EIGHTEEN

He sat on the hard metal seat, his feet on the row in front of him, his arms resting on his knees, a smile on his face.

He was so damned smart. He couldn’t get over just how smart he was. All those years, everyone thought DelVecchio was the smart one. Man, if they only knew how he’d been outsmarted-his mind had been played with all these years.

If they could only know how much he’d taken from Sam… how many sleepless nights he’d caused him… how much pain.

Plenty more where that came from.

It had all been so very simple, so easy. Even now, he marveled at how easy it had all been, how clever he’d been, right from the start.

Of course, his very cleverness was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because no one-no one-could ever guess the lengths he’d gone to over the years to break Sam DelVecchio. A curse, because, well, because the very nature of the game ensured that no one could ever know, would ever know, how he’d bested the best over and over. But it was okay, he assured himself, because in the end, in the very end, Sam would know all, and he’d understand that the price that was exacted was merely what was due.

Sam had ruined his life. It was only fair.

He watched Sam move through the crowd, his arm around the pretty woman with the long black hair. She might do, but he really didn’t like dealing with women. It just didn’t seem quite right. But then, there was the boy. Sam was obviously very fond of him. Of course, there’s the brother…

So many targets to chose from, only one act left. Well, two, actually, but the last was going to be very special, and that was reserved for Sam.

Oh, yes. Payback was a bitch.

NINETEEN

What do you mean, Tom left?” Sam frowned at his sister after she’d given him the news. “When did he leave?”

“Around three. He said he was going to watch Tommy’s football practice and would try to meet up with you there. From there, he said he was going home.” Andrea was tall and slender and in midpregnancy with her third child. “And before you start yelling, keep in mind that Tom is older than you and he’s very stubborn, and he’s going to do what he wants.” She held a hand up in protest when Sam started to speak. “What he wanted to do was watch his son on the football field, then go back to the farm to see how his hired guys were getting along. He was bored out of his mind here today. And yes, I tried to explain to him that you were going to be annoyed but as usual, that really wasn’t much of a deterrent.”

“Is Kitty still here?”

“No. She went with Tom to the field. They were going to pick up Gil from school on their way back to town.” She glanced at Fiona and said, “This is a sorry introduction to Sam’s family. This is merely the usual DelVecchio drama.”

It was apparent to Sam that Andrea was reading more into Fiona’s presence than there was, but he did nothing to correct her. Instead, he kissed his sister on the cheek, patted her growing tummy, and said, “It’s not your fault. Tom is who he is: one stubborn cuss. I should have known he wouldn’t be able to hang around for a whole day doing nothing. It isn’t in his nature.”

He assured Andrea that the police car would remain on the scene for as long as they needed it, but didn’t really think she’d be in any danger.

“This guy has never gone after a woman,” he told her. “I think there will be two more targets, the last one probably being me. The next one… I’m not sure who that’s going to be.”

“You think it could be Tom,” Andrea stated.

“I think there’s a chance it could be him,” Sam replied slowly. “I’m thinking the killer’s going to go after someone close to me. Why else draw me back here unless to heighten the threat? I could be wrong about that, but I don’t think I am. My instincts are telling me he wants to close this out soon.”

His sister’s face had gone completely white, and he realized how insensitive he’d been in speaking so candidly.

“On the other hand, Sam could be completely off base about all of this. And as much as I hate to be the one to break this bit of news, he really isn’t infallible. His read on this could be all wrong,” Fiona hastened to tell her. “Let us worry about it, okay? You have enough to deal with here. But be assured that your home and your family will be protected.”

“I’m not worried about me,” Andrea told her. “I’m worried about Tom. If you think the killer is going to go after someone close to you-most likely a man, you said-then who is going to be protecting Tom?”

“I will be,” Sam said.

“That’s great, Sam.” Andrea stood with her hands on her hips, clearly not impressed. “But who’s got your back?”

“I do,” Fiona told her. “I’ve got Sam’s back.”

“Well,” Andrea said, “let’s hope that’s enough.”

“It will be,” Sam assured her. “Fiona’s got a reputation as a real marksman.”

Fiona drew back one side of the big shirt she wore partially buttoned over her tank top.

“I don’t leave home without it.” She tapped on the small handgun in the black holster that rode her waist on the right.

“I was raised around guns. I have a lot of respect for them,” Andrea told Fiona before kissing her brother good-bye. “Be careful.”

He hugged her again and promised, “I will be.”

Once they were back in the car, Sam’s temper-stifled for the sake of his pregnant sister-erupted. “I’m going to rip him a new one.”

“Let it go, Sam. From what you and Andrea both said, Tom isn’t likely to change. You said it yourself: he’s going to do what he wants.”

“Kitty’s too young to be a widow. His kids need him.” His eyes shielded by his sunglasses, he pulled away from the curb with enough speed to catch the attention of the police officer who sat in a car across the street. Sam waved as he passed by.

“You need to get a grip,” she told him. “Scaring the crap out of your entire family is not going to help the situation.”

“My family doesn’t react to anything unless they’re scared shitless. They all think they’re immortal.”

“Like you do?”

“I’ve seen too much. I know I’m-”

“Oh, can it. You’re running around as if you don’t have a target on your back.”

“He’s saving me for last, Fiona. He’s not going to come after me until he’s finished with the sixth act.”

“That may be the most likely scenario, but you don’t know that for certain. And you don’t know that he hasn’t killed that last victim already. Maybe there was one-one other one-that we didn’t find, Sam. Someone we hadn’t heard about. Maybe he’s on his last one already and we just don’t know it.”

When he didn’t reply, she continued.

“I’m calling John, and I’m going to ask him to send out some backup. The farm is too big and fronts onto several different roads. Two people cannot possibly ensure that no one gets close to the house. If you want to ensure that Tom and Kitty and the kids are safe, we need more people.”

“All right.” He dragged a hand through his hair with impatience. Giving in had never been easy for him. “But I’m not letting Tom off the hook.”

And he did not.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I told you to stay at Andrea’s and you just take off without even telling me?” He started yelling the minute he walked into Tom’s house.

“Since when do I take orders from you? I had things to do,” Tom replied calmly. “I wanted to see my boy. I figured I’d see you at the field. I ran into Blake Carter and he told me he’d seen you in the parking lot but that you’d already left.”

“Did you think to call my cell phone?” an exasperated Sam asked.

“No. I left mine at home. It never works around here half the time anyway. And I figured you’d be stopping at Andie’s on your way back, so you’d know where I was.”

“And if I’d gotten back to the farm and you weren’t here?”