Leslie Parrish - Pitch Black

“We don’t think he is.”

The words were low, measured, his tone even. Sam’s gaze flew up as she realized he was telling her something big. Very big.

She forced herself to remain calm, despite a sudden rising dismay. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

He didn’t reply, waiting for her to lay it out there.

“Do you think this Darwin could be the person who killed the boys?”

He leaned forward, dropping his elbows onto his knees. “Read his other comments.”

She immediately obeyed, noting they were again signed Darwin, though he’d apparently been so riled up he’d mistyped his own name once. “Darwen?”

Alec pointed to the paragraph below. Sam studied the words, gasping as their implication sank in. Then, needing to be sure, she read them again, out loud this time.

“ ‘What would you have us do, Samantha? Should we who have a brain cell in our heads lie in front of the cars of those so foolish they willingly drive into peril? Do we save the reckless ones from the mishaps that so rightfully remove them from our world? Stop the imbe cilic female from falling into the machine, or the greedy youth from drowning or freezing to death?’ ”

Her voice trailed off in shock as the reality of it hit her. Swallowing hard, she let the pages flutter from her hand to the floor, as if she’d been touched by something toxic.

Maybe she had.

“Coincidence?” she asked, trying to convince herself more than him. “He could have chosen those words because he saw the story about the boys on the news.”

“The woman killed after answering the online help-wanted ad five weeks ago was tricked into falling into an industrial hopper.” The details in the case file had been horrific, and he did not elaborate.

She couldn’t manage more than a whisper. “That case was also in the news. I saw it.”

“The specific details weren’t.” Some things were too gruesome even for the evening news.

He fell silent, waiting for her to accept it. Something she truly didn’t want to do. But finally, seeing the certainty in his stare, she knew she had to believe it, to swallow down the truth like bitter medicine and move on.

“A psychotic killer is trying to contact me.”

Lambert nodded. “I think so.”

Her head spinning, she sagged back in her chair. God, no wonder he had been so anxious to reach her. What if she’d gotten back online this morning-or if she’d checked the site one more time before going to sleep last night? In the state she’d been in, she would have given Darwin a piece of her mind.

Which could have angered him so much he might have wanted to rip the rest of her to pieces, too.

She shuddered. “Thank God I didn’t respond.”

For the first time since he’d arrived, the agent’s stare didn’t quite meet her own. He glanced down at his hands, folded together and dangling between his knees.

“Yes. Thank God.”

She hesitated; then understanding washed over her. She finally got the whole picture. What he’d come for, what he wanted from her, why he looked both excited and disturbed. Why he couldn’t meet her eye right now.

Excited because he had a lead in his case. Disturbed and unable to look her in the eye because… “Wait. You want there to be a response.”

He nodded.

Speaking in a voice that had suddenly lost most of its volume, she continued. “You want to use my Web site to strike up a conversation with a murderer?”

“No, Mrs. Dalton.” He didn’t offend her intelligence by even trying to soften it. “I want you to use your Web site to strike up a conversation with a murderer.”

InXile: R u still there?

InXile: My friend?

Wndygrl1: Im here. This is so sudden. Tonight?

InXile: Must be tonight. Sorry. Has to be nine o’clock.

Wndygrl1: That’s very late.

InXile: You get in trouble to stay out late?

Wndygrl1: lol! Just wondering if I dare.

InXile: Dare to come to me?

Wndygrl1: Dare to start this new life.

InXile: U know how I feel.

Wndygrl1: I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Tho I have been thinking about it. I was just about to go shop for something pretty to wear.

InXile: I am sure you make anything pretty.

Wndygrl1: You say such nice things, Rafe. But this is so sudden. You made no mention of having to go away when we talked last night.

InXile: I know. Things go so quickly. I would love 2 give u all the time in the world to get ready. But my time runs out. If not tonight I don’t know when. Could be months.

Wndygrl1: Oh, dear… you will be gone that long?

InXile: Yes. My life is so different from yours. So much difficulties. I wish only to see you, to romance you, one time before I go, so you might wait for me to come back.

Wndygrl1: I’ll wait!!!!!!

InXile: My sweet. Can I convince you? A public meeting…?

Wndygrl1: We would meet in a public place?

InXile: I promise, I will take you somewhere with no walls, no doors, where you can be seen at any time.

Wndygrl1: That sounds safe.

InXile: And maybe tempting?

Wndygrl1: Yes.

InXile: Yes, I have tempted you?

Wndygrl1: I meant yes . I’ll come tonight.

“You know, Agent Lambert, if you’re going to use me as bait to catch a serial killer, you might as well call me Sam.”

Alec managed to keep his eyes on the road and not look over at his passenger, whose mood had vacillated from shock to horror to acceptance in the hour since he’d shown up at her door. They’d left her apartment, heading back to headquarters. Not his first choice, but she had given him no other options. “It’s Alec. And we’re not using you as bait.”

She blew out a disbelieving breath. “Oh, right. Uh, what should we call me? An appetizer? First course?”

He glanced over, gauging how serious she was. If she was having second thoughts, no way would he force her. “Nobody said you had to do this. Do you want me to turn around?”

She huffed a little and crossed her arms over her chest, running her hands up and down her arms to ward off the morning chill. He reached out and jacked up the slow-to-warm heater in the government-issue sedan. Focusing on the road and the city traffic, he ordered himself not to notice the way her soft sweater hugged her body with every move, or the visible puffs of air emerging from her full lips each time she exhaled.

In close confines, the sexual attraction he’d been telling himself did not exist had become an elephant sitting in the backseat. A whole herd of elephants. Because even when snappish and frightened, the woman was still attractive enough to make his heart skip a beat when he looked at her.

“Of course I’m doing it,” she finally said with a sigh, after he’d almost forgotten his own question. “But you’d better drive faster. I usually post by noon. Twelve thirty at the latest. Won’t your guy think it’s strange if I don’t?”

“Yes.” His foot pressed the gas pedal harder. “We want to stick as close to your normal routine as we possibly can.”

“I know.” Staring at the dashboard as if it held answers to some deep question, she added in a low voice, “Just how deep am I about to dive into the psychotic end of the gene pool, Alec?”

A frown tugged at his mouth at the hint of nervousness in her voice. “Deep. But not for long and not into shark-infested waters.”

“Yeah, right.” She turned in her seat to face him. “If I were a character in a book or on an episode of Criminal Minds , I’m sure I’d be feisty, brave, and raring to go. But to tell you the truth, I’m scared spitless.”

He dropped a hand on hers and squeezed. Her slender fingers were ice-cold. Rubbing them lightly, he shared the warmth of his skin, though he knew some of Sam’s coldness probably came from the fear that had her in its grip.