All The Pretty Girls

“I AM NOT CRAZY!” he roared, and one of the children gave a whimpering yell. “Shut up, you little shit. Shut up or I’ll kill you, you hear me? Qui

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kind of talk is going to get your babies killed. But I’ll answer your question. I did it for my mother.”

“Reese, you don’t—”

He interrupted her. “Don’t tell me what I don’t know. I know, all right? I’ve known since I was fourteen. Old enough to understand, I think. Mommy got raped and had a baby. I knew all about the birds and bees by then, Qui

“I read Whitney’s diary the day your parents were killed. That’s when I realized, finally understood. She was so strong, wanted so badly to let the world know I was her son. Even though she never admitted it, I knew. I could tell as she looked at me. As I got older, she started pulling away. She didn’t want to have to admit how wrong she’d been. But I would have forgiven her, Qui

Taylor inched around the trees, trying to get into a position where she could see Reese. She moved deliberately, stalking from one tree to the next. After two minutes, she could almost touch Qui

Reese continued his diatribe. “I did the next best thing. If Mommy wouldn’t acknowledge me, maybe Daddy would. And he did. You remember Daddy, don’t you, Qui

“I’m not saying what I did was right, either. But it had to be. I had to help my mother.” His voice grew stronger. 400

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“It was the best idea. Something that would get Whitney’s attention. Something that would make her a star. You knew how much she wanted to be a nationalnetwork reporter. You know the pains she went to, making herself perfect. She just needed that one story that would break her out of the pack. I gave her that.”

Qui

“Seven. One little bitch died on me. It was a wonderful idea. Something that would get national attention. Especially moving the bodies from state to state, and leaving a hand behind. I knew that would get the right people involved, would dramatize everything. I thought it was fitting, seeing as my real mother never laid hands on me, never held me in her arms as her son. I didn’t have the stomach for it at first, but as I went on, I got used to it.”

The vomit, Taylor thought. At the first crime scene. He’d been so scared and nervous he’d thrown up. That explained the hesitation marks on Susan Palmer’s arm, as well. If only he had stopped then.

But Reese was bragging now. Any hope of him being sane was gone.

“I got good at it. Even started enjoying myself. And it got your stupid husband out of the way, too. I set him up so good.” Reese sounded like a child at that moment. A child wanting a pat on the head for his good behavior.

“I did it all for her, Qui

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nothing!” His cry echoed throughout the dark emptiness, and Taylor took that moment to step out of the shadows, gun leveled at the sound of Reese’s voice. The minute she was behind Qui

Qui

Qui

“Qui

I told you not to call the cops. I wanted to talk to you. Now look what you’ve done. You’ve given me no choice.”

Taylor heard the blade whisk and shouted at Reese.

“Put that knife down! Put it down, Reese! There’s no way out of this for you unless you put the knife down and 402

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let the kids go. After you do that, we can talk. Put it down, now, Reese.” She edged closer to Qui

She stepped carefully, slowly, advancing on Reese’s position. He looked startled, confused, and suddenly heard Baldwin’s voice from behind him.

“You’re covered on all sides, Reese. Drop the knife and we can walk you out of here alive.”

Qui

Reese was growing more and more agitated. Taylor could see the edge of the knife tip disappear, and a thin trickle of blood ran down Jake Junior’s neck. Jillian started to wail. The sight was too much for Qui

“Qui

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a fountain. Taylor could see that he was losing blood too quickly, they weren’t going to be able to save him if help didn’t get here soon. She keyed her radio, called for a bus to rush a shooting victim.

Baldwin was feeling around Reese’s body, making sure he had no other weapons he could use. Baldwin pocketed the knife Reese had been holding and nodded to Taylor, he was clean. He kept his weapon trained on Reese, though it looked like there was little chance that it was necessary.

Taylor turned back to Qui