ONCE BOUND by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

The man waited a little while after the train left the station. Then he got up from his seat and walked from one passenger car to another until he got to the café car. Sure enough, there she was, sitting alone at a table, her eyes focused on her smartphone.

She hadn’t noticed him, and he decided not to catch her attention—not just yet.

Instead he stood at the end of the car and looked at her.

Her name was Sally Diehl, and she looked markedly like the other two women—the same slender face, curly brown hair, slight build. It was that resemblance, of course, that had drawn him to her. Her unwariness, too, was somehow seductive. She didn’t yet know that these traits and characteristics marked her for death.

He shuddered at the thought.

He felt a strong urge to turn around and make his way back through the cars to his seat.

I won’t do it, he tried to tell himself. Not this time.

But some palpable force, much stronger than his own will, physically restrained him.

And the audible voice that had been saying “soon” since yesterday was whispering …

“It’s time.”

That palpable force gave him a push, and he stumbled into the café car and into Sally’s field of vision.

She looked up with a pretty smile.

“Well—imagine meeting you here!” she said.

She laughed, and he did too. It was a joke, of course. They’d seen each other three times before in this very café car. As far as she knew, it was only a coincidence that they happened to be on the same train from time to time.

He walked over to her table.

“I see you haven’t ordered anything yet,” he said.

“Hadn’t gotten around to it.”

“I’ll go get us something,” he said.

Her eyes twinkled.

“That would be nice, Nash,” she said. “I guess you already know what I want.”

He walked over to the counter and ordered two sandwiches and a couple of cappuccinos. As he stood there waiting, he wondered why he’d told all three women that his name was Nash. What did it matter, really?

But of course, it did matter.

If any of the women were to escape from his grim intentions, he certainly wouldn’t want them to know his real name.

When the sandwiches and cappuccinos were ready, he carried them back to the table and sat down.

“Were you visiting your brother again?” he asked.

Her expression saddened and she nodded. He knew she made these trips between Caruthers and Chicago to visit her younger brother, who was being cared for in a drug treatment center.

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

Sally shook her head tiredly.

“Angry this time,” she said. “Trevor wants out of there, says he’s fine, that thirty days is enough time, and he’s ready to get on with his life. I just know that’s not true. He’s not ready. We’ve been through this before. He needs the full sixty days. If he gets out now, he’ll be using again in a couple of weeks.”

She looked into the man’s eyes.

“The truth is—well, this is something I don’t suppose I’d tell just anyone.

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