Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (8 page)

"What? Oh my God
,
I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?"

Her sister's reaction made the secret
appear
darker. "I couldn't. I was embarrassed. I
was a
failure
at my marriage
.
I
let you down."

Bev sighed and squeezed her arm. "You know you could never let me down. I guess I just don't understand. You guys were always so good together. It doesn't make sense. What happened?"

If only Anna could answer that question for herself. "I don't know. Aaron wouldn't talk to me about it. He was the one who filed. He just moved out and refused to
talk
."

"You had to have some indication, though."

"That's just it, there wasn't anything. We fought a lot, but it was more than that, I could feel it. He just refused to tell me what was wrong."

"People fight. It's normal in a
marriage. You know Ed and I went through a rough patch a while back. It
happens
.
”

Anna
shook
her
head.
“
But you
worked it out. You talked. Aaron wouldn't talk to me. He just told me he'd had enough and he wanted a divorce. We were still sharing the same house until the divorce was final, although Aaron was rarely home. Afterwards, well, he moved into a hotel, although he didn't take anything with him except his clothes. I suspected that he waited until I was at work to go back to the house. I'd find little telltale signs he'd been there, I think mostly to work on his book. I did everything I could think of to get him to tell me what was wrong between us, but he refused."

"Is that why you turned to John?" Bev asked quietly.

It was so hard to say the words. She'd given up on her marriage at that point. Aaron made it clear there would be no reconciling. "Yes."

Bev never let
her
down.
“Anna you didn't do anything wrong. Stop blaming yourself. Whatever happened between you and John, you did nothing wrong. I don't understand what went wrong in Aaron's mind, but his
job was intense. So was yours. You two worked side by side under the worst possible circumstances. I
’
m sure
it had to be
hard.
Lots
of marriages would have struggled.”

That much was certainly true.
“
Yes. But we
’
d worked through some difficult cases before
in the past
. Something changed with the Rock Creek
m
urders. Aaron changed.
”

Anna
could feel
Bev
studying
her
in the dark.
“
In what way?
”

It had been hard to pin down. The subtle change in Aaron.
She’
d noticed it even before the Rock Creek
m
urders began.
In fact, if she were being honest, it had started several years before. She’d just chosen to ignore it, refusing to believe their marriage might be in trouble.

After the first killing, the changes in
Aaron
intensif
ied
. It was as if
he
w
as
looking for ways to start an argument.
At the time of the first murder, Anna
had
been teaching criminal profiling at
Quantico
for a couple of years. As one of the
top
criminal profilers at the Bureau,
she’
d been called in to work the case. On more than one occasion, Aaron challenged
her
conclusions. With the death of Cheryl Larsen, Aaron
’
s animosity toward
Anna
assessments turned vicious
and personal
.

“
It
’
s hard to explain.
Like I said, w
e argued all the time. Aaron was openly critical of my work. I learned from John that he
’d
tried to have me taken off the case. Aaron was old school and he didn
’
t always agree with my science,
yet
he was never publicly disrespectful
before
. But it was more than just work. Aaron
used every
excuse to be away.
Put distance between us.
Whenever we did actually find time to be alone, he ended up working on his book until late into the night. Usually he
’
d fall asleep on the sofa in his office. It was as if he w
ere deliberately
avoid
ing
being close to me.
”

“
That doesn’t sound like Aaron.
”

Anna's
laughter didn
’
t mask the bitterness.
“
He told me I was being paranoid. Profiling our marriage.
He told me
I should give it a rest.
”
Anna
took a deep breath and went on.
“So,
I went to John for. He was the closest thing I had to Aaron. I thought, well, maybe he could tell me what was worrying Aaron. Of course, he refused.
John always kept Aaron’s secrets.”

“
So how did
your relationship with John
start?
”
Bev
asked quietly.

Anna
grinned at her.
“
How do you think? Like any other in the history of the world. John
talked
to me. He was interested in what I had to say.
Our friendship grew then
led to something more.
”

W
hatever Bev
’
s opinion of the relationship was she kept it to herself.
“
And was that where it ended?
”

Anna
knew
Bev had
guessed there was more to the story than what
she
was telling her.
“
What do you mean?
”

“
You know what I mean. Are you in love with John Delaney?
”

Anna
took a deep breath and tried to deny it.
“
No. Bev, how can you even ask me such a thing? I loved Aaron.
My marriage had just fallen apart.
John was
just my rebound, I guess
.
”

Bev
was silent for a long time, watching
Anna
carefully.
“
The baby?
”

This was the hardest of
her mistakes
to confess.
Bev believed the child she’d lost was Aaron’s.

She
took a deep breath and
told her sister everything
.
“
You mean was she John’s? Yes.
”

Bev
nodded against the pillow.
“
That explains a lot. John certainly acted like a man who
’
d lost his child that day at the hospital.
”

Anna swallowed hard. That final scene between herself and John still stood out fresh in her mind. John had wept for the loss of his daughter.
She couldn’t.
“Yes.”

“
Did Aaron know about
your relationship with John
?
”

“
I don
’
t know. I don
’
t want to believe he did, but I
’
m not sure.
Maybe because I'm not sure it would have mattered to him. At times, t
here were things he
’
d say
when he did actually talk to me, usually at work and about the case,
that made me wonder, but then he
’
d go off on
another tangent and I
’
d think, no way. He just doesn
’
t love me anymore.
”

“
Oh, Anna. I don
’
t believe that for a minute. Not the man I knew. He adored you. Maybe it was just the pressure of the job, and the book, and teaching the classes at the academy.
I don't know what was going on in his head, but he did love you. I'd bet my life on it. ”

“
Maybe, but I know there
are
things John
knew
about Aaron, secrets that he never told me. Something was going on in Aaron
’
s life. He just wasn
’
t sharing it with me.
”

After the funeral,
Anna had
been
so
angry and bitter.
She’
d torn apart Aaron
’
s
hotel
room and then his
office
, looking for answers. She
’d
found nothing. Not a clue
as to
what might have been troubling
Aaron
in the months before his death.

She’
d even read
the
manuscript Aaron
had
told
her
he
’
d been s
o
close to completing. He
’
d started it five years earlier.
He
was
writing
on the making of a serial killer. For the most part
,
it was brilliant. At least in the beginning. Aaron
’
s later work took a turn toward disturbing.
She'd make sure
Aaron
’
s book never be
came
a
published
work
. Because there was no way
she’
d let the world see the delusional
insights
of the man who
’
d once been so brilliant.
She
owed Aaron as much.

Anna
had fallen asleep
thinking
maybe she’
d try the mountains once this thing was over. That
had been
the last coherent thought
she
had before sleep overtook
her
and the dreams returned, robbing
her
of a peaceful rest. Strange dreams of a mysterious woman. Even though
Anna
didn
’
t
recognize her, she
could feel her desperation. It was etched
o
n every inch of her face.
Anna
tried to reach out to her, to bring her comfort, understand her pain, but each time, just before
she
reached
the woman's side,
she disappear
ed
only to be replaced by dreams of Aaron along with John
,
mingled together until it was impossible to tell the one from the other. Or if the storm that raged close by was
happening
or just
another
part of
her
troubled dreams.

But t
he sound of gunshots
was
real.
She
could almost smell the gunpowder.

“
Anna, wake up.
”

Anna
opened
her
eyes to find Bev leaning over
her,
shaking
her
.

She
sat up in bed.
“
What is it?
”

“
Gunshots. T
hree
of them, I think
. Didn't you hear them?”
Bev
whispered breathlessly.

Anna
grabbed
her
robe and started for the door
, but Bev
reach
ed
for
her sister's
arm
, stopping her
.
“
No, you can
’
t go out there. You don
’
t know what
’
s happening. It could be
him
.
”