
’
s death
had not been
easy ones for either of
them
.

Anna sought absolution from the only person left to give it. “There's something I never told you before. About before Aaron died. We'd been
fighting
for months before his death. We hadn't really had a meaningful conversation in years."

Anna forced herself to look at her sister. "Bev, Aaron, and I had gotten divorced a few months before his death."
The words slipped out.
Anna
wasn
’
t sure what
she
was expecting from
her
sister
.
Bev
hid her surprise badly.