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He returned to her front and said, “I’m not a bad man. I’m honestly not. I’m trying to cleanse the world of vermin just like you do in your job, but I’m going to do it with a single event instead of one at a time.”

Lia realized he was crazy. Like, literally batshit crazy. He had a strange flicker in his eyes, both of them dancing around, as if he was on a different plane. She’d seen it before with addicts, but she knew he hadn’t taken drugs. He was clinically insane.

She said, “Let me go now, and we can both do what’s right. You do yours and I’ll do mine.”

He laughed and said, “It’s too late for that. You’ve found my little brood of bodies, but I promise you, from the depths of my soul, I didn’t want to kill them. I really didn’t. Well, except for that last one. I set her up to find you, and you graciously took the bait.”

She said, “You don’t need to do this. It’s not too late for redemption.”

She saw his eyes open at the term. “Redemption? Yes, yes. That’s what this is all about. The Rapture is coming soon. You’re a good woman, so you’d be one of the chosen, but I’m going to have to send you earlier than the rest of humanity.”

He went in front of her, judging her mouth’s angle to his waist, and said, “Yes. This will work.”

She let her false sympathy disappear, spitting out, “What the fuck do you want?”

He grabbed her hair and shook her skull, saying, “I want what was taken from me. I want pleasure. I want to eliminate the scourge of humanity in the world. You can help with the first, and by your death, you’ll help with the second.”

He released her hair, letting her head fall back against the chair. She said nothing. He went to the backpack he’d brought and said, “Have you ever heard of ISIS?”

She remained mute.

He said, “Of course you have. Savages. Evil incarnate. Spawn of that religion called Islam.”

He pulled out what looked like a collar, only it had lumps in it, and a small digital display like a watch. He said, “They are the reason the world is so twisted. They represent all that is wrong on our earth, and it’s been that way since the Crusades.”

He approached her and she began to struggle. He slapped her face and said, “Be still. This thing isn’t that precise. You move too much and you might set it off. It has a motion detector, but I’m not sure how sensitive it is.”

She said, “What is it?”

He placed it around her neck and cinched it tight, using a Fastex buckle to complete the loop, just like a dog collar. He said, “It’s called an ISIS necktie. Something they used to great amusement in Syria. They would put it on a man, then tell him if he could run outside the range of the signal, he’d live.” He held up what looked like a key fob. “Of course, that never happened. His head was popped off his body by the explosives as he ran away.”

Lia had thought she was dealing with a serial killer. She now knew it was much, much worse. This man was something else entirely. She began to pant, the adrenaline flooding through her body, her skin beginning to sweat.

He cupped her chin and said, “Don’t worry. I won’t use this to kill you. It’s just a precaution to gain compliance.”

Breathing through an open mouth, feeling the death coming, she said, “Compliance for what?”

He said, “I’m ashamed to show you. But I’m glad you took off your bra. It might help.”

He reached forward and ripped open her shirt, her breasts spilling out. He said, “Oh, nice. Not as good as the other whores, but still pretty good.”

He cupped one, looked in her eyes, and said, “You understood about the red cord. You can help me.”

She slammed her eyes closed and he slapped her again, saying, “Youunderstandme. Don’t do that. Look me in the eye.”

She did, seeing an abomination. She said, “Idon’tunderstand you. Why are you doing this?”

He said, “I didn’t want to kill those women. I really didn’t. I served the Church faithfully, doing humanitarian deeds all over the world. In Syria, I realized that what they were doing wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to put a Band-Aid on the pain and destruction. What was needed was to eliminate the pain and destruction.”

Hesitantly, she said, “So what does that mean?”

He smiled and said, “It’s the red cord. The walls of Jericho need to come down. The Israelites must take control of the promised land. I’m the spy for Jericho, only I’m going to do it worldwide.”

She said nothing, not understanding what he was blathering about. He reached for his belt, releasing it. He dropped his pants to his knees, then pulled down his underwear.

She was revolted, her eyes going wide, her head rolling back, the entire insanity of the moment threatening to break her.

He grabbed her hair, jerked her forward, and said, “If you can finally give me pleasure, I might let you live. We’re one, me and you. We understand what’s needed.”