Katie answered with a scholarly tone, "I believe it is the quantity of sex, not the number of women you sleep with that makes you a lesbian."

"Do you think we qualify?" Rainey asked, playfully.

Katie continued, in her laboratory voice, "I think you should have a few more goes at it, collect more data, before I make that qualification."

"I'll take your recommendation seriously and I hope very soon," Rainey said.

"Oh God, I know. Isn't it driving you crazy? I guess not, you've been passed out, but I've had to walk around all day with my crotch on fire," Katie said.

Rainey laughed loudly at Katie's predicament. Katie had a tendency to ask a question and then answer it, herself. It was cute the way she talked fast, her accent dripping with just enough Southern sugar to keep you mesmerized, or at least it had that effect on Rainy. Her own body started reminding her again that it wanted Katie in the worst way.

The dichotomy of Rainey's position was astonishing. Here she was experiencing falling in love with the woman of her dreams, at least the ones she had lately, and on the other hand, using herself as bait for a serial killer. Rainey was sure that she would just split into two people, at some point, if this situation did not work itself out quickly.

They talked for a few more minutes. Rainey made sure Katie was following the rules about being alone. Katie promised to call, after the program and then she was gone. Rainey showered and changed into fresh BDUs and a tee shirt. This one said FBI on the back in bright yellow letters. With the shoulder holster in place, she opened the door on another evening of surveillance.

Mackie was up making breakfast, the day having been turned upside down for them. The tactical team took care of themselves, but did not turn down the offer of a hot biscuit. Rainey ate the eggs and bacon ravenously. She jellied two biscuits and gobbled them as well. She drank two glasses of orange juice and a bottle of water. She could not seem to get enough to quench her dehydration. Coffee came next, creamy and sweet, just as she liked it.

It had been a beautiful day in the Triangle, the agents reported to Rainey. An older lady identifying herself as Ernestine Womble, and her two sons, had come by earlier. She left when the agents told her that Rainey and Mackie were asleep. She left some fresh vegetables and the agents had put them in the refrigerator. Oh no, Rainey had forgotten to call Ernie. She was pleased to find out Mackie had, but she still needed to let her know she was all right.

Ernie worried about Rainey, as if she was her own child. She had come to stay with Rainey in Virginia, that first week home from the hospital. Mackie had wanted to stay, but Rainey did not want another man around, she already had Danny sleeping on her couch. She needed a mother and her own was the last person she wanted, in her cramped apartment. She wished for a "mom" and Ernie came to her rescue. Rainey had always treasured her relationship with Ernie, but after that week, Rainey cherished her even more.

She went out on the front deck, just to get some air. There were too many people in the cottage, which was locked up tight, no movement in and out for hours, and all those people breathing the same air. The air conditioning helped, but only so much air moved about, and the smell of men penetrated every molecule of oxygen, in Rainey's opinion. She had to get out of there and the deck was her only source of freedom.

Rainey dialed Ernie's number. She picked up on the second ring, "So you finally remembered my number?" Ernie said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Ernie. It's been a circus. Mackie told me he talked to you," Rainey offered in apology. It did not work.

"Yes, at least he had the courtesy to call," Ernie shot back.

Rainey tried again, "I'll make it up to you. We'll do a spa day, just me and you."

Ernie started coming around. She loved spa days. "Okay, but you have to report once a day, preferably before you go to sleep in the morning, so people don't think you're dead, and drive all the way over there, thinking they're going to find God knows what."

Rainey's tone was repentant, "I really am sorry, Ernie, and I promise to call every day, at least once."

The older woman finally let it drop and they went on to other things. Rainey thanked Ernie for the vegetables and asked if she could pick up a few things at the store, and then bring them by tomorrow. She had not been shopping lately, and needed most of the staples and something to go with the vegetables, with which Ernie kept her supplied. She had to feed Mackie and that took some doing, not to mention all the other hungry men wandering around. Rainey knew what it was like on stakeouts. Everybody ate from boredom. Thank goodness, she had a deep freeze. Ernie was happy to do it. It made her feel involved in the investigation.

"Alright, I'll come by about this time tomorrow," Ernie said. "I'll bring you some watermelons, too. Henry's best ones just got ripe."

"Thank you, Ernie. I love you. Be careful," Rainey said.

"I'll cut his pecker off, if he comes near me," Ernie said, in one of the rare moments when she said anything remotely off color.

"I'll bet you would," Rainey said, laughing.

Rainey hung up with Ernie and told Mackie about the watermelons she was bringing. Henry Womble grew fantastic melons. They were so sweet, Rainey could eat half of one all by herself, and these were big watermelons. Henry called them African watermelons. He said he got the seeds off a man in Wilson County, and that is what he had called them. They were gigantic round watermelons, dark and light green stripes encircling the rind and were legendary in these parts. Mackie was as excited as Rainey. It was good that they had something fun to anticipate, surrounded by the FBI's tactical team and a maniac out there somewhere, with Rainey his only obsession.

At six o'clock her cell phone rang, it was Katie again.

"I only have a second, but I just wanted to call to tell you I was thinking of you," she said.

"I was thinking of you, too," Rainey said, stepping out on the deck for some privacy.

"I'm almost at the school, so I don't have much time," Katie said, quickly.

"Where are the agents, the ones watching you?' Rainey asked, concerned.

"They're right behind JW."

"Where is JW?"

Katie's tone reflected how she felt about the following statement, "JW is tagging along behind me, in his car. He decided it was too good a chance to slap backs and shake hands to miss."

Rainey saw the politician character, JW, in her mind and knew he could not resist showing up at a public place. Free votes had to be collected where they could be found. The high level of income that the majority of the students' parents enjoyed was probably a major enticement, as well. There could be donations out there for the picking. Katie was not happy about it that was for sure.

Katie's voice broke Rainey's train of thought, "I just wanted to ask if I could call again, at eight thirty? That's not too late is it? I think that's still early enough that you could afford to focus on me for a few minutes."

"Yes, that would be nice. I'd love to focus on you for a few minutes," Rainey said, smiling inside and out.

"Okay, I have to go now. Talk to you soon," Katie said, and then she was gone.

She did not say, "I love you," Rainey thought and then dismissed it, as something typical of a teenage reaction to a supposed slight. Rainey was turning into a little girl, tender to the touch, overwhelmed with the mere thought of Katie. This was a heavy-duty crush. Rainey knew why it was called a crush, because it crushed your brain and made you stupid.

Rainey convinced Mackie to go down and get some files out of the office, so she would have something to do. When he got back, Rainey began the same routine as last night. Watching the sun go down and then alternately reading, eating, or anxiously pacing the floor from room to room. Mackie did some phone tracking of skips, and was able to convince two of the ones he located, to come in voluntarily. Mackie sweet talked a girlfriend into giving up the whereabouts of her worthless banger boyfriend and sent Junior to pick him up with the boys. Rainey anticipated Katie's call, at eight thirty. It was all she had to look forward to, while waiting for the maniac to make his move.

Rainey expected him to come soon. Today or tomorrow, he could not wait much longer. The bizarre flight of fancy, he was living, would not allow him to ignore this chance of fate, Rainey stumbling across him and him her, outside of Katie's house. He had to have Rainey to relive the thrill of out-smarting the FBI. He would be getting sicker with his psychosis; it would be in control of him by now, constantly driving him, nagging him, pushing him toward his goal, the capture and murder of one Rainey Blue Bell. He considered her death critical to completion of his sexual fantasies. He was a need-based killer. He would not stop, until he was caught or dead. Rainey was hoping for the latter.

Eight thirty came and went with no phone call. The anticipation was beginning to turn to anxiety as the minutes clicked by. Rainey paced her bedroom floor, until her cell rang. It was only eight forty-five, just fifteen minutes late, but it felt like hours to Rainey. She yanked the phone open and shoved it to her ear.

"I was getting worried," she said into the handset.

A familiar voice, but not the one she was expecting, was on the other end of the connection.

Danny said, "Were you expecting a call?"

"As a matter of fact, I was," Rainey said, wanting him off the phone, so Katie could call. She forgot all about call waiting. Her failing reasoning was a symptom of her crush.

Danny hesitated, and then said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What, DC pulling the plug on the operation, too much money being spent?"

"Katie Wilson is missing," Danny said, but the words did not sink in for Rainey.

"What did you say?" she asked "Katie Wilson went missing from backstage an hour ago. I just now had a chance to call you. I've been dealing with her shithole, 'I am somebody' husband and a bunch of locals trying to get the area locked down. I wanted to call and let you know. I guess we were wrong."

Rainey only heard the first sentence and then her knees buckled to the floor. All she could hear was the roar of her blood rushing to her heart. She froze in place, unable to move, to think, to react.

"Rainey... Rainey... Did you hear what I said?" Danny was talking in her ear. "Rainey! Answer me!"

She found her voice, only it was weak and shattered, "We have to... We have to find her."

Danny spoke rapidly, "You stay put, Rainey. That's why I called, so you wouldn't hear it from one of the guys at your house, and run out of there to look for her. We got it covered. We'll find her. He did not get out of this neighborhood, no way. We locked it down seconds after she vanished. Hang on a sec."

He pulled the phone away from his head to speak to someone else. Then he was back with her, talking fast again, "Hey look, I gotta go deal with Mr. Wilson. It seems he's going out on his own to search for his wife. Probably get shot. Serve him right. He's a real piece of work. Stay put, Rainey. I'll call you when I know something."

He hung up. Rainey continued holding the phone to her ear. She did not move for a while, she could not. All the blood had rushed to her heart and stayed there, not letting her brain or limbs share. When the feeling started coming back in her arms and legs, she dropped the phone on the floor. Her arms hung limp by her sides, as she tried to stand up. Then a wail started in her gut and fought its way out of her throat. A guttural, primal sound of grief crawled from her body. It was so distressing that Mackie burst through the door, seconds later.

Mackie rushed to her side and lifted her from the floor, as if she were a feather. He placed her on the end of the bed and made her put her head between her legs. He brought a cold, wet rag from the bathroom and held it on her head. She was racked with silent sobs and rocked back and forth on the bed. He waited a few minutes for her breathing to become more regular.

He did not speak until he was sure she could understand him, "Rainey, the guys out there told me what happened to Katie. You have to get it together. Don't let it take you down."

Rainey could hear him now. His voice rumbled through her brain. She took the cloth from his hand and began wiping her face, the worm had turned and the rage began to boil from the depth of her being. Mackie must have seen the tension building in her muscles.

"Rainey, we're not going to do anything stupid, because if you go, I'm going and I ain't letting you go off half cocked."

Rainey did not answer. She had her breakdown and cry and it was over, for now. All she could think about was finding Katie. Rainey stood up and went to the closet. She found the extra holster that attached to the shoulder harness she wore. She added it and the Beretta, from the car, to the harness. She checked that her flashlight worked and added extra batteries to a side pocket on her pants. She grabbed the ballistics vest she kept in the closet. She took down the dark blue wind breaker, emblazoned with FBI in large block, yellow letters on the back, from the coat rack on her bedroom door, where it had been hanging untouched for a year. Rainey put on the vest, tightening the Velcro straps, adjusted her holster harness over it, and then slid the thin blue jacket on, feeling its coolness brush against her arms. She found her other nine millimeter in the bedside table and dropped it into the waistband at the back of her pants.

Mackie watched, silently, the guardian at the door. Rainey was aware of his presence, but said nothing. She knew she could not leave here without him. He would not let her. Rainey went to the dresser, stopping to pick up her cell phone from the floor, and retrieving her old FBI cap, from where it hung over the mirror. She pulled her ponytail through the hole in the back, sliding the cap on her head.

Rainey looked at her reflection in the dresser mirror. Hers eyes shown back at her full of hatred and rage, and yes, guilt. She saw it there for an instant, but had to shut it out. Rainey could not let herself be consumed by the guilt she felt. She had left Katie alone, so sure that Katie was not his real target. Rainey let the rage focus her on the one thing she had to do, the only thing she could do, find Katie.

Special Agent Rainey Bell turned to the big man, waiting by the door, "Let's go."

Mackie stepped in front of her. He said, "Has it crossed your mind that he could be luring you out, where he can get to you?"

Rainey picked up the shotgun, leaning against the wall, by the door. She looked up at Mackie, her jaw set and focused, "I hope so."

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

The agents in the outer rooms of the cottage were involved in a blur of activity. All movement ceased when Rainey and Mackie stepped out of her bedroom. All eyes on Rainey, as she made her way toward the front door, Mackie right on her heels. No one tried to stop her. She was armed and being followed by a former NFL defensive end. Nobody wanted to tell her she could not go. They would all be doing the same thing, in the same situation. But they didn't know the whole story. What the agents in the cottage did not know was that Rainey was not going after the killer, because of what he had done to her, not entirely. Rainey had to find Katie, before he had the chance to do more to her than he probably already had.

Rainey had to think like a trained analyst now, not emotionally attached to the facts she had at hand. Separating her fears and anxiety, over what the sadist was doing to Katie, she tried to think like him. Where would he go? He would need isolation to do what he did. He would have found a house where the neighbors were not too close or friendly. It would have a garage he could pull into, so no one could see the occupant of the house coming and going. He had stalked and kidnapped Katie in Chapel Hill. Rainey figured it had gotten too hot for the psycho in Raleigh, after the attack on her last year. He was probably living in Chapel Hill now. His torture chamber would be located nearby. He would have to visit it, prepare for his victims, and revel in his memories. The Y-Man may have continued killing all along, learning from his mistakes and concealing the bodies from discovery. The only thing she could not wrap her mind around, was why he had deviated from his usual behavior, why had he begun to stalk Katie?

Rainey could not answer that question. She only knew she was leaving the cottage to find the house, where the kidnapper had taken Katie. Her mind raced through the neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs of Chapel Hill. Finding his lair was all Rainey could let herself think about. There was so much new building since she had lived here, the old wooded areas were now speckled with houses. She needed her laptop and picked it up from the coffee table, as she went by. If Rainey looked at Google Earth images of the town, she had a better chance of finding a secluded area, with widely spaced houses, near Katie's school. If Danny was right, and the kidnapper had not escaped the area, the piece of shit had to be nearby, holed up in a residence.

Just as Rainey's hand hit the handle of the front door, after shutting off the alarm, one of the agents said, "Who are we supposed to watch, if you're not here?"

"I think your services would best be used searching for this fucker, but that's just me. You should ask your supervisor."

The agent who had asked the question immediately pulled out his cell phone and frantically punched in a number. Rainey did not wait to find out what the supervisor said. She and Mackie went out the door, leaving the confused agents to work it out on their own. When she reached the car, she heard footsteps and turned to see two agents running down the stairs. The agent, who had been making the phone call, stood at the top of the stairs, with the phone pressed to his ear. A big black SUV was coming down the road, from where an agent had been stationed, out of sight. The guy with the phone yelled, "Stay with her!" at the agents, now standing in the yard waiting for a ride.

Rainey said, under her breath, "Good luck."

She and Mackie climbed into her car. Rainey put the shotgun on the floor of the back seat and positioned the laptop in its holder. She fired up the engine on the Charger, just as the other agents were climbing into the black SUV. They had no chance to catch her. The Charger had already started down the driveway, before the big SUV turned around. She left rubber on the road, where the driveway met the pavement, kicking up a cloud of smoke that trailed off behind her. The Charger vanished from sight, slipping into the shadows where the trees closed in over the road.

Rainey floored the car down US Highway 64 to the junction with Highway15, called Chapel Hill Road by the locals. Mackie got on the phone with a buddy in the highway patrol. By the time she turned onto Chapel Hill Road, Rainey had an escort cruiser speeding in front of her, lights flashing, leading the way. She headed the Charger north, counting off the time in her mind that the bastard had already been holding Katie.

Rainey knew the guy probably stunned and drugged Katie. At least she would not remember the first part of her captivity, Rainey thought. The Y-Man liked to take his time, which was helpful to the investigators searching for Katie, but the more time that ticked by brought Katie closer and closer to death.

Rainey's cell rang. She knew it had to be Danny, before she even answered it.

"Goddamnit, Rainey. I told you to say put," he shouted at her when she answered.

Rainey hit the button on the rear view mirror and hung up on him. He could shout at her to her face when she got there, but she was coming. Rainey was coming too fast to listen to Danny barking at her through the radio speakers.

She told Mackie to fire up her laptop and pull up the satellite image of the neighborhoods around Katie's school. While he did that, Rainey drove the car right on the cruisers tail, weaving through the early evening traffic. Darkness was enveloping the sky completely, as they flew by the downtown area of Chapel Hill, and out to the last place Katie Wilson had been seen alive.

Rainey's cell phone rang again and she almost did not answer it, but she had to, in case it was important. Maybe Danny had calmed down. She hit the button again on the rearview mirror and answered, "Don't yell at me, Danny."

The faked little boy voice that spoke next sent chills down her spine. Every hair on her body stood up and the color drained from her face. She looked quickly at the mirror, as if she could see him in it. What she saw was her own white pasty face and frightened eyes staring back at her.

"Hi Rainey, do you want to come out and play?" the excited little boy voice said.

Mackie's head snapped up from the laptop. He looked at Rainey, his eyes wide with the recognition of who the voice belonged to. He could tell from Rainey's reaction.

Rainey thought quickly. She needed to play his game. She said, "Yes, I want to play." Then pressing him "Is Katie there with you? Can she play with us?"

"Yep, she's here... but she's asleep now," the eerie voice answered.

Rainey's breath caught in her throat and then she asked, softly, "Can you wake her up?"

She heard him moving around. She listened to him trying to wake Katie, like a kid waking an older sibling, because mom is on the phone, "Hey, wake up! Wake up, Katie. Rainey wants to talk to you."

Then Rainey heard the sound for which she was praying. After a few moans of protest, Katie's heavily sedated voice, barely audible, whispered, "Rainey... help... me."

Rainey's heart leapt against the wall of her chest. She had to stay calm and though she wanted to scream it, Rainey said softly, "I'm coming Katie, hold on, I'm coming."

"She's gone back to sleep," the voice said, in singsong.

"What's wrong with her?" Rainey asked.

"I played with her and now she's tired." Rainey could almost see his preschool shrug when he answered.

Rainey needed to focus him on her, not Katie. She had to keep him talking. "You know my name, but I don't know yours. I have to know your name so we can play together," she said.

"It's... Johnny," he spit out reluctantly.

"Good, now I know what to call you, Johnny. So Johnny, how do we play the game?" Rainey asked. She repeated his name to pull him in closer to their conversation and distract him from Katie.

"First, we have to have some rules to play the game," it was him again, talking like a six year old organizing a group of kids in the backyard. "Rainy, you have to come by yourself. If one other person tries to play our game, then Katie loses, and you know what that means." He added quickly, "That big guy is with you, I know it. You have to drop him off, before you get here. He scares me."