Page 32 of By the Time You Read This (Raisa Susanto #3)

Dearest Lana,

I know you wanted to stop me and never could.

I could feel you behind me, not every step of the way but most of them. Sometimes I went to hotter climates in the winter because I remembered how you didn’t like the snow. Sometimes I took a break because I could feel you growing weary of the hunt. And then just when you thought I had hibernated—or god forbid, died—I would kill again, just for you. Just so you knew I was still there.

Waiting for you.

You never could catch me. The only reason you did was because I set a trap in the first place. Did you ever think about that?

Some people say all serial killers eventually want to be caught.

Maybe I did, not by the police, but by you.

You were never smart enough, though. Or skilled enough.

What if I gave you a do-over? Would you thank me or would you curse me? Or would you do both in the same breath—because you could be redeemed but your soul would be ripped asunder in the process.

(Can you hear Larissa rolling her eyes at my purple prose? What can I say? I have my vices.)

There is someone out there who reminds me of myself.

Will you stop them in time?

I don’t think you can.

But if you do, maybe you’ll win a prize.

Your favorite sister,

Isabel