Hide and Seek (Criminal Profiler #1)(99)

“No. He wore his mask.” She rubbed her breastbone. “And he was so enraged and he wanted me dead. You might have made him angry, but I also egged him on toward the end. I knew he was angry, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to die without telling him what I thought about him. I should have been thinking about Matt, but I wanted that monster to know I thought he was weak.”

“But I set him off.”

“Don’t play the blame game. There are no winners.”

Macy laid her hand on Bennett’s. She shared an odd bond with the woman, who, like her, had nearly been murdered.

Bennett gripped the sheets, pushed herself up a little, and tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed. “Don’t tell Matt about what happened to me.”

“I’m not saying a word,” Macy said. “That’s for you if you want to discuss later.”

“I took a cheek swab from my son,” Bennett said, almost in a whisper.

“Matt told me. I also did the same. His DNA has been sent off for testing.”

Tears glistened in Bennett’s eyes. “I did my best to forget about the rape. What little I remembered, I tried to block out.”

“You lived and thrived.”

She swallowed, winced, and turned her face toward Nevada. “If I had spoken up, maybe Tobi would be alive.”

“A wise woman just told me the blame game has no winners.” Macy gripped Bennett’s fingers.

“He can’t get away.” Bennett’s gaze was tired, but determined.

“He won’t.”

“Where did you find me?”

“A property owned by Bruce Shaw,” Macy said.

“Shaw gave me his DNA.”

“We didn’t find it,” Macy said.

“Mom!”

They turned to see Matt and his grandmother standing in the door. The boy stood back for a moment, terrified at the sight of his mother’s bruised neck and face.

“It’s okay, Matt.” Smiling, Bennett pushed the button on her bed, allowing her to sit up more. She held out her hands.

Matt stepped toward her, hesitating as if he were still afraid to touch her. “Mom, what happened?”

Bennett took his hand in hers and pulled him toward her. She wrapped her arms around him, and he relaxed against her, sobbing softly. “Just a few scrapes and bruises, baby.”

The boy tightened his hug, causing Bennett to wince.

Matt drew back. “Did I hurt you?”

“Nope,” she said as she smoothed his hair out of his eyes. “It’s just what I needed.”



He stood outside the back entrance to the hospital, a cigarette in hand. He had showered in a cheap motel room that only required cash and no identification and had changed into scrubs that he had stolen from the assisted living facility. Anyone who saw him now would think he was staff taking a smoke break. All he had to do was wait for the back entrance to open and slip inside.

He knew Macy and Nevada were there with Brooke. It wouldn’t be easy to grab Macy, but he had the element of surprise. People let down their guards in hospitals, assuming with all the nurses and doctors that they were perfectly safe.

The side door swung open, and he tossed down his cigarette and sauntered up to the door, holding it for a maintenance worker pushing out a trash can.

“Thanks, man,” the worker said.

“No problem.”

Stepping inside, he let the door close behind him. He moved to the staircase, where there would be less risk.

It had been less than twelve hours since they’d brought Bennett here, so she was likely still on the third floor. All he had to do was lure Macy near the stairwell or an empty room. He wasn’t interested in playing this time. This time, he had one simple goal.

To kill Macy Crow.





CHAPTER THIRTY

Friday, November 22, 9:00 a.m.

As Macy and Nevada walked toward the front doors of the hospital, she was anxious to leave. To be out in the fresh air and away from the buzz of fluorescent lights, the rattle of wheelchairs, and the hurt and sickness.

Just as the automatic doors swung out and Nevada stepped through, Macy’s phone rang. She stopped and glanced at the unknown number. “Agent Macy Crow.”

“This is Dr. Myers,” he said. “I’m one of Brooke Bennett’s doctors. She asked if she could speak to you alone for a moment.”

“Alone?” Macy asked, glancing at Nevada. “She was with her son.”

“He’s about to leave, and she would like to see you about something that she remembered.”

“Sure, I’ll be right back in.” She glanced toward Nevada and smiled. “Let me see what this is about, and I’ll join you out front in a few minutes.”

Nevada frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Brooke might have recalled something. She wants to talk to me.”

“I’ll come with you.”

She held up her hand, pressing gently against his chest. “She said she wanted to see me alone. I’ll see what it’s about and text you.”

He looked past her toward the lobby, scanning for any threat. “See you in a few.”

She took the elevator back up to the third floor. As she stepped off, she walked past the nurses’ station toward Bennett’s room. In the distance, she spotted Matt stepping into the hallway. He looked up at her, his expression troubled as he rubbed his eyes. Even from this distance, she could see he had been crying.