Allison Brennan - Killing Fear

Hans answered. “You didn’t jump when he said jump. You didn’t do what he expected you to do. Somehow, you saw him for exactly who he is. That both scared him and excited him. He may have thought that initially he’d found a soul mate, someone as cold and calculating as he is. Later, he realized you simply didn’t like him; perhaps acted superior to him. That angered him, because he’s used to getting what he wants. Manipulating people. His parents. His sister. At work, friends, colleagues. But he couldn’t get to you. You didn’t react to him.”

“So it is my fault!”

“No!” Will exclaimed. “Dammit, Robin, if you think anyone other than Theodore Glenn is to blame, you’re letting him win.”

“He knows where I live. Why didn’t he kill me earlier?”

“He couldn’t get to you. You hired security, you have an alarm system, and we had cops out front,” Will said. “It would have been suicide for him, and he doesn’t want to die without-” He cut himself off.

“Without what?”

“Finishing everything he started.”

“Exactly,” Hans said, “and that may be his Achilles’ heel.”

“Pardon me?” Will asked.

“He’s not going to be reckless, which actually plays into our favor,” Hans said.

“Why send the letters?” Robin asked. “Why try to scare me?”

“Because he wants you to act recklessly.”

“He’s watching me,” Robin said. She glanced at Will, almost embarrassed to tell him, but said nonetheless, “He wrote to me from prison.”

Will was furious. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you file a complaint?”

“I burned all the letters,” she said. “After the first one, I knew they were from him. He wanted to keep me scared so I didn’t read them.” She glanced down. “But I had nightmares after every letter arrived.”

“He sent them here?” Hans asked.

“No, to the club. It’s no secret that I own it, he could have found the address online.”

“But this letter”-Hans held it up-“was delivered here.”

She nodded. “But there’s no postal mark on it. No stamp. He brought it by, put it in my mailbox.”

“Shit,” Will muttered.

Hans said, “I think it’s clear that you both are the primary target of this killer-you and Will. The way I see it, we have two options. Either you can go into federal protection, or you can help catch him.”

“No,” Will said. “Robin isn’t going to be bait.”

“Let’s go back to the beginning.”

“Read the transcripts.”

“I have. Several times.”

“So you know that Theodore Glenn stalked the women he killed. Manipulated them. Seduced them. Then he killed them.”

“Except for possibly Anna,” Hans said.

Robin jumped up. “Oh, please! Don’t tell me that Trinity convinced you that Glenn didn’t kill Anna? I can’t believe you’re listening to a woman who’s helping a killer. An escaped convict who killed two cops.” She looked to Will, feeling betrayed all over again when he avoided eye contact.

He also thinks Glenn is innocent.

“Who else wants you dead?” Trinity had asked her.

“Ms. McKenna,” Hans said, “I haven’t spoken with Trinity Lange yet. I simply read the report. But you said yourself that Anna Clark didn’t have a sexual relationship with Glenn.”

“She didn’t.” Robin sat down again, away from Will. She was acting like a jack-in-the-box. She’d better get herself under control or they’d think she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. She wanted to touch Will, for support, but she had a hard time accepting that he thought Anna’s murder was unsolved.

“You’re one hundred percent certain of that.”

She hesitated. Was she? After seven years, nothing seemed like what it had been. “Anna was a lesbian. I’m almost positive she wouldn’t have slept with any man, and if she did it wouldn’t have been Glenn. She didn’t like him.”

“I agree,” Agent Vigo said. “And, for the record, you didn’t have a relationship with Glenn either.”

“No,” she answered through clenched teeth. “Why is it all you cop-types think that just because I was a stripper I slept around?” She glanced at Will, confused and trapped. She rubbed her head. Damn, she didn’t want to remember how she’d felt all those years ago. All she wanted was to remember how good it was to be held by Will, how happy she’d been when she was with him. How he showed genuine appreciation for her paintings. Like he knew she’d go right to the top in the art world, with a confidence and assurance that she didn’t have about her own work.

Vigo said, “I’m just verifying the facts. It’s natural that, based on the M.O., the police would believe either you or Anna had been involved with Glenn. But knowing what we know now, I think Glenn’s behavior proves he has unfinished business with you.” He glanced at Will, who nodded. Had they talked about this before, or were they just on the same wavelength? Robin rubbed her temple harder.

“Which leaves two possibilities,” Will said. “First, let’s go on the assumption that Anna wasn’t supposed to be in town.”

“Will-you-” She felt like Alice down the rabbit hole, nothing she saw or heard familiar or comfortable.

“Ms. McKenna, I’ve reviewed all the files in this matter and witness testimony states that she was supposed to be in Big Bear,” Hans said. “In your statement you said you didn’t expect her to be home that night.”

“I didn’t. I just don’t know why she came back early, or why she didn’t call me.”

“Who else might she have called?”

“I don’t know. Maybe RJ, though I doubt it. She would have more likely called me.”

“Would she have called you on your cell phone? At the bar?”

“I didn’t have a cell phone then. That was seven years ago. She probably would have called the bar, or maybe left a message on the answering machine. Unless…” She shook her head.

“What?”

“She knew about Will and me. Maybe she thought I was at his place.” Robin hated that her private life was being exposed for all to see.

Hans said, “Glenn killed people you were close to in order to hurt you, to watch how you reacted. He didn’t take pleasure in killing his victims. He took pleasure in watching you suffer. You heard that when he called you. He wanted to make sure you understood that.”

“Oh God. Oh God.”

Will moved to sit right next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Will said, “I never asked you, Robin. Where were you when you found out about Bethany’s murder? The testimony states that RJ told you.”

She nodded. “He called me over after my dance, said Bethany hadn’t shown up and he sent one of the boys-one of the bouncers-to her apartment to check on her. RJ could be a total ass wipe, but he cared about our safety. And there she was…” Her breath caught.

“So you were at RJ’s?”

“Yes.”

“Was Theodore Glenn there that night?”

Robin paled. “He came backstage and asked if everything was okay. I was in shock, I think. Brandi burst into tears and told him about Bethany. He hugged her. God, he hugged her and stroked her hair and told her everything would be okay.” She slammed her fist on the table in front of her. He’d held Brandi, but he’d been looking right at Robin with those eerie blue eyes. She didn’t think anything about it then, and even after everything, that moment in time had been buried. Until now. “That bastard!”

Hans and Will exchanged looks.

“What?” she demanded. “I deserve to know what’s going on, don’t I? Will?”

She jumped up. Paced. She wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to go.