Page 139 of The Dollmaker

He threw her to the ground, and the power of his thrust sent her tumbling to her hands and knees. She began to crawl. “No. I’m not a doll.”

Easily he overtook her and pulled her hair, yanking her head back. “Why did you make me hurt you? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Stop, please.”

He pushed her flat against the floor and tugged her arms behind her, tying them tight at the wrists. “I know what I’m doing, little doll. Stop fighting me before you hurt yourself.”

“Stop!” she hissed, barely able to form the word. Blurred vision and muscle spasms made it impossible for her to sit up.

He bound her feet and rolled her on her back. He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and shoved it in her mouth. “This isn’t fun for me. It breaks my heart to have to be so rough with you. But soon you’ll be thanking me. I’ll take care of you. Love you. You’re my perfect Serenity doll.”

Panic tore through her, a muffled scream escaping as he pressed her cheek against the floor.

She felt the prick of a needle in her arm and seconds later the warmth of some drug sliding into her. She blinked her eyes, terrified she’d fall asleep.

“You don’t remember me, but I’ve been watching you for years.” He smoothed his hand gently over her head. “Time and people have kept us apart, but now it’s time for us to be together forever.”

She shook her head, blinking again as her vision clouded.

“I’ve done this dozens of times before, though most of the people I spent my time with were far quieter. But don’t worry, Serenity. I’m not here to kill you. We have so much living we can do together.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she pictured the faces of Diane and Elena. As he pushed the syringe’s plunger again, her head swirled and she thought about Dakota. Regrets. How much she loved him.

Sharp was driving north on I-95 when his phone dinged with a text from Ms.Knox. He opened the attachment to a picture of a young boy who couldn’t be more than ten. Familiarity teased as he struggled to connect the dots. Then the phone rang. Andrews.

“Given the parameters, I’ve narrowed it to one man. Norman DeLuca lives near Terrance Dillon and he owns a business in town.”

“Shit.” DeLuca. The picture sent from Carol Knox was of a younger version of DeLuca. He forwarded the text to Andrews. “Just sent you an image of Knox’s son taken when he was a boy.”

There was only a brief hesitation. “DeLuca,” Andrews said.

“He owns the damn funeral home. He likely knew Radcliff and his situation. Probably offered to buy the propofol from him. Big wedding for daughter coming up and leaving a widow. Money was too tempting. He’s been around all their lives. He was at Roger’s funeral. Terrance’s funeral.”

“And no doubt, your sister’s. He’d been in town less than a year when your sister died, and he was working at the funeral home then.”

“He put the doll in her casket.”

“A very logical assumption. He never attended the college, but it’s an open campus, and as a local, he could easily have been around them. He’s only a few years older, so he wouldn’t have stood out too much around the students.”

“And the prostitutes killed in Colorado fit what his sister told me,” Sharp said.

“Explain.”

“Knox’s ex-wife told her daughters she was certain she saw her son years ago. She lost the guy in the crowd. Really rattled the woman,” Sharp said.

“I’m trying to connect the deaths to his credit card receipts. If he traveled, there’d be some kind of record. Given a little more time, I’m confident I can show a link.” Keys clicked in the background. “And DeLuca’s Funeral Home was a corporate sponsor of Terrance’s football team. That’s how the kid recognized him.”

“I’ll head to the funeral home now.” Sharp drove toward DeLuca’s.

He dialed Tessa’s phone, and when it went to voice mail, he cursed. “Tessa, where the hell are you? I think I know who killed Kara, Diane, and Elena. Norman DeLuca. Tall, with dark hair and olive skin. Just stay the hell in your house or close to the cop assigned to you.”

His next call was to the cop on duty. On the fourth ring he received a crisp, “Officer Smith.”

“Where is Officer Baugh? He’s supposed to be on duty in front of Tessa McGowan’s house.”

“Officer Baugh is being taken away in an ambulance. He was drugged. Still passed out cold.”

“Where is Tessa McGowan?”

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