Rainey was relieved. "Good. I'm glad they are there."

She heard Tim tap lightly on a door and then say, "Katie, honey, Rainey's on the phone. She wants to speak to you."

Rainey heard Katie's m.u.f.fled voice, but she couldn't make out what she said.

Tim spoke again, "Katie, I'm not going to relay messages. Be an adult and come to the door."

There was sound of rustling around and then Katie's voice came over the line. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Katie, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, Rainey, that you finally said what you really think, instead of what you thought I wanted to hear?"

"Well, I can tell you're still angry. I guess a rational discussion is out of the question, at this point."

Rainey called that one correctly. Katie shouted into the phone, "You're d.a.m.n right!" Katie took a breath and gathered steam. "Go play FBI agent. That's what you want to do. Go be a hero, get your thrills."

"Katie, I don't want to be an agent. I didn't ask for this."

"No, you didn't, but you knew there was a distinct possibility that this would happen. Something you didn't think was necessary to share with me. Now, I really know why you are the way you are. Your paranoia, the nightmares, it's not because of what you've seen and done. It's because you knew someone was coming. How many more men are going to come hunting you?"

Rainey could only answer, "I don't know."

"Well, you should know. Instead, you stay out there on the lake like bait, just waiting for them to come for you. You might not have a death wish, Rainey, but it's as if you don't think you should have survived the first attack. You put on a show of moving on, but you haven't. I survived nearly being murdered and look at the rest of my life like a bonus. You look at it like borrowed time. I'm not going to sit around and watch you wait to die."

The connection terminated relatively quickly after that. Rainey held the phone in her hand, staring down at it. Katie was right. Rainey could know more about the criminals that might come after her. She did just sit back and wait. Rainey could have been more proactive about their safety. She could have had Danny checking these guys' mail, if they were in prison, or keep her posted on the unsolved cases she was involved in. She simply closed the box and prayed it stayed closed. But what Katie did not understand was, even with all her training and precautions, Rainey would never know for sure if, or when a psychopath was coming for her.

The phone rang in her hand. It was Katie's parents' number. Rainey flipped the phone open and put it to her ear.

Katie began talking right away. She was much calmer than before, when she said, "Rainey, I'm not coming home until you catch this guy. So, you go get him. I don't want you distracted worrying about me or us. When this is over, we'll talk."

"Will you promise me you'll be careful? Don't go anywhere by yourself." Rainey pleaded. "Why don't you and your parents leave town?"

"My sisters will be here tomorrow. My mom suggested we go back to L.A. with them."

"That would be great," Rainey said, relieved that the Meyers family, at least, appeared to have discussed it. Then quickly, before Katie could hang up again, she said, "Katie, I don't want to lose you. Just let me deal with this and I will spend the rest of my life keeping my promise to you."

All the wind had gone out of Katie's anger, now. In a hushed voice, she asked, "What promise are you talking about?"

"I promised you we'd be happy."

Katie sniffled. Rainey knew she was crying again.

"I love you, Katie."

"I love you, too, Rainey. Please, be careful."

"Always."

Rainey heard the call lost tone and knew Katie was gone. She flipped the phone shut with a mission to accomplish, so she could have her life back, a life with Katie, children, and a happily ever after. She understood why Katie didn't want to come home. The distance between them made it easier for Katie to deal with the fear and worry. Katie recognized that she was a distraction and she wanted Rainey focused on the killer, not her. Rainey had a job to do, and if given the chance, she would kill this b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He would be one less a.s.shole Rainey would have to worry about in the future, and before this was over, she would make sure Dalton Chambers was sitting on death row, where he belonged. If they would let her, she would insert the needle.

When Danny arrived, shortly thereafter, Rainey met him at the door of his SUV. She had already filled Ernie in on her plans. Before leaving the cottage, she redressed, digging out her former work clothes from the closet in her old room. That's where she kept the FBI jackets and hats, the dark suits, and other echoes of her former life. Now, she looked like the poster girl for the FBI; white blouse, black slacks, and blazer to match, with her Glock clipped to her hip. Her hair hung in a thick braid down the back of her neck. A few loose curls framed her face. She wasn't going to sit back and play defense any longer. She was in offensive mode, focused, and ready to do battle for her life.

Before Danny could get all the way out of the vehicle, Rainey said, "I'm in. Get me my credentials."

Danny asked, "For good, or like on the Y-man case, temporary reinstatement?"

"It's temporary. I'm never going back full-time."

Danny smiled. "I processed the paper work for your temporary reinstatement before I left." He reached back into the vehicle, producing Rainey's credentials in the leather case she recognized as her own. A long, deep scratch in the leather was a reminder from a particularly hairy arrest. He smiled when he handed it to her. "I had a sneaking suspicion you might be needing this."

Rainey took the case, opened it, and saw her official badge number on the gold shield. The picture on the ID was at least two years old. It was taken just before her father was killed. Rainey barely recognized her former self. Too much had happened since then. She thought she left all this behind her. Rainey put the credentials in her blazer pocket and looked back at Danny.

"When this is over, I want to sit down and come up with a plan to keep this from happening again. Katie pointed out that I've been sitting around waiting, instead of getting ahead of these guys. If one of these a.s.sholes breathes my name, I want to know about it."

"Are you and Katie all right?"

"As all right as we can be, right now." Rainey kicked at the ground. "She's staying with her parents until this is over."

Danny must have sensed Rainey's mood accurately, because he let the subject of Katie drop. He pointed to the office door. "Okay, let's get you caught up." He started for the door.

Rainey grabbed his arm. "Danny, I want to see Dalton."

"Right now? I need to tell you what we found at the last crime scene."

"Now, Danny. You can catch me up on the way."

"Are you sure that's wise? This could be his whole reason for doing this, to see you scared."

Rainey narrowed her eyes. "Do I look scared to you?"

Chapter eleven.

In 1870, North Carolina began construction on Central Prison, the first inst.i.tution of its kind in the state. The castle-like building, complete with parapet walks and conical spires, took inmates fourteen years to build, using granite quarried just outside the prison's east wall. The prison underwent many renovations over the years, the last in the 1980's, losing its Gothic dark looks for a more modern facade. Only a few of the older buildings remained on the prison's twenty-nine acres, located near downtown Raleigh.

Central Prison housed the Tar Heel state's worst criminals, along with Death Row where inmates awaited appeals and the ultimate punishment a jury of their peers prescribed for them. Velma Barfield, the first woman in the United States to be executed since 1962, and the first woman to receive a lethal injection, said her re-born Christian final prayers there. Rainey hoped this was the last place Dalton Chambers would draw a breath.

A long corridor stretched the length of the prison, connecting all the buildings. Command stations and secure entryways controlled access into each building along the pa.s.sage. When Danny left the prison yesterday, he asked that Dalton be moved to "Cell C," where Death Row inmates spent the hours just before the state exacted its retribution. There were no executions scheduled, making it the most isolated area in the prison. Danny wanted to know every person that came in contact with Dalton. This was the easiest way to control that. Besides, Rainey thought it was an excellent way to give Dalton a glimpse of the reality of his future.

Since the door on the cell holding Dalton had only a small narrow window, the guards placed him at a little stainless steel table attached to the floor outside the cell. He waived his right to council, which would have delayed the meeting until arrangements could be made. Dalton was anxious to see Rainey, too eager to do the smart thing and wait for his North Carolina attorneys to be present.

When Rainey entered the room, Dalton appeared to have been staring at the door, awaiting her arrival. He broke into a smile of self-satisfaction when he saw her. He was handcuffed and chained, wearing a stun belt, just like the last time Rainey was at "The Onion," in Virginia. A few feet away a guard held the control box, with his finger on the b.u.t.ton, ready to light Dalton up. He was three years older and was starting to look more like the man he would have grown into, if he were not a s.a.d.i.s.tic killer. He would die long before his cherubic looks turned him into a distinguished looking older man. Even with the appeals process, Dalton would be dead years before he turned forty. Rainey was going to see to that.

Rainey walked straight to the table and stood over Dalton, just within his reach. She hoped he would make a move towards her. She wanted one good punch to his pretty face, before the guards could get to him. Dalton sat absolutely still, but his eyes travelled up her body. He made no effort to conceal his leering look at her chest, while he spoke.

"Well, h.e.l.lo Rainey. I can call you Rainey, can't I? Can't call you Agent Bell anymore. I hear you've left the Bureau."

Rainey stepped back and took a seat at the table opposite Dalton. She smiled, saying, "It's Agent Bell again. I got my credentials back, just so I can testify at the death penalty stage of your upcoming trial."

"Well, tried and convicted in your mind already, is it? They have nothing on me, but what I told you after I made a deal. My lawyers tell me they'll have all that thrown out. I'll be back in Virginia within the year."

Danny sat down. He spent the drive to the prison filling Rainey in on the details of the recent body find, and a bit of information that made Rainey ecstatic. He now repeated it for Dalton.

"I'm surprised your lawyers haven't told you why North Carolina is so interested in prosecuting you, now. Maybe they don't know, yet. They'll find out at the arraignment on the sixteenth, I guess. No harm in telling you now, though." Danny paused to let Dalton sweat a bit. "You weren't such a careful killer on that first one. We found DNA on the head, in the mouth to be exact. It was too little to test back then, but tests became available, making it possible to identify you positively as the killer. You're toast, Chambers."

Dalton's reaction was typical of his previous behavior when caught. He turned his frustration on Rainey. He leaned forward, placing his cuffed hands on the table. "I can see the top of the scar where he cut you. Were you scared, Agent Bell? Were you terrified? Do you dream about what happened? Do you scream at night when he comes for you?"

Rainey answered with no emotion, "No, actually I have very little memory of the attack and he's dead. So no, I don't dream about him."

"Yeah, I read about that, how your girlfriend stepped in to save your life."

Rainey laughed. "Don't believe everything you read in the paper, Dalton."

Dalton smirked. "But that stuff about you being a p.u.s.s.y licker, that's true, isn't it?"

He was trying to make Rainey lash out at him. His whole game was to try and shock her into losing her cool. She didn't take the bait. She leaned in closer and whispered, "Is that why you're so obsessed with me, cause I'm getting some p.u.s.s.y and you're not?" She ran the tip of her tongue across her upper lip.

Dalton had not expected that response. It startled him. This was a different Rainey Bell than he had dealt with before. The Y-man a.s.sault had affected her, but not in the way he wanted. He sat back away from her and turned his attention to Danny, while Rainey was sure he was plotting his next attempt to break her. "You tossed my cell yesterday and got me put in isolation. What else can I do for you, today?"

Danny answered, "I want to know who you've been talking to. We have your Virginia lawyer in custody. After spending the night in jail, she should be spilling her guts, about now. She'll bargain a deal with anything we want to know, or go to prison herself for slipping you those newspaper articles."

"I have a right to read the paper," Dalton shot back.

"Yes, you do, but within the limits set by the court, which specifically stated that you could not possess any information of a personal nature concerning the law enforcement officers who investigated you. Once you threatened Agent Bell here, you lost your right to have that information."

"I don't have to tell you who I have been corresponding with."

Danny shook his head in disagreement. "You really don't get it. You're a felon. You don't have many rights left. The prison, however, does have the right to know who you talk to. You need to have your lawyers explain that to you."

Dalton ignored Danny, refocusing on Rainey. "Before they moved me in here, I heard they found a body. They say it's my copycat. Did they find the head, yet?"

Rainey knew Dalton did not have the details of the crime. He was arrogant enough to believe his copycat would have followed his instructions to the letter. She returned his volley.

"As a matter of fact, we did. Seems the master doesn't have total control of his puppet. He couldn't leave her tied to a tree. He covered her with plastic and threw her in the river, head and all. "

Dalton sneered at her. "Why do you think he's killing lesbians?"

She ignored his question. She looked over at Danny. "I don't think this guy is copying Dalton at all, too many dissimilarities. It's obvious he's communicated with Messiah here, but this UNSUB covered the victims eyes."

Dalton's whole motive for his crimes was seeing the terror in his victims. Rainey just ruined Dalton's fantasies. He could no longer sit in his cell and daydream about his copycat's crimes. She put the image of the blindfolded victim in his mind, even if it wasn't true. Dalton would never know, at least, until they had caught the other killer. He was isolated and the only information he could get was from the investigators that came to see him. Rainey used that to her advantage.

"And there was that other glaring difference..." She paused and watched Dalton lean forward a little. He was predictably intrigued. "This UNSUB doesn't seem to have Dalton's taste for playing with the body after death. No evidence this guy even got much blood on him. He never touched her after she died. Doesn't have the stomach for Dalton's real depravities."

Dalton reacted by going on the attack. "One less d.y.k.e in the world. No great loss. Or is that two? There is another perverted c.u.n.t missing. He must be ridding the world of abominations like you. I'll pray for your soul, Agent Bell."

Rainey sneered back at him. "And what, pray tell, does the good book say about men who get off having s.e.x with dead bodies?"

Danny jumped in the conversation. "We can prove that you and only you could have told your boy on the outside some of the aspects of your crimes. Conspiracy to commit murder, I think that's a death penalty charge in this state, isn't it? For a guy who thinks he's so smart, that was a stupid a.s.s thing to do."

Dalton laughed loudly. "You have no clue who committed this murder, and without the killer being caught, you'll never prove a thing."

"What makes you think we won't catch him?" Danny asked.

"Because, you're here asking me who it is. Agent Bell came to talk me into giving the killer up. No chance of that happening. I'd rather take the needle and know this d.y.k.e is looking over her shoulder every minute."

Rainey slammed her hand down on the table to get his attention. "Look at me, you piece of s.h.i.t. The only thing I'm looking over is the sight of my gun. When I find your little boyfriend he'll talk or he'll die, it's that simple."

Dalton's head snapped back to focus on Rainey, his facial expression one of pure hatred. When he spoke, his words were pure venom. "When the time comes, I've given special instructions on what to do with you. Still out at your dead father's lake cottage, I understand. Shouldn't be hard to get to you out there. This one's going to practice on the little blonde first."

The words. .h.i.t their mark, but Rainey did not show any reaction to Dalton. Instead, she said, "I hope he's ready to die then, because that little blonde is prepared and willing to put a bullet in him."

"She'll never see it coming," he paused, leaning forward again, smiling with evil intent, "and neither will you. I wish I could be there to see the surprise on your face."

Rainey kicked Dalton's leg, where she splintered his bone with a bullet four years ago. He screamed in pain. She smiled wickedly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is that where I shot you? That scar tissue builds up in there and hurts like h.e.l.l, doesn't it?"

Dalton glared at her. "You b.i.t.c.h. If you came here to make a deal, so I would tell you who the killer is, then you just f.u.c.ked that up. When your pretty head comes off, I want your last thoughts to be of me. I told you I would get you, Rainey Bell, and now the time has come."

Rainey let loose with a fury. "Deal? Who said anything about a deal? I would rather die knowing you're on death row than make a deal with you. That's what this is all about. You thought you could threaten me with one of your sick puppets and make a deal to give him up, so you could avoid the needle. We both know you get no satisfaction from these murders. You can't get off without a dead body to abuse, you f.u.c.king twisted freak. "

"You won't live long enough to testify," Dalton hissed Danny had remained silent until now. "Come on, let's go. We're not going to get anything out of this guy we don't already know."

Rainey wasn't finished. "You better hope I die before I get to tell the world about all your perversions. I hope your momma will be there. I want her to know just what kind of inhuman animal she raised."

That got under Dalton's wall of psychopathology. He may not feel remorse, but he didn't want his momma to know the level of depravity he had stooped to. Rainey knew that from her previous interviews. Dalton's face flushed red.

"She won't believe a word of what you say. My mother will know you for the wh.o.r.e you are. She will know your sin of lying with a woman. G.o.d knows it, too. You and me, we're going to fry in h.e.l.l together for eternity and that gives me great peace, that and knowing you will die with your precious Katie Meyers' head on a stake in front of you. Oh, darn, I let part of the plan out of the bag. I so wanted that to be a surprise."

Rainey stood up to leave. Danny was right. They had all they were going to get out of Dalton. If she stayed in the room much longer, she'd be up on charges for a.s.saulting a prisoner in chains. She knew he wasn't going to tell her anything before she arrived. She just wanted to show him that she wasn't sitting at home, in fear for her life.

She had one more thing to say before she left. "I promised you I would be at your execution, but I'm going to take that back." She placed her hands on the table and leaned in to within an inch of Dalton's nose. Very softly, so no one else could hear, she said, "If anything happens to Katie, I will come back here and kill you myself. Don't be afraid of G.o.d's punishment. Be afraid of me."

He lunged for her, but the guard with the box in his hand was faster. Dalton let out a roar, when his body went rigid. He fell off the stainless steel stool and landed on the floor. Rainey squatted down beside him.

"You picked the wrong person to f.u.c.k with. See, I've already faced death. It doesn't scare me. You, on the other hand, are scared out of your mind of the h.e.l.l fire you will roast in. That, Dalton, gives me great peace."

On the way to Durham, after leaving the prison, they stopped to feed Rainey's hangover and grab a c.o.ke at a drive thru. Once back on the road, Danny started laughing unexpectedly.

Rainey looked over at him and asked, "What's so funny?"