Killer Dreams Read Free Page A

ready.”
    “You taught me. I’m ready.”
    “You may kill him, but it will still tear you apart.”
    “Killing didn’t tear you apart.”
    He made a face. “You should have seen me a few years ago. I was a basket case.”
    “All the more reason to kill Sanborne,” Sophie said. “He shouldn’t be allowed to live.”
    “I agree. But you shouldn’t be the one to do it.” He paused. “You have Michael. He needs you.”
    “I know that. And I’ve made arrangements with Michael’s father to take care of him if necessary. He loves him but he couldn’t take it during that first year. But Michael’s much better now.”
    “He needs
you
.”
    “Shut up, Jock. How can I…” She rubbed her aching temple and whispered, “It’s my fault. They’re still doing it. How can I let them go on?”
    “MacDuff knows a lot of important people. I could ask him to call someone with your government.”
    “You know I tried that. I called everyone I knew. They patted me on the head and told me that I was understandably hysterical. That Sanborne was a respected businessman and there was no proof he was the monster I said he was.” Her lips twisted. “By the time I got to the fifth bureaucratic bastard of a senator, I
was
hysterical. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t believe me. Yes, I could. Payoffs. All the way up the line.” She wearily shook her head. “Your MacDuff would run into the same wall. No, it has to be this way.” Her lips tightened. “And you’re wrong, it wouldn’t tear me apart. I wouldn’t let Sanborne hurt me any more than he’s done already.”
    “Then let me kill him for you. That’s a much better solution.”
    Jock’s tone was casual, almost without expression, she thought. “Because it wouldn’t bother you? That’s a lie. It would bother you. You’re not that callous.”
    “Aren’t I? Do you know how many kills I’ve done?”
    “No, and you don’t know either. That’s why you’ve helped me.” She pressed the start on the coffeemaker and leaned against the counter. “One of the guards saw me. Maybe more than one guard. I’m not sure.”
    He stiffened. “That’s bad. Were you caught on the video camera?”
    She shook her head. “And I was wearing a coat and my hair was tucked under a cap. I’m sure no one saw me until I started to leave, and then only for a minute. It could still be okay.”
    He shook his head.
    “Yes, it
will
. I’ll make it work. No one’s going to call the police. Sanborne doesn’t want to call attention to anything out of the ordinary at the facility.”
    “But they’ll be on the alert now.”
    She couldn’t deny that. “I’ll be careful.”
    Jock shook his head. “I can’t allow it,” he said gently. “Maybe MacDuff has infected me with his sense of responsibility. I killed my personal demon years ago, but I pointed you in the right direction to get Sanborne. You might never have found him if I hadn’t led you to him.”
    “I’d have found him. It would have just taken me longer. Sanborne Pharmaceutical has facilities all over the world. I would have checked every one of them.”
    “And it had taken you eighteen months to get that far.”
    “I couldn’t believe it. Or maybe I couldn’t accept it. It was too ugly.”
    “Life can be ugly. People can be ugly.”
    But Jock wasn’t ugly, she thought as she gazed at him. He was perhaps the most beautiful human being she had ever seen. He was slender, in his early twenties with fair hair and features that were completely remarkable. There was nothing effeminate about him, he was totally masculine and yet that face was…beautiful. There was no other way to describe it.
    “Why are you looking at me?” Jock asked.
    “You wouldn’t want to know. It would offend that manly Scottish pride of yours.” She poured herself a cup of coffee. “I had a patient last night whose name was Elspeth. That’s Scottish too, isn’t it?”
    He nodded. “And did she do well?”
    “I think so. I hope so.