Prologue

I’m going to kill her. The need burns, twitching my fingers and racing my heart, and it’s taking all my patience to just enjoy the moment—that special time between the buildup and the kill. A twilight time much like that floating feeling before going to sleep or waking up snug in your bed. That’s how it feels in the seconds before I kill. I’m relaxed and not crazed like some would imagine. I’m patient, like a wild animal hunting its prey. The right moment will come and when it does, I’ll strike and someone will die.

It hadn’t taken long to seduce her. Lonely women are easy to find. They work and go to an empty home each night, have few friends, and need to work long hours to pay the bills. There are some who’ve been through nasty divorces, some who don’t trust men—until they meet me. You see, I’m a nice guy. I look good and know how to charm the skin off a snake. I’ve had practice. Charm comes naturally to me, so no one ever suspects I’m a threat.

I met Dakota Slade at the general store, working at the counter. A quiet woman, mid-twenties, with a face you’d forget in a second. My “confused guy looking for something” gets them every time. The moment I made contact I isolated her by taking her from behind the counter. I asked her advice, became more confused, and after leaving with a few purchases returned the next day, and referred to her by name as if we were old friends. I asked her advice about setting up a home in Black Rock Falls. Acting dumb sometimes works wonders, and rather than leave me all alone and confused, she accepted my invitation to lunch in the park to talk more, even though outside was freezing and snow was forecast. You see, the park is “safe” for women like Dakota. It’s not a date but a “get to know you better” situation. It always works and now here I am standing on her front porch after accepting an invitation to watch my favorite show with her. She opens the door and I smile. “My, you look pretty enough to make a grown man cry.”

“You say the nicest things.” Dakota stands to one side, holding the door wide. “Come in out of the cold.”

No smell of home-cooked food greets me as I check out the neat home. The furniture is dated. The cushions on the sofa yawn at the base. The thick brocade covering is damaged in places as if a cat had sharpened its claws there at one time. I don’t smell a cat, but a hint of perfume lingers in the air. Maybe Dakota used an air freshener to remove the old-house smell. The rug in front of the fire is new and its bright colors make the rest of the decor appear dreary and tired. There’s a flat screen in the family room and she urges me to sit on the sofa, but I shrug and just look at her. “I feel stupid coming here to ask you to watch a show. My stuff should arrive soon, but you know how it is when you have a favorite show. You can’t wait to watch the next episode, right?”

“It’s my favorite show too.” Dakota smiles shyly at me. “I’ll enjoy your company.”

I don’t want to touch anything, least of all sit on the filthy sofa. I meet her eyes. They are uncertain and she tries to avoid my gaze. “You’ve been so kind to me. How about I cook you a fine dinner when I get settled?” I give her my best smile and lower my lashes. They all fall for that one. It makes me look shy.

“That would be very nice, but I don’t date.” Her gaze moved over me and she tensed. Suddenly I was a threat. She looked at her hands. “Can we just be friends?”

Why did they always do that? I stare at her. Her refusal wakes me from my twilight slumber. The time is now. I can already see her dead. Her sightless eyes watching an endless stream of reruns. Will anyone even find her body? I try to keep the hunger to kill from my expression and nod. “I understand.” I look past her and wave toward the door. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”

“Sure, it’s the first door along the passageway.” Dakota turns on the TV and looks at me over one shoulder. “Don’t take long. The show is about to start.”

As she turns her attention to the screen, I walk behind the sofa. The urge to kill shoots through my veins in an explosive jolt. My lips tug back into a smile as I step into my reality. My hand closes around the handle of my weapon. Silent but deadly. “Yeah, it sure is.”