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

evidence was muddy due to a mix up at a lab and Simpleton’s ability to cover his ass. Damn crime shows. Between them and the Internet, perps could virtually find a textbook lesson on how to get away with murder.
    “What? Listen, Jenny, I don’t like that you’re there alone. I’ll come right over.”
    Micah frowned. He was surprised Troy left her alone for a minute, but Jenny seemed as stubborn as Lenora and probably insisted.
    “That man already kidnapped one of my friends from college. I don’t know who he’s coming after next, but I’m worried about you.” A pause. “Okay, keep the door locked. And call me as soon as Troy comes back.”
    Lenora tapped her fingernails on her coffee cup when she hung up.
    “She’s there alone?”
    “Yes,” Lenora said. “Troy went to get them some food and should be back any minute.”
    “Take a deep breath, and call back in a few minutes. If he’s not back, we’ll go over there.”
    “I’d feel better if we went now,” Lenora said.
    He’d do anything for her. “All right.” He closed the file just as her phone jangled again.
    “Jenny?” Another pause. “Okay, great. Now close up the shop and go some place safe with Troy.”
    She looked relieved when she hung up. “Do you see anything in the file?”
    “Here’s the shrink’s name and contact information.” Micah called the number, and spoke to her secretary. “I need to see Dr. Rowan.” He identified himself and explained the situation, and she told him to come as soon as possible.
    Lenora stood. “Let’s go.”
    Fifteen minutes later, they were seated in the doctor’s office. Dr. Rowan was tall and slim with a short, dark bob of hair and square glasses. Thankfully she worked with the police and courts, so privilege wasn’t a problem. With a woman’s life hanging in the balance, she had to talk to them anyway. “I heard about Simpleton’s escape,” she said.
    “We need insight to find him. What can you tell us?”
    “Robert Simpleton was severely abused as a child. His mother was schizophrenic, and treated him horribly. She punished him with beatings, using anything she could find from a broomstick or belt to tree limbs to whip him. She used to make him cut his own switch for her to use.”
    The woman paused, her short fingernails drumming over the man’s file. “She filled a bathtub of cold water and dunked him over and over as another punishment. He lost consciousness more than once, but managed to survive.” Her brows drew together. “Of course he was scarred permanently.”
    “She raped him?”
    Dr. Rowan nodded. “Repeatedly. Again she used various objects. She also allowed men to come in and use him. She…was amused by it.”
    Lenora massaged her temple as if the doctor’s comments were disturbing her. As if she had sympathy for Simpleton.
    He didn’t feel sorry for the asshole. Sure, Simpleton had a tough childhood and shouldn’t have been abused, but that didn’t justify his abuse against innocent women.
    “In my opinion, the women he tortured personify his mother,” Dr. Rowan continued. “He’s finally getting his revenge against her for what she did to him.”
    “We’re trying to figure out where he’s holding Nan Purcell,” Micah said. “Is there anything in his background that might help us? Maybe a specific place his mother used to take him? Some place meaningful?”
    Lips pursed in thought, the doctor opened the file and skimmed her finger along a section. Seconds later, she lifted out a childlike drawing of an old Victorian house that looked haunted.
    “This is a sketch of the house he grew up in, where his trauma first occurred,” she said. “If Mr. Simpleton believes this is his last chance to punish his mother, he might want to recreate the same setting where he was abused himself for his victims.”
     

     
    Robert had been watching Jenny, the girl who worked with Lenora, but some big oaf of a guy was dogging her like she was in heat. He’d have to wait