Page 113 of Her Last Whisper

Truth…

“What do you think, Detective?” He laughed.

“Did you kill her?”

“Uh-oh, the secret is out now.”

“Why?” she asked, trying to keep him talking so that she could gain strength.

“Why? You mean you haven’t dissected or profiled me yet? Ah, but you have some blanks to fill in… like… I hated my mother—she lied. I hated my aunt—she lied. And…” he leaned down, bending over, and stared at Katie face to face, “I hated my foster mom too. Why? She lied.” He laughed as a few specks of spittle hit Katie in the face. “I guess I have mommy issues. What do you think, Detective?”

Truth…

Katie watched Randy. His hair was dark, crew-cut short, and parted strangely on the right side. His eyes were dull, but darted back and forth, seeing everything in the room. She remembered what McGaven had said.

“What’s the matter, Detective? Can’t talk? All choked up?”

“Who was she?” she whispered.

Truth…

“Who?”

“Tara,” said Katie.

He stopped, looked down at her. “What did you say?”

“Did you kill Tara too?” Katie braced for the worst.

“Don’t you ever speak of Tara. She was an angel. I would never… NEVER hurt her, ever. You understand me?” He took another swinging kick at her side.

Katie closed her eyes. The situation was overwhelming but she tried to gain her breath. She wondered where McGaven was—her thoughts jumped to the worst conclusion.

No.

“You couldn’t save Tara,” Katie pushed in a low tone.

“How many times do I have to tell you? Theyliedto me.”

“Why?” Katie managed to say.

“Why, you ask. Oh, I bet you think I hate women, right? Well, that’s not true. What I do hate is the LIES! Lies that come so easily to women! I’ve heard them my whole life—so now I just like to hear them confess.” He made strange sniffing sounds followed by clearing his throat.

Katie began to put together the clues that they had lived in this housing. “Did she burn in the house?” she guessed.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you bringing up Tara?” he said in anguish. “Why…?” he whispered.

“Why didn’t you save her?”

“They said… they said,” he began to unravel. “They said they would be fine… they said…”

It suddenly hit Katie. “You couldn’t save Tara or the baby.”

There was a sudden stilted silence.

“No,” he whispered. “The doctor said they would be okay. The nurse said they would be okay. The paramedic said they would be okay. BUT THEY WEREN’T OKAY!” He attacked Katie. “Everyone LIED to me!”

There was nothing that she could do but take the hit—and the ones that came after. The pain radiated through her body causing her to grit her teeth. She couldn’t catch her breath. The familiar prickly feeling that usually led to a panic attack—or worse—began to crawl up her arms and legs.