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“It’s very good, Officer Freemont.” Oh, perfect! The prick was whispering into the phone, trying to disguise his voice.

Brian stood up and moved away from the bed, where Angie was mumbling sleepily. Ever since the baby started to show, she was tired all the time. He looked back at her; she was starting to look like a bloated cow. He didn’t need to hear her bitching because someone woke her from her much-needed beauty sleep.

“Talk to me and give me a reason not to find you.”

“Good luck with that. I’m not planning on having you find me. You have something I want. Watch what the day brings you. You’re not going to have fun. But I can make it better if you work with me. I’ll call you later today and we can discuss how fast you want to give it to me.”

“Listen, you little shit.” He didn’t get any further before the prick hung up on him. He tried calling the number back with the option he was paying extra money for, and of course it didn’t work.

“Fucker.” He resisted the urge to throw the phone down.

One look at his watch and he knew he wasn’t going to get any more sleep. Hell, he had to be up in an hour anyway.

Brian Freemont put the phone back in its cradle, scowling the entire time. He was not a happy man.

He was about to be a lot less happy.

V

The sun was coming soon. It wouldn’t be long before the light of the new day covered the town and the people of Black Stone Bay rose from their sleepy little beds to start a new day among the conscious.

Out on the bay itself, the waters were almost calm. The waves that ran to the jagged shoreline merely tapped the stones instead of shattering against them.

Jason Soulis looked out at the waters and listened to the sighs of the wind and the water.

He was going to like this town. He did already. It was perfect for him.

The waters below him stretched as far as he could see, and the sky at their horizon was changing quickly, growing brighter. He smiled to himself and turned back to the great black mansion behind him. Albert Miles had promised he would like the place, and his old friend had been absolutely right. He had also promised that Maggie would be everything Jason was looking for, and so far she was showing a great deal of promise. Two of them in one day; he let himself chuckle at the thought. The lady in question certainly had initiative.

Yes, he supposed he would keep her.

Assuming she would be willing to be kept, which he doubted.

Jason Soulis walked to his new home, casting his eyes briefly through the window of the boy he had visited during the night. He could sense the woman that slept next to him, fitfully turning in her sleep: he suspected she was a lovely young lady, friendly and shy, and innocent. He would watch her over the next few weeks. She would probably surprise him if he let her.

The wind was still a soft murmur at his back, playing idly with his hair as he closed his eyes for a moment and listened. To the west, not too far distant, he heard a scream that brought a thin smile to his lips.

Someone had found his first victim. He’d been wondering how long it would take.

Chapter 4

I

The car was a complete wreck. The front end had wrapped itself very neatly around a telephone pole, and the engine was halfway out of the hood. What was left of the windshield lay across the entire mess, covered with strands of hair and lightly drizzled in blood. The steering wheel looked more like a pretzel than a proper circle, and the seatbelt had been completely torn free of its moorings.

Brian Freemont looked at Alan Coswell and shook his head. “You mean to tell me someone got out of this and walked away?”

“Screw that.” Coswell lit a cigarette, careful to step away from the wreckage, just in case there might be some gasoline left in the area. It wasn’t very likely. The car had been there for at least a day and the spillage from the ruined tank had long since evaporated. “What I want to know is how anyone driving down this road could miss the fucking car sitting here.”

Brian kept his voice as calm as he could; he was doing a damned fine impersonation of a sane man as far as he was concerned. “No street lights. Not a lot of traffic out here, except on the weekends. Hell, the only thing down this way is a make-out spot.” He knew it well. He’d used it a few times back in high school and a lot more often since he’d joined the force. This was one of his favorite roads for finding a little action on the side.

He thought about a few of his recent conquests. The girls he’d had along the side of the road were pleasant distractions. It was easier than focusing on the shit his life had become in less than twenty-four hours.

Coswell snorted and coughed, a chest cold doing its best to work itself deep into his lungs. That was what he got for being a smoker as far as Brian was concerned. The fact that Coswell felt like shit also helped Brian stay outwardly calm in the face of personal disaster.