I liked the people. I make friends easily, so the moving part wasnt a problem. And who wouldnt love New York, London and Paris? From an adjacent booth she heard Mandy laugh as she served her customers, and once again, the image of eight murdered women flitted into Sashas minds eye. Vexed by her lack of mental control, she released a breath. Do you have any idea why he killed her?
Nick had no trouble following her change of subject. All weve got so far is the obvious physical connection to his previous victims.
Sashas head spun. Facts and fears overlapped. Im sorry, did you say Kristiana Felgard was local?
Nicks expression gentled. She was a tourist, Sasha. April said she checked into the hotel late yesterday afternoon. She spoke limited English and was very polite.
Sasha rolled that over in her mind. Why do you think she came to Painters Bluff?
She could have been a heli-skier. Its a big sport here. She had a helmet and goggles in her suitcase. Theres also the ice sculpture festival that takes place at the end of January. Participants are beginning to arrive for that.
So you think what? That the killer followed her to Painters Bluff?
Or knew her itinerary and arrived ahead of her.
Are you saying he stalks his victims?
Ive always thought so.
Lovely. Sasha sank back into her seat. That means he could know my schedule as well.
Its possible.
I wasnt serious, Nick. I thought you just said this guy wasnt necessarily after me.
Im not saying hes been stalking you specifically, Sasha, merely that you fit the profile. If he sees you, you could be at risk. The proverbial two birds with one stone.
Her laugh contained no humor. Two women with Swedish backgrounds travel to Painters Bluff at the same time. Your nut gets an unexpected twofer, and you get a golden opportunity to catch him. She watched his eyes. What arent you telling me, Detective?
He regarded her for a long moment. Kristiana didnt have a reservation.
Well, thats Hmm.
Yeah, very hmm.
Mandy wobbled past in her cowboy boots. She had four steak dinners precariously balanced on her arms.
Before she could evade him, Nick recaptured Sashas hand. Are you hungry?
For him, she thought suddenly, as electric shivers raced up her arm. I am, actually. I missed lunch.
Then well order. While we eat, you can tell me about your life in Denver and why a beautiful woman like you would prefer to design buildings over clothes.
Feeling suddenly reckless, Sasha leaned closer to him on the leather seat. Its a deal. And afterward, you can tell me why a gorgeous cop like you chose to devote himself to solving cold cases. Giving in to desire, she brushed her lips temptingly over his. You can also tell me what kind of a snowballs chance in hell you think you have of talking me into leaving Painters Bluff.
SCUSE ME, maam.
A man bumped Sashas elbow as he passed her in the second floor corridor. She recognized the stained cowboy hat and charcoal-gray parka, but beyond that didnt take much notice of him.
She couldnt believe it was only ten oclock. So much had happened since shed arrived in town, it felt like 3:00 a.m.
Nick Law, a cop who specialized in cold cases, believed that a serial killer was going to target her as his next victim. Hows and whys aside, the fact remained that someone had killed a woman last night. A woman with features similar to her own. A woman, like her, of Swedish descent. Hed left her naked in the snow, inside a snow angel. Hed strangled her. Had he also raped her? Nick hadnt mentioned that, and Sasha hadnt asked. She really didnt want to picture it.
So far, the local newspaper was reporting a death with no reference to a serial killer. Thered been no snow globe left at the scene, or if there had been someone had removed it.
Why?
Nick hadnt been able to answer that question. The sheriff hadnt showed, and Dana had gone home after his wife paged him. Hed murmured something about in-laws wanting him to put his computer skills back to work and join them in Silicon Valley.
Alone with Nick after that, Sasha had kissed him.
Why had she done that? She wasnt Barbaraplease, God, not even close. And while Sasha did flirt with men sometimes, she seldom went so far as to touch them. Shed meant to tease Nick, she knew that. What she hadnt intended to do was enjoy herself.
Nick had given her very little by way of a reaction. Whether hed liked the kiss or not, she couldnt tell, though he had stared at her for some time afterward.
A reluctant smile quirked Sashas lips. Perversity, it seemed, ran rampant in her family.
She heard footsteps to her left, followed by a womans voice.
Evening, Mr. Rush. April, the redhead from the front desk, flashed a high-voltage smile at the man in the stained hat as he stood outside room 23. Truck still not fixed?
The man fumbled with his key. Maybe tomorrow. He jammed it hard into the lock, glanced in Sashas direction and nodded. Night, ladies.
April patted her heart. Her voice dropped as she approached. Hes so Gary Cooper.
Sasha had to force her own key into the very old lock. All I saw was a hat, facial stubble and a sheepskin collar.
April paused for a chat. This is his third night here. Not on purpose, mind you. His truck crapped out on him two miles south of town. How are you for towels?
Im good. Listen, if Max Macallums looking for me, tell him Ill talk to him tomorrow, okay?
Got it. When the door to room 23 gave a faint creak, April hitched up her breasts and offered a sugary, Sleep well, Mr. Rush. To Sasha, she whispered, Think Ill rent HighNoon tonight.
Right now I couldnt stay awake through the opening credits.
Have you seen it?
Once, when I was five.
April gestured at Sashas hair. You should watch it again. Youre totally Kellyesque.
Sorry?
Rent the movie. Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly. Youll get it. Youre beautiful in a Princess of Monaco way. Not the type we usually see here in Painters Bluff.
I heard Skye Painter was a bombshell in her time.
So they say. At this point, shes more of a character. April patted Sashas arm. You look done in, hon. Get some shut-eye. Tomorrow should be a decent day, although forecasters are talking blizzard by nightfall. Sleep well.
Ill do my best.
As she started across the threshold, Sasha thought she heard a sound like a raspy breath. When the door to room 23 clicked shut, the sound stopped.
Weird, she murmured. And made a point of bolting her own door behind her.
HE LOCKED himself in, hid away. No prying eyes could find him here. Trembling all over, he pressed his forehead against the door.
He couldnt deny it anymore. The monster that had lived inside him for so many years was back. It had grown into a vicious, spiky-tailed demon. Sometimes it vanished like smoke. Other times it snarled and scratched and whipped its tail around until he had to let it out.
It crawled to the surface, so close he could feel its heart beating against his ribs, feel its hot, greedy breath on his skin. He pictured her face, heard her voice. Tossing his head back, he breathed out the hatred through his nostrils.
Hed killed her many times already, but somehow she always came back. He needed to kill her again, do it properly this time. Then, finally, his pain might end.
He visualized the beautiful blonde, imagined her preparing to climb into her soft hotel bed. Removing her clothing, piece by piece. Removing her false halo and wings, perhaps for the last time.
He raised his forehead from the door. And heard the monster chuckle.
Chapter Three
So whats the story, Nick? Gotta be something more than pictures of cold female bodies bouncing around in that head of yours. You gonna share, or just sit there staring at a corpse all night?
Sheriff Will Pyle was growing impatient. Nick saw it on his face, heard it in his voice. Pyle got annoyed when people died in his town. So far in his four-year term of office, only twelve had. Two of them had been heli-ski accidents, eight had gone from old age or disease, one man had committed suicide. Kristiana Felgard was a blot on Pyles record and he didnt like it, not one bit.
Surprisingly, though, he didnt seem to resent Nicks being there, or the fact that Dana had placed the call to Denver without consulting him.
Pyle was a big-boned, beefy man of sixty-two. Hed been a state cop in Illinois for over thirty years before coming to Painters Bluff in search of a quiet life. Until last night, hed had it. Though he and Nick had crossed paths on several occasions during Pyles term, this was the first time in an official capacity.
Straddling an outdated swivel chair, Nick rearranged the photos on the sheriffs desk. You took a lot of shots, Will.
The sheriff removed his gun and holster. Old habits, Nicky. We cover our butts. Got a mix of digital, Polaroid and good old Kodak film. Even took videos under floodlights. We did our best to preserve the site, but January being what it is and us not really equipped for such an undertaking, theres not a whole lot left up there. He stretched his back, raising his arms overhead. You want coffee?
Black, two sugars.
Two? Pyle snorted. You lose your toughness in the city?
I used to take four.
Sissified city cop. Pyle hunted through a cupboard for the sugar. Can you even ride a horse?
Bareback through the snow to school, just like my daddy and his daddy before him.
Another snort, this time of laughter. But Pyle sobered as he poured the coffee. What do you make of this unholy mess?
Nick picked up a graphic shot. Nothing good so far. I see blood on the snow here. Besides the strangulation bruising on the victims neck and the rope burns on her wrists and ankles, she was unmarked.
Noticed that.
Nick counted the spots of blood. There were four in the snow and another on a jutting rock near the victims left shoulder. Talk to me about the blood.
We collected samples and sent them to the county lab for analysis. Should have the report in a day or two. Be great if it matched up with the DNA samples you got from the guy who attacked that woman in Aspen. Pyle searched for stir sticks in his desk drawer. How long you been working this case, Nick?
Nine months.
On one cold case. Dont you find that kind of police work frustrating?
Yeah, its frustrating, but someone has to make sure the victims and their families dont slip through the cracks. They deserve justice, Will, to say nothing of the perps who deserve to be locked up.
Point taken, but a job like yoursd drive me to drink. Strand of hair hereno match. Drop of blood thereuseless DNA. No witnesses, no way to place a suspect at the scene. You must have an endless supply of patience to go over a file from a thousand different angles.
Think of me as a dog looking for a bone to chew on. Hell sink his teeth into the smallest one and stick until something juicer comes along.
Pyle chuckled. Dana says you couldve been a cowboy. You have a ranch waiting for you when your daddy retires. Instead youre riding herd on a bunch of dusty corpses. Im sure the families are grateful, Nicky, but in your boots Id have taken the cattle, hands down.
Give me ten more years and I might agree with you.
Pyle handed him a chipped mug. Here you go, sweetheart, two sugars. Now lets take a break, and you can fill me in on this architect my deputys been babbling about all night. He spotted her checking into Skyes hotel. She as DDG as he claims?
Drop-dead gorgeous? Nick caught his bottom lip briefly between his teeth. He could still feel the way shed nipped him earlier. Yeah, you could say that. Shes definitely a beautylong legs, long blond hair, blue eyes
Blue like the lake up at Painters Lodge, swears my deputy. Or the ocean around a tropical island.
Your deputy watches too many travel shows.
Nah, his mom writes poetry. When he acted up as a kid, shed sit him in a corner with a book and make him read.
Nick used his laptop to enlarge a section of the imprint near the victims head. He set something down here, Will. From the impression and the displaced snow around it, Id say it was knocked over.
Snow globe, you figure?
Thatd be my guess. Nick glanced up. Do the Sickerbie boys spend much time at Painters Rock?
No reason for them to in the winter. Besides, theyd have screamed like girls if theyd seen a dead body. Theyll swipe their moms bank card and do it up at McDonalds, but theyd have reported this, Nick, not left her there for Hank Milligan to find. Poor old guy nearly had a coronary, and he doesnt carry a cell phone. He had to hike all the way back to town to report it.
Nick highlighted the patches of blood only a few inches from the imprint. He suspected the drop on the rock might be the key. Did Milligan disturb the site?
Hank might be old but his eyesights better than mine. Knew what he was looking at twenty feet away. Didnt have to get close to know she was dead.
Whats the ETD?
Anywhere from 11:00 to 3:00. Sorry, Nick, thats as good as our doc could do. The country medical examiner might be able to shave a few hours off either way. Slurping coffee, Will picked up a clipboard. Were running the out-of-towners now. So far, theyre clean.
He wont be into other crimes. Well have to link him either to the victim or to the scene in another way. When did Kristiana Felgard arrive in the States?
Seven days ago. Her passport says she flew into JFK. Weve asked the New York police to look for relatives, but thatll take time.
Nick brought up a map of Sweden. She came from Hallstavik. Thats near Stockholm. Where Sasha had lived for a year with her grandmother. Where did she go after New York?
Youll have to give us a bit of time. Were checking out the airlines, railroads and bus companies.
How did she get to Painters Bluff?
Rental car from Denver.
Backtrack from Denver. Find out how long she was there. Contact her next of kin in Sweden.
Yes, sir, Pyle mocked, and Nicks lips moved into a smile. The sheriff slurped more coffee. You staying with Dana?
Nick switched to an old file. Ive been invited. Ill see. Fawns parents are in town. They already have a full house. Sitting back, he regarded the screen. If this guy sees Sasha, were screwed.