A Glimpse of the Dark Side: Adult Paranormal Erotic Romance Collection by Eden Laroux

Got her info somehow, followed her home, spied on her for a
few weeks, and put together a way to get her out of the house."
    She was recapping the early events of Lianna's
kidnapping for January's benefit. They were sitting in the
visitors' area of the hospital where Lianna had been recovering for
the past day. Lianna was well enough to talk now, and the agents
had had a chance to take her initial statement.
    Apparently, Brian had hacked Lianna's email and
forged a fake note from a boy she liked, asking her to meet him.
"Not only that," Agent Talbot continued, "but we were able to
connect him to at least three murders over the past fifteen
years..." she paused. "Including, of course, Lori Daniels."
    January nodded, dazed. She had already put two
and two together when she saw Brian's face. She remembered him well
from high school-a shy boy, not sociable, but friendly enough. Very
interested in mathematics and computers. He didn't have many
friends, and she vaguely remembered talk of some kind of tragedy in
his family-a car accident, or maybe even a suicide. He had had a
crush on Lori, had asked her out several times, in fact, but she
had turned him down as nicely as she could.
    "I just can't believe that he murdered her,"
January said. "Lori, I mean."
    "I don't think he meant to," Agent Talbot said
quietly, "He had written her a letter to come meet him that night.
He wasn't trying to trick her. But it sounds like she thought the
letter was written by someone else- a boy she liked better. When
she saw Brian, she was disappointed and that made him angry. Lori's
murder was an accident, but it changed him." She opened a file
folder and showed January pictures of Brian's other victims. They
all looked like Lori. "The other ones were not accidents."
    January felt numb. She turned away from the
pictures. She couldn't look at any more pictures of Lori.
    Agent Talbot put the folder away. "The only
thing we can't figure out, though, is why he kept Lianna alive so
long," she said. "He killed all the other girls within days, but
Lianna was with him a whole week."
    A nurse walked over to them. "Which one of you
is January?" January lifted her hand.
    "Lianna would like to speak to you," the nurse
said. "Please, keep it brief-she still needs a lot of rest."
    When January walked into Lianna's room, the
Morgans were there.
    Mrs. Morgan stood up, came to January and hugged
her without saying a word. January held her as long as the older
woman needed it.
    "Mom, Dad," Lianna said from the bed. "Could I
just talk to Ms. Morrison alone, please?"
    Mrs. Morgan let January go, and she and Mr.
Morgan left the room.
    January sat down by the bed. "You can call me
January, you know. Or just Jan. I think we're pretty
well-acquainted by now."
    Lianna smiled. The hospital staff had cleaned up
her bruises and combed her hair, and she was looking more like the
lively young girl in the photographs in her room. She had a sweet,
lovely smile. "I didn't want my parents to hear what I'm about to
tell you," she said. "I don't want them to know how close they- how
close I came to- " She paused, not knowing how to continue. Her
eyes told January that she didn't want to give words to the
thought. January nodded her encouragement.
    "The thing is," Lianna said, "he was going to
kill me. I know he was. I could feel it, the way I've always just
been able to feel things sometimes.
    "But then, when you started talking to me in my
head, it was like you woke something up. I didn't just feel things
anymore, I could see and hear what he was thinking."
She shook her head, frustrated. "I'm not explaining it very well.
It's not like seeing or hearing. I just knew what was going
through his mind, in a way I've never been able to before.
    "I knew what he wanted. I knew what would make
him mad. I knew what I had to say to keep him talking." Her face
started to crumble and her voice became unsteady. "To distract him
so he wouldn't..." she started to cry.
    January reached out and put her