“What happened to you?”
“You can’t recognize burn scars when you see them?”
The pieces of this dark puzzle connected. Her sister Eva had nearly died in the fire that had killed her rapist Josiah Cross. Micah’s brother. “You were at the fire that nearly killed Eva.”
His eyes brightened with appreciation. “I was. But there is more.”
Eva had spoken of Micah years ago. Gentle. Soft. Nothing like his violent twin. “Eva never saw you there.”
“No, I arrived just as the blaze started to eat through the house. After my brother was dead.”
“You tried to save Josiah?”
He tapped the edge of his nose with his fingertip. “You’ve got it half right.” He leaned forward a fraction. “There’s a big secret that I’ve been keeping for a very, very long time.”
The intensity of his gaze had sharpened to razor points.
She raised her hand to her throat. “You escaped the fire.”
Appreciation gleamed as he waited for her to guess the rest of the story. “I did.”
“I read all the reports until I memorized them. They found your body.”
“Not mine.”
The dark truth dawned. “They found Micah’s body.”
Josiah had been in so much trouble with the law, but Micah had not. Darius Cross wanted to keep his troubled, surviving son out of jail. Josiah Cross might not have been able to weather a trial and avoid jail time, but Micah could. Darius had changed other evidence in the case. It made sense that he’d alter autopsy reports.
“You’re Josiah?”
Laughter rumbled from his chest. “Bingo.”
“Josiah Cross is alive!” Garrison barely controlled the rage burning through his body.
Malcolm wove in and out of traffic, the lights of the marked cars flashing. “I always thought that guy was too good to be true.”
Garrison fisted his fingers. The woman he’d loved had been savagely raped by Josiah Cross and suffered at the hands of his family for it. And now he had the chance to right a wrong. “Drive faster.”
Malcolm prayed they would be in time to prevent another tragedy.
* * *
“You’re Josiah,” Angie said. Terror knifed at her in-sides, but she kept her voice calm. Keep him talking. He wants to talk about himself. And she intended to use that fact to buy as much time as possible.
“Surprise!”
“How? What happened?”
“Micah and I liked to play games with people. Often we’d switch places. It was a rush to know we could fool anyone. We did that a couple of times with his girlfriend in college.”
“Her name was Kristen?”
“Good memory.”
“Why did you go to the sorority house that night?”
“Your sister fascinated and angered me. I wanted her, and she’d have nothing to do with me. Here she was the daughter of that lowlife Blue Rayburn, and she turned me down. I wanted to teach her a lesson.”
Angie remembered what a bright and motivated kid Eva had been in high school. She’d been making herself into a success despite the fact that she’d lost so much. And these monsters wanted to strip her of her successes.
She could barely keep her rage contained. “How did Micah figure into your plan?”
“He was along for the ride. He wanted to watch.” Josiah shook his head. “He and I had always been a team, and I was willing to share.”
Tears choked her throat. “What happened?”
“You know what I did to your sister? After I burned her, she passed out from the pain. Micah came inside and, we switched. It was his turn. I went out the front door for a smoke. I had no idea Kristen had come in the back door. She struck and killed Micah and set the house on fire. I tried to go in and save my brother, but when I looked at him on the floor I knew he was dead. The place was already in flames, so I ran.”
He’d left Eva to die.
“The curtains were on fire and fell on me. That’s how I got my burns.” He shook his head. “But your Eva found her way out the other door. She’s a survivor. Like me.”
“Your father sent you to Europe during Eva’s trial so no one would guess.”
“It wouldn’t have taken any guessing. I was burned and in pain. There was no hiding it. Father had lost one son, and knew if the truth was discovered he’d lose his other one. Josiah attended Price University so the cops assumed it was Josiah.”
“And you became Micah.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“You got off.”
“Not really. Father kept me heavily medicated for years. When he got sick, I tossed away the pills. But it took over a year to get back to my old self.” Anger hardened his features. “So much time lost because of your sister.”
“She had nothing to do with Micah’s death.”
“She is the dark temptress. She drew me to her. If she’d not done that I never would have been at that damn house.”
He grew silent, and she panicked. Keep him talking. “What about Dixon?”
“He and my father crossed paths years ago. Under very similar circumstances as a matter of fact.”
“Dixon killed Fay for your father?”
“No. Dixon never had a taste for killing. His dark appetites were sexual. He and my father shared a woman once.”
“What happened?”
He seemed relaxed, happy to talk. “Fay thought she could manipulate my father into marriage. She knew he and Blue were running guns through the museum, and she tried to blackmail him. When that didn’t work, she took up with Dixon. He was young and weak. When Father approached Dixon, he threatened to kill him. Dixon confessed that he and Fay had cheated. Dixon said he wished he’d not been so gentle with Fay. Father suggested that they could both get revenge and have a bit of fun if they worked together. Dixon agreed. Dixon took Fay, and when he was finished with her, Father brought her here and killed her.”
Her heart tightened. “Did my father help him?”
For a moment he hesitated. “I could lie but what’s the point? The truth is so much more interesting. Darius learned of the process from your father. The idea of stripping the flesh from his mistress’s bones appealed. When Fay’s body was found later, your father put the pieces together. He confronted Darius and threatened to go to the police. Father simply reminded Mr. Carlson that he had your safety to consider. After that, your father kept his mouth shut.”
That’s why her father had kept her from the museum and why he’d grown so distant. You’ll never be vulnerable. Those had been the words he’d uttered after her surgery. Oh, God. He had been protecting her.
Josiah leaned toward her as if they were best friends. “You’re lucky, you know. If Dixon and I were still working together you’d be in fairly rough shape by now.”
She was at the mercy of a killer and oddly grateful that she’d not had to face Dixon. “What happened with you two?”
“We met at a charity function a couple of years ago. I could see the dark need in him hadn’t faded with the years. I suggested we team up. He’d been excited. We killed three prostitutes. And then he got bored. He hired Lulu. Got sloppy. Said too much. She ran, and you know the rest.”
“What happened after the trial?”
“I demanded he stop and he did. Then this past summer he contacted me. He swore he’d be careful. So we started hunting again. But the whores were like shooting fish in a barrel. I wanted more challenging prey. I saw Sierra on stage and knew she’d be the next one. I told Dixon about her and could see the delight in his gaze. The things he wanted to do to her …”
“You could each work it so that you had alibis when women vanished.”
“Exactly. When Dixon finished with a woman, it was my turn. But then he broke the rules a second time.” He shook his head. “I forgave him once, and then he went against me again.”
“What did he do?”
“He wanted to keep you all to himself. He didn’t want me to kill you.” A
grin tipped the edge of his mouth. “My father taught me well…. If someone crosses you, you take everything from them.”
“Your father took Fay’s beauty. And you were smart, so he drugged you and took your ability to think.”
He frowned, pensive. “Yes.”
“Did Dixon tell you about Fay?” Her words sounded rough, like sandpaper.