Blood Dreams by Kay Hooper Page B

least for most of the locals. But we have a crop of relative newcomers in the area, and I have no idea what their tolerance for media scrutiny would be. Some people do love the spotlight.”
    Hollis sighed. “Ain’t that the truth. So we don’t have much time before the news breaks.”
    “I’d guess not much, no.” Marc shook his head and directed the conversation back a step. “You said this killer escalated to an unusual degree?”
    “Yeah.” Hollis frowned. “The time gap could explain the intensity of the escalation, at least in part. If he wanted to kill, needed to kill, but couldn’t, for whatever reason. Sheer frustration could easily make a killer more savage.”
    “Assuming there actually was a time gap.”
    She nodded. “Always possible he’s killed somewhere else and we missed the signs.”
    “But you don’t believe that.”
    “No. We believe he’s laid low all these weeks, that he didn’t kill until he got his hands on Becky Huntley on or after September twenty-second, when she disappeared. Before that…maybe he was searching for a place like Venture. Or maybe he came straight here, because of that connection Dani suggested, and has spent all this time since his arrival getting ready.”
    It was Marc’s turn to frown. “He didn’t do much advance prep the first time, did he? Grabbed the women usually coming or going from home or work, in areas with little or no security.”
    Hollis nodded. “Yeah, he was like a vicious animal. Grab and run, and lucky enough or smart enough to time every grab perfectly. Never any witnesses, which means we haven’t even the vaguest description of him.”
    “He could be anyone,” Dani murmured. “We could walk right past him on the street and never know.”
    “Probably,” Hollis agreed. “If monsters looked the part, they’d be a hell of a lot easier to catch.”
    Marc circled once again back to the point, saying, “But if he
did
spend all the time between the last murder in Boston and the first one here somehow getting ready, that’s new.”
    “One of the many potential differences, yes.”
    “An important difference?”
    “Bishop believes so. And I agree. Think about it. What he risks most in a smaller area with fewer people is discovery. He can’t grab and then butcher a dozen victims in a dozen different locations over a short span of time, not in a place like Venture. He might be able to do that once, maybe twice if he’s really lucky, but not more than that. He needs a base. Somewhere safe, somewhere isolated, somewhere he can do what he wants to do with little or no fear of discovery.”
    Dani stirred and said, “Like a warehouse. Like the basement of an otherwise deserted warehouse.”
    Hollis nodded. “Like a warehouse. When the universe offers you a signpost, you pay attention.”
    “But is that part of the trail we’re meant to follow?” Dani’s uneasiness grew. “Or something entirely separate?”
    “Actually,” Hollis said in a slow tone of realization, “it’s an even more complicated question. Because Becky didn’t say we were
supposed
to follow the trail. She just said someone was leaving us a trail to follow.”
    There was a long silence, and then Dani said, “And in my dream, we’re walking into a trap.”
    Before anybody could comment on that, an older deputy tapped on the door and stuck his head in, addressing Marc apologetically.
    “Something we thought you ought to know, Sheriff.”
    “What?”
    “We got a call late last night from a young lady who suspected she was being followed home from work and that somebody had gotten into her locked apartment.”
    “Steal anything?”
    “No, that’s the weird thing. He left something behind. A necklace. Shorty’s looking it over now.”
    Marc frowned. “I take it she’s sure it wasn’t left by a boyfriend or something like that.”
    “She’s absolutely positive, Sheriff. She’s also shook up and not the sort to get that way without reason. A while ago, when