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“Sorry for the binding,” the man told her, and Evelyn realized that her hands and feet were tied with heavy, thick rope Rope that was abrading her skin, chafing her, trapping her

“But I’m sure you understand,” he continued, his voice mild They were in a car No, an SUV, and she was crammed down in the back She couldn’t see hi the transport”

He started to whistle then Easy, carefree

She was covered in blood He histling

Her breath hitched in her lungs She wanted to call out to him, but duct tape was over her mouth

“You shouldn’t have taken the ME That was just a foolish mistake”

Her gloves were gone He’d taken them Taken her knife

“Oh, I’m sorry” Now he sounded abashed “I should probably introduce myself, shouldn’t I?”

No, he didn’t need to do that She already knew exactly who he was She knew everything about him But…

“I’m Valentine,” he said

Her heart beat faster but that fast beat wasn’t fro

“And I’m afraid that you’ll be dead soon”

Her elation vanished She started to fight harder, yanking at the ropes They wouldn’t give

He began to whistle once more

– 17 –

Katherine watched as Dane paced the sht with barely leashed energy Mac ith them, his hands shoved into the pockets of his pants as he leaned forward and glared down at the floor

“She’s going to be fine,” the doctor said, appearing in the doorway It was the same doctor who had treated Katherine “But she’s out Fentanyl was in her system, so it’s pretty h to crawl out of that house”

Mac surged to his feet “I want to be with her”

The doctor nodded

Dane caught Mac’s arm “As soon as she wakes up, you call me”

Marcus crept into the room “Is Dr Thomas—”

“She’s going to be all right,” Dane said, rolling his shoulders “A copycat…ere dealing with a fking copycat killer”

“No” Katherine spoke quickly as she curled her hands into fists “I saw Valentine He’s here—he was in allery, he was at the house on Oakland—”

“He’s here,” Marcus agreed, “and he wanted you to know that he killed Trent Lancaster, but with the fentanyl in the blood of the other victims…” He exhaled slowly “I don’t think those were his cri—that so as him” Marcus exhaled slowly “I was so focused on his profile that I never considered an alternative”

An alternative Evelyn

Marcus’s gaze slid to Katherine “With Dr Knight’s medical license, she would have access to the fentanyl,” he said, voice ru

My fault “I told her that the ME had found fentanyl in the victims’ tox reports,” Katherine whispered “She must have realized that Ronnie would learn more, so she went after her”

Marcus nodded