Thirst No. 3 Read Free

chamber and knows it’s loaded, but he’s not sure what kind of bullets the gun holds.
    I glare at him. “They’re sharpshooters, and right now they’re taking aim at your head. If you want to live, give me back my gun.”
    My gun
. I sound like I’m pleading. He laughs.
    “Drop it, there’s no one here except us. But I’m confused. Why did you decide to take me alone? Did you want all the glory?” He lifts the gun and points it at my head. “Answer me.”
    I hesitate. “Harold Proveman.”
    “Who’s he?”
    “The father of Linda Proveman. One of the first women you raped.” I pause. “He posted a large reward for the capture of the man who defiled his daughter.”
    Danny nods in understanding. “You thought you’d collect the reward rather than take the ‘well done’ pat on the back the FBI will give you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Liar. You’re not FBI at all. You’re some cheap down-on-her-luck private eye. No trained FBI agent would act as clumsy as you.” He cocks the revolver. “Does Mr. Proveman know who I am?”
    “Yes.”
    He puts pressure on the trigger. “Are you sure?”
    “He knows you go to school here. But I never gave him your name.”
    “Because you wanted to be sure to get all the reward first?”
    “Yes.”
    He smiles and lowers the gun. “How much am I worth, by the way?”
    “A hundred thousand dollars.”
    He whistles, impressed. “What did Mr. Proveman plan to do with me once you turned me over to him?”
    “You don’t want to know.”
    He smiles some more, before yanking the cuffs from my hands and spinning me around. “Put your hands behind your back.”
    I do as he commands. “You don’t want to do this, Danny.”
    “Why not?” He cuffs me and drags me down the steps toward the parking lot. The light in the east has grown, but the track is still empty. I speak in a pitiful voice.
    “I have a plan that can make both of us a lot of cash. I have another suspect that fits the profile of Linda Proveman’s assailant. I can turn him over to her dad and collect the reward and split it with you.”
    “Why would Mr. Proveman believe this other guy did it?”
    “I can use your semen sample and tie it to him. That’s all the proof the man needs. He’s connected, Mafia, a real hothead. He’ll murder whoever I bring him. I swear, by noon today, you can have fifty grand in your pocket.”
    “No.”
    “At least think about it!”
    He slaps my head with the gun. “I’ll be worth a hundred times that in a month. And I don’t trust you. You plan on lying to the guy who hired you, which means you’re probably lying to me right now.” He pauses. “I’m sorry, babe, but you’ve got to disappear.”
    He drags me toward his Honda Accord, which is the main reason for my charade. I don’t want to kill him and dispose of his body using my own car, not with all the new techniques for uncovering evidence that modern-day cops have at their disposal. Better Danny drive me to his own dumping ground in his vehicle. Wiping away my prints will only take seconds. I’m new to the city, he has lived here for years. He knows the area better than me. He’ll know the perfect spot to make a body disappear.
    I knew ahead of time he was not simply a rapist, but a killer. I could refer to a dozen signs he gives off that make it obvious. But the simplest answer is best. A killer knows another killer, and I have killed thousands.
    He doesn’t shove me into the trunk but forces me to drive. There are holes in my story, and he senses them, like any dangerous man would. He wants to know everything he can before he kills me. He doesn’t want any surprises messing up his draft day.
    In the car, he cuffs me to the steering wheel and digs thegun into my ribs. Yet I refuse to talk unless he lets me listen to the radio.
    “What the hell?” he mumbles. “Are you nuts or something?”
    “I like music. Don’t you?”
    “Alisa, look, I don’t think you grasp what’s going on here.”
    “Do you want