He stood, caught up with her and pulled her into his arms. "I do not need an attorney. I have nothing to hide. Whoever planted that ring and the phone is barking up the wrong tree. No one is going to believe I killed anyone."

He had a point there but this was so unfair.

"This is my fault." She looked up at him, anguish tearing at her heart. "This has to be Spears. He's trying to destroy you because of me."

"He's going to fail, Jess."

She tried to pull away to prevent him seeing her tears. She hated crying.

He held her tighter. "This isn't your fault. You are not responsible for what he's doing. He's a psychopath."

"Sociopath," she corrected. "He has a lot of traits of a psychopath but, deep down, he's a sociopath."

"Whatever he is, he wants you to feel guilty."

As true as his words were, they didn't lessen the responsibility she felt. And dead was dead. Her ability to recognize where guilt belonged was not going to bring all those victims back to life. Even worse, it wasn't going to prevent Spears from killing again and again until someone stopped him.

Since no one could find him, that made him unstoppable.

"Well, he succeeded," she confessed. The guilt she felt wasn't going away.

"Your turn," Dan prompted, obviously ready to change the subject.

Uncertainty and plain old fear tightened her throat. She needed to tell him. She should have told him already. Now here she was with just the right moment and she was terrified. Up until now, she could be Deputy Chief Jess Harris and everyone saw her that way. Nothing had changed from the outside. Once she said the words out loud... once everyone knew, her life would be different. Everything would change.

That scared the h.e.l.l out of her.

"Jess," he smiled down at her, "surely you know by now you can tell me anything."

She didn't know how he could smile at a time like this. He could lose his job. He could be falsely accused of murder. Still, he smiled for her.

"You said you want children." She hoped he couldn't feel her body trembling.

"I've done some thinking about that." He cupped her cheek with his right hand. "I understand if you don't. I will not allow anything to come between us again, Jess. You make me happy. We don't have to have children to be happy."

"Yes, we do."

A line formed across his forehead. "We do? You changed your mind? You want to have children? When did this happen?"

Jess moistened her lips and told her heart to stop its frantic pounding. "I don't know, maybe a month ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He held up his hands surrender style. "Not that I'm pus.h.i.+ng the issue. Whenever you're ready. I'm just glad you want to... consider it. If, that's what you're saying. I know how a child-being pregnant-would affect your work. I really do understand you may not want that."

He was rambling. She took his hands in hers. "Dan, I'm trying to tell you that we're pregnant."

He stopped. Moving. Breathing. He stared at her as if he was struggling to grasp what she meant. "You're... are you positive?"

"Four pregnancy tests, Dan. They all showed the same results. Positive."

"We're pregnant?"

"Yes."

His expression remained guarded. "And you're not upset?"

She shook her head, and then shrugged. "I'm getting used to the idea."

"Oh my G.o.d. We're... having... a baby?"

"Yes." She nodded this time just in case he wasn't getting it. She pressed his hand to her belly. "We are pregnant. We are having a baby in about seven and a half months or so."

He took a breath, then started to speak but stopped. Confusion and surprise played across his handsome face. "Are you okay? I mean... are you really okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Have you seen a doctor?" All that emotion was suddenly s.h.i.+ning in his eyes.

"I have to get that scheduled. Soon," she promised.

"And you want to do this?"

She nodded. "I do. Yes."

He swept her into his arms. "I don't know the right words to say." He kissed her hard on the lips. "I love you, Jess."

"I love you, Dan."

She melted against him then, too overwhelmed and too exhausted to talk anymore. He carried her to his bed. He kissed her temple. Whispered plans about the future as he undressed her and then himself. The happiness and excitement in his voice was all the confirmation she needed to know this was right.

No matter what else happened, they-the baby-was right.

His lips moved down her throat, leaving kiss after kiss against her skin. Tiny s.h.i.+vers spilled over her body and need throbbed between her thighs. He reached her hip and paused. His caressed her belly first with his hand, then with his lips. He whispered to their baby and her eyes filled with tears.

He settled between her legs and rubbed her intimately with his hardened length. "Thank you."

She couldn't speak. The tears wouldn't be restrained. She hugged her arms and legs around him and savored the sensation of being filled by him. He made love to her so tenderly her very soul cried out with the sweetness of it.

Later, when he had fallen asleep once more, she slipped from the bed and made her way through the darkness until she was in the study with her makes.h.i.+ft case board.

She paced the floor and argued with herself about what she should do. There had to be a way to stop what was happening to Dan. This was so wrong. There was only one person she could turn to for help. Corlew was probably in bed by now. But this couldn't wait.

She exhaled a weary sigh. "Last chance, Jess." Can you really trust him?

Did she have a choice?

She made the call. Corlew answered on the second ring.

"What's up?"

Mustering up a sociable tone, she said, "You sound better."

"I feel better. Fever's gone." He yawned. "What's going on with you? You can't sleep?"

She glanced at the door. Listened for any sound. "Remember when you told me there were things about BPD I didn't know. You made some shallow innuendoes about Chief Black."

"Hey. Shallow is one thing I'm not," he argued.

Depended upon who was doing the measuring, she supposed. "Do you have resources that could look into something inside BPD?"

"I knew you'd see the light," he said, triumph in his voice. "I told you I lost my job because of Dan and his cronies in the department."

"This is serious, Buddy." A beat of silence pa.s.sed. She hadn't called him by his first name since they were in seventh grade.

"Okay, okay. I know Dannie boy is a pretty decent guy. Maybe it wasn't him. What's so serious?"

As much as she needed his help, she couldn't bring herself to trust him with all the details. "I want you to dig up what you can-without anyone in the BPD finding out preferably-on Captain Ted Allen."

"The cop who went missing?"

"Yes." She checked the hall. "Don't think I expect you to do this or the investigation into my parents' accident for free. I'll pay your going rate." When he started to object, she cut him off, "I insist. This is business."

"Okay, okay. Got it. And, yes, I have a contact inside the department. I'll see what I can get."

Jess moistened her lips and went for broke. "I want you to check into Chief Black as well." The thump, thump beneath her sternum made it hard to breathe. She was taking a major risk here.

Corlew laughed. "h.e.l.l, I'll do that one for free."

Jess wished she didn't have to do it this way but she couldn't ask Lori or Chet to put their jobs on the line. "You have to be careful. No one can know. I mean it."

"You have my word." All signs of humor vanished. "No one will know what I'm doing or who I'm doing it for. I just have one question."

Jess couldn't wait to hear it. There was no telling what he would come up with. "If I can answer it, I will."

"What's Black done to get on your bad side?"

For a long second she hesitated but there was no way to keep him entirely in the dark. "I think he's trying to hurt Dan."

More silence.

G.o.d, she hated this. Her attention s.h.i.+fted to the door again. Dan would be upset with her if he learned she was trusting any part of this to Corlew.

"That's all I needed to know. I'll get on this ASAP."

"Thanks. Call me as soon as you know anything."

"You got it. Get some sleep, kid."

Jess watched her screen go black. It was done. She prayed this wouldn't turn into another complication.

Things were already complicated enough.

22.

11:59 p.m.

It was only moments until midnight.

The final canvas had been chosen. The perfect medium for the work. And the subject, of course. The subject was the piece de resistance.

Richard wondered if Jess Harris had any idea just how spectacularly important she was in this pa.s.sionate endeavor.

He watched the two beauties he had trained so well as they added the final touches to the masterpiece that would be his gift to one of the greatest killers the world would ever know.

Selma came to him. Wrapped her arms around him, her soft skin warm against his. "Will he like it?"

Richard smiled. "He will love and treasure it for the rest of his days."

He motioned for Olive to join them. Though she possessed little artistic talent, she was loyal and dedicated to his cause. She curled her arms around his. "We are ready for tomorrow?" he asked.

Both smiled and looked to him with such admiration. "It will be amazing," Selma enthused. "I can hardly wait to begin the next part of our journey."

Olive puckered her lips in a pout. "Don't keep us waiting long for you, Richard."

He was such a fortunate man. To watch two magnificent savants emerge from their sh.e.l.ls and open to the pa.s.sions that only he could show them. He had shown many the wonder and beauty of true art. He had taken those who yearned to feel the deepest of pa.s.sions and immortalized them. But none had been as important as these two young women.

Together they were his final masterpiece.

Now everyone would know his utter brilliance and the depth of his immense pa.s.sion. His own beauty would no longer be hidden in the shadow of others.

And the woman, the mother of these two lovely creatures, would forever remember the heart she had shattered and tossed away.

He looked from Olive to Selma. "No one has ever loved you the way I do."

"No one," they echoed in unison.

"You must promise me that you will not fail," he urged. "This is the moment I've always waited for. The moment he is waiting for. You must not disappoint us. You are the instruments of our destiny."

"You have my word," Selma promised. "We will not fail."

"We will not," Olive vowed.

He kissed each one on the cheek. "I will be right behind you, my darlings."