Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (24 page)

Anna
forced him to look at me.
“
What do you mean?
”

John
obviously
regretted his outburst.
“
Nothing. I meant nothing.
”
He scooped up
Gemma
and turned away.
“
We should head back. It
’
s not safe out here.
”

She
reached for his arm.
“
No. I
’
m not going anywhere until you tell me what you mean by that.
”

He glanced down at
her
hand.
“
Let it go, Anna.
For God's sake, o
nce and for all, let it go.
”

“
I can
’
t. I won
’
t. Tell me! I have to know.
”

At her request, h
e ended
her
i
llusions
.
“
Why? Will it make you feel better knowing Aaron was
sleeping around
?
”

The truth
she
’
d always expected, coming after so long, threatened to buckle
her
knees.

When she could speak she asked,
“
Was it Cheryl Larsen?
”
Anna
watched John hesitate and hated the pity in his gaze that never left
hers
.

Slowly he nodded.

“
How long? Was she the only one?
”

John
’
s voice flat
-
lined.
“
I’m not sure how
long
or if there were others
.
”

Anna
turned from the tenderness
she
saw in his eyes.
“
Oh God, oh God,
o
h God.
”
She
swallowed the bile gathering in
her
throat.
“
Did he love her?
Is that why he divorced me?
John, d
id he know about us
?
”
For reasons
she
couldn
’
t begin to explain
Anna
needed to know
the truth
. As much as
she
hated living with
the possibility that
Aaron
might have known
about
her involvement with John, she
needed to clear away all
remaining
doubts.

“
I don
’
t know
if he loved her
. And I’m
not
sure
if
he knew about us
.
”

Anna
let go of the breath
she
’
d been clutching inside.

“
What I do know,
Anna,
is that
he loved you.
I don't know the reasons Aaron filed for divorce, but I believe deep in his heart he still cared about
you
.
”

When she didn't respond,
John reached for
her
hand
. S
he
yanked it free.
“
Don
’
t even try. Don
’
t you even try to make me feel better. I trusted him. I certainly trusted you.
”

Tears filled
her
eyes.
She
couldn
’
t stop them.
“
I trusted you, John. When I no longer knew
who Aaron was,
I trusted you.
”

John lowered his head.
“
I wanted to tell you for so long because I believed Aaron needed both of our help. I couldn
’
t. I
’
d made a promise.
”
His tone pleaded for understanding.

Anna
finally look
ed
at him.
“
And afterward? All those times I begged you to tell me the truth?
”

He shook his head.
“
I didn
’
t think it would serve any purpose at that point. I wanted you to keep your sweet memories of Aaron. I wanted you to remember the person he was before th
at
last
year
.
”

When the tears finally stopped,
she
realized
she
was
shaking from a fury that reached down to
her
very core. With John, but mostly with Aaron. Why hadn
’
t Aaron talked to
her
about whatever problem he believed existed between
them
?
Why simply file for divorce without fighting for them?

Aaron was gone,
she
couldn
’
t confront him.
Instead, she
took all of
her
anger out on John.
“
Why? It was all a lie.
Our marriage was a lie.
All of it.
”

“
Oh, Anna, that
’
s not true. He loved you.
”

As s
he
started for the cabin, some long unimportant memory resurfac
ed
. When
she and
Aaron had first started dating, he
’
d been romantically involved with another one of his students. He
’
d told
Anna
it was just a fling.
The girl had
meant nothing. Now
, Anna
wondered if
she
’
d been just the fling. Did
their
marriage mean so little to him? Even though
she
wasn
’
t thinking rationally
,
on some deeper level,
she
never expected to feel this betrayed by
hearing
the truth.

“
Anna, wait
.
”
She
didn
’
t. At that
moment,
she
hated John. Hated Aaron. But most of all
she
hated the lies.

She
’
d almost reached the clearing next to the cabin when the walkie-talkie feature on John
’
s phone squawked to life.

“
John, John, where are you!
”
Anna
barely recognized the frantic sound of Samson
’
s voice.

John clicked the volume to silent, grabbed
Anna's
arm, and
dragged
her
back down the path
and
away from the cabin. When
they were safely
tucked into a thicket of
Cypress
trees and undergrowth, he attempted to respond to Samson.

“
What
’
s happened?
”

“
I
’
m hurt
…
bad. He came at me from out of nowhere. I don
’
t think he
’
s still in the cabin. The location is compromised. Get out of here.
”

John handed
Anna
the cell phone.
“
There
’
s a
nother
cabin down at the end of the pier. Head that way and don
’
t stop until you get there. Hurry. Call
my partner
Rick
Garner
. Tell him to get the local PD here immediately and send for as much backup as he can mobilize.
”

John g
ave
Anna
a quick shove but
she
didn
’
t budge.
“
You can
’
t go in there. He
’
ll be waiting for you.
”

“
I have to. I have a man down. Samson needs my help. I
’
ll be fine. Go.
”
He unholstered his Glock and headed for the cabin without another look
her
way.

Anna
forced
her
self to do as he asked, but kept a close eye over
her
shoulder for some glimpse of John or Jericho Lewis.

The thick undergrowth tugged at
her
clothes and hair, as well as
Gemma
’
s.
Anna
held
the dog
tight against
her
body and listened to silence on the phone.
She wanted to try
to
reach out to John. She
wondered if Samson was still alive. Was John?

Anna
tried to reach Agent Garner but the service in the thicket was nonexistent.
She
kept hitting redial until
she
realized it was pointless.
She
’
d need to reach a clearing for any hope
at
a signal.

Gemma
continued her frightening growling, while
Anna
tried to reassure
her.
“
It
’
s okay, baby. We
’
re almost there.
”

Up head,
Anna
could see the path clearing.
She
ran into the opening and redialed the phone. This time the call went through.

“
Garner here.
”

“
This is Anna Sorenson, listen to me. There
’
s been an attack at the cabin. Agent Samson is injured. Agent Delaney has gone back after him. We need immediate assistance.
”

“
Where are you, Anna? Are you okay?
”

“
I
’
m fine. I
’
m almost to the neighboring cabin. Hurry.
”

“
I
’
m sending help right away. I
’
ll have someone come get you.
”

Anna
closed the phone without answering. The sound of gunfire pierced the solitude. The police would never make it in time to help John.

Anna
pulled
out
the weapon
she
’
d tucked inside
her
jacket.
S
he
sat
Gemma
on the ground.
“
Wait here, baby. Don
’
t move. I have to help him.
”

Gemma
didn
’
t like
her
command, but she obeyed. With a final glance
the dog's
way,
Anna
followed the beach to where
she
guessed the backside of John
’
s cabin to be.

She
almost believed
she
’
d misjudged the distance until the back of the cabin came into view.
Anna
slipped quietly along the house until
she
found a window that
she
could see inside
although the early morning shadows made it next to impossible
.
The cabin was dark. The lights off.