1st to Die by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Author:James Patterson & Maxine Paetro [Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction / Classics
ISBN: 9780759524545
Google: DY1adEvMVRAC
Amazon: 0446610038
Goodreads: 13137
Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 2001-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 62

OUR FLIGHT BACK to San Francisco left at 4:00 p.m. I hated, hated to leave without a name. Especial y when I felt we were so close.

Somebody famous.

Kinky.

Why were they protecting him?

Anyway, we had accomplished a lot in just two days. It was clear to me that al three murders were committed by the same person. We had a

strong lead tying him to San Francisco, a possible identity, a confirmed description. The trail was warm here, and would grow ever hotter when we got home.

Both investigations would proceed local y. Cleveland would contact the Seattle police force to do a search of the bride’s home. Maybe

something in her personal effects, an address book, an e-mail in her computer, would divulge who her San Francisco lover was.

Waiting to board our plane out of Cleveland, I cal ed my

voice mail for messages. One each from Cindy and Claire inquiring about my trip, our case. Reporters pushing for my comments on the

Cleveland crime.

Then I heard the throaty voice of Merril Shortley. She had left her California number.

I punched the number as fast as I could. A housekeeper answered, and I could hear the wail of a baby crying.

When Merril got on, I could tel that some of her cool veneer had cracked. “I was thinking,” she began, “there was something I didn’t mention yesterday.”

“Yes? That’s good to hear.”

“This guy I told you about? The one Kathy was hooked up with in San Francisco? I was tel ing you the truth. I never knew his name.”

“Okay, I hear you.”

“But there were some things … I said he didn’t treat her wel . He was into intense sex games. Props, scenarios. Maybe even a little filming.

Problem was, Kathy liked the games.”

There was a long pause before Merril went on. “Wel … I think he pushed her, forced her, to do more than she was comfortable with. I remember marks on her face, bruises on her legs. Mostly it was her spirit that was broken. None of us were exactly bringing home Tom Cruise then, but there was a time when Kathy was real scared. She was in his control.”

I began to see where this was heading. “It’s why she moved away, isn’t it?” I said.

I could hear Merril Shortley sigh on the other end. “Yes, it was.”

“Then why did she continue to see him from Seattle? You said she was involved with him right up to the end.”

“I never said,” Merril Shortley replied, “that Kathy knew what was good for her.”

Now I saw Kathy Kogut’s life take on the shape of tragic inevitability. I was sure she had fled San Francisco, tried to break away from the grip of this man. But she couldn’t break free.

Was that true of the other murdered brides?

“I need a name, Ms. Shortley. Whoever this was, he might’ve kil ed your friend. There are four others. The longer he’s out there, the greater the chance he’l do it again.”

“I told you, I don’t know his name, Inspector.”

I raised my voice above the din in the terminal.

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