Free Conviction: Book 3 of the Detective Ryan Series by Andrew Hess

knock. She was dressed slightly more conservative than he had anticipated. Sheila looked more business casual than a woman going on a date. Her knee length skirt hid her long bronzed legs. The frilly black blouse clung to her neckline, concealing Sheila’s best features. Even her shoes screamed “overly conservative” as she paired the outfit with black wedges.
    It was obvious to the Puppet Master, his target was over compensating for how quick she gave into her animalistic urges the night before. If she didn’t relax with him, it would be harder to get what he wanted at the end of the night.
    “Hi…um…Terrance,” she said. Apparently his name was easy enough for her to forget which pleased the Puppet Master.
    “You look nice,” he lied. He would much rather have the woman from the night before. At least that version of her made him look forward to the end of the night. “These are for you.” He handed her a bouquet of red flowers, the same bold red flowers he liked to buy.
    “Thanks, let me go put these in water and I’ll be right back.”
    He watched Sheila walk away, leaving the front door open. It would have been easy to enter her house, close the door, and kill her before she could fight him off. But only amateurs would make that move. They were the impulsive ones. He was anything but impulsive. He took pride in his carefully crafted and orchestrated plans.
    Sheila returned two minutes later with a smile on her face. The flowers must have done the trick. She seemed calmer and more relaxed than when she answered the door.
    “Are you all set?” the Puppet Master asked.
    Sheila beamed with delight the moment he took her hand and led her to the car. “So where are we going?”
    “I was thinking Shadows.”
    Her eyes lit up when he told her their destination. “I love Shadows.” Her expression was just as the Puppet Master had hoped for.
    When they arrived at the restaurant, he quickly sent a text before leaving the car with the valet. Moments later, a man stood in the doorway and greeted them.
    “I have everything set up for you and your uh, date,” the man said. He motioned for them to follow him inside the building. They walked from one side to the other and exited onto the outside deck. They were brought to a table separated from all others. “Your waiter will be right with you.”
    Sheila sat facing the Mid-Hudson Bridge. She was mesmerized by the soft orange glow of the sunset as it bounced off the water.
    “I hope you don’t mind. I asked my friend to help make tonight special for you.”
    Before Sheila could ask what he meant, the waiter showed up with a chiller, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. “Compliments of the manager,” the waiter interrupted. Pouring the wine into the glasses, he took their order and departed.
    “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” Sheila declared with a taken aback expression.
    “It’s okay. I wanted to.”
    “Why? You only met me last night. I mean, you met me at a bar, and I went home with you after knowing you for an hour or two.”
    “Because I like you. And I know last night wasn’t exactly the perfect way for us to get to know each other, so I figured I would change all that tonight.”
    Sheila took a sip from her wine which seemed to ease the tension in her face a little more. “I’d like that.”
    With the sun setting in the distance, the Puppet Master continued drawing Sheila into a false sense of security by getting her to talk about herself, her family and her friends. After hearing the story of her boss getting arrested for committing multiple homicides, the Puppet Master decided it would be best to dwell on the subject a little more.
    “I can’t believe they arrested her,” he said with surprise. “Do you think she did it?”
    “Claire is too much of a goodie-goodie to hurt anyone. I mean if it was a patient that died, I could understand the family trying to blame her or the hospital for it, but she would never kill anyone