In a sense, she’s my child, and because I have seen that Danny favors her over the other girls on the team, I can’t postpone killing him. I suspect he will attack her immediately after the school year ends. And he’s no fool. He knows he can’t simply wear a mask like he has done with some of his other victims, and let her live. She’s spent too many hours training beside him. She knows his body too well. He won’t just rape her.
Danny is struck by my resemblance to Teri Raine. At the mention of her name, he gushes, “You look like her sister!”
I stand. “Did she ever tell you she had a sister?”
“No.”
“Then I must be someone new.”
“I haven’t seen you around. Do you go to school here?”
“I’m taking a few classes. People tell me you’re about to graduate.”
He grins. “You’ve been asking about me. Not fair, I don’t even know your name.”
I smile. “Alisa.”
He comes up the steps and offers his hand. “Daniel Boford.”
“Pleased to meet you, Danny Boy.”
He’s suddenly in heaven. His pupils go wide; any larger and they’d blot out the whites. He breathes rapidly, his neck muscles tense, and his palms, why, they squeeze the air in front of him. His boldness impresses me. He’s just raped a girl and now he wants me so bad he’s willing to risk being bad all over again. It must be my resemblance to Teri.
“You’re a sly one. What else have you heard about me?” he asks.
“Oh, that you’re a ladies’ man.”
“Not so. Who told you that?”
“No one.”
“Seriously, I want to know.”
“You know us girls, we stick together. I can’t reveal my sources.”
He crosses his biceps across his chest and thrusts his hip forward. He’s powerfully built, his brown hair long for a jock. Sweat seeps through his gray T-shirt, and although he has washed since his last victim, I smell her perfume on him. Ecstasy. Is that what he promised his victim, before he hurt her? Michelle Cornwick is still in the hospital, her mental wounds deeper, no doubt, than her physical ones.
Danny takes a step closer. He’s too close; most people would feel he had entered their space. “I want to know who said that,” he insists.
I shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”
“But it does, Alisa. Lies like that, they spread.”
I stop and stare at him. “Michelle Cornwick.”
He stops. “How is Michelle doing?”
“As far as I know, she’s fine. Why do you ask?”
“She was raped. You must have heard. The talk is all over campus.”
“Like I said, I’m a part-time student, I’m not here much. But God, that’s terrible about Michelle. Do the cops have any leads on who did it?”
He shakes his head. “None.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I know the local cops. During the fall, they come to all the football games. You must have heard I’m something of a celebrity.”
“Bragging, Mr. Daniel Boford?”
“What can I say? I know I’m good.” He moves closer still, to where I can feel his breath on my face. He wants to grab me, to take me now, but a part of him senses something’s wrong. I don’t back away from him. I don’t flinch from his gaze. I don’t do anything his previous victims probably did. That both excites and confuses him. He stares me in the eye. “Is your name really Alisa?” he asks, his tone changing.
“Yes.”
“You’re serious?”
“Don’t I look serious?”
“I’m not sure.” He glances around to make sure we’re still alone. “There’s something about you I don’t get.” He pauses. “Are you a cop?”
“I thought you knew all the local cops.”
“Answer my question.”
“No, Daniel Boford. I’m not a cop.” I slowly smile. “Just a fan.”
“Then you must have seen some of my races.”
“I’ve seen a lot of them.” I actually came to the track meets to watch Teri run, but I don’t tell him that. “I saw you win that amazing double in the Lynwood Invitation.”
“You mean, when I ran the hundred and the two hundred?”
“Gimme a break! You ran the two hundred and the four hundred meters. You won both races. And you anchored the four-by-four-hundred-meter relay.” I pause. “Trying to test me?”
“Maybe.”
“How am I doing so far?”
“Pretty good. You want to go for coffee?”
“Right now? Is there a place open?”
“Sure. I know a place.”
“Don’t you have to finish working out?”
“I’m done.” He touches my arm. “Don’t you want to talk some more?”
“Sure. But—”
“But what?” he asks quickly, and in an instant I realize his antennae are still up. I have underestimated him, not that it will affect the final outcome.
“All right. I’ll have coffee with you. Where do you want to go?”
He squeezes my arm. “Where do you want to go?”
“Like I told you, I’m sort of new to this—”
“Are you sure you’re not a cop?” he interrupts.
I stop, act worried. “You just asked me that.”
“Yes, but since you lied the first time, I thought I’d ask again.”
I casually shake off his hand and pull a badge from my back pocket. “No, not a cop.” I open the badge. “FBI.”
The ID is real—I paid someone high in the bureau to make it for me. I enjoy such toys, they come in handy. However, it doesn’t impress Danny. He studies it but acts unconcerned. I don’t know what to think. He’s either very cool or very stupid.
“Why is the FBI interested in me?” he asks.
“Michelle Cornwick.”
Finally, I get a reaction out of him.
“That’s bullshit! She told everyone that the guy who raped her had on a ski mask. I talked to her parents.”
“How nice. You’ve met Mom and Dad.”
“Quit screwing with me, lady.” He looks me up and down, no doubt searching for a gun. But he doesn’t see one, because my snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolver is under my shirt, near my lower spine. I have a blade, too, in my right boot. He adds, “The guy who raped her wore a condom.”