"So Rudy was innocent the whole time."

Josh laughed, tapping the bubbles from the syringe. "Rudy is incapable of the thought required to be a killer. Rudy is good for one thing only. Football. And thanks to you he doesn't even have that." He looked up, one brow cocked. "Thank you for that, by the way."

She'd actually opened her mouth to say "you're welcome," but said instead, "You hate Rudy."

"And you have a Ph.D.," Josh drawled. "Of course I hate Rudy. Everybody hates Rudy."

"Not true," Jenna corrected and saw his spine snap. "Everyone likes Rudy. Especially girls."

"Stupid whores. All of 'em," Josh muttered. "Shut up and let me work."

"Davies had a semen sample on the Seattle killer. If Davies thought Rudy was the killer, it must have been Rudy's. Now that took work-making it look like it was his when it was yours."

Josh looked across the barn with narrowed eyes. "If you want to know how I killed those girls and made it look like Rudy did it, just ask."

"So how did you, Joshua?" Jenna asked, making him scowl. He didn't like to be called Joshua. "How did Rudy's semen get in your murder victim?"

"The old-fashioned way," Josh snarled. "He fucked her."

"And you wanted to," Jenna guessed, "but she liked Rudy better."

"She was mine," he said coldly. "He stole her from me."

"So you killed her."

"Oh, yes."

"And the second? What about her? Was she Rudy's girl also?"

Josh stopped, then looked up with an easy smile that chilled her more than the snarl. He was back in control. "Not bad, Miss Marshall. Got me to say a little more than I'd planned. Well, I'll tell you how it was." He put down the tattoo needle and picked up one of the large knives. "I killed the first one and didn't really mean to. I wanted her and wanted her to want me, you know?"

Jenna swallowed and watched him walk around the table, deliberately, the knife clutched in his hand. So this would be it, she thought. Steven would find her stabbed, bald corpse, just like the others. But her feet were nearly free. A few more wiggles and she'd have worked a space big enough to slide her foot through. So she'd stall. For just a few more moments.

"But she didn't want you," she made herself answer. "She thought you weren't as good as Rudy. You weren't as handsome. Weren't as smart."

His step hitched and he stumbled, wincing, grabbing at his upper thigh. Jean-Luc had bitten him on the thigh. He resumed walking toward her, slowly but steadily. "I was smart," he snarled, "right up until those doctors doped me up so I couldn't think. I was smarter than all of them and they couldn't stand that. They drugged me, every damn day, until I didn't know who I was or what I was doing."

"Until your IQ was eighty-five and they put you in special classes," Jenna gibed. "That hurt."

"What will hurt is when I cut you, like I cut all the others." He grabbed her by the collar and pointed the knife at her throat. "I killed the first girl without meaning to. But you know what? I found out it was fun. It was damn exhilarating. It was pure pleasure."

"It was control," Jenna whispered, watching his eyes, inches from her own. They flickered. Then narrowed.

"It was control," he repeated. "Maybe you did deserve that Ph.D. after all," he mocked and pressed the knife closer. She wanted to swallow, but fought it. If she swallowed, the knife would cut deeper. "I missed out on killing you the first time, Miss Marshall. Now I have another chance and I intend to make the most of it."

This is it. He'll kill me. Then he'll kill Kelly. Her brain froze, then blessed anger surged, loosening her tongue. No. I'm not ready to die yet. "You won't, Joshua. You can't. I am your teacher. I am in charge here."

His eyes flickered wildly. "You are not in charge. You're tied up. I am in charge."

She didn't think then, just acted, planting both her feet against his gut and shoving.

Caught off guard he grunted and stumbled, giving her the precious seconds she needed to work her feet, loosening the knot the millimeter she needed. Then she slipped her foot free and kicked him with all her might.

Stunned, he staggered back and she kicked his thigh where he'd held it. Where her dog had bitten him in a frantic attempt to save her life. His cry of pain told her the kick had been well placed and she jumped from the table and ran. Ran toward the barn door, away from Kelly and prayed he'd follow her. She paused at the barn door, looked right, then left.

Then stopped as moonlight glinted off the shiny barrel of the gun pointed straight at her face.

Saturday, October 15, 2:15 A.M.

Steven stared at the small barn, seeing the muted light through the only window. She was in there. That's where the bastard held her. If she was still alive. Don't even think that.

He pulled his weapon from his shoulder holster. "I know you want him to stand trial in Seattle, Davies, and so do I, but if I have to kill him to get Jenna away, I will."

Davies drew his own weapon. "Understood." Then his eyes narrowed and he pointed to the far corner of the barn. "Thatcher, look. She did know where he was. That bitch."

Steven watched the slim shadow creeping toward the door, a grim satisfaction settling over him. "Harry said Nora asked the farmer to give Josh another chance. She must have known where this barn was all along." Then the satisfaction evaporated when a loud crash came from the barn.

The thin dark shadow ran for the barn door and too late Steven saw the glint of silver.

"Shit, she's got a gun." Steven held his radio to his lips, his feet already moving. "Lennie, keep everyone on standby. We're going in."

Then he cursed again when he looked to his side and saw Davies was no longer there.

Saturday, October 15, 2:20 A.M.

The gun was shiny, almost too perfect to be real. But it was very real. And pointed in her face.

"You've caused enough trouble for my son, Miss Marshall. It's time to go."

Jenna looked down the barrel of the gun to the face of the woman she'd last seen wearing a god-awful nightgown. "Mrs. Lutz."

''Mother" Josh said from behind her, angry.

Jenna heard hysterical laughter and vaguely realized it came from inside her own throat. "You're going to help him," she said, incredulous.

"I am his mother. That's what mothers do. Not being a mother, you wouldn't understand. Joshua, take the path to the car. We pulled off as the main road has been closed by the police."

Police, Jenna thought, her knees going weak with relief. Steven.

Mrs. Lutz was frowning at Josh, who hadn't moved. "Run along, son. I'll take care of her."

Jenna shook her head, hardly able to process what she'd heard. "You're going to kill me now?"

"Without fanfare. A simple bullet in the head and both my sons' problems will be solved."

Jenna looked into Nora Lutz's eyes, realizing she was seeing true insanity. "Like you solved all the problems in Seattle?"

Mrs. Lutz's lips bent in a tight smile. "My Rudy was innocent. Any jury would have said so."

"Any jury didn't have a chance. You paid someone to set Neil Davies up, didn't you?"

She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. "My Rudy was innocent."

"Because your Josh is guilty as hell," Jenna returned, enraged and helpless.

"My Joshua is a sick boy who will get help. You are a bothersome insect who will be a bother no longer. Into the barn, please."