Carolina Rain (15 page)

What a crock of shit. Throw lust onto that list
,
and you have the human race completely covered.
People were self-serving morons and didn’t deserve a damned thing. You had to go get it
. . .
and at any price.

“I-I was wrong. It wasn’t like me. The pressure. The hours. The ungodly murders we saw. It just all built up. I guess I wanted a way out of that
world
.”

Her
wide,
unflinching eyes met his. He stayed the course. He knew she was probing, searching. His voice
had been
true, but that’s not what she was looking for. She wanted to dig deep into his heart, his soul
,
to see if
he
was indeed a changed man. That his behavior eighteen months ago was just a psychotic episode and not that he was psychotic, at least those were the words she used. She wanted to see true regret in his eyes and his body language. True horror at what he’d been a part of.

Stroking his chin, he stared at the grungy blue carpet on the floor of her tiny office
in
the south end of the wing. He let her have her moment. Let her ego run berserk. That was the best part of this chess match. She was so sure she could tell every single
thought
that
was truly going on in his mind just by some involuntary twitch or a quick cl
e
nch of his teeth
,
or how the level of his head fluctuated with a lie vers
u
s a truth. Stupid bitch. Did she think he worked
where he’d worked all of those
years and didn’t understand any of those things? He knew about micro expressions, voice fluctuations, and nervous habits. He’d managed to fool the best profilers in the world
with his act, including
the best he’d ever seen
. Did she think she
was
in
that
league?

Good God. Stupid bitch didn’t cover it.

Like most people, her ego was only good for making
her
world bearable, not others. Except in this case,
her ego
was going to make his
life
a whole lot better, and very soon.

She’d begun having his shackles removed
for their sessions
more than a month ago. She told the guards that it made for a more trusting environment and that
he’d
open up to her more. She was half right; she was getting close to a full dose of “opening up.”

“Do you think you needed a
way out?” she asked
, h
er voice as grating as ever.

“I don’t know
for sure
but
,
looking back,
I guess I did. I had those bill collectors calling at all
hours
of the day. I was working sixty to seventy
hours a week
and I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

“
No one to talk to
?
No one?
”

Her eyes were still searching him. He almost laughed. His dad used to say that if you screw with the bull, you get the horns. He was pretty sure she was clueless regarding that one.
No problem
. He was in a teaching mood.

“
How about
Alex Downs
?
”

Max
hesitated. He hadn’t really spoken that name
for almost two years
. Alex had been a friend
even though
he was in bed with the others so that made him no different. Still, they did understand each other, at least on a professional level.
Alex
had even come to visit twice, but
Max had
refused to see him
. The idiot actually thought he needed support. How touching
. Th
ose
misguided “feelings
”
would
n’t
save Alex’s ass when the time came.

“I think so. He’s a good man and a helluva CSI. But I was already in too deep and I wasn’t thinking straight. I’ve considered that I was worried about getting him involved, you know? He would have done the right thing and turned me in
,
and he would have been right.”

Emma Holton uncrossed her legs and bent forward. “You’re using terms like worried, right thing, and a good man.
Interesting.
Are you stroking me
?”

He
pushed his black
-
rim
glasses up his
thin
face and captured her eyes with his. This was where the rubber hit the road. Where his thespian ability
mated
with his hatred to turn in a performance for the ages.

“Look, Doctor Holton. I was wrong. I screwed up. I shouldn’t have gone down that road
,
and
I can’t change that. I did it to myself. I had a great thing going and it took landing in here to figure it out. I miss Alex and the rest of my friends. I miss my job, my sense of purpose. Hell, I even miss the long hours.
”

The tears welled up and
he
actually felt
some
emotion rifle
throughout
his body. “I’d
. . .
I’d give anything to take back what happened. Anything. I
. .
.”

He let his voice fade and stared at the floor. Waiting.

His wait was shorter than he expected.

“I still think you’re full of shit. I think you’ve learned how to play the game, albeit better than any patient I’ve had. I think your
diversion
-playing ability is off the charts. What do
you
have to say about that?”

Lifting his head, he gazed past the barred windows and watched the tower from hell mock him, blowing him a kiss and laughing like only true tormenters can. This wasn’t unexpected. He would have
said
the same.
T
hen again, she didn’t know what he knew
. S
he might have messed her pants if she had. Looking at the clock, he saw it hit
three
thirty
p.m. and could hardly contain himself.

“I understand
,
doctor. I’ve not been here all that long and, as I’ve learned, trust is the most precious of commodities, especially in this institution. But, then again, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Leaning even closer, the doctor searched his face intently. “What does that mean? That it doesn’t really matter?”

“Well, it means
. . .
let me show you.”

A split second later,
he
thrust the shank he’d made from a spare toothbrush deep into her throat, watching with a passing interest as the carotid spurted warm, rhythmic
,
crimson streams
.
He
pulled it out, then ran it into her chest. Doctor Emma Holton slump
ed back in her chair, eyes wide. He was sure she hadn’t understood what had happened before she died.

Forty seconds later, he had the barred pane open and the window
-
slide up. The alarm would’ve gone off, if it had been
en
able
d
. The guard in charge of such things had really needed the
five-thousand dollars
to save his home and, as he put it, what
’s one more crazy on the street?

Not hesitating, Max leapt from the second floor onto a low-hanging branch of a large silver maple, dropped down the last five feet, and sprinted to the backside of the shadowed building near the employee’s parking lot where a bag containing a guards uniform lay waiting for him.

Dressing quickly, he made his way to the lot, found th
e Ford pickup belonging to his new
“
friend
,”
and climbed inside.

It would
only
be another ten minutes
or so
before the
dumb-bitch
doc
tor
would be discovered so he had no
seconds
to spare. He reached under the seat, found the keys, and started the vehicle.

Rolling up to the gate, he pulled his hat down around his sunglasses and waved as he rolled onto Oakland Drive, made a left
. . .
and
for the first time since Manny Williams and Josh Corner had handcuffed him in Ireland, Max Tucker
was free.

Argyle had been right; people would buy anything if it was presented correctly.
The guard and that stupid ass doctor were no exceptions.
Max
’s
left foot began to tap uncontrollably. He could hardly contain himself with the knowledge of
his
ensuing
destination and
what was
just around the corner
.

CHAPTER-20

“I think you’re on the shit list now,” said Sophie
,
hitting the on ramp and pushing the black SUV east on 496 toward Detroit.

“I’d just like to have a day or two off that list,” rued Manny. “I’m either on the way to another crime scene, lying in a hospital
bed
recovering from a knife wound that should have killed me
, trying to figure out where I’ve met that woman who tried to kill me,
reading reports about sick murders with even sicker killers,
or
worrying about
all of it
. Maybe I’m getting too old for this
junk
.”

“Oh stop whining,” said Alex, holding up his gloved hand. “You could have had one of these as a reminder.”

Manny unbuttoned his shirt and turned to the back seat where Alex was sitting. “Yeah? How about this scar, Science Boy?”

“Okay. I’m fine with a little skin but if
you
guys start comparing weenies, I’m pulling over, taking pictures, posting them on Facebook, and asking my three thousand friends to vote on their favorite one,” said Sophie. “And it’s still Dough Boy until further notice.”

“Can she do that?” asked Manny.

“She can.
And will.
I defriended her after she showed her new boobs, in all of their glory,
via
a series of before and after photos,” answered Alex. “And you still have three thousand friends?”

“Yep. Everybody wants to be my friend.
But I bet you
loaded
the pictures to look at later, didn’t you?”

“What? Hell no. Why would I do that?”

“Because you’ve always had a thing for me
, Dough Boy
. Women know that stuff
.
”

“You are a sick wench and I
’ll
leave all of that Asian worship illness to Dean.”

“Illness my ass. The man has great taste in women,” said Sophie, snorting.

“Why does this always get back to
you or
your
anatomy
?”
asked Alex.

“Cause that’s what you men are always thinking about. Admit it.”

“I got your
admit it
right here,” said Alex.

Sophie glanced in the rearview mirror, shaking her head.

“I love Barb, but I still question your wife’s taste in men. Damn. They need to do classes on that stuff in high school.”

“Kiss my
—
”

“Whoa. Okay. I don’t even want to create that image in my brain
,” Manny interrupted quickly. “
Let’s talk about what’s going on in North Carolina
. . .
if you two can stand to actually go to work, that is
.”

Manny buttoned up his shirt as Alex began to lower his arm. Sophie stopped
Alex
.

“Wait, Dough Boy.
Leave the hand up. I’ve got a couple things to say. First thing is
,
if you ever want to talk about what happened
. . .
well, I’m a good listener.”

A quick silence invaded the SUV.
Manny found himself feeling proud of Sophie. She’d always be who she
is
, but he could tell she cared for her Dough Boy. No façade regarding that. F
acades seemed to be the way of the world these days
, however,
we are all what we are when we sit alone in the dark
,
he thought. A
nd he suspected Sophie was becoming more comfortable with the real her.