Illusions of Death by Lauren Linwood Page A

plenty of strong meds.”
    “Mr. Campbell?”
    He nodded. “Yeah. As long as we’re here, I thought I might check. I won’t be too long.”
    Brad gave him a wave and grabbed a seat. Logan hit the elevator bank.
    When the doors opened, his gut told him he saw too much activity for this time of night. He hurried down the hall and spied Karlyn and Martha Campbell huddled together.
    He stood a moment and decided to leave. It looked as if Broderick Campbell was in crisis. He didn’t need to invade the family’s privacy.
    Then his eyes met Karlyn’s. They shone like large emeralds. Drawn to them, his feet automatically stepped toward her.
    Staff in scrubs began filing out of the room. Martha Campbell edged closer to the door, but he and Karlyn remained locked eye to eye. Logan sensed a doctor coming out, taking Martha’s elbow and leading her back to Karlyn.
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Campbell. His heart gave out.”
    The older woman wrapped her arms around her daughter and cried softly. Karlyn remained dry-eyed, staring up at Logan.
    The doctor touched Karlyn’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Campbell. You’ll need to see the desk nurse regarding making arrangements.”
    The physician left. Martha pulled away from her daughter and entered the room. Logan watched as she went to her husband and fell across the bed, dissolving into tears. He looked back at Karlyn.
    Without hesitation, she walked to him. Logan folded her into his arms.

Chapter 9
    Atlanta was sprawling. Impersonal. After the seven murders in the city, he decided to challenge himself. Up the ante. Mortonville proved a great hunting ground. Not far from his residence. But he played by his rules.
    Number One Rule—Never shit in your own backyard.
    He’d always followed the rules.
    So he looked around and decided this medium-sized suburb would take more skill to keep from being detected. He’d found several specimens that would do nicely.
    Like Ted Harrison.
    Variety proved key in this series. Good old Randy had been fifty-one. A widower with no kids. Ted here was only twenty-three. A fireman. Engaged to a breathtaking blond whom the guy had just fucked three times in the last two hours. The blond had left twenty minutes ago. She lived with her parents, so he guessed they expected their baby back home on a weeknight.
    That was fine. Ted lived alone. And it was only nine-thirty.
    Plenty of time to have some fun.
    He eased the closet door all the way open from the slit he’d watched through as Ted and Blondie did it twice in front of him. He’d heard the first time when they arrived hours earlier.
    They hadn’t made it upstairs. And when they did, he’d enjoyed the show they put on. Especially knowing it was the last time for them to be together.
    Maybe he could attend the funeral and comfort the blond.
    Part of him wished he could’ve killed the fiancée, too. But that would disrupt the pattern. The pattern was the most important thing about this series.
    The Rainbow Killings.
    His most famous group yet.
    He smiled as he heard Ted the Fireman singing joyfully in the shower.
    Ted would be singing a different song. Very soon.
    His own blood sang in his veins as he began to think of all the wonderful things he and Ted would accomplish tonight. As a fireman, orange definitely would be his color.
    He couldn’t wait for Ted to walk through the door so they could get started.

Chapter 10
    Karlyn glanced at the navy suit she’d picked up off the rack at a local department store. She hadn’t brought much in the way of clothes, despite the fact that she’d been told her father’s condition was serious. Maybe she’d been in denial as she packed.
    She headed downstairs, which bustled with activity. Caterers had arrived from Atlanta an hour earlier. Broderick Campbell left strict orders as to what food should be served after the funeral, down to the condiments.
    Her mother, looking lovely in a lilac suit, stood with Graydon Snow. The editor had deep