Secret Obsession

by Robin Perini

  “Where’d you come up with that?” Elijah asked.

  “It’s how the spreadsheet tracks dates. The number of days from January 1, 1900.” Noah turned to Lyssa. “Does it mean anything to you?”

  “I graduated high school that year,” she said. “At Thomas Jefferson High School here in Alexandria.” She shook her head. “We graduated in June.”

  “What happened in May?” Noah asked.

  She stood up, pacing back and forth. “Prom.” Her eyes widened. “Bill.”

  “Where was the prom, Lyssa?”

  “In the gym.”

  “Your rendezvous. You’re going back to prom.” Noah grabbed his bag and glanced at his watch. “We’re running out of time.”

  * * *

  LYSSA BUCKLED HER knife around her ankle and pulled out her shotgun. She looked over at Noah. “Are we right?”

  “Bill was one of the victims. Archimedes cut his feet off. Yeah, this is about prom.”

  “How did you ever figure the date out?” she asked, still in awe.

  “I told you I was a geek. I like spreadsheets.”

  She twisted around. Elijah’s truck followed close. Zane was still in New York. CTC was sending a second team, but they wouldn’t get here in time. “Hurry,” she said. “Please.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about your daughter?” he asked finally.

  He picked up speed heading toward Braddock. She let out a long, slow breath. “I’ve kept her a secret for so long. What if...what if he captured you, tortured you? I couldn’t take the chance.” She bowed her head. “I was just protecting her. I’m sorry, Noah. I couldn’t risk it, even for you.”

  “We both tried our best to protect our family.”

  “And failed,” she said. “I should have trusted you. I do trust you.” She gripped his leg. “This guy has known me for ten years. I’m the reason Jack is dead. I’m the reason my daughter will never know her father. Help me end this.” A shuddering breath escaped her. “For Jack. For our little girl.”

  Noah didn’t say anything. Seconds ticked by.

  “Noah?”

  “For Jack,” he said quietly. “And for you.” He gunned the SUV and it sped up. “Did Jack know you were pregnant?”

  “Her name is Jocelyn,” Lyssa said. She couldn’t stop the tears. “I was going to tell him that night. I had it all planned. A celebration dinner, and then I’d bring out my surprise.”

  “The rattle and baby shoes,” Noah finished.

  She gaped at him.

  “I saw the outline in the dust at your place.”

  “You knew?”

  “I suspected,” he countered. “I didn’t know if it was wishful thinking on your part or something more. Reid never said anything.”

  “His sister is a midwife. She delivered the baby then took her to Mary. That’s the last time I held her. All she has of me are a few videos singing lullabies. I hoped, maybe someday, when we met again, she’d recognize my voice, or a song.”

  She clutched Noah’s arm. “You have to promise me. Whatever happens to me, you get Jocelyn out of there. You make sure she’s safe.”

  “Lyssa—”

  “This isn’t up for negotiation. If you have to make a choice, Noah, you choose Jocelyn. Not me.”

  “It won’t come to that.” Noah pulled to the side of the road. “We’re two miles away. You have to drive from here alone. We need him to believe you’re following orders. I’ll be nearby, Lyssa.”

  She studied his face. She believed him. “I know.”

  “Your instincts will be to fight. Don’t. He has a huge ego, but it’s fragile. You need to be smart. Play up to him. Get him to lower his guard. I’ll look for an opening.”

  “What if—”

  “If I can’t get at you for some reason, when he’s vulnerable and least expects it, use the head butt, then I’ll make my move.”

  “Run at him? I thought you said not to fight.”

  “The key is to surprise him. If you’re docile, he won’t expect it. Do you understand?”

  She nodded.

  “No halfways, Lyssa. Don’t hesitate. Give it all your strength. If you use your body weight, it will knock him off center and give you enough time to get out of reach. I’ll be there to take him out. I promise.”

  She reached for her knife. “I know what to do.”

  “We do this together.”

  Noah hugged her close, and she leaned into him, drawing from his strength. They’d get her daughter back. She had to trust in him.

  “Be careful,” he said.

  She nodded.

  He exited the SUV and Lyssa slid into the driver’s seat. She rolled down the window. “I want your solemn promise, Noah. Jocelyn first.”

  “Jocelyn first,” he said, his brow furrowed.

  Noah walked behind her and disappeared into Elijah’s truck.

  Lyssa took a last glance in her rearview mirror and pulled forward. She hadn’t been down these roads since her father had been reassigned right before graduation. Her parents had been killed six months later in a terrorist attack at the Spanish embassy.

  She’d thought at the time nothing would ever be worse. How wrong she’d been.

  “Prom? Who are you, Archimedes?”

  Prom night was the last big event she’d attended in high school. She’d been so excited. Bill Zeigler had been the quarterback of the football team. She’d had a huge crush on him, and she couldn’t believe when he’d actually asked her out.

  Somehow, Archimedes knew about that night. She had no idea how or why.

  Lyssa drove onto the large campus and headed toward the gym. She turned into the deserted parking lot. The sun was high in the sky. She grabbed her shotgun.

  “Don’t be stupid, Alessandra. No guns,” a voice bellowed over a loudspeaker. “You’ve followed instructions so far. Come through the main doors. They’re open.”

  With a curse, she tossed the weapon into the seat, resisting the urge to pat her ankle, where her knife rested.

  “The blade, too,” the voice roared. “You are trying my patience.”

  How could he possibly know?

  A toddler’s squeal sounded through the speaker. Lyssa didn’t hesitate. She unstrapped the knife and removed the small pistol from her other ankle.

  “Very good. You can be taught. I am pleased. Now walk through the front door.”

  Lyssa glanced around the parking lot. The gym loomed in front of her. A gust of frozen wind buffeted her. Somewhere, out of sight, Noah was there.

  She wasn’t alone. She had to believe that. She had to keep calm, keep cool and have faith in someone besides herself, a faith she’d lost two years ago. A faith she struggled to hold on to.

  “Oh, Lyssa. Turn to the west. I have a surprise.”

  In the distance a huge explosion rocked the horizon. Fire and smoke billowed into the air.

  “That was your two friends and their truck. I suggest you enter this building in the next fifteen seconds before I decide your daughter will receive your punishment for betraying me.”

  No. It couldn’t be.

  Black smoke burned. It was from the direction she’d come. Her entire body went numb. It wasn’t possible. Noah couldn’t be dead. Oh, God.

  Her hands shook, her knees quivered. All she could see in her mind was Noah’s ready smile, and his disappointed gaze.

  She hadn’t told him. She hadn’t told him how she felt.

  He’d given her everything, and she’d been too afraid to grab hold of what he offered. She’d done this. She’d caused his death. Now she was on her own, with Archimedes.

  And her daughter.

  She had to get ahold of herself. Remember what Noah had said. He’d believed in her. She could do this
.

  Lyssa shoved through the front door to the gym and skidded to a halt, stunned.

  Silver-and-blue decorations littered the walls and ceiling. Balloons, streamers. It was as if the past ten years melted away.

  Music played softly, Alicia Keys’s “You Don’t Know My Name.”

  In the center of the room, a red, strapless dress hung, a tiara and shoes to match on the floor below it. If it wasn’t her prom dress, it was a close match.

  A baby’s scream echoed through the gym. It was quickly muffled.

  Lyssa whirled around. “Don’t hurt her. Please. I’ll do anything you want!”

  “I know you will,” the silky voice echoed through the room.

  A thin man dressed in a tuxedo walked through a curtain of streamers, a mask still covering his face. He stood several feet away from her.

  “Two years. It’s been two long years,” he said with a smile. “You’ve run me a merry chase.”

  He watched her for a moment and Lyssa shivered under his study.

  “You are more beautiful than ever. And you deciphered my message, which means you are my match.” His arm swept around the gym. “Do you like it? This was how we were meant to fall in love.”

  A chill skittered down Lyssa’s back at the singsong voice. She had no idea who he was. She only knew he had her daughter, and she had to be smart—smarter than Archimedes, smarter than she’d ever been in her life.

  She clung to Noah’s advice.

  “I didn’t understand,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know, my dear.” He stepped back. “Undress.”

  Lyssa couldn’t move.

  He crossed his arms. “Remove your clothes and put on the dress. Before I lose my patience.”

  He rubbed his temple. She didn’t have a choice. Legs shaking, she walked over to the red gown, so very similar to the one from a decade ago. She touched the fabric then turned it to the back. She froze when she noticed the small tear near the zipper.

  “Th-this is my dress.” She staggered back. “H-how...?”

  His smile widened. “You never noticed it disappeared from your closet, did you?”

  She had, actually. She’d thought her mother gave it away. She’d been furious.

  Archimedes circled her. “You danced with him all night. Zeigler wasn’t good enough for you.” He spat out Bill’s name. “He kissed you. He touched you.”

  “You were there?”

  “I watched you push him away when he wanted to take you. I knew you were pure and innocent. I knew someday you would be mine, that I would earn your respect. And your love.

  “I have. The world knows my name.”

  Archimedes adjusted his tie. “Put on the dress.”

  Hands shaking, Lyssa lifted it off the hanger. “Is there a bathroom?” she asked. Maybe she could find a weapon, something to fight him with.

  “No need for modesty, my dear. We will be together for eternity. Infinity and beyond. Remove your clothes.”

  His gaze bored into her. She turned away, trying to hide her bare breasts when she slipped the red satin over her head.

  With the weight she’d lost the past couple of years, it still fit, though it was snug on her breasts and hips. Her body had changed.

  Because of Jocelyn.

  She would do this. For Jocelyn.

  She removed her jeans and pushed them aside, then slipped into jewel-encrusted shoes. Frantically, she searched the gym for something, anything to use to fight him. There was nothing but balloons and streamers. What she wouldn’t give for her gun or knife.

  “Now the tiara,” he said, his voice husky, his eyes heavy with want.

  One glance told her this was no rhinestone tiara. These diamonds were real. Who was he?

  She placed the crown on her head.

  “Look at me,” he whispered.

  She faced him.

  He smiled. “Just as I imagined.”

  She smoothed down the dress. “Can I see my baby now?” she pleaded. “Is she okay?”

  He scowled at her. “She’s not crying, is she? I’m the important one right now. Me. You will pay attention to me.”

  His fists clenched, his frown deepened. She’d messed up. She had to keep him calm. She had to keep him happy.

  Oh, Noah. Now was when he was supposed to force his way into the gym and shoot Archimedes. That he didn’t meant only one thing. Noah really was dead.

  Mustering all the courage she could find within herself, she moved closer to him. She would stay alive, no matter what. She’d find a way out for her and her daughter.

  Somehow. Someway.

  Her body trembling, she stepped forward. “I’m sorry. You’re right. What do you want me to do?”

  He hit the button on a remote, switching to Norah Jones’s “Come Away With Me.” “Dance with me.”

  She hesitated, her gaze flitting to each corner of the room, searching for her daughter. His eyes grew hard. “No tricks, Alessandra. My little remote controls not only your life but your child’s life, as well.” He held out his hand. “Dance with me.”

  Music played over the speakers. She walked to Archimedes, the man who had killed Jack, her first love, the father of her child. The man who had killed Noah Bradford—Noah, who had restarted her heart.

  She placed her hand in Archimedes’s. He squeezed her, his touch firm yet strangely gentle. It was the first time he’d touched her, and she fought back the squirm. She let Archimedes hold her close when she wanted to bring her knee up and run.

  She wouldn’t risk Jocelyn’s life. She couldn’t chance it.

  Lyssa followed his lead, her body stiff against his. His breath hissed against her ear. “I knew we would fit together perfectly.”

  He grabbed her hands and placed them on his shoulders, pulling her close. His body brushed against hers. Nausea formed in the base of her throat.

  A few blinks cleared tears from her eyes. She scanned the room, desperate to locate Jocelyn. She’d heard the cry. Her daughter had to be nearby.

  “Please, can I see the baby?” she whispered in his ear.

  He shoved her away from him. “You had to ruin it, didn’t you? Asking for what you want, never thinking of my needs first.” He clicked the remote. “You’ll learn.” The music stopped. A shiver went through Lyssa. Oh, God, what had she done?

  Archimedes paced back and forth, then in larger circles as if his mind were a racetrack. Was he going to implode right there?

  “It wasn’t the plan,” he muttered over and over again. He whirled on her. “Don’t move.” He raised the remote in the air, then walked across the gym to a closet. He pulled out a handkerchief, turned the doorknob then peeked inside. He disappeared for a moment, but soon dragged out a wooden chair and placed it in the middle of the floor. “Sit.”

  Lyssa had no choice. She sat down.

  Within seconds he had bound her with nylon rope. Her hands and feet anchored together, he finished off with an elaborate knot.

  “First we come to an understanding. Then I allow you to see your child.”

  He turned away from her, lifted his hands and slowly peeled away his mask.

  Lyssa’s heart raced. She would finally see him.

  He faced her.

  Archimedes, the serial killer feared by everyone, looked like, like no one. Lyssa didn’t know what she’d expected. Someone handsome like Ted Bundy. Someone odd like Jeremy Dahmer. This man was ordinary. Plain brown hair, plain brown eyes. No unusual features. He was nothing special. Forgettable really.

  She blinked. And she had no idea who he was.

  He leaned forward. His entire body thrummed with expectation, his expression eager, waiting.

  God, she was supposed to know him.

  Lyssa ave
rted her gaze, desperately trying to piece together his identity. She’d only been at Thomas Jefferson for half of her senior year. Not enough time to make many friends—just Mary. Definitely not time to make enemies.

  No one had stalked her; no one had harassed her.

  His dress shoes thudded two steps. He grabbed her chin.

  “You must know me,” he said. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

  She licked her lips. What could she say? She studied his eyes, his hair. She bowed her head.

  “What’s my name?” he screamed.

  She shook.

  “Answer me!”

  “I...I don’t know. I’m sorry. Please, tell me.”

  He let out a wild cry. “You don’t remember!” The accusation echoed in the gym. “Maybe she’ll help you remember.”

  He raced across the gym to another door. The moment he slammed into the room, a baby’s terrified cry sliced at Lyssa’s soul.

  He dragged a Pack ’n Play halfway across the room, the baby hysterical inside. Lyssa leaned forward, the rope bit into her arms and legs, but she didn’t care. She had to get to Jocelyn.

  Archimedes took a can and sprinkled powder all over the playpen. He held a lighter above her baby. “The formula will incinerate her in seconds. Do you remember me now?”

  Lyssa rocked back and forth. He was going to kill them both. She knew it. If she could knock the chair over and break the wood, maybe she could get free. “Please, please don’t! I’ll go with you. I won’t fight you, just please leave her alone.”

  He shook his head, pacing again. “You are my destiny. We had something special. A moment. You cared. I know you did.” He babbled, rubbing his temple. “That day at the UN, you didn’t remember me then, either.” He glared at her. “I thought you were different from the rest of them.”

  Lyssa strained her memory. Then, in a flash, she saw his face. The day of her big break, the translating job that would have made her career. A week before Jack’s murder. Someone had stopped her, told her how proud he was of her. She’d ignored him. Pushed him aside.

  “You congratulated me,” she said softly.

  He smiled a strange, sickly smile. “But you still don’t know who I am.”

  “Maybe this will help.” He removed a pair of thick glasses from his tuxedo pocket and put them on.