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“Jack—”
“Just a second, Herb.” I pressed the page-back button and kept pressing it until the screen arrived at the begi
“Holy shit,” I said.
“What’s wrong?”
“What time is it?”
He glanced at his watch.
“Two thirty-three.”
I rubbed my forehead. “He’s going to kill someone in a little over twelve hours.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“The location is the time: three ten. Before, he was using the page number to tell us the time of death. If we go back to the original screen…” I paged back. “See how the first a is highlighted? This had been bugging me. Remember how a p was circled in the previous books?”
I could see the light blink on in Herb’s eyes.
He said, “He was telling us the murders would happen in the P.M.”
“Exactly. And the chapter number…”
“Is the day.”
“So a murder is going to happen at three ten A.M., on April second. Tonight.”
“But where, Jack? You knew to come here…how?”
“The name of the prior victim indicates the location of the next murder.”
“Did Luther tell you that?”
“In a way. First, he killed Jessica Shedd. Then he killed Reginald Marquette at the Shedd Aquarium. Then he killed Peter Roe in the Marquette Building.”
“So where’s the next murder going to happen, Jack?”
“Roe.”
“Roe? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. Might be a park, another building, a museum. Anything.”
Herb frowned. “It could also be alluding to something else. Roe vs. Wade.”
I let that sink in, felt a chill come over me. Roe vs. Wade was the landmark Supreme Court case confirming the right of a woman to terminate her pregnancy.
I remembered the last time I’d seen Luther. I’d been helpless, my leg broken. He could have killed me then. But he’d known I was pregnant, and it was only now that he’d decided to come back into my life.
“I have a bad feeling, Jack, that he’s changing the rules.”
I really didn’t want Herb to continue, but I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Roe? You having a baby? The last names are all about location, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So what if he’s saying that you’re the location? That he’s going to end your pregnancy tonight at three ten A.M.?”
I took five steps away so I didn’t contaminate the murder scene, and threw up all over my Keds.
March 18, Fourteen Days Ago
Four Days After the Bus Incident
“A priest, huh?”
“Yes. In a Catholic church in Pittsburgh.”
Luther leans forward across the table, holds a long moment of eye contact. The man is fifty-five or fifty-six. Smooth-shaven. Thi
“Let’s be honest for a moment, Father. You okay with that?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not married.”
“In most cases, the priesthood and marriage are separate paths.”
“You’re celibate?”
“I am.”
“Is that difficult?”
“There are moments of temptation, but with God’s help, I’ve kept my vow.”
“Really.”
“Yes.”
“Kind of hard with all these delicious little acolytes ru
“Never.”
“Really.”
“I have never touched a child. That is the gravest of sins, in my opinion.”
“But you’ve been tempted.”
“Thankfully, no, not in that direction. True, I’ve never had sexual intercourse, but if I’m honest, I have been tempted by the desire for female companionship from time to time.”
“And you’ve never acted on it?”
“Not once. God has guided me through the temptation.”
“Wow,” Luther says. “So you’re a perfect human being.”
“No, I am deeply flawed, as we all are.”
“So what are your sins, Father? Just think of me as a fellow priest, taking your confession. Or God.”
“You’re neither. You’re just another lost soul in need of guidance. I’ll pray for you.”
“It won’t help. Tell me what you said during your last confession.”
“Confessions are private.”
“If you prefer, I can make you watch me kill someone.”
“I sometimes…disagree on certain policies the Church demands I endorse. Last month, I questioned when His Holiness, the Pope, spoke out against condom usage for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, specifically AIDS, in Africa.”
“Did you openly defy him?”
“No. My disagreements remain unspoken.”
“Ever stole money from the collection basket?”
“Of course not.”
“Drink too much Communion wine?”
“No.”
“I have no use for you,” Luther says.
“Would you consider letting some of the others go? I would happily stay in their place.”
“Didn’t you just hear what I said?”
“What?”
“I have no use for you.”
Luther draws his Glock.
The priest’s eyes show a moment of total shock and terror, but they quickly recover, now filling with a deep, horrified sadness.
Finally, they glow with intense purpose.
“Allow me a moment, my son?” the priest asks.
“Take your moment.”
The priest shuts his eyes, and with a whisper, begins to pray.
When he’s finished, Luther levels the gun on him. “Now you’re ready to meet your maker?”
“Yes.”
“No fear at all?”
“The Lord is my shepherd. I fear no evil.”
Luther nodded.
Then he stood up and shot him five times in the legs. It was only when he was sure the priest did indeed fear evil that Luther put a bullet in his head.
April 1, 3:00 P.M.
“How we doing on gas, D?”
Her partner glanced over. “Quarter of a tank.”
“We go
“You better hope so. Otherwise, I’m go
“You’re an asshole.”
They passed another road sign.
Just fifty-nine miles to go.
They’d be there within the hour.
With what little was left of her tongue, Lucy could almost taste how sweet this was going to be.
April 1, 5:30 P.M.
Luther stares at his laptop screen, drawing in a deep breath.
Then he begins to scream at the top of his lungs, “Oh, God, help me! Please help me! JESUS CHRIST, SOMEONE HELP!”