He's fucking nuts! "Why do you hurt women?" she asked in a soft voice.
"I have a monster in me that needs to be fed. And you have been tempting me for a long time." He ran his hands over her breasts and she bit her inner cheek hard.
"If you're a real good girl, I'll let you live."
"No you won't. You didn't even try and conceal your face. You decided to kill me when you drove over to Main Street and hid in the bushes waiting for me."
He laughed without mirth. "You got me. Such a smart, pretty one." He trailed his fingers down her body and she closed her eyes, bracing for his touch in her most private parts.
"Keep your fucking eyes open, bitch. I want to see them. Now!"
Her eyelids flew open and the man she saw before her wasn't the Dr. Daniels she knew-he was a menacing, evil man. His features had darkened, his eyebrows were narrowed, and his lips were tightly closed, forming a thin line. She arched her body and pulled on her ties in a vain attempt to get away from him. He stood and unzipped his pants, and she turned her head away.
Pop! Pop! The killer's eyes bulged and his mouth gaped open. With the sound of her heartbeat thrashing in her ears, she screamed as red soaked Dr. Daniels's T-shirt, then splattered over her. His face froze and he fell over, his head hitting the nightstand. She shut her watering eyes tight, flinching when fingers touched her wrists.
"Hailey, it's okay. You're safe." Goldie's voice filtered through her brain.
"Is that you, Goldie?"
"It's me, babe." He pulled her sore body to him and held her tight. The fear she'd been holding back broke through and tears flowed freely down her face.
"It was Dr. Daniels all along. I can't believe it. He wanted to kill me. I can't believe it," she said over and over again like a mantra.
"You're safe now. I'm here."
Sirens wailing in the distance eerily filled the room. Still clinging to him, she moved her head up and down in rhythm with his deep breathing.
"You guys better get out of here. I'll handle it with the damn badges."
Low grunts, shuffling feet, and then quiet except for the sirens, which sounded closer now. Goldie pulled on the sheet, yanking it from the mattress as she still clung to him, moving with him as though they were glued together. Pushing her back a little, he wrapped the sheet around her exposed body, then pressed her close again and waited. When the blue and red flashing bounced off the bedroom walls, she knew what he was waiting for.
Heavy clumping up the stairs unnerved her and she whimpered, but his soothing hand on her hair calmed her as the footsteps came closer. Peeking through her semi-shut eyelids, she saw Sheriff Wexler walk into the room. I bet I spoiled his date. I wonder how she liked the flowers. That was all she could think of: Wexler's date.
"What happened here?" the sheriff asked as his glance went from her to Goldie to Dr. Daniels's dead body.
"He's your rapist and murderer. He came after my woman. The fucker had a knife in his hand, ready to cut her, so I shot him."
"Did you yell out to him?" Barnard asked, coming closer to the body.
"Yeah."
Barnard looked at Hailey. "Do you have anything to add about what happened?"
She shook her head. "It was awful. He'd unzipped his pants, and he had a knife in his hand. I was petrified. He'd tied me up and cut open my clothes. I heard Goldie tell him to stop but he didn't. He just kept coming closer to me." When she glanced at Goldie, pride shone in his gaze. She rested her head against his shoulder.
"We'll need your full statement, Ms. Shilley. You can do it downstairs or at the station. It looks like a justified shooting," the sheriff said, nodding at Goldie.
"We're going to have to investigate a little further before we can rule it justified. How'd you know he was here with Ms. Shilley?" Barnard asked Goldie.
"I didn't. I went to meet her for dinner, and when she didn't show and I couldn't get her on the phone, I got worried and came over to her house."
"So you had no idea the rapist was here?"
Stone-faced, Goldie said, "I just answered that."
"Do you always bring a weapon when you come over to your girlfriend's?" Barnard folded his arms over his chest.
"Yeah."
Wexler cleared his throat. "I issued the permit for it. It's all good. We got the DNA results a few days ago ruling out Dan Krutcher as the rapist-murderer. We'll do a DNA comparison on Daniels, then wrap up the case. Do you want to come down with Ms. Shilley and give your statement?" Wexler asked Goldie.
He grasped Hailey's hand and went out into the hallway. Wexler's voice drifted over the low murmurings of the deputies. "We've got a handle on it, Jack. Thanks for helping us out."
"You believe the load of shit that outlaw told us?"
"I do. You can head back to Durango tomorrow morning. I'll wrap this one up."
Hailey and Goldie walked down the stairs and waited for the lawmen in the family room. Goldie stroked her hair. "You're gonna need to talk with someone about all this shit that went down. Breanna can get you in touch with some counselors."
"I'll be fine," she said, but Daniels's face jumped into her mind and she shuddered.
"Just talk to whoever Breanna recommends. Do it for me, okay?"
"Okay." Wetness coated her eyelashes, cheeks, and chin.
The two lawmen came into the room then and sat down. She sat up straight and waited for the questions to begin.
This is going to be a long night.
Chapter Forty-One
Trisha Daniels stared at Sheriff Wexler as he shuffled through his paperwork. Cold anger mixed with anguish coursed through her as she tried to come to terms with what her husband had done.
"I just need you to sign here," Wexler said pointing at the paper he handed her.
"Then I can bury him?" she asked while signing her name.
"Yes. Once again, I'm sorry for the way this all turned out for you." The sheriff leaned back in his chair and watched her.
"You never really know a person. I mean, at times, Seth was a loving and caring husband. And he was a good father to our kids. But at other times, he was a mean, vindictive bastard. For the most part, we got along real well. I met him at the hospital when I lived in Chicago. I'd just been hired as a nurse. He was so charming … ." She wiped the corners of her eyes. The images of her husband's smiling face filling her mind. "I just can't believe it," she said softly.
Wexler shifted in his chair. "You're right in that we never know a person a hundred percent. There are a lot of dark areas inside some people and they keep them well hidden."
She shook her head. "The only area we weren't compatible in was sex. He needed me to be afraid of him when we'd make love. It was the oddest thing, but I ignored it and played along with him, but I knew I wasn't really satisfying him in the way he wanted. Our sex life had dwindled down to just once or twice a month." She laughed dryly. "To be honest, I thought he was having an affair. He spent so much time away from home, especially at night. And to think that he was stalking, raping, and killing women instead. I could never have imagined he'd do something like that." Her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands. What's wrong with me that I couldn't see what he really was?
"I hope you don't blame yourself for this. Are you going to stay in Alina?"
"No. I'm moving back to Chicago. My whole family's there. We came to Alina because Seth thought a small town would be a good place to raise our kids."
The sheriff nodded. "Do you need help in finding a transport company to send Dr. Daniels's body to Illinois?"
"No. I found one in Denver. They're just waiting for the release of the body." The sound of her voice saying those words felt so alien to her. She mourned the loss of her husband, the father of her kids, and the good memories they shared. Whenever she thought of him now, she couldn't get the images of his victims out of her mind. The good times they'd had would be forever tainted with the blood he shed.
Pushing up from the chair, she said, "I should get going. I have a lot of packing to do. Thank you for everything." Her eye caught the headline of the Alina Post that was on the desk-"Maniac Rapist-Murderer Gunned Down During Attack." On the left side of the page she saw her husband's face, his brown eyes penetrating and brooding. She remembered when he'd taken the picture at a medical convention they'd attended in Denver the previous year. She averted her eyes as she thought how much had changed in just one year.
Pulling open the doors of the police station, she walked out into the bright August sunshine.
Chapter Forty-Two
One month later
The night before was the first time Hailey hadn't woken up drenched in sweat, screaming, and it felt wonderful. The therapist had told her it would take time, but soon the nightmares of that terrifying night would begin to disappear. She couldn't wait to meet with her therapist and let her know that she'd slept through the night unscathed.