Into the Night(74)

Lydia’s hand flew out and curled around her wrist. “He wasn’t a monster.”

She knew that Lydia desperately wanted her to agree, but Samantha couldn’t speak because she’d seen the victims left in Patrick’s brutal wake. A lie wouldn’t come to her lips.

“He didn’t start all those fires.” But now doubt had crept into Lydia’s words.

Samantha swallowed. “How long were you with Patrick?”

“Over a year,” she whispered in her broken voice. “And I would have known. I would have known if...” But she didn’t finish that sentence.

It didn’t matter. Samantha knew what the woman had been about to say. I would have known if he was a killer. “I didn’t know.”

Lydia trembled.

“I didn’t know that the man I’d given my trust to, the man I’d shared my bed with...I didn’t know he was a murderer.”

Lydia’s trembles grew worse.

“I didn’t know until he came for me.”

More tears slid down Lydia’s cheeks. “Patrick never hurt me.”

“Did he hurt anyone else?” She kept her voice as soft as possible. “Think about it, Lydia. Was there ever anyone who may have...” God, how to say this delicately? “Were there any unexplained fires during your time with Patrick?”

Lydia’s eyes squeezed closed and a low, keening sound emerged from her.

“I have to ask, I’m sorry. But Patrick Remus had a schedule, of sorts. He took a victim every six months. You said you were with him for over a year. I want you to think about that time. Think about it really hard. Was there ever a suspicious fire in the area where you lived? Ever anything that—”

A sob broke from Lydia.

Samantha wanted to reach out and comfort her. She wanted to pull her close and tell the other woman she wasn’t alone—

“My stepmom.” Lydia was rocking her body back and forth now, still cradling her belly. “There was a fire at her house. Thought it was just... God! God! She was always so mean to me. Never letting me see my dad, and I told Patrick, I told him...” She nearly choked as she said, “That I wished she was out of the way.” Her tears came harder.

“Did she die in the fire?” Samantha asked her.

Lydia nodded. “I didn’t mean it...when I told him... I was just mad... I didn’t mean it...”

And Samantha knew that Patrick had been up to his old tricks.

She rose.

“Will the baby be like him?” Lydia asked her.

Samantha’s heart seemed to freeze in her chest.

“I don’t... Will the baby be like him?” she asked again. “Is she gonna be...wrong?”

Samantha went to her then, and she wrapped her arms around Lydia. Samantha held the other woman as Lydia cried.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“YOU’RE THE...ONE who shot me...” Peter Carter rasped. He was strapped to the hospital bed, and an armed police officer was at his side. Machines beeped near him and his skin was almost as pale as the sheets.

“Guilty.” Macey gave him a cold smile. She stood to the right of his bed and a very watchful Bowen waited at the foot of the bed.

“Don’t got...nothin’ to say...” Peter began.

“Really?” Bowen drawled. “Because we’ve got plenty to say. We’d actually like to start by telling you that we know what you did to Susannah Kaiser.”

Peter flinched.

“She didn’t choose you, did she?” Bowen demanded. His tone dripped with disgust. “You were fucking insane for her, but she was walking away. She wanted the cop, not you.”

Peter swallowed. “D-don’t have to talk...to you...”

“I don’t think you quite understand what’s happening here, Peter.” Macey kept her voice as cold as her smile had been. “We’re not just looking at you for Susannah’s death. Right now, there are at least four other murders that we are investigating. Daniel Haddox. Patrick Remus. Curtis Zale. Henry Harwell—”

“Didn’t k-kill that cop!” Peter cast a frantic glance at the uniformed officer beside him, an officer that looked pissed. “Didn’t kill any of them—”

“But you did kill Susannah,” Macey pushed. “I mean, you confessed that already. Right before I shot you.”

He swallowed and eased out a ragged breath. “Ac-accident...”

Keeping her skull at your museum was no accident, you freak. “Why don’t you tell me about it?” Macey invited. “Tell us your side of the story before it’s too late.” It’s already too late. There is no going back from what you’ve done.

“Should have let me f-fucking die.”

Macey just stared at him.

“I was...working my shop. Just working.” His eyes squeezed shut. “Susannah came in there, told me we had to talk.” His eyes snapped open. “I knew she’d been screwing Henry. I knew but I thought it was over. That she’d come back to me.”

“She didn’t,” Bowen said.

Peter’s head moved in a no motion against the pillow. “She...said we were done. That she was going with him. That she wanted to...marry him.” Anger rattled in his voice. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I don’t know what happened! I swear, I just—I was so mad. So fucking mad. The hammer was in my hand, and the next thing I knew...the next thing...”