Page 526 of Dark Love

To give them a name. And find them when they come to kill the person. “We can’t risk Barb like that.”

“How long is there between the name posting to that site and them disappearing?”

Don’t even think about it. “Payne.”

“It’s just a question.”

“Two weeks on average. But it can vary from a day or two to a month.”

There’s no consistency for time. “What about dates?”

“Checked that too. No common dates.”

“Day of the week?” Payne catches on to my thoughts.

“Slightly. All the deaths happened on a weekday.”

That’s something to go on, but not much. “We can’t act yet. This could be anything from a secret government cover-up to a wacko with too much time on his hands.”

Payne raises an eyebrow at me.

Fine, the former is more likely. Who else would have money or desire some thirty years ago to experiment on people and want to cover it up now? “Barb is going to need protection until we figure out what we’re looking at.”

Shock shakes his head. “Most of that is already taken care of. Her ID was already fake. All I needed to do was change some dates and alter her face slightly.”

Will that be enough?

Will whoever this is come looking for her, anyway?

Shock was right to get squirrely.

Smile And Stay Dry

Dahlia

“What’s on your mind?” Dylan asks as soon as we step into the elevator.

“Was it that obvious?” I didn’t really think much before I spoke.

“You literally jumped up and said, Dylan and I will get snacks for the pool.” She leans back against the metal mirror wall. “Well?”

“I took a picture today,” I blurt out the words and stare at my feet.

“What?”

“Without even thinking, I sent my guy a picture of me lying on my bed.” And now it’s all I can think about. But that wasn’t the first picture either. When we were in his library, we took dozens of pictures.

With Vex around, I didn’t even hesitate to take a picture. The past wasn’t even in my mind. That room, though, is a dreamland. Anything that happened in it wasn’t real.

But doing it again… that felt real.

“Prue, that’s wonderful. You’re finally getting over the trauma of your past.”

Am I? “Sometimes it feels like I never will.”

“But you are. It’s just a series of little steps. Though that one’s a huge step. You literally had a meltdown getting your photo taken for work.”

That wasn’t a good day.

---