Part 22 (2/2)

aThe nausea will go away soon. Here, drink some water.a Her eyes shot open at the whisper in her ear.

Roman.

Instant clarity brought it all back to her, the haze disappearing like a sudden gust of wind blowing away the last of the fog.

Roman had come over, said Gabe had shot at him. Dante had gone after Gabe. Then Roman hada”

She tried to speak, but her mouth was full of dry cotton.

aDrink.a She didnat want to drink anything he gave her.

He took a sip. aItas not drugged, honey. I promise. Now, drink.a He put the gla.s.s to her lips.

She was so thirsty. She sipped, water spilling onto the sheets. She didnat care.

aNot too much or youall get sick.a Now that her vision had cleared, she looked around. Her arms were over her head and she was tied to the iron bars of a bed. She glared at Roman.

aYou drugged me.a He looked sad. Regretful. aI know. Iam sorry. I hadnat planned to do it this way, but things got out of control.a aI donat know what youare talking about. And I canat feel my hands. This hurts.a He looked pained. aThey do? Let me untie you. Donat run.a aIam not going to run, Roman. I just want to talk.a He took out a knife and she suppressed a shudder as he slit through the ropes at her wrists, releasing her from the bed. She rubbed her wrists, wincing as the circulation flowed back.

aYouare going to be dizzy and weak for a while until the drug wears off. Donat try to get up.a She s.h.i.+fted to sit and scooted back against the pillows. aI just want to sit.a He backed away and crouched on the floor, rolling the knife around in his hands. He wielded the knife in and out through his fingers like an expert. She expected him to cut himselfa”the blade was sharpa”but he obviously knew what he was doing as he watched her and played with the knife.

She focused on her surroundings. The bedroom was dark, so she couldnat make out much. She was in someoneas house, but whose? This wasnat Romanas place.

aWhere are we?a she asked.

aA house.a aWhose house?a aThatas not important. When youare feeling up to moving around, Iall show you. I want you to like it.a Why was it important to him that she like the house? aI need to know whose house this is, Roman.a The look he gave her was earnest, his expression that of a little boy eager to please. aItas our house.a Oh, s.h.i.+t. aOurs?a aOr it will be as soon as you give your approval.a She wanted to object, to tell him it would never be their house, but she sensed how fragile his grasp on reality was, so she played along. aIam sure itas going to be great if you picked it out for us.a aIave been planning this a long time.a aHave you? Tell me about it.a She inched her feet to the side of the bed, letting her legs slide over the edge.

He watched her and frowned. aWhat are you doing?a aI need to swing my legs back and forth so I can get some circulation going in them. Is that okay with you?a He shrugged. aI guess so.a She moved her legs to show him what she was doing. aTell me about the rest of the house.a aItas a two-bedroom. Not very big, but a nice place to start out. Itas an older housea”itas on the Hilla”nice neighbors and a real friendly place. Iam sure youare going to like it a lot.a aIam sure I will. I like the Hill a lot. Tess has a cute little house on the Hill, as I remember.a He frowned. aYeah, she did.a Did? What did that mean? aWhat happened between you and Tess, Roman? You told me things were going well.a He lifted his gaze to hers. aShe wasnat you. She was in the way.a Goose b.u.mps broke out on her skin at the look he gave her. She s.h.i.+vered at the intensity of his gaze, at the way it bored into her, as if she was everything to hima”everything head ever wanted.

He was insane. Totally and completely gone.

How had she not seen his obsession before? Had he really been that good at hiding it, or had she just not wanted to see it?

He functioned normally. He was a good detective. But she knew a lot of psychopaths functioned as normal productive members of society.

Until they killed.

aRoman, whereas Tess?a He wouldnat meet her gaze, just kept rolling the knife between his fingers.

aRoman,a she said, her voice sharp in command. aTell me where Tess is.a His gaze snapped to hers. aSheasagone.a The man looking at her now wasnat the Roman she thought she knew. His easygoing smile was gone, replaced instead by a heated pa.s.sion shead never seen before. And it was directed at her.

And now she knew. Head killed George, Jeff and her father. She didnat understand why. And where was Tess? Poor Tess, whoad done nothing wrong except for not being Anna.

Hatred for Roman filled her. Head beaten them all to death. Jeff. Her father, who had patiently worked with Roman and gotten him into the police academy. Head killed a fellow police officer, too. And likely a sweet, innocent woman. Head slaughtered them all, killed them all with his bare hands.

Just like she wanted to leap off the bed and kill Roman right now.

She tried not to think about any of that because she needed to get out of this alive.

Because if she got out of this alive, Roman would pay for what head done.

aWhen can we go see the rest of the house, Roman?a He looked around. aYou donat like this room?a aI donat know. Itas kind of dark in here, so I canat see much.a He grinned like a little boy. aOh. Sorry. Let me turn on a light.a He stood and came toward her, the knife held out in front of him. It was the same one shead seen held by her attacker in her backyard.

Her attacker had been Roman. The person whoad left her the flowers and the notes had been Roman.

It had all been Roman. Roman, who had played along with them, shocked and tearful when George and Jeff had died. Compa.s.sionate when her father had been killed. And all this time it had been him.

Shead never seen it coming.

It was going to take everything inside her not to leap at him and dig her fingers in his eyes, to try to wrestle the knife from him and stab him with it. Violent rage filled her, but she had to play it cool, had to keep her anger under control until the time was right.

He turned on the small lamp on the table next to the bed. It cast enough light in the room that she could see him. He crouched next to the bed.

aBetter?a She forced an easy smile. aMuch better. Thanks.a aNeed another drink?a aNo, Iam good right now.a aOkay.a He was quiet, so she sat and tried to get her bearings. With every minute that went by, the fuzziness in her head cleared. But she had no idea how shead feel physically if she needed to run. She had to test it.

aRoman, I need to go to the bathroom.a He chewed on his lower lip, then motioned with his head toward the door at the other end of the room. aThereas one in there. You canat get away. Windowas too small.a aIam not trying to get away. I just have to use the bathroom.a He stood, held the knife out. aGo ahead. Leave the door open.a Great. Shead at least be able to stand up and test her legs. aOkay, thanks.a She slid off the bed. A little wobbly at first, but not dizzy. She took slow steps toward the bathroom and went in, turned on the light. Small bathroom, one vanity. Very feminine.

She eased the shower curtain aside and smothered a gasp as she saw Tess lying in the tub, fully clothed and bloodied, a cut across her throat, her lifeless eyes staring up at Anna. She had ligature marks across her wrists and ankles, dried blood there as if shead been tied up for a long time. There was bruising, too.

Jesus, how long had he kept her prisoner in her own home? Hadnat someone missed her?

How long had she been dead? Not long, from the looks of her.

Hands shaking, Anna realized she was going to have to keep up a normal front or Roman would likely slip into his delusion completely, and then shead be in deep trouble. Her stomach clenched when she thought about Tess.

She came out of the bathroom, startled to find Roman leaning against the doorway just outside.

aOh, hi,a she said, skirting around him to head back toward the bed. His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

aAnna.a She closed her eyes for a brief second, praying Dante and Gabe figured out in a hurry what had happened. They were smart. Theyad find her.

She turned to face him. aYes?a aIam in love with you.a She lifted her chin. aI love you, too, Roman. But Iam feeling a little dizzy right now. Is it okay if I sit down?a He frowned, looked as if he didnat believe her. She let her body begin to shake and started to sag. He wrapped an arm around her. aYeah, right. Forgot about the drug. Letas get you back to bed. Maybe you need to lay down again.a aIam okay,a she said as he got her to the edge and she sat. aI just need to sit for a few more minutes.a Long enough for the cops to come. For Dante to get here.

For someone to put a bullet in your head, you sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Fortunately he sat her on the side of the bed facing the window, so he snugged up against the wall underneath it. The shades were closed, but her position gave her a vantage point now. And with the light on, maybe someone would see her silhouette. Maybe. Please.

aRoman.a He lifted a hopeful gaze at her. aYes?a aWhy did you kill George?a He shook his head back and forth. aGeorge. He knew. He suspected something. He came to me, to talk to me, to tell me I needed help. I had to get rid of him. Too smart for his own good, dammit. He had to go before he told.a Thatas why he killed George. George found out something about Roman, and Roman killed him for it.

aWhy did you kill Jeff and my dad?a He frowned and looked away. aI donat want to talk about them.a aI do. Itas important to me. I need to know.a aYouare always thinking about them. About all of them. It was never about you and me and it needed to be about you and me. And then when I found out he was coming back I knew it was time. They all had to die.a aIs that why you killed them?a He finally lifted his gaze to hers. aThey all had to go so it would just be the two of us. You were always stuck in the past, too wrapped up in it. I had to make it go away. I have to make them all go away, so youall focus on me. So youall see me. Me!a He beat his chest.

aIam the one youare supposed to be with, and you never saw it. All you saw was that night twelve years ago. And Dante. When he came back, he brought the past back with him. I saw it in your eyes. I saw the way you looked at him.

aI had to erase the past, which meant they all had to go. Then youad be free to think about the future. Then youad finally see me.a Roman was deeply screwed up. He was teetering so far on the edge of the cliff she could flick her finger at him and head fall off. She was going to have to tread very lightly. aI see you now. Iam sorry it took me so long.a He looked right through her as if he didnat even see her, as if he was looking at something else instead. aYou still love Dante. I have to kill him so youall forget him.a aNow that I know how you feela”a He stood abruptly, anger turning his face red as he pointed the knife at her. aNo. They have to be gone or you wonat forget. I have to make them disappear, or youall keep thinking about them.a aWho told you that?a He pointed the knife at her. aI know. If heas still alive youall love him. Gabe has to go, too. They all have to go.a She stayed silent, pondering a way out. Dante would find her, and theyad both survive this. She had to believe that, had to stay strong and steady so when the time came she could make a move.

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