Free SAFE BY HIS SIDE (MANHUNT) by Rita Herron Page A

lose the will to live and beg to die. Then he would do it again.
    But in the end, he’d revive them, use his precious knife to stab them in the heart and carve an X in their chest
    An image of Nan lying on the bathroom floor covered in blood flashed in her mind, and Lenora gripped the wall, unable to look as Micah entered the room.
     

     
    Micah exhaled in relief at the sight of the empty bathroom. The water in the tub was dripping, the tub full and starting to overflow, so he turned off the water.
    “He used to dunk us in an ice bath and hold us down until we choked and lost our breath,” Lenora said behind him.
    He scrubbed a hand over his face, blotting out the image.
    Had Simpleton left the water running to remind Lenora of his sick twisted ways?
    Demented asshole.
    Lenora was trembling, so he clasped her hand and led her back through the house. She paused at the bookshelf and stared at the framed photographs arranged on the shelf. Several of Nan and an older man he assumed was her father, then a picture of Lenora and Nan.
    The two of them stood side by side in front of the college in their caps and gowns, their arms linked as they showed off their diplomas.
    “I can’t believe she still has that picture.”
    Micah cleared his throat. “Maybe she just didn’t know how to help you after the trial,” Micah said. “When some people suffer tragedies or undergo traumatic experiences, it changes them. The people around them often don’t know what to do or say.”
    “I know I changed, I was difficult to be around,” Lenora said softly. “I don’t blame her for pulling away.”
    He rubbed her arms to warm her. “That’s not what I meant. She was your friend. She let you down when you needed her most. That’s hard to forgive.”
    Pain wrenched her face, but outside, the sound of an engine cut through the air, and Micah released her. “That’s probably the crime van.”
    He hurried outside to meet them and explained their suspicions. “Look for hair fibers, fingerprints, anything we can use to prove that Simpleton was here.”
    The team went to work, and he ushered Lenora back to the car. “I want to look over the files and transcripts from the trial,” Micah said. “Simpleton was interviewed by a court- appointed shrink. Talking to her might give us some insight where he might take Nan.”
    “We know it’ll be an isolated area, an abandoned house or building, some place with a basement that’s dark,” Lenora said, her voice regaining strength.
    “Yes, but there might be some other detail that we missed that might help narrow it down. Maybe a special childhood place, an area that meant something to him.”
    “Call her and let’s go see her,” Lenora said.
    The silence was deafening as he sped away. A few miles down the road, he spotted a coffee shop and pulled in. “I have those files in my trunk. I can look at them and find the number of that psychiatrist while we have coffee.”
    Lenora’s cell phone dinged, and she snatched it from her purse. When she glanced at the caller ID screen, her face crumpled.
    “What?”
    She handed him the phone and he read the text.
     
    Dearest Lenora,
    One for the party. One to go.
    Soon it’s time you joined the show.
    Love and kisses,
    Robert
     
    Micah cursed and pulled Lenora up against him, then wrapped his arm around her
    shoulders as he escorted her inside. They ordered coffee and muffins, and he laid his briefcase on the table.
    “Who is he going after next?” Lenora said in a haunted voice.
    “You tell me. Who else are you close to?”
    “No one except Jenny,” she said. “And I already warned her.”
    “Has she left town yet?”
    “I think she was stopping by today to turn things over to Wilma before she left.” Panic flared in her eyes. “I’d better check in.”
    She punched her friend’s number while he opened the file and scanned it.
    Lenora had been Simpleton’s only survivor so her testimony had been key to the prosecution. Other