Already Taken (Laura Frost FBI)

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

He walked in the shadows where he could, but during the day, it was more difficult to hide. Especially out on these rural roads, where you had to have an excuse for being on them in the first place. A car would be an obvious sore thumb, sticking out in all the wrong ways, blowing his cover.

He’d thought of that, though. He’d figured it out a while back, when he’d first started this whole thing. He first drove to a field that was popular with walkers of some kind. Dog walkers. Fishermen going to a local river. Birdwatchers, even. That needed a little research and thought, but it wasn’t as though he wasn’t familiar with the local area. He could find the kind of place that would work easily enough.

Then he would park and get out. That was important. He had to bide his time to make sure no one else was around, and also wear a disguise—something that would make him blend in for plausible deniability. He carried a walking stick when he went to locations that were popular with ramblers. At the fishing locations, he wore waders and a waterproof coat. Always, he tried to wear the colors of the scenery: greens, dark and light, gold for the corn, never anything bright or out of place.

Then he walked. It was simple as that: he walked to the place he needed to see. This one was a challenging one. He had to walk pretty far. But it was fine, because it was a dog walking spot he’d parked at, and all he had to do was pretend his dog had run off and get the old chewed-up tennis ball from his pocket that he’d taken from a neighbor’s yard.

That was enough for him to sneak right up near the house and watch, and wait for her to come home from work. He’d done it yesterday, between his other commitments, and a few times over the last weeks as well—whenever he had the chance. He’d marked off every day of the week, and she was always home at the same time, except on the weekends.

It was a reliable schedule. He just had to wait and watch for her to go off for her shift this morning, to be sure that there was no unexpected change, and then the plan would be set.

He settled in to wait and watch.

You’re going to get her, aren’t you?

It was her. She was here. “Yes,” he said out loud, not needing to think about his answer. “Yes, of course I will. You told me to.”

You’re willing to make sure she pays, as they all need to?

“Yes. Yes, I told you. I promised.”

In my experience, men do not always keep their promises.

He sighed. “I know. But you can trust me, I swear. Haven’t I done good for you so far?”

Her thought was like the warm weight of a purring cat along him, a satisfied rumble through his mind and body. Yes. You’ve done everything I asked of you so far.

“Right. And I’ll carry on. I don’t want to let you down.”

You won’t if you just follow as I’ve asked, she said, and he felt her words making him stand taller, feel stronger. You’re so far in now, and so close to the end. All you have to do is to keep going, just as you are. Just keep going strong. End them all. End the bloodline before any more come. Don’t let them multiply.

“I won’t,” he said. “I mean it. I’ll make sure there can’t be any more. I will do this for you—right to the very end.”

Right to the end, she whispered, almost as if she were standing right next to him. You’ll be rewarded. You know you will. I will keep my end of the bargain once you have kept yours.

“I believe you,” he said, because he did, and he knew she could feel the truth in it. He knew by how she settled, like a weight on his shoulders, like she was leaning lovingly on him from behind.

He stopped talking then, and she did too, their attention taken by something else. The woman. She was coming out of her house, walking down the driveway to her car. He checked his watch. She was right on time.

Everything was set for tonight—and he wasn’t going to miss the chance to get her when she came home.