Silver Falls - Anne Stuart [86]
“Is that what you think I am, Maggie?” he said softly, ignoring the deputy’s rote reading of the Miranda rules.
“I don’t know what I think. I’ve got proof you sabotaged Rachel’s car—fingerprints and a witness, and that should be enough to keep you for a while. You can deny it all you want.”
“Oh, I don’t deny it,” he said, not looking at Rachel. “I cut her brake line.”
It was like a blow to the stomach. She heard her own swift intake of breath, and then David was beside her, putting his arm around her, drawing her close. “Let me take you out of here,” he said in his gentle, comforting voice. “I know what a shock this is. But he’s managed to fool smarter women than you.”
For a moment everything became cloudy, and all Rachel could think was, fuck you, I’m as smart as any woman you ever met. She caught Caleb’s eye, by accident, and everything came back into focus. He was trying to tell her something, still manipulating her, and she turned her face into David’s shoulder. “Take me out of here,” she whispered.
She half expected Caleb to call out after her as they left the dingy hotel room. But there was nothing but the sound of Maggie’s voice giving orders.
David settled her into the front seat, solicitously, even bringing a cashmere blanket to wrap around her in the early morning chill. The foul smell that had plagued the BMW had finally vanished, replaced with the somewhat overbearing scent of laboratory-created roses, and she leaned back against the leather seat, closing her eyes, as David pulled away from the motel, back down the narrow, twisted road.
“How did you find me?” she asked in a low voice, not looking at him.
“Maggie called me to tell me about the accident. Fortunately one of the neighbors saw him hustle you into the car, so we knew he’d taken you, and there were only a couple of places he might have gone. Oh, Rachel, I was so frightened!” His voice was soft, earnest. “I was afraid we wouldn’t get to you in time. I always thought this might happen, that sooner or later his control would snap. I’m just so sorry that I couldn’t protect you.”
Her eyes flew open, as his words sank in. “You think he’s the serial killer? But he hasn’t even been living here.”
David reached his hand over to pat hers in a reassuring gesture, never taking his eyes off the narrow road. She let her hand lie still beneath his. “Maggie told me on the way over,” he said. “The deaths in this country coincided with the times he was visiting, and there have been identical murders in the cities where he’s lived over the past twenty years. I hate to tell you this, Rachel, but he was even in San Francisco six months ago.”
Her stomach turned inside her. “You think he killed Tessa? Isn’t that just too big a coincidence? That he chose a random victim who ended up connected to his sister-in-law?”
“It was no coincidence,” David said. “I’ve been suspecting Caleb for years, too afraid to find out the truth. When I heard about Tessa I deliberately sought you out, to see if I could find any way to tie Caleb to the newest horror. But then I fell in love with you and Sophie, and it became even more important that I keep you safe.”
Her head was spinning. None of this was making any sense, and David’s soft, calm voice was making it worse. She wanted to scream at him to shut up, but she bit her lip. She just needed silence to work this out. She’d not only broken her marriage vows, she’d had sex with a serial killer. Several times. The very thought was revolting.
She forced herself to speak. “David, I have to tell you—” she began, her voice thick with horror and shame. “He wouldn’t let me leave the room, and I—”
“Hush, love. You don’t have to say it. Rape has always been part of his bag of tricks.”
It would be an easy out, but she despised herself too much to take the easy way. “It wasn’t rape. It was—”
“I don’t need to hear it,” he said calmly, drowning her out. “My brother can be very charming