The Last Victim Read Online Free PDF

expression softened fractionally.
    “Look, we know what happened to you,” he said. Moving closer, he rested a hip against the desk beside her and folded his arms over his chest in rough approximation of her posture. Mirroring: that’s what he was doing. It was an easy way to establish rapport with a subject, but unfortunately for him she was well aware of the technique. Deliberately she allowed her arms to drop. But her subconscious took over again as her fingers curled around the edge of the desk and held on. “We know what you went through the last time this creep crawled out of the woodwork. We know this is tough.”
    “It’s the same MO,” Crane told her. “We think it might be the same guy. We think the Boardwalk Killer is back.”
    A wave of dizziness hit Charlie, and she had to swallow hard before she could speak.
    “No,” she said again. She realized she was breathing way too fast. God, was she going to hyperventilate? Please, not here. Not in front of them . The Boardwalk Killer was the name the media had bestowed on the slayer of Holly and her family. Because Holly’s body, like those of the other five girls he had snatched after slaughtering their families, had turned up under the boardwalks that are ubiquitous in Atlantic Coast beach towns. “It can’t be him. It’s been fifteen years. Serial killers almost never start up again after that long a period.”
    “I don’t know what to tell you.” Bartoli shrugged. “Maybe he was out of the country. Maybe he was in jail. Maybe he had some kind of illness that kept him housebound. It might even be a copycat. The thing is, though, we don’t have time to waste trying umpteen different ways to come at this. We think it’s the same guy. You saw him. You lived through one of his attacks. You’re the only one who saw him and lived through one of his attacks. That makes you the best person available to help us. If you need to go home to pack a bag, we’ll take you. If you need to contact people, let them know you’re leaving with us, that’s fine. Whatever arrangements you need to make, whatever makes this work for you, we’ll help. But we need to get going as soon as possible. Preferably within the hour.”
    “I can’t do it.” Charlie shook her head, knowing even as she said it that refusing was the only choice she could make. Time and much effort on her part had papered over the gaping wound in her psyche left by that night, but it was still there, still raw and weeping and capable of causing her a horrific amount of damage if she allowed it to be ripped open again. “I’m sorry, but no. I’ll do what I can from here, but I can’t go with you. I can’t get involved in this in a personal way.”
    “We need you.” Letting his arms drop so that a palm rested flat on her desktop (mirroring again? Charlie wondered as she became aware of her own posture; if so, it was more subtle this time), Bartoli leaned in, held her gaze. The intensity in his eyes made Charlie want to close her own. Anxiety tightened her stomach, dried her mouth.“Aside from your personal history, you’re the foremost expert on serial killers in this part of the country. Your assistance with this case was requested by the Bureau, and has been cleared through official channels all the way up to the top dog in the Justice Department. Bottom line is, you’ve been assigned to us for as long as we need you. And you’re the best hope Bayley Evans has.”
    “I’ve been assigned to you? Without anyone asking me?” Charlie’s voice sharpened with welcome indignation even as the image of Holly as she had last seen her rose in her mind’s eye. Oh, God. Another girl’s life might depend on what I do next . She was suddenly bathed in cold sweat.
    I’m not strong enough .
    “Temporarily. Until this case is over. Technically, I guess you’re free to decline.”
    “I want to help.” Even while she said it, she shook her head in dogged refusal, because she couldn’t, just