Page 133 of Stalker

Excitement tore through her eyes. “That means you trust me.”

“With all I am and all I have. But…” I placed the tip of my index finger against her pert little nose. “No heroics. You will be completely disguised. No talking, at least at first. I’ll tell you what to say. Do you understand?”

“You’re trying to trap him. By doing so, you could harm yourself. You could be arrested.”

“By whom? You wanted to help, Lady Butterfly. There is only one way I will allow you to do that.”

She turned her head. “You’re using me as bait.”

“In a way, but not like what you’d expect. But again, you’ll need to trust me.” I had no intention of placing her in harm’s way.

“Yes, but we’ll still need to learn everything we can about the man and who he’s working with.”

I cocked my head. Why did I have a feeling she was up to something? “We’ll find out and take care of it, Cassandra.”

“You need to stop being judge and jury.”

“Our game.”

“Damn it! Don’t do that. You have lives of your own to live. Allow the system to take care of this.”

“Like it did before?” I demanded.

She sucked in and held her breath briefly. “Fair enough.”

“You can help by lending me your voice and any ideas you have about those our father might be working with.”

“Did the person who supplied you with the information also list any connections between the women? Did your father have anyone on the outside willing to help him? Even a single suspicion night eventually break this situation wide open.”

“My acquaintance was just a cop on the beat at that point. However, from what little he was able to relay, it would appear my father’s criminal records have mostly been sealed.”

“Isn’t that interesting. Just like your foster records.”

She was suggesting a very plausible dirty little cover-up. I took a deep breath. “Yes, very much so. The warden wasn’t very helpful either. I honestly don’t know why he returned my call.”

“Maybe because he’s aware you and your brothers are the only ones who can lead police to your father’s whereabouts. Perhaps he believes you’ll become actual heroes and he’ll keep his job.” She frowned.

“How ironic.”

“How appropriate, Wilder. When did he escape?”

“A couple months ago. Why?”

“Then why does that man have a job?” She whispered the question, rubbing her finger back and forth across her bottom lip. “However you plan on handling this, nothing changes the fact we need to learn everything we can about him. If I can make a few phone calls, my guess is I can push enough buttons to get to whatever connection there was with the women from your father’s case.”

“Or you could ruffle feathers.”

Sighing, she looked away briefly. “True. We need to be very careful with this. While monsters believe they are more intelligent than those attempting to stop them, those with a special ability always have an escape route planned. That way they can continue stalking, maiming, or killing their victims even if doing so in a different city or state.”

“I assure you my father was and is a cunning man. At this point, phone calls will do nothing more than sound off an alarm. I can’t risk that.”

“Not with your vigilante justice being served up like caviar.”

“Do you really see any other way?”

Her expression reflected tension. “No, but that doesn’t mean I like it. How do you plan on luring the monster out in the open? By using my voice?”

“He already expressed his eagerness the moment he broke his own rules and contacted you. You’ll be at a safe distance.”

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