Free Now You See Me by Rachel Carrington

shouldn’t have been so careless. How else could Ramsey have gotten her address? She must have let it slip somewhere, given it to a source. And Ramsey had found the right person to pay off.
    If she’d listened to her parents, taken a job that wasn’t as risky, she wouldn’t be in this situation. She might be bored out of her skull, but it would certainly beat being this terrified.
    “Kate?” Brad shook her shoulder gently.
    She pulled herself out of her thoughts and summoned a smile from somewhere. “I was just thinking if I’d chosen a different career path I wouldn’t have set myself up as a target for John Ramsey.”
    “It wasn’t your career that attracted him, Kate. Ramsey has a certain type he likes.” Brad winced. “As much as I hate to say it, you fit the bill.”
    “Still, I made myself public.”
    “His other victims didn’t and he still found them. The perverts and sick bastards are more determined to find you than you are to stay hidden.”
    Kate forgot all about her coffee. “That’s comforting.”
    He lifted her cup and handed it to her, then opened the lid of the trunk. She peered over his shoulder. The interior held an array of guns, from small snub-nosed pistols to what looked like an AK-47.
    “You didn’t mention you moonlighted as an arms dealer.”
    Brad chuckled. “These are all legal, and I have no intention of selling any of them. They’ve saved my life on many occasions.” He picked up one of the pistols and closed the lid. “When I first became a cop I thought a gun was the only thing that could save my life. It didn’t take me long to figure out that self-control played a larger part.”
    Entranced by the sound of his voice, Kate leaned into him, her shoulder brushing his.
    “Ramsey thinks he’s going to win this sick little game of his because he believes he has power over you. Once he realizes you have control, he’ll see defeat.” He handed her the pistol.
    Kate turned the black steel over in her hand. “He’s motivated by fear. As long as he thinks I’m scared, he feels like he’s winning.”
    “Exactly. Take away his power and he loses.”
    “It sounds a lot easier than it is. Somehow he’s managed to find someone crazy enough or desperate enough to torture me. Odds are good that person isn’t all about the control.”
    “True, but that person’s strings are being pulled by Ramsey. If this suddenly becomes less fun for Ramsey, your stalker will go away.”
    Kate swallowed hard, stared down into the mug of coffee. “Or Ramsey will just tell him to kill me.”
    Brad took the gun from her hand and laid it on top of the table. “That won’t happen.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “Because Ramsey would never give the kill to someone else.”
    The response sat in Kate’s stomach like a lead brick. Brad was right. Ramsey wanted to kill her himself. He’d never give the thrill away. She’d seen the crime scene photos. He’d reveled in the kill. Allowing someone else to take his pleasure would be tantamount to admitting his own defeat.
    “So how do you suggest I show no fear?” It sounded like a feat of gigantic proportions, considering her legs were in a permanent state of trembling.
    Brad turned his head to look at her. “You don’t let Ramsey see you, for one. He can’t scare what he can’t see. That will frustrate him, which serves your purpose. Being a target of a serial killer would scare the hell out of anyone, but after Saturday this will all be over.”
    “We don’t know his overeager assistant might not decide to take things into his own hands.”
    “The police will find that guy long before Ramsey breathes his last.”
    “And you know this how?”
    Brad smiled. “Because he’s careless, and careless criminals always get caught.”
    Kate released her hair from the clip securing it and dragged her hands through the long strands. Tension knotted the muscles in the back of her neck and she rolled her shoulders forward in a vain effort