He had bought camping and rock-climbing equipment before they had entered the park, and plenty of other supplies. He was certain they had not been followed. Yet Kelly had spoken of the Acid Man with superstitious fear. Matt believed there could be another attack, and he wanted to see his enemy coming from far away. Of course, if he believed everything Kelly had to say, he was already sleeping with the devil.

Not today, though; Amy was her old self, even better. She refused to talk about what had happened in Susanville, but she showed no signs of lingering trauma. They had spent the first couple of hours becoming familiar with their gear and playing with Jimmy in a nearby stream. Matt had taken them to the exact spot he and Amy had visited almost two years ago. He had thought the happy memories could be rekindled.

The afternoon was great. After playing with their son, and putting him down to rest, they made love on the bank of the stream, then dozed in the shade in each other’s arms. But he spent at least half the time awake, staring at her face.

And he thought about a lot of things while she slept.

When she awoke he told her he wanted to go rock climbing.

That evening. The two of them. Before it got dark.

Her eyes flashed with interest. That would be lovely, she said.

TWENTY

TWENTY

The shadows lengthened across the Midwest. When night came, there would be fireworks. Kelly had called Michael and Julie again—they were expecting her. She found she was driving slower than usual. She should have been in a hurry, since the main reason she had come to Ohio had been to protect them. But her head was filled with doubts. Just when she believed she had the Acid Man figured out, she realized she knew no more than the women he had killed.

Agent Richards, who had followed up on Gene Banks, had only called back a few minutes ago. Kelly decided not to ask her to check on where the Acid Man had been the previous night. As it was, Richards already thought she was weird, probably obsessed with the psychopath. Kelly figured she would know the truth soon enough. Plus, once again, she didn’t want Banks to know she had spoken to Matt. And Banks would know if Richards called to check on him—the guy had a sixth sense.

Kelly wondered if she was going to kill him.

There was a question all profilers were taught to ask about a serial killer: what did they do? Obviously they murdered, but beyond that, what was their pattern? It surprised her how seldom she had bothered to examine the Acid Man’s fundamental ritual.