The In Death Collection Books 6-10 - J. D. Robb [131]
Audrey insisted on tea by the gallon, and though she sipped it hour after hour with delicacy, her polish was wearing thin. Her hair was losing its shape and starting to straggle. It was damp and sticky at the temples from sweat. Cosmetics were fading, leaving her skin overly pale, her mouth thin and hard without the softening color. The whites of her eyes were beginning to streak with red.
“Why don’t I encapsulate for this session? When your husband was killed—”
“Was murdered,” Audrey interrupted. “Murdered in cold blood by that street-rat bastard Roarke, murdered over a little harlot so that I lived a widow and my son lived without a father all his life.”
“So you wanted your son to believe. You fed him that, day after day, year after year, twisting his mind, darkening his heart. He was to be your tool for vengeance.”
“I told him nothing but God’s truth from the day he was born. I was to be a nun, to go through my life without knowing a man. But Liam Calhoun was sent to me. An angel called me to him, and so I laid with him and conceived a son.”
“An angel,” Eve repeated and leaned back.
“A bright light,” she said her eyes gleaming. “A golden light. So I married the man who was only an instrument to create the boy. Then he was murdered, his life taken, and I understood the purpose of his son. He wasn’t born to die for sins, but to avenge them.”
“You taught him that. That his purpose in life was to kill.”
“To take what had been taken. To balance the scales. He was a sickly boy. He suffered to purify himself for his mission. I dedicated my life to him, to teaching him.” Her lips curved. “And I taught him well. You’ll never find him. He’s too smart. A fine mind has my boy. A genius, he is. And a soul as white as new snow. We are,” she said with a chilling smile, “beyond you.”
“Your son’s a killer, a sociopath with a god-complex. And you made sure he got a good education, in the area you’d decided would be most useful.”
“His mind was his sword.”
And what of his soul? Eve wondered. If there were such things, what had she done to his soul? “You took nearly fifteen years to train him, to mold him, before you set him loose. You’re a clever woman yourself, Mary Pat.”
“Audrey, my name is Audrey now. It says so on all my records.”
“He fixed that for you, too. Created Audrey for you. You had money, plenty of it to pour into your project. And you had patience, patience enough to wait, to plan, to fine down the details. He doesn’t have as much patience as you, Audrey. What do you suppose he’ll do now, without you to guide him?”
“He’ll be fine. He’ll finish what he’s begun. He was born for it.”
“You think you programmed him that well? I hope you’re right because when he comes in for the next round, I’ll break him. He’s got more equipment stashed, hasn’t he? Not far from here.”
Audrey smiled, sipped her tea. “You’ll never find him in your big, filthy city. Your Sodom and Gomorrah. But he’ll know where you are, you and your lover with the bloody hands. I did my part, God is my witness to that. I sacrificed, I offered it all up when I let that fool Summerset touch me. Not too much touching, for Audrey’s a dignified woman, and I wanted the man to keep coming back. He wanted me, oh yes, he did. Quiet evenings in his quarters, listening to music and painting.”
“And you planting bugs.”
“Easy enough, he was blind where I was concerned. I told him the painting I gave him belonged on that wall in the bedroom, and so he put it there. And we could watch him, know what he did and when he did it. He made a fine pawn for my Liam.”
“Did you tell Liam to rig my car?” Eve smiled when she saw Audrey’s lips thin. “I didn’t think so. You’re too subtle for such things, and you didn’t want me taken out so early. He did that on his own. He’s got a trigger that slips if you’re not right there to control it. You’re not there now.”
“He did penance for that. He won’t stray from the path again.