Scream for Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

these old online articles don’t have pictures. I was trying to find a photo of Alicia.”
    Luke shot him a long-suffering glance. A computer expert, Luke was often appalled at Daniel’s lack of what he considered basic computer skills. “Give me the laptop.” In less than three minutes Luke sat back with a satisfied, “Got it. Take a look.”
    Daniel’s heart thudded to a stop.
It couldn’t be.
It was his tired eyes playing tricks. Slowly he leaned forward and blinked hard. But she was still there. “My God.”
    “Who is she?”
    Daniel jerked a glance back to Luke, his pulse now racing. “I know her, that’s all.” But his voice sounded desperate. Yes, he knew her. Her face had haunted his dreams for years, along with the faces of all the others. For years he’d hoped they’d been faked. Posed. For years he’d feared they were real. That they were dead. Now he knew for sure. Now one of the nameless victims had a name.
Alicia Tremaine
.
    “You know her from where?” Luke’s voice was firmly demanding. “Daniel?”
    Daniel calmed himself. “We both lived in Dutton. It makes sense that I knew her.”
    Luke’s jaw went hard. “Before you said you ‘know’ her, not ‘knew.’ ”
    A spurt of anger burned away some of the shock. “Are you questioning me, Luke?”
    “Yes, because you’re not being honest with me. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    “I have.” He stared at her face. She’d been beautiful. Thick hair the color of caramel spilled over her shoulders and there had been a sparkle in her eyes that hinted at mischief and fun. Now she was dead.
    “Who is she?” Luke asked again, his voice quieter. “An old girlfriend?”
    “No.” His shoulders sagged and his chin dropped to his chest. “I’ve never met her.”
    “But you know her,” Luke countered cautiously. “How?”
    Straightening his spine, Daniel walked behind the bar in the corner of his living room, pulled the
Dogs Playing Poker
painting from the wall, revealing a safe. From the corner of his eye he saw Luke’s brows go up. “You have a wall safe?” Luke asked.
    “Vartanian family tradition,” Daniel said grimly, hoping it was the only tendency he shared with his father. He dialed the combination and pulled out the envelope he’d stored there on his return from Philly the week before. He picked Alicia Tremaine’s picture from the stack of the others just like it and handed it to Luke.
    Luke flinched. “My God. It’s her.” He looked up, horrified. “Who is the man?”
    Daniel shook his head. “I don’t know.”
    Luke’s eyes flashed fire. “This is sick, Daniel. Where the hell did you get this?”
    “My mother,” Daniel said bitterly.
    Luke opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Your mother,” he repeated carefully.
    Daniel sat down wearily. “I got the pictures from my mother, who’d left—”
    Luke held up his hand. “Wait. Pic
tures?
What else is in that envelope?”
    “More of the same. Different girls. Different men.”
    “This one looks like she’s been drugged.”
    “They all do. None of them are awake. There are fifteen of them. That doesn’t count the pictures that are obviously cut from magazines.”
    “Fifteen.” Luke blew out a breath. “So tell me how your mother gave them to you.”
    “More like she left them for me. My father had the pictures first and—” Luke’s eyes widened and Daniel sighed. “Maybe I should start from the beginning.”
    “That would be best, I think.”
    “Some of this I knew. Some my sister Susannah knew. We didn’t put it together until last week, after Simon was dead.”
    “So your sister knows about these, too?”
    Daniel remembered Susannah’s haunted eyes. “Yes, she does.” She knew much more than she’d told, of that Daniel was certain, just as he was certain that she’d suffered at Simon’s hand. He hoped she’d tell him in her own time.
    “Who else?”
    “Philly PD. I gave Detective Vito Ciccotelli copies. At the time I