Imola Read Free Page B

really.”
    “Seems to me you aren’t having too much trouble getting Eugenia out of your system. You’re working on collecting a harem.”
    “A harem?” Jason sat up straight. “What the hell isthat supposed to mean?”
    “You’re screwing Dr. Leahy,” Donnie said. “And you can’t get that killer out of your mind, either. Right? What’s her name?”
    Jason slumped back into the chair. “Agnes.”
    “Yeah. I can see that one in you. You’re that transparent.” Donnie slid his hands from his foot to his knee. “Falling for someone who’s impossible to obtain is my gig. Are you horning in on my deficiencies?”
    “I care about her, but without expectations. Nothing like that, anyway. I got really close to her during the investigation. I think she’s as much a victim as the men she killed.”
    “I can think of several families who’ll disagree with you on that.”
    Jason pulled his hands down to his lap and leaned forward a little. “Do you know anything about dissociative identity disorder? Multiple personalities?”
    “No. And neither do I.”
    “I’m serious. I ran into Agnes once when Lilin was in control. She was a totally different person.”
    “Lilin?”
    “You know the story, don’t you?”
    Donnie pinched the thumb and forefinger of his right hand next to his lips and inhaled an imaginary joint. He held his breath and exhaled with a shrug.
    “Lilin and Agnes were twin sisters. The real Lilinwas killed by their father, Eddie, when the twins were four years old. And there was abuse before that. April thinks Agnes saw it all. And that’s not all. Eddie was also Agnes and Lilin’s grandfather. He molested his own daughter. She was the twins’ mother.”
    “Who’s April?”
    “Dr. Leahy. I thought you were up on this, Mister Information Merchant. Anyway, Lilin is Agnes’s other personality—the one who did the killings. She’s a piece of work. Sexy as hell. And twice as deadly. When the murders first started, they called her the menstrual murderer. For some reason, she only killed when she was menstruating. Slit the men’s throats and cut off their dongs. You remember that part, don’t you? Every man in northern California thought twice before approaching a woman in a bar.”
    Donnie grabbed his crotch and nodded.
    “They think she used the severed part for a final orgasm.”
    “Now that’s what I call PMS.”
    “It’s what I call a thrill kill. And Agnes is this mousy, innocent introvert. The exact opposite of Lilin.”
    “Lilin sounds like fun.” Donnie bobbed his head up and down. “You got the hots for Agnes or for Lilin?”
    “Lilin swiped a razor within inches of my neck the one time I met her. I was nearly one of her sex toys.” Jason felt the chair spring and shifted on the seat again. “And I’m not attracted to Agnes. I just want to make sure she gets better.”
    “Yeah. Right. Does Dr. Leahy know you’re porking her just so you can stay close to Agnes?”
    Jason lowered his hands onto the chair arms. He felt something sticky on his left forearm. He lifted the arm to inspect it. “I can see Agnes with or without April.”
    “Then why’s your face so red? You know I can see through you like you’re a Baggie. It’s been five months now. Dr. Leahy is going to start hassling you pretty soon, if she hasn’t already. You can’t hump a woman more than two or three times before she starts thinking about wallpaper and children’s names.”
    Jason lowered his arm. “You’re an expert? When was the last time you were with a woman more than two times?”
    “Getting laid regularly doesn’t solve all the world’s problems, little brother.”
    “It beats the alternative.”
    “Maybe I’m saving myself for the perfect one-night stand.”
    Jason looked at his watch. “I rest my case.”
    Donnie crossed his legs again and straightened his back. “Hypothetical, little brother. If you had to choose, who would you take? Me or Agnes?”
    “Get real.”
    “I’m