S.Costas: This could get dangerous.

And because he’d been the one encouraging her to communicate with Malcolm, he’d feel responsible if something happened to her. He had to be careful.

BrownEyedGirl: He has no reason to hurt me. I don’t have any money.

Maybe she didn’t have money, but Malcolm had contacted her for a reason. Was she simply someone to brag to? Was he bored? Lonely? In love with her? Hoping to meet for a sexual rendezvous?

Or did he sincerely regret having passed her up in his younger days? He’d divorced his first wife and murdered his second. He didn’t seem very easy to please when it came to women, but there was no way to tell what was going on in his mind.

BrownEyedGirl: Isn’t that why he murdered your ex-wife? For her money?

S.Costas: That was part of it, but there could be other reasons.

Exactly what those reasons might be Sebastian hadn’t yet deciphered. Emily had asked that they meet for lunch. She’d been upset when she called him. But she’d scheduled the meeting for a week away, when Malcolm would be on a trip to Vegas with his brother, and been killed before that day could come.

S.Costas: Did he give you anything new to go on today besides letting you know that he was a cop-and that he remembers your anniversary?

BrownEyedGirl: Just more of the same.

S.Costas: The same what?

BrownEyedGirl: Flirting. Compliments. What you’ve read before. He tells me he wishes we’d gotten together. That his life would’ve been different if we had. His comments are getting more and more explicit, of course, and-Oh boy, he just signed on!!!!!

Sebastian sat up straighter.

S.Costas: Malcolm?

BrownEyedGirl: Yes! He’s sending me a message. It says, ‘Hey, you still up?’ Should I respond?

Would it be smarter to play hard to get? Probably. But Sebastian was getting low on patience. And money. He had to press forward before circumstances forced him to give up.

S.Costas: Definitely. He might be ready to suggest a time and place.

BrownEyedGirl: I have to tell you, I’m beginning to have second thoughts about setting up a meeting.

S.Costas: Why?

BrownEyedGirl: Because I’m afraid of what you might do if you have the chance. I’d hate to see you shoot him and then spend the rest of your life in prison.

S.Costas: Don’t worry about me.

Only three years younger than he was, Mary was lonely after her divorce. But, contrary to what Constance believed, their relationship had never even bordered on the romantic.

S.Costas: Just see what he wants.

She didn’t get back to him right away.

Anxious to learn what was going on, he got up and paced until the words It’s no good appeared on his screen.

What did that mean?

S.Costas: He won’t meet?

BrownEyedGirl: No. He says he’s had one hell of a night and he’ll be busy the next few weekends.

Son of a bitch.

S.Costas: Okay. Then I need you to do one more thing for me.

BrownEyedGirl: What’s that?

S.Costas: Let me take over from here.

BrownEyedGirl: What do you mean?

S.Costas: I want to be the one communicating with him. There’s no need for you to have anything more to do with this. It’s not safe.

And it was too frustrating working through a third party. They were so close and yet they couldn’t pin him down.

BrownEyedGirl: How do I let you take over?

S.Costas: Simple. Give me access to your account. I’ll be you for the next week or two, see if there’s anything I can do to convince this bastard to trust me.

BrownEyedGirl: You’re crazy. He’ll be able to tell you’re not me. You don’t write like a girl.

S.Costas: I can fake it.

Sebastian had read the transcripts of their instant-message sessions. At least the ones Mary had saved. If he wasn’t sure how to respond to a certain question, he could look back through the pages she’d given him to see how the subject had been handled before. Or he could contact her. If he couldn’t reach her in time, he’d sign off and blame it on a faulty connection. Already convinced he was in contact with his ex-girlfriend, Malcolm wouldn’t suspect a thing-provided Sebastian didn’t say something obvious or stupid.

BrownEyedGirl: But this is my only e-mail address.

S.Costas: I’ll open another account for you, and I’ll forward anything that comes in on this one that isn’t related.

BrownEyedGirl: You don’t understand. E-mail is my life right now. With two little kids, I can’t get out of the house to meet people.

She was purposely ignoring the solution he’d offered, didn’t want to be cut out of the loop. This was the one thing that kept her occupied at night-hearing from Malcolm and then reporting on it. Sebastian actually called her some nights and they formulated her responses together.

S.Costas: I shouldn’t need it for very long. Like I said, I’ll forward anything that’s unrelated. AND I’ll pay you $1000 for the inconvenience.

Thinking of his nearly empty bank account, Sebastian grimaced, but he knew if anything would smooth the way, this would. She lived on a very tight budget.

BrownEyedGirl: You don’t have to pay me. You know I’d do it just because we’re friends.

S.Costas: You could use the money, and I’m happy to help.

He didn’t think it would be difficult to persuade her to accept. She thought he was rich.

BrownEyedGirl: If that’s what you want. But you have to keep me up-to-date, okay? I’d like to know what’s going on. I’ve nursed this thing along for weeks and want to see the end.

Sebastian could certainly understand that. Okay, he said, and she gave him her password.

Five

Several hours later, Sebastian was still up, keeping an eye on Mary’s buddy list while rereading the transcripts of her and Malcolm’s previous online sessions. If he had the opportunity, he wanted to be sure he could pick up the conversation with full knowledge of everything that’d been said before.

He’d put on a pair of boxers and a T-shirt, but hadn’t been able to relax enough to sleep. Malcolm was signed on. He’d been on for most of the night. Sebastian imagined him chatting with other women, stringing them along with compliments and promises of flowers, just like Mary.

How could he bring this bastard out of hiding?