Taking, page 18
There were several indoor swimming pools, and she’d just done a few laps in one of them. Then she’d relaxed in a Jacuzzi, dried her hair, and finally come on over to the clubhouse.
She wasn’t used to all this luxury. Roughing it was more her style. As far as she was concerned, life at the Delphi campground was no more like real camping than a trip on a cruise ship.
And this clubhouse was much too cheerful for her liking, with its holiday decorations that emphasized angels and crystals and other New Age paraphernalia, along with the bland, droning versions of Christmas songs piped in over the speakers.
No, she really and truly didn’t belong here.
She looked at her watch and saw that it was very late.
He’s definitely not going to show, she thought.
It had been silly of her to ever imagine he would.
And yet she thought it was probably just as well.
She signed for her drink, adding a tip that she definitely couldn’t afford, and walked on outside. Again, she was startled by the cold—a real change after having just driven up here from Arizona. Fortunately, she was warmly dressed in slacks and a sweater.
She actually enjoyed such variations in the weather. It kept her aware that she was traveling.
As she walked along the paved and well-lighted path that led to her camper, she smiled to see that snow was starting to fall. Of course it would melt off tomorrow, but tonight was going to be quite pretty.
Just then, a shadowy figure stepped right in front of her, silhouetted for a moment against an outdoor floodlight.
A familiar male voice said …
“Hi, Sally. Where are you off to?”
She squinted and asked, “Pete? Is that you?”
The man stepped squarely into the light. It was Pete, all right, looking as good to her as he had back at the truck stop. She was sure his sweater was cashmere.
“Who else were you expecting?” he said with a rakish smile.
Sally felt suddenly and strangely ill at ease, as though little bells were going off in her mind. People who lived her kind of lifestyle had to develop a warning system regarding certain other people, although she knew that hers didn’t always work as well as it should. She’d felt quite at ease with Pete back at that truck stop, even enthusiastic over him. Now she just felt confused over her own reactions.
She stammered, “I—I just figured you weren’t going to show up.”
Pete shrugged and said, “I told you I’d be here. I always keep my promises.”
For some reason, that struck Sally as an odd thing to say.
She took a quick glance around. No one else seemed to be outside at this late hour.
For an awkward moment, she and Pete just stood there, facing each other. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.
Finally Pete touched her arm and said, “Come on, let’s get out of the cold. My RV’s just a short walk away.”
Well, this is what you came here for, Sally told herself. You’ve already spent a fortune just for a chance to get to know this guy.
She walked beside him toward his RV. Her own trailer was also nearby, which felt somehow reassuring.
She really wasn’t sure why she was feeling so nervous now that it seemed her romance-novel fantasy might be coming true …
It all seems a little too unreal.
As they drew near Pete’s majestic Winnebago, she noticed something peculiar. She didn’t see any power cord or water line running from the utilities hookup to the RV. Unlike her own trailer, his RV didn’t seem to be hooked up at all. It was as if he were boondocking—only right here in the campground.
She gulped and thought …
Something’s wrong here.
As she hesitated again, Pete said with a smile …
“It’s getting colder out here. Are you coming in or aren’t you?”
Sally felt a little embarrassed at her own reluctance. Sure, she could turn down his invitation, but …
What kind of a free spirit would do that?
As she followed him the last few steps to his fancy motor home, she figured she knew at least one thing for sure …
This is going to be another adventure.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
Riley’s teeth were clenched as she drove down through the mountains, away from the Thorpe Overlook and Crayfish Creek Campground. She was furious with herself.
“Stupid,” she growled under her breath. “I was so stupid.”
Crivaro chuckled from the passenger seat. “What are you complaining about? We caught a bad guy, didn’t we? And it was your doing.”
It was all Riley could do not to explode with anger.
She replied, “We caught some ordinary dork, Agent Crivaro—a stupid, harmless guy who happened to have a stash of pot that he didn’t know how to get rid of.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Crivaro’s shrug.
“Well, the last I heard, pot’s illegal,” Crivaro said. “Especially smuggling and selling it. Although I hear tell that might change one of these days, at least in some places. Meanwhile, you successfully tracked down a bona fide lawbreaker, and that’s something, isn’t it? Maybe you should reconsider this whole BAU thing. Maybe you’ve got a career in the DEA.”
Crivaro chuckled some more at this remark.
“You think this whole thing is funny, don’t you?” Riley grumbled.
Crivaro sighed and said, “Kid, in our line of work, you’ve got to laugh once in a while, even when things don’t seem very funny. Maybe especially at times like this. The job will kill you if you don’t keep your sense of humor. That’s one thing they didn’t teach you at the Academy, I guess. Too bad. It’s time you learned.”
Riley noticed that Crivaro wasn’t laughing anymore. His voice sounded tired and discouraged. She knew he’d just been trying to find something to make light of, now that things were going so badly.
And it’s all my fault, she thought.
“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I had a hunch, and I insisted that we follow it, and—”
Crivaro interrupted, “Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. A hunch is a hunch. It’s not rocket science, and it’s not brain surgery either. Hunches are wrong a good percentage of the time. Mine are and yours will be too.”
Riley drove in silence for a moment. Then she said, “The killer’s still out there.”
“I know,” Crivaro replied.
“He might be getting ready to kill somebody else right now. Or he might have already done it.”
“I know that too,” Crivaro said.
“So what do we do now?” Riley said.
“That’s a good question. I was hoping you could tell me. I was all for staying right there at Crayfish Creek until we could think of some new strategy. Maybe get a good night’s sleep there first, because I think we could really use it. It was your idea to head right out driving God knows where.”
Riley shook her head and thought …
“God knows where” is right.
She’d insisted on leaving as soon as the campground’s security people had George Carver safely in custody and the police were on their way. The evidence against the man was obvious, and the security guys had seemed happy enough to take credit for the arrest.
She and Crivaro could write or phone in additional statements if anybody needed them.
Riley had felt as though she couldn’t stand another minute in that place where she’d made such a stupid mistake.
But now that they were on the road again, she had no idea where they were going.
At least it was a bit of a relief to be descending out of the mountains. She’d found it rather nerve-wracking to drive this Class C behemoth through snow on the road at those higher altitudes. Their RV wasn’t equipped for that kind of travel, and she knew they were lucky to have made their way out without getting stuck. By the time they got back to the main highway, the roads were clear. Any snow that had fallen here had melted off promptly.
Rather than retrace their route back toward Arizona, Riley turned right on the highway. Then she said to Crivaro, “Get the map out of the glove compartment.”
“Why?” Crivaro asked.
“Just do it, OK?” Riley said. “Give me some idea of where we might be headed. Because I sure as hell don’t have any idea.”
Crivaro let out a soft groan. He clicked open the glove compartment and took out the map, which rattled as he unfolded it. He peered closely at it with a little penlight and said in a mildly sarcastic tone …
“Well, if we keep heading west like this, we’ll wind up in beautiful Zion National Park. Or we can turn north and wind up in the equally beautiful Dixie National Forest. The thing I want to know is, why would anybody want to go camping in any of these places at this time of year?”
Riley grumbled, “Campgrounds for RVs, Agent Crivaro. Or even better, motor home resorts. We’re looking for a place to stay for what’s left of this night.”
“Well, we could drive right back to Crayfish Creek and—”
“That’s not going to happen,” Riley snapped at him. “Find somewhere that we can rest and regroup.”
Riley was startled by the sharpness in her own voice.
Who do I think I am, giving him orders like that?
She wasn’t sure why Crivaro didn’t snap her head off in reply, except that he seemed too tired and listless to bother.
As he rustled the map some more, Crivaro said, “Well, we’ve got a lot of choices in this part of the country. There’s the Water Sedge Campground, Kehoe Gulch Resort, Indiangrass Campground, and the Delphi RV Resort—”
“The what?” Riley interrupted.
“The Delphi RV Resort. Have you heard of it?”
Yes, I have, Riley thought.
It took her a moment to remember just when or where, but then it came to her. Back at the Spring View Campground, the women she’d talked with had spoken of Delphi in the most glowing way …
“… a very blessed place …”
Riley also remembered what the women had said about the people who went there …
“… the very best people …”
“… evolved people …”
“… people with the highest self-esteem …”
“… people who know their true self-worth.”
Riley heard Crivaro say, “Well, that sounds nice.”
Riley blushed to realize she’d said at least some of those words aloud.
I guess I’m pretty tired too, she thought.
Crivaro added, “Sounds pretty ritzy, though. I’m not sure we should be living too high on the hog at the Bureau’s expense. Maybe we should go with one of the cheaper places.”
Riley didn’t reply. Instead, her own words were rattling in her head now—things she’d said when she’d been trying to profile the killer. Aside from the obvious fact that he was well off financially, she remembered describing him with words like …
… arrogant … superior … entitled …
She also flashed back to something Crivaro just said …
“Why would anybody want to go camping in any of these places at this time of year?”
Then she remembered something else one of the women had said.
“Nobody who is anybody would ever miss out on going to Delphi.”
Riley felt a sharp jolt of intuition.
He definitely considers himself to be somebody, she thought.
Somebody very special.
Somebody with lots of self-esteem.
Somebody very … evolved.
She said to Crivaro, “Tell me how to get there. To Delphi.”
“Huh?” Crivaro said.
“Give me directions,” Riley said.
Crivaro checked the map again. “You’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “It’s just off this highway, on the right. Should be about an hour.”
Folding up the map, Crivaro asked, “Would you mind telling why you want to do this?”
Riley tried to think of how to explain her gut feeling. But before she could say a word, Crivaro said …
“You know what? Skip it. I’ll take your word for it. I’ll leave the whole thing in your capable hands.”
Riley was startled to see that he was unsnapping his shoulder harness.
What’s he going to do? she wondered.
Was he going to tell her to pull off the highway and let him out? Was he so discouraged that he was giving up on the case—and on her as well? Was he just going to disappear into the night?
Instead, he awkwardly began to climb between the two seats back into the living section of the RV.
“Where are you going?” Riley asked.
“To get some sleep,” Crivaro said. “I’m bone tired. Right now I’m no use to you or anybody else.”
He disappeared into the darkness behind her.
Riley felt shaken.
He sounds so discouraged, she thought.
Now that she thought about it, he’d been sounding that way a lot lately. Actually, he’d seemed depressed much of the time since they’d flown out to Arizona.
Now Riley felt a pang of guilt. All this time, she’d been thinking about herself—whether Crivaro was angry with her, whether he even wanted her to be his partner. It really hadn’t occurred to her …
Something is really bothering him.
Probably something that had little or nothing to do with her.
She wished she could ask him about it, but she figured he was already lying down and dozing off by now. And besides, he hadn’t seemed to be in the mood to talk about anything.
Maybe later, she thought.
Meanwhile, she’d made a decision for both of them, and Crivaro seemed to be resigned to accepting it.
They were going to the Delphi RV Resort.
This time I’d better be right, she thought.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
The man was pleased as the woman named Sally accompanied him the last few steps toward his RV. In glow of streetlamps that illuminated the swirling snow, he was again struck by her healthy, vigorous appearance.
That’s not going to last, he told himself.
Very soon, she’d be looking pale and weak, just like the others.
She’d seemed startled to see him just now when they met on the outdoor path.
I caught her off guard, he realized.
Of course, that had been part of his design. When she’d sat alone in the clubhouse sipping her drink, he’d been standing outdoors in the shadows for a while. Although he’d told her he’d meet her in that clubhouse, he’d never had any such intention.
Watching through the window, he’d observed her body language. He’d seen how she’d fingered the rim of her glass in boredom … how she’d slouched in her chair as it had seemed to occur to her little by little that she was going to be alone here at the Delphi Campground after all. When he felt sure she’d been about to decide that he wasn’t going to show up, he’d returned to his motor home to wait for her.
He’d parked where he could watch the walkways she’d be taking on the way back to her own RV. So when she’d given up waiting and started walking back to her trailer, it had been easy to abruptly appear in front of her on the path.
A masterstroke.
He was proud at how disarmed she’d been, and it gave him a feeling of power. And power, after all, was what all these special events were about. He was taking back power over his own life after years of feeling fearful and helpless deep down inside, in a part of his psyche where nobody else could see his pain.
He knew this last murder would complete the process once and for all.
He felt absolutely sure of it.
He heard Sally gasp as she stepped up through the doorway into his motor home. He smiled at her obvious astonishment as he walked in behind her.
The interior of his elegant camper was lit entirely by candlelight. This was partly out of necessity and partly out of cunning. He hadn’t hooked up his RV to any of the campground facilities, including electricity, and he didn’t want to use up his battery. He needed to be able to pull out of here in a hurry in order to carry out his plan.
But he also found the effect of the candles stunning, rather romantic, and even a bit Gothic.
He only hoped it wasn’t too much for her. He didn’t want to spook her into trying to leave. Not that he had any intention of letting her get out of the RV alive. But he wanted this killing to be different from the others, much less abrupt.
This time he actually wanted to spend some time with his victim, savor the experience, get to know her better than he already did.
And he’d made all the necessary preparations.
The dining table was set with two crystal glasses and an open bottle of red wine, plus a tray with cheese, crackers, and other snacks. His crowning touch, he thought, was the serrated knife for slicing the cheese. It was the same knife he’d used to kill three other women.
And he was certainly going to use it to kill Sally.
“Please,” he said to her. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Sally didn’t look especially comfortable. Her mouth hung open a little, and her eyes were wide with amazement. Nevertheless, she sat down at the table.
The man sat across from her, watching her closely.
She stared at the candlelit wine and snacks and stammered …
“Pete, I—I don’t know about this.”
The mention of his made-up name took him slightly aback and her words worried him a little.
With the most charming smile he could muster, he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. I just wanted our evening to be … special.”
Sally laughed nervously and said, “Oh, it’s special, all right. It’s just … not what I’d expected.”
He chuckled and said, “I’m told that I have that effect on people. I hope this is all right.”
He waited to hear her say it was all right.
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