Page 35 of Blood and Sand

“Hey, Dana.” He swiped the hair out of my face. “I missed you.”

I held back the shiver of disgust as his minty breath fanned across my face. It had taken me years to wipe away the memories of his smell and the way his voice sounded. I was face-to-face with my worst nightmare, and now, I had to make him believe I’d missed him, too.

“I missed you too, Harold.” His eyes softened. “Why didn’t you call me?”

With his face only inches away from mine, his eyes flitted back and forth between my eyes and lips. He leaned forward, and I knew what he wanted to do. “If you needed me, you didn’t have to take Delaney,” I said, and he stopped close to my lips but didn’t kiss me. Thank God. “I would have come.”

A mask of rage fell over his face as he backed away from me. He started pacing, his hands pulling at his hair. “You!” He pointed at me accusingly. “You were with him, and you had me locked away!”

Shit! Shit! Think, Dana. Think. Remember your training. Try to make a personal connection with him.

“You needed help back then, Harold.” Hopefully, continuing to call him by his name would be personal enough. I didn’t think I could go any further than that. “You hurt those other women before you met me. They wanted you to get help before we could be together. Even your doctor said it was best.”

“You spoke to Dr. Stephens?”

“I did, Harold. He said that it was the best way if I wanted to be with you. That’s why I went along with everything they said. I testified so we could be together.”

He stopped pacing. “You wanted to be with me if I got help?”

“Of course I did, but now, if you want us to be together, you have to let Delaney go. They’re not going to let us be together if you hurt her.”

“No, no, no, no.” He started pacing again, frantically shaking his head. “She’ll tell that we took her, and then they will take us away again. Four will not like it if we have to go away again. They didn’t like the hospital.”

Four?

“I promise they won’t, Harold. There’s nothing for you andFourto be afraid of, but if you want us to be together, you have to let her go.”

Damn, I hoped this worked. Even if I didn’t get out of here, at least Delaney would be safe. I wasn’t giving up on myself getting out of here just yet, but right now, Delaney was my priority.

“Okay,” he said, sighing.

“Okay?” I asked, shocked but making sure he really had agreed to let her go.

“Yes, I will let her go just for you, but if she tells anyone where we’re at, I’ll kill her entire family, including that cute little girl of hers. What’s her name again?”

He snapped his fingers and walked over to Delaney. I couldn’t see the fear in her eyes, but I knew it was there. I’d been there before. This man was unstable, and I believed every threat he made. His body count had already surpassed ten innocent women.

“That’s right. Her name is Amara, right? She’s beautiful, by the way. Around the age of my daughter.”

“You have a daughter?” I asked, surprised.

“I had a daughter,” he corrected, moving his attention back to me and away from Delaney, which was what I wanted. “Her mother was one of the first bodies I delivered to Detective LaCroix.”

My surprise and horror must have been written all over my face because a smile crossed his. “No, I didn’t kill my daughter, Dana. But her mother was a bitch and a temporary replacement until we got back together.”

“Please let Delaney go, Harold,” I said, trying to get him back on track, but his brows furrowed after he eyed the small window across the room. I didn’t know what he saw there, but I had to keep him focused. The shift in his mood covered the room. Anger poured from him, and his breathing picked up. His face turned red.

His calloused hands circled my neck as he straddled my body. He moved quicker than I expected, but there wasn’t anything I could do. The natural fibers of the rope had already cut into my skin, blood covering my wrists. The pressure from the rope and his hands was too much. My eyes widened, and his filled with lust while the bulge in his pants grew against my body. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched the man of my nightmares take pleasure in taking my life.

Delaney screamed, but it did nothing to stop him. His grip tightened as glee covered his face.

“I love you, Dana,” Harold whispered as black dots danced in my eyes. “For eternity. In this life and the next.”

It wouldn’t be long now. My lungs burned as I tried to pull air into them. My eyes stung as blood vessels burst. This was my last day on this earth, and regrets filled my thoughts. I regretted that so many had to die because of me, and I hoped the families could one day forgive me. And I regretted not seeing Rey one last time. I hoped he could forgive me for leaving again.

Delaney’s screams faded as the darkness seeped in. Someone else yelled from a distance, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The darkness had finally won.

Chapter fourteen

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