Secret Admirer

He laughed. Because of the robotic sound, the laughter was like nails sliding down a chalkboard. “You know.”

“No, I have no clue.” She found herself staring at Zander. Somehow, looking into his eyes helped to calm her fear. “And I don’t have your flowers. The FBI has them.”

More laughter. “Of course, I wanted them to know I was here.”

Here…in the same town with her. Hunting her.

“And you know who I am, Alice.” The volume of the voice decreased. A rough, metallic whisper told her, “I’m your Secret Admirer.”

Goosebumps covered her arms. She was supposed to keep the guy talking. Zander had sent out a text as soon as she picked up the phone, and Alice knew the FBI agents were trying to track the call. She had to keep the guy talking. “Hugh Collins was the Secret Admirer. He’s dead. He’s—”

“Was he?” More of that laughter. “I’m your Secret Admirer. I think you’re perfect, Alice. Absolutely perfect.”

Her breath sawed in and out, and she knew he’d hear the desperate pants. “Where are you?”

“Look out your bedroom window, and you’ll see.”

What?

She saw Zander fire out a quick text.

“Come on, Alice. Do it. Look out your window and tell me what you see.”

She didn’t know what to do. Obviously, she couldn’t look out her window. She wasn’t in her bedroom. Agent Cara McCoy was in her bedroom. “I’m not playing your game.” There. That sounded good. “I’m hanging up the phone, and I’m calling the authorities. You stay away from me, do you understand? Keep your sick, twisted—”

“She’ll die.”

Alice’s heart seemed to stop.

“She’s not you. None of them were you, and I’m tired of the weak substitutes. So I’ll trade. You for her.”

“Who?” Her voice was too high. Too shocked. Too scared.

Zander reached for her left hand. His fingers curled around hers.

“Dark hair. Blue eyes. She even walked like you. When I saw her today…well, after she delivered the flowers to you in the hospital, I thought…she’d be perfect.”

No, no.

“I haven’t hurt her, not yet. But I will.”

“Don’t.”

“Then trade. You for her. It’s easy.”

Zander shook his head.

“Where? When?” Alice blurted.

“Right here. Right now. Come out of the cabin. Walk to me. When I have you, I’ll tell the cops where Tiffany is. Come to me.”

The line went dead.

Oh, hell, no.

Alice leapt out of the bed. She ran for the door.

But Zander grabbed her. He locked his arms around her waist and yanked her back against his body. “No! Jesus, no, baby, you aren’t going out there!”

She fought against his hold, but he just held her tighter. “He has the woman from the hospital! Tiffany!” Alice could see the other woman so clearly in her mind. “I can’t let her die!”

“She won’t.” Zander’s breath blew against her ear. “Your call was being monitored. You know that. And I was texting Randall the whole time. Cara will go out of the cabin, just like the bastard ordered. But Cara will be armed. She’ll run out just as if she’s you.”

Her breath heaved in and out.

“It’s going to be okay,” Zander said. “We’ve got this.”

***

Special Agent Cara McCoy adjusted her ear piece, and then she made sure that her weapon was concealed beneath her coat. She pulled in a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and got her ass in character.

When she opened the front door and ran outside, fear was clear on her face. She let the terror show. She rushed toward the woods and spun in a circle. “I’m here!” Cara yelled. “Where are you?” Frantically, she turned, trying to move quickly so that anyone watching wouldn’t get a too-close look at her face. But she wasn’t too worried. It was dark. The watcher wouldn’t be able to see her very clearly.

She just needed to find him…

***

Alice’s phone rang again.

Zander saw her stiffen, and her gaze immediately shot to the phone that she’d tossed on the bed moments before. Zander had already released her. As soon as she’d stopped fighting, he’d let her go, and now he watched as she hurried to scoop up her phone.

“Unknown caller,” Alice whispered. “It’s him again.”

“Don’t,” Zander snapped out the quick command. “Cara should be outside by now. If you answer it and he’s watching, he’ll know we’re tricking him.”

Her stare was on the phone. “If I don’t answer it, what happens to the woman he took?”

Zander shook his head. “If he is watching Cara, if he’s out there like he said…” And he hoped the sonofabitch was. If the guy was in the woods…the agents will find you. “Then he’ll see that she doesn’t answer. He’ll see every move Cara makes. He’ll just think you ran out of the cabin so fast you forgot your phone. But if you answer…”

The phone rang again.

“If you answer the phone right now, you blow the whole show.”

***

Cara couldn’t see anyone in the woods. She knew that other agents were stationed out there. Watching. Waiting. They were all searching for the perp. She stepped closer to the edge of the woods. Should she go into the trees? Walk through the darkness?

If he was out there, he’d see what she did. Whatever move she made, perhaps he would follow.

Cara hesitated. She didn’t want to walk into his trap.

She wanted him to walk into hers.

She turned around. Headed back for the cabin. She made sure her steps were slow, hesitant. Right before she reached the porch, Cara stopped. She turned back toward the darkness. “If you’re here, show yourself!”

Something hit her chest. Hard and fast, and Cara stumbled. She blinked, then looked down. Her hand rose…and touched the blood. Blood that poured from the wound in her chest.

Then she fell.

***

The phone rang, and Alice jumped.

Only…it wasn’t her phone ringing. It was Zander’s. He yanked up the phone, knowing by the ring tone that Randall was calling. “Tell me you got the bastard.”

“No.” Randall’s voice cracked. “The sonofabitch. He shot Cara.”

“What?”

Alice edged closer. Zander hadn’t put the call on speaker, but Randall’s voice was loud, and Zander knew Alice would be able to hear most

of the words his partner was saying.

“She was near the porch. She was calling out to him. A bullet slammed into her chest.” Randall’s ragged breathing drifted over the line. “She’s…shit…it hit her heart. We’re working on her, trying to get an ambulance out here but…shit,” he snarled again. “This isn’t his MO! He doesn’t shoot his victims. If we’d fucking thought he’d shoot, Cara would’ve worn her vest!”

No, the Secret Admirer never shot his victims. But he also didn’t try to run them down with cars, either. Yet Alice had almost been hit by the sedan. This time, the killer was different. Because we aren’t dealing with Hugh Collins. This is a different sonofabitch. So this killer was playing by a different set of rules.

“Keep Alice close,” Randall urged.

Like Zander had to be told that. There was no way Alice would get away from him. He ended the call.

Alice’s eyes were huge. “H-he shot her?”

Zander nodded.

“Is she…is she okay?”

No, he didn’t think that Cara was okay. Not based on what Randall had told him. Dammit.

Alice’s phone rang. She grabbed it from the bed. “It’s him.”

Zander’s fingers closed around hers. “Don’t answer it. Fucking don’t.”

“We have to find the missing woman!” Alice snapped.

If she was missing. If the perp’s words hadn’t been a lie. A trap. He’d sent a text earlier ordering deputies over to the home of the suspected victim, Tiffany Shaw. They were searching for her.

Zander didn’t want Alice talking to the bastard right then. “Let me talk to him.”

“But—”

“Maybe he thinks you’re dead, Alice. Maybe he thinks he just shot you.”

She let go of the phone.

Zander’s fingers slid over the screen, and he put the phone on speaker. “Who the fuck is this?”

Grating robotic laughter was his answer. Then… “That wasn’t Alice.”

“Listen, you—”

“She didn’t walk like Alice. And her voice, when she called out—wasn’t Alice’s voice.”

The bastard had been close enough to hear Cara. He’d been right there, and the agents in the woods had missed him. “You’re done. Do you hear me? Agents are closing in. They’re coming after you—”