Level Five by Carla Cassidy Page A

bookstores, book signings were becoming obsolete.
    After the first hour things began to slow.  Jake ambled over to the table with a cup of her favorite coffee and set it on the table.  “As if you need a caffeine jolt,” he said dryly.
    She was about to give him a smart-ass reply, but a young mother with two toddlers stepped up to her table.  “Wow, a real author.  I’ve always wanted to write a book.  As soon as these two get into school, I figure I’ll take a month or so and write one of those romances.”  As she chatted about her plans, telling Edie the plot that had been working in her head, Edie noticed several other people lining up behind her.
    “Would you like me to autograph a copy of my book for you?” Edie asked in an effort to move the woman along.
    “Oh no, I don’t read stuff like that.  Any advice you can give me as a budding writer?” 
    “Yeah, get out of the way so the rest of us can buy her book,” a tall handsome man behind the woman muttered.
    “Take some classes and study the market,” Edie said, grateful when the woman moved away.
    “I’d like a book,” the man said. 
    Edie smiled up at him. “And who would you like me to make it out to?”
    “To me.  To Anthony.  I’m so looking forward to reading it.”
    She signed it with a flourish and then held it out to him.  “I hope you enjoy it.”
    Anthony took the signed book from her. “You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy it.”  He then moved on trembling legs to a chair by the coffee area, his heart beating frantically.
    Edie Carpenter was more than what he’d expected, more than he could have hoped for, might have ever dreamed about. It was as if she’d stepped out of his painful memories, an active, guilty participant of his tormented childhood.
    His head ached as he absently stroked the back jacket of the book where her picture was displayed.  Anxiety twisted in his stomach, along with the sweet rush of anticipation.
    There was no question that she was what he wanted, what he needed.  She would be his next project. She would be the best ever. He felt it in his heart, in the very depth of his soul.  He thought she just might be the one he’d been searching for all along, the one who would heal him.
    If he had his way he’d take her now, just grab her by her hair and pull her to his car.  He’d take her to his home and chain her in the paper room.
    His need to punish her nearly overwhelmed him.  He drew several deep breaths and looked around the room, spying the tall, dark-haired man who had accompanied Edie to the signing.
    Brother?  Lover?  Husband?  The bio information he’d managed to pull up on her had been void of the kind of personal things that would let him identify what role the man played in Edie’s life.
    Not that it mattered.  Every woman, whether married or not, at one point or another was a potential, vulnerable victim. They shopped at a store after dark, they picked up dry cleaning in a half-abandoned strip mall or sat on their back deck alone, watching the night sky.
    One way or the other, Edie Carpenter would be his greatest project.  All he had to do was be patient, do a little stalking, learn her habits. That was the secret of his success…patience and control. The anticipation was almost as great a thrill as the actual act.
    Last night as he’d sat in bed with his laptop he’d found her address easily enough and had Googled directions since he wasn’t familiar with the area where she lived, despite the fact it wasn’t that far from his home.
    He’d take a drive by her place later this evening and check out the location.  It had taken him three weeks of stalking to finally manage to get his first project.  The second had taken only ten days. Maggie Black had been a gift heading to her car in the darkened area of the McDonald’s parking lot.  No fuss, no muss, just in his car and done.
    It would be nice if Edie was just as easy, but he had a feeling she was going to