A Killer Among Us by Lynette Eason Page A

Noah’s initial reaction to having a woman for a partner. The answer came out of nowhere, startling her so much, she physically jerked.
    â€œKit? Are you all right?”
    Samantha had walked to the edge of the bed while Kit wandered around in her heavy thoughts. “I’m fine. A little tired.” She didn’t have to fake the yawn that took her by surprise.
    â€œAll right.” Samantha leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Get some rest and we’ll check on you later.”
    Her sisters left and Kit sat alone in the sudden quiet of her room. She looked at the bedside phone. She really should call her mother. Her adoptive mom. But what would Kit say to her? Their last conversation had ended in recriminations and tears.
    Was she up to that?
    No.
    She pressed the button to call the nurse.
    A little pill sounded pretty good right now. But after a few hours of sleep and escape from the pain, she’d hit the ground running.
    This was her case. She would work it and solve it. No one was going to take that away from her. Not her good-looking partner and definitely not some trigger-happy killer.

    Crumbling the third note he’d written into a tight wad, the Judge tossed it on the floor, muttering. “Get it right, idiot. Got to get it right. It’s got to be perfect.” It had to be. He had to make sure everything fell into place just as it was supposed to do. His son—the one he would someday have—would expect that of his father. He would look up to him and believe him to be a god. The Judge almost smiled at the thought.
    Then he frowned. He’d gotten careless. He shouldn’t have taken the shot when he did. As a result, he missed. He ground his teeth and berated himself. It was the rifle’s fault, he decided. He would have to work with the sights. The old gun hadn’t been fired in years. Not since his father, a sniper, had used it in the service. Yeah, that was it. The stupid rifle. It wasn’t his fault after all. He’d fix the rifle and try again.
    But for now, he needed to focus. He still had to finish his current mission.
    Get rid of those who’d mocked him.
    The Judge placed the pen to paper once more and scribbled his thoughts. When he was finished, he sang aloud, “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, let’s see how loud you scream.” He gave a little chuckle at his wittiness, then frowned as the rage built. “Laugh at me, will you? I’ll teach you. I’ll teach you all.”
    He slammed a fist onto the desk.
    â€œHey man, you okay?”
    The Judge jumped and turned, slid his palm over the paper. “Oh, sorry, didn’t hear you come in.”
    â€œObviously.” A backpack hit the chair next to the television. “Have you taken up talking to yourself now?”
    The Judge forced a chuckle. “Just rehearsing.”
    â€œI thought you’d already given the big performance.”
    â€œNo, that one was minor compared to this one.” He pictured the moment the bullet would enter his next victim. Right after she begged for mercy and told him how superior he was.
    The other man cocked his head, studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Whatever, man. I’m taking Allison out tonight. Catch up to you later.”
    â€œRight. Later.”
    His roommate was a likable guy. One who didn’t question the Judge or his odd ways. He kept to himself, respected the Judge’s privacy, and never, ever, mocked him.
    Fortunately for him.
    Once he had the place to himself again, he walked down the hall to his bedroom and reached under the bed to slide the cardboard box toward him. Picking it up, he set it on the bed.
    Opening the lid with his left hand, he pulled the newspaper clipping from his back pocket and placed it on the right side of the box, the edge snug up against the ninety-degree angle. On top of that, he set the watch he’d taken