Page 15 of Seeking Evil

Sierra couldn’t believe he was sitting there talking about his wife as if he was just some normal guy who had done nothing wrong.

Her gaze skimmed around the room. When she saw them, she almost vomited. Barrels. Eight of them. She craned her neck to see them better. They were clear. So that the person looking in could see the contents.

“Ah, I see you’re admiring my girls.” Henry turned toward them as if he were talking about his children. “They are all special to me. In death, I treated them with the dignity they deserved in life.”

She recoiled. Did he plan to stuff her in one of those barrels?

“You’ll never get away with it, Henry. By now, my people are heading this way. They’ll figure out you’re the one who’s been killing women, and they’ll put you away for the rest of your life.”

Henry shrugged. She guessed his age to be seventy-something. The threat of prison probably didn’t hold that big of a deterrent to him.

“Doesn’t matter. Cancer will beat them to it.”

Cancer. The truth or a lie? She had no idea.

“But let’s not talk about that. This is the part where we get to know each other better.”

Get to know each other? He was crazy. “Why would I want to get to know you better?”

He smiled. “Because the longer we talk the longer you live. The longer you avoid the monster.”

She conceded that point. “Are you the monster?”

Henry didn’t respond. “And besides, we can’t start yet. We must wait for . . .”

“For what?”

He smiled. “You’ll see in time.”

She’d almost gotten the truth out of him.

“Tell me about your work with the FBI. What does the BAU do?”

She tore her eyes from the barrels.

“We hunt monsters like you,” she spat out. “And we’re good at it. You think you’re the first one to take me hostage?”

Henry’s interest peaked. “Really? I’d love to hear about that time.”

She almost believed he was genuinely interested. “Why? You want to compare notes?”

Henry shook his head. “You don’t have to be nasty. I’m being very nice to you, aren’t I?”

“You kidnapped me. You’re planning to kill me.”

Henry’s smile faltered.

Desperation stood at the edge of her brain and tried to gain control. Sierra knew if she were going to survive this awful thing, she couldn’t give into it.

“You asked me about my work.” Sierra waited for him to take the bait.

His eyes gleamed with happiness. “I did. Tell me the type of people you hunt.”

She tried not to show revulsion. Did he get off on hearing about others like himself?

“Our team is charged with bringing down some of the worst serial killers. Ones like you,” she couldn’t help but add.

“You don’t know what type of person I am. One mustn’t jump to conclusions, Sierra.”

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